AirGo

Black Youth Project has joined forces with AirGo for a year-long #BYPSpotlight series, featuring our favorite Black academics and activists. First up is Barbara Ransby, whose footprint on the Chicago and global social movement landscape is inimitable. A Professor of History, Gender and Women's Studies, and African American Studies at UIC, Barbara has grounded both organizing and scholarship for liberation in the lineages and lessons of Black women. She wrote the highly acclaimed biography Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision, as well as two other books, and is the driving force behind the R3 Coalition, which has pushed forward some of the most meaningful coalition-building Chicago has seen in recent years.

Recorded 7/14 in Chicago

Music in this week's show:

We Came Down - Superpoze

For our 200th episode(!), Damon and Daniel reflect on the show, and their growth as mediamakers, organizers, and humans. Plus, past guests share their questions for the guys. It's a celebration! Here's to many more episodes moving forward.

Recorded 8/13/19 in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

Self - Noname

AirGo is back for our second episode in front of a live audience! This time, we're excited to launch our #BYPSpotlight, a collaboration with Black Youth Project, a website and resource hub examining the attitudes, resources, and culture of the young, urban black millennial. Over the next year, AirGo and BYP will be co-curating a set of episodes featuring young Black Chicagoans bettering their communities through research and direct engagement. On this live show, the audience talks about their dreams coming true with Damon and Kiss, and then we’re joined by guest cohost Tribble and the wonderful musician Tasha, who pops by in the midst of preparing for a stellar set at Pitchfork the following weekend. Thanks to Citlalin Gallery, BYP, Windmill Ginger Brew, and our great crew of Associate Producers for making the show possible!

Recorded 7/17/19 at Citlalin Gallery in Chicago

Tiffany Walden is the cofounder of The Triibe, a digital media platform showcasing innovative content to reshape the narrative of Black Chicago. Born out of a bedroom sublet in 2017, The Triibe mixes journalism, documentary film, and curation to showcase, celebrate, and explore the stories and strands of Black Chicago. A seasoned reporter, she "strives to humanize Black people, Black places and Black things in a way that would make Lorraine Hansberry smile." In a very frank and honest conversation, Tiffany discusses the challenges of building a business while creating, the importance of her partnership with cofounder Morgan Elise Johnson, the history of media literacy and distrust in Black communities, and much more.

Recorded 7/23/19 in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

Acme Coke - Roger Plexico

Sam Bailey is directing into the right direction. The Brown Girls co-creator, director, and actor is getting pretty damn close to finding her footing after the whirlwind that was the release of the hit web series and a subsequent move to LA, and has been guiding the ship for TV shows, music videos, and two features that are currently in development. She talks about the three acts since the whirlwind, bringing her people with her, and learning how to get what she needs. Plus, some excellent Alec Baldwin and Michael B. Jordan slander/love to start the show.

Recorded 7/16/19 in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

tmlton - Igil

As part of AirGo's coverage of Pitchfork Music Festival, which is taking place July 19-21 at Union Park in Chicago, we're releasing two #GoBack episodes with AirGo Alums who are playing at the fest. Ric Wilson was the third guest ever on AirGo, back in August 2015. He had just released a boombapy rap project called Penny Raps, and was still really plugged into local organizing work with We Charge Genocide. He's now preparing to release his first full-length album, has modeled in multiple national campaigns, and had a feature cameo as himself in an episode of Netflix series Easy.

Also, listen to Ric's return episode from August 2017: https://soundcloud.com/airgoradio/ep-104-ric-wilson-returns

As part of AirGo's coverage of Pitchfork Music Festival, which is taking place July 19-21 at Union Park in Chicago, we're releasing two #GoBack episodes with AirGo Alums who are playing at the fest. When we first talked with Tasha in November of 2016, she had just released her first musical project and was a staff member of BYP-100. She's now a nationally touring act, and her album Alone At Last remains in AirGo rotation.

You can catch Tasha at AirGo Live this Wednesday 7/17 at Citlalin Gallery. RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/airgo-live-with-tasha-and-eve-l-ewing-tickets-63575320495

Resita Cox has spirit, and she wants to share it. In her two and a half years in Chicago, the poet and story-shaper has built relationships and collaborations that have resulted in some of the most compassionate and engaging new spaces in the city, from the People Say open mic at Trap House Chicago to the documentary about development and revitalization in East Garfield Park that she's currently directing as an IVOH fellow. She holds on as Damon and Daniel bounce around between media and the civil rights movement, damage-based versus desire-based journalism, the majesty of an Anton, and some of AirGo's best jokes ever. Plus, an extraordinary story at the end that's well worth sticking around for.

Recorded 7/3/19 in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

Beat Cook It Up - J Blanked

Stacey Sutton spends her time figuring out why our systems of capital work the way they do, their effects, and what some better, more human ways of creating industry and cities could be. She is a professor of Urban Planning at the University of Illinois-Chicago, a long-time organizer, and, according to Damon, the best-dressed person in Chicago’s social movement community–what a claim to fame, huh? She helps us understand what we mean when we talk about co-ops, what worker co-operatives around the country and world look like, and how we can cooperatively reshape our economic systems today and in our future.

Recorded 7/2/19 in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

Contemplate Jat - Katrah Quey

Toaster is a comforter. At first glance, that sentence sounds like a madlib that makes no sense. But once you spend anytime with the poet, teaching artist, and cofounder of Big Kid Slam, you’ll know exactly what we mean. This gem of a human talks about Richard Pryor being spoken word, learning and unlearning what it means to be there for the women in his life, the origins of his name, and so much more. Plus, a round-robin game of “Name Your Privileges!”

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Recorded 6/18/19 in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

Be Quiet - Jahzarr