Podcast appearances and mentions of Mark Anthony Neal

For this episode of Beyond The Album Cover I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Anthony Neal from Duke University. We talk about his career in academia, hip hip, Great Migration, Duke/Carolina and everything in between. This is an interview you don't wanna miss. Follow the podcast wherever you stream podcasts, Official YouTube channel at Youtube.com/BeyondTheAlbumCover and Facebook at Facebook.com/BeyondTheAlbumCover!!!

In part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Joseph Ewoodzie and Tyler Bunzey, we open with Dr. Ewoodzie's seminal book about hip hop, Break Beats in the Bronx: Rediscovering Hip-Hop's Early YearsHe shares how hip hop's musical structure helped him understand sociology thinkers and their theories.He shares how his interest in understanding belonging influences his hip-hop curriculum and how that led him to question the hip-hop history that existed prior to his book.How much has hip hop evolved?How have MCs dealt with that evolution or lack thereof? Things were said in the past that could never be said today (homophobia and ignoring consent), and things are said today that would never have been said in the past (vulnerability).But some things have only marginally changed, such as women still having more space for flexible sexuality than men do.Who are the gatekeepers in hip hop? It may not be who you think… Tyler Bunzey offers a theory and shares the best hip-hop culture analogy 9th Wonder made when he was studying under the acclaimed producer at Duke.He shares his gripes about how the arts get left behind in terms of funding and the importance of exposing students to different perspectives and identities in the industry.Professor Bunzey provides more context on how consumers are also complicit in upholding MASKulinity in commercial hip hop.Hip-hop bracket anyone? The scholars share about the Hip-Hop and Urban Sociology course they coteach and how hip-hop provides an interesting lens through which to examine sociological issues. Like Samantha, you, too, may be sad that this class wasn't around when you were in school.Referenced on this episode:Mark Anthony Neal's Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black MasculinitiesTyler Bunzey's Hip Hop Sublime theoryDr. Ewoodzie's seminal book Break Beats in the BronxTroy Smith's thoughts on hip-hop knowledge; his archivesCOMPANION PIECES:When Hip Hop Unmasks Masculinity, Part 1Tyler Bunzey on Beneath the MASK

Mark Anthony Neal, Distinguished Professor of African and African American Studies and Chair of the Department of African and African American Studies at Duke University, offers an abridged history of Black comedy as a tool for activism from Dick Gregory to the present.

In this week's episode, Tim and Jeremy are joined by writer and scholar Mark Anthony Neal. Mark's 1999 book ‘What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture' is a crucial text for us here at Love is the Message, so it was fantastic to have him join the show to discuss his life and work in music. We discuss how the Black popular music of the past 60 years provides an insight into black socio-political life, via Gospel, Soul, Hip Hop and more. Mark explores how his upbringing in the South Bronx, from spending Sunday mornings with his parents to heading to the Apollo to see the Jackson 5 and Aretha, shaped his view of the Black public sphere. The interview provides Jem and Tim with the opportunity to trace their interest in the progressive potential of the 1970s back to the slave experience, the development of spirituals that became a channel for acts of resistance, the African American church's reversioning of Christianity as a space of Black communion and expression, the importance of the jook and the rent party for expressions of Black pleasure. These spaces contributed to the shaping of an increasingly radical Black politics, from the burgeoning civil rights movement to Black Power, with rhythm and blues, soul and funk. We discuss the late-80s turn toward commodity culture within Hip Hop and consider what happened politically to black musicians into the 90s. For patrons, Mark, Tim and Jeremy also discuss early disco, Black dance music and Saturday Night Fever; consider the aspirational, entrepreneurial mindset of many of the 70s pioneers; and the role of sampling as an act of Black archival work undertaken by caretakers of Black musical lineage, bringing us right up to the listening practices of today. Mark Anthony Neal is the Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University host of the weekly webcast ‘Left of Black' in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University. He is the author of ‘What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture', ‘Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic', ‘Songs in the Keys of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation', ‘New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity' and ‘Looking for Leroy: (Il)Legible Black Masculinities'. Produced by Matt Huxley. Become a patron to hear an extended version of this conversation by visiting patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. Check out the back catalog, reading lists, playlists and more at our website: https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/ And listen along our Spotify playlist featuring music from the series at: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZylmJYk5SxyyTI2OQp0iy Tracklist: The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight  The Jackson 5 - Dancing Machine Eugene McDaniels - Headless Heroes Eric B. And Rakim - Paid in Full Ray Charles - (Night time Is) The Right Time The Isley Brothers - Fight the Power Marvin Gaye - What's Going On Sly & The Family Stone - Stand!  Bessie Smith- Back Water Blues LL Cool J - The Boomin' System

Jonathan Majors is one of Hollywood's swiftest rising stars. And he presented a version of masculinity that pushed back against the heavily policed boundaries set by society and Black men themselves. Majors' version of masculinity welcomed softness and vulnerability – it also drew the ire of those who found his gender performance emasculating and pointed towards the “feminization” of Black men. Boyce Watkins, PhD / @drboycewatkins1 (Twitter) When he was arrested at the end of March on charges of domestic violence, Majors was arraigned and released, and Majors denies and disputes the charges. Curiously, following his arrest he was defended by many of the same people who decried his turn to a soft version of masculinity. We discuss the boundaries placed on Black men with regards to their masculinity, and why an act of alleged violence can rewrite a man's place in performing society's masculine ideals. Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke distinguished professor of African and African American studies at Duke University joined to discuss.  

Jonathan Majors is one of Hollywood's swiftest rising stars. And he presented a version of masculinity that pushed back against the heavily policed boundaries set by society and Black men themselves. Majors' version of masculinity welcomed softness and vulnerability – it also drew the ire of those who found his gender performance emasculating and pointed towards the “feminization” of Black men. Boyce Watkins, PhD / @drboycewatkins1 (Twitter) When he was arrested at the end of March on charges of domestic violence, Majors was arraigned and released, and Majors denies and disputes the charges. Curiously, following his arrest he was defended by many of the same people who decried his turn to a soft version of masculinity. We discuss the boundaries placed on Black men with regards to their masculinity, and why an act of alleged violence can rewrite a man's place in performing society's masculine ideals. Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke distinguished professor of African and African American studies at Duke University joined to discuss.  

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an iconic American artist who rose to fame in the downtown New York City cultural scene of the late 1970s and early 80s. Today, Basquiat's legacy looms over us, larger than ever. His images and symbols grace Uniqlo t-shirts and Tiffany & Co jewelry campaigns. In 2017, Jean-Michel Basquiat's powerful 1982 painting of a skull was purchased for $110.5 million, becoming the sixth most expensive work ever sold at auction.But has Basquiat's pop cultural significance eclipsed the artist's place in art history? For Into America, Trymaine Lee spoke with Basquiat's former bandmate and friend, Michael Holman, about the young artist's coming of age in 1980s New York and the crisis of Basquiat's archive with American art historian Dr. Jordana Saggese. And finally we take a trip to Basquiat's childhood and speak with Basquiat's younger sisters, Jeanine Heriveaux and Lisane Basquiat, to unfold their early relationship and an exhibition King Pleasure they have curated in honor of their late brother.(Original release date: April 28, 2022)The exhibition will be on display at the Grand in downtown LA starting March 31st. "Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure" features over 200 works, and includes recreations of the Basquiat family home in Brooklyn, Jean-Michel's studio on Great Jones Street, and the VIP room at Palladium nightclub, as it was in the late 1980s.Special thanks to Dr Mark Anthony Neal for his research support.  For a transcript, please visit msnbc.com/intoamerica. Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, all with the handle @intoamericapod.Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com.For More: Street Disciples: The Concrete JungleStreet Disciples: Broken Glass EverywhereHealing Tremé 

By the 1980s, hip-hop artists were beginning to expand the party culture of hip-hop's early years and think about what they wanted to say with their music. Faced with a city wrecked by economic abandonment and neglect, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five released “The Message” in 1982, calling out the conditions head-on: “rats in the front room, roaches in the back, junkies in the alley with a baseball bat.” And to take control of this environment of neglect, young artists began shaping their environment through dance, fashion, and graffiti. But with the growth in the culture came a crackdown on Black America: in the form of “broken windows” policing, and then a ramped up War on Drugs.And as some members of the hip-hop counterculture became targets of police harassment, they began to fight the power with work that was bold and demanding..In the second episode of “Street Disciples,” Trymaine Lee hears from: Melle Mel of the Furious Five, fashion designer Dapper Dan, graffiti artist Cey Adams, sociologist Tricia Rose, historian Mark Anthony Neal, and hip-hop activist Harry Allen. Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com.For a transcript, please visit our homepage.For More: Street Disciples, part one: The Concrete JungleCheck out the Into America playlist on Spotify

Hip-hop is a rose that grew from concrete. And there's no other place it could have grown than the fertile soil of the South Bronx. At the beginning of the 20th Century, urban planning destroyed neighborhoods and led to white flight, and tall high-density towers re-arranged the landscape of the borough. Around the same time, a massive wave of Caribbean immigrants and Black Southerners were migrating to the South Bronx, leading to a convergence of cultures that would light a spark for the birth of hip-hop in the summer of 1973.Hip-hop is turning 50 this year. So, for Black History Month, Into America is presenting “Street Disciples: Politics, Power, and the Rise of Hip-Hop.” Trymaine Lee is looking back on the political conditions and policies that have inspired half a century of hip-hop, and how over time, hip-hop began to shape America. On part one of “Street Disciples,” how the concrete jungle of New York in the 1970s led to the birth and spread of hip-hop. Trymaine is joined by: Kool DJ Red Alert, DJ Grandwizzard Theodore, historian Mark Anthony Neal, sociologist Tricia Rose, and journalist Davey D.Follow and share the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, using the handle @intoamericapod.Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com.For a transcript, please visit our homepage.Check out our previous Black History series here: Reconstructed: Birth of a Black NationHarlem on My Mind: Jacob Lawrence

This episode features a conversation with my distinguished guest, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, PhD.Dr. Neal is no stranger to the Welcome To Fatherhood podcast and audience, making his first appearance in season 3 episode 25 They Never Saw Black Men As Fathers. Dr. Neal is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African & African American Studies and Chair of the Department of African & African American Studies at Duke University where he offers courses on Black Masculinity, Popular Culture, and Digital Humanities, including signature courses on Michael Jackson & the Black Performance Tradition, and The History of Hip-Hop, which he co-teaches with Grammy Award Winning producer 9th Wonder (Patrick Douthit).He is the author of several books including What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture (1999), Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic(2002) and Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities (2013).  The 10th Anniversary edition of Neal's New Black Manwas published in February of 2015 by Routledge. Dr. Neal is co-editor of That's the Joint: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader (Routledge), now in its second edition. Additionally Dr. Neal host of the video webcast Left of Black, which is produced in collaboration with the Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke.As always, thank you for spending your Wednesday with us!You can visit the Welcome To Fatherhood website for more information. Theme MusicDreamweaver by Sound ForceFrom Premium BeatShow MusicSatin by JMPSCRDem Apples by GRIDKIDSUntouchable by JeesGuyFrom Soundstripe

This episode features a conversation with my distinguished guest, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, PhD.Dr. Mark Anthony Neal is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African & African American Studies and Chair of the Department of African & African American Studies at Duke University where he offers courses on Black Masculinity, Popular Culture, and Digital Humanities, including signature courses on Michael Jackson & the Black Performance Tradition, and The History of Hip-Hop, which he co-teaches with Grammy Award Winning producer 9th Wonder (Patrick Douthit).He is the author of several books including What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture (1999), Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic(2002) and Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities (2013).  The 10th Anniversary edition of Neal's New Black Man was published in February of 2015 by Routledge. Dr. Neal is co-editor of That's the Joint: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader (Routledge), now in its second edition. Additionally Dr. Neal host of the video webcast Left of Black, which is produced in collaboration with the Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke.As always, thank you for spending your Wednesday with us!You can visit the Welcome To Fatherhood website for more information. Theme MusicDreamweaver by Sound ForceFrom Premium BeatShow MusicLast Minute & Alpha by OHSNAPITBWAYColdest Soul by Ghost BeatzFrom Soundstripe

"Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution" exploring the progression of Black comedy and the comedians who have used pointed humor to expose, challenge and ridicule society's injustices and to articulate the Black experience in America. Executive produced by Kevin Hart's HARTBEAT and TIME Studios, the documentary explores Black comedy through a unique lens, tracing the evolution and social awakening of the courageous comedians who dared to push against the constraints of their time and spoke truth to power.

"Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution" exploring the progression of Black comedy and the comedians who have used pointed humor to expose, challenge and ridicule society's injustices and to articulate the Black experience in America. Executive produced by Kevin Hart's HARTBEAT and TIME Studios, the documentary explores Black comedy through a unique lens, tracing the evolution and social awakening of the courageous comedians who dared to push against the constraints of their time and spoke truth to power.

Know the history and enjoy the fruit of creative success...

"Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution" exploring the progression of Black comedy and the comedians who have used pointed humor to expose, challenge and ridicule society's injustices and to articulate the Black experience in America. Executive produced by Kevin Hart's HARTBEAT and TIME Studios, the documentary explores Black comedy through a unique lens, tracing the evolution and social awakening of the courageous comedians who dared to push against the constraints of their time and spoke truth to power.

Know the history and enjoy the fruit of creative success...

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/music

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

We are living in an era of unprecedented access to popular culture: contemporary digital infrastructure provides anyone with an internet connection access to a dizzying array of cultural objects past and present, which mingle and connect in fascinating, bizarre and sometimes troubling ways.  In Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press, 2022), Mark Anthony Neal considers the opportunities and challenges that this vast archive represents for Black American culture, with a particular focus on music and sound. He suggests that despite the profusion of what he terms ‘Black big data' and the supposed democratisation of access this entails, the contemporary moment is characterised by a profound amnesia and an absence of attention to the dense web of connections that bind the analogue past with the digital present. Black Ephemera seeks to at once draw out and ‘mystify' these links, by attending to recordings, historical moments and archival projects which have often been neglected in other studies of Black music. Neal's explorations have a wide historical scope and operate simultaneously in microscopic and conjunctural registers. The book includes analyses of legendary Memphis record label Stax, the place of Aretha Franklin and Mavin Gaye's overlooked early recordings in/as the Great American Songbook, the use of musical citation to try and combat the erasure of Black women's experience from the historical archive, and the significance of archival ephemera to Black mourning practices from Pattie LaBelle to Kendrick Lamar. We cover a lot of music in this episode, and there's even more in the book! A good place to start might be with two mixes made in response to Black Ephemera, which you can listen to here and here. Gummo Clare is a PhD researcher in the School of Media and Communications, University of Leeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/digital-humanities

Mark Anthony Neal - James B. Duke Distinguished Professor at Duke University. He is the founding director of the Center for Arts, Digital Culture and Entrepreneurship (CADC) at Duke, and co-directs the Duke Council on Race and Ethnicity. He will join Tavis to unpack his latest book “Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive.” A framework for understanding the deep archive of Black performance in the digital era (Hour 1)

A conversation with Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He writes and publishes widely in cultural criticism, with particular focus on the cultural production and African American musical history of soul and rhythm and blues music. He is the author and editor of a number of books, including most recently Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities, published in 2013 by New York University Press, and the 2015 publication of the tenth anniversary edition of his classic text New Black Man with Routledge. In this conversation, we discuss the relationship between African American music, mourning, cultural politics, and mobilization in the digital age after our analogue moment. His book Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive, the occasion for our conversation today, was published by New York University Press in early-March 2022.

Four days after the shocking events at this year's Oscars, the fallout is not over yet. The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences says it is considering disciplinary action against Will Smith. Author and film critic Eisa Nefertari Ulen, and Mark Anthony Neal, author and professor of Black popular culture at Duke University, join Stephanie Sy to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

  The 94th Academy Awards became quite tense on Sunday when Will Smith got on stage and slapped Chris Rock in response to an insensitive joke that Rock made about Jada Pinkett Smith. Shortly after the incident, Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor and gave a speech about family and protecting the people you love. The takes on the incident have ranged from insightful to groan inducing to flat out racist. The Takeaway takes a step back and speaks with Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University and host of the podcast, "Left of Black," about what this moment revealed about Black masculinity and race in mass media.

  The 94th Academy Awards became quite tense on Sunday when Will Smith got on stage and slapped Chris Rock in response to an insensitive joke that Rock made about Jada Pinkett Smith. Shortly after the incident, Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor and gave a speech about family and protecting the people you love. The takes on the incident have ranged from insightful to groan inducing to flat out racist. The Takeaway takes a step back and speaks with Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University and host of the podcast, "Left of Black," about what this moment revealed about Black masculinity and race in mass media.

In the first episode of our podcast on The Story of Philadelphia International Records, we'll introduce you to our host, John Morrison, who will kick things off with a trip through the early days of Philadelphia International Records. We'll also explore 1972's Back Stabbers by The O'Jays and 1972's 360 Degrees of Billy Paul by Billy Paul, featuring exclusive interviews with Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Mark Anthony Neal, the James B. Duke professor of African American Studies at Duke University.  This season of the VMP Anthology Podcast is hosted by John Morrison. It's written by John Myers and Alex Lewis, with help from John Morrison. It was produced by Alex Lewis and John Myers of Rowhome Productions, and executive produced by Amileah Sutliff. A special thanks to the people at Sony Music and Philadelphia International Records.

On the fourth and final episode of The Story of Philadelphia International Records, we'll explore the fascinating passion projects that defined the late 1970s for PIR. This episode will cover the story of 1977's Let's Clean Up the Ghetto by The Philadelphia International All-Stars — a supergroup featuring Billy Paul, Archie Bell, Teddy Pendergrass, The Three Degrees and more — and Leon Huff's own 1980 solo album, Here to Create Music. We'll hear from Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, PIR vocal trio The Jones Girls member, Shirley Jones, and Mark Anthony Neal, the James B. Duke professor of African American Studies at Duke University.  This season of the VMP Anthology Podcast is hosted by John Morrison. It's written by John Myers and Alex Lewis, with help from John Morrison. It was produced by Alex Lewis and John Myers of Rowhome Productions, and executive produced by Amileah Sutliff. A special thanks to the people at Sony Music and Philadelphia International Records.

Next up, our journey through Philadelphia International Records finds us right at the label's height of ubiquity during the mid-1970s. This episode will cover the story of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes' 1975 record, Wake Up Everybody, and Dexter Wansel's widely sampled 1976 record, Life on Mars, featuring interviews from Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, PIR vocal trio The Jones Girls member, Shirley Jones, and Mark Anthony Neal, the James B. Duke professor of African American Studies at Duke University.  This season of the VMP Anthology Podcast is hosted by John Morrison. It's written by John Myers and Alex Lewis, with help from John Morrison. It was produced by Alex Lewis and John Myers of Rowhome Productions, and executive produced by Amileah Sutliff. A special thanks to the people at Sony Music and Philadelphia International Records.

In this very special Black History Month podcast, listen as we unpack all the hurt and humor with both the assistance of up-and-coming comedian Christiana Jackson and Professor of African American Studies At Duke University Dr. Mark Anthony Neal.

In December of 1984, a young Mark Anthony Neal read a book that jumpstarted his political and cultural awakening, Earthquakes and Sunrise Missions by Haki Madhubuti. The book's honest discussion of Black culture and the relationships between Black men and Black women laid a foundation for inquiries that have guided his journey since. In response to a variety of different questions from us, Dr. Neal slowly unveils the constellation of people, music, and events that shaped him into the writer, scholar, man, husband, and father he is today. We talk about the evolving image of Black masculinity, his most amazing concert experiences, and what he predicts for the future of Black music as a music historian. Dr. Neal is a walking library and record store and will probably put you on to a writer or musician you've never heard of before, so this is not an episode to miss! Dr. Mark Anthony Neal's Twitter Dr. Mark Anthony Neal's Website Real Ballers Read website Real Ballers Read on Instagram --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/realballersread/support

American author, Distinguished Professor, and Host of Left of Black Dr. Mark Anthony Neal discusses how the R&B genre has a rich historical legacy in black popular music.  Listen as we laugh about our youth and how we take a little detour talking about Todd Rundgren and Don McLean.https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Anthony-Neal/e/B001IR1CVA%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_sharehttps://www.newblackmaninexile.net/https://fhi.duke.edu/programs/left-black

This week on Let's Talk Bruh we linked up with Mark Anthony Neal. Dr. Neal is a Distinguished Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American at Duke University, author of several books including: The New Black Man and Looking for Leroy focusing on Black masculinity. In our conversation today we talk about what it means for him to be a feminist and what divesting from patriarchy looks like for him.     This year our theme is, "Divesting from Patriarchy" so here's how you can get involved and have your opinion heard on the show:       1. Record a 30 second message of what divesting from patriarchy means to you       2. Send your message to letstalkbruh@gmail.com OR call 708-320-3126 to leave a voicemail OR send us a voice text via Instagram DM       3. Tune in to hear your clip on the show.     Follow Let's Talk Bruh on Twitter & Instagram   Join our Men's Facebook Group here: Let's Talk Bruh Facebook Group   Subscribe to the Let's Talk Bruh YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsa2wXlKMWlpAER8v16zXZw

This week, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law officially establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Juneteenth marks the day that enslaved people in Texas found out they were free, two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. For some people, including guest host Melissa Harris-Perry, Juneteenth is a celebration of Black culture and freedom. With that in mind, The Takeaway revisits a conversation from earlier this month about Black Music Month, with Nabil Ayers, writer and general manager of the record label 4AD, and Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University and host of the podcast, Left of Black. Black Music Month is an annual celebration every June of the Black musicians, producers, songwriters and more. Started more than 40 years ago, the observance celebrates the history and scope of Black artistry spanning musical genres from classical and folk to hip hop and rock. Then, The Takeaway turns to KalaLea, host of Blindspot: Tulsa Burning and audio journalist for NPR's Latino USA, Slate Studios, NPR's Interfaith Voices, and The New Yorker podcasts. Blindspot: Tulsa Burning highlights the events leading up to the Tulsa Race Massacre.  Finally, to close out the show, The Takeaway speaks to women lawmakers, including Rep. Alma Adams, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, and Rep. Lauren Underwood, about their dads for a very special Father's Day segment. (Rep. Lauren Underwood with her father)  

This week, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law officially establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Juneteenth marks the day that enslaved people in Texas found out they were free, two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. For some people, including guest host Melissa Harris-Perry, Juneteenth is a celebration of Black culture and freedom. With that in mind, The Takeaway revisits a conversation from earlier this month about Black Music Month, with Nabil Ayers, writer and general manager of the record label 4AD, and Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University and host of the podcast, Left of Black. Black Music Month is an annual celebration every June of the Black musicians, producers, songwriters and more. Started more than 40 years ago, the observance celebrates the history and scope of Black artistry spanning musical genres from classical and folk to hip hop and rock. Then, The Takeaway turns to KalaLea, host of Blindspot: Tulsa Burning and audio journalist for NPR's Latino USA, Slate Studios, NPR's Interfaith Voices, and The New Yorker podcasts. Blindspot: Tulsa Burning highlights the events leading up to the Tulsa Race Massacre.  Finally, to close out the show, The Takeaway speaks to women lawmakers, including Rep. Alma Adams, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, and Rep. Lauren Underwood, about their dads for a very special Father's Day segment. (Rep. Lauren Underwood with her father)  

This week, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law officially establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Juneteenth marks the day that enslaved people in Texas found out they were free, two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. For some people, including guest host Melissa Harris-Perry, Juneteenth is a celebration of Black culture and freedom. With that in mind, The Takeaway revisits a conversation from earlier this month about Black Music Month, with Nabil Ayers, writer and general manager of the record label 4AD, and Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University and host of the podcast, Left of Black. Black Music Month is an annual celebration every June of the Black musicians, producers, songwriters and more. Started more than 40 years ago, the observance celebrates the history and scope of Black artistry spanning musical genres from classical and folk to hip hop and rock. Then, The Takeaway turns to KalaLea, host of Blindspot: Tulsa Burning and audio journalist for NPR's Latino USA, Slate Studios, NPR's Interfaith Voices, and The New Yorker podcasts. Blindspot: Tulsa Burning highlights the events leading up to the Tulsa Race Massacre.  Finally, to close out the show, The Takeaway speaks to women lawmakers, including Rep. Alma Adams, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, and Rep. Lauren Underwood, about their dads for a very special Father's Day segment. (Rep. Lauren Underwood with her father)  

The head of DEI at UNC's Hussman School Dr. Trevy McDonald discusses the issue of tenure for Knight Chair Nikole Hannah-Jones; Dr. Mark Anthony Neal and La'Meshia Whittington expound on the 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory; and Dr. Shante' Williams joins to discuss the challenges Black women face when pursuing positions of leadership at the top.

Een jaar na de dood van George Floyd spreekt Andrew met Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, professor in African-American Studies aan Duke University. Ze spreken over de invloed van muziek in de Black Lives Matter beweging en de veranderingen die afgelopen jaar wereldwijd teweeg hebben gebracht. 

Duke University scholar Mark Anthony Neal discusses the Third Reconstruction, Civil Rights legacy, and contemporary culture of movement making.

Today would have been the 87th birthday of HANK AARON, a Hall of Fame outfielder who set the record for most career home runs. He died on Jan. 22. Atlanta Braves teammate RALPH GARR recalls a helpful man, someone who "was like a quiet Martin Luther King to me." MARK ANTHONY NEAL, a Duke University professor, calls Aaron a consequential figure in American history for his dignified pursuit of greatness in the face of racism and hate. Join us for insight on a national hero and a legendary ballplayer.

Zach sits down with Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, to chat about Blackness and kick off Living Corporate's Black History Month content. Connect with Dr. Neal on LinkedIn and Twitter. https://bit.ly/3oGt26Y https://bit.ly/36vUIoT Sign up for the premiere broadcast of The Break Room! We'll be live (every) Thursday at 7PM Central. https://bit.ly/39sBVN7

The past several weeks have been tumultuous ones for American race relations. Between a pandemic disproportionately affecting Black people and new incidents of police violence, Juneteenth has taken on increased public prominence. Yamiche Alcindor talks to Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University, about this unique moment -- and hope for change. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Deniece Williams shared a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with pop singer Johnny Mathis in 1978 with the duet “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late”. The duet also topped the Black Singles and Adult Contemporary charts. Williams also topped the dance charts with her disco single “I’ve Got the Next Dance”. Mathis and Williams also recorded the popular theme to the 1980s sitcom Family Ties, “Without Us”.Williams moved on to the American Recording Company (ARC) in the early 1980s where she scored the top ten R&B smash hit “Silly” in 1981. The following year, yet another famed producer, Thom Bell, helped Williams score another #1 R&B chart-topper with her remake of The Royalettes’ “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle,” which became a Top 10 pop hit as well, reaching #10.In 1984, Deniece released the album Let’s Hear It for the Boy, in which the title track reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was featured on the soundtrack to Footloose. The song would prove to be the biggest pop hit of her career – and the last. She also contributed vocals, along with Maurice White, to the song “And Then” from Weather Report’s album Mr. Gone released in 1982. She continued releasing albums during the 1980s such as Hot On The Trail (1986), Water Under The Bridge (1987), and As Good As It Gets (1988), which featured her last Top Ten hit to date, “I Can’t Wait”, written by Skylark.Although Deniece had recorded one inspirational song on almost each of her albums, it was in 1980 that her musical career path began change toward one of her favorite things, Gospel music. She joined with friends Phillip Bailey (Earth, Wind and Fire fame), Billy Davis and Marilyn McCoo to present a gospel show at a popular Los Angeles club named The Roxy. The show was called “Jesus At the Roxy”. Deniece felt strongly about it saying, “God did something miraculous. Over three hundred people were saved”, as reported in an interview with Gospel Today Magazine. After that, both Bailey and Williams decided to pursue careers in Christian music.In 1983, Deniece and Bailey recorded “They Say”, an atmospheric, slow praise song that builds towards the end with rousing words of praise. The song was written by songwriters Skip Scarborough and Terri McFaddin and received airplay on both Urban and Gospel Black radio. Deniece later recorded the song with Christian artist Sandi Patti and won a Grammy for it. In 1984, Deniece sang a Gospel song at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards. She sang an acapella version of her 1977 composition “God Is Amazing”. In 1986, she would release her first full-length gospel album, “So Glad I Know” (Sparrow 1121; # 8-gospel) which brought her two Grammy awards.Deniece would continue to write, record and release Gospel music for the next several years. From 1996 to 2004, she presented her own BBC radio show in the UK, showcasing new gospel and inspirational music. During that time (1999) she recorded the Gospel album This Is My Song, which brought her another Grammy award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.Deniece continues to work on countless projects and is still quite active in the music industry today. She has an incredible four-octave range and distinctive soprano voice. Her vocal range was also pointed out by The New York Times, “Miss Williams mounted a spectacular vocal display in which her penetrating, feline soprano soared effortlessly to E flat above high C, and she worked various vowel sounds into prolonged feats of vocal gymnastics”.In pointing to Deniece’s similar vocal ability as her former musical icon and colleague (Minnie Riperton), Mark Anthony Neal in referencing Jill Scott’s agility in displaying vocal acrobatics, states, “Scott draws on her upper register recalling the artistry of the late Minnie Riperton and “songbird” Deniece Williams”. According to Monica Haynes of Post-Gazette.com, “Williams has the kind of range that would make Mariah Carey quiver”! View the Deniece Williams Discography here. Also be sure to view Other Artists Who Have Sampled Ms. Williams Work – click here.

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #73-Dr. Mark Anthony Neal: The Epistemology of M.A.N.s Interiority Complex Dr. Mark Anthony Neal is Chair of the Department of African & African American Studies and the founding director of the Center for Arts, Digital Culture and Entrepreneurship (CADCE) at Duke University where he offers courses on Black Masculinity, Popular Culture, and Digital Humanities. He and I have been in the same rooms at events in Durham the past two years but never had a conversation until this interview. I wanted to find out how Dr. Neal became the M.A.N. he is, what forces shaped his intellect and scholarship --as a youth. I found out that it began on his stoop in the Bronx listening to his mother and the residents on the block talk about everything. It was nurtured by his parents who fed his intellect, and cultivated as an only child learning to be comfortable with himself and his ideas. I found out he and I attended the same high school--Brooklyn Tech--found power and purpose when given time and space to develop our particular Black perspectives, that we hold some of the same fears and hopes for the promise of Blackness to come. 1. M.A.N's home... https://aaas.duke.edu/people/mark-anthony-neal 2. https://www.darnelllmoore.com/ 3. http://www.openculture.com/2016/05/ta-nehisi-coates-list-of-13-recommended-books.html