Shows
Barbarians at the GateExperiencing the World of Jazz in ChinaThis week, we explore a topic close to our hearts: the world of jazz in China. Jeremiah and David bring their respective musical experience to the table—Jeremiah as a rock and blues keyboardist, and David as an active pianist in Beijing's jazz scene.David takes us back to his experiences in the 1980s, a period of renaissance for jazz in Beijing, when Chinese rock musicians began to discover—or rediscover—this intricate Western genre. During China's early "Reform and Opening Up" era, musicians with little prior exposure to jazz and scarce recordings embarked on the...
2025-03-0736 min
Reimagining Black Relations#56 Recovering the LossDr. Marketus Presswood is an Historian with specialization in the socio-cultural interactions of the Chinese, Africans, and Africans in Diaspora. Dr. Presswood juxtaposed China and the U.S. on the subject of racism. He discussed: the role of China and the U.S. on the global order for Africa and Black Diaspora and emphasized the urgency of establishing the "United African States". "At the same time, I saw friends, and friends of friends, who didn't have the same support system, and they fell by the wayside. For me now, when I think about some of my classmates w...
2022-01-2940 minBarbarians at the GateYellow Jazz, Black MusicThis week Jeremiah and David catch up with an old friend, China history scholar Marketus Presswood., who has just released a documentary on jazz in China entitled Yellow Jazz, Black Music, available on Vimeo. Based on years of research and extensive interviews, the documentary traces the influx and development of jazz music in China, from the Shanghai ballrooms of the 1920s to a resurgence in the urban nightclubs of the Reform-and-Opening period, and finally to the art form's flourishing in a new globalized, high-tech China. Marketus provides a fascinating description of the lives of the...
2021-09-1849 min
Stories from the FieldEP 10. Being Black in China & the US with Dr. Marketus PresswoodAs a young college student, Dr. Marketus Presswood’s first trip to China proved to be more than just another study abroad experience. It was the beginning of a life-long journey through Afro-Asian history, with a little entrepreneurship and self-discovery along the way. In this episode of Stories from the Field, hear how Dr. Presswood’s experience as a Black man in China has impacted his research and work as a filmmaker, and also his insights on two cultures still grappling with the conversation of race.LEARNING HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE: How Dr. Presswood found himself in C...
2021-08-1147 min
Stories From the FieldEP 10. Being Black in China & the US with Dr. Marketus PresswoodShow SummaryAs a young college student, Dr. Marketus Presswood’s first trip to China proved to be more than just another study abroad experience. It was the beginning of a life-long journey through Afro-Asian history, with a little entrepreneurship and self-discovery along the way. In this episode of Stories from the Field, hear how Dr. Presswood’s experience as a Black man in China has impacted his research and work as a filmmaker, and also his insights on two cultures still grappling with the conversation of race.Learning Highlights From This Epis...
2021-08-1147 minBarbarians at the GateChina TrippingIn this episode, Jeremiah and David talk about the foreign experience of travel in China, drawing upon their personal experiences over the years as explorers, educators, and tour guides. The two trade accounts of the rapid expansion of China’s travel industry in decades after Reform and Opening, the occasional brushes with anti-foreign sentiment, and the exploding domestic luxury travel market as the economy booms and overseas travel has been restricted. The discussion also turns to the new post-Covid-19 reality of quarantines, vaccination records, and issues with the ubiquitous health-record apps that have become mandatory additions to everyone’s mobi...
2021-07-2947 min
Cowries and RiceEpisode 15 - Being Black In China versus being African in ChinaHosts Winslow Robertson and Dr. Nkemjika Kalu once again delve into discussions about race in China, and to help guide them through the discussion is Mr. Marketus Presswood, who is pursuing his PhD in Modern Chinese History and has a broad interest in the experience of African-Americans and the African Diaspora as whole in China. Back in July, he wrote a fantastic article for Tea Leaf Nation/The Atlantic called "A Minority in the Middle Kingdom: My Experience Being Black in China," which, well, talked about being black in China. He also has extensive experience in international education, including bringing...
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