We use the term and the hashtag black excellence all the time, but what is it exactly? And... is it a term we like, or does it give black people an inferiority complex? Hosts Shannon, Lisa, and KK and their guest, Shay McCowan, Executive Director of Chattanooga Business Elite, discuss all things black excellence.

Website - https://www.chattbusinesselite.com/

Shay's IG - https://www.instagram.com/shaymc1908/

Chattanooga Business Elite IG - https://www.instagram.com/chatt__businesselite/

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1. Ask Black People - If you have a question you want us to answer on the show, use this link.
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Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

Research:

• Our Obsession With Black Excellence Is Harming Black People
• What does ‘Black Excellence’ mean to you?
• Black excellence | History & Origin | Dictionary.com

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC

The Crack Epidemic had a long-lasting effect on the black community, as a majority of crack users were black. The War on Drugs imposed minimum prison sentences that led to a dramatic increase in incarceration rates for black males. While the Crack Epidemic was criminalized, the Opioid Crisis, which predominately affects the white community, has been treated as a health crisis.

Shannon shares some BIG Facts about the causes and effects of each drug crisis, and the hosts give their thoughts on the government's response to both. Would it even matter if the government tried to rectify the damage from the Crack Epidemic?

Bring Blacktivities to your inbox - stay posted on what's happening with the pod... more black culture, black history, black perspectives, and black panache!

1. Ask Black People - If you have a question you want us to answer on the show, use this link.
2. Grab some merch from the Blacktivitees Pop Up Shop.
3. Share this episode with a friend.
4. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
5. Follow us on social media.
6. Donate to the cause and help amplify more black voices and join our panel of black people.

Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

Research Links:

• Focus on Opiods - Connect2Health FCC
• Opioid vs. Crack: Congress Reconsiders Its Approach to Drug Epidemic
• Opioid Crisis: Addiction, Overprescription, and Insufficient Primary Prevention
• History Explains the U.S. Racial Wealth Gap | TIME
• Crack epidemic | US History, Causes & Effects | Britannica

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC

Back in the day, we used to be singing songs and never paid any attention to what they were actually saying. In this episode, Shannon, Lisa, and Karen take a deep dive into some of the lyrics that made us pause and say, "Now what now?" They also give their thoughts on whether the culture is influencing the music or the music is influencing the culture. See if you're familiar with any of these questionable lyrics.

Bring Blacktivities to your inbox - stay posted on what's happening with the pod... more black culture, black history, black perspectives, and black panache!

1. Ask Black People - If you have a question you want us to answer on the show, use this link.
2. Grab some merch from the Blacktivitees Pop Up Shop.
3. Share this episode with a friend.
4. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
5. Follow us on social media.
6. Donate to the cause and help amplify more black voices and join our panel of black people.

Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

Research:

• 10 Controversial Hip-Hop and R&B Songs
• 50 Rap Lyrics That Make No Sense | Complex

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC

Out of the eight black CEOs in the Fortune 500, only two of them are black women. As black women ourselves who are eager to cheer on the next sista doing her thing, working for another black woman should be glorious. However, that's not always the case... but why? Shannon and KK discuss their traumatic experiences working for black women and their theories on why it's not always what you would think.

Bring Blacktivities to your inbox - stay posted on what's happening with the pod... more black culture, black history, black perspectives, and black panache!

1. Ask Black People - If you have a question you want us to answer on the show, use this link.
2. Grab some merch from the Blacktivitees Pop Up Shop.
3. Share this episode with a friend.
4. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
5. Follow us on social media.
6. Donate to the cause and help amplify more black voices and join our panel of black people.

Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

• More Women Are Becoming Fortune 500 CEOs, But Only Three Of Them Are WOC
• We Need More Black Women In The C-Suite. Here’s Why
• Black CEO representation on the Fortune 500 is 1.6% this year. Here's what could turn it around | Fortune

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC

Have you ever been asked the question, "Why does it always have to be about race?" Amanda Seals came under fire a few months ago after an interview with Shannon Sharpe where he questioned if her stories all had to do with race, or could there be another factor. Is race involved in everything, or are we just being hypersensitive? Shannon and KK reveal their thoughts on this question and more.

Bring Blacktivities to your inbox - stay posted on what's happening with the pod... more black culture, black history, black perspectives, and black panache!

1. Ask Black People - If you have a question you want us to answer on the show, use this link.
2. Grab some merch from the Blacktivitees Pop Up Shop.
3. Share this episode with a friend.
4. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
5. Follow us on social media.
6. Donate to the cause and help amplify more black voices and join our panel of black people.

Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

• Facts About the U.S. Black Population
• War on Drugs | History & Mass Incarceration | Britannica
• Racial Disparities Persist in Many U.S. Jails | The Pew Charitable Trusts
• Black Americans and the Law - Berkeley Law

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC

We've seen a lot of our black male celebrities get "canceled" lately - from Diddy to Jonathan Majors to Chris Brown. Not that some of them don't deserve it, but why does it seem like black men have become the face of cancel culture when there are other people doing the same things? Shannon, Lisa, and Karen discuss canceling's humble beginnings to how it got chopped and screwed and it's intertwining with the me too movement.

Bring Blacktivities to your inbox - stay posted on what's happening with the pod... more black culture, black history, black perspectives, and black panache!

1. Ask Black People - If you have a question you want us to answer on the show, use this link.
2. Grab some merch from the Blacktivitees Pop Up Shop. [For 15% off, enter the code - BLKEXEL15]
3. Share this episode with a friend.
4. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
5. Follow us on social media.
6. Donate to the cause and help amplify more black voices... join our panel of black people.

Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

Research Links:

• Presumption of Guilt
• FREDDIE GIBBS CALLS OUT DOUBLE STANDARDS WHEN IT COMES TO BLACK MEN & CANCEL CULTURE
• The strange journey of ‘cancel,’ from a Black-culture punchline to a White-grievance watchword

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC

The Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef has been epic! Kendrick has the whole world chanting OVHoe and we got some great music, but is it good for the culture as a whole? SnobHop founder, John Wright, joins Shannon and Lisa to talk rap beef of the past and present.

Subscribe to SnobHop

Follow John on Instagram

Bring Blacktivities to your inbox - stay posted on what's happening with the pod... more black culture, black history, black perspectives, and black panache!

1. Ask Black People - If you have a question you want us to answer on the show, use this link.
2. Grab some merch from the Blacktivitees Pop Up Shop.
3. Share this episode with a friend.
4. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
5. Follow us on social media.
6. Donate to the cause and help amplify more black voices and join our panel of black people.

Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

• Biden Campaign "Euphoria" IG Video
• How Kendrick Lamar and Drake changed rap beefs forever
• The 40 Biggest Hip-Hop Feuds | Complex

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC

Juneteenth represents freedom, but if we fast forward to 2024. It seems like politicians are playing Uno with house rules, using multiple skips and reverses when it comes to the freedoms we have fought so hard to get in the past. Shannon and Lisa discuss Project 2025 and the ramifications it might have for black people.

Bring Blacktivities to your inbox - stay posted on what's happening with the pod... more black culture, black history, black perspectives, and black panache!

1. Ask Black People - If you have a question you want us to answer on the show, use this link.
2. Share this episode with a friend.
3. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
4. Follow us on social media.
5. Donate to the cause and help amplify more black voices and join our panel of black people.

Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

• Project 2025 - Presidential Transition Project Website
• Conservatives aim to restructure U.S. government and replace it with Trump’s vision | PBS NewsHour
• Project 2025 Document

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC

Blacktivities returns June 17th!!! Check out the first episode of Shannon's newest podcast, RIGHTing Narratives in this bonus episode.

Recently, players like Caitlyn Clark, Angel Reese, and Kamilla Cardoso have brought major attention to women’s basketball. There are several other young women on that team that you don’t hear about who dominated at the high school level, but aren’t the superstars on their college teams. You don’t hear about the immense pressure, tough choices, and sacrifices they are being asked to make at such a young and confusing time in their lives.

Wynter Whitley is an extraordinary athlete and former Duke Lady Blue Devils basketball player, who had a standout season her freshman year, but when tragedy hit, her game and relationship with the coaches was collateral damage. Her story helps us right the narratives about grief, self-advocation, and self-worth. It rights the narrative that we don’t always have to be strong, and it’s okay to take the time to heal when we need it.

Bring Blacktivities to your inbox - stay posted on what's happening with the pod... more black culture, black history, black perspectives, and black panache!

1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Click the plus to follow us on your podcast app and get automatic downloads of each episode.
3. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
4. Follow us on social media.
5. Donate to the cause and help amplify more black voices.

Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC

According to a study completed by the CDC between 1999 and 2020 that analyzed homicide rates of Black women ages 25 to 44 across 30 states, black women are 6 times more likely to be killed than white women. In Wisconsin, they’re 20 times more likely! Black women living in Midwestern and Northeastern states were also more likely to be killed by a firearm. Shannon and Lisa end Women's History Month by discussing these big facts, femicide, and ebony alerts.

See you in June!

Bring Blacktivities to your inbox - stay posted on what's happening with the pod... more black culture, black history, black perspectives, and black panache!

1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Click the plus to follow us on your podcast app and get automatic downloads of each episode.
3. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
4. Follow us on social media.
5. Donate to the cause and help amplify more black voices.

Hear more episodes - Blacktivities website

About the Hosts

Blacktivities is a Black Panache original production - a podcast network with a lineup of black-hosted shows sharing black stories and tackling black issues. For more information on shows like our newest production, Fat Lies Matter, visit blackpanache.com.

Help Support Future Minority Educators by donating to the Wilbert Bond, Sr. Scholarship Fund, created to honor Shannon's Grandfather, the first black graduate of Middle Tennessee University.

Continue the Conversation on Social Media:

Instagram - @blacktivitiespod

Follow Shannon - @justshanofficial

Follow Lisa - @monalisadapoet

Follow Karen - @kkrobertsgrissom

Threads - @blacktivitiespod

Facebook - Blacktivities

• Femicide: Violence Against Women
• Five essential facts to know about femicide | UN Women – Headquarters
• The Lancet
• Black women are six times more likely to be killed than white women, data shows
• Black Women in the U.S. Murdered Six Times More Often Than White Women | Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Copyright 2022-2025 Black Panache, LLC