George reflects on the role of trauma in black art. A slice of American history provides insight into the ghettoisation of African voices, leading to a strangely familiar story.

Written by George The Poet.

Featured songs: Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack, The Message by Grandmaster Flash, Ghetto Quran by 50 Cent, Many Men (Wish Death) by 50 Cent

Featured guests: Julie Adenuga as Dija

This episode features clips taken from Foxy Brown, Trouble Man, The Spook Who Sat By The Door, and The Mack. It also features comments from Vonetta McGee, Oscar Williams, and Jim Brown taken from the documentary Black Hollywood: Blaxploitation And Advancing An Independent Black Cinema (1984). The clip of Cicely Tyson is taken from an interview with ABC News (1972) and appears at 00:07:26. These comments on Blaxploitation are chosen to show that black people working within different areas of the movie industry had similar reservations and concerns in how black people were being used as accessories, and that even back in the 1970’s-1980’s that feeling was understood and could be voiced clearly and concisely.

The quotes by Ari Melber on 50 Cent growing up in Queens and surviving a 9-shot gun attack are taken from the October 2nd episode of The Beat With Ari Melber produced by MSNBC Network. Clip appears at 00:23:23.

Foxy Brown (1974) directed by Jack Hill. Production Company: American International Pictures (AIP), Hollywood West Entertainment. Distributor: American International Pictures (AIP). Clip appears at 00:06:46

Trouble Man (1972) directed by Ivan Dixon. Production Company: JDF/B Productions. Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox. 00:06:49

The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973) directed by Ivan Dixon. Production Company: Bokari. Distributor: United Artists. 00:06:54

The Mack (1973) directed by Michael Campus. Production Company: Harbor Productions, Harvey Bernhard Enterprises. Distributor: Cinerama Releasing. Clip appears at 00:06:57

Black Hollywood: Blaxploitation And Advancing An Independent Black Cinema (1984) directed by Howard Johnson. Distributed by Screen Edge / MVD. Featuring clips of Actress and Producer Vonetta McGee, Writer and Director Oscar Williams, and Actor and Producer Jim Brown. Clips appear at 00:07:34, 00:07:39, 00:07:44, and 00:08:13.

Additional clips from the BBC Archive:

We also used clips from the Pan African Alliance documentary The Nation of Gods and Earths: Who are the Five Percenters?

Have You Heard George’s Podcast? is a George the Poet production for BBC Sounds.