In the Blackseat
In the Blackseat is an unfiltered view of the Black experience, as told by Black people. Join us as we discuss everything from raising Black children to Black hair to being Black in the diaspora - this is a no holds barred exploration of the beauty, pain and diversity of being Blackity Black in the world today. In a world that stays trying to tell us who we are, we are controlling the narrative.
Episodes
33 episodes
S3 E7 | In the Blackseat | Interracial Relationships
This episode is a first in the Blackseat - non-Black people have been invited to participate in the discussion. This episode is launching on the day we celebrate the birthday of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Laws prohibit...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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1:16:13
S3 E6 | In the Blackseat | A Conversation with Michael Harriot
One of the best contemporary storytellers is in the Blackseat for this episode. I got a chance to sit down with THE Michael Harriot!He is everything you think he would be - funny, sharp, self-deprecating, intelligent, all o...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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1:03:20
S3E5 | In the Blackseat | The Curious Case of Identity, A Conversation with Dr. Jeanne Aston-Baynes
Dr. Jeanne Aston-Baynes is a professor of Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University, near Spokane, Washington. During our initial conversation, when she mentioned where she worked, it sparked something: isn't that where Rachel Dolezal t...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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57:58
S3E4 | In the Blackseat | Black in Law Enforcement, Chief Cecil Rhambo
Modern day policing traces all the way back to slave patrols, and presents communities - especially Black ones - with issues to this day. I have wrestled with unlearning and learning about law enforcement, and have been intent on sitting down w...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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39:59
S3E3 | In the Blackseat | Black in Academia - A Conversation with Dr. Ricky L. Jones
I can’t wait for you to meet Dr. Ricky L. Jones, chair of the Pan African Studies department at the University of Louisville, Kentucky - one of the oldest in the country, nearing fifty years in existence. In a time where anything related to Bla...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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1:03:46
S3E2 | In the Blackseat | School Integration
Most everyone is familiar with the story of Ruby Bridges, a little Black girl who integrated her school in Louisiana at just six years old (her first day was immortalized in a Norman Rockwell painting, underscoring just how tiny she was.)&nb...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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44:07
S3E1 | Talking While Black: A Conversation with Elizabeth Leiba
What does it mean to talk Black? To talk while being Black? In a world where whiteness is the default, and proximity to whiteness is the standard of what is "good" and "acceptable", my guest Elizabeth Leiba is having NONE of that. We had an ene...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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1:24:57
S2, Episode 11 | In the Blackseat | Quick Ride, 6/2/2021
It's been a while since I have done a Quick Ride, but this topic has been on my mind!If you are a Black person who has been attacked by white supremacy - whether individually or systemically - is it a compliment to say "you are so stron...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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9:50
S2, Episode 10 | In the Blackseat, Mental Health, Part II
I got incredible feedback from the season premiere focused on mental health. As I am writing this overview, it is the top episode of this season and the fifth most downloaded episode of them all!There is such a hunger for information ab...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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1:13:16
S2, Episode 9 | In the Blackseat, Addiction
Drug addiction has been a plague on America for generations, and we all know when America sneezes, Black folks get the flu. When I heard my guests' story about dealing with and overcoming addiction, I couldn't wait to get them in the Blackseat ...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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1:07:08
S2, Episode 8 | In the Blackseat, HBCU Men
Last week, we had an all girl HBCU band. This week, the fellas talk about their HBCU experiences! There are about 1.5 million Black men in college at any given time, and a portion of them have decided to attend HBCUs.Len (Morehouse), Kw...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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1:13:42
S2, Episode 7 | In the Blackseat, HBCU Ladies
There are currently 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country, with nearly 230,000 students. HBCUs have been a force and a lifeline in the Black community, educating students since the mid-1800s. When other schools wou...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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1:16:37
S2, Episode 6 | In the Blackseat, Unorthodox Professions, Black Farmer
Many of those kidnapped from Africa during the Transatlantic Slave Trade were farmers. They brought with them techniques to grow and harvest multiple crops that helped build the economy of America, and the entire world. In modern times, the des...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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1:03:32
S2, Episode 5 | In the Blackseat, Black in Medicine/Medical Racism
The relationship between Black folks and medicine has been full of tension and betrayal for hundreds of years. From kidnapped Africans who brought their healing touch as enslaved men and women, to midwives, to brutal experiments performed on Bl...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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1:12:10
S2, Episode 3 | In the Blackseat, Unorthodox Professions, JMD Defense
Close your eyes and picture a gun owner. Chances are, you'll envision a white man, but Second Amendment rights apply to all Americans. Javondlynn Dunagan, owner of JMD Defense, believes that wholeheartedly. After retiring from a career in...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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53:44
S2, Episode 2 | In the Blackseat, Black Across America
We already know that Black people aren't a monolith, but how does where one lives affect the Black experience in America? I think there are a lot of assumptions based on geography (Black folks above the Mason-Dixon vs. below it, for example), b...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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1:18:59
S2, Episode 1 | In the Blackseat, Mental Health
Welcome back to the Blackseat! It goes without saying that these are stressful times we are living in (and have been living in if you're Black in America). How do Black folks make it through? Some say prayer, some say therapy (I say both). In t...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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1:24:12
Episode 15 | In the Blackseat, Mass Incarceration, Part II
Part II takes us back to the fateful day when Kiilu found out his sentence had finally been commuted. Ride in the Blackseat as his wife goes to pick up him from prison, and they spend their first moments of his freedom together. Find out what h...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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44:17
Episode 14 | In the Blackseat, Mass Incarceration, Part I
Mass incarceration has disproportionately affected the Black community for generations. Men and women have been stolen from their families and neighborhoods, and thrown behind bars, their bodies used as wood to keep lots of people warm (and ric...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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56:23
Episode 13 | In the Blackseat, Black Mothers
You heard from Black fathers, now it's time for Black mamas to take a ride in the Blackseat! Christine, Aneiko and Dana - mothers of Black teenagers - talk about how they are preparing their children to be Black adults in a hostile world, while...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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1:03:17
Episode 12 | Black and Abroad
We venture back into the Diaspora with three Black people who live or have lived abroad. Maisha calls Canada home, Marcus is making a pit stop back in the U.S. after living in Vietnam, and Voltaire has found peace in Accra, Ghana.
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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59:55
Episode 11 | In the Blackseat with Black Hair
The policing of Black bodies is nothing new. Others have made judgments about our features as being inferior, and hair is included in that. Media often depicts long, flowing hair as being good and desirable, which left Black women to try and ke...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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1:09:12
Episode 10 | Back in the Diaspora: Belize, Haiti, Cuba
We are back in the Diaspora with Ken (Belize), Felice (Cuba) and Jessica (Haiti, and returning friend of In the Blackseat!) They are tied to their heritage in ways the illuminate the Black immigrant experience (once that doesn't get focused on ...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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1:02:30
Episode 9 | In the Blackseat with Black Fathers
Black dads are more likely to be in the home and be involved in child rearing, but you would NEVER know that if you looked at the media. I want you to meet three Black dads - Orlando, Tangier and Ed. They are amazing fathers, period, but have a...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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1:22:28