' Claudia Rankine 's award-winning poetry collection Citizen came out in 2014 — the year of the protests in Ferguson, Mo., over the death of Michael Brown. Her latest book arrives as the same problems afflict the United States. It's called Just Us: An American Conversation , and it's a collection of essays, photos, poems and, yes, conversations, that she has been having with friends and strangers
' Punching the Air is a novel in verse about a 16-year-old boy, Amal, with a budding artistic talent and promising future, who is put away in prison for throwing a punch. But in a way, was he put away before that, by an uncaring and prejudiced system? Yusef Salaam, who has become a noted educator and activist after spending more than six years in prison for his wrongful conviction in what was kno
'Historian Edward Onaci explores the struggle of the the New Afrikan Independence Movement in the 1960s and beyond - as the broad political challenge of captive subjects against a colonial state, and a deeply personal path of revolutionary organizing and community building, practiced in everyday life. Onaci is author of the book Free the Land: The Republic of New Afrika and the Pursuit of a Black
'It's pretty common to hear Rap and R&B influences on the same track, but that wasn’t always the case. Hip-hop was not received with open arms by many in the R&B establishment. Still, rappers found creative ways of being heard on the radio, while others pushed beyond stereotypes of Black masculinity to find a new voice. In episode 4 of This is not a Drake Podcast , Mark Anthony Neal , Kwame Holla
'The story of a pandemic-induced mass migration from cities has proliferated in the media: families fleeing increasingly hellish virus-infested urban wastelands, making their way into the safe, idyllic suburbs where bluebirds sing, kids roam free and there’s a Mattress Firm in every strip mall. It all makes so much sense. But it's not true. Jeff Andrews wrote about this media myth in a recent Cur
'On this episode, host Marc Lamont Hill discusses the prolific career of go-to ghostwriter, David Ritz . Marc and David dive into David’s career that has spanned over 45 years, and consists of over 60 books, ten of which have appeared on bestseller lists. David recounts ghostwriting for the likes of Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye, talks about his somewhat controversial book on Aretha Franklin, and a
'Lenora Helm Hammonds, vocal jazz musician, composer & educator, is our very special guest in this episode of MMMB podcast. Lenora shares an extremely dynamic career path in music that began with her attending Berklee College of Music being the first African American woman to graduate with a degree in film scoring to working at music labels such as Sony to now being an assistant professor of musi
'Discover the greatest TV show you never heard of, and Ellis Haizlip , the Black, Gay creative who hosted it, all through the eyes of his niece in an award-winning documentary you won't want to miss. On the Clock 's Caroline Clarke talks with Producer/Director Melissa Haizlip .' -- Black Enterprise
' Charlotta Spears Bass (1874-1969) one of the first African American women to own and operate a newspaper, and the first African American woman to run for Vice President of the United States, crusaded for over 40 years against racial violence, and discrimination in schools, housing, and the job market, in the pages of the California Eagle.' -- American Masters PBS
' When Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the March on Washington, he wasn’t just speaking about racial justice — he was talking about economic equality in the United States. Meet the activists gathering in the capital to continue the battle for a fairer society — as Black people are disproportionately killed by the COVID-19 pandemic, put out of work and killed by police violence.' -- AJ+
“Black lives matter and so does Black love; no one wants a life without love, but we have generations of people in our community who haven’t had the tools to actually be in healthy relationships. It seems like people are finally ready to open their eyes to systemic racism in this country, and if we’re going to talk about it, we have to also talk about how it affects our relationships — how we com
' Dime Davis could soon become the first Black woman to win an Emmy for directing a television series, HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show. She's also nominated as co-executive producer of the show, which is up for outstanding variety sketch series. Recently, I sat down to talk with her by the nearly 100-year-old merry-go-round at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. "I'm really glad we did this 'cause it's
'More Blues singer than Broadway, Charlie Parker — Bird — helped introduce bebop to jazz, and along the way redefined Jazz velocity with his scrappy sound and pithy melodic figures.' -- Fresh Air
'In episode 065 of The Quarantine Tapes , Toshi Reagon shares stories about her experience in quarantine and highlights of performing her creative work, the compelling opera Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower. Reagon talks about important community connections, while encouraging us all to “embrace your ability to adapt to an ever-changing world”. '
'On episode 092 of the Quarantine Tapes , James McBride calls in from his car to chat with Paul Holdengräber about writing and music. James talks about the issues he sees in how history is taught in the US and the hope he finds in the Black Lives Matter movement. Then, they touch on some of his heroes and influences in both writing and music. McBride tells stories from his time touring with Jimmy
