It's midsummer. You're going to a cookout. Who're you inviting? It's a simple question, but that decision could make or break your party.

We used the idea of a cookout as a metaphor for a tight-knit gathering of community with whom we'd like to share stories, ideas, and dreams. Cousin Malia Lazu joins us again to expand the conversation by discussing what community is and how people from different communities could communicate with each other.

Transformational experiences happen when you least expect them. Melony and Derek spent a week together visiting Barcelona, Spain. Later, after returning to Boston, Melony proclaimed that she had “been living a lie.” Gradually and quietly, previous conversations with Margo Gabriel, Karleen Porcena, sister sadada, Malia Lazu, and Adam Susaneck had compounded like interest that, when withdrawn in Barcelona, revealed a greater richness of life that was not just theoretically possible, but actually flourishing. 

With Derek recalling that we’re only 100 years out from the middle years of the Harlem Renaissance, the two also referenced how travel and living abroad influenced artists like Josephine Baker and Langston Hughes, and what lessons we can learn from those examples - and others - today.

Dance and joy take center stage today. There's a movement afoot in Black America in which dance is emerging as a revolutionary act - a subversive expression of joy and cultural memory.

Melony and Derek begin by sharing personal reflections on the movement's roots to moments of community and survival. Returning guest, Malia Lazu, then expands the conversation to encompass broader themes of societal change and collaboration. Together, they navigate through thoughts of joy as resistance, the necessity of decentralized action, and the crucial role of the working class as the heart of the movement.

RESOURCES

Ring Shout example 1: https://www.jazzhistorytree.com/ring-shout/

Ring Shout example 2: https://blackmusicscholar.com/african-american-culture-ring-shout/

Dance and joy take center stage today. There's a movement afoot in Black America in which dance is emerging as a revolutionary act - a subversive expression of joy and cultural memory.

Melony and Derek begin by sharing personal reflections on the movement's roots to moments of community and survival. Returning guest, Malia Lazu, then expands the conversation to encompass broader themes of societal change and collaboration. Together, they navigate through thoughts of joy as resistance, the necessity of decentralized action, and the crucial role of the working class as the heart of the movement.

RESOURCES

Kendrick Lamar & SZA - Luther: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNY_2TEmzho

Doechii: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0cdbR5ognY&list=RDEM2iUjs5b880rBk4j9zJ1kvQ&start_radio=1

Ring Shout example 1: https://www.jazzhistorytree.com/ring-shout/

Ring Shout example 2: https://blackmusicscholar.com/african-american-culture-ring-shout/

Architect and urban planner Adam Paul Susaneck returns to continue the conversation about the hardened lines that divided Americans spatially and racially in the 20th century, and grassroot efforts to undo and repair the damage in the 21st century. From the grandparents of Pope Leo XIV to the urban cores of Rochester, NY and Boston, MA, Melony, Derek, and Adam connect the dots between personal histories and broader societal changes, shedding light on how urban renewal and transportation projects have shaped cities, metropolitan areas, and imaginations for generations.

Resources

Dividing Lines, Deborah Archer: https://shop.aclu.org/dividing-lines-how-transportation-infrastructure-reinforces-inequality/ 

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative: https://www.dsni.org/ 

Dudley Station: http://www.bostonstreetcars.com/dudley-square.html

Urban renewal and repair in Rochester: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBxiJtNSk80 

Urban renewal projects in Boston: https://www.segregationbydesign.com/boston 

Architect and urban planner Adam Susaneck joins Melony and Derek for a vivid examination of the profound impact urban planning has had on Black communities in the United States, from Jim Crow to the New Deal and into modern times. Using the histories of Miami and Los Angeles as the primary examples, they explore how informal practices to divide cities by race hardened to become permanent, real-world features that reshaped U.S. cities in the 20th century and still impact metropolitan areas today.

RESOURCES

Links

• National Museum of African American History and Culture: https://nmaahc.si.edu/
  
• Segregation By Design: https://www.segregationbydesign.com/ 
  
• Los Angeles, before and after the I-110: https://www.segregationbydesign.com/los-angeles/harbor-freeway-i110
  
• Academic Roots of Redlining: https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-abstract/108/1/42/6295167?redirectedFrom=fulltext
  

Books

• A World More Concrete, NDB Connolly: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo8787511.html
  
• Dividing Lines, Deborah Archer: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324092148
  
• The Color of Law, Richard Rothstein: https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Color-of-Law/
  
• The Power Broker, Robert Caro: https://www.robertcaro.org/the-power-broker

This is an invitation to reimagine your relationship with agency, community, and the very systems that shape our lives. In this conversation, we uncover the nuanced differences between freedom and liberation, and free fall into the chasm between asserting control and letting go.

Guest sister sadada, an embodied liberation teacher, enriches the discussion with insights on freeing oneself not just from systemic constraints, but also from the unseen, liberating our spiritual and relational ties. Our conversation weaves through reflections on culture and identity, ultimately encouraging us to question societal norms and embrace a broader notion of interconnectedness.

RESOURCES

Website: http://www.sistersadada.com

The People Could Fly: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228034.The_People_Could_Fly

We're back in Boston with an urgent broadcast. Thinking broadly about Black wealth, power and land, we take a moment to explore how ordinary citizens can respond to the political changes and growing repression sweeping the country. With dramatic shifts occurring at both a federal and community level, Melony and Derek discuss the growing necessity for dispersed grassroots action and strategize on how small, localized movements can collectively drive broad-scale change.

Through engaging storytelling and insightful dialogue, they highlight the power of boycotts, economic leverage, and the importance of "wrong think", also known as exercising one's First Amendment rights to challenge the new political reality. This conversation is both a call to action and a beacon of hope. Communities, armed with knowledge, resilience, and creativity, can push back against the forces that seek to overwhelm them.

Listeners are encouraged to connect, organize, and mobilize. It is within our collective agency to create change grounded in the belief that through solidarity and strategic action, we can enhance communal wealth, safety, and power.

For our first episode in 2025, we're welcoming the new year contemplating questions about societal evolution, collective responsibility, and the possibility of genuine transformation of the Black middle class centered around the power of mutual support.

Our discussion with guest Malia Lazu takes into consideration what a liberatory future might require, unpacks the capitalist desires of the Black middle class, and questions its aspirations for freedom. In short, we delve into an examination of traditional markers of success and urge listeners to contemplate wealth and privilege through new, actionable lenses.

For our first episode in 2025, we're welcoming the new year contemplating questions about societal evolution, collective responsibility, and the possibility of genuine transformation of the Black middle class centered around the power of mutual support.

Our discussion with guest Malia Lazu takes into consideration what a liberatory future might require, unpacks the capitalist desires of the Black middle class, and questions its aspirations for freedom. In short, we delve into an examination of traditional markers of success and urge listeners to contemplate wealth and privilege through new, actionable lenses.