wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Jamal Jospeph tells the story of his personal odyssey from the streets of Harlem to Riker’s Island and Leavenworth to Columbia University. In Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention he reveals what it meant to be a soldier inside the militant Black Panther movement in the 1960s. After being entenced to more than twelve years in Leavenworth, he earned three degrees there and found a new calling, turning his life around.

Elizabeth Dowling Taylor tells the story of Paul Jennings, who was born into slavery on the plantation of James and Dolley Madison in Virginia, and later became part of the Madison household staff at the White House. Her book A Slave in the White House is based on correspondence, legal documents, and journal entries rarely seen before, and reveals attitudes toward slavery of the 19th century.

Jodi Kantor, correspondent for The New York Times, has written a new book called "The Obamas," which gives an inside look into the first family. Specifically, she reports on Michelle Obama's role as First Lady and her interactions with the President and with his senior advisers. Though Mrs. Obama has not yet read the book, in a CBS This Morning interview she responded that people have tried to portray her as an "angry black woman" since the day her husband announced his bid for the presidency.

It's the 150th anniversary of The Civil War and the effects are still with us. Celeste Headlee reflects on her family's role in the Civil War; the branches of her family tree include both slaves and owners. The Civil War is over, but the fight continues; we still argue over whether to fly the Confederate flag and how to teach the history of the war.

When Anita Hill testified during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings in 1991, she sparked a national conversation on sexual harassment and women's equality in politics and the workplace. Now she turns her attention to another symbol of economic success and equality—the home. Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race and Finding Home looks at how the current housing crisis is devastating to families, communities, and cities.

On Wednesday, eight American soldiers were charged in connection with the death of Pvt. Danny Chen. Chen's body was found lying in a guard tower on an American outpost in Kandahar province in October. The 19-year-old soldier died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. This case echoes the suicide of 21-year-old Lance Corporal Harry Lew in April, another Asian-American who reportedly shot himself while serving with the Marines in Afghanistan. Known as a "minority minority," discrimination against Asian-Americans is frequently goes unreported by victims and the media.

A federal judge signed off on the $1.25 billion settlementbetween U.S. Department of Agriculture and African American farmers who say the agency discriminated against them by denying them loans and other forms of assistance. The case dates back to 1997 and gives tens of thousands of plaintiffs a chance to have their day in court. The Takeaway is joined by Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association president Gary Grant, whose organization has been leading the fight for this compensation for more than a decade.

When Anita Hill testified during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings in 1991, she sparked a national conversation on sexual harassment and women's equality in politics and the workplace. Now she turns her attention to another symbol of economic success and equality—the home. Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race and Finding Home looks at how the current housing crisis is devastating to families, communities, and cities.

Commentator and journalist Touré tackles what it means to be Black in America today, at a time when racial attitudes have become more complicated and nuanced than ever before. In Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means to Be Black Now he examines the concept of “Post-Blackness” and tells how race and racial expectations have shaped his own life and the lives of luminaries such as Reverend Jesse Jackson, Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Malcolm Gladwell, Kara Walker, Soledad O'Brien, and Chuck D.

Harvard professor of law Randall Kennedy looks at racial politics and the Obama presidency, and examines the complex relationship between the first black president and his African-American constituency. The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency explores the nature of racial opposition to Obama, whether Obama has a singular responsibility to African Americans, the challenges posed by the dream of a post-racial society, and cultural biases.

The FBI, police and citizens of the city of Jackson, Missippi are debating whether the white teenagers who robbed and murdered James Craig Anderson, a black man, were motivated by racism. The case has prompted many to consider race relations in the state, and it's troubled history with race. The suspects' lawyers say it was just an act of teenage stupidity, but prosecutors say the killing was a premeditated racial killing. The U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation into the case. Kim Severson has been reporting on the case for our partner, The New York Times.

In this week's Movie Date podcast, Kristen and Rafer talk about "The Help," which tells the story of African-American domestic workers in 1960s Mississippi and the white women they work for. While it's not the summer's best film, both of our intrepid critics have decided that "The Help" is a good date. To find out why, you'll have to take a listen!

On this Friday's show, The Takeaway's co-host John Hockenberry interviewed a guest about domestic workers portrayed in the new film "The Help," only to discover she grew up in the same city he did--Grand Rapids, Mich. But as Hockenberry describes, he and Inez Crockett Smith were living in two totally different worlds.

Everybody was talking about Spider-Man this week. But it wasn't the dangers of the Broadway show, or the latest actor to be playing Spidey on the silver screen. Most conversation revolved around the comic book itself, and the death of longtime character Peter Parker in the Ultimate Spider-Man series from Marvel. He's been replaced with a new protagonist: a half-Latino, half-African-American teenager named Miles Morales. We had two expert guests on the show to talk about their perspectives: Vice Magazine's Nicholas Gazin, and Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso. See how our coverage of the new Spider-Man character developed, what listeners and guests had to say. 

Lynn Nottage talks about her critically acclaimed comedy, “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark,” which stars Sanaa Lathan. The play draws upon the screwball films of the 1930s to take a funny and irreverent look at racial stereotypes in Hollywood. “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” is playing through June 12 at Second Stage Theatre.

Sarah Burns gives an in-depth account of one of New York City’s most notorious crimes—the brutal assault on a woman who became known as the Central Park jogger, which took place April 1989. The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding intertwines the stories of the five black and Latino teenagers who were arrested and confessed to the crime, despite the fact that they quickly recanted and that no DNA tests or eyewitness accounts existed, with the stories of the police officers, the district attorneys, the victim, and Matias Reyes—the man actually guilty of the attack.

It's the 150th anniversary of The Civil War and the effects are still with us. Celeste Headlee reflects on her family's role in the Civil War; the branches of her family tree include both slaves and owners. The Civil War is over, but the fight continues; we still argue over whether to fly the Confederate flag and how to teach the history of the war.

While Japan is dealing with a rising death toll, massive destruction and a nuclear crisis in the wake of a devastating 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, some prominent media personalities, athletes and celebrities in the United States have found themselves apologizing for making insensitive comments about the tragedy. Jeff Yang, pop culture columnist, discusses the cultural implications of such remarks.

Imagine a search for identity on an epic scale, and you’ll have some idea what the novel "Pym" is about. It tells the story of Chris Jaynes — a professor who becomes obsessed with finding a mythical black homeland referenced by Edgar Allen Poe in his only full-length novel, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket." But "Pym" is more than a novel; it’s a biting satire of how Americans see race, and see themselves, in the 21st century.

"I feel like she's black. I'm black and I'm her mother, and I believe in the one-drop theory."

- Halle Berry in 2010

“I don't think it should matter what the color of one’s skin is. I think it’s really important to me to be part of movies that reflect the modern society. In modern times we are mixing races and having families and loving each other. I’m of a mixed race family so it's very normal for me.”

- Halle Berry in 2008

You could argue that Halle Berry is not the ideal source for insightful academic discussions of race, identity and multiracial identity. But I would respond by reminding you that Halle Berry has lived as a mixed race woman for 44 years. Her father left when she was four and she was raised by her white mother, and Ms. Berry has often talked about the moment when she was forced to decide how to describe herself, as either black or white, and she says that she didn't "feel white."