This Week in Black History, Society, and Culture
"This Week in Black History, Society, and Culture" is a monthly podcast produced by Dr. Hettie V. Williams Professor of History in the Department of History and Anthropology at Monmouth University. Williams is the author of several essays, articles, book chapters and the author/editor of seven books. Her research interests include African American intellectual and cultural history, women's history, and race/ethnic studies. She is also the former director of the Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture at UMass Boston. Williams periodically interviews scholars, authors, activists, and community leaders on matters related to the history, society, and culture of Black and African American communities in the United States (U.S.) and the world. These podcast episodes are on a variety of subjects including, but not limited to, higher education, economics, criminal justice, reparations, mental health, history, science, gender, popular culture, women, and politics. A new episode will be released monthly on Monday mornings from September to May during each academic term.
This Week in Black History, Society, and Culture
Black Actors in Shakespearean Roles and Denzel Washington as Macbeth
In this episode, Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Clifford Mason about Black Shakespearean actors and Denzel Washington as Macbeth. Williams is a Professor of African American history at Monmouth University and Mason is a celebrated playwright, actor, director, critic and author who has written 34 plays. He is also the author of Macbeth in Harlem: Black Theater in America from the Beginning to Raison in the Son (Rutgers University Press, 2020). Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth is the first film completed without his brother Ethan Coen and the film has opened to positive reviews. Mason discusses the fact that Black actors such as Ira Aldridge and Paul Robeson have mastered Shakespearean roles in America and the world for more than 100 years. Here is more critical of the Coen film and Denzel’s role as Macbeth in that he sees the movie as largely failing at bringing the power of Shakespeare’s words to life.
