How can anthropology become a tool for Black liberation and radical education? In this powerful episode of Elephant in the Room – Unboxed, host Suzette Chang sits down with Dr. Brendane Tynes — anthropologist, queer Black feminist scholar, storyteller, and healer—to unpack:

• Decolonizing Anthropology – How Dr. Tynes reclaims the field to center Black and Indigenous liberation, despite its oppressive roots.
• The fight for critical thinking in schools, why literacy alone isn’t justice, and how systemic racism shapes classrooms.
• Black Feminism vs. Womanism – The difference between these frameworks and why both matter in dismantling oppression.
• Spirituality as Resistance – Dr. Tynes’ work with Hoodoo and ancestral healing as acts of defiance and survival.
• The Power of Asking "Why?" – Why curiosity—not compliance—is the key to collective liberation.

From confronting micro-aggressions in academia to reimagining education beyond "the way it’s always been," this conversation is a call to question, connect, and reclaim power.

🔗 Follow Dr. Tynes: blacklovedandfreepodcast.com | IG: @blacklovedandfree

Brought to you by The Descriptions & the Respect for Diversity Foundation.