Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan on X)
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markanthonyneal.bsky.social
Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan on X)
@markanthonyneal.bsky.social
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).
Excited to be back in the Lab with Anthony Kelley.
#Motown
#BlackStudies
#SoulMusic
#BlackSkyOver40
November 9, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Left of Black Digital Series Wins Two Telly Awards for Video Excellence
leftofblack.org/left-of-blac...
September 9, 2025 at 4:43 PM
My father was a member of 1199SEIU. My mother was a member of District Council 37, Local 372. I was a member of the United Federation of Teachers and United University Professions. I continue to support organized labor, in the spirit of our Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Bro. A. Philip Randolph.
September 1, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Highest 2 Lowest
August 22, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Jackie Robinson and Nat King Cole, two of the most recognizable Black men in America in the 1950s, commiserating prior to a Brooklyn Dodger/Chicago Cubs game in 1954. What stories did they share about being "credits to the race" and the racism that still impacted them?
July 21, 2025 at 1:58 PM
"The Black Pack: Comedy, Race & Resistance is the first book to chronicle the untold history behind the iconic collaborations between a legendary group of comedians—Eddie Murphy, Paul Mooney, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Robert Townsend, and Arsenio Hall..."
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the.../97819...
July 5, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Kwame Toure.

#BoTD
June 29, 2025 at 5:52 PM
"And in many ways, Hip-hop journalists in the earliest days were functioning themselves as historians and critics and archivists and archeologists, if you will, anthropologists of Hip-hop culture."

Mark Anthony Neal from 'Word Life: An Opinionated Mixtape of Hip Hop Journalism' (February, 2024)
June 26, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I enjoyed talking about some of the contours of Black masculinity with Soror and public relations professional Tonya McKenzie.
June 16, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I was honored to contribute my insights to 'SLY LIVES (aka The Burden of Black Genius)'. The film will forever serve as the ideal companion to the Late, Great Sylvester Stewart's musical oeuvre and tribute to his cultural impact.
June 10, 2025 at 4:51 AM
June 6, 2025 at 3:04 PM
#BlackMusicMonth

'In _Right to Rock_ Maureen Mahon offers an in-depth account of how, members of The Black Rock Coalition have broadened understandings of Black identity and Black culture through Rock music.'
dukeupress.edu/right-to-rock
June 4, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Betty Davis (1944-2022)
#BlackMusicMonth
#BullCity
June 4, 2025 at 2:53 PM
"_If You Can’t Be Free, Be A Mystery_ reveals Lady Day in all her complexity, humor and pain–a true jazz virtuoso whose passion and originality made every song she sang hers forever." -- @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social

#BlackMusicMonth
June 2, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Pub Date: 7/8/25
“Among the most profound and dazzling debuts I've ever read”—Kiese Laymon

"essay collection from critic Lawrence Burney that is a personal and analytical look at his home city of Baltimore, music from throughout the global Black diaspora, and the traditions that raised him."
May 18, 2025 at 10:24 PM
"The story of a young, Black Communist Party organizer wrongly convicted of attempting to incite insurrection and the landmark case that made him a civil rights hero."
wwnorton.com/books/you-ca...
May 15, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I presided over my last Graduation Ceremony as Chair of the Department of African & African-American Studies at Duke University. The Great Karla F.C. Holloway, the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emerita, returned to the house that She built, to deliver a timely word.
May 10, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Students in my "From Black Twitter to Left of Black" course learning production from Left of Black producer Eric Barstow as they prepare to shoot their own episode of the The Webby Awards nominated series.

You can cast your vote for Left of Black:
vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting...
April 13, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I am honored and thrilled that Left of Black is again recognized...

"Duke University web series Left of Black, now in its 15th season, has been nominated for Best Video Series in the category of Science & Education in the 29th Annual Webby Awards."
leftofblack.org/black-studie...
April 9, 2025 at 6:19 PM
What does it look like to not only survive, but to thrive, in a society that surrounds you and your community with hostility and detriment?

Author Aaron Robertson on The Black Utopians | #LeftOFBlack
leftofblack.org/podcast/s15-...
April 8, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Mark Anthony Neal, chair of the Department of African & African American Studies at Duke with Cornel West after a public conversation sponsored by @durhamcountylib.bsky.social
March 1, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Naiima Khahaifa, a member of Duke University's African & African American Studies Department presents her research at the @black-think-tank.bsky.social's 1st New Faculty Symposium
March 1, 2025 at 3:48 PM
"In Black Girls and How We Fail Them, a revelatory book for political analysts, hip-hop lovers, pop culture junkies, and parents, Aria Halliday provides the critical perspective we need to create a world that supports, affirms, and loves Black girls."
uncpress.org/book/9781469...
March 1, 2025 at 2:53 PM
The Long 1970s & The Institute of the Black World | #LeftOfBlack

Historian Derrick E. White discusses his book 'The Challenge of Blackness: The Institute of the Black World and Political Activism in the 1970s'

#BlackHistoryMonth
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9mR...
February 4, 2025 at 2:25 AM
The Story Behind ‘We Shall Overcome’ and Other Anthems of Black Resistance | #LeftOfBlack

Shana Redmond discusses her book 'Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora'

#BlackHistoryMonth
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3DG...
February 4, 2025 at 1:44 AM