The Black Myths Podcast

Regardless of how one identifies, the facts are clear that the state of Africa has a tremendous impact on our daily lives. The resources stolen from Africa are sold as products in America, the exploitation of Africa funds the system that oppresses us in America, both of the American ghetto and African communities operate as neo-colonies for extraction, and the entire African Diaspora is sold myths of propaganda about each other. We establish these connections by digging into the book "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" by activist-scholar Walter Rodney. This episode is premiering on the day that would have been his 79th birthday. March 23rd, Is also our one-year anniversary as a podcast. Thank you to all of our supporters. Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

On our final episode for our "Black Myths of Black History," we discuss a local Indianapolis myth: Unigov. Unigov was a policy in 1970 that weakened Black political power, consolidated white suburban power, and helped lead to the hyper-segregation and severe weakening of Indianapolis Public Schools. We speak with Dr. Olon Dotson, an associate professor at Ball State University and member of the Indiana Landmarks board of directors, Olan Dotson's primary research interest and focus has been in the resurgence of severely distressed inner-city communities.

We discuss the infamous Willie Lynch Letter - a fictitious speech given to a group of plantation owners by a mythological slave master named Willie Lynch proclaiming his secret methods on how to control the slave population.  We interview Dr. Rasul Mowatt, a professor at Indiana University.  Rasul A. Mowatt is a Professor in the Departments of American Studies & Geography within the College of Arts + Sciences. Main research areas are: the Racial Geographies of Public Space, Violence and the Geographies of Threat, and the Theory of the Leisure Class and the Sociology of Leisure. These are influenced by backgrounds in social justice, cultural studies, leisure behavior, and critical pedagogy. Published work has been on analyzing lynchings as violent forms of leisure.

In part 2 of our series "Black Myths of Black History," we discuss the myths surrounding the concept of the "Talented Tenth" popularized by W.E.B. Du Bois with Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly. We explore its origins, its history, and how it translates to the Black leadership of today.  Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly is the 2020-2021 Visiting Scholar in the Race and Capitalism Project at the University of Chicago. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and Political Science at Carleton College. A scholar of political theory, political economy, and intellectual history, Dr. Burden-Stelly is the co-author, with Dr. Gerald Horne, of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History. Support our patreon: http://patreon.com/BlackMyths

For Black History Month we are partnering with the Center for Black Culture and Literature of the Indianapolis Public Library for a series called "Black Myths of Black History." For this first episode of the series, we speak with a friend of the show Dr. Jared Ball about the accuracy of the movie Malcolm X. We discuss the critical consumption of popular media, The inaccuracies in the film, and what important elements of Malcolm X's life was left out of the film. Through this conversation, we were able to establish the importance Of Malcolm's ever-evolving political philosophy.  Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we philosophically engage the myth of Trickle Down Blackness -- the concept that if a select group of Black people can gain access into elite spaces then the fruits of that access will magically trickle down to the masses of Black people. Joining us to discuss this phenomenon is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò.  Also, we discuss how privilege discourse often centers Black elite priorities, how power creates incentive structures, and how organizing for transformative change sometimes requires moral compromises.  Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò Bio His theoretical work draws liberally from the Black radical tradition, contemporary philosophy of language, contemporary social science, German transcendental philosophy, materialist thought, histories of activism, and activist thinkers.  He is currently writing a book entitled Reconsidering Reparations that considers a novel philosophical argument for reparations and explores links with environmental justice.  He also writes public philosophy, including articles exploring intersections of climate justice and colonialism. He has published the Nation, The New Republic, Al Jazeera, and the Boston review among plenty more.  http://bostonreview.net/race/olufemi-o-taiwo-identity-politics-and-elite-capture https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/essay-taiwo https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/disp/ahead-of-print/article-10.2478-disp-2018-0007/article-10.2478-disp-2018-0007.xml  

In part 2, we speak with the co-chairs (Alexis Tardy And Mat Davis) of the Indiana Racial Justice Alliance on how they as a grassroots organization can organize to decentralize against police power. They discuss their demands: Defund, Community Control, and Ending Cash Bail and Pre-detention. We explore the terrain of their demands by asking conceptual democracy questions all the way down to the procedural issues on being elected to public safety boards. We focus on how to gain this power so Black People can counter the institutions that perpetuate the myth of the perfect victim.   Donate to Reed Familly: $DemetreeWynn

With last month's grand jury announcement that no charges will be filed against the IMPD officer (Dejoure Mercer) who killed Dreasjon Reed, members of the Indiana Racial Justice Alliance (Nabeela Virjee & Nigel Long ) join us for a conversation on how police bury victims through the bureaucratic process. We go in-depth regarding 'The Myth of The Perfect Victim.' A myth that blames the behavior of Black people instead of the system itself. Donate to Reed Familly: $DemetreeWynn

We are still joined by Dr. Charisse Burden and Dr. Jared Ball. In part two of our conversation on 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,' we explore how the themes discussed in the first episode (Anti-communism, Black buying power, The Black bourgeoisie, etc) relate to our current political moment. We discuss the current propaganda machine, class dynamics of Black lives matter, the negotiating between organizing and ideology, and how red-baiting is ever so present in our political cycle.