Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal

I Love a Kevin Costner Movie and a Marvin Gaye Song

Photo by Aaron Salcido.

Mark Anthony Neal is Professor of African-American Studies and Professor of English at Duke University, where he is Chair of the Department of African & African-American Studies and Director of the Center for Arts, Digital Culture and Entrepreneurship (CADCE), which produces original digital content, including the weekly video podcast “Left of Black.” Before taking part in a Zócalo/UCLA panel discussion titled “Will Black Panther Really Change Hollywood?” at the ArcLight Hollywood, he spoke in the green room about peach cobbler, music, and hip-hop’s would-be capital.

Q:

What superpower would you most like to have?


A:

Time travel.


Q:

What dessert do you find impossible to resist?


A:

Peach cobbler, when it’s warm, when the butter is oozing.


Q:

What teacher or professor changed your life, if any?


A:

Probably Alexis Masani DeVeaux. She was my graduate advisor. And she really allowed me to connect my work to my spirit. And so I came out of my shell as a scholar.


Q:

What’s the best place to eat in Durham?


A:

These days, there’s a place called Elmo’s Diner.


Q:

What was the first movie you ever saw?


A:

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.


Q:

Do you have a favorite movie?


A:

There’s a Kevin Costner movie, For the Love of the Game.


Q:

Do you have a favorite soul song?


A:

Marvin Gaye’s “Stubborn Kind of Fellow.”


Q:

What’s your favorite movie theater snack?


A:

Large popcorn with butter, and a bottle of water to wash down all the salt and the butter.


Q:

What’s the last thing that truly inspired you?


A:

I would have to say the University of Missouri football team, when they took a stance around Black Lives Matter.


Q:

What is the most important thing about Jay-Z?


A:

The ability to adapt and change and grow.


Q:

If hip hop were a country, in what city would you put its capital?


A:

New York.


Q:

Who is your favorite superhero?


A:

I’m a Dark Knight kind of guy.