America’s Black Capital
“America’s Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy” chronicles how a center of Black excellence emerged amid virulent expressions of white nationalism as African Americans pushed back against Confederate ideology to create an extraordinary locus of achievement. Alongside author Dr. Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, in this episode we examine the methods in which Black Atlanteans pushed for social,...
Who’s Afraid of DEI?: Interrogating Gender & Race in the Workplace (Encore)
“There was not a moment that I came into the workplace and thought that I would belong or be treated properly or equally.” Ruchika Tulshyan, a workplace inclusion expert, paraphrases an interview with Ijeoma Oluo, a thought leader on race in America, for Tulshyan’s book, Inclusion on Purpose. In the conversation featured in this episode, these two women talk about Ruchika’s misassumptions about race and gender in the workplace in her...
Denial of the Funk: The Impact of Racism on our Nation’s Health
The problem in America is, America’s been in denial about its problems. And that’s a problem. America doesn’t have a race problem, in reality there’s been catastrophes visited upon Black people. Catastrophes visited on Indigenous brothers and sisters. Catastrophes visited on Latino brothers and sisters. Catastrophes visited on working people. Catastrophes visited on women of all colors. We can go on and on. This week on...
Inclusion on Purpose
George Floyd’s murder sparked increased attention toward Black liberation and by extension, racial discrimination. Institutions raced to check boxes for workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but how do we know whether real work has been done? In this episode, two thought leaders around race and belonging, Ruchika Tulshyan and Ijeoma Oluo, discuss the finer points of how to create equity in the workplace. This conversation takes...
The Pseudo-Science of Whiteness: Biology as a Social Weapon ENCORE
This week, filmmaker Stephanie Welch explores the role that racist, unscientific propaganda has played in promoting white supremacy in the U.S. She traces the history of the Pioneer Fund, the primary funding source for research that claims to demonstrate that people of color are genetically and intellectually inferior. The Fund used such research to lobby for eugenic policies like forced sterilization and the restrictive 1924...
Unequal Justice: the Criminalization of Black Youth
Nearly two thirds of all children in the U.S. juvenile justice system are kids of color. That’s according to a recent report by the Children’s Defense Fund. In this episode of Making Contact, we’ll hear from Dr. Kris Henning on the disparities faced by Black youth in the juvenile justice system. Dr. Henning is the Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown University Law Center. And...
Activism and The Fight for Black Trans Lives (Encore)
Making Contact · Activism and The Fight for Black Trans Lives (Encore) On this episode of Making Contact, we will look at transgender activism and the call for inclusion and intersectionality in the movement for Black lives. We’ll also meet Trans activists in Louisiana who have been organizing against a state law that has been used to unfairly target trans women for decades. Like this program? Please click here and...
The Pseudo-Science of Whiteness: Biology as a Social Weapon
Making Contact · The Pseudo-Science of Whiteness: Biology as a Social Weapon This week, filmmaker Stephanie Welch explores the role that racist, unscientific propaganda has played in promoting white supremacy in the U.S. She traces the history of the Pioneer Fund, the primary funding source for research that claims to demonstrate that people of color are genetically and intellectually inferior. The Fund used such research to...
Activism and The Fight for Black Trans Lives
Making Contact · Activism and The Fight for Black Trans Lives On this episode of Making Contact, we will look at transgender activism and the call for inclusion and intersectionality in the movement for Black lives. We’ll also meet Trans activists in Louisiana who have been organizing against a state law that has been used to unfairly target trans women for decades. TRANSCRIPT BELOW Like this program? Please...
Say Their Names: George Floyd and the Movement to Uplift Black Lives
Making Contact · Say Their Names: George Floyd and the Movement to Uplift Black Lives On May 25, 2020, the nation ignited after a bystander posted a horrific video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes. Now the movement to uplift Black lives, and to defund and dismantle police departments where officers disproportionately kill and brutalize African American men...