Mark Anthony Neal @ UMass-Amherst on Thursday November 29th

Duke University Scholar to Discuss ‘Social Justice in the Age of Social Media’ Nov. 29

Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal will give a lecture titled “What if the Greensboro Four Had Twitter? Social Justice in the Age of Social Media” on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. in 904-08 Campus Center.

Neal is professor of black popular culture in the department of African and African-American studies at Duke. He has written and lectured extensively on black popular culture and music, black masculinity, sexism and homophobia in black communities, and black digital humanities. His books include Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic (2002); Songs in the Key of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation (2003); New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity (2005); and Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities, forthcoming from NYU Press in April. He is also co-editor (with Murray Foreman) of That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader (2nd Edition, 2011).

Neal hosts the weekly video webcast Left of Black. He is the founder and managing editor of the blog NewBlackMan (in Exile) and a frequent commentator on National Public Radio. He also contributes to several online media outlets like The Huffington Post and Ebony.com, and he is featured in several documentaries including Byron Hurt’s Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes.

The event is supported by the Center for Teaching and Faculty Development's Mutual Mentoring Initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support provided by the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies; Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies; Department of English, Department of Communication and the dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

Otis Moss III: "God, Google and iPods: Digital Faith and Analog Religion"

ciwebvideos 

According to the Rev. Otis Moss III, the first mobile app in history was the Ark of the Covenant, which housed the Ten Commandments for the Israelites. Later, the beatitudes (short phrases of Jesus' preaching) became the first tweets. In a lecture entitled "God, Google and iPods: Digital Faith and Analog Religion," Moss says these innovations allowed for the democratization of faith, something that continues today with the Internet.

The 'Politics' of Social Media

The 'Politics' of Social Media

by Gerard Bush | HuffPost Media

The question of whether or not social media has become the most dominate communication vehicle in a generation, at this point, most would agree has already been answered with a resounding "yes!" The more appropriate question, as it relates to the context of social media and the political process in this country, perhaps should be: are we as American citizens missing out on a much broader opportunity to communicate directly with our elected officials before, during and after they have been elected into office? It would seem that, at least from both the Obama and Romney camp's perspective, that the dominant social media platforms are to be used exclusively as one-way broadcast channels to shout campaign messages, (i.e Mitt Romney advertising on the "The Rich Kids of Instagram" Tumblr page) with virtually no response to direct questions from the voter.

The perception, however fair or unfair that assessment may be, by a good many folks, is that our government officials, and more specifically our presidential candidates, are simply inaccessible to "Joe Public.' It is because of that perception that many of the American people harbor so much frustration and animosity with the current democratic process that our forefathers fought so valiantly to preserve. The fact is that lobbyists and a handful of the members of the one percent, either under the guise of a corporation or super-PAC, seem to be the only entities that seem to enjoy direct, or at least close proximity in access, to the most powerful decision maker in the country: the President of the United States. This is a troubling reality that could be so easily resolved if the American people would demand that their voices be heard and their questions answered, all by harnessing the power of social media. This indelible right can be viewed in much the same way as the hoards of visitors that come to Washington D.C. every year and feel a sense of ownership, as they should, to see, touch and feel where their tax dollars are being spent.

Shouldn't the candidates volunteer to open themselves up, at least within reasonable constructs, to the public they hope to one day serve, or in the incumbent's case continue serving? Shouldn't the voter insist upon engaging in this quality and intensity of dialogue even in the face of both campaign's temporary refusal? These are very important questions to ask in a climate of stubborn voter malaise, partisan vitriol and mistrust in a system that appears more and more duplicitous, as each election cycle passes.

Much could be done to restore the faith to the American people if they felt that they were actually in control of their own choices, and employing this open-discussion platform could be a really effective place to start. Some of the petty bickering about non-issues and distractions that have nothing to do with the very challenging obstacles that so many Americans find themselves facing today, could be averted my removing the middleman of special interests and conversing directly with both political candidates, utilizing social media as the conversation conduit.

Simply put, not solely depending upon the liaison of traditional media, and a gaggle of very powerful people, to translate the questions and concerns for the collective of the country, could prove just the medicine the doctor ordered for a country in pain and suffering from stubborn economic anemia and broken government -- a government, that in its current fractured form, is unbending in its commitment in having destructive conversations among themselves, while ignoring the opportunity to engage in a potentially very constructive conversation with the American people.

***

Gerard Bush is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Director of the award-winning, conversational media agency, The brpr Group. Located in Miami’s Design District, The brpr Group concepts and implements national new media campaigns for global retailers and luxury brands including Moët & Chandon USA.

Follow Gerard Bush on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GerardBush

Social Media Saved My Life

Social Media Saved My Life

by David Leonard | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Q: What happened after hackers shut down Twitter for a day? A: Twitterers were relegated to communicating the old fashioned way, through Facebook!

Q: Why is Facebook a great site for loners? A: Because it's the only place where they can talk to a wall and not be considered a loser!

Q: Why is Facebook like a refrigerator? A: Because every few minutes you keep opening and closing it to see if there's anything good in it! (Source)

It has become almost commonplace to mock social media.  Whether describing it as a distraction, as a waste of time, or a world that is otherwise detached from reality, there is almost a cottage industry at scoffing at social media.  Steve Tobakis indicative of this line of thinking:

Instead of living our lives, we're watching our timelines on a two-dimensional display. Instead of doing, we're content to observe events and post milestones on Facebook (FB). We're becoming a society of watchers.

Sure, I know you're all intelligent adults who understand there's a world of difference between watching and doing. But that doesn't change the reality that the vast majority of you are doing way too much observing and a whole lot less doing than you used to.

What's the impact of our crazy obsession with gadgets and social media? It turns each of you a little more into a poor, lazy, lifeless drone every day.

Irrespective of these jokes and the constant disparagement of social media as the demise of “civilization,” social media saved me.

A couple years ago, I often wondered about my career in academia.  Many nights (and early mornings) I contemplated other jobs, pining for anything, something other than my current existence.  I lamented going to graduate school, I lamented the academic culture, and I even fantasized about a world where I could have traded my Ph.D. for something else.  If it hadn’t been for student loan debt, financial obligations, my family, and my colleagues, I would have packed my books and bounced.  While partly a fantasy, and partly the result of the intoxicating belief that the job is always enjoyable on the other side, I genuinely considered leaving academia.  I thought long and hard about turning in my Ph.D. so I could become an ex-academic. 

Between budget cuts, campus politics, disengaged students, societal disrespect for education and the stresses of life, I found myself continually asking, “does this matter;” I found myself hating the job.  Maybe it wasn’t even the job but faced with tragedies, when witnessing so much pain and suffering, none of it seemed to matter.  Whereas I spent so much of my life with freedom dreams, I found myself confronting nightmares.

This wasn’t just about hatin’ the job since a job "ain't nothing but work," but suddenly loathing everything that meant so much to me: reading, teaching and writing.   I wanted out.  I wanted to do something; really anything else.  And that is why it hurt so much.  I was slowly beginning to hate myself.   For so long, I had seen myself, my identity, and my very existence in relationship to being a teacher, a scholar, a writer, and commentator—working to dream the world anew.  In a sense, I hated myself because my identity was wrapped up in the “work.” Since it has never been just a job for me, my growing frustration and anxiety about the “job” was very personal. As a writer, teacher, scholar, and person committed to fostering conversations about equality and justice I felt as if I was betraying myself, betraying those who sacrificed so much for me, and otherwise taking advantage of my privileges by not using them in the pursuit of justice.  I was being selfish.  With these feelings and emotions, I couldn’t imagine another year, much less a lifetime on the academic grind. 

Through personal change and the help of others, including a therapist, I am in a totally different place now.  In every respect, things have changed since then, a fact that I attribute to a community that I am honored to a part of.

In less than two years, I cannot imagine doing anything else; it is clear that this is my life’s work.  ‘Til death due us part.  This change has everything to do with community, finding love, support and respect in an ever-growing family.  Although academic culture breeds individualism, isolation, and a silo mentality, my renewed place, passion and love is the result of my finding a community based in collective support, mutual engagement, and unconditional love.  What is most amazing about this community is that the vast majority of people who I can call on as colleagues, as friends, and as family are people who are hundreds/thousands of miles away, some of whom I have never met in person. 

Yes, Facebook saved my academic career, and more importantly my sense of self and my passions for justice and equality; Twitter resuscitated my place and purpose as a teacher and writer.  These virtual spaces are not only spaces where I find inspiration and support, but also places where I learn, where in the face of so much pain and suffering, I find hope, possibility, and courage to move forward each and every day. 

These tools and technologies often maligned as instruments of distraction and disengagement saved me.  They have brought me into contact with some amazing people, those who inspire and support, who not only encourage me to wake up each morning but to do better, to be better each and every day.  As with my family (partner; kids; parents; siblings) and my colleagues, my Facebook family and my Twitter peeps prop me up when I am down, keep me grounded when I am out of balance and most of all love me when I need it the most.  While others dismiss social media as distraction or as unreal, my experiences have been the exact opposite.  It has led me to reimagine my work and it inspires me each and every day; more importantly, everything from the messages and the conversations, to the connections and love is real.  For me, the benefits are real and so is the future. 

Robin Kelley, in Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination, defines the relationship between dreaming and social change.  “People are drawn to social movements because of hope,” in response to the visions and dreams articulated through and within various social movements.^[1]  The daily interaction I have in social media provide me with “visions and dreams” able to see a better tomorrow and my place within this fight.  Thank you social media family!

***

David J. Leonard is Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. He has written on sport, video games, film, and social movements, appearing in both popular and academic mediums. His work explores the political economy of popular culture, examining the interplay between racism, state violence, and popular representations through contextual, textual, and subtextual analysis.  Leonard’s latest book After Artest: Race and the Assault on Blackness was just published by SUNY Press in May of 2012.

---

[1] Robin Kelley, Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination (Boston: Beacon Press, 2002), jacket cover

Black Thought 2.0 Conference at Duke Imagines the Future of Black Studies and New Media

Black Thought 2.0 Conference April 6-7

Public Conference Brings Together Black Intellectuals to Discuss Social Media and the Future of Cultural Studies


***

Durham, NC - More than a dozen prominent African-American scholars will participate in a conference on the role of social media in cultural studies, April 6-7 at Duke University.

The two-day conference, "Black Thought 2.0: New Media and the Future of Black Studies," will be held at the John Hope Franklin Center (2204 Erwin Road) and is free and open to the public.

To register, go to the conference website. Parking is available in the Pickins Center visitor lot across the street.

For those unable to attend, the conference will be streamed live on Duke's Ustream channel and viewers can tweet questions for the panelists using the hashtag #BT2Duke.

S. Craig Watkins, the author of "The Young & the Digital" will deliver the keynote address at 7 p.m. Friday, April 6. Watkins is a communications professor at the University of Texas at Austin and researches young people's social and digital media behaviors.

The event begins Friday, April 6 with a 5:30 p.m. reception in the John Hope Franklin Center gallery. Watkins will speak in room 240.

The conference continues Saturday at 9 a.m. with panels "The Chocolate Supa Highway: Precursors to Black Social Media," and "On the Grid: Teaching and Researching in the Digital Age." Afternoon panels begin at 1:30 with "From Jena, La. to Tahrir Square: Activism in the Age of Social Media," and at 3:00 with "The Twitterati and Twitter-gentsia: Social Media and Public Intellectuals."

"In many ways Black Thought 2.0 is an attempt to encourage black scholars and academics to catch up to our audience," said conference organizer Mark Anthony Neal, a professor of black popular culture at Duke. "Given our rich tradition of public intellectuals, dating back to figures like Fredrick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, it just seems as though new media represents another way for black intellectuals to be in the world. Imagine what W.E.B. Dubois might have done with a Twitter feed?"

Other panelists include Jasiri X, a rapper who recently released "Trayvon," a tribute song for the slain teen; author Marc Lamont Hill, an education professor at Columbia University and the host of the nationally syndicated TV One program "Our World With Black Enterprise"; and Moya Bailey, a blogger for Crunk Feminist Collection best known for a organizing a protest as an undergraduate student at Spelman College against the rapper Nelly. Several Duke faculty will participate in the conference as well.

The conference is sponsored by Duke's Department of African and African American Studies, the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies, Left of Black and the Office of the Provost. For more information, go to blackthought.aaas.duke.edu.

From the Digital Crate: "What if the Greensboro Four had Twitter?"

From the Digital Crate: What If the Greensboro Four Had Twitter?

by Mark Anthony Neal | NewBlackMan

February 1^st marks the anniversary of what I like to refer to as one of the greatest days in American History.  On that day in 1960, four young Black men—Joseph  McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., and David Richmond—all first year students at HBCU North Carolina A&T, sat at a Whites only lunch counter at a  Woolworth’s department store in Greensboro, North Carolina.  

This protest—formally known as a sit-in—began weeks of similar protests, that went viral throughout the American South in ways that mirror the functions of today’s social media.  The Greensboro sit-ins are widely remembered as the moment of activism that gave renewed energy and vigor to a Civil Rights Movement that was sputtering after the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

The Greensboro Four, of course, did not have access to social media such as Twitter and Facebook, but nevertheless utilized what would have been the accessible technology of the days like land-lines, good-old fashion word of mouth, and what was really the cutting edge technology of the day: a mimeograph machine.  Those young folk, who would months after Greensboro, go on to create the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), under the watchful eye of Ella Jo Baker, understood technology, including television, as simply one of the tools they employed to make their case.

Civil Rights activist brilliantly exploited television cameras, helping to bring the marches in the streets straight into the living rooms of average Americans, whether they wanted to see it or not.  Many activists from the era point to the role that televised footage of young Black Americans being hosed down and attacked by police dogs played in generating sympathy for a nation that had been largely indifferent.

The spirit of the Civil Rights Movement of the early 1960s and the role that technology played during that time has been recalled in the last year with regards to the Georgia Prison Strike, the Arab Spring, the #Occupy Movement and the State murder of Troy Davis. 

Whereas prisoners in Georgia State prisons used disposable cell phones to organize non-violent protest via text messaging, Twitter and Facebook have been critical tools for the largely young folks taking to the streets in the Middle East.  In these cases, the ruling governments responded by shutting down internet access and eventually cell phone and traditional land-line coverage when protestors resorted to old-school forms of communication.

Among Black social media users in the United States, Twitter and Facebook were utilized by those  who created on-line petitions to protest an Ohio court decision to convict Kelly Williams-Bolar of “fraud” in response to her attempt to establish a second residency in a better school district for her two daughters, as was also the case with the highly visible efforts to save Troy Davis’ life  The efforts among, Black “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” (like myself) mirror recent advocacy efforts for the Jena 6, the Scott Sisters, and Haitian Earthquake relief—efforts that challenge perceptions that social media only  has a mind-numbing effect on young people.

Recalling the efforts in support of Williams-Bolar, critic and scholar  Kyra D. Gaunt acknowledged that “Twitter came along it felt like a change to me.”  Still it’s important to remember that, Social Media is simply a tool that connects to the long established human desire to resist oppression and suppression. 

As young folk, in particular, find more innovative and effective forms of Social Media, there will be those who seek to co-opt it for other designs.  50 years ago, Black radio was an important cog in the ability for organizers to get their message out to the Black masses, yet one would be hard pressed to think of Radio One—the largest Black-owned radio company—playing such a role in this environment. 

As the events quickly unfold throughout the world, it will become clear that many are looking at Social Media in a new light, whether its Twitter, Facebook or the memories of four young men sitting at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC. 

***

Mark Anthony Neal is the author of five books including the forthcoming Looking for Leroy: (Il)Legible Black Masculinities (New York University Press) and Professor of African & African-American Studies at Duke University. He is founder and managing editor of NewBlackMan and host of the weekly webcast Left of Black. Follow him on Twitter @NewBlackMan.

Social Media, Occupy, & Hip Hop in the Academy

Nobody Can Predict The Moment Of Revolution [Occupy Wall Street ]

Uploaded by ivaasks on Sep 23, 2011

We want to share insights into the formation of a new social movement as it is still taking shape in real time.

The video was shot during the 5th and 6th day of the occupation.
 

This idea to occupy the financial district in New York City was inspired by recent uprisings in Spain, Greece, Egypt, and Tunisia which most of us were following online.
 

Despite of the corporate media's effort to silence the protests, and Yahoo's attempt to to censor it in e-mail communication, the occupation is growing in numbers and spreading to other cities in the US and abroad.
 

Please forward our video to likeminded people via email, facebook, twitter - and make the voices of dissent circulate.

Find the latest news, learn how to participate and support:
https://occupywallst.org/

Exercising Locally, Connected Virtually--The B. Hurt 30 for 30 Community Fitness Challenge

Exercising Locally, Connected Virtually--The B. Hurt 30 for 30 Community Fitness Challenge

by David Leonard | special to NewBlackMan

It is easy to hate on new media technology these days. Next to politicians (and teachers of late) and hip-hop, new media is consistently demonized and scapegoated for everything from obesity to social isolation. According to Ray Oldenburg, in the United States “citizens are encouraged to find their relaxation, entertainment, companionship, even safety, almost entirely within the privacy of homes that have become more a retreat from society than a connection to it” (qtd. in Watkins 2009, p. xix).

Don’t tell that to Byron Hurt. This filmmaker, who received national acclaim for his brilliant 2006 documentary, Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, initiated the "B. Hurt 30 for 30 Community Fitness Challenge" after he completed his own exercise challenge in April 2011.  Noting that his cousin Shawn Hurt started an exercise group on Facebook, Hurt saw the power in creating a community committed to active living. “The inspiration came from Friends on my Facebook page,” Hurt explained. “I posted my daily workouts in my Facebook status for 30 days, and it seemed to inspire many of my Friends.” The goal of the group is very simple: workout for 30 minutes or more for 30 straight days. The mission of the group – to “inspire, motivate, and supporting willing participants” – has captured the attention of a number of people, attracting over 100 members to this Facebook group as of June 2011.

Minus the fact that she is married to Byron Hurt, Kenya Crumel, the director of program management and technical assistance at a consulting firm, is typical of the group. Between job and family, she often struggled to find the time and energy to exercise on a consistent basis. Her background as an athlete, having run the New York City Marathon in 2007, did not make this any easier. With the “B. Hurt 30 for 30 Community Fitness Challenge,” she not only found motivation, but a community that inspires and helps her achieve her goals. “Being a member of the group gives me a community that helps me be accountable for taking care of myself. Seeing everyone post everyday inspires me,” notes Crumel “I get new ideas about exercise routines from other members. And I feel proud when I finish exercising and I get to post on the board, knowing that I might be inspiring someone who isn't feeling motivated.”

She is not alone. Participants cite the challenge of working out for 30 consecutive days, the instruments of accountability, and the knowledge gained from learning about the exercise routines of others as why the group is so effective. “I read posts from people with many of the professional and personal responsibilities that I have and they manage to find time to take care of their bodies” writes Lori Martin, an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “I am reminded that we make time for the things that are important to us by being a member and that fitness should be a priority for us all.” The group is not simply a space of education, where participants learn what others are doing, gaining ideas as to new ways to exercise, but gain knowledge of how to integrate exercise and health consciousness into their daily life. Exercise is an immense commitment and what this group reveals is that by joining others, by committing to not only the task of the 30 in 30 but to a community, the exercise becomes both easy and enjoyable.

Yet, more than anything else, the “B. Hurt 30 for 30 Community Fitness Challenge" is about creating a community of strangers committed to helping and assisting others reach their potential. It is about camaraderie and community. Rhea Combs, a freelance art producer at an advertising agency in Portland, Oregon, describes the power of the group in the following way: “Even the phrases like ‘get it in, fam,’ reiterate the notion that this is community/family, not just a group of strangers.” In isolation, the group has become connected by their commitment to exercise, to being health, and to each other.

What is beautiful about the group is how it utilizes competitive spirit to empower rather than isolation and discourage its members. Participants compete against the challenge and against them, both of which is made that much easier because you are competing alongside of others. “The potential of a group like this is enormous because when you have a positive group of people pushing for one goal at the same time but at your own pace -- it's a genius idea,” notes Derrick Anthony, a filmmaker who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant. “Working out is like fishing, you want somebody there when you catch the big fish. And if no one is there when you catch it, you will most definitely tell them about it. Working out makes you feel great and you want to tell the world.” This space not only provide a means to “floss” a bit about one’s accomplishments but to do so in a way that encourages others to get their work in each and every day. It is harder to be lazy when your phone keeps announcing how much work your peers are getting done in the gym, on the track, and wherever they can exercise.

Having joined the group myself, I have seen its power, its beauty and the inspiration that comes through the establishment of a community bound together by a shared identity and goal. In March, I completed by 2nd marathon, only to find myself physically lost without a clear goal to guide my exercise routine. Joining the group has rekindled this focus, finding power in the determination of others. My hope to inspire others and my yearning to fulfill my commitment has provided the needed push to get me back on track. It has reminded me of the bigger picture for myself and from society at large.

Hurt, who acknowledges how “fitness is a big part of my life,” sees the "B. Hurt 30 for 30 Community Fitness Challenge" as part of a larger struggle “ to get people to start thinking more about health, nutrition, and wellness.” His efforts to bring people together are but one example of his commitment to educating and inspiring people to be healthier. His forthcoming film, Soul Food Junkies, examines his own relationship to soul food, “the positive and negative aspects of soul food, and how soul food is a major part of black cultural identity. As a community, we need eat better, work out more, and be more in tuned with our bodies.” This group, like his film, shows the power new media technology as a source of community, intervention, and personal/communal transformation.

S. Craig Watkins, in The Young and the Digital, argues that “social and mobile media” are “bring people together across the longstanding barriers of race class.” Summarizing the work of Marshall Van Alstyne and Erik Brynjolfsson, he notes how “increased connectivity has the potential to create diverse communities by providing individual the opportunity to come together across social as well as geographical boundaries” (2009, p. xx). The “B. Hurt 30 for 30 Community Fitness Challenge" demonstrates the power and potential here, illustrating how new media technology not only brings together a diverse group of people but does so in a way to create a community based on a shared identity, a collective goal, and a willingness to be both encouraging and inspiring.

“I think this group speaks to the power and influence that new media has on our daily lives. Social media creates a whole new kind of space for people to interact and engage with one another. In many ways it's such a brand new world that we are living in,” notes Hurt, “So I think new media is a great way to organize people and create groups like mine, where people can feel like they are part of a like-minded community and they can be challenged and motivated to get fit in a safe space." As a group member, I cannot agree more because without the support and inspiration of my new fitness family, I would have clearly taken a day off. Connected to them, I remain committed to my exercise routine and myself. 

***

David J. Leonard is Associate Professor of Comparative Ethnic Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. He has written on sport, video games, film, and social movements, appearing in both popular and academic mediums. His work explores the political economy of popular culture, examining the interplay between racism, state violence, and popular representations through contextual, textual, and subtextual analysis. He is the author of Screens Fade to Black: Contemporary African American Cinema and the forthcoming After Artest: Race and the War on Hoop (SUNY Press).

'Left of Black': Episode #22 featuring S. Craig Watkins

Left of Black #22
w/S. Craig Watkins
February 21, 2011

Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal welcomes Professor S. Craig Watkins (via Skype), author of the book The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future (Beacon Press).

→S. Craig Watkins is a Professor of Radio-Television-Film and Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of several books including Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement (Beacon Press 2005), Representing: Hip Hop Culture and the Production of Black Cinema (The University of Chicago Press 1998) and most recently The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future. Currently, Watkins is launching a new digital media research initiative that focuses on the use and evolution of social media platforms. For updates on these and other projects visit theyoungandthedigital.com.

***

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.

'Left of Black': Episode #20 featuring Bakari Kitwana and Kyra Gaunt

Left of Black #20
w/Bakari Kitwana & Kyra Gaunt
February 7, 2011

In this 20th installment of Left of Black, host Mark Anthony Neal is joined by author, political analyst and activist Bakari Kitwana in a conversation about the current media landscape. Neal also talks with Baruch College Professor and 2009 TED Fellow Kyra D. Gaunt whose recent essay Black Twitter, Combating the New Jim Crow & the Power of Social Networking examines the social justice potential of Social Media.

→Bakari Kitwana is a journalist, activist and political analyst. He’s currently senior editor of newsone.com, the internet news presence of Radio One. He’s also the CEO of Rap Sessions: Community Dialogues on Hip-Hop, which conducts town hall meetings around the country on difficult dialogues facing the hip-hop generation. Kitwana is the author of The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American Culture (2002) and Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop: Wangstas, Wiggers, Wannabees and the New Reality of Race in America (2005).

→Kyra D. Gaunt is a trained ethnomusicologist and classical singer who teaches the study of African American music, cultural anthropology, hip-hop, race and gender studies. A 2009 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Fellow, Gaunt is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Baruch College. She is the author of The Games Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop (NYU Press, 2007)

***

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.

Why Low Performing Schools Need Digital Media

from The Huffington Post

Why Low Performing Schools Need Digital Media
by S. Craig Watkins

When the social and digital media revolution gained momentum at the dawn of the new millennium, no one would have predicted that less than a decade later black and Latino youth would be just as engaged as their white, Asian, and more affluent counterparts. Across a number of measures -- use of mobile phones and gaming devices, social network sites, and the mobile web -- young blacks and Latinos are beginning to outpace their white counterparts. For years the dominant narrative related to race and technology in the U.S. pivoted around the question of access. Today, the most urgent questions pivot around participation and more specifically, the quality of digital media engagement among youth in diverse social and economic contexts.

Picture this: In the very near future the population in many of the major metropolitan areas in the U.S. will be significantly shaped by young Latinos and African Americans. A recent estimate from the 2010 U.S. Census data finds that U.S. Latinos make up nearly 25 percent of the U.S. population under age 20. The median ages for Latinos and African Americans is, respectively, 26 and 30. This is compared to a median age of 39 among non-Latino whites. Forty-five percent of children younger than five in the U.S. belong to non-white groups. The population that public schools educate in America will reflect these seismic demographic shifts.

Virtually all of those Latino and African American teens will have access to more information and data in their pockets than any brick and mortar school or library currently provides. Many already hold access to a rich array of information in their hands today. However, most teens use mobile phones as social, recreational, and entertainment devices. This is especially true among black and Latino youth who use their mobile phones to watch videos, play games, and listen to music at rates that dwarf their white counterparts. But what if young people were encouraged to view their mobile phones, cameras, and iPods as learning devices and tools for critical citizenship and engagement in their communities?

This is actually happening in a surging number of community centers, after school programs, and media education initiatives. These community leaders, technology educators, and social entrepreneurs view kids mobile lives as a starting point to engage, explore, and experiment with the world around them. The work that Lissa Soep is doing with Youth Radio is a great example of an innovative learning ecology where student interest in media technologies is connected to local challenges. Unfortunately, learning experiences like these are rare in the schools that most young people attend.

Every day, a majority of black and Latino youth walk into schools that are not equipped to engage them in any meaningful way. As one social studies teacher in a school populated by black and Latino students told me, "my colleagues have no idea of how tech savvy these kids are." In many of the low-performing schools that I have visited mobile is viewed less a learning tool and more as a source of teacher-student conflict. Mobile phones are treated as contraband to be controlled, policed, and ultimately, confiscated. This battle around the phone reflects a broader problem in low performing schools: the creation of a classroom environment marked by distrust and hostility.

A consistent finding in ethnographic studies of poor urban schools is the high level of mistrust and misunderstanding between students and their teachers. Students believe that teachers do not respect them. Teachers believe that students are often incapable of meaningful learning. Students and teachers lose. In the age of greater public accountability teachers are often penalized for low student performance. And in a world where 21st Century skills are vital for meaningful employment the frosty disposition of black and Latino students toward their teachers contributes to a widening achievement gap and soaring drop out rate.

Technology alone will not change what is happening in low-performing schools. But effective insertion of technology into the classroom might help break the ice that chills the relationship between students and teachers. Rather than spending their time and energy policing mobile phones what if teachers asked their students to pull out their devices to execute a class assignment. In a small experiment I conducted a few weeks ago we observed some interesting behaviors. We were curious to see how a group of ninth and tenth grade boys would respond to a new mobile gaming app that offers information and education related to substance abuse. Here is an excerpt of how I reported what we observed:

"The introduction of the gaming app via mobile devices transformed the classroom and learning environment that these students inhabit everyday. Learning became social, communal, collaborative, competitive, engaging, and, in their words, fun. Students voluntarily stated that a game like this should be incorporated into their health class. Doing so, the young student noted, would make the class more interesting and more fun."

My colleague, in a separate brief, also noted how the environment changed once we introduced the mobile devices:

"Immediately, the energy level in the room went up and the emotional intensity increased. The boys were animated, smiling, laughing, and talking together. Teams consulted on the best answer to each question, and then either celebrated their correct response or commiserated after their incorrect answers."

These students had never met us and yet after playing the game sat through a debriefing session and gave us rich feedback. Their mood was cooperative and friendly. Boys that may have generally been disinterested and detached were wide-eyed and vocal. We believe that the devices (and the pizza) helped create a very different environment, one in which learning, dialogue, and engagement occurred naturally.

The challenges facing low performing schools are complex and yet elements of the problem are easily identifiable. Low performing schools are filled with students who are simply not engaged or interested in learning. In their eyes school is a place where surveillance, harassment, and disrespect are daily occurrences. Inserting technology into an environment like this is a multi-faceted experiment involving not only the reinvention of learning but also the transformation of students' disposition toward their teachers and learning.

My point? The initial impact of technology in low performing schools may be simply to break the ice between resistant students and reluctant teachers. Until that ice is broken meaningful engagement and learning will never happen.

***

Follow S. Craig Watkins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/scraigwatkins

Wither Twitter in Tunisia?

from Al Jazeera English

One of the questions many are now asking is what role social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter played in helping Tunisian activists during the uprising in that country. Activists have said that while the fuel for the revolution came from popular sentiment, new technologies made it easier to organise and to create a sense of solidarity. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports from the Tunisian capital, Tunis.

For Minorities, A New 'Digital Divide'?

from Associated Press

For minorities, new 'digital divide' seen
by Jesse Washington

When the personal computer revolution began decades ago, Latinos and blacks were much less likely to use one of the marvelous new machines. Then, when the Internet began to change life as we know it, these groups had less access to the Web and slower online connections — placing them on the wrong side of the "digital divide."

Today, as mobile technology puts computers in our pockets, Latinos and blacks are more likely than the general population to access the Web by cellular phones, and they use their phones more often to do more things.

But now some see a new "digital divide" emerging — with Latinos and blacks being challenged by more, not less, access to technology. It's tough to fill out a job application on a cellphone, for example. Researchers have noticed signs of segregation online that perpetuate divisions in the physical world. And blacks and Latinos may be using their increased Web access more for entertainment than empowerment.

Fifty-one percent of Hispanics and 46% of blacks use their phones to access the Internet, compared with 33% of whites, according to a July 2010 Pew poll. Forty-seven percent of Latinos and 41% of blacks use their phones for e-mail, compared with 30% of whites. The figures for using social media like Facebook via phone were 36% for Latinos, 33% for blacks and 19% for whites.

A greater percentage of whites than blacks and Latinos still have broadband access at home, but laptop ownership is now about even for all these groups, after black laptop ownership jumped from 34% in 2009 to 51% in 2010, according to Pew.

Increased access and usage should be good things, right?

"I don't know if it's the right time to celebrate. There are challenges still there," says Craig Watkins, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin and author of "The Young and the Digital." He adds: "We are much more engaged, but now the questions turn to the quality of that engagement, what are people doing with that access."

For Tyrell Coley, engagement mostly means entertainment. In December, the 21-year-old New York City supermarket clerk launched a Twitter conversation about "(hash)femalesneedto." The number sign was a "hashtag" that allowed others to label their tweets and join the discussion.

Within a few hours, (hash)femalesneedto was the top trending topic on Twitter — meaning more of the site's 17 million users were talking about it than anything else. Most comments came from black users and focused on relationships, advising women to do things like "learn sex is not love" and "learn how to love themselves."

"There's always something happening on Twitter, some drama, people talking about something," says Coley. "Twitter is a great social network to kill time. When you're bored, get on Twitter. Next thing you know you'll be out of work or whatever. Twitter makes my day go by. That's why I'm on almost every day."

Coley is black, and so are most of his 3,756 Twitter followers. So are about 25% of all Twitter users, roughly double the percentage of blacks in the U.S. population, according to a February 2010 survey by Edison Research and Arbitron.

Many of Twitter's trending topics have been fueled by black tweets. Coley has been responsible for several — (hash)youcantbeuglyand and (hash)dumbthingspeoplesay also sprang from his iPhone. He has a desktop computer at home, which he used to apply for his supermarket job. But he uses his phone for 80% of his online activity, which is usually watching hip-hop and comedy videos or looking for sneakers on eBay.

This trend is alarming to Anjuan Simmons, a black engineer and technology consultant who blogs, tweets and uses Facebook "more than my wife would like." He hopes that blacks and Latinos will use their increased Web access to create content, not just consume it.

"What are we doing with this access? Are we simply sending e-mail, downloading adult content, sending texts for late-night hookups?" Simmons says. "Or are we discussing ideas, talking to people who we would not normally be able to talk to?"

Simmons has made professional connections and found job opportunities through social media. But when he first started using Twitter, the first thing he looked for was other black faces to connect with.

"The African-American community has a built-in social layer," Simmons says. "We tend to see other African-Americans as family. Even if we haven't met someone, we often refer to other black people as 'brothers' or 'sisters.'

"The root of that probably goes back to slavery, how we had to have tight connections because the slave masters could easily break up families," he says. "We needed that sense of family really to protect ourselves during slavery and Jim Crow. That still is woven into, oddly, the fabric of black America to this day. And I think we see this social construct online."

Read the Full Essay @ USAToday

'Left of Black': Episode #7 featuring Farai Chideya and Cathy J. Cohen

Host Mark Anthony Neal discusses the mid-term elections and NPR's firing of Juan Williams with journalist Farai Chideya, founder and managing editor of Pop & Politics and former host of NPR's News & Notes.

Neal is also joined by Cathy J. Cohen, the David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and author of the new book Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics. Cohen is also the author of The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics (1999)