Theory and Practice

David and Mickey talk theory and practice, education and action, and the distinctions between supporting Black empowerment and going through the motions, making a self-serving gesture, or capitalizing on Black trauma. The question to ask is “how do I best do some good,” not “how can I convince people I’m a good person?” Mickey asks what books we want protestors to have read and Dave asks if we really have time for “WAP” right now.

Show Notes

Resources:

• Dr. Kaila Story’s Strange Fruit podcast: https://wfpl.org/category/podcasts/strange-fruit/
   
• Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility (and backlash): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/magazine/white-fragility-robin-diangelo.html
   
• Claudia Rankine: https://time.com/5887426/claudia-rankine-just-us-racism/
  
  
• Yusuf Hawkins: https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/yusuf-hawkins-storm-over-brooklyn
   
• Paddy Duke: https://www.complex.com/music/2020/08/hot-97-fires-paddy-duke-after-doc-reveals-alleged-ties-to-mob-that-killed-yusuf-hawkins
  
  
• Kalief Browder: https://www.netflix.com/title/80187052
  
  
• Black Joy: https://www.self.com/story/black-joy
  
  
• David Pilgrim’s Watermelons, Nooses, and Straight Razors https://www.ipgbook.com/watermelons--nooses--and-straight-razors-products-9781629634371.php

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Music Courtesy of Traum Diggs:
"Arabesque Film Sh#t" by Traum Diggs

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David Shanks, aka Traum Diggs, is an MC/writer/journalist from Brooklyn, NY. He began writing articles in 2005, contributing correspondent features for print and online publications and has participated in conferences and panels at several colleges and universities including Rider University and SUNY- Rockland. He has also contributed chapters in Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide; Expressive Writing: Classroom and Community; and St. James Encyclopedia of Hip-Hop Culture. His independent album releases include Jazz Hop, Major Journalism, and Jazz Hop II.   A more complete discography is available at traumdiggs.com .

Social:

traumdiggs.com 

IG:  @traumdiggs

Twitter:  @traumdiggs 

Dr. Mickey Hess is Professor of English at Rider University and the author of A Guest in the House of Hip-Hop: How Rap Music Taught a Kid from Kentucky What a White Ally Should Be. With rapper and producer Buddha Monk, Mickey co-authored The Dirty Version: On Stage, in the Studio, and in the Streets with Ol' Dirty Bastard. His other books include Big Wheel at the Cracker Factory; Is Hip-Hop Dead? The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Most Wanted Music; and the edited collections Icons of Hip-Hop and Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide.

Social:

mickeyhess

Twitter:  @mickeyhess

What is A Guest in the House?

A Guest in the House, a podcast hosted by rapper and journalist David Shanks (aka Traum Diggs) and professor and author Mickey Hess, celebrates the best of what hip-hop has to offer and the lessons it can teach us about the ways we relate to each other across cultural, racial and social divides.