

Black History Year
PushBlack
Learning your history makes you - and your people - stronger.
As Black people, we know we’re often left out of the history books. That media images are skewed. That we need access to experts, information, and ideas so we can uplift our community.
The Black History Year feed connects you to the history, thinkers, and activists that are usually excluded from mainstream conversations, through must-hear interviews and 2-Minute Black History stories. You might not agree with everything you hear, but we’re always working toward one goal: uniting for the best interests of Black people worldwide.
BHY is produced by PushBlack, the nation’s largest non-profit Black media organization - contact us at BlackHistoryYear.com.
As Black people, we know we’re often left out of the history books. That media images are skewed. That we need access to experts, information, and ideas so we can uplift our community.
The Black History Year feed connects you to the history, thinkers, and activists that are usually excluded from mainstream conversations, through must-hear interviews and 2-Minute Black History stories. You might not agree with everything you hear, but we’re always working toward one goal: uniting for the best interests of Black people worldwide.
BHY is produced by PushBlack, the nation’s largest non-profit Black media organization - contact us at BlackHistoryYear.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 8, 2025 • 3min
Can We Talk? Three Necessary Debates About Black Culture
Questions about Black people’s place in the world have been rocket fuel for some of the most fiery debates in history. And three of those debates still have Black people heated today.
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2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com — most people donate $10 a month, but every dollar makes a difference. If this episode moved you, share it with your people! Thanks for supporting the work.The production team for this podcast includes Cydney Smith and Len Webb. Our editors are Lance John and Avery Phillips from Gifted Sounds Network. Lilly Workneh serves as executive producer. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aug 5, 2025 • 1h 3min
Don’t Cop Out: What Real Public Safety Looks Like in Black Communities
Don't Cop Out is a limited series podcast from PushBlack that explores what happens when communities take safety into their own hands.
In this episode, we speak to Darius Crockett of the Baton Rouge Community Street Team (BRCST), a groundbreaking organization reimagining what public safety looks like.
As a Community Navigator, he shares his firsthand insights into the power communities have to build better responses to crisis and a movement that centers people-powered solutions & alternatives independent of policing.
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Support and learn more about BRCST at https://www.brcst.org/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 24, 2025 • 42min
The Black Barber Shop with Quincy Mills (May 2022)
The Black barbershop is a cultural institution. It's a place where you can get much more than a haircut. You get community. You get jokes. You might get politicized. And you will get the straight talk that we often hold back when navigating a larger public that's committed to white supremacist systems.
In May 2022, Jay sat down with Quincy Mills to help us understand both the politics and economics of Black barber shops. Quincy is an associate professor of history at the University of Maine and College Park. Along with teaching courses in 20th-century African-American history, he's authored "Cutting Along the Color Line: Black Barbers and Barber Shops in America” and is working on a new book called “The Wages of Resistance: Financing the Black Freedom Movement."
NOTE: Today's history story is a fictional account of what so many Black barbershops experienced historically To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 23, 2025 • 3min
How Dikembe Mutombo Gave The Giant Finger To Injustice
Dikemba Mutombo’s iconic finger wag on the court let his opponents know they weren’t getting past him. Off the court, his actions let the world know he wasn’t about to let poverty or racism score either._____________2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com — most people donate $10 a month, but every dollar makes a difference. If this episode moved you, share it with your people! Thanks for supporting the work.The production team for this podcast includes Cydney Smith and Len Webb. Our editors are Lance John and Avery Phillips from Gifted Sounds Network. Lilly Workneh serves as executive producer. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 22, 2025 • 3min
Can We Talk? Three Necessary Debates About Black Culture
Questions about Black people’s place in the world have been rocket fuel for some of the most fiery debates in history. And three of those debates still have Black people heated today._____________2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com — most people donate $10 a month, but every dollar makes a difference. If this episode moved you, share it with your people! Thanks for supporting the work.The production team for this podcast includes Cydney Smith and Len Webb. Our editors are Lance John and Avery Phillips from Gifted Sounds Network. Lilly Workneh serves as executive producer. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 21, 2025 • 3min
‘Deadwood Dick’ And The Fascinating Tale of This Black Cowboy
Nat Love, better known as Deadwood Dick, was a cattle herder and, if you heard him tell it, one of the most famous cowboys of the Old West. Was he just a legend in his own mind?_____________2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com — most people donate $10 a month, but every dollar makes a difference. If this episode moved you, share it with your people! Thanks for supporting the work.The production team for this podcast includes Cydney Smith and Len Webb. Our editors are Lance John and Avery Phillips from Gifted Sounds Network. Lilly Workneh serves as executive producer. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 17, 2025 • 51min
Critical Race Theory and The Obstruction of Black Education with Dr. Ivory Toldson (Nov 2021)
Education has always mattered to Black people. Our enslaved ancestors risked their lives to learn what white oppressors withheld. Because those oppressors understood the important role knowledge of ones history, one's world, and oneself plays in Black liberation. Hundreds of years have gone by, and throughout them all, white supremacy has continued the work of suppressing Black education. So what can we do about it? In November 2021, Jay sat down with Dr. Ivory Toldosn.
Dr. Toldson is the NAACP's national director of education, innovation, and research and has been a professor at Howard University for 16 years. Learning is the path forward, but we first have to challenge the barriers that prevent us from doing so.
BHY is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company - hit us up at BlackHistoryYear.com and share this with your people! PushBlack exists because we saw we had to take this into our own hands. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at https://BlackHistoryYear.com. Most people do 5 or 10 bucks a month, but everything makes a difference.Thanks for supporting the work. The Black History Year production team includes: Tareq Alani, Patrick Sanders, Leslie Taylor-Grover, William Anderson, Jareyah Bradley, Brooke Brown, Shiavon Chapman, Tabitha Jacobs, Abeni Jones, Briona Lamback, Courtney Morgan, Zain Murdock, Akua Tay, Tasha Taylor, and Darren Wallace. Producing the podcast we have Cydney Smith, who performs our narrative pieces, and Sasha Kai Parker, who also edits the show.. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 16, 2025 • 3min
The First Juneteenth Was Nothing Like You May Think
The crowd erupted into joy at the words of the white man. They were free, he said. But their joy would be short-lived. A beast like slavery wasn’t about to go out with mere words.
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2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com — most people donate $10 a month, but every dollar makes a difference. If this episode moved you, share it with your people! Thanks for supporting the work.The production team for this podcast includes Cydney Smith, Len Webb, and Lilly Workneh. Our editors are Lance John and Avery Phillips from Gifted Sounds Network. Julian Walker serves as executive producer." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 15, 2025 • 3min
Let’s Settle The ‘Ask’ vs. ‘Ax’ Debate Right Now
Has someone ever corrected you for ‘axing’ instead of ‘asking’? Well, history shows that both are right. Here’s why we should keep speaking like we do.
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2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com — most people donate $10 a month, but every dollar makes a difference. If this episode moved you, share it with your people! Thanks for supporting the work.The production team for this podcast includes Cydney Smith, Len Webb, and Lilly Workneh. Our editors are Lance John and Avery Phillips from Gifted Sounds Network. Julian Walker serves as executive producer." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 14, 2025 • 3min
How Alice Walker’s Secret Grave Hunting Obsession Changed Black History
Alice Walker is a renowned author. She’s also a grave hunter. In the 1970s, she set out to discover the final resting place of a long lost voice of authentic Blackness. What she found changed history forever. _____________
2-Minute Black History is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com — most people donate $10 a month, but every dollar makes a difference. If this episode moved you, share it with your people! Thanks for supporting the work.The production team for this podcast includes Cydney Smith, Len Webb, and Lilly Workneh. Our editors are Lance John and Avery Phillips from Gifted Sounds Network. Julian Walker serves as executive producer." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices


