Black Masculinity in the Documentary Frame on the March 19thLeft of Black
Host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined via Skype© by filmmaker Ron Chepesiuk, who discusses his new film The Frank Matthews Story: The Rise and Disappearance of America’s Biggest Kingpin.The film will be screened March 23, 2012 at the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, NC. Chepesiuk talks about the 1970s drug trade, describes why Matthews is one of America’s lesser known gangsters, despite his successful and brilliant operation, and shares some of the D.B. Cooper-like details of Matthews’ disappearance in 1974.
Later, Neal is joined via Skype© by Jonathan Gayles, professor of African American Studies at Georgia State University and writer, director, and producer of the film White Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in American Comic Books (California Newsreel). Gayles discusses reactions to his movie, which won best documentary feature at the 2010 Urban Media Makers Film Festival and remembers the impact of the late Dwayne McDuffie, founder of Milestone Media. Neal and Gayles also discuss Black Entertainment Television’s ill-fated attempt to bring the animated series Black Panther to television.
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Left of Black airs at 1:30 p.m. (EST) on Mondays on the Ustream channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/left-of-black. Viewers are invited to participate in a Twitter conversation with Neal and featured guests while the show airs using hash tags #LeftofBlack or #dukelive.
Left of Black is recorded and produced at the John Hope Franklin Center of International and Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University.
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Follow Left of Black on Twitter: @LeftofBlack
Follow Mark Anthony Neal on Twitter: @NewBlackMan
Follow Jonathan Gayles: @JonathanGayles
Follow Ron Chepesuik: @RonChepesuik
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