Black & Blonde

Two amazing humans navigate the grey and decide to take a break.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they try to unpack a listener question. Essentially, somewhere in the question is the wondering if something can make you racist. While this wasn't the full question, it was a part that stood out to us. Nothing can make you racist. Only you can do that work and the antiracist work on the other end. We do our best to dive into this idea that really stuck with us. As usual, it's messy, but it's us.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they talk about the feeling of racism. White people cannot and will not ever feel racism, but there can be conscious steps white people take through racial self-talk to seek to understand and consciously leverage discomfort to benefit people, especially black and brown people. It's a good conversation about how to do the work to deal with Racist Uncle Joe.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they breakdown the concept of truth. Why are we as a people so afraid of the truth? We can't handle the truth! Finding the truth, speaking about the truth, and acting on the truth are ways in which we can move this country. A significant factor in the truth is our own ability to critically think and reflect.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the dumpster fire that burns around us. We discuss Roe (again), Bruce's Beach (although not so much a dumpster fire), involuntary relocation, outing LGBTQ students, Jayland Walker, and Emmett Till. It's a lot to talk about and a lot of angry invoking thoughts. While we could make an episode out of each of these, we didn't want to wait weeks to do so. So here you have it, one big dumpster fire episode!

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the crumble of American Democracy. Just prior to this episode, the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, turning the power of abortion rights back to the state. We break down what it means in terms of race, our country, and humanity. This isn't an easy one for us.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they do what they do best - shit jabber. We came into today's episode without a topic, we just wanted to talk about what came to us. It's a good way to model the conversation, but also just to show a little of who we are. We introduce you to something pretty exciting in our lives, we reflect on our previous episode, and we shit jabber about the world around us. 

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as we breakdown the nation's conversations, or lack thereof, around white supremacy culture and racism. Following the events of Buffalo, the nation quickly (and rightfully) shifted to a conversation around gun violence and access. We moved away from the other problem - racism. As a nation, we will sit in any conversation, except for one about racism and white supremacy culture.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss Juneteenth. Much of this conversation is centered in some of the recent events of capitalistic appropriation of the holiday - Walmart and Party City. We unpack what some white-owned companies are doing to monopolize on holiday for black people. We also talk about ways to celebrate and learn about Juneteenth.

Two amazing humans navigate the gray as we reflect on part two of the Buffalo shooting, as well as the recent shooting in Uvalde. We discuss the ways in which we move through these events - at the hands of the media, environment, etc.  Honestly, this episode is just a lot of reflection and s*** jabbering.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they reflect and talk about the recent horrific shooting in Buffalo, NY. We give space for each other to reflect within our own identities. While we don't have the answers, sometimes we know we have to keep talking.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the future of the pod. 81 weekly episodes in and it's time to consider where we go from here. What is the ongoing impact of the pod? Has it evolved or should it evolved? We're not saying we're done, but we're certainly looking for listener input on the next iteration of this labor of love. You can leave us feedback at https://www.blackblondepod.com/

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. On his first opportunity on the ballot, Eminem gets the nod. Rolling Stone wrote an article questioning the role race might play in this particular induction - Eminem being a white man in a genre largely dominated by people of color. We try to dissect this conversation, as it does pertain to race. The people who vote for the hall of fame and the structures in place are systemically white, so what does that mean in this case? It's a messy conversation with no clear answer, but certainly an important conversation to have.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss a phrase often heard when talking about racism or white supremacy culture - "not all white people." This came to us from an article called "How 'Not All White People' Became an Assault on All Black People: Unpacking the Harm of a Seemingly Benign Phrase." In the article the author talks about the need for white people to elevate semantics over injustice. We unpack the article as well as provide an update on Laundry-Gate!

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss their response to Jane Elliot's question - "If you as a white person would be happy to receive the same treatment that our black citizens do in this society - please stand!" It is a question we ask our listeners to truly reflect on. In 2022, would you want to live as a person in a marginalized community - if not, specifically, why? It's something each person should really wrestle with and ask themselves how they are creating an environment where this question is no longer necessary. A link to the video clip in reference can be found here: https://youtu.be/xUlqTNwm-mk.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the ability to move past racial injustices when they don't have historical or systemic knowledge of past injustices and when those injustices seem too far removed. We tie this into the recent events of the four young kids detained by police in Maplewood, MN -- as well as the fatal police shooting of Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids, MI.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss labels, primarily the label People of Color. This came to us via a Twitter thread where the author suggested that term be retired from our use. Basically this episode is an evolution of our thoughts on the term and the thread. While we aren't policing language, I think this thread really gave us something to think about. Rather than using terms that are truly dehumanizing, although meant to be progressive, perhaps we focus more on the identity of individuals and just say what we mean. No real answers here - just things to think about.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss the week in news. Every week brings new pod topics to us. Each week we try to discern one to talk about, but this week felt like a lot was happening, so we decided to talk about it all! We picked three prominent news topics (for us) and broke them down. It was a good reminder that the perpetuation of racism is everywhere.

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss a relatively new debate - digital blackface. While not everyone agrees on what it means, digital blackface is when white people use a meme or gif of a black person. We discuss the impact, the controversy, and what we police. There are no answers, just opinions!

Two amazing humans navigate the grey as they discuss some of the recent nonsense around the policing of hair and heads. We talk about a move in St. Cloud School District to move away from banning hats, hoodies, do rags, and bonnets. This type of policy exists in many school districts across the country and is founded in none other than white supremacy culture. We also talk about the recent passing of the CROWN act which aims to make discrimination of natural hair a violation of federal civil rights laws. In truth, even having this conversation is utter nonsense!