Since the days of slavery, constraining black education was used as a method to quell black agency and fears of slave rebellions. This denial only intensified Black people's desire for education. After emancipation,black education was relegated to poorly funded segregated schools. This week I have Hari Ziyad and Ahmad Greene-Hayes over for dinner to talk about Education and Blackness.
Our resident producer, audio engineer and my personal boo, Shaun dug deep to let us in on the making of their documentary Assigned Sex. The 30 minute short presents uncomfortable perspectives from both trans and cisgender people of color with the hopes of starting a necessary conversation to reduce stigma, eliminate bias and increase inclusion. Shaun explores gender and sexuality through the lens of Angel, a 23- year old preacher’s kid assigned male at birth. Religion and hyper-masculinity continue to be a powerful influence on how genderqueer people are treated in the Black community. Shaun and Kyler reflect on their journeys over the 5 years of making the film and share their lessons and learnings since it ended.
From appearance and insecurities to agency over our own bodies in the world we live in. What does it mean to walk around in a Black body? Is there an acceptable way to be Black?? It’s lusted after and its feared and sometimes it feels like there’s nowhere to just be who we are. From the need to code switch to dealing with the police under ANY circumstances to catcalling. We ain’t even safe minding our business. After a short rib stew dinner we came back to the table to really dig in.
Living at an intersection of Blackness can be a little frustrating. From the Hoteps asking “Are you Black first?”, to the “Black Enough” question, living at an intersection of Blackness got people choosin’. My friends and I explore the intersections and interactions of “Black And….” from being being Black and bi-racial to Black and Gay, Black & non-binary, etc, we try to touch on it all.
What does it mean to be “Masculine of center” when you were born in a “female” body? Though now great strides are being made to not only “think” outside the binary, but LIVE outside the binary, its can still be complicated to navigate the messy spaces of beliefs in the binary have created. From unlearning “toxic masculinity” to finding strength in “femininity” things are being bounced around and turned upside down. I want to talk a little about that that means and how we ALL navigate it.
It’s bigger than religion.. Hip-hop. (E. Badu) But my, My, MY has it changed. We’ve seen the revolution and the evolution of Hip-Hop. On this episode I wanna get into the good changes, the bad changes. What we’re happy about happy about hearing, what makes us mad to hear. Did radio kill hip-hop and give rise to Rap? This episode is meant to be a thorough examination of the current state of Hip-Hop/Rap. From R. Kelly backlash to Drake, to Cardi vs Nicki, Cosi && Ms. Kierra Leone give us their takes.
What is the “afro- future” of music? We’ve seen it change so drastically over the past 15 years. From records and tapes, to cds and mp3s,to limewire and napster, now we stream everything. It’s made a significant impact on how professional musicians make money, and it’s lifted the gate on who can not only MAKE music, but also get it heard, i.e. the Internet. “Music ain’t what it used to be” has never been so relevant. How is this statement relevant when we look at Black music and it’s impact over this same amount of time. Rap and Hip Hop reaches far and wide, and soul/jazz started spreading across the globe with icons like of Sarah Vaughn, Louis Armstrong, and Nina Simone, to Quincy Jones and Aretha Franklin.
As musicians ourselves, what do we see changing that we like, and what have we lost in the change?
Aviva Jaye & Myles share their thoughts..