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In this exciting collaboration with Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and HITRECORD, Kenneth Morris, Jr. walks The Tight Rope. Kenneth Morris, Jr. descends from two of the most influential names in American history: he is the great-great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass and the great-great grandson of Booker T. Washington.

Morris continues his family’s legacy of anti-slavery and educational work as co-founder and president of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, a nonprofit organization based in New York. His career and life path have been driven by a clear focus on FDFI’s mission “To Build Strong Children and to end systems of exploitation and oppression.“

We discuss Morris’ collaboration with HITRECORD, an open online community for creative collaboration founded by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Kenneth Morris and HITRECORD are partnering to create a series of art pieces that celebrate Black Excellence and highlight influential figures from Black history. Contribute your ideas and get involved with the project at hitrecord.org/monuments.

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Credits:

Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry

EP/Host: Cornel West

EP/Host: Tricia Rose

Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge

Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

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#CornelWest

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In the second installment of our series of virtues, Cornel West and Tricia Rose dive into the true meaning of integrity. Tune in to learn why the professors consider integrity to be one of the most important virtues and why the lack of it could lead to the demise of the human race.

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Credits:

Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry

EP/Host: Cornel West

EP/Host: Tricia Rose

Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge

Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

#TheTightRope

#CornelWest

#TriciaRose

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This week on The Tight Rope, the professors are joined by Dr. Gina Paige, co-founder of African Ancestry. African Ancestry is the world leader in tracing lineages of African descent with a database of over 30,000 indigenous African DNA samples. Join us for a rich discussion on why Black people are the original victims of identity theft and how African Ancestry is working to rectify this.

In 2003, Dr. Gina Paige co-founded African Ancestry, Inc. (AfricanAncestry.com) and in doing so, pioneered a new way of tracing African lineages using genetics, and a new marketplace for people of African descent looking to more accurately and reliably trace their roots. Paige travels the world helping people demystify their roots and inform on identities so that they may better understand who they are by knowing where they’re from.

Paige resides in Washington, D.C. and holds a degree in Economics from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Paige was honored with an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Global Oved Dei Seminary University.

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Previous video episodes on our Youtube!

Credits:

Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry

EP/Host: Cornel West

EP/Host: Tricia Rose

Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge

Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

#TheTightRope

#CornelWest

#TriciaRose

#SpkerBoxMedia

This week on The Tight Rope, Stokley Williams opens up about founding Mint Condition, his new solo project Sankofa, and why he considers himself a sonic healer. Tune in to learn Stokley’s favorite songs of his career and the influences that helped him develop his signature style.

Stokley is a GRAMMY-nominated vocalist, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who is one of music’s best-kept secrets. He has worked with some of the biggest names in music including Prince, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and more. He’s known best as the lead singer and drummer for legendary R&B group Mint Condition.

In 2017, Stokley embarked on a new solo journey with the release of his debut album Introducing Stokley, which produced two #1 singles, “Organic” and “Levels.” He now continues that journey in a new partnership with the legendary Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis’ Perspective Records. Stokley’s new single “She” is off his sophomore album due out this winter.

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Previous video episodes on our Youtube!

Credits:

Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry

EP/Host: Cornel West

EP/Host: Tricia Rose

Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge

Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

#TheTightRope

#CornelWest

#TriciaRose

#SpkerBoxMedia

Killer Mike walks The Tight Rope this week for an unfiltered conversation on knowing your worth and giving back to your community.

Mike shares personal stories about the people who shaped him as an artist and inspired his activism. Tune in to hear why Mike dedicated his career to uplifting others and inspiring the next generation of artists. Plus, Mike shares his favorite books of all time and why he believes 'education is emancipation.'

Atlanta native, Michael Render, aka Killer Mike, is a Grammy-award winning rapper, businessman and activist. He is one half of the hip hop duo, Run the Jewels, host of the Netflix series, “Trigger Warning with Killer Mike,” co-owner of the famed Atlanta restaurant, Bankhead Seafood, and co-founder of Greenwood digital bank. Of all his roles and responsibilities, recognition and celebration, Mike is most proud to be called “husband” to Shana, and “father” to two sons and two daughters.

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Previous video episodes on our Youtube!

Credits:

Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry

EP/Host: Cornel West

EP/Host: Tricia Rose

Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge

Production Coordinators: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

#TheTightRope

#CornelWest

#TriciaRose

#SpkerBoxMedia

To listen to the full episode with Roxane Gay, please visit our Patreon! 

This week, New York Times Bestselling author, professor, editor, and social commentator Roxane Gay walks The Tight Rope.

Gay and the professors discuss the devastating attacks on Palestine and why so many public figures are afraid to speak out. Plus, learn why Gay felt called to be a writer and how she fell in love with the essay form.

Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times.

She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, The Audacity.

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Credits:

Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry

EP/Host: Cornel West

EP/Host: Tricia Rose

Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

#TheTightRope

#CornelWest

#TriciaRose

#SpkerBoxMedia

Dr. West and Professor Rose push each other as they reflect on the murder of George Floyd and its sustained significance one year later.   

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Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry 

EP/Host: Cornel West 

EP/Host: Tricia Rose 

Producer: Allie Hembrough

Producer: James Artis 

Producer: Ceyanna Dent 

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)  

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This week Professor and activist Dr. Maulana Karenga joins the professors to discuss his relationship with Malcolm X, his beliefs about what is necessary to develop a true sense of Black identity, and Kawaida-- his interpretation of ancient Egyptian ethical thought as a living tradition and a useful philosophical option for critical reflection on the urgent issues of our time.

Dr. Maulana Karenga is professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies at California State University—Long Beach. He is also the creator of the pan-African cultural holiday Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles) and author of the authoritative text titled Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture.

An activist-scholar, he is chair of the organization Us and the National Association of Kawaida Organizations; and Executive director of the African American Cultural Center and the Kawaida Institute of Pan-African Studies; and also co-chair of the Black Community, Clergy and Labor Alliance, BCCLA. He is currently writing a major work on the social and ethical philosophy of Malcolm X titled The Liberation Ethics of Malcolm X: Critical Consciousness, Moral Grounding and Transformative Struggle.

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Learn more about Dr. Maulana Karenga by visiting his website!

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Previous video episodes on our Youtube!

Credits:

Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry

EP/Host: Cornel West

EP/Host: Tricia Rose

Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

#TheTightRope

#CornelWest

#TriciaRose

#SpkerBoxMedia

Recorded on December 17th, 2020, with the holiday spirit close at hand, Dr. West and Professor Rose welcome Father Michael Pfleger, long-time Senior Pastor of The Faith Community of Saint Sabina to reflect on the state of our democracy and his beliefs on the role of faith communities in the fight for social justice, especially at the community level. In addition to discussing his hopes for the Biden administration, Father Pfleger reflects on the course of his extensive and active ministry. Throughout his career, Father Pfleger has been recognized for his

commitment to equality and passionate stance against injustice and has sought to break down the walls of racism and denominationalism by building unity among all people founded on truth and based on Jesus’ command to love one another. This holy calling has led him to be a parent, a preacher, a teacher, a lecturer and an activist.

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Previous video episodes on our Youtube!

Credits:

Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry

EP/Host: Cornel West

EP/Host: Tricia Rose

Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

#TheTightRope

#CornelWest

#TriciaRose

#SpkerBoxMedia

This week Professor Jeffrey Stout, longtime friend and colleague of Dr. West joins us on The Tight Rope to talk about virtues and the political significance of friendships. Tune in to hear Dr. Stout recount his experiences teaching with Dr. West and how their intellectual pursuits led to their bonds of brotherhood.

Jeffrey Stout is a theorist of democratic culture, best known for his teaching and his scholarship on social movements, religion, ethics, pragmatism, and film. Early on, he was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements. His undergraduate degree is from Brown, and his doctorate is from Princeton, where he taught for more than four decades. Stout’s most recent books are Democracy and Tradition and Blessed Are the Organized: Grassroots Democracy in America. His current project is “A Political History of Religion,” which expands on the Gifford Lectures he delivered in Edinburgh in 2017.

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Full video version of this episode and others here!

Credits:

Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry

EP/Host: Cornel West

EP/Host: Tricia Rose

Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent

Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

#TheTightRope

#CornelWest

#TriciaRose

#SpkerBoxMedia