1231 Fulton Avenue

So here’s the backstory: Joan Morgan and I have known each other for about 35 years. We grew up together in the same South Bronx tenement—1231 Fulton Avenue—and went to “Head Start” and Kindergarten together. Our parents, especially our not-so-feminist-feminist mommies, always knew we’d be South Bronx success stories, but neither Joan nor I thought we’d ever become part of the chorus of “voices” that would help define a generation. In many ways New Black Man is a response to When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost—the kind of cross-gender conversation that hip-hop needs to be about now. Recently Joan and I have been fortunate to take our show on the road. We were both in the room when KRS-One imploded at Stanford a few weeks ago, but we won’t be discussing that here. More recently Joan and I spent a few days at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where we were hosted by professors David Ikard (a fellow black male feminist) and George White. The video links to our conversations are below:

Understanding Chickheads, Pimps, Golddiggas, and Gangsta Rappers: A conversation with Hip Hop Feminist Joan Morgan and Mark Anthony Neal

Hip Hop Culture in the Academy: A panel discussion
Panelists: David Ikard (Moderator), Joan Morgan, Mark Anthony Neal, George White, and RaMonda Horton Ikard