Aretha Franklin: Observations from the Court of the Queen
Aretha Franklin rose to her regal status in spite of record labels' mishandling her art.
Mark Reynolds
Mark Reynolds, a PopMatters contributor since 2004, writes cultural criticism, reviews and essays from the intersection of history, race and culture. Mark began his journalism career in 1986 in his native Cleveland as a talk show host and news reporter for NPR affiliate WCPN-FM. From 1992 to 1998, he covered politics, education, local history, music, literature and film for the alternative newspaper Cleveland Free Times. He also freelanced for several Cleveland publications, including the daily Plain Dealer and alt-weekly Scene. His March 2003 Urban Dialect essay about his experiences in the alternative newspaper industry received statewide first-place honors for best media criticism from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists. Other credits include periods as a regular contributor to the trade magazine Black Meetings and Tourism, the weekly newspaper Philadelphia Tribune, and the entertainment magazine Hear/Say. Concurrent with his journalism work, Mark spent 31 years with the U.S. Postal Service, mostly in corporate communications. From 1997 to 2003, he was the public relations representative for the Postal Service in Cleveland. He relocated to Philadelphia in 2004 to launch a monthly video newsletter for Postal Service employees in the Philadelphia region. In 2006, he moved to Chicago to serve as the district's corporate communications representative. Mark retired from the Postal Service in 2016 to accept a position at Antioch College (his alma mater) as Director of Marketing & Communications. Mark's essays are included in two Belt Publishing anthologies: "Red State Blues: Stories from Midwestern Life on the Left" (2018); and "Black In the Middle: An Anthology of the Black Midwest" (2020). Mark lives and works in Chicago, which is a pretty good place to pursue his particular beat. Wherever he roams in the world, Mark carries love for his wife and daughter, books he plans to read someday, and endless hope for Cleveland's confounding sports teams.
The Internet Serves Up Easy-Listening Funk on ‘Hive Mind’
The Internet's fourth album, their most focused if not their most compelling, is a distillation of everything that makes them so distinctively cool.
Civil Rights Document, ‘A More Beautiful and Terrible History’, Is Revelatory, Sobering and Relevant
Theoharis's work is deeply (and sadly) relevant to our current condition. Many of the same issues Theoharis decries -- media inattention, liberal passivity on racial justice issues, government harassment of activists -- are still in play.
Chuck D on the Early Days of Sampling
In those early, free-wheeling days of hip-hop, the artists were waaaay ahead of the lawyers. Chuck D talks about sampling.
‘Black Cowboys’ and ‘The Best Country Blues You’ve Never Heard’ Chart New Trails through Old-Time Music
Black old-time music’s past is a rabbit hole more than big enough for two vastly different excursions into its secret riches: Black Cowboys and The Best Country Blues You’ve Never Heard.
Detroit Rising’s ‘A Cosmic Jazz Funk Adventure’ Showcases P-Funk’s Musical Chops
A collection of extended vamps gives longtime Parliament-Funkadelic musicians a chance to step out away from the Mothership.
‘Chocolate Cities’ Draws New Maps of Black American Life
A classic Parliament track inspires a new look at how black Americans moved, made connections, and created a nation-within-a-nation.
‘Soul of a Nation’ and ‘The Wall of Respect’ Prompt New Looks at Cutting-edge Black Art
No matter where you are on the wokeness spectrum, the Black Power era has yet to stop informing.
A Religion Scholar Goes ‘In Search of Soul’, Comes Back with Ralph Ellison, Garcia Lorca, and Hip-Hop
Alejandro Nava ties black and brown art about survival to biblical values and stories.
What Happens When Academics Essay the “Wang Dang Doodle” of Life?
Flippancy of postmodern rhetorical parkour (iƒ.e., “jargon"), when wielded indiscriminately, draws boundaries between the insiders who know it and the outsiders who don't.