Mychal Denzel Smith

Last updated

Mychal Denzel Smith
Born (1986-11-06) November 6, 1986 (age 37)
Alma mater Hampton University
Notable workInvisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching
Stakes Is High
Website mychaldenzelsmith.com

Mychal Denzel Smith (born November 6, 1986) is an American writer, television commentator and author of Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education (2016) and Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream (2020). He is also a fellow at Type Media Center.

Contents

Early life

Smith graduated from Landstown High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 2004. He attended Hampton University, where he was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Script. [1]

Career

The New York Times has called Smith "The Intellectual in Air Jordans." [2]

Smith's work has been published in a number of print and online publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post , The New Republic , Complex, GQ, Guernica, Harper's, Paris Review, Buzzfeed, New York Times Book Review, Bleacher Report, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Pitchfork, LitHub, The Nation, MTV, Salon, Ebony, and more. He has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Democracy NOW!, The Daily Show, [3] PBS Newshour, [4] NPR, Al Jazeera, and a number of other television and radio programs. He appears in and was a consulting producer for "Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story", the Paramount Network docuseries executive produced by Jay-Z.

Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching

Smith published Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education in 2016 with Nation Books. In The New York Times, Walton Muyumba reviewed the book as "ambitious, ardent and timely." [5] Melissa Harris-Perry described his book as "affirming, necessary, even delightful, despite its brutality and angst" [6] and Buzzfeed called it a "superbly thoughtful memoir." [7] The Minneapolis Star-Tribune review stated: "Smith's debut defies categorization" but ultimately "is a philosophical work" that "challenges us to confront our legacies of racism, patriarchy, homophobia and violence." [8] The Chicago Tribune wrote: "It might be the first of its kind: a book that offers a comprehensive look into the genesis of black millennial lives through the eyes of a young black man," adding, "This is revolutionary." [9] The book became a New York Times best-seller. [10]

Stakes Is High

In 2020 Smith published a second book, Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream. [11]

Honors

In 2014 [12] and 2016 [13] he was named to The Root 100 list of most influential African-Americans. Brooklyn Magazine included him on its 2016 list of "100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture." [14] Smith was nominated for the National Association of Black Journalists award for commentary in 2014, and his book Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography in 2017. [15] His book Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream won the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction. [11]

Personal life

Smith lives in Brooklyn. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mychal Judge</span> American priest and 9/11 victim (1933–2001)

Mychal Fallon Judge, OFM, was an American Franciscan friar and Catholic priest who served as a chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. While serving in that capacity he was killed, becoming the first certified fatality of the September 11 attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spike Lee</span> American filmmaker (born 1957)

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has won numerous accolades for his work, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Peabody Awards. He has also been honored with an Honorary BAFTA Award in 2002, an Honorary César in 2003, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denzel Washington</span> American actor (born 1954)

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his versatile work spanning over four decades of screen and stage, Washington has been regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, with The New York Times naming him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020. Washington has received a number of honors, including two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award and AFI Life Achievement Award, and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

<i>Invisible Man</i> 1952 novel by Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man is Ralph Ellison's first novel, the only one published during his lifetime. It was published by Random House in 1952, and addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African Americans in the early 20th century, including black nationalism, the relationship between black identity and Marxism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabrielle Union</span> American actress (born 1972)

Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films She's All That and 10 Things I Hate About You. She rose to greater prominence the following year, after she landed her breakthrough role in the teen film Bring It On.

The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World is a play by Suzan-Lori Parks. It premiered in 1990 in Brooklyn, New York and was produced Off-Broadway in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nate Parker</span> American actor and filmmaker

Nate Parker is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He has appeared in Beyond the Lights, Red Tails, The Secret Life of Bees, The Great Debaters, Arbitrage, Non-Stop, Felon, and Pride. Parker's directorial debut feature film, The Birth of a Nation, in which he also starred, made history at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival when Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired the distribution rights for $17.5 million, breaking the record for the most paid for a Sundance Film Festival production, surpassing Little Miss Sunshine, which had been acquired by Searchlight for $10 million ten years earlier. The film was ultimately unsuccessful in wide release and did not receive acclaim, after rape allegations against Parker resurfaced.

Edward Wyckoff Williams is an American television producer, correspondent, columnist, political analyst and former investment banker; whose work has appeared on NBC, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, BuzzFeed, PBS, ABC, CNN, CBS, BBC, VICE Media, NPR and national syndicated radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Trayvon Martin</span> 2012 killing of teenager in Sanford, Florida

On the evening of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, who was visiting his father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denzel Washington on screen and stage</span>

Denzel Washington is an American actor known for his performance on stage and screen.

<i>Fences</i> (film) 2016 film by Denzel Washington

Fences is a 2016 American period drama film directed and co-produced by Denzel Washington from a screenplay by August Wilson, based on his 1985 play of the same name. It stars Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, and Saniyya Sidney. It follows a working-class African-American father who tries to raise his family in the 1950s, while coming to terms with the events of his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj</span>

Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj is an Indo-Afro-Caribbean American theater director, playwright, producer and activist. He holds an associate degree in Criminal Justice from St. John's University, a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts from St. John's University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Theatrical Directing from Brooklyn College. He is currently the Associate Artistic Producer of Milwaukee Repertory Theater. He started Rebel Theater Company in 2003 in New York City, and served as Producing Artistic Director. He is the former Artistic Director of New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia. He is the Third Vice President for the Brooklyn Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He is the Chair of the Equity in the Arts and Culture Committee for the NAACP Brooklyn Branch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denzel Curry</span> American rapper (born 1995)

Denzel Rae Don Curry is an American rapper. Born and raised in Miami Gardens, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape in 2011, which was influenced by underground Florida rapper SpaceGhostPurrp. The mixtape was later featured on SpaceGhostPurrp's social media, giving Curry attention in the local music scene and resulting in him joining the former’s hip-hop collective Raider Klan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah</span> American essayist

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah is an American essayist. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2018 for her profile of white supremacist and mass murderer Dylann Roof, as well as a National Magazine Award. She was also a National Magazine Award finalist in 2014 for her profile of elusive comedian Dave Chappelle. Her first book, The Explainers and the Explorers, is forthcoming from Random House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberly Drew</span> American art curator, writer, activist

Kimberly Drew is an American art influencer and writer. She is best known as the former social media manager for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and her use of the social media handle MuseumMammy. Drew released her first book, This Is What I Know About Art in June 2020, as part of a children series from Penguin, and published an anthology titled Black Futures with New York Times staff writer Jenna Wortham in December 2020.

The 48th NAACP Image Awards, presented by the NAACP, honored outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music and literature during the 2016 calendar year. The 48th ceremony was hosted by Anthony Anderson and broadcast on TV One on February 12, 2017.

<i>Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story</i> American TV series or program

Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story is an American documentary television series that premiered on July 30, 2018 on Paramount Network. The six-episode series documents the killing of Trayvon Martin and explores the racial tension in the United States that was brought about in its wake. The series is executive produced by Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin, Jay-Z, Chachi Senior, Michael Gasparro, Jenner Furst, Julia Willoughby Nason, and Nick Sandow. Furst and Nason also directed the series as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamiche Alcindor</span> American journalist (born 1986)

Yamiche Léone Alcindor is an American journalist who is a Washington correspondent for NBC News. In the past, she has worked as the host of Washington Week on PBS and as a reporter for PBS NewsHour, USA Today, and The New York Times. Alcindor writes mainly about politics and social issues.

Zach Stafford is a journalist and the former editor-in-chief of The Advocate magazine. He is currently a columnist at MSNBC. Stafford won a Tony Award in 2022 as one of the co-producers of A Strange Loop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damon Young (writer)</span> American writer and editor

Damon Young is an American writer and editor. He is the co-founder of the website Very Smart Brothas. Young released his first book, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker, in 2019 with HarperCollins.

References

  1. Christina, Sturdivant. "Page & Perspective: A Young Black Man's Education In The Age Of Obama". The DCist. Archived from the original on 22 June 2016.
  2. 1 2 Kurutz, Steven (4 May 2016). "The Intellectual in Air Jordans". The New York Times.
  3. Smith, Mychal Denzel (11 August 2016). "How Black Men Learn to Behave in "Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching"". The Daily Show with Trevor Noah - Comedy Central. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  4. "An author's aspirations in the time of Obama and Trayvon". PBS NewsHour. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  5. Muyumba, Walton (8 July 2016). "Mychal Denzel Smith Connects the Black Millennial Experience to the African-American Literary Tradition". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  6. Harris-Perry, Melissa (6 February 2016). "What I'm Reading: Mychal Denzel Smith". Anna Julia Cooper Center.
  7. Lee, Jarry (20 May 2016). "18 Incredible New Books You Need To Read This Summer". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  8. Kleber-Diggs, Michael (24 June 2016). "REVIEW: 'Invisible Man,' by Mychal Denzel Smith". Star Tribune. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  9. Jackson, Daren W. (7 July 2016). "Review: 'Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching' by Mychal Denzel Smith". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  10. "Books | Best Sellers | Race and Civil Rights". The New York Times. August 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  11. 1 2 "Debut novel 'Luster' wins $50,000 Kirkus prize". Miami Herald. 5 November 2020.
  12. "The Root 100 – 2014". The Root. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  13. "The Root 100 – 2016". The Root. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  14. "The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture - Brooklyn Magazine". Brooklyn Magazine. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  15. McNary, Dave (13 December 2016). "'Birth of a Nation,' 'Moonlight' Score Six NAACP Image Award Nominations (Full List)". Variety. Retrieved 25 November 2017.