Black History Year

This week, we’re pulling back the curtain on American music history—and asking who really gets to define it. Grammy-winning Blues musician and cultural historian Chris Thomas King drops in to break down why everything we’ve been taught about the origins of the blues is wrong. Because Chris is letting it be known: it didn't start on Mississippi plantations—he's taking us to Congo Square, Creole New Orleans, and Storyville, where he argues the blues was born out of resistance, freedom, and Saturday night defiance. From ancient African instruments to the invention of “jazz” as a sanitizing label, this conversation reclaims the radical roots of Black music—and why they still matter. — To learn more, find Chris at https://www.christhomasking.com/ and check out his book "The Blues: The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture." — This podcast is brought to you by PushBlack, the nation’s largest non-profit Black media company. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com. Most folks do 5 or 10 bucks a month, but truly, anything helps. Thanks for supporting the work. With production support from Leslie Taylor-Grover and Brooke Brown, Black History Year is produced by Cydney Smith, Darren Wallace, and Len Webb, who also edits the show. Lilly Workneh is our Executive Producer and Black History Year's host is Darren Wallace. 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

In public, Martin Luther King Jr. was staunchly against firearms as a means of liberation. Privately, he owned weapons and hired armed security to protect himself and his family. Why the change?_____________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

Shoebox lunches, overalls, and a handy Green Book kept our people safe during turbulent times to travel while Black. Here’s how they did it and what we can learn from their genius._____________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

The sacred halls of history are filled with the incredible tales of the prowess and might of African rulers. Four of those ruled over the Roman empire at the height of its power, and we should know their names._____________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

This week, we’re pulling back the curtain on public education in America—and asking if it was ever really meant for us in the first place. Dr. Noliwe Rooks, Brown University professor, author of "Cutting School" and founder of the term "segronomics," joins us to break down how Black communities have always fought for learning—even when the system fought back harder. From the broken promises of Brown v. Board to why Donald Trump's Department of Education might not be worth saving, this conversation challenges everything you thought you knew about education, liberation, and the law. To learn more, be sure to check out Dr. Noliwe's newest book, "Integrated: How American Schools Failed Black Children." — This podcast is brought to you by PushBlack, the nation’s largest non-profit Black media company. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com. Most folks do 5 or 10 bucks a month, but truly, anything helps. Thanks for supporting the work. With production support from Leslie Taylor-Grover and Brooke Brown, Black History Year is produced by Cydney Smith, Darren Wallace, and Len Webb, who also edits the show. Lilly Workneh is our Executive Producer and Black History Year's host is Darren Wallace. 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

In the late 60s, you could have seen a young Chaka Khan handing out Black Panther newsletters. She was a teenager when her stepmother got her into the Black radical group -- and it changed her, and her eventual superstar music career, 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

It’s no secret that our people can throw down in the kitchen. These three Black cookbooks span the diaspora with tantalizing recipes worth rolling up your sleeves to make._____________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

Marie-Joseph Angelique wasn't anything to play with, so when her captors denied her release, she got literally fired up. The city went up in flames as she fled to a better life, but true hell still awaited her._____________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

In this episode of Black History Year, host Darren sits down with adrienne maree brown to discuss how Black imagination has always shaped history—from Harriet Tubman’s vision of The Promised Land to Octavia Butler’s Earthseed philosophy. They’re breaking down the powerful ways Black folks have used imagination—not just to escape oppression, but to turn freedom dreams into homes, communities, and whole new worlds. How have generations of Black people turned their dreams of freedom into reality? What lessons from history push us to dream bigger about the future? And how do we make sure imagination isn’t just a dream—but something real? -- To find more of adrienne's incredible work, visit https://adriennemareebrown.net/ — This podcast is brought to you by PushBlack, the nation’s largest non-profit Black media company. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com. Most folks do 5 or 10 bucks a month, but truly, anything helps. Thanks for supporting the work. With production support from Leslie Taylor-Grover and Brooke Brown, Black History Year is produced by Cydney Smith, Darren Wallace, and Len Webb, who also edits the show. Lilly Workneh is our Executive Producer and Black History Year's host is Darren Wallace. 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

This week, we're getting into the inherited, collective, and often unspoken legacy of Black grief. Joined by Dr. Leslie T. Grover, an award-winning author, activist, and scholar dedicated to historical storytelling as a tool for justice and healing, we look at everything from Maya Angelou's refusal to celebrate her birthday after MLK's assassination to age-old funerary traditions passed down through generations to understand that grief has always been bigger than sorrow for Black folks--it's how we honor, celebrate, and love our ancestors, each other, and ourselves. — To find more of Leslie's incredible work, visit https://www.leslietgrover.com/ — This podcast is brought to you by PushBlack, the nation’s largest non-profit Black media company. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com. Most folks do 5 or 10 bucks a month, but truly, anything helps. Thanks for supporting the work. With production support from Leslie Taylor-Grover and Brooke Brown, Black History Year is produced by Cydney Smith, Darren Wallace, and Len Webb, who also edits the show. Lilly Workneh is our Executive Producer and Black History Year's host is Darren Wallace. 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