Left of Black S2:E5
w/ Scott Poulson Bryant and Anne-Maria Makhulu
October 10, 2011

Left of Black, host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined by Scott Poulson Bryant, one of the founding editors of Vibe Magazine and author of the 2005 book Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America and the just published novel The VIPs.  The two scholars speak to the book’s setting in Sag Harbor, a black elite leisure space in Long Island, New York comparable to Martha’s Vineyard.  The Long Island bred author and journalist, who is currently enrolled in Harvard University’s doctoral program in American Civilization, crowned the name Vibe Magazine tells and Left of Black about the impact of hip-hop and black popular culture on contemporary journalism.  

Neal is later joined by Anne-Marie Makhulu, professor of Cultural Anthropology and African & African-American Studies at Duke University.  Professor Makhulu is currently teaching a class on the HBO series The Wire.  An expert on economics in South Africa, Makhulu compares and contrasts the urban American inner-city portrayed in The Wire with that of South African cities.  Makhulu talks about the series’ depiction of  the decline of the American city and  how the series, a favorite of President Obama, might impact public policy.    

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Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University.

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Episodes of Left of Black are also available for download @ iTunes U