Black Pod Class

This podcast highlights the experiences of a black student-athlete on a college basketball team. The guest, Ben Murphy, shares how his father's NBA career inspired him to play sports and how his mother encouraged him to participate in multiple sports throughout his childhood. He shares that he works hard to maintain his academic responsibilities alongside of his athletic commitment. He is proud of his upbringing, his cultural identity, and his pursuit to improve in his sport.

A vital aspect of this podcast is about student athletes' motivation, family influence, and academic priorities. Ben's parents and siblings are his role models, with his dad playing in the NBA and his mom being a dentist. He prioritizes his schoolwork before basketball practice to manage the demands of being a student-athlete. Ben's dad, Ronnie Murphy, is a role model because of his hard work and dedication to his family. Ronnie was “Drafted 17th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1987 NBA Draft,” (judolphins.com).

Next, the podcast dives into Murphy's athletic career, cultural background, and the UMD basketball team dynamics. Ben shared his experience of overcoming a brutal injury and staying motivated to return to basketball, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and community support. Ben and Daniel discussed the value of engaging with local communities through athletics, with Ben sharing his experience of helping out at his old high school and providing wisdom to younger players. Ben highlights the diversity of the basketball team, including players from different cultures and countries. Ben, Haley, and Daniel discuss the team's unique dynamic, including the mix of different ages and experiences and the importance of camaraderie and teamwork.

An essential part of the podcast is when Haley and Daniel ask questions about Ben's aspirations for his current life and his future, his cultural identity, and the challenges he has faced and how he overcame them. Ben shares his goals of being a great teammate and contributing to the broader conversation around diversity and inclusion in athletics. He also shares how schools and athletic organizations can better support diverse student-athletes by recognizing and addressing issues within their communities. He says if there were ever a situation he felt passionate about, he would not hesitate to use his social media platform to speak out against it.

To wrap up, the podcast discusses Ben’s athletic achievements and obstacles faced by himself and other black student-athletes. Ben, a black student-athlete at Maryland, overcame obstacles such as a lack of recruitment and a torn ACL, all leading him to his destiny: to play for his home university. His experience as a black student-athlete has taught him to work harder to prove himself and overcome stereotypes. Daniel discusses the song "My Boo" and its origins. UMD basketball players sparked a viral internet trend called ‘the running man challenge’ while dancing to this song. Jaylen Brantley was interviewed with USAtoday.com and said: “‘We dance every day for our teammates in the locker room,’ said Brantley. ‘We’re the goofballs. So we were like, Hey, let’s make a video and make everybody laugh.’” This is why Haley and Daniel included this song on the podcast. It is an iconic masterpiece created by two of the players on the team, so we just wanted to add it in for its significance and relevance to the topic. Haley then mentions the reasoning behind using the song “Levels” for the intro and outro, because it is a tradition that the song is played at every home UMD men’s basketball game’s warmup. We conclude with mentioning our podcast’s name once again and thanking everyone for listening.

On today’s episode, I had the chance to interview my father Michael White, on his experiences living in Baltimore city. We talked about his personal childhood, and whether outside factors, such as the Baltimore Riots of 1968 and the process of redlining, affected his upbringing and the people he surrounded himself with. He put an emphasis on the importance of being active while avoiding drugs and alcohol, which was common use where he was raised.

We also took a dive in contemporary portrayals of Baltimore, mentioning the famous tv show The Wire that is based on the city as well as the 2015 protests from the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died on his way to police custody. My father compares the similarities and differences he sees in Baltimore now versus back then and gives advice to the next generation regarding moving up in the world. Hope all of you enjoy it!

My name is Brenny Rodriguez and in my one and only episode, I talk about the correlation between breed-specific legislation and racism. In this episode, I also have my friend Diana who is the owner of a pitbull named Canelo. I asked Diana some questions regarding her experience as a pitbull owner and her opinion of pitbulls overall.

Breed-specific legislation refers to rules, policies, or laws that only apply to certain dog breeds. Considering the pitbull is banned in many counties, homes, and even some countries, in this episode I explain how these bans have nothing to do with the breed but instead with the idea that the pitbull has been labeled a black-owned breed. Here are the links to the sources I referred to in the episode:

Racism and the American Pit Bull

Dog Breed Restrictions in Housing

The Black Man's Dog: The Social Context of Breed Specific Legislation

Black America's Dog

Host: Welcome to my podcast, "Breaking Barriers: Embracing Vulnerability in Athletics," where we delve into the significance of acknowledging vulnerability and seeking support for mental well-being, particularly within the context of Black individuals and women in sports. I'm your host Ariana Wright, and today we're joined by a very special guest, Nyla Cherry, a fellow track athlete and student here at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Kimberle Crenshaw is a pioneer in the study of race field and is often referred to as the “Mother of Intersectionality”. Her research largely explores how identities merge and create different marginalization which affects these intersected individuals in complex ways (Crenshaw, 1991). Race, gender, class, and sexual orientation are the primarily discussed identities Crenshaw studied. By coining the term "intersectionality," Crenshaw urges us to appreciate the nuanced experiences of individuals who may face a blend of discrimination or privilege. It's like understanding that someone's journey isn't just about being discriminated against for one thing but navigating a complex web of challenges or advantages. Our goal is to explore firsthand how our interviewee feels her experience as a multiracial queer woman has been affected by her intersecting identities and allow space for conversations like this to become more normalized.

What do you do when you want your ideas to be seen and heard at your job? In this podcast episode, 2 black female professionals Pamela Wilson and Tracy Epps talk about their experiences with performance in the workplace and the differences between industries they have worked in. Does performance have to do with your appearance? How often are you code switching? How authentic can you be while performing? What does it look like for the black community to not carry the burden or stress of workplace performance? Join us in answering these questions while we are taken through the different career paths of these amazing women. 

In this episode of the Black Pod-class, Alex Hong interviews Tait Brooks, the Director of Diversity Training and Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Alex and Tait discussed the media representation that Tait looked up to, the significance of representative media, the ever-present need for more diverse stories in entertainment, and the benefits of DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) programs. Join us for this thought-provoking discussion with a DEI expert!

Our episode deals with black athletes in college football. We aim to inform, entertain, and further, the dialogue surrounding race and college sports. Our podcast will be roughly 25 minutes and broken into four primary sections. The podcast will begin with a 30-second to one minute introduction. In the introduction, Aidan will introduce our group as the host, review our main topic, and give a "table of contents" type breakdown for the rest of the podcast. In the first section, he will spend about 5 minutes looking at the college football landscape. He'll review demographic statistics, football's economic side, and modern college football's general shape. We want to use this as a foundation before entering the narratives sections. In the second section, we will go over two black college football players' success stories. We chose two players that football fans will recognize but whose stories would also interest non-sports fans. After these stories, we interview a black former college football player. This primary interview will be about ten minutes. We will interview him about his experience as a black athlete on and off the field. After the interview is finished, we'll move into our final section. We will spend five minutes tying the sections together and have a four-way conversation about the future of college football. We want to open a dialogue promoting equity in college football. We will talk about possible changes in the league and what we want to see. We will tie it back to the four previous sections. Lastly, we will add an outro that thanks our listeners and promotes the rest of the Black pod class episodes. We will also include any necessary credits in this section.

In this episode, we interview Dr. Stephanie Shonekan. She is a professor of ethnomusicology and the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland. She earned her doctorate in ethnomusicology and folklore with a minor in African American studies from Indiana University. In addition to her experience working in higher education, Dr. Shonekan is the creator of the podcast Cover Story which uncovers the histories behind popular covers of classic songs. This episode consists of an engaging conversation where we discuss the roots of Dr. Shonekan’s passion for music, the importance of music in black culture, and her creative process for recording her own podcast. 

Produced by Anastasia Avrine, Gustavo Gurgel, Lily Park, and Taylor Wallace 

Dr. Narketta Sparkman-Key is an award winning speaker, published researcher, professor and scholar. She is an expert in self-esteem development, DEI, women leadership and vulnerable populations.

Dr. Key is the Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives and Global Affairs at James Madison University since 2022. There she is also responsible for Faculty Title IX adjudication and the Inclusive Research and Pedagogies Seed Fund.

Dr. Key is also the host of the podcast called Making It Plain, which is dedicated to discussing issues that influence black communities, black families and black women.