“If I would look up extensions or wigs, the first that would come upon in the search would be a white man with a huge afro in a huge 70s costume” said Rumbi concerning what led her to found online beauty supply store, Ethossphere.

Listen to this all-new episode as Rumbidzai Mangwende talks to Daniel about her experience as a girl growing up in Baltimore City, coming to Dyson as a transfer student to Cornell, founding a black owned business Ethossphere, and now being the first black woman to partner her business with Blackstone, the largest private equity company, through their Launchpad Fellowship.

Caroline on being a student journalist: “I think the importance behind journalism is making sure a wide range of voices is covered so that…you can get a range of perspectives….because everyone’s truth is different.

Caroline Johnson is a senior in the ILR School at Cornell, and a stellar journalist in the making. She serves as senior editor for the Cornell Daily Sun, and co-founded the BIPOC/Related Category during the 2020 Summer, a time marked by racial injustice, and the murders of countless black men and women. Listen to this conversation with her friend, Daniel James II, as they discuss her realization she could write, her community work this summer, as well as what it means to know what’s “next” for her — NY Times maybe?

Catch Black Voices on the Hill on air each Friday at 2pm EST on WVBR 93.5 FM, Ithaca's Alternative. 

wvbr.com/blackvoices

Instagram: @blackvoicesonthehill

Music provided by OZSOUND. Channel: https://goo.gl/qnhQtD.

Kareem on Rare Concepts NYC: “I wanted to start something, I wanted to start something of my own. And I think the pandemic was the time… I was like, if I don’t start something now, I’ll never start it.”

Kareem Hill is a junior in the Dyson School at Cornell, but he is already an entrepreneur with his own clothing business, Rare Concepts NYC. Listen to his conversation with Daniel James about their shared experience at Andover, choosing Cornell over Princeton, avoiding a 9-5 job, building a brand, the difference between financially stable and financially free, and so much more.

“The whole brand of Isaiah E. Scott is birds, art, and culture.”

This fall, Cornell has the honor of welcoming the up-and-coming ornithologist Isaiah Scott to the Class of 2025. Listen to his conversation with Daniel James II about his love of wildlife, growing up in Georgia, his parents' support, the disparate impact of climate change on black communities, the racist and complicated history of the ornithological field, writing his first book, and his guided bird-watching tours, Ike's Birding Hikes.

Catch Black Voices on the Hill each Friday @2pm on WVBR 93.5 FM. 

wvbr.com/blackvoices

Instagram: @blackvoicesonthehill

Music provided by OZSOUND. Channel: https://goo.gl/qnhQtD.

“Harvard wasn’t made for people like us— for black people, or for people from the south generally.”

Noah Harris is a southern boy from Mississippi, but he's also first black man to be president of Harvard’s undergraduate student body. Listen to his chat with Daniel about mental health and emerging from the pandemic, the endless giving nature of people from Mississippi, the tug of war black people experience between humility and underplaying personal accomplishments, violin sizing, his children’s book “Successville,” the changing role of student government at Harvard, and so much more.

“Already, being a teenager is rough. Being a black teenager is rough. Being a black teenager in America is rough. Being a black teenager who is low-income in America is rough. I could go on.”

This special edition of BVH brings you Andover on the Hill with Fredericka Lucas, Emily Ndiokho, Michael Codrington, and Amiri Tulloch. Listen to their conversations about applying and coming of age at Andover, forming identities in response to social expectations of Black students, learning Critical Race Theory in high school, their post-grad plans as they approach their senior years of college, and so much more.

The moment that Colin met jazz: “From the second that I heard the first note of it, I was like, ‘this is the greatest thing ever.’ I wanted to play this music, listen to this music, I want to know more. I was like 8 years old, and it was honestly one of the most significant moments of my life. I was just hooked.”

Colin Hancock is a jazz historian and musician, future land-use lawyer with background in urban planning, a Cornell grad, and now a Columbia University grad! Listen to his conversation with Daniel about his Texas and blues heritage, his connection to the inspiration for SOUL, his Grammy nomination for album notes, the Cornell Syncopators, and more.

Catch Black Voices on the Hill each Friday @2pm on WVBR 93.5 FM. 

wvbr.com/blackvoices

Instagram: @blackvoicesonthehill

Music provided by OZSOUND. Channel: https://goo.gl/qnhQtD.

Catch Black Voices on the Hill each Friday @2pm on WVBR 93.5 FM. 

wvbr.com/blackvoices

Instagram: @blackvoicesonthehill

Music provided by OZSOUND. Channel: https://goo.gl/qnhQtD.

Catch Black Voices on the Hill each Friday @2pm on WVBR 93.5 FM.

wvbr.com/blackvoices

Instagram: @blackvoicesonthehill

Music provided by OZSOUND. Channel: https://goo.gl/qnhQtD.