When you're from an immigrant community, becoming a successful musician isn't an easy journey. We meet 3 dope diaspora musicians: Meklit Hadero, Oddisee, and AlSarah - each with their own struggle that comes with belonging to two identities- African, and American.

For more about the featured artists check them out!

Alsarah and the Nubatones

Odissee

Meklit Hadero

Episode art by: @neemascribbles

"You're black, but you ain't BLACK black."

Like many African kids in the US, Stoop host Hana Baba was ridiculed for being from Africa. She was called names like "African booty scratcher." And the name calling came only from the black kids. What's behind this black disconnect and where did it come from? The Stoop explores this with a young Sudanese American and her African American friends.

What's it mean when someone says you "sound white"? In this episode we explore voice, and unpack what it means linguistically, socially, and professionally when you're black but supposedly "sound white."

As always, we love you for loving The Stoop. Drop some stars on our podcast and put down a review - we appreciate every new set of ears!

Contributors: @1A @jejihnson322 Chinaka Hodge (@chinakahodge)

Editor:  Sound Design: Seth Samuel Illustration: Neema Iyer (@Neemascribbles) Digital Production/PodOps: Megan Jones

Let's hit pause and take a breath.

Hosts Leila Day and Hana Baba break from the chatter of stoop talk to send out a special double episode that allows for a moment of grace, a place where one can catch a breath and regroup in order to move forward.

What revives and sustains your soul? For Leila, it's dance. For Hana, it's music.

Like what you hear? Drop some stars on The Stoop and put down a review in iTunes or Stitcher - we thank you as always for listening.

Credits

Contributors: Leila Day & Hana Baba Sound Design: Leila Day  Stoop logo: Jef Cunningham Digital Production/PodOps: Megan Jones

"It's not hard for a black man of my caliber to say I love you."

But is it? 

Many black people say they never heard I love you much growing up, including both Leila and Hana, hosts of The Stoop. In Episodes 2, we examine the reasons why we don't hear I love you, and what that means. We talk to inmates at San Quentin state prison, a professor who studies black male emotional expression, and Stooptalk with Al Letson about I love you in his home.

Did you hear I love you growing up? #blacklove #blackfamilies

Want more Stoop? Go to our website www.thestoop.org. There you will find videos, audio shorts, behind-the-scenes peeks, and more. We drop preview audio clips, photos, and all kinds of interesting etcetera on social - so follow us on Twitter, and Instagram (@thestooppodcast) and on Facebook (stooppodcast) to get the latest and to see the conversations around our shows. Have an idea or question? hangout(at)thestoop.org. 

Like what you hear? Drop some stars on The Stoop and put down a review - we thank you for listening.

Credits:

Thanks to Al Letson (@Al_Letson) and Serie McDougal (@SerieMcdougal) for contibuting to this episode.

Sound Design: Chris Hoff

Illustration:  Neema Iyer

Digital Production/PodOps: Megan Jones

Episode 1: An exploration into the controversy over appropriation of African cultures by African Americans. Are African Americans appropriating when they wear a dashiki, tribal markings, or a head wrap? Hosts Leila Day and Hana Baba stoop this out in the debut episode of The Stoop podcast, their first stop, Afropunk.

For more info, videos, photos, illustrations and audio shorts, go to our website www.thestoop.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Preview Season 1 of The Stoop to hear the funk and flavor of the stories to come in Season 1, starting Summer 2017.  Subscribe now to make sure you don't miss an episode. We'll be dialoging about the diaspora all season long.

The Stoop podcast digs into stories that are not always shared out in the open. Hosts Leila Day and Hana Baba start conversations and provide sound-rich stories about what it means to be black, and how we talk about blackness.

Find out more and see The Stoop extras like videos, animations, and blog posts on www.thestoop.org. And follow us on social media, too - we'd love to hear from you.

Facebook - facebook.com/stooppodcast/

Twitter/Instagram - @theStoopPodcast