8 chapters across the catalog
In July 2022, a man identified as Kenny Raymond was caught on video using a military-grade flamethrower to burn the Pan-African flag outside the Uhuru House. Despite the nature of the attack, Raymond was only charged with criminal mischief. The hosts find the event suspicious, noting it occurred just weeks before the federal raid on the same building.
The legacy of Melville Herskovitz at Northwestern University is further explored, with a focus on his "tight ship" and the lack of Black scholars in his department during his tenure. The hosts argue that academics often follow the funding, creating narratives that satisfy donors. They compare the "ownership" of Black history by white academics to the appropriation of rock and roll, where the originators lose control of the genre's definition.
Lurie Daniel Favors argues that Kamala Harris's Jamaican heritage is part of a shared history of enslaved Africans, a view the hosts challenge as "insulting" to the distinct culture of ADOS. They discuss the historical differences between Jamaican and American Black populations, noting that Jamaicans often identify more with Marcus Garvey than American civil rights leaders.
Dr. Jose Pimenta Paiminete Bay argues that identifying as "black" is a reactive stance against the definition of "white." The global adoption of the Black Lives Matter slogan is seen as an effort to create a broad international coalition. Various groups, including the Moors and Hebrew Israelites, seek to move beyond color-based labels to find specific ancestral lineages.
Before his death, Micah Johnson reportedly wrote the letters "RB" in blood on the walls of El Centro College. Media outlets like USA Today speculated this stood for "RBG" (Red, Black, and Green), the Pan-African flag colors. The hosts mock this theory, suggesting it was a stretch used to link the shooter to broader black nationalist movements.
Writer Lena Waith defends her casting choices on Hot 97, arguing that "Black is Black" regardless of nationality because police discrimination is universal. Her claim that all Black ancestors helped build America is challenged as an erasure of the specific history of Foundational Black Americans. This perspective is viewed as a political effort to maintain a "Black monolith" for easier social and political management.
Radio host Ebro Darden promotes Pan-Africanism, arguing that the experiences of Black people in the U.S., Jamaica, and Brazil are inextricably linked by the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This view suggests that separating these identities is a tactic used to keep the group weak. Critics argue this ignores the unique national identities and flags flown by various immigrant groups compared to the specific experience of ADOS.
The FBI's targeting of Marcus Garvey, codenamed "The Tiger," is detailed as an early example of COINTELPRO-style tactics. J. Edgar Hoover viewed Garvey's mass movement and calls for a global African exodus as a significant threat to American interests, leading to a campaign of infiltration and disinformation.
