March 2, 2022

Zion: The Joy of My World

Summary: Zion. The name of Lauryn Hill's son. The representation of God's holiness on earth. For Lauryn, Zion is both things, a holy place and the holiness she found in giving birth to her son. We explore "To Zion" and the choice she made to continue on with her pregnancy, despite pressure from friends, family, and record executives to end her pregnancy. In addition, Raven Jones Stanbrough will walk us through Lauryn's religious history via "Everything is Everything."

Timestamps:

• Lauryn Hill describes the ways she loves and experiences love. - 00:00
• Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Julius Tunstall and Raven Jones Stranbrough examine the Lauryn's choice to keep Zion in light of love through the song "To Zion." - 4:53
• Personal impact of "To Zion" on women, who like Lauryn, similarly found themselves pregnant at an unexpected time. - 10:57
• Alex Nava explains the dual meaning of Zion. - 18:59
• A brief exploration of Lauryn's religious history. - 21:34
• Cona Marshall explores Lauryn's religious history through "Everything is Everything." - 24:49
• Femi Olutade breaks down the history of Abba Moses. - 33:30
• Cona walks through the Gospel music connection in "Everything is Everything." - 36:19
• Julius Tunstall on the expanding of Lauryn's Religious Understanding - 37:57

Hosts: Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder.

Contributors: Raven Jones Stanbrough, Cona Marshall, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Alex Nava, Julius Tunstall, and Femi Olutade.

Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok: @theflickerspod

Website: flickerspodcast.com

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Logo design by @papercutprayers

Theme music by Julius Tunstall.

Additional music from beatsbyhype, fndguitar, Nabil Sioty, and Ashuka Made-It.

Episode Transcript: https://share.descript.com/view/GBSvBGQQ71N

Additional Resources:

• Dissect Season 5 blog posts on Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN.”
• "God, the Black Man and the Five Percenters" - Christopher Johnson
• Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill's church, New Hope Baptist Church
• Zion Marley and Selah Marley Instagram Pages
• Essence article on Assata Shakur.

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