The Race Problem Summed up in a Comic Strip
Breaking the “Thou Shall Not Critique Religion” Commandment
In my Western Civilization course, students and I discuss the biblical books of Genesis, Job, and Mark in several meetings of the course. We do this in order to examine what life was like living in the Ancient Near East and in an occupied area of the Roman Empire. We also discuss the scriptures to […]
Don’t Trust Professor Wikipedia!
When I was younger, if I wanted to learn a fact I went to the encyclopedia. Of course it was a huge collection and only if you were fortunate did you have any in your house. But for school assignments I could always count on getting the facts right for my projects and homework assignments by reading […]
Lessons from the Philosophical Bouncer
It’s the first week of classes and it’s during this time that I attempt to sell my kids on philosophy. I want them to know what philosophy is and what philosophers do way before we actually get deep into material. What I do in class is also what I’m interested in doing outside of it. […]
What Does Your Moral Reasoning Look Like?
In my Philosophy 62 course my students and I have been reading out of Michael Sandel’s Justice. We have started the semester off discussing moral theories. I explained to my students, according to Sandel, that usually when we engage in moral reasoning our decisions will be based on which of these three we consider most: […]
Must Read Links on Race, Sex, & Politics
Well its Monday. There is no better way to start the week off than with some intellectual goodies about race, sex, and politics. In the Guardian there is a good chunk of a chapter of Faramerz Dabhoiwala’s book on the first sexual revolution. It gives a historical account on how sexual liberation began. The Human Rights Campaign […]
Take a Philosophy Course for Free 99 at Harvard and MIT
Ever wish you took that philosophy course in college? Ever wonder exactly what philosophy really is?? Thanks to the internet you can take a philosophy course at institutions like Harvard and MIT for Free!!! Now you will not get a degree or degree credits, but you will have the opportunity to sit in on the […]
What Atheists Can Learn from Religion and Vice Versa
Today atheists and theists are always disagreeing. One believes in the truth of the divine the other think its ridiculous. One thinks the world is better because of religion the other thinks the opposite. Common ground has not been a popular place for the two views. However, Alain de Botton has a new book that […]
How NOT to Teach with Digital Media
Well today is my first day of class for the spring semester. With every semester comes the opportunity to try new things and also to improve on the old. As a person who uses digital media in the classroom, I want to make sure that Im using it in its most effective way. One of […]
Are We Born Greedy & Selfish?
If you look within American culture you will agree that greed and self-interest dominate our way of living. Greed echos in our music and on our TVs. It’s on 5th Avenue and on Wall Street. It seems that the American Dream is just another way of saying “A life in which I get mine by […]
A Philosopher Responds to Rick Santorum’s Gay Marriage Argument
In 2005, then U.S. Senator Rick Santorum compared gay marrage to “man on child, man on dog or whatever the case may be.” It seems that Santorum is still on a roll with his logic that suggest that the acceptance of gay marriage will lead us to also accept incest, bestility, or pologaymy. Is his […]
Eddie Glaude and Mignon Moore on Left of Black
I really enoyed this episode of Left of Black!!! Here Mark Anthony Neil talks to Eddie Glaude Professor of Religion and African American Stides and chair of the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University about the state of Black Studies and the unique challenges of Black academics in balancing their roles as activists, […]
Did God Really Tell You That?
Governor Rick Perry, Congresswoman Michelle Bachman, and Entrepreneur Herman Cain all said that God had told them to run for President. Recently, Pat Robertson announced that God had told him who the next president will be and also gave him a message to give to the world. Let me also add that Deanna Laney killed […]
God, Race, and Sports
For those that know me, they are aware that I am in a season of bliss right now. On December 25th, the NBA basketball season began. Oh goodness, I’m smiling as we speak. I should be, my Miami Heat won last night in triple overtime without our two stars playing. At this moment others sports […]
5 Thoughts on “Sh*t White Girls Say… to Black Girls”
We can spend days talking about what is racism. If its merely an attitude, discriminatory and restricting actions based on race or if its direct or indirect disrespect of another’s ethnicity? I know words are powerful and although I don’t believe in sugar coating language to make perpetrators comfortable, I do know that sometimes ignorance […]
I’m Feminist Enough to…
I’m loving these videos from I’m Feminist Enough, a project created by Shannon Washington. In it, black women who consider themselves feminists, give us their mantras and their life codes. To me, feminism is realizing that women have value and worth as much as men. It’s the willingness to speak up and out about sexist […]
Rihanna, Arab Women, & Male-Chauvinistic Religions
These last few weeks so much has happened among women and it is nothing to celebrate. From the Egyptian woman getting beaten by the military to Rihanna being called a racist and sexist epithet, women are catching hell and have been for a while. In my new article in the Huffington Post, I take a […]
MUST READ ARTICLES OF THE WEEK
MUST READ ARTICLES OF THE WEEK Stephen Marche: Esquire We are Not All Created Equal Louise Antony: New York Times Good Minus God Zaheer Ali: The Root What About Poor White Kids H. Samy Alim: New York Times What if We Occupied Language? Hugh Schofield:BBC Human Zoos: When Real People Were Exhibits Nelson George:NY Times […]
Nozick’s Utility Monster
Below is a comic and more funny version of Nozik’s “Utility Monster”. It’s one of several thought experiments used by Nozick to critique hedonism as a value and the ethical normative theory of utilitarianism. If utilitarianism is concerned with maximizing utility(benefit, pleasure, happiness), how does this interpretation of Nozick’s “Utility Monster” counter utilitarianism and exposes […]
End of the Semester Snark: “Grading”
Its the end of the semester officially. I gave my last exam yesterday and now its time to relax. But before I do, I thought I’ll snark with the video above. Students I love you but this is very funny. And its funny because its just something that as a student you should never ever […]
Ron Paul, Race, & Responsibility
Ron Paul is leading the pack in Iowa. Yes Im surprised as well. The Libertarian may have a chance. But when you are in the lead, look out because your past will come to haunt you or at least be forced to resurrect from the grave in an effort to expose you and render you […]
2011: The Year In Racial Justice in 2 Minutes
The people at Colorlines did a cool job documenting this year in race in America. They highlight Troy Davis, Occupy Wall Street, Illegal Immigration Issue, the entrepreneurial success of the likes of Oprah and Tyler Perry, students taking a stand against racial insensitivities, and much more. They do it in under 2 minutes, although I […]
Black Power Mixtape Now Available on Netflix
After procrastinating so many times about going to the limited theaters here in New York City to see the documentary and then being disappointed to find out that it was no longer showing, a victory for me has finally arrived. The Black Power Mixtape is now available on DVD and on Netflix. If you are […]
Acting White In Post Black Era
In this episode of Left of Black, Professor Mark Anthony Neil talks with Sociologist, Professor Karolyn Tyson and Journalist, Ytasha Womack about the “acting white” myth and Post Black Era Identity Formation. Pretty interesting discussion. What do you think??
Hitchens and Religion
A few days ago, Essayist, Provocateur,and Atheist, Christopher Hitchens, died from cancer. I believe that his voice was powerful. If you didn’t agree with him, at least there is no doubt that he made you think or at least want to think harder. I used several of Hitchens’ debates in a few of my classes […]
The Purity Myth
Feminist Jessica Valenti takes a look at what she calls the virginity movement: an effort to keep young girls dedicated to abstinence. Sounds alright doesn’t it? Well according to Valenti this purity movement is doing several things: 1) brainwashing young girls into thinking that their worth is found in their sexuality and 2)that virginity movement […]
Philosophy In Prisons
This video reminds me of the time that I spenT working with formerly incarcerated and adjudicated adults and young people. For 11 weeks at a time, I introduced students to Philosophy(ethics and free will and determinism specifically) with the help of Socrates, Aristotle, and Denzel. It was fun. The thing I will always remember is […]