Black Like Me

Dr. Gee and Raven Jemison bring raw conversations about race to white spaces where these conversations do not usually happen. Raven discusses the importance in her work of an authentic connection to a community and one that you can have an impact on. Their conversation covers sports as racial harmony that brings people together under a common goal, and the debate over sports players and public figures being allowed to speak out on social issues.

Raven Jemison is a sports business executive with 10+ years of experience in managing multi-million dollar business operations and generating revenue across teams and leagues. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President, Business Operations for the Milwaukee Bucks. Prior to her time in Milwaukee, she worked for the NBA League Office, San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Florida Panthers.

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Did you get the "The Talk" growing up? Have you given "The Talk" to your kids? Dr. Gee riffs on the cultural significance of "The Talk" in the African American community. He tells his story of learning his own racial identity and what that tells us about American culture.

*Unfortunately, you may hear some crackling and popping noise in the recording this week*

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Dr. Alex Gee has a conversation with Bridgette Craighead, a mother, entrepreneur, and advocate running to represent her community in the Virginia House of Delegates. She shares her story of activism after the racial violence of 2020 and how it connects to the capitol insurrection in January of 2021. Her revealing story of the insurrection connected to her hometown went viral and demonstrated the racism underlying the nation.

Bridgette Craighead's Campaign: https://www.bridgettefordelegate.com

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Dr. Gee reflects on where he was when heard about George Floyd's death and the impact it had on him and the trajectory of the nation over the last year. He then shares 5 steps to have hope about where we move after understanding this point in our racial justice history. This episode is a powerful perspective from Dr. Gee as a Black man working for years to fight racism, invest in Black leaders, and promote Black excellence.

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As a companion conversation to this week's episode with Tyler Nylen and Joel Ballivian about race in the church and what exactly Frickin' A even means, we are re-sharing a similar earlier conversation with Tyler Nylen and the white men of the Black Like Me Podcast crew.

On this fun and honest episode, Dr. Alex Gee teases his upcoming full discussion of the Netflix series Dear White People by sharing his thoughts on the first episode. Dr. Gee is joined by some of his podcast crew to get a White perspective on the topic of White people entering Black spaces, such as Black churches. Plus, hear the group struggle to understand the use of the phrase "Frickin' A." You don't hear open discussions on race like this anywhere else.

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Dr. Alex Gee welcomes back to the show Tyler Nylen, former Black Like Me podcast manager, to answer some questions we know you have been wanting the answers to. Tyler Nylen is joined by his good friend, Joel Ballivian, to bring a philosophical and theoretical perspective to systemic racism, Critical Race Theory, and talking to other white people about racism. These two white men discuss some hard questions in the current racial justice environment. Is systemic racism actually real? What are white people afraid of believing in white privilege or systemic racism? What are people saying when they accuse someone like Dr. Gee as a promoter of Critical Race Theory? Also, listen in to hear if these two white guys pass the Black Ice Breaker test?

Social Psychologist Brian Lowery on Privilege

https://stanfordmag.org/contents/social-psychologist-brian-lowery-on-privilege

The Invisibility of White Privilege with Brian Lowery, PhD (Audio interview)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R32OP1X0dkw

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For this episode, Dr. Gee shares a conversation he had with Judge Everett Mitchell at a live virtual event for non-Black allies. The two discuss the Derek Chauvin trial and the surrounding violence toward Black people in the US. Judge Mitchell provides some perspective on how race impacts the criminal justice system, the discretion of judges, and how judicial diversity matters in our changing society. They explore how it is evident that change has not taken hold in our justice system. Listen to hear how this kind of change requires us all to be engaged and active in our local communities, and practical ways to create change.

Judge Everett Mitchell is a community activist and Dane County Circuit Court Judge, as well as pastor of Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church in Madison, WI.

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Dr. Alex Gee has an insightful and honest conversation with two of his friends, fellow men of faith, and fathers of daughters, Dr. Efrem Smith and Rev. Adam Edgerly. Their conversation covers the spectrum of recent concerns for Black people, from patriotism, cross-cultural relationships, racial justice movements, to the future of the US racial landscape. The group also uses the recent film, Judas and The Black Messiah, to spark relevant connections with historical context. This is a powerful snapshot of Black perspective on current events.

Pastor Efrem Smith is an internationally recognized leader who uses motivational speaking and preaching to equip people for a life of transformation. He consults on issues of multi-ethnicity, leadership, and community development. Pastor Smith is the former- president and CEO of World Impact, an urban mission, church planting and leadership-development organization. He is the current co-lead Pastor of Bayside Church, Midtown. He's the author of several books, including his latest, "Killing Us Softly." Pastor Smith is a graduate of Saint John's University and Luther Theological Seminary. He received an honorary doctor of ministry degree from Ashland Theological Seminary.

Adam Edgerly, founding and lead pastor of Newsong Los Angeles Covenant Church, is the director of Covenant World Relief and Development (CWRD). Edgerly has served as the denomination's associate director of global evangelism and Pacific Southwest Conference director of church planting. Edgerly also is the founder and CEO of Culture Consultants and has led workshops across five continents. He serves on the Board of Trustees at Biola University, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in intercultural studies, which included field research in leadership and language in Mali, West Africa. He earned a master of business administration at Emory University.

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As a companion conversation to this week's episode with Joy Bailey-Bryant about the importance of Black space, we are re-sharing a conversation about navigating white space.

Dr. Alex Gee has a conversation with Patrick Sims, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, and Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer for the Univerisity of Wisconsin-Madison. Sims oversees the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement at the University.

The discussion is an honest exploration of how large educational institutions handle diversity and the challenges of race in the campus environment. You are going to want to hear about Patrick's unique background and how he came into this role to affect positive change at the university.

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Dr. Alex Gee talks with Joy Bailey-Bryant, Lord Cultural Resources President, about the importance of cultural spaces and innovative museums. Baily-Bryant is involved in supporting the development of The Center for Black Excellence and Culture in Madison, WI. They connect over shared Black culture and tell stories of the power of preserving culture, demonstrating the resilient power of culture that has space to speak into itself. You won't want to miss a fun new edition of Black Ice Breakers.

As leader of cultural planning at the largest cultural consultancy in the world, Joy works with city officials, institutional leaders, and developers, in global municipalities like Chicago; New York; Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Dharan, Saudi Arabia to creatively plan cities and bring people (life!) to public institutions. Joy led the teams for institutional and cultural planning on remarkable projects like the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., reaching more than 1,000 stakeholders across the country to learn their expectations for the new museum; the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, directing citywide engagement in locations as large as Chicago and small as Decatur, Georgia – speaking with thousands of individuals in meetings and on social media – to assess, project, and plan for their cultural needs; and planning and opening the expansion of the Albany Civil Rights Institute in Albany, Georgia—unearthing thousands of untold stories of the Southwest Georgia Civil Rights Movement. A cultural planning specialist, certified interpretive planner, and outreach facilitator, Joy honed her specialized skill working in collaborative roles at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and notable cultural planning projects.

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