Aggregator of Black Culture. James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African & African American Studies at Duke University. Host of the Webby-nominated Left of Black. Author of several books, including forthcoming SAVE A SEAT FOR ME (on Black Fatherhood).
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.www.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 TwilightYouTube video by The Huntingtonwww.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.comEmory 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 ArtAt 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" SeriesLeft 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 BrooksYouTube video by oxfordamericanwww.youtube.comHow 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.www.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.www.nytimes.comHope 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 85The 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.comSave 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.www.nytimes.comHow 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.www.nytimes.comHe 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.www.wsj.comSix 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.www.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 statesMillions 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“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...
New Host Announcement for Award-Winning “Left of Black” Series | Left of Black Left of Black is a weekly video podcast hosted by Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal and produced by the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke Universityleftofblack.org"In her book “South of Pico” (2017), about Black artists in Los Angeles in the ’60s and ’70s, the art historian Kellie Jones described Ms. Saar’s Aunt Jemima as “incredibly strident, promoting the threat of violence.” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/a...
Betye Saar, Artist Who Upended Black Stereotypes, Dies at 99 (Gift Article)Working with dolls, family photographs, fabric scraps and other found objects, she became a leading figure in assemblage art.www.nytimes.comPlaywright and professor Lisa B. Thompson speaks on the role of the artist residency in her ability to balance motherhood and creative expression. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk1C...
Creative Conversations: Lisa B. Thompson. "Peace In The Woodshed"YouTube video by Musiqology TVwww.youtube.com“The mask is heavy,” he said. Moore says he wears his own mask around many people, “not because it makes me more comfortable—it’s because it makes them more comfortable.” Being in spaces where people are “not used to seeing you” is a burden, he said." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The NewcomerWes Moore isn’t here to save the Democratic Party.www.theatlantic.comSave a Seat for Me: Notes on American Fatherhood Mark Anthony Neal Simon & Schuster | August 4, 2026 www.simonandschuster.com/books/Save-a...