Race Unwrapped

Join us to celebrate the end of “Race Unwrapped," season five! Since its launch in 2020, this podcast has unwrapped the ways race affects our lives, whether we’re thinking about it or not. We spent the latest season exploring the intersection of art and activism, and how creators use their art to make the world better.Featuring a conversation between “Race Unwrapped” host and playwright Michelle Tyrene Johnson and Louisville poet and artist Lance G. Newman II, who performs under the name Mr. SpreadLove, an interactive workshop empowering you to create your own art with guidance from KMAC staff, and a poetry slam, where poets are invited to explore their visions for the future, and how we get there from here.When: August 29, 2026Doors at 3:00 p.m.(Un)Wrap Party 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.Poetry Slam 5:30 p.m.Where: KMAC Contemporary Art Museum (715 West Main Street, Louisville, KY)This event is free, art supplies will be provided, and all ages are welcome. Space in the gallery is limited, so reserve your spot today and spend an afternoon with us centering creativity and unlocking your own creative potential. Because when the systems we live under try to marginalize us, art reminds us: as long as you can create, you are not powerless.

Dr. J. Drew Lanham is an academic, poet, creative writer, curator, ornithologist and, in his words, “trending feral.” He joins us to talk about poetry, particularly his own poetry that unravels themes of representation, power, and often, birds. Dr. Lanham and host Michelle Tyrene Johnson share their experiences of Blackness as artists, and as humans.Learn more about Dr. Lanham’s work at jdrewlanham.com. This season of Race Unwrapped is supported by the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, and by our listeners. Click here to help make this work possible (and we’ll send you a Race Unwrapped sticker)!

You can't tell the story of art and social change without visiting the brilliant minds of the Harlem Renaissance. For Dr. Minkah Makalani, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University, that's an area of particular interest and scholarship. He joins us to illustrate how the co-mingling of art and politics was present then, and draw a throughline to how artists and creators interact with our political systems today.Learn more about Dr. Makalani’s work here.This season of Race Unwrapped is supported by the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, and by our listeners. Click here to help make this work possible (and we’ll send you a Race Unwrapped sticker)!

When you think of knitting, you might think of a little old white lady in a rocking chair. Our host, Michelle Tyrene Johnson, and her extensive collection of self-made knitwear, would disagree. Or as our guest on this episode might say, "I beg your finest pardon." Gaye Glasspie, known online as GGmadeit, is an icon in the knitting community. She joins us to talk about navigating the fiber arts space as a Black woman, why orange is her favorite and signature color, and her call for would-be allies to “stand in the gap.”Learn more about GG at GGmadeit.com, or on Instagram: @ggmadeitThis season of Race Unwrapped is supported by the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, and by our listeners. Click here to help make this work possible (and we’ll send you a Race Unwrapped sticker)!

So far this season, we’ve been talking to people who create art. But art also needs an audience — people who receive it, and let it change how they think and feel. So in this episode, we’re talking to someone whose role is to create an environment where folks can bear witness to art. Onaje Henderson is a co-owner and curator of ZuCot Gallery, a Black art gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. He joins us to talk about the world of fine art, and who decides what art we get to see at all.Learn more about ZuCot Gallery at zucotgallery.com, or on Instagram: @zucotgalleryThis season of Race Unwrapped is supported by the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, and by our listeners. Click here to help make this work possible (and we’ll send you a Race Unwrapped sticker)!