S2E07: Living Black History! With Guest Bernie Hoes

For this Black History Month episode, Will wears the Black History Month colors while Amber dresses in an Ankara print; they are joined by educator Bernie Hoes.   What’s bringing us joy? For Will, it's an Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy he attended with friends; for Amber, it's Portland's My People's Market, a gathering of diverse vendors and entrepreneurs; and for Bernie, fellowship with good friends! Because it's Black History Month, the discussion focuses on the idea of Living Black History. It's a great discussion, with many great topics, ranging from Chocolate City in Baltimore, other Black neighborhoods in predominately White cities, sundown cities and counties, George Floyd, Walidah Imarisha, Snoop Dogg and Niecy Nash-Betts, Black vernacular and code-switching, to how Blackness is not a monolith, the "tyranny of categories," and so much more. Did it result in our longest episode to date? It sure did! But we know you'll find it fun and enlightening.  For story time, Amber shares about a well-intentioned but unfortunately poorly executed diversity effort, and Bernie has a positive story about a student using “gay” derogatorily, but other students stepped in to question his word choice correct the behavior.  Our audience question asks Bernie about the intersection of being Black and gay. This episode’s habit-breaking skill is Don’t Try To Ignore Group Statuses, meaning don’t try to ignore race or other group statuses, but rather acknowledge how they affect the lives of people, and watch out for how they could create biases!  The episode wraps up with Bernie’s joyful recommendation of "House Hunters" as a lovely insight into diverse people's lives! 

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