Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 961

Rev. Dr. William Barber on the Fight for Voting, Civil Rights in North Carolina

Democracy Now 
Early voting begins in North Carolina on Thursday nearly two months before Election Day. Once again, the state is seen as a key battleground state. In 2008, President Obama won the state becoming the first Democrat to do so since Jimmy Carter in 1976. We're joined by Rev. Dr. William Barber, a grassroots leader deeply involved in the fight to preserve voting rights in North Carolina and to mobilize unregistered voters. Barber is president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP and serves as pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church Disciples of Christ in Goldsboro. He successfully campaigned for Same Day Registration and Early Voting in North Carolina and helped win passage of the state's Racial Justice Act, which allows North Carolina death row inmates to reduce their sentences to life in prison without parole in certain circumstances when race played a factor in their trial or sentencing.

Book Trailer | Go-Go Live: The Musical Life & Death of a Chocolate City

GO-GO LIVE: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City from Natalie Hopkinson on Vimeo.

Go-Go Lives :
Go-Go Live: The Musical Life & Death of a Chocolate City by Natalie Hopkinson explores the past, present and future of Black Washington, D.C., via its signature sound, go-go. This project began as a series of articles published in the Washington Post’s Style section. It evolved into a PhD dissertation at the University of Maryland-College Park, and is now a book of photos and essays published by Duke University Press.
Go-go is a very local musical form of black popular music influenced by funk, salsa, the blues, reggae, and hip-hop. But through the frame of the author’s Caribbean identity, the book explores the music’s uncanny links to the black experience around the world. It is amazing how American political and economic systems, as well as the local geography and urban history are all mapped on to the music. It looks at the local fashion lines, the dance movements the ever-shifting constellation of record stores and venues, the fading spaces in Washington D.C. as Chocolate City fades to black and the new life the music is finding in the far-flung suburbs. Go-go music is the perfect metaphor for the life and death of Chocolate Cities all over the United States.

Ballin’ at the Graveyard: A Film Review

Ballin’ at the Graveyard: A Film Review by David J. Leonard | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile)
Growing up in Los Angeles, I spent many weekends, some evenings, and most of my summers on the basketball court. Whether on the courts at my high school, at any number of local parks, or other spots spread out around West Los Angeles, pickup basketball was a fixture of my teenage years. I love to play ball; while a mediocre player on my best days the chance to run with my boys or prove myself to others was something I relished growing up.  
Through college and graduate school, I continued to play whenever I made it back to Los Angeles; visits home came with an expectation of multiple days of ballin’.  Although kids and AGE, not to mention geography (not a lot of pick-up games in Pullman) has resulted in my retirement from the game, the cultural, social, and personal significance of this space remains strong in my mind.  Based on both nostalgia for the Saturdays spent on the court, calling “next,” and even the arguments about a travelling calls, and my intellectual curiosity about the subculture of the “pickup game,” I was very excited to watch Ballin’ at the Graveyard, a new film from Basil Anastassiou and Paul Kentoffio.
Chronicling the weekend battles at Albany, New York’s Washington Park – the Graveyard – the film is much more than a basketball film.  It is a glimpse into the sociology – the rules, the community – of the subculture of pickup basketball.  The filmmakers describe the film as suchFor millions of basketball players across America and throughout the world, there are no refs, no sneaker deals and no doctors on call. To get in the game, you have to show up at the local park or gym, claim a spot and fight to keep it. The next game isn't a guarantee. Every point matters. That's pickup basketball.
Ballin' at the Graveyard is a gritty, intimate look into the culture and community of pickup basketball as told by a group of hardcore ballers at Albany NY's Washington Park - aka, the Graveyard. It offers a courtside view of the unwritten rules, hierarchy and special code of ethics of pickup ball, and provides a revealing glimpse into the off-the-court struggles and triumphs of a core group of players who call the court their home. It's a thought-provoking portrait of urban basketball that will challenge what you think you know about the world behind the chain-link fence.
Ballin at the Graveyard tells the story of America’s weekend warriors.  It chronicles the importance of ballin’, which one person describes as “like food.”   To him, “other than job and family,” there is nothing more important than the Saturday run.  Ballin’ at the Graveyard explores why this is the case, explaining why these asphalt sanctuaries are so important: family, community, and brotherhood. 
The pickup game is a place where everyone has a role, where the players come together not just for the game but the experience; they become a community because of the shared hours spent on the court and off debating politics, war, relationships, and what is going on the community.   They are not just ballin; they are all chattin, debatin, and lovin one another in the graveyard as well. 
The film focuses viewers attention on the rules of pickup basketball – you have to know who to pickup on your squad; you have to know how to get next; you have to know who gets a call (all about status); and you have to know how to make a call (“the walk”). If you want to stay on the court all day long, you have to perfect these rules.  Ballin at the Graveyard highlights how everything goes back to the desire to stay on the court. 
Knowledge, however, isn’t simply about surviving the graveyard but rather fitting into the community as well.  New arrivals have to learn the system, becoming part of the community.  In this regard Ballin’ at the Graveyardnot only highlights the process of basketball acculturation, but the ways that players, especially new arrivals, must prove themselves within the community.  Whether through withstanding (and dishing out) the physical play or engaging in trash talking; whether by “respecting the call” and not backing down, pickup basketball is about integrating into the community and its established rules and mores. 
Assimilation is as much about mental toughness as one’s crossover and ability to finish at the rim.  It is also about proving one’s manhood over and over again.  This is quite evident in watching Ballin’ at the Graveyard, although the film misses an opportunity to complicate and unpack these gendered performances.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking for Judith Butler and Pierre Bourdieu to critical interrogate gender identity on the court (although their voices would be greatly appreciated) but a little more attention to the performative dynamics within this space. The desire to let the players speak for themselves, to elevate the voices of those from inside the community, leads to limited critical analysis and depth throughout the film. 
The decision to privilege the voices of the players limits its potential to unpack the ways that masculinity and race plays out on the court.  With the handful of white players, one being Basel, Ballin’ at the Graveyard leaves viewers without the necessary depth regarding race.  It argues that race matters on the court, but that the omnipresence of race doesn’t result in conflict and tension.  In one scene a player laments a white competitor’s success against him, describing the humiliating experience as one where he “bust[ed] my ass.”  In another instance, Basel describes himself as a “minority” on the court where his “whiteness isn’t an advantage.”  These moments point to the immense potential of the film whereupon the social, cultural, gender, and racial realities on the court could have taught viewers about how race matters on and off the court.
As an ethnography, the film offers very little space for intervention and expanded complexity.  Whether in regards to race, gender, identity, or even the ways that segregation remains a distinct reality on (and off the court), the film never moves the discussion beyond the court.  Yet, the film isn’t about sociological analysis or cultural theory, unless articulated by the ballers of Graveyard, but rather shining a spotlight on this community.
The privileging of the players represents the strength of the film in that it concludes by telling the stories of several of the Graveyard’s legends.  Although these back-stories would have better served the film had they been integrated throughout, they represent a powerful part of the film.  Those on the court are teachers, counselors, principals, and others committed to enriching the lives of others.  The film documents how they are preparing the next generation on and off the court.
The film’s success rests with its ability to elicit a range of emotions.  I found myself analyzing, and thinking, reflecting on my own pickup ball experiences all while analyzing it as a scholar.  I found myself crying during parts of the film and laughing at other moments.  For me, one moment encapsulated the rich texture of the film. In that instance, a white player finds himself being ridiculed for getting dunked on by a black player – “he dunked on you for segregation.”  As such, the film gives viewers this range of emotions all while conveying depth, humanity, and complexity of the players.  Although the film had the potential to turn pickup ball into a spectacle, into a touristic experience defined by a white gaze at the trash-talking and hard fouling,  Ballin’ at the Graveyard stays away from this territory, leaving viewers with much to think about. 
***
David J. Leonard is Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. He is the author of the just released After Artest: Race and the War on Hoop (SUNY Press) as well as several other works. Leonard is a regular contributor to NewBlackMan, layupline, Feminist Wire, and Urban Cusp. He is frequent contributor to Ebony, Slam, and Racialicious as well as a past contributor to Loop21, The Nation and The Starting Five. He blogs @No Tsuris.

Jasiri X Speaks on Immigrant Justice at the US/Mexico Border

1HoodMedia 
Jasiri X speaks after participating in historic cypher at the US/Mexico border in Arizona featuring Invincible, DJ Sloepoke, Shining Soul, Progresso, Dirty Verbs & Amy 1 sponsored by the Sound Strike and Culture Strike.

Join Jasiri X in Charlotte, NC September 5th for UnDocunation. Here's the event link https://www.facebook.com/events/159532827517272/

Kamala Harris Among The Rising Dem Stars @ DNC

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Ill Doctrine: The GOPs Rick Ross Convention

Jay Smooth on how the Maybach Music boss wrote the blueprint for Mitt Romney’s convention.[image error]

Olympic Bronze Medalist Lia Neal Talks with Essence Magazine

Essence
Olympic Swimmer Lia Neal talks about winning Bronze Medal and life as an Olympic Swimmer.

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Season 2 Promo: "StereoTypes" from iamOTHER

iamOTHER 
Stay tuned for new episodes of StereoTypes on the i am OTHER channel. [image error]

Looking for Denzel; Finding Barack: Thoughts on the President as Race Man—A Lecture by Mark Anthony Neal

Looking for Denzel; Finding Barack: Thoughts on the President as Race Man —A  Lecture by Mark Anthony Neal
Thursday, September 6, 2012 at 4:30pm
Cornell UniversityAfricana Studies and Research Center, Multipurpose Room 310 Triphammer Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
The Africana Studies & Research Center (ASRC) at Cornell University will host a lecture and book signing by Mark Anthony Neal titled 'Looking for Denzel; Finding Barack: Thoughts on the President as Race Man' at 4:30pm on Thursday, September 6th. This event is free and open to the public at the ASRC, 310 Triphammer Road and is part of the fall colloquium titled “Race and the Presidency, Part II” and the ASRC yearlong series theme “Freedom, Democracy, and Citizenship”.
Mark Anthony Neal is Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, where he won the 2010 Robert B. Cox Award for Teaching. Neal has written and lectured extensively on black popular culture, black masculinity, sexism and homophobia in Black communities, and the history of popular music.
He is the author of four books, What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture (1998), Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic (2002), Songs in the Keys of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation (2003) and New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity(2005). Neal is also the co-editor (with Murray Forman) of That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader, 2nd Edition (2011) Neal’s next book Looking for Leroy: (Il)Legible Black Masculinities will be published in 2013 by New York University Press.
Neal hosts the weekly webcast, ‘Left of Black’ in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University (leftofblack.tumblr.com/). A frequent commentator for National Public Radio, Neal contributes to several on-line media outlets, including Huff Post Black Voices, Ebony.com, SeeingBlack.com, and Britain’s New Black Magazine. He has also appeared in several documentaries including Byron Hurt’s acclaimed Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes (2006), John Akomfrah’s Urban Soul (2004) and Jonathan Gayles’s White Scripts and Black Supermen (2012).
Neal is the founder and managing editor of the blog NewBlackMan (in Exile) (newblackman.blogspot.com/). You can follow him on Twitter @NewBlackMan.

Trailer: 'All We Need is Another Chance'--The Story of the Legendary Escorts

A music documentary following The Legendary Escorts' journey as a soul group formed and recorded behind bars in 1970s America. 
SYNOPSIS
The unsung story of The Legendary Escorts is that of the musical group, formed behind bars in the early 70s at Rahway State Prison. It carries the weight and wisdom of both their tumultuous and celebratory experiences from the past decades up to modern day. Through their successes, trials, and tribulations, the storyline will explore the soul generation, civil rights movement, and penal reform from the inside.

THE STORY
The car door opens. Reginald Prophet Haynes, the founder of The Legendary Escorts, twists himself out of the car to plant two feet solidly on the ground. This was where it all started. An armed robbery on this very spot sent Reggie to serve his first seven-year prison sentence in 1968. In the midst of deplorable conditions and never-ending days, Reggie’s true self persevered and broke through – he began to sing in the yard and caught the attention of other inmates that wanted to harmonize.   
Reggie waits as a garage door opens and reveals a cozy den with two men stand playing pool. Billy, an ex marine, and LaGrant, a retired police officer, partnered with Reggie in 1986 to keep the group alive. The three remaining members of the Legendary Escorts dive into shooting the breeze. While it’s clear both Billy and LaGrant have heard Reggie’s history countless times, they sit absorbing his narration, learning new details with each retelling. The conversation inevitably returns back to the beginnings of the Legendary Escorts, and how Reggie was transferred to the infamous Rahway Prison. It was here at an inmate variety show that the Escorts sound caught the attention of prolific record producer George Kerr. 
After two years of correspondence spent convincing the warden, Kerr was allowed to bring a mobile recording studio to the prison and laid down the vocals for the first album “All We Need Is Another Chance” in just 9 hours. With their quality sound and unique story, The Escorts became a hit enjoying success on the Billboard Top Soul charts. A follow up album "3 Down 4 To Go" received similar success and a newly liberated Reggie was beginning to enjoy the view from the mountain top. 
Read More @ KickStarter