"In many ways, Donald Trump is the ghost haunting the Center—the emblem of political realities that Obama still refuses to name." -- Benjamin Balthaser www.bostonreview.net/articles/in-...

In the Lobby of Hope and Change

The Obama Presidential Center monumentalizes a liberalism still incapable of seeing its flaws.

bostonreview.net

Enjoyed my brief time with Willie Geist and Eugene Robinson this morning on MS NOW's Morning Joe discussing my new book 'Save a Seat for Me' #PubDay www.ms.now/morning-joe/...

'Save a Seat for Me: Mark Anthony Neal discusses new book of fatherhood

Author and distinguished professor Mark Anthony Neal joins Morning Joe to discuss his new book, 'Save a Seat for Me: Notes on American Fatherhood.' The book explores Black fatherhood beyond the stereo...

ms.now

AI Companies Are Pulping Our Humanity | Ed Simon The recent revelation about Anthropic’s systematic digitization and destruction of out-of-print books portends a rapacious future, one where soulless LLMs swell while the shelves starve. hyperallergic.com/ai-companies...

AI Companies Are Pulping Our Humanity

The recent revelation about Anthropic’s systematic digitization and destruction of out-of-print books portends a rapacious future, one where soulless LLMs swell while the shelves starve.

hyperallergic.com

"With mainstream money comes the mainstream language...Her whiteness sells. Her whiteness and straightness in a time of nationwide anti-blackness and homophobia sell even more. Cunningham doesn’t fight it. She bathes in it." -- Howard Bryant www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/a...

Sophie Cunningham isn’t rejecting politics. She’s cashing in on them

Sophie Cunningham’s rise says less about basketball than the incentives of a sports culture where outrage, identity politics and attention have become lucrative commodities

theguardian.com

"All of the speculation and hype around A.I. is hiding the fact...It is the backbone of a superstructure that merges regressive politics with unchecked economic power in the guise of technological innovation." -- Tressie McMillan Cottom www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/o...

Opinion | A Reading List for Our Age of A.I. (Gift Article)

A.I. is a political theory. And it is gobbling up our democracy.

nytimes.com

'When the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts unveiled its America250 Big Read program, Marita Golden and Gwen McKinney realized there were no Black women on the list of authors. So the literary activists created something of their own.' www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGe8...

No Black Women on the Trump NEA’s America250 List? They Made Their Own | Amanpour and Company

YouTube video by Amanpour and Company

youtube.com

'A grocery industry expert argues that as our food supply becomes increasingly consolidated, expensive, and even dangerous, socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s publicly subsidized grocery plan takes bold steps to provide good, affordable food.' jacobin.com/2026/07/zohr...

Zohran Mamdani’s Public Grocery Plan Is a Serious One

A grocery industry expert argues that as our food supply becomes increasingly consolidated, expensive, and even dangerous, socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s publicly subsidized grocery plan takes bold ...

jacobin.com

“The book functions as a playlist as much as a memoir...these references create a throughline between generations of Black men who could not always say what they needed to say but could find it somewhere in their music.” — DeQuendre (Goodreads) music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

'If a career in hip-hop and podcasting has taught him anything, it’s that talent shouldn’t trust big media companies. So he built his own empire and became one of the highest-paid voices in America.' www.forbes.com/sites/mattcr...

"I Don’t Like Being Told What To Do.” Podcast Pioneer Joe Budden On Staying Independent

If a career in hip-hop and podcasting has taught him anything, it’s that talent shouldn’t trust big media companies. So he built his own empire and became one of the highest-paid voices in America.

forbes.com

More Typos, Fewer Em Dashes: Writers Are Creating an Anti-AI ‘Literary Counterculture’ Novelists, journalists, and power LinkedIn posters are embracing first-person narratives and idiosyncrasies to avoid being mistaken for chatbots. www.wired.com/story/more-t...

More Typos, Fewer Em Dashes: Writers Are Creating an Anti-AI ‘Literary Counterculture’

Novelists, journalists, and power LinkedIn posters are embracing first-person narratives and idiosyncrasies to avoid being mistaken for chat bots.

wired.com

Meet the Immigrant Doulas Feeding Their Wisconsin Communities At Roots4Change, a group of immigrant women is supporting expecting mothers with fresh food from local farms. Many share the same experiences. civileats.com/2026/07/30/m...

Meet the Immigrant Doulas Feeding Their Wisconsin Communities

At Roots4Change, a group of immigrant women supports expecting mothers with fresh food from local farms. Many share the same experiences.

civileats.com

"The loss of temporary status for some 334,000 Haitian and Syrian immigrants has families weighing other options, which generally don’t include returning to their troubled countries." www.csmonitor.com/USA/2026/080...

Mahershala Ali Makes His Own Hero Moment in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother The two-time Oscar winner “moved on” from a long-awaited Marvel role—and re-teamed with writer/director Bassam Tariq for an original, “uniquely deep” action project instead. www.gq.com/story/mahers...

Mahershala Ali Makes His Own Hero Moment in ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’

The two-time Oscar winner “moved on” from a long-awaited Marvel role—and re-teamed with writer/director Bassam Tariq for an original, “uniquely deep” action project instead.

gq.com

Remembering Betye Saar in 7 Essential Works The artist, who died just short of her 100th birthday, subverted racist tropes by turning mammy dolls into warriors and presenting the breadth of the Black experience. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/a...

Remembering Betye Saar in 7 Essential Works (Gift Article)

The artist, who died just short of her 100th birthday, subverted racist tropes by turning mammy dolls into warriors and presenting the breadth of the Black experience.

nytimes.com

'This short documentary film explores artist Betye Saar’s process creating "Drifting Toward Twilight," a site-specific installation at The Huntington, and her recollections of her life and career.' www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0n2...

Betye Saar: Drifting Toward Twilight

YouTube video by The Huntington

youtube.com

"Apple TV has acquired the rights to Colson Whitehead‘s “Harlem” trilogy, Variety has learned." variety.com/2026/tv/news...

Colson Whitehead’s ‘Harlem’ Trilogy TV Show in Development at Apple (EXCLUSIVE)

Apple TV is in development on a series based on Colson Whitehead's 'Harlem' trilogy, including 'Harlem Shuffle,' 'Crook Manifesto' and 'Cool Machine.'

variety.com

Emory Douglas’s Lifetime of Revolutionary Art At age 83, the former Black Panther Party culture minister continues to explore the possibilities of unapologetically political art. hyperallergic.com/emory-dougla...

Emory Douglas’s Lifetime of Revolutionary Art

At age 83, the former Black Panther Party culture minister continues to explore the possibilities of unapologetically political art.

hyperallergic.com

"For Left of Black, the choice signals a widening of scope for a series that has built its reputation interviewing Black Studies scholars and artists largely rooted in American and African American intellectual traditions." brittlepaper.com/2026/07/keny... | @brittlepaper.bsky.social

Kenyan Scholar Christopher Ouma Named New Host of Duke's Acclaimed "Left of Black" Series

Left of Black, the Webby Award-nominated video series that has spent over a decade spotlighting Black Studies scholars and artists, has announced Christopher Ouma as its new host, according to Left of...

brittlepaper.com

'Oxford American's Clarissa Brooks speaks with director and screenwriter Yoruba Richen about the making of her latest documentary, "Free Joan Little," which traces the landmark 1970s trial where civil rights, women's rights, and prison reform collided.' www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1lF...

In Conversation: Yoruba Richen and Clarissa Brooks

YouTube video by oxfordamerican

youtube.com

How a Network of Pink-Slime News Sites and Conservative Activists Went After Campus DEI Using FOIA requests and hidden-camera videos, the groups targeted universities, leading to the firing of faculty and staff. www.cjr.org/tow_center/h...

How a network of pink-slime sites and conservative activists went after campus DEI.

Using FOIA requests and hidden-camera videos, the groups targeted universities, leading to the firing of faculty and staff.

cjr.org

‘Jimmy’ Review: Inhabiting the World of a Young James Baldwin The director Yashaddai Owens took his Bolex film camera to Istanbul and Paris to show glimpses of the gifted author before he became a literary quasar. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/m...

‘Jimmy’ Review: Inhabiting the World of a Young James Baldwin (Gift Article)

The director Yashaddai Owens took his Bolex film camera to Istanbul and Paris to show glimpses of the gifted author before he became a literary quasar.

nytimes.com

Hope Clarke, Actress and ‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ Choreographer, Dies at 85 The Tony nominee danced for Katherine Dunham and Alvin Ailey, worked often with George C. Wolfe and appeared on the big screen in ‘Basquiat.’ www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/ar...

Hope Clarke, Actress and ‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ Choreographer, Dies at 85

The Tony nominee danced for Katherine Dunham and Alvin Ailey, worked often with George C. Wolfe and appeared on the big screen in ‘Basquiat.’

hollywoodreporter.com

Save a Seat for Me: Notes on American Fatherhood Mark Anthony Neal @simonbooks.bsky.social | August 4, 2026 www.simonandschuster.com/books/Save-a...

The Piece of Art That Inspired One of Theater’s Greatest Works An August Wilson classic wouldn’t exist without a Romare Bearden masterpiece. Here’s how the two are intertwined. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/t...

The Piece of Art That Inspired One of Theater’s Greatest Works (Gift Article)

An August Wilson classic wouldn’t exist without a Romare Bearden masterpiece. Here’s how the two are intertwined.

nytimes.com

How a Novelist of the American Past Recovered His Faith in Its Future Colson Whitehead’s Harlem trilogy turns away from the pessimism of his recent novels to offer a more hopeful vision for Black history. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/m...

How a Novelist of the American Past Recovered His Faith in Its Future (Gift Article)

Colson Whitehead’s Harlem trilogy turns away from the pessimism of his recent novels to offer a more hopeful vision for Black history.

nytimes.com

He Didn’t Plan to Buy in Los Angeles. The Perfect Home Changed His Mind. Darren Walker, president of Anonymous Content, filled the Paul Revere Williams–designed house with sleek furnishings and a collection of works by Black artists www.wsj.com/real-estate/...

He Didn’t Plan to Buy in Los Angeles. The Perfect Home Changed His Mind.

Darren Walker, president of Anonymous Content, filled the Paul Revere Williams–designed house with sleek furnishings and a curated collection of Black art.

wsj.com

Six Years After a Reckoning, Criterion Puts ‘Cinematic Blackness’ in Focus Adding a curator, the Criterion Collection expanded its offerings and its vision of Black film. But auteurs continue to push the company on what inclusion means. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/m...

Six Years After a Reckoning, Criterion Puts ‘Cinematic Blackness’ in Focus (Gift Article)

Adding a curator, the Criterion Collection expanded its offerings and its vision of Black film. But auteurs continue to push the company on what inclusion means.

nytimes.com

'Millions of women of childbearing age live in counties where there's no place to give birth. Nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts could devastate labor-and-delivery services in already struggling hospitals.' 19thnews.org/2026/07/mate...

As maternity wards close, community outrage rises in key battleground states

Millions of women of childbearing age live in counties where there's no place to give birth. Nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts could devastate labor-and-delivery services in already struggling hospi...

19thnews.org

I consistently remind myself that we know and understand less than 5% of the total matter and energy in the universe. This counters the seduction of despair.

“And, after 15 years of hosting ‘Left of Black,’ it just felt like the right time for the show to take on a new vision and a fresh perspective going forward...I always believed,” Neal added, “that the ‘Left of Black’ brand should be bigger than its host.” leftofblack.org/left-of-blac...