Natalie Bullock Brown on 'Leaving Neverland': Some of the folks who move the needle are folks that we're going to be uncomfortable with because they don't fit into some nice little paradigm of what a black heroic figure is supposed to be. But the fact of that matter is, it's not the kind of perfect, say, Rosa Parks type figures, who always move the needle. And Ann Atwater was a big, loud, black woman, and I'm sure there are folks who are going to watch her and watch Taraji in this role, who are going to be uncomfortable with those images. It’s a character in a film that really pushes back against certain kind of notions of respectability. Mark Anthony Neal on the character of Ann Atwater in “The Best of Enemies”: Plus, how do new albums from Solange and India Arie fit into their larger artistic footprints? Neal and Bullock Brown talk about India.Arie’s record “Worthy” and Solange’s “When I Get Home.” They also contextualize the latest news in the Jussie Smollet story.

They will also review two new documentaries: the controversial HBO film “Leaving Neverland,” which details abuse allegations against Michael Jackson, and “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me” from PBS American Masters. Popular culture experts Mark Anthony Neal and Natalie Bullock Brown share their thoughts on Hollywood’s treatment of a Durham story with host Frank Stasio in the latest installment of #BackChannel, The State of Things’ recurring series connecting culture and context. That story has now hit the big screen in director Robin Bissell’s rendition of “The Best of Enemies,” starring Taraji P. Ellis was a Ku Klux Klan leader, Atwater was a black community organizer, and the two were enemies.ĭespite all that, their collaborative efforts and unexpected friendship catalyzed lasting change. Ellis and Ann Atwater were asked to sit down together to solve the problem of school desegregation in Durham, and at the time no signs pointed to that being a good idea.

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