Commentary

VIDEO & Storify: "Digital Humanities Beyond the Classroom: The Education of Manning Marable"

Zaheer Ali — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:00:00 +0000

As part of the Manning Marable Memorial Conference, I participated in a session with Megan Marcelin and Mark Phillipson entitled "Digital Humanities Beyond the Classroom: The Education of Manning Marable" that examined the series of pioneering digital humanities projects Dr. Marable undertook with Columbia's Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL).

One of the projects on which I worked closely with Dr. Marable is an online, annotated, multimedia version of The Autobiography of Malcolm X. At our conference session, I screened this CCNMTL-produced video clip highlighting some features of that project:

Thanks to all those who tweeted, here's a storified recap of the entire session (may take a few seconds to load):

Storify: "Researching Malcolm, Reading Marable: A Malcolm X Project Roundtable"

Zaheer Ali — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:15:00 +0000

As part of the Manning Marable Memorial Conference, fellow Malcolm X Project researchers May Alhassen, Garrett Felber, & Liz Mazucci joined me in a roundtable conversation moderated by Hishaam Aidi, about Manning Marable's Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. We reflected on our work with Dr. Marable, his book, and its critics.

A partial audio recording of the session is forthcoming, but in the meantime, thanks to all those who tweeted here's a storified recap (may take a few seconds to load):

Storify: "Minneapolis Royalty: Prince" Pop Conference Session

Zaheer Ali — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 03:25:00 +0000

Thanks to all who attended and tweeted about Matt Thomas's and my Pop Conference session on Prince, here's a storified recap (may take a few seconds to load):

IASPM-US/POP Conference: "MPLS (Minneapolis): As Site and Sound"

Zaheer Ali — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:59:00 +0000

As a preview/supplement for my Pop Conference presentation on Prince and the Minneapolis sound, the International Association for the Study of Popular Music posted my discussion of 10 songs that reflect the influence of the Minneapolis sound.

Read the article here.

The Root: "What About Poor White Kids?"

Zaheer Ali — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:33:08 +0000

"Our national conversations about poverty -- so entangled with race in unspoken ways -- have rendered the white poor invisible and the black poor pathological, and undermined our attempts to gain majority support for anti-poverty programs."

Read the article here.

The Root: "On Black Atheism: Zaheer Ali"

Zaheer Ali — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:06:52 +0000

What does the apparent rise in atheism and agnosticism (pdf) among blacks tell us about the utility of religion for African Americans in today's social and political climate? Interviews with academics, activists and advocates from everywhere on the religious spectrum reveal the diversity of views on this historically fraught -- and, for many, highly personal -- topic.

For the fifth in the series, The Root talked to Zaheer Ali.

Read the interview here.

2011 National Book Award Finalists Reading of Manning Marable's "Malcolm X"

Zaheer Ali — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

On November 15, 2011, I was honored to read, on behalf of Dr. Manning Marable, from his Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention at the National Book Award Finalists Reading held at the New School in New York City.

Watch the reading here:

C-SPAN BookTV: "Harlem Book Fair Panel on Manning Marable's 'Malcolm X'"

Zaheer Ali — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:45:46 +0000

As part of the Harlem Book Fair, this panel discussion, held at the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, explores the landmark publication of the late Columbia University Black Studies scholar Manning Marable’s biography, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.

Moderated by Yohuru Williams (Black Politics/White Power: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Black Panthers in New Haven), participants included (right to left) Herb Boyd (Civil Rights: Yesterday and Today), Peniel Joseph (Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama), Zaheer Ali (Former Project Manager, Malcolm X Project at Columbia University), and activist and poet Sonia Sanchez.

The program aired live on Saturday, July 23, on C-SPAN2, and can be viewed online here.

C-SPAN BookTV: "Interview with Zaheer Ali about Manning Marable's 'Malcolm X'"

Zaheer Ali — Sun, 29 May 2011 21:35:00 +0000

On Wednesday, May 25, 2011, C-SPAN's Peter Slen interviewed me at the BookExpo America held in New York City, where we discussed my work with Dr. Manning Marable for Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention and the Malcolm X Project.

The interview first aired on Sunday, May 29, on C-SPAN2, and can be viewed online here or here.

"Honored to Be One of His Intellectual Offspring": My Tribute to Dr. Manning Marable

Zaheer Ali — Thu, 26 May 2011 21:30:00 +0000

"Dr. Marable created an open and welcoming space for a diverse group of students—Nationalists, Marxists, Muslims, Christians, Jews, atheists, progressives, whites, blacks, browns, gay, straight—and fostered academic exchange among us that was vibrant, rigorous, and respectful of our differences.... I am honored to be one of his intellectual offspring."

On Thursday, May 26, 2011, Columbia University hosted a public celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Manning Marable.

My complete remarks follow: