Rebel Spirit
Rebel Spirit is a brand new podcast series from Akilah Hughes (Crooked Media’s “What a Day”) about her return to her small town of Florence, Kentucky with a mission to change her high school’s mascot from a Confederate General into a Biscuit. The show features moving interviews with everyone from the artist behind “Gritty,” The Philadelphia Flyers’ viral mascot, to principals at schools across the nation who have made this change. In speaking to people at every inflection point of the issue of problematic mascots, Rebel Spirit endeavors to make the process of correcting historic wrongs less of a bummer.
Episodes
Coming September 3rd, Rebel Spirit is a brand new podcast series from Akilah Hughes (Crooked Media’s “What a Day”) about her return to her small town of Florence, Kentucky with a mission to change her high school’s mascot from a Confederate General into a Biscuit. Through conversations with local students and parents, and interviews with experts on everything ranging from mascot design to the history of the Confederacy, Rebel Spiri...
Over the past year, Akilah Hughes (Crooked Media’s “What a Day”) has been on a journey back to her hometown of Florence, Kentucky to convince her high school that now is the time to change their mascot from a Confederate General into something everyone in the South loves: a Biscuit. Throughout the process she has had conversations with local advocates and allies who are supportive of making a change. She has also interviewed tons o...
Akilah heads back to her hometown of Florence, KY to attend her former high school’s homecoming celebration and kick off her campaign to get the Boone County Rebels mascot changed.
If you have a racist mascot at your high school, or are an alumni of a high school with a racist mascot, and want to share your own experience, please email us at rebelspiritpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to talk to you!
See omnystudio.com/listener for ...
After dubious claims from the school board about the origin of the Rebels team name, Akilah dives deep into the history of the high school, the influence of classic cinema, and the term Rebel historically in the south.
If you have a racist mascot at your high school, or are an alumni of a high school with a racist mascot, and want to share your own experience, please email us at rebelspiritpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to talk t...
In speaking to alumni from Boone County High School willing to share their experiences across multiple decades, a clearer image of all the half-measures taken to remove the confederate imagery and racist symbols from the school emerges–even as the name “Rebels” remains.
If you have a racist mascot at your high school, or are an alumni of a high school with a racist mascot, and want to share your own experience, please email us at ...
Taking a step back from Akilah’s campaign, we spend some time with a local minor league baseball franchise, The Florence Y’All’s, and hear all about how they were able to rebrand their team name from something blah to something more inclusive–which led to a positive impact in every area of their business.
If you have a racist mascot at your high school, or are an alumni of a high school with a racist mascot, and want to share your ...
If you’re going to create a new mascot, you’ve gotta talk to the experts. In this episode, Akilah speaks with the creators of Benny the Bull, the Chicago Bulls’ mascot, and Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers mascot, about how to successfully bring a new mascot to life.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
By now we’ve learned that changing the Rebels mascot and team name is a difficult process. For guidance and inspiration, Akilah turns to other former Rebels who didn’t take no for an answer and pushed for their schools to make a change.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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