Intersectionality in the American South's Podcast

Akua Naru's love for the African diaspora drives her to disrupt and intervene for good through the channel of her Hip Hop music and archival work of The Keeper’s Project. More specifically, the pantheon of black women writers like Toni Morrison, bell hooks, Zora Neal Hurston have provided Naru with a critical black feminist lens and language by which to read the world and retake spaces that push the contributions of black women to Hip Hop to the margins to the center. Living with the words of black feminists, Naru tells her story, helping us rethink the centrality of blackness for identity construction and the potentialities of love within Hip Hop through this podcast.Listen to Akua Naru's music here. Find out where she is performing next here. Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

The Gullah-Geechee people are the descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans brought in the seventeenth and eighteenth-century to the United States to work on the rice plantations of the Low Country regions on the Southern Atlantic coastline. The term “Gullah” comes from the Central African connection to Angola and comes to represent people of all African descent particularly from South Carolina. In contrast, the term “Geechee” is derived from the Ogeechee River where the first Georgia plantations were formed. Eventually, these terms are fused by Queen Quet, the first elected chieftess and Head of State for the Gullah-Geechee nation, to speak of a unified identity among these communities as they seek to preserve their land and memory in the face of modern developers and coastal shoreline erosion. Ultimately, the Gullah-Geechee communities have a strong sense of identity, a preserved African heritage, and are rooted to the Atlantic coastlines. This episode features three guests:  Dr. Ras Michael Brown who is an Associate Professor in the History department at Georgia State University, Dr. Tiffany Player who is Assistant Professor of History at Georgia State University and their student Ms. Natasha Washington. Dr. Brown and Dr. Player have created on-the-ground learning opportunities for students to visit historical landmarks in South Carolina . They  have joined in collaboration with Gullah-Geechee partners in the effort of preserving memory and Gullah-Geechee historical landmarks. Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

On this episode of Intersectionality in the American South, Dr. Katie Acosta interviews Dr. Ashlyn Strozier about the challenges faced by Black folks who are trying to conceive,  birthing, or experiencing unwanted pregnancy. Listen as we unpack the health risks this population faces and that structural barriers that impede upon our reproductive rights.   Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

Imagine being incarcerated during the height of the pandemic and having limited access to information about the virus. Imagine being unable to socially isolated or visit with your loved ones.  On this episode,  Dr. Katie Acosta interviews civil rights attorney Whitney Knox Lee about her advocacy work with people who are incarcerated in the state of Georgia. Listen to Whitney Knox Lee's new podcast Impostrix here. Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

The options for formerly incarcerated individuals to live productive lives after serving their time are complicated by the many obstacles they face finding gainful employment. On this episode of Intersectionality in the American South, we hear about a prison education program at Georgia State University and the amazing story of its Executive Director, Mr. Patrick Rodriguez. Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

On this episode, Katie Acosta interviews Anthony Downer, Equity Coordinator for the City Schools of Decatur regarding the impact of Georgia's divisive concepts bill (HB 1084) on K-12 education in the state. What is the role of Critical Race Theory in our Schools? Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

10 years ago,  I was raising my black teenage son in the city schools of Decatur. I first remember learning about the Beacon Hill Black Alliance. During those years, the City of Decatur was gentrifying very, very quickly, resulting in a noticeable and market change in the city's racial demographic More, and more upper middle class white families were moving into the city and the largely black, lower middle class and working class families were being priced out. To make things worse, the city released records on the disproportionality in discipline  between black and white kids. Within the schools, black students had higher rates of suspension and expulsion.This and many other events served as the catalyst for the creation of the Beacon Hill Black Alliance, an organization that's made up of a committed group of Decatur residents who were bonded together in the fight against systemic racism. Three years ago, I moved out of Decatur, and for this episode I wanted to revisit the efforts of the Beacon Hill Black Alliance.And I wanted to do so by speaking with one of its co-chairs, Fonta High, and its Secretary Paul McLennan. Let's get to it.Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

Welcome to Intersectionality in the American South, where educators, students, activists, and community members come together and unpack current realities for black, indigenous & people of color. In each episode, we will discuss the impact of racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, and anti-immigrant sentiment on the lives of Atlanta residents and BIPOC individuals throughout the south.Today I am interviewing Charity Woods Barnes, the founder of the Reproductive Justice Resilience Project, a national organization based right here in Atlanta, Georgia that supports the healing, self-care and holistic work of BIPOC individuals. Today we are here having a difficult conversation, but also a timely one.In a post Dobbs reality, we need to unpack what it means to live in a state like Georgia. After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, as black and indigenous people of color, we suffer countless attacks on our bodily autonomy and our reproductive rights. In the United States, black and indigenous birthing people are more likely to die during childbirth than women of any other race.We are at greater risk of complications like hypertension and preeclampsia, irrespective of our income levels and irrespective of our education levels. So our decisions regarding if and when to give birth if and when to use contraception, and the circumstances that influence these decisions are not just personal.They are inherently political. We make these decisions with the historical backdrop of racism that's fueled the forced sterilization of women of color and the predatory promotion of contraception use for low income and needy families. Most recently we've seen dozens of migrant women come. With reports of forced sterilizations while in ice custody at the Irwin Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia. Today, we are fortunate to have Charity Woods Barnes here to help us make sense of these issues and to talk about her healing work in the community.Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

Welcome to Intersectionality in the American South, where educators, students, activists, and community members come together and unpack current realities for black and indigenous people of color. In each episode, we will discuss the impact of racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, and anti-immigrant sentiment on the lives of Atlanta residents and BIPOC individuals throughout the south.In this episode, I am interviewing Dr. Joan Morgan, an award winning hip hop journalist and Director of the Center for Black Visual Culture at NYU. Joan Morgan is the author of two books, When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost and She Begat This: 20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauren Hill. Georgia State was fortunate to recently have Joan Morgan as a guest on our campus, and in preparation I sat down with her to discuss her views on feminism, hip hop, and the academy.Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

Welcome to Intersectionality in the American South, where educators, students, activists, and community members come together and unpack current realities for black and indigenous people of color. In each episode, we will discuss the impact of racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, and anti-immigrant sentiment on the lives of Atlanta residents and BIPOC individuals throughout the south.Today we're sharing part two of the conversation that I had recently with Dr. Tonya Washington Hicks, Elizabeth West, Lakeyta Bonnette-Bailey, and Desmond Goss. If you haven't listened to part one of this conversation, you should really go do that now. I'm really fortunate to work with all of these folks at Georgia State University and on part two of this conversation.We are going to explore joy and self-care, so let's get to it.Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

Welcome to Intersectionality in the American South, where educators, students, activists, and community members come together and unpack current realities for black and indigenous people of color. Each episode, we will discuss the impact of racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, and anti-immigrant sentiment on the lives of Atlanta residents and BIPOC individuals throughout the south. On today's episode, Dr. Elizabeth West, Lakeyta Bonnette-Bailey, Tanya Washington-Hicks, and Desmond Goss,  all of Georgia State University, are going to share what intersectionality means to them. We talk about the power of intersectionality, how it shapes our politics, and its potential as a tool for activism.We also talk about the importance of self care as a form of radical resistance for black and brown folks. Stay with us. You don't wanna miss this one.Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/

Welcome to Intersectionality in the American South. Where educators, students, activists and community members come together to unpack current realities for Black and Indigenous People of Color.Each episode we will discuss the impact of racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism and anti-immigrant sentiment on the lives of Atlanta residents and BIPOC individuals throughout the South. This is  your host Dr. Katie Acosta, inviting you to embark on this journey with us. Intersectionality in the American South is a podcast for anyone whose ready to take a long, hard, look at the ways oppressive systems land in people’s lives. We bring together academics and everyday people in conversations about the intersectional forms of oppression that marginalized people experience. You will hear thought provoking conversations about hard topics that center the often-silenced voices of Women of color, queer, trans and non binary folks and immigrants. Follow us on Twitter @intersectsouth or visit our website at https://sites.gsu.edu/intersectsouth/