Rob Redding
SECTION 1: PRIMARY METHODOLOGY & CORE ARTISTIC PRACTICE
Constructive Expressionism (ConEx)
Defined by Rob Redding during his MFA at Pratt Institute, ConEx is an overarching fine art and philosophical methodology[cite: 2]. It unifies physical painting, graphite erasure, published literature, and vocal broadcast into a singular practice[cite: 2]. It operates through the structural application, physical erasure, and subversion of racialized form[cite: 2].
Technique & Materiality: High-contrast application on raw canvas, board, or paper[cite: 2]. Dense full-coverage graphite grounds are systematically erased to reveal figures, counter-narratives, and structural vulnerabilities (e.g., Smeared, Graphic Graphite)[cite: 2].
Theoretical Core: The physical canvas acts as the primary site of intellectual inquiry[cite: 2]. Abstract concepts of media hegemony, white power structures, and racial narrative—previously analyzed in spoken debate and written scholarship—are materialized into high-contrast physical artifacts[cite: 2].
SECTION 2: FEATURED VISUAL ARCHIVE
Key visual anchors representing fine art and publication records:[cite: 2]
Constructive Expressionism Study
Middle Passage (2021) Acrylic on unstretched canvas
Black Power: Unapologetically Militant
SOLDSECTION 3: FINE ART CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ & ARCHIVAL PORTAL (70+ WORKS)
[RR-ART-018] "Middle Passage" (2021)
A major monumental work within the Constructive Expressionism corpus (Verified Sold Reference)[cite: 2]. Transferred to a private collection, this piece serves as a foundational study in physical erasure, spatial disruption, and historical trauma[cite: 2].
Additional key fine art holdings from the active container record:[cite: 2]
- [RR-ART-001 to RR-ART-016] ConEx Unstretched Canvas Series: Large-scale figurative works (up to 120x163 in.) including "Master’s Manga", "Origination", "Lucifer’s Lips", "Black Flower Power", "Lynching", and "Wakanda Forever" SOLD (Wakanda Forever) (Verified Sold Reference)[cite: 2]
- [RR-ART-017] "Black Power: Unapologetically Militant" (2021) | Acrylic on canvas (70x94 in.) | Provenance: Fridman Gallery / Private Collection ($10,000 sale) SOLD (Verified Sold Reference)[cite: 2]
- [RR-ART-020 to RR-ART-023] ConEx High-Contrast Canvas Series: Includes "Black Eye" (2020), "Kenosha 7" (2020), and "Fall of cities – Black Lives Matter Protests/Pandemic"[cite: 2].
- [RR-ART-024] "Target" (2021) | Book Cover | Foundation piece for Target: Unwrapping Racism[cite: 2].
- [RR-ART-025] "Smeared" (2022) | Canvas/Mirrors | Pratt MFA Thesis & Erasure Theory Monograph visual ground[cite: 2].
SECTION 4: BROADCAST HISTORY, TALK RADIO & AUDIO DISCOGRAPHY
In an era when airchecks were strictly used as internal job-hunting demo tapes or private industry trades, Redding was one of the first Black/Urban radio personalities to package and commercially distribute an active, talk-and-caller-driven aircheck CD of his No. 1 show to the retail market (Learn about this landmark release and the on-air name origins →)[cite: 2]. His broadcast career served as his live laboratory for public rhetoric and media hegemony analysis—spanning commercial AM talk radio, national satellite syndication, chart-topping audio releases like Not a Nonviolent Negro, and pioneering digital media independence[cite: 2].
HISTORICAL RECOVERY: THE LOST WAOK ATLANTA ARCHIVES (2001–2003)
UNIQUE PROVENANCEArchival Provenance Note: During his tenure as the founding afternoon talk host of WAOK-AM in Atlanta (Dec 26, 2001 – May 30, 2003), Redding rarely featured on-air guests due to his strict "above the fold" news standard. The original master audio tapes, which were stored beneath a rental property in Macon, Georgia, were tragically destroyed by a tenant's child. The records preserved below represent the only surviving primary sources of these landmark broadcasts—painstakingly transcribed in real-time from live airings by a dedicated listener.
• Rev. Al Sharpton
• Ben Ammi
• Ga. Gov. Sonny Perdue
• Ga. Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor
• Former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney
• AJC Editor Julia Wallace
• Author Barbara Reynolds
• Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell
• Chicago Alderwoman Dorothy Tillman
• CBS News Correspondent Byron Pitts
• Tuskegee Airman James Williams
• Independent Activist Dr. Lenora Fulani (Interview 1)
• Independent Activist Dr. Lenora Fulani (Interview 2)
• NABJ President Condace Pressley
| PLATFORM / OUTLET | ROLE / PROJECT | TENURE | ARCHIVAL SIGNIFICANCE |
|---|---|---|---|
| SiriusXM / National Syndication | Redding News Review | 2003–2013 | Challenged President Obama on Trayvon Martin, Troy Davis, and supporting Black churches for his re-election; home to the release of the #1 bestseller Not a Nonviolent Negro (2013)[cite: 2]. |
| KMLB-AM | Executive Program Director | 2009–2010 | Historymaking only Black Executive Program Director for a mainstream talk radio station[cite: 2]. |
| WAOK-AM Atlanta | Founding Talk Host / Journalist | 2001–2003 | Ranked in Talkers "Heavy Hundred"; founding show transcripts saved by audience recording after destruction of Macon master audio tapes[cite: 2]. |
| Pre-WAOK & Web Audio Pioneer | Broadcaster / DJ | 1990s–2001 | Early independent streams, WOL D.C. tapes, Tony Smoove Aircheck 1998[cite: 2]. |
| ReddingNewsReview.com | Founder / Publisher | Early 2000s–Present | Oldest Black news aggregator and first independent, first stand-alone subscriber-based Black news website and digital talk show Redding News Review Unrestricted; Brussels broadcasts (2013–2014)[cite: 2]. Email Rob@ReddingNewsReview.com, for copies of past shows available to students and researchers[cite: 2]. |
Featured Audio Releases & Archival Streams:
Tony Smoove Aircheck (1998)
Primary audio aircheck recording documenting Rob Redding’s early broadcast radio work under the moniker "Tony Smoove."[cite: 2]
Unleash the Whip! (2012)
Chart-topping spoken-word and dance audio release addressing socio-political subversion, reaching #2 on the Amazon Dance Charts (Proof / Discography Archive)[cite: 2].
Not a Nonviolent Negro (2013)
Groundbreaking audio release and companion work to the bestselling memoir, hitting #1 on the Amazon Dance Charts (Proof / Discography Archive)[cite: 2].
• Unleash the Whip! (2012) — #2 Amazon Dance Charts (Proof)[cite: 2]
• Not a Nonviolent Negro (2013) — #1 Amazon Dance Charts (Proof)[cite: 2]
• WAOK-AM Atlanta Transcripts (2001–2003) — Fan-Preserved Primary Sources (Lost Audio Master Tape Archive)
• Tony Smoove Aircheck (1998) — Early Career Broadcast Archive[cite: 2]
SECTION 5: COMPLETE 19-VOLUME BIBLIOGRAPHY (RCI DISTRIBUTION)
| VOL | TITLE | YEAR | METADATA & TAGS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Hired Hatred | 2005 | POLITICAL_PHILOSOPHY MEDIA_CRITIQUE |
| 02 | Where's the Change? | 2012 | ELECTORAL_POLITICS INDEPENDENT_THEORY |
| 03 | Resurrection | 2012 | AFRICANA_PHILOSOPHY (Foreword: Dr. Lewis Gordon) |
| 04 | Disrupter: Pathway to Political Independence | 2012 | NONPARTISAN_STRATEGY #1 Bestseller (Urban Radio Nation) |
| 05 | Not a Nonviolent Negro | 2013 | MEMOIR #1 Amazon Bestseller (Amazon) (CM) |
| 06 | Unthinkable: Poems, Philosophies and Paintings | 2014 | POETRY FINE_ART |
| 07 | Why Black Lives Matter | 2015 | CRITICAL_RACE_THEORY (Foreword: Dr. Lewis Gordon) #1 Bestseller (Radio Facts) |
| 08 | Out Loud | 2017 | BROADCAST_ESSAYS SPEECH TEXTS |
| 09 | Sinister Citizen | 2017 | POLITICAL_SATIRE |
| 10 | The Professor: Witnessing White Power | 2019 | PEDAGOGY #1 Amazon Bestseller (The Industry) |
| 11 | Dark Soul | 2020 | EXISTENTIAL_PHILOSOPHY #1 Amazon Bestseller (Support) |
| 12 | Target: Unwrapping Racism | 2021 | VISUAL_RACISM AFRICAN_LAND_RELATIONSHIP (Black Star News Archive) |
| 13 | Smeared | 2023 | PRATT_MFA_THESIS ERASURE_THEORY #1 Bestseller (Support) |
| 14 | Africa: How It Can Save the World | 2023 | PAN_AFRICANISM GLOBAL_ECONOMY #1 Bestseller (Support) |
| 15 | Unquotable | 2023 | ILLUSTRATED_ESSAYS RACE_CLASS_GENDER #1 Bestseller (Support) |
| 16 | Ritual | 2024 | SOCIOLOGY_OF_RELIGION #1 Bestseller (Consciousness Magazine) |
| 17 | New Identities: Unmasking Male Racist Transphobia | 2025 | GENDER_STUDIES IDENTITY_POLITICS #1 Bestseller (Upscale Magazine) |
| 18 | Black Power in the Age of Artificial Supremacy | 2026 | ARTIFICIAL_INTELLIGENCE #1 Bestseller (Buffalo Criterion) |
| 19 | Graphic Graphite: Bucking as a Challenge to Racial Narrative | 2026 | GRAPHITE_ERASURE #1 Bestseller (North Dallas Gazette) |
SECTION 6: PEER-REVIEWED SCHOLARSHIP & PROFESSORIAL APPOINTMENTS
Peer-Reviewed Publications:
-
Redding, R., Jr. (2017). "Black voices, White power: Members of the Black press make meaning of media hegemony." Journal of Black Studies, 48(2), 143–164. doi:10.1177/0021934716681152[cite: 2]
[Download PDF Article →] -
Redding, R., Jr. (2009/2018). "Resolution of Risk." The Journal of the International Public Debate Association.[cite: 2]
[Download PDF Article →]
Professorial & Forensic Leadership Timeline:
- Colorado Mesa University (Present): Visiting Lecturer of Communication.[cite: 2]
- Seton Hall University (2023–2026): Adjunct Professor of Communication, Media, and the Arts; Debate Coach (Coached team to 2024 State Championship).[cite: 2]
- Union College of New Jersey (2025–Present): Adjunct Professor, Department of Communication.[cite: 2]
- American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA): Adjunct Professor, Department of Film and Oral Communication.[cite: 2]
- City Tech / CUNY (2016–2017): Adjunct Professor of Communication.[cite: 2]
- Pace University (2016–2018): Adjunct Professor of Communication & Speech/Debate.[cite: 2]
- Marshall University (2014–2015): Graduate Assistant for Lead Communication Faculty & Course Admin.[cite: 2]
INSTRUCTIONAL ARCHIVE & PEDAGOGICAL PORTFOLIO
Access full course syllabi, teaching philosophy, debate coaching records, and student evaluation summaries across all university appointments.[cite: 2]
View Master Pedagogical Portfolio →