Podcast appearances and mentions of lester spence

The guys lock in with Prof. Lester Spence, whose decades of scholarship about Black politic-building, hip-hop, and the sociopolitical turn toward neoliberalism help all of us make sense of the contradictions our culture, political system, and economy pretend don't exist. He's the author of Stare In the Darkness: The Limits of Hip-hop and Black Politics (2011), and Knocking the Hustle: Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black Politics (2015). A longtime professor at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Lester breaks down how the turn toward neoliberalism affects all of us, the ways hip hop is still a battlefield for transformation of our culture, and much more. SHOW NOTES Get in tune with Lester - https://www.lesterspence.com/ Follow AirGo - instagram.com/airgoradio Find One Million Experiments on tour! - www.respairmedia.com/events Bring us to your community by hitting us up - contact@respairmedia.com CREDITS Hosts & Exec. Producers - Damon Williams and Daniel Kisslinger Associate Producer - Rocío Santos Engagement Producer - Rivka Yeker Digital Media Producer - Troi Valles

John Arena examines the more than two-decade struggle to privatize public schools in Newark, New Jersey—a conflict that is raging in cities across the country. Arena's book Expelling Public Schools reveals the political rise of Cory Booker and Ras Baraka and what this particular case study illuminates about contemporary post-civil rights Black politics. Here, Arena is joined in conversation with David Forrest.John (Jay) Arena is associate professor of sociology at CUNY's College of Staten Island. Arena is author of Expelling Public Schools: How Antiracist Politics Enable School Privatization in Newark and Driven from New Orleans: How Nonprofits Betray Public Housing and Promote Privatization.David Forrest is associate professor of politics at Oberlin College. He is author of A Voice but No Power: Organizing for Social Justice in Minneapolis.Works and scholars referenced:Adolph Reed Jr. (Stirrings in the Jug)David M. Kotz (The Rise and Fall of Neoliberal Capitalism)Cedric JohnsonFrances Fox Piven (Challenging Authority)Jane McAlevey (No Shortcuts)Preston H. Smith II (Racial Democracy and the Black Metropolis)Sharon Kurtz (Workplace Justice)Marc Doussard and Greg Schrock (Justice at Work)Kristen Buras (Charter Schools, Race, and Urban Space)Touré Reed (Toward Freedom)Alf Gunvald Nilsen and Laurence Cox (We Make Our Own History)Colin Barker, Laurence Cox, John Krinsky, and Alf Gunvald Nilsen, editors (Marxism and Social Movements)Rosa Luxemburg (Rosa Luxemburg Speaks)Chris Maisano (“What Does Revolution Mean in the 21st Century?”, Jacobin)Mark R. Beissinger (The Revolutionary City)People and organizations referenced:Cory BookerChris ChristieRas BarakaNewark's downtown Teachers Village complexSharpe JamesCami AndersonChristopher CerfRandi WeingartenAlbert ShankerKaren LewisAl MoussabNewark Education WorkersThis episode was recorded in September 2023.Expelling Public Schools: How Antiracist Politics Enable School Privatization in Newark is available from University of Minnesota Press."Expelling Public Schools offers a fascinating look into the racial politics of corporate school reform in Newark Public Schools. John Arena takes a long view—just over two decades—and examines the reform movements and countermovements in the district from the top down and the bottom up. In assessing corporate school reform efforts under mayors Cory Booker and Ras Baraka, this deeply researched book illuminates the mechanisms that maintain educational inequality."—Rand Quinn, author of Class Action: Desegregation and Diversity in San Francisco Schools"It is rare to encounter a work that treats actually existing Black life, an approach best articulated by Cedric Johnson, to critically address contemporary Black urban regimes. Thoughtful, careful, and incisive, Expelling Public Schools does just that. In this moment when antiracism (and surface critiques of antiracism) is rife, John Arena's work provides a wonderful tonic."—Lester Spence, author of Stare in the Darkness: The Limits of Hip-hop and Black Politics

Last month, Wayne State University announced its plan to create the Detroit Center for Black Studies as part of its efforts to prioritize faculty and research centered on the Black experience. The university will recruit and hire 30 new humanities faculty, made possible by a $6 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. Wayne State University president M. Roy Wilson stops by to discuss the plan, including the goal of connecting scholars who work in African American, African and African Diaspora studies across southeast Michigan. Then, Johns Hopkins University political science and Africana studies professor Lester Spence joins the show to discuss his views on Black scholarship in Detroit.

(This conversation was originally broadcast on November 29, 2022) The elections last month produced historic results as regards representation of African Americans in the electoral hierarchy of Baltimore City and the state of Maryland. The governor, attorney general, state superintendent of schools and state treasurer are all accomplished Black men. Here in Baltimore City, Black male leaders include the Mayor, the City Council President, the comptroller, the city state's attorney and the police commissioner. This is not to say that Black women have not also risen to positions in which they have shaped the trajectory of Baltimore and the state. The Speaker of the House in Annapolis, Del. Adrienne Jones and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks' endorsements of Wes Moore for Governor were considered a considerable boost to his nascent political career. Not too long ago, the Mayor of Baltimore, the State's Attorney, the City Council President, even the head of the Enoch Pratt Library were prominent African American women. In September, the Rev. Kevin Slayton, an activist and preacher who has been involved in politics and policy for years, wrote an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun in which he stated that the representation of African Americans in the halls of power could all be, quote, “the revelation of hopes our ancestors dreamed about.” But for many Black men in America, those dreams are deferred by endemic racism, poverty, and a host of other formidable challenges. But for many Black men, their dreams are dreams deferred.Dr. Slayton has called for a convening of elected Black officials to explore what can be done to help Black men succeed. What would such a convening look like? What could it accomplish? Tom talked about it last month with Rev. Slayton, the senior pastor at Northwood-Appold United Methodist Church, and an adjunct professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He joined Tom in Studio A. Dr. Lester Spence joined us as well. He's a professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University, who specializes in the study of black, racial, and urban politics. He spoke with Tom on Zoom. A little later in the show, Tom spoke via Zoom with Congressman Kweisi Mfume. This is an encore presentation of Midday.  Because our show was pre-recorded, we aren't taking any new calls or online comments today.  Rev. Slayton began our conversation about the possibility of a convening of Black officials with a nod to history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The elections this month produced historic results as regards representation of African Americans in the electoral hierarchy of Baltimore City and the state of MD. The governor, attorney general, state superintendent of schools and state treasurer are all accomplished Black men. Here in Baltimore City, Black male leaders include the Mayor, the City Council President, the comptroller, the city state's attorney and the police commissioner. This is not to say that Black women have not also risen to positions in which they have shaped the trajectory of Baltimore and the state. The Speaker of the House in Annapolis, Del. Adrienne Jones and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks' endorsements of Wes Moore for Governor were considered a considerable boost to his nascent political career. Not too long ago, the Mayor of Baltimore, the State's Attorney, the City Council President, even the head of the Enoch Pratt Library were prominent African American women. A few weeks ago, the Rev. Kevin Slayton, an activist and preacher who has been involved in politics and policy for years, wrote an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun in which he stated that the representation of African Americans in the halls of power could all be, quote, “the revelation of hopes our ancestors dreamed about.” But for many Black men in America, those dreams are deferred by endemic racism, poverty, and a host of other formidable challenges. Dr. Slayton has called for a convening of elected Black officials to explore what can be done to help Black men succeed. What would such a convening look like? What could it accomplish? That's what we want to talk about today, here on Midday. Rev. Kevin Slayton is the senior pastor at Northwood-Appold United Methodist Church, and an adjunct professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He joins Tom here in Studio A… Also joining us is Dr. Lester Spence, a Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University, who specializes in the study of black, racial, and urban politics. Dr. Spence joins us on Zoom. And later in the program, we welcome Rep. Kweisi Mfume to the conversation. Congressman Mfume earlier this month won re-election to serve in Congress representing Maryland's 7th District. He speaks with us on Zoom.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this sixth episode of Black Work Talk's Season Two, Steven Pitts and his co-host, Toussaint Losier, talk with Lester Spence, Professor of Political Science at the Johns Hopkins University. We began the episode by defining the Black Left and power. We spoke about the changes in Black politics because of the advent of neoliberalism. We also had a long conversation about policing and we used that issue as a way to explore the complicated issues of power-building, the value of cross-class Black alliances, and the value of cross-race class alliances. We closed by examining the role of the Black Left in this time period.

In the second episode of the Marc Steiner Show, DeRay McKesson talks about his victorious Supreme Court case against a police officer, and how the left has the numbers, but not the organization. Then, TaNesha Barnes and Dr. Lester Spence debate the best recourse for Black Americans after an election where 71 million voters actively supported—or ignored—Donald Trump's racism. Subscribe to our page and support our work at https://therealnews.com/donate.

In the second episode of the Marc Steiner Show, DeRay McKesson talks about his victorious Supreme Court case against a police officer, and how the left has the numbers, but not the organization. Then, TaNesha Barnes and Dr. Lester Spence debate the best recourse for Black Americans after an election where 71 million voters actively supported—or ignored—Donald Trump's racism.Subscribe to our page and support our work at https://therealnews.com/donate.

Millennials are often called the "hustle generation." They're famous for side gigging, bootstrapping, and burning out. But what really is hustling, and where did it come from? This week on Word Bomb, Pippa and Karina meet hustle culture at the source, investigating the way we talk about work-all the way from its Jim Crow-era roots to 1950s workaholism, 90s rap to Silicon Valley startups. There are so many articles on the phenomenon of millennial hustle culture, but you might want to start with Anne Helen Petersen's "How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation"(https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work) and Erin Griffith's ,Why Are Young People Pretending to Love Work?, (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/business/against-hustle-culture-rise-and-grind-tgim.html) For more reading on the Black roots of the word "hustle" and how the word has been co-opted by startup culture, we recommend checking out this great 2020 article (https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/04/03/826015780/when-the-hustle-isnt-enough) from Isabella Rosario of NPR's Code Switch, as well as Lester Spence's book Knocking the Hustle: Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black Politics. Credit for "Everyday Struggle": The Notorious B.I.G./Sony Music Entertainment/youtube.com Credit for "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)": JAY-Z/Universal Music Group/youtube.com Credit for "U Don't Know": JAY-Z/Universal Music Group/spotify.com Credit for "Hustlin'": Rick Ross/Universal Music Group/youtube.com Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's episode we are joined by our friend Bekki Fahrer to discuss one of her all-time favorite books (and now also ours), Kindred by Octavia Butler. This book broke so many barriers, and should be required reading for every American. Before you listen to the episode, we highly recommend you seek out commentary from Black reviewers and writers,  so you can hear about this book in their words and from their perspectives. We highlight a few examples below, including an essay on racism from the author herself, but there are many more. In this NPR piece, Lester Spence, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the importance of representation in Science Fiction writing, and specifically Octavia Butler's contributions to the genre: "She brought black people into the future when no one thought we had a future. In this, she was not only a genius, but a revolutionary."Here journalist Tanya Ballard Brown talks to Damian Duffy and John Jennings about converting Kindred into a graphic novel.We highly recommend this review (and many others) of Kindred by Antoinette Scully at Black and Bookish.  In this essay Octavia Butler writes about the human desire to establish hierarchies, and how important it is to resist those tendencies in order to instead promote tolerance and combat racism, sexism, and all the other “isms” that plague society. Butler, who died in 2006 at the age of 58, was the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur "Genius" grant and the recipient of several Hugo and Nebula awards.Need to order your own copy of the book? Check out Mahogany Books, a Black-owned bookstore in DC that specializes in bestselling and classic African American books.  Follow Bekki:Twitter: @Ginger_Sister Instagram: @bekki_the_gingernutGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3325348-bekki-fahrer  Follow us:Twitter: @wysr_podcastInstagram: @wysr_podcastGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/115539912-what-you-should-read-podcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCfNtid_b0R14otSPRZTkmQwww.whatyoushouldread.com   

Air Date: 7/23/2019 Today we take a look at the fight for Medicare for All through the lens of the Democratic Primary elections.  Be part of the show! Leave a message at 202-999-3991   Episode Sponsors: Babbel.com | SimpleHabit.com/LEFT Amazon USA| Amazon CA| Amazon UK| Clean Choice Energy Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content: Support our show on Patreon! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: All About Medicare For All - Election Ride Home with Chris Higgins - Air Date 4-12-19 Bernie launched his latest Medicare For All bill with many cosponsors, and the big takeaway is eliminating private insurance and regulating drug companies. Ch. 2: Is Biden a Liar or a Crazy Old Man? - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-15-19 Joe Biden's Medicare For All stance is shady, if best. Sam Seder and the Majority Report crew discuss this. Ch. 3: Without Medicare For All, the Healthcare System Will Collapse with Wendell Potter - The Real News with Paul Jay - Air Date 5-22-19 The healthcare system is unsustainable; without a Medicare for All system, only the wealthiest will be able to afford decent care - Wendell Potter on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay Ch. 4: Medicare For All VS Medicare For America - Kim Iverson - Air Date 3-19-19 Beto wants to keep insurance and profit in healthcare. Bernie doesn't. Ch. 5: A Shift to the Left with Lester Spence and Kimberly Moffitt - The Real News with Marc Steiner - Air Date 6-28-19 Analysts Lester Spence and Kimberly Moffit critique Democratic candidates for president as they took on corporate power and healthcare Ch. 6: Medicare For All Goodbye Private Insurance with Natalie Shure - The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow - Air Date 3-16-19 Private health insurance needs to end, profit and wall street decide our healthcare. Other countries have many options we can build from. The transition must happen. Ch. 7: First Ever Medicare For All Hearing - The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola - Air Date 4-30-19 People are dying because they can’t afford health treatment, and that needs to change. VOICEMAILS Ch. 8: The Christianization of education - Navreet from Illinois Ch. 9: Insulting to holocaust survivors to not make the comparison to concentration camps - April from Lexington, MA FINAL COMMENTS Ch. 10: Final comments telling the story of what the hell JFK was talking about referring to why we choose to go to the moon and do the “other things” TAKE ACTION! Help build a #MedicareforAll groundswell ahead of the 2020 elections. Pass local government resolutions on Medicare for All in your communities, towns, cities and states across the country. Go to Medicare4AllResolutions.orgfor the tools you need to get started, and much more. Written by BOTL Communications Director Amanda Hoffman  MUSIC(Blue Dot Sessions): Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr  A Burst of Light - Delray Chilvat - Lillehammer The Rampart - Castle Danger Wingspan - Bayou Birds Stale Case - Darby The Spinnet - Castle Danger Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Support the show via Patreon Listen on iTunes | Stitcher| Spotify| Alexa Devices| +more Check out the BotL iOS/AndroidApp in the App Stores! Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on iTunesand Stitcher!

Yesterday, the Baltimore City Senate Delegation to the Maryland General Assembly voted to approve legislation that will allow Johns Hopkins University to establish its own private police force. The House City Delegation was scheduled to vote this morning, but it appears they have postponed that vote. If this legislation is ultimately approved, Johns Hopkins will be the first private university in Baltimore to have its own police force. Hopkins officials say that a campus police force would help them address concerns about crime near their campuses, respond to active shooters and protect students, teachers and staff more effectively. But opponents are concerned that a Hopkins police force would not be accountable to the public and are worried that police would engage in racial profiling.What would a Hopkins police force mean for Baltimore? Would it deepen a divide between the University and the community, or will it bring Hopkins closer to its neighbors in Charles Village, Mt. Vernon and East Baltimore?Rianna Matthews-Brown is the Director of University Initiatives for Johns Hopkins. Antero Pietila is a former Baltimore Sun reporter and the author of The Ghosts of Johns Hopkins: The Life and Legacy That Shaped an American City.Lester Spence is an associate professor of political science and Africana studies at Johns Hopkins University.This conversation is being lived streamed on the WYPR Facebook page.

Jacqueline Luqman and Prof. Lester Spence discuss how Sanders might distinguish himself and contend with Black candidates such as Corey Booker and Kamala Harris Visit https://therealnews.com for more stories and help support our work by donating at https://therealnews.com/donate.

On today’s show, a conversation about the legacy of Jim Crow, representation, race and reclaiming racial stereotypes. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of MD African American History and Culture has traveling exhibition from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia in Big Rapids, Michigan. It’s called Hateful Things, and it includes objects from the 19th century through the present that dehumanize African Americans, and show, in striking and disturbing ways, how the pernicious legacy of Jim Crow continues to weave itself into the fabric of the American story. On Saturday afternoon, the Johns Hopkins University Center for Africana Studies is presenting a panel at the Lewis Museum called “Unpacking Hateful Things ---- Contemporary Practices.” Today, Tom welcomes two of the panelists to Studio A: Vernu257u Myers, the recently appointed Vice President of Inclusion Strategy at Netflix, and author of the books: Moving Diversity Forward: How to Move from Well-Meaning to Well-Doing, and What if I Say the Wrong Thing? 25 Habits for Culturally Effective People.And, Dr. Lester Spence, a political scientist on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University. His latest book is called Knocking the Hustle: Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black Politics. Dr. Spence will be moderating the panel, which also includes the literary historian Lawrence Jackson, the cultural historian Martha Jones, and the political scientist Rob Lieberman. Our conversation was streamed live on WYPR’s Facebook page.

(This program originally aired August 7th, 2018)Today, a conversation about what has come to be known as the ----Black Tax.---- It is imposed on people of color, in different ways and in different places, every day. Reports of hate crimes are on the rise, and in 2017, once again, African Americans were targeted more than any other group.And in the last few months, social media have been rife with examples of people of color being harassed in public spaces by white people: a 7th grader mowing a lawn; a group of Black women playing golf; a former White House staffer moving into his apartment in Manhattan; a graduate student at Yale taking a nap. Dr. Kimberly Moffitt is an associate professor of American Studies at UMBC. She’s also in the departments of Africana Studies and Language, Literacy and Culture. She studies subjects ranging from Black hair to body politics and Disney movies.Dr. Lester Spence is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Spence specializes in black politics, racial politics, urban politics, and public opinion. His latest book is called Knocking the Hustle: Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black Politics.

Today on Midday, a conversation about what has come to be known as the Black Tax. It is imposed on people of color, in different ways, and in different places, every day. Reports of hate crimes are on the rise, and in 2017, once again, African Americans were targeted more than any other group. And in the last few months, social media has been rife with example after example of people of color being harassed in public spaces, by white people. A 7th grader mowing a lawn, a group of Black women playing golf, a former White House staffer moving into his apartment in Manhattan, a graduate student at Yale taking a nap. Dr. Kimberly Moffitt is an associate professor of American Studies at UMBC. She’s also in the departments of Africana Studies and Language, Literacy and Culture. She studies subjects ranging from Black hair to body politics and Disney movies.Dr. Lester Spence is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Spence specializes in black politics, racial politics, urban politics, and public opinion. His latest book is called Knocking the Hustle: Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black Politics.

The uprising following the police killing of Freddie Gray drew national media attention to Baltimore and the abusive law enforcement agents that discipline and control those most exploited and excluded by contemporary American capitalism. As is often the case, however, the focus shifted elsewhere soon after disturbances in the street came to end. Political scientist Lester Spence recently wrote an article about why children were freezing in Baltimore public schools: the heating didn't work, something that can only be made sense of when viewed in the longer history of capital flight, racial and class segregation, and the rise of a service-economy carceral state: jacobinmag.com/2018/01/baltimore-freezing-schools-children-racism-austerity. Thanks to Verso for their support. Check out The New Spirit of Capitalism by Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello versobooks.com/books/2513-the-new-spirit-of-capitalism Support this podcast with $ at patreon.com/TheDig!      

Dr. Lester Spence is a public intellectual, author, and Associate Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University and the Center for Emerging Media Scholar in Residence. When NPR's Michel Martin asked me to put together a squad, he was the first call I made. Not a stranger, strictly speaking, but in 15 years, we'd only met four times, and never had a one-on-one conversation longer than 10 minutes. In Cleveland, on his book tour, he sits in my kitchen and tries to steal a few grapes while we talk about politics, NPR, how "The Barbershop" changed radio and television, my phat child support earnings, divorce and fatherhood, and why Donald Trump would never be elected president. Also, he talks about being there the moment I met my future wife, Teshima Izrael.

Lester Spence, Associate Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University, joins the New Dawn Podcast and extends the conversation around using a neoliberal lens and the history of financialization to study black communities. (Note: Original image was from the Ferguson protests and mistakenly posted.)

July 20, 2017 - Segment 1 - We hosted a National News Roundtable, where our guests reflected on the latest headlines. With: Dr. Lester Spence, Dr. Ray Winbush, and Dr. Roni Ellington.

The guest, for this, the first official podcast episode of 2017, is Lester Spence. He is the author of several great books including Stare in the Darkness: The Limits of Hip-hop and Black Politics and is a frequent contributor to news outlets such as MSNBC, the BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Spence is also an Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. In this far ranging and broad conversation, Lester and Chauncey talk about race and popular culture, neoliberalism and black politics, why Beyonce is not "politically resistant", social media "activism", police thuggery, and the role of "black public intellectuals" at the end of the Age of Obama and through to the nightmare that will be the Age of Trump. Lester and Chauncey also talk about analog vs. digital culture and the art of being a master of the turntables.  During this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, Chauncey answers some questions sent in by friends and listeners of the show and also reads some hate mail.

These "Declarations" feature more thoughts from the experts you hear in episodes of Created Equal. This week, author and professor Lester Spence (01. The Kiss) discusses the effect of "neo-liberalism" in American politics and marginalized communities.

On Tonight's Benjamin Dixon Show:In Maine, Gov Lapage accosts a political rival, over the phone, into the man's voicemail. Across the country, Colin Kaepernick refuses to stand for the anthem during preseason 49er's game. Closer to home, a man in Massachusetts man plots to kill president with some guns he was hiding. Finally, an interview with Lester Spence, an associate professor of Political Science at John's Hopkins. Join the conversation: 857-600-0518

Join James as he talks with Dr. Lester Spence (Political Science and Africana Studies, Johns Hopkins), about his book Knocking the Hustle: Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black Politics. Dr. Spence makes a critical intervention to analyzing how the neoliberal turn in American politics since the 1970s has created a crisis of shrinking material resources […]

https://onthegroundshow.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/OTG-FEB11-2016.mp3 We unpack this political moment—the presidential election, a democratic socialist winning a presidential primary, this collision between neoliberal and neoconservative politics of the last 40 years and a call for a political revolution by Bernie Sanders. We speak to Lester K. Spence, associate professor of political science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University. His new book is Knocking the Hustle, Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black Politics. We also discuss Michael Moore's new movie, "Where to Invade Next." First week of Winter Fund Drive. Other Voices: Voices of formerly incarcerated in Baltimore and voices from "Stop The Raids" immigration breakfast panel, Ericka Totten, Asantua Nkrumah Toure and Bernie Sanders. Headlines: -First anniversary of death of Natasha McKenna, a mentally ill Black woman who was tasered to death while naked by Fairfax County, Virginia deputy sheriffs. -Maryland General Assembly overrides Gov. Larry Hogan's veto and passes legislation to extend voting rights to felons before they complete probation and parole. -The rights of undocumented workers was the subject yesterday morning at a STOP THE RAIDS panel and breakfast on U Street -A proposal to shut down the controversial homeless shelter at the former DC General Hospital -The Department of Justice is filing a lawsuit against the city of Ferguson Producer and Host: Esther Iverem Contributors: Chantal James at Stop the Raids panel on immigration, Lydia Curtis on proposal to close DC General Engineer: Mike Nasella

Dr. Lester K. Spence, Author, "KNOCKING the HUSTLE:  Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black Politics” Associate Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University Listen & Call In Line: 347-838-9852  Neoliberalism is the greatest political sleight of our time. Knocking the Hustle makes it plain. Drawing from political economy and personal crisis, Spence diagnoses the economic pains and existential threats neoliberalism poses for Black lives (and all others) in urban America. Why? To help us convert truth to power to knock neoliberalism off its pedestal. ~Michael Leo Owens, Emory University, author of God and Government in the Ghetto: The Politics of Church-State Collaboration in Black America In this provocative study, Lester Spence opens the conversation about how black politics and the black community have been affected by the market-driven logic of neoliberalism. BROADCASTING BOLD BRAVE & BLACK Web: http://ourcommonground.com/ Join us on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/OCGTALKRADIO Follow us on Twitter @ JaniceOCG  #TalkthatMatters  # BlackTalkMatters Email:  OCGinfo@ourcommonground.com  

NOVEMBER 6, 2014 WHAT DO THE MIDTERM ELECTION RESULTS MEAN for electing progressive candidates in the DMV, and particularly in DC? Guests and Voices: political strategist Alicia Briancon; attorney Jane Zara; professor, author and activist Lester Spence; Omali Yeshitela of the Black is Back Coalition and protesters at the Million Mask March in DC. Headlines and more. https://onthegroundshow.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/OTG-NOV.6-2014.mp3

A growing number of black activists and artists claim that rap and hip-hop are the basis of an influential new urban social movement. Simultaneously, black citizens express concern with the effect that rap and hip-hop culture exerts on African American communities. According to a recent Pew survey, 71% of blacks think that rap is a bad influence.In his new book, Stare in the Darkness, Lester Spence finds that rap does in fact influence black political attitudes. However, rap also reproduces rather than critiques neoliberal ideology. Black activists seeking to create an innovative model of hip-hop politics are hamstrung by their reliance on outmoded forms of organizing. In a clear and practical manner, Stare in the Darkness reveals the political consequences of rap culture for black politics.Lester K. Spence is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University. His work has been published in both academic journals and the popular press, and he appears regularly on NPR. In 2009, he received Johns Hopkins' prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award. Recorded On: Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Mark Anthony Neal talks with Lester Spence about hip hip and politics. Later, Mark is joined by Lawrence Jackson to talk about his book The Indignant Generation.

On April 1, Columbia University professor and scholar of African American history Manning Marable died, just days before his landmark work Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention was published.The Pratt Library pays tribute to Marable with a panel of  scholars discussing his life and work. Panelists include Melissa Harris-Perry, Princeton University; Sherrilyn Ifill, University of Maryland Law School, and Lester Spence, Johns Hopkins University. Moderator: Marc Steiner.Recorded On: Wednesday, May 4, 2011

We'll explore hip hop's influence historically and currently on culture and gender relations with DJ Cut Creator who'll provide unique insider industry insight, Dr. Lester Spence from Johns Hopkins U., the "Hip Hop Professor" Dr. Jeffrey Ogbar, and our political correspondent Dr. Obe Lee Jones. We went from calling our women "Queen" to "Bitches". Why?