On Second Thought For Monday, May 9, 2016

The social media movement, #OscarsSoWhite, opened up many people’s eyes to the lack of diversity in the film industry. In order to address this issue from a state level, Georgia recently passed HB 1577, an initiative geared towards creating more diversity in the entertainment industry. Actress and director Terri Vaughn helped spearhead this legislation in conjunction with her production company, Nina Holliday Entertainment. She joins us to talk about the importance of this issue and to discuss her upcoming directorial debut, “#DigitalLivesMatter.” 

Plus, an Atlanta composer has a new work that features the last words of unarmed black men killed by police. We talk with Joel Thompson, whose piece, “The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,” is being performed by students at the University of Michigan.

Today, we dance! Join the #OSTdanceoff as we celebrate the South's role in the creation of popular moves like the "Nae Nae" and "Dab." Actor Terri J. Vaughn also joins us to talk about diversifying Georgia's movie industry and we meet a composer who has taken the final words of unarmed black men who were killed and turned them into art.

And GPB Savannah’s Emily Jones spends her Sunday nights like a lot of people: watching the HBO series “Game of Thrones.”  Jones has stuck with the show, even as she has harsh critiques for its misogynistic treatment of female characters.  She tells us why this bothers her almost more than mistreatment of women in the real patriarchal world. 

Then, viral dance moves like “Whip/Nae Nae” and “Hit the Quan” have come out of the South or are affiliated with Southern rap songs. We look at the emergence and history of regional hip hop dance styles and what makes Southern styles so popular. We talk about the intersection of dance and hip hop with Creative Loafing senior staff writer and Five Points podcast co-host Rodney Carmichael; UCLA professor and hip hop dance scholar Lorenzo “Rennie” Harris; and Andy Tadic, who manages young rappers and dancers like Atlanta’s We Are Toonz which created the viral dance “Nae Nae.”