We construct romantic due diligence processes mirroring corporate HR protocols—sexual history disclosures becoming background checks, attachment styles treated as credit scores, communication methods analyzed like Six Sigma workflows. Yet this essay posits that such "relationship onboarding" rituals may create the precise emotional blind spots they aim to prevent, mistaking trauma hypervigilance for discernment while reinforcing the neural pathways of disconnection.

To love a Taurus means wrestling a black hole—its event horizon of routine pulls partners into gravitational dependence while shielding them from existential chaos. This zodiacal paradox mirrors humanity’s broader struggle: craving stability yet fearing stagnation.

The ghost of Emmett Till’s mutilated body floats beneath every interracial kiss in America—a 14-year-old lynched for a whistle, his mother’s choice to display his corpse an act of guerilla truth-telling in a nation that still confuses Black flesh with public property. To discuss interracial dating without invoking the Willie Lynch Letter’s “make them hate themselves” doctrine or Dr. Frances Cress Welsing’s Isis Papers analysis of melanin as threat is to spit on Mamie Till’s open casket.

We exist in a neurochemical marketplace where external validation operates as both currency and drug—a psychological opioid creating temporary inflation of self-worth while depleting intrinsic value reserves.

The act of reparenting oneself—that hallowed process of nurturing one’s wounded inner child—has metastasized into a cultural dogma. We chant mantras of self-compassion while quietly replicating the power dynamics we claim to escape.

The Yoruba Esu, draped in red and black to signify paradox, and Reynard the Fox, the medieval European shapeshifter who outwits kings, embody the same universal truth: enlightenment demands betrayal. One operates through sacred chaos, the other through subversive satire—yet both hijack the psyche’s craving for coherence to force confrontation with the fragmented self.

In exploring the intricate dynamics of intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships, we often confront a disconcerting paradox: the simultaneous burden of companionship and the imperative of individual responsibility.

(Airdate 4/29/25) Joseph Williams is Director of Operations and Campaigns with Students Deserve. He is a core member of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles. On this podcast we speak on his work with high school and college youth and how to protect their futures and ensure their safety in the Trump era.

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(Airdate 4/29/25) The phones are ringing and we are tackling tough topics: Trump's Executive Order on HBCUs, the legacy of the 1992 civil unrest, the President's tendency to lie and other titillating topics.

https://www.instagram.com/diprimaradio/
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(4/29/25) Dominique and callers reflect on the civil unrest of 1992, what led up to it, where you were and the continuum of protest in Los Angeles and beyond.

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https://www.instagram.com/kbla1580/