Tarell Alvin McCraney, And Black Art For Black People

This week we’re joined by Tarell Alvin McCraney, chair of play writing at the Yale School of Drama, 2013 recipient of a MacArthur Fellows Genius Grant, and the 2017 Academy Award winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight.

McCraney’s newest endeavor is his first television project, an original scripted series for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network called David Makes Man. The compelling lyrical drama will premiere on August 14. 

David Makes Man centers on a 14-year-old prodigy from the projects of South Miami who is haunted by the death of his closest friend, and relied on by his hardworking mother to find a way out of poverty. We discuss the show, its phenomenal ensemble cast, his life since Moonlight, and how important it is for him to create Black art for Black people. 

Later in the show we speak to culture writer Beandrea July about the new documentaryToni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. We discuss the themes of the documentary, Morrison’s legacy as a writer, and the resistance and criticism Morrison encountered from many other writers when it came to celebrating and honoring the brilliance of her work.

In our Juicy Fruit segment this week, the model who cried “trans.” And even the bell can’t save “Saved By the Bell” actor and Extra TV host Mario Lopez from the backlash after his recent commentary that supporting trans children is “dangerous.”