'Hip hop legend Bun B has been involved in activism in the city of Houston for a long time. So when George Floyd, a longtime Houston resident, was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, Bun stepped up. He organized a march for Floyd that drew 60,000 people, and he hasn’t let up since, attending the March on Washington and recording a new single about this moment. On ths episode of Into Americ
' Fred Moten is a cultural theorist and poet creating new conceptual spaces that accommodate emergent forms of Black cultural production, aesthetics, and social life. In his theoretical and critical writing on visual culture, poetics, music, and performance, Moten seeks to move beyond normative categories of analysis, grounded in Western philosophical traditions, that do not account for the Black
' N. K. Jemisin is a speculative fiction writer exploring deeply human questions about structural racism, environmental crises, and familial relationships while immersing readers in intricately imagined, fantastical worlds. The societies she constructs are populated by protagonists who push against the conventions of earlier-era science fiction and epic fantasy, which often feature male-dominated
'Is there a place for armed self-defense among Black freedom fighters today? Jacqueline Luqman talks history and strategy with Dr. Akinyele Umoja .' -- The Real News Network
'The cartoonist Liz Montague discusses how she uses humor and illustration to reflect on larger societal issues, including racial justice and climate change.'
'The national conversation around police violence has focused on police shootings, but a comprehensive year-long investigation from The Marshall Project is shedding light on another, lesser-known form of violence that causes harm to thousands every year: attacks by police dogs. According to their report , there’s little oversight of how departments train and use these animals, despite some horrif
'Alison Stewart hosts director, playwright and MacArthur Genius Grant fellow Dominique Morisseau for the keynote address of The Public Forum at The Public Theatre ’s Creative Activism summit .' -- The Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR
'The United States is a country that’s rapidly aging. According to Census Bureau estimates, the number of people over 65 in the U.S. will nearly double over the next 40 years. They’re also working later, living alone more frequently, and facing financial hardship. And of course, there’s now the pandemic. 80% of COVID-related deaths in the United States have been among people over 65. I see these
' Catherine Coleman Flowers is an environmental activist bringing attention to the largely invisible problem of inadequate waste and water sanitation infrastructure in rural communities in the United States. As founding director of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ), Flowers builds partnerships across social scales—from close neighbors, to local elected officials an
' Tressie McMillan Cottom is a sociologist, writer, and public scholar shaping discourse on pressing issues at the confluence of race, gender, education, and digital technology. In work across multiple platforms, ranging from academic scholarship to essays and social media engagement, McMillan Cottom combines analytical insights and personal experiences in a frank, accessible style of communicati
' Wynton Marsalis was born into a musical tradition. He grew up in New Orleans, home of the best jazz musicians around – including his father, jazz-great Ellis Marsalis . On Into America , Marsalis talks with host Trymaine Lee about his writing process, how politics influences his music, and the magic of New Orleans.'
' Common talks about making “Thelonius” with J Dilla , Baatin , and T3 for Slum Village ’s Fantastic Volume II and his Like Water for Chocolate album.'
'When you speak with The War and Treaty , you can feel the love that Tanya Blount-Trotter and Michael Trotter Jr have for each other and their fans, whom they credit as helping create the bubble of acceptance that is the duo's latest album, Hearts Town . On it, The War and Treaty tackle some tough topics, including jealousy in relationships gone wrong and one of Michael's lowest moments, when he
| @BenJealous | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile) Republicans’ rush to fill the vacant U.S. Supreme Court seat before the election is a terrible threat to Black people’s civil rights and the health of our communities. In her 27 years on the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a champion of civil rights. During those same years, though, Republican presidents and senators moved the cour
'According to the US Department of Education, more than 85 percent of black fourth-grade boys aren't proficient in reading. What kind of reading experiences should we be creating to ensure that all children read well? In a talk that will make you rethink how we teach, educator and author Alvin Irby explains the reading challenges that many black children face -- and tells us what culturally compe
' Radha Blank plays a fictionalized version of herself — a struggling artist from Harlem, who was hailed years earlier as a promising playwright. The film is gorgeously shot in black-and-white.' -- Fresh Air
' Charm City Kings is a coming-of-age film based on the 2013 documentary 12 O'Clock Boys -- about riders who take to the city's streets on summer evenings, popping wheelies and performing daring stunts.' -- Weekend Edition Sunday
'August 11, 1973. At 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, 18-year-old DJ Kool Herc plays his first New York City party. The dance floor is packed, the energy is wild, and Herc gives the performance of a lifetime featuring one very specific innovation on the turntables. Herc and the partygoers don’t know it yet, but this event will go down in history as the birth of one of the most popular musical g
'As memoir has become an ever more popular mode of writing, experiments with the form have proliferated. Two recent and outstanding examples are Sarah Broom ’s The Yellow House and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Natasha Trethewey ’s Memorial Drive. Broom’s National Book Award-winning debut memoir tells a story of place, class, race, and family history. Trethewey’s Memorial Drive explores her family'
' Fall is the time for glossy fashion magazines, full of dazzling looks and the seasons hottest looks. But this year, we noticed something unusual: The covers of a bunch of major magazines fashion magazines featured Black folks. So we called up fashion critic Robin Givhan to talk about fashion's racial reckoning...and how long before it goes out of style.' -- Code Switch
' Romare Bearden 's Prevalence of Ritual with BAIA Scholar in Residence, Dr. Kelli Morgan . Produced in part by the generous support of our Patreon members with a special shout out to Zadig & Voltaire.'
'Suffice it to say, we use the term "POC" a lot on Code Switch . But critiques of the initialism — and the popularization of the term "BIPOC" — caused us to ask: Should we retire POC? Or is there use in it yet? '
'Working from home looks a little different for sex workers. With most strip clubs closed and dancers excluded from larger pots of money in the coronavirus relief package, the sex trade has largely gone online. From strippers to erotic masseuses to full service workers, virtual sex work required innovation. On this edition of the Embodied series, host Anita Rao explores how sex workers are making
'Compton is a community whose portrayal in music and movies eclipses the lives of real people who live there. It's also a city where healthy food can be hard to come by and life expectancy is five years below the Los Angeles County average. Jamie Yuccas talks with Lemel Durrah , chef and owner of Compton Vegan for the CBS This Morning series A More Perfect Union .' -- CBS This Morning
'Former Young Lord and poet, Felipe Luciano joins social justice activist, Iman Abdul , as they discuss the Boricua community and its involvement in Black liberation movements.' -- Caribbean Cultural Center [CCCADI]
'In more than 40 states, it is legal for Black individuals to be sent home from school or fired from their jobs for wearing their natural hair. While legislation is currently working to make hair discrimination illegal in the United States, the Black female experience is greatly impacted by the Eurocentric standards of beauty that are introduced to girls at a young age. Just Hair explores Makeba
' Mahershala Ali , star of the upcoming Blade reboot, goes inside his unique upbringing, conversion to Islam, the controversy behind his Green Book Oscar win, and hopes for his exciting new role as an iconic Black superhero.' -- The Tight Rope
' When we think of the iconic moments of the Civil Rights Movement in the US, we might imagine bus boycotts, lunch counter sit-ins or the March on Washington. Most of us won’t think of protests at beaches and pools. Yet
