In today’s episode, Yves has beef with jokes about Black people running away from danger in horror movies. But the best stories have dramatic reversals, and even the most stubborn minds can be changed. Katie and Yves get into the complexity of the well-intentioned jokes and speak with Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman, a horror expert who isn’t afraid to look in the mirror and say “Candyman” five times.
Follow Dr. Means Coleman on X @MeansColeman
Purchase “The Black Guy Dies First” and "Horror Noire"
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Storytelling ain’t always love, peace, and kumbaya. Sometimes our favorite storytellers beef with each other in public. And we, the audience, eat it up.
In this episode, Katie and Yves take a walk down a beef-laden memory lane, reexamining feuds between Zora Neale Hurston and other Harlem Renaissance writers.
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In the U.S., funerals are typically sad occasions, and mourning must be private and appropriate. But as much as Americans like to be uptight about death, post-mortem photography is an art that's been around for a long time, and it's still alive today.
Katie and Yves delve into the funerary photography of James Van Der Zee, the controversy of posting images of the dead on social media, and the spectacle of "extreme embalming."
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Most of us have known of Rosa Parks since we were knee-high to a grasshopper, but how much do you actually know about Rosa Parks the person?
Katie and Yves discuss fictional depictions of the civil rights activist and speak with her niece, Sheila McCauley Keys to gain a new perspective on Ms. Rosa Parks.
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A new documentary — As We Speak — explores the weaponization of rap lyrics in the legal system, shedding light on using artistic expression as evidence in criminal trials.
Directed by J.M. Harper and featuring hip-hop artist Kemba as a guide and character, the film delves into how rap lyrics have been used in court, examining the impact of this practice on the music industry and its artists.
Yves and Katie caught up with J.M. and Kemba to talk to them about As We Speak and the implications of criminalizing an art form.
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Blackface was born of white folks’ racism and tired imaginations. It was about how white people co-opted Black stories and impersonated Black folks. But it was also about how Black people subverted those narratives and constructed their own.
In this episode, Katie and Yves talk about how the practice of blackface has been a pervasive ill in the history of U.S. culture and entertainment — and an opportunity for Black performers to hone their craft.
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It seems like everyone invokes the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., from leftist organizers to conservative pundits. “If Martin Luther King was alive, today he’d….” or “Dr. King didn’t die for you to be…” or “What would King do?”
And while Dr. King is no longer alive to weigh in, he did let Ebony Magazine readers know what he’d do in certain situations through his advice column, Advice For Living. In this episode, Katie and Yves take in Dr. King’s advice, flaws and all.
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Throughout history and across the world, Black people have used protest songs to boost morale and inspire action. In this episode, Katie and Yves explore the history of protest songs created to uplift major social movements, including the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.
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Katie and Yves delve into the often overlooked yet impactful role of Black artists in times of war.
Join us as we unravel the stories behind the artwork, songs, and poetry that have played a crucial role in shaping perceptions, challenging systemic injustices, and advocating for change on the frontlines and beyond.
We also talk with surrealist blues poet, aja monet, about how she uses art to support Palestine.
Read aja’s poems in My Mother Was A Freedom Fighter
Listen to aja's album When the Poems Do What They Do
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What stories are you looking forward to this year? What stories will you create? Katie and Yves chat about all the stories to come in 2024.
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We’re diving into a realm filled with characters who make us grit our teeth, furrow our brows, and sometimes—let's admit it—make us itch to reach into the story and deliver a perfectly executed whack!
Listen to see if you’d slap the same characters we would.
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