The Remix: Dr. Yaba Blay on Colorism, Kendrick Lamar & Trevor Noah

The Remix: Dr. Yaba Blay on Colorism, Kendrick Lamar & Trevor Noah

The Remix with Dr. James Peterson
WHYY 90.9 FM
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2015-04-01

James Braxton Peterson, Host and Associate professor of English
Lehigh University, Lehigh, Pennsylvania

Comedy Central has named South African comedian Trevor Noah to helm “The Daily Show” when John Stewart departs later this year. It took slightly less than 24 hours for Noah to come under attack for remarks he made on Twitter that some perceived as anti-semitic and misogynistic. We can’t predict how Noah will weather the controversy, but Dr. James Peterson says he’s not surprised, because comics seem to consistently run into trouble for offensive remarks on Twitter.

“The Remix” is more interested in the fact that Comedy Central has appointed two men of color to lead their two most popular time slots (Larry Wilmore’sThe Nightly Show” replaced “The Colbert Report“) and the ways that might affect the nation’s daily consumption of news and news satire.

Peterson welcomes scholar, teacher and activist Dr. Yaba Blay to “The Remix” to discuss colorism, segregation within the African-American community, and cultural expressions of whiteness. The two also take a look at Blay’s book, “(1)ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race,” and her initiation into the Yoruba religion.

After a brief hiatus, “Props” is back, and this time, Kendrick Lamar gets some praise for taking risks on his new album “To Pimp a Butterfly.”

Listen to the episode here.

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