Black & Blonde

Two amazing humans navigate the gray as they talk about recent events that have really lent themselves to the conversation around cancel culture and how we respond to shitty things. We talk about Netflix and Dave Chapelle, Jon Gruden and the NFL, and Lil' Boosie's horrific tweets to Lil' Nas X. It's a lot to unpack and wrestle with, but as usual we hope this gives you something to think about. We hope you're always thinking and making decisions that align with your values. With that being said, we know it's not easy, especially as creature's of convenience. 

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Two amazing humans navigate the gray as they talk about one year of doing a podcast solely about race. It's hard to believe it's been a year and we're still at it. Some people are probably wondering why! We take this episode to think about what the pod has done for us over the past year and what we might do going forward. It's time for us to do what we always ask listeners to do - stop and reflect.

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Two amazing humans navigate the gray as they discuss a little known part of our history in Bruce's Beach. If you haven't heard this story in the news, you're going to want to tune in and perhaps do a little digging on your own. In 1912, Willa and Charles Bruce bought a plot of land on Manhattan Beach for a little over $1200. After building a prosperous black-owned business and community spot, they were forced from their land by LA County. In 2021, that stolen land was finally returned to their descendants.  There is so much to unpack in this story - reparations, generational wealth, stolen land, America's reckoning with race. We do our best to unpack it.

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Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the not-so-light topic of slavery. This topic came to us from the Clint Smith book, How the Word is Passed. The book follows Smith's journey to several sites closely affiliated with slavery. As he tours these sites, he speaks with the people that are there and examines the impact on our world today. Slavery isn't an easy topic to dig into, but it's so important that we seriously examine it, if nothing else, to unlearn what was likely taught to us in history classes. As a people, we cannot move on until we have reckoned with our past. In this episode we are really just asking listeners to dig deep, to think, to explore, to ask questions, to try to understand.

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Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss a fantastic listener question that juxtaposes the idea of when racist depictions in television or other media can do more harm than good. This episode focuses on the show All in the Family, but could essentially be a conversation point for any show that attempts to depict racist and misogynistic ideas for laughs. Is it ever funny? Is it good to see in order to spark conversations and bring a piece of reality into people's homes? We wrestle with this question, although we both ultimately land on an answer.

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Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss stuck points. It's a term that we learned from watching the show All American, but as it turns out, it's a real term used in therapy. It refers to a moment or experience that the brain has skipped over or not addressed. It creates barriers to recovery. We believe this term also fits with the concept of doing antiracist work. We must do inside-out work and first understand the things that might hold us back. We have to identify our own stuck points. Take a listen as we try to determine our stuck points and what challenges us in doing the work.

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Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the triggering topic of white supremacy culture. We ask our listeners to really think about the ways they participate in, most likely unintentionally, the white supremacy culture. This culture shows up in our work, schools, media, medicine - everywhere. We are often blind to it and don't step back to think about the ways in which we are a part of it.  Most of this episode was triggered by an article from the Minnesota Historical Society on White Supremacy. You might want to read it before digging into the episode.

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Two amazing humans navigate the grey as we jump back into the time machine and reflect on episodes 31-44. It's a summer of Black & Blonde pod all in one reflection. We talk about the highlight episodes, the jet lag episode, and so much more. As always, the reflection is so important. And, we couldn't do this without each person who listens!
Feel free to continue to submit questions or give us feedback on some of our responses to listener questions.  Q & A Google Form.  Link is also available on our Insta bio.

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Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the TV shows we watch! Even if you're not a TV watcher, this episode really digs into how shows shape our narratives and perpetuate stereotypes. We talk about some of our favorites - The Wire, Roseanne, Survivor, and the shows of our younger years. It's too bad we didn't have more time, because we really could have dug into this one. We hope, as always, it gives you something to think about.
Feel free to continue to submit questions or give us feedback on some of our responses to listener questions.  Q & A Google Form.  Link is also available on our Insta bio.

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Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the latest, important findings from the 2020 Census. Yep, you heard that right. This shit is important. If you aren't paying attention, please take some time to listen to this episode.  We arc back to a previous episode - Like Our Lives Depend on It. The more we know, the better we can do.
Feel free to continue to submit questions or give us feedback on some of our responses to listener questions.  Q & A Google Form.  Link is also available on our Insta bio.

Support the show