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Author: Phillip Loken

Phillip Loken is a Raleigh, NC-based multidisciplinary artist offering a unique approach to the documentation of Black southern culture, encompassing some of what you’re familiar with and some of what you’re not. His mediums are video art, digital photography and analog photography; working in genres including fine art, documentary, character study, landscape, fashion and concert. Phill is currently experimenting with expired film, 35mm, 110 and APS film formats.
June 30, 2021

Capitalism and Slavery: The Development Of The Negro Slave Trade

For our last bit of JuneTeenth celebration this month, I decided to pull an excerpt from one of the books featured in our two part commemorative JuneTeenth recommended reading list (Part One, Part Two). This excerpt is from Eric Williams and Colin A. Palmer’s Capitalism and Slavery, Third Edition.  The negro slaves were “the strength and sinews of this western world.”… Continue Reading Capitalism and Slavery: The Development Of The Negro Slave Trade

Categories Africa & African Diaspora/African American History/African American Studies/American History/Business/Economics/Latin American/Caribbean Hist.
June 28, 2021

Princess Noire: We Knew She Was a Genius

With a few more days left to celebrate Black Music Month, we chose to post this excerpt from Nadine Cohodas’ Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone. This book and a few other titles were featured on a recommended reading list commemorating some of the incredible things black people have brought to music as a whole. John Irvin sang… Continue Reading Princess Noire: We Knew She Was a Genius

Categories African American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Music
June 24, 2021

Author B. Brian Foster in Conversation with Author William Ferris, Hosted by Square Books

In late January, Oxford, MS-based indie bookstore Square Books hosted a virtual conversation between B. Brian Foster, author of I Don’t Like The Blues: Race, Black and Backbeat of Black Life, and William Ferris, author of Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues. Watch as Foster and Ferris discuss a history of black people’s involvement in sociology,… Continue Reading Author B. Brian Foster in Conversation with Author William Ferris, Hosted by Square Books

Categories African American Studies/Anthropology/Music/Sociology/Southern Studies
June 22, 2021

Happy Black Music Month: A Recommended Reading List

Fresh off the heels of our JuneTeenth reading lists (Part One and Part Two) , I’m back with another celebration of black culture; Black Music Month. “Created by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, this month celebrates the African American musical influences that comprise an essential part of our nation’s treasured cultural heritage.” Black people have had a hand in basically… Continue Reading Happy Black Music Month: A Recommended Reading List

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Music
June 18, 2021

Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part Two

Happy early JuneTeenth again! I’m back with part two of the recommended reading list in celebration of JuneTeenth, “the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.” Part one of the recommended reading list focused on the experiences of black American slaves whose labor helped shape the fabric of America. Part two of the reading… Continue Reading Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part Two

Categories African American Studies/Environmental Studies/Gender Studies/Literature/Music/Political Science/Politics/Sociology/Southern Studies/Women's Studies
June 14, 2021

Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part One

Happy early Juneteenth! If you don’t know, June 19th is “the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and… Continue Reading Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part One

Categories Africa & African Diaspora/African American History/African American Studies/American Studies/Economics/Gender Studies/History/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Religion/Women's Studies
June 10, 2021

UNC Press authors Regina N. Bradley & Imani Perry speak at IASPM’s Popular Music Books in Process Series

In April, author of Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South Regina Bradley and Imani Perry, author of May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem (available in paperback October 2021), spoke during one of the sessions for IASPM’s Popular Music Books in Process Series. The series started in June 2020 and “offer writers and scholars… Continue Reading UNC Press authors Regina N. Bradley & Imani Perry speak at IASPM’s Popular Music Books in Process Series

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Literature/Music
June 7, 2021

Dr. Monica White, Author of Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement, on the Healthy Food Movement’s Spilt Milk: The Food Trust Podcast

In February, author of Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement Dr. Monica M. White was featured on the first episode of the Healthy Food Movement’s new podcast called Spilt Milk: The Food Trust podcast. Spilt Milk helps consumers make sense of our food system by intersecting food with our mental, physical and environmental health. Dr. White and… Continue Reading Dr. Monica White, Author of Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement, on the Healthy Food Movement’s Spilt Milk: The Food Trust Podcast

Categories African American Studies/Environmental Studies/Southern Studies
May 28, 2021

P&P Live! Anthea Butler discusses White Evangelical Racism with Jeff Sharlet

Just a day ago, author of Ferris & Ferris book White Evangelical Racism, Anthea Butler spoke with Book People, but today we have footage from Anthea’s discussion with Jeff Sharlet, author and associate professor of English and creative writing at Dartmouth, hosted by Washington, D.C.-based independent bookstore Politics & Prose. Anthea and Jeff discuss White Evangelical Racism and everything from… Continue Reading P&P Live! Anthea Butler discusses White Evangelical Racism with Jeff Sharlet

Categories African American Studies/Political Science/Politics/Religion
May 24, 2021

Author of Ferris & Ferris book “Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue” Adrian Miller’s Interview with Kevin’s BBQ Joints

In March, Miller sat down with the podcast and YouTube series Kevin’s BBQ Joints to discuss his new book Black Smoke. Adrian Miller is a certified Kansas City Barbecue Society judge and recipient of a James Beard Foundation Book Award for Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time. A consultant on Netflix’s Chef’s Table BBQ, Miller’s… Continue Reading Author of Ferris & Ferris book “Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue” Adrian Miller’s Interview with Kevin’s BBQ Joints

Categories African American Studies/Cooking / Food
May 19, 2021

Happy Haitian Heritage Month: A Reading List

A strong “Sak Pase” to all of our Haitian and Haitian-descendant readers! May is Haitian Heritage Month and we wanted to celebrate with a recommended reading list dedicated to the history of the first independent black republic in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti. May was chosen as Haitian Heritage Month because it marks the anniversary of the birth of Toussaint L’Ouverture,… Continue Reading Happy Haitian Heritage Month: A Reading List

Categories Africa & African Diaspora/Anthropology/Biography / Autobiography/folklore/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Religion/UNC Press News
April 16, 2021

Celebrating the Life of North Carolina’s Barbecue Legend Wilber Shirley

Earlier this month, Wilber Shirley, a true legend in North Carolina’s barbecue world, passed. In honor of his legacy, we have chosen to post his interview from John Shelton Reed, Dale Volberg Reed and William McKinney’s co-authored Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue. “That grease hitting those coals makes the smoked flavor. You can’t spray it on… Continue Reading Celebrating the Life of North Carolina’s Barbecue Legend Wilber Shirley

Categories Cooking / Food/History/North Carolina
April 13, 2021

Policing and Ongoing Social Injustice Towards Black Lives in America: A Reading List

In response to recent events in Brooklyn Center MN, the following curated reading list provides information regarding ongoing injustices and discriminatory practices perpetuated by a lack of criminal justice reform that’s historically targeted Black Americans. In the aftermath of the police killing of Daunte Wright, here are resources for donating and healing. The Punitive Turn in American Life: How the… Continue Reading Policing and Ongoing Social Injustice Towards Black Lives in America: A Reading List

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American Studies/Civil Rights