May 8, 2015

This week Basic Black opens with a follow-up look at the events in Baltimore with a conversation about black leadership and variations on the “blue wall of silence.” Later in the show: as tensions in Baltimore increased, it was the White House Correspondents Dinner which included a few jokes on the state of race relations, that took center stage in many media outlets; and just after the state of emergency in Baltimore was lifted, the comedy duo Key and Peele premiered a sketch called “Negrotown”… we ask, when is the right time for satire?

Panelists:

• Latoyia Edwards, Anchor, New England Cable News

• Phillip Martin, Senior Reporter, WGBH News

• Kim McLarin, Associate Professor of Writing, Literature, and Publishing, Emerson College

• Peniel Joseph, Professor of History, Tufts University

• Emmett G. Price III, Associate Professor of Music, Northeastern University and author of The Black Church and Hip Hop Culture

Photo: (Left) Scene from “Negrotown” Key & Peele, Comedy Central. (Right) Protesters demonstrate as a curfew imposed in the aftermath of rioting following Monday's funeral for Freddie Gray goes into effect Friday, May 1, 2015, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/David Goldman)