University of Southern California
Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture and Professor of Critical Studies at the University of Southern California; author of several books, including Young, Black, Rich & Famous: The Rise of the NBA, the Hip Hop Invasion and the Transformation of American Culture and Basketball Jones: America above the Rim; co-writer and producer of The Wood, a film about growing up in Inglewood in the 1980's
The Relevance of the 'Roots' Remake Nearly four decades ago, the ABC miniseries Roots was a cultural sensation. Half of all households with televisions tuned in for the finale. Airing a decade after the Civil Rights Movement, for many whites it was the first time they really understood slavery on a visceral level, and the lasting effects it had. A new version of Roots is airing this week on the A&E’s History channel. How does the remake compare with the original? How does it depict slavery differently from the 1977 original?
Watts Riots: Watts in Pop Culture All week, we’ve been sharing stories about the 50th anniversary of the Watts riots. In the years after 1965, what happened in Watts seeped into pop culture. Today we look at how the riots have been reflected on the big and small screens starting with the 1973 documentary Wattstax. The film focuses on a massive music festival that took place at the Los Angeles Coliseum for the seventh anniversary of the riots. It intercuts performance footage with scenes of everyday life in Watts.
Stolen Emails and Racism in Hollywood "Hollywood is full of racism, but it has been able to hide behind its liberal reputation." That’s a tweet from Dr. Todd Boyd as personal emails from Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal were spreading across the Internet and into the mainstream media. Dr. Boyd holds the Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. We get perspective from him and from Sharon Waxman, Editor in Chief of The Wrap .
From Gangsta Rap to Bwy Theater: Cultural Touchstones of the LA Riots (L-R) Warren Olney, Gary Phillips, Anna Deavere Smith and John Singleton
Lakers Lose in Post-Season, but What about Next Season? The "threepeat" is a dream of the past, and Phil Jackson , the most successful coach in NBA history, said he would retire long before yesterday's four-day sweep by the Dallas Mavericks was finally over. Todd Boyd is Professor of Critical Studies and USC's School of Cinema and Television. One of his many books is Basketball Jones : America Above the Rim.
USC Slapped with Sanctions over Gifts to Players First, it's been a historic day for the PAC-10 Athletic Conference in more ways than one. Perennial football champion USC has been banned from bowl games for two years, and the league itself is expanding to include the University of Colorado, with other powerhouses likely to join in the near future.
The LA Times Apologizes for Tupac Story Last Wednesday’s Los Angeles Times ran a story that first appeared on its website two days before. It implied that hip hop artist Sean "Diddy" Combs was behind the shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur —an even that triggered a deadly feud. Ultimately, Shakur and another rapper, Notorious B.I.G. , were killed.
The 'Kramer' Incident and the 'N' Word Michael Richards was a supporting actor on Seinfeld , but he's the main figure in the latest celebrity scandal. The web sites YouTube and TMZ are still running the cell-phone video of his race-baiting rant at West Hollywood's Laugh Factory --even after Richards apologized on David Letterman's TV show and the Rev. Jesse Jackson's radio program . Today in Los Angeles, Jackson and black comedian Paul Mooney joined Congresswoman Maxine Waters in demanding that nobody--not even rappers--use the "N" word again. We hear two views.
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
