University of Southern California
Todd Boyd is a Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for the Study of Race & Popular Culture at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He is the 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. Boyd is co-writer and producer of The Wood, a film about growing up in Inglewood in the 1980s.
Pulitzer goes to Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar Rapper and Compton-native Kendrick Lamar won the the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for his latest studio album “DAMN.” He’s the first non-jazz or classical musician to win the prize.
Trump and black athletes While white personalities knock Trump, he seems to go out of his way to attack black athletes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
The march toward a teachers strike sounds familiar Higher salaries, larger class sizes, more counselors, librarians and nurses. Those are just some of the demands that members of United Teachers, Los Angeles - the union that represents teachers' at LAUSD - are asking for.
Definitely not talking about Julian Assange Fine, maybe we talk about him a little. Plus, Paul Manafort’s flawed redacting, and we still don’t know much about the secret foreign company subpoenaed by the federal prosecutor who could be the special counsel.
The last time L.A. teachers went on strike L.A. teachers last went on strike in May of 1989, and what L.A. Unified teachers demanded back then isn’t that different from what they’re demanding 30 years later.
What are charter schools? LAUSD teachers were picket lines for a second day Tuesday. And this morning the teachers union organized a march to the California Charter Schools Association office downtown, to draw attention to their criticisms of local charter schools. But what are charter schools anyway?
