Minstrel Rap?

Racial Stereotyping in the Music Industry

The use of the N-word and the recent popularity of so-called "Minstrel Rap" songs and VH1's "Flavor of Love 2" show are raising concerns about the depiction of black people in the music industry. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal, and New York Times pop music critic Kelefa Sanneh weigh in.

Party with a Purpose!

VIBE and VCARES, Karen's Body Beautiful, AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc., S.Lydia & Associates, and allhiphop.com

cordially invite you to
KEVIN POWELL'S 6th ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY and CLOTHING DRIVE
Friday, December 8, 2006
7PM-11PM

at TRIBECA CINEMAS54 Varick Street, 1 block below Canal Street
between Avenue of the Americas and Varick Street
AND right near the Holland Tunnel
Downtown Manhattan, in the Tribeca section
NEW YORK CITY
Take A, C, E, or 1 trains to the Canal Street stop

Music by DJs Cosi, Herbert, and Marc Smooth
of THE FREEDOM PARTY

PLEASE RSVP to trueyorkrsvp@aol.com
You MUST be 21 or over with I.D.
DRESS...Fashionable, casual chic, or business attire
CASH BAR

Admission is FREE with the donation of CLEAN CLOTHES ONLY, NEW OR USED, to benefit the SAFE HORIZON STREETWORK PROJECT, a New York City program that annually supports over 7000 homeless young people between the ages of 13 and 23

WE NEED winter coats and jackets, hats, scarves, gloves, ear muffs, thermal underwear, shoes, boots, sneakers, socks, backpacks, jeans, tee shirts, etc...ALL SIZES

For more info on the SAFE HORIZON STREETWORK PROJECT contact Ines Robledo at 212-563-9648

Skin Color, Stereotypes and 'Flavor of Love'

Skin Color, Stereotypes and 'Flavor of Love'
News & Notes, December 1, 2006

How does the hit reality show Flavor of Love play on black America's long war on racial stereotypes? Commentator Mark Anthony Neal is an associate professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at Duke University and author of New Black Man.

Listen Here

Daphne A. Books on Suga Mama "B"

from The Nation

Suga Mama, Politicized
DAPHNE A. BROOKS

The video for Beyoncé Knowles's latest single, "Ring the Alarm," shows the stunning 25-year-old singer, dressed in a caramel-colored trench coat that matches her glistening skin, being dragged away by policemen in riot gear and locked in a padded cell. An "alarmed" Beyoncé struggles and writhes, is brought to her knees and pulled by her arms and legs, in a scene that should ring familiar not only to fans of early Sharon Stone spectacles (the clip pays clear homage to Basic Instinct) but to those who still remember Diana Ross and her image-shattering star turn as a drug-busted and jailed Billie Holiday in 1972's Lady Sings the Blues. (Comparisons between Ross and Beyoncé are in abundance now as the latter jettisons her Supremes-inspired vehicle Destiny's Child for a full-fledged solo career and takes on the Ross-inspired lead of Deena Jones in the upcoming film adaptation of Dreamgirls.) The gloss and glitz of this shock-value video may cause casual viewers to write off Beyoncé's newest album, B'Day, as just another collection of sexed-up club jams. But they'd miss out on listening to one of the oddest, most urgent, dissonant and disruptive R&B releases in recent memory.

Read the full article

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Daphne A. Brooks, an associate professor of English and African-American studies at Princeton University, is the author of Bodies in Dissent: Spectacular Performances of Race and Freedom, 1850-1910 (Duke) and Jeff Buckley's Grace (Continuum).

SEEINGBLACK.COM: Oh Brother, 2006

SeeingBlack.com: The Oh Brother Issue, 2006
Guest edited by Mark Anthony Neal

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Oh Brother 2006: 'My Passport Says Shawn'
By Mark Anthony Neal--SeeingBlack.com Contributing Editor

Whereas most hip-hop artists simply adopt alternative personas, often referencing an underground drug lord or fictional Mafioso figures, Jay Z has created a complex “hip-hop” identity that speaks to concepts such as fluidity, mobility, social capital and cosmopolitanism.


Oh Brother 2006: You'd Better Call Tyrone...
By A. H. Bugg—Special to SeeingBlack.com

Deconstructing Tyrone: A New Look at Black Masculinity in the Hip-Hop Generation by Natalie Hopkinson and Natalie Y. Moore provides a point of entry to discuss our collective amen to Ms. Badu.


Oh Brother 2006: Remembering Gerald Levert
By Mark Anthony Neal--SeeingBlack.com Contributing Editor

Gerald Levert defined the possibilities of R&B for his generation by making longevity and not crossover appeal the goal. Levert unabashedly embraced the “shouter and honker” aesthetic that was the hallmark of classic performers.


Oh Brother 2006: Black Panther Redux
By Eddie B. Allen Jr.—Special to SeeingBlack.com

Forty years after the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, the organization's history and legacy is still misunderstood and devalued.

Bebe Moore Campbell Goes Home

Bebe Moore Campbell, who penned several best-sellers including "Brothers and Sisters" and "What You Owe Me" as well as articles for The New York Times and The Washington Post, died Monday. She was 56.

Campbell died at home in Los Angeles from complications due to brain cancer, said publicist Linda Wharton Boyd. She was diagnosed with the disease in February.

"My wife was a phenomenal woman who did it her way," husband Ellis Gordon Jr. said in a statement. "She loved her family and her career as a writer.

Her books, most of which were fiction based on real-life stories, touched on racial and social divides while including the perspective of many ethnic groups.

Read more...

CFP: The Spike Lee Reader

Call for Proposals for Edited Volume
THE SPIKE LEE READER

Janice D. Hamlet, Ph.D., co-editor Department of Communication Northern Illinois University

Robin Means-Coleman, Ph.D., co-editor Department of Communication and the Center for AfroAmerican and African Studies University of Michigan

Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most influential, productive and controversial filmmakers in the past two decades. As a screenwriter, director, actor, producer, author, artistic director, teacher, advertising executive, and entrepreneur, Lee has revolutionized the role of black talent in Hollywood, tearing away decades of stereotypes and marginalized portrayals to establish a new arena for African American voices to be heard. His movies have been a series of provocative socio-political critiques informed by an unwavering commitment toward challenging cultural assumptions not only about race, but also class and gender identity. Along the way, he has both solidified his own standing as one of contemporary cinema’s most influential figures and entertained the world. Film critic Roger Ebert has described Spike Lee as one of the greatest filmmakers in America today. Film scholar, Mark Reid regards Lee as having a unique “personal visual style” and a challenging “moral vision.”

Book Project:
The Spike Lee Reader will present critical examinations of the multidimensional aspects of Spike Lee. The Spike Lee Reader will focus on this important cultural producer, bringing together the most seminal writings (both classic scholarship and new research) to explore crucial contemporary questions of race, politics, sexuality, gender roles, class, economics and media impacts. The Spike Lee Reader seeks to stimulate discussion by examining Lee’s various socio-political claims and their ideological impacts. The editors are interested in carefully conceived proposals for manuscripts which critically examine Lee as either filmmaker, producer, director, actor, author, marketing executive, social critic, or entrepreneur. All methodological and theoretical approaches are welcome.

The editors are particularly interested in proposed papers that addresses the following aspects of Lee:
 Public persona
 Speaking tours/socio-cultural critic
 Film aesthetics
 Documentaries
 Production company
 Advertising/marketing projects
 Children books
 Popular films

Submission of Extended Abstracts:
Potential authors should submit four (4) copies of a preliminary proposal in the form of an extended abstract of approximately three (3) pages prepared in APA style, 5th edition. Proposals should include (a) a discussion of the specific focus of Spike Lee along with a compelling rationale for this focus; (b) the theoretical and methodological frameworks that will be used in critiquing Lee; (c) a preliminary sketch of what claims the author expects to make; (d) A brief author biography. The title page must be submitted as a separate page and should include all contact information (i.e. name, mailing address, email address, telephone number, fax number). Abstract submissions will be peer reviewed.

Authors should propose papers that are accessible and relevant not only to an interdisciplinary audience but also a diverse audience --undergraduates, graduates, researchers, non-specialists.

Authors whose proposals are accepted for inclusion will be invited to submit a full paper of roughly 6,000-8,000 words. Authors of selected proposals will receive a manuscript guideline sheet .

Deadlines:
Proposals due: Dec. 29, 2006
Decision on abstracts: no later than Feb. 2, 2007
Full papers due (for those proposals accepted): May 25, 2007

Potential authors should submit a proposal to: Prof. Janice D. Hamlet, Department of Communication, 1425 W. Lincoln Highway, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL 60115 (jhamlet@niu.edu).

The book proposal is available upon request.