30 Days of ‘Left of Black’: Novelist Zelda Lockhart and Morehouse Professor Stephane Dunn
We had no idea what Left of Black was going to be. The germ of the idea came from Duke News and Communications staffers Camille Jackson and James Todd; the title was all mine, though folk at Duke still ask, what exactly it means—I remain coy.
Within a month of the idea, we were in production, acquiring on-campus partners at the John Hope Franklin Center, a space at Duke I have special affection for as it was where the Department of African & African-American Studies was housed when I first came to Duke, and of course, the building’s namesake, who could often be found pulling up to the building in his Lexus, preparing to hold court with whoever was interested (and we were always interested).
The Center’s director Jason Doty handled Left of Black's branding and Catherine Angst, the center’s videographer, became the show’s director and producer. There’s much to be said about the young White woman from Pennsylvania, who knew little about African-American Studies when we began the show, but who’s comfort and dexterity with archival material has given Left of Black its distinct look—just check the show’s Pinterest page. We were also fortunate to have Gavin Wells come on-board, an undergraduate at HBCU North Carolina Central University who participated in an internship program between our two institutions; he shot B-roll footage for us throughout the first year. Later in the year we also were joined by Laura Maule, a Duke undergraduate, who would work with the show for three years until her recent graduation, organizing our social media presence and booking guests.
We of course needed some theme music and my friend and “Sampling Soul” teaching partner Patrick Douthit—9th Wonder—didn’t hesitate to send us that “your point of view” ("Merry Go Round") beat, that so resonated with the themes of the series.
For the very first episode, broadcast on September 13, 2010, I went to people I could trust. Zelda Lockhart’s first novel, First Born, was published by one of the imprints at a big New York publishing house in 2002. When that publisher essentially canned her second novel Cold Running Creek, she took the unprecedented step of buying her work back from the publisher (at great cost) and published the book herself. Zelda’s DIY style—she will launch LaVenson Press Studios in June of this year—was exactly the kind of spirit that we wanted to embrace with Left of Black. Why wait for Charlie Rose or NPR to have conversations with Black thinkers and artists? Do it yourself.
We were also joined by Morehouse Professor Stephane Dunne, author of "Baad Bitches" and Sassy Supermamas: Black Power Action Films, who discussed Reggie Rockbythewood’s 30 for 30 documentary One Night in Vegas, about the friendship between Mike Tyson and the late Tupac Skakur. In the first year, we were still committed to the show having a local presence, so between segments there is a “question of the week,” where we ask local residents questions relevant to the week’s show.
Mark Anthony Neal, Ph.D.
Host, Left of Black
Professor of African & African American Studies at Duke University
Title: 30 Days of ‘Left of Black’: Novelist Zelda Lockhart and Professor Stephane Dunn
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2:58 PM
Rating: 100% based on 99998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
2:58 PM
