We’re closing out our theme of race as a social construct by exploring the phenomenon of White men purchasing Native American identity prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dr. Lezli is joined by Dr. Gregory Smithers, a professor of American history at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of Reclaiming Two-Spirits. His book is a sweeping history of indigenous traditions of gender, sexuality, and resistance. The two converse about what set the train of $5 Indians in motion, why it was so easy and lucrative for White men to purchase Indigenous identity, and why present-day Indigenous tribal leaders are grappling with what to do with the descendants of those who purchased Indigenous identity and are currently on tribal rolls.
IDE Impolite Conversation is available on all major platforms. 🎧 Listen 🎧 on our YouTube Channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have thoughts on this episode? Share them on social media using the hashtag #impoliteconversationpodcast. Also follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter and email press@iconoclastdinner.com with feedback or questions! A FREE and easy way to support is to rate and review us.
Pod Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)
The first theme of Season 2 of IDE Impolite Conversation is exploring race as a social construct. The first three episodes of the season explore how the “race” or social stratification can be changed with the stroke of a pen or even purchased. In this episode Dr. Lezli is joined by the founding director of the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS) in Johannnesburg, Dr. Melissa Steyn. Since 2014, Dr. Steyn has held the South African National Chair (SARChI) Chair in Critical Diversity Studies and is an expert on Whiteness Studies. Dr. Steyn is the author of “Whiteness just isn't what it used to be: White identity in a changing South Africa.” The two converse about what it means to be a White person in South Africa 25+ years post-apartheid.
IDE Impolite Conversation is available on all major platforms. 🎧 Listen 🎧 on our YouTube Channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have thoughts on this episode? Share them on social media using the hashtag #impoliteconversationpodcast. Also follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter and email press@iconoclastdinner.com with feedback or questions! A FREE and easy way to support is to rate and review us.
Pod Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Duresny “Rez” Nemorin (Producer) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)
Dr. Lezli kicks off Season 2 of IDE Impolite Conversation with leading anti-caste expert, journalist, and award-winning author, Yashica Dutt. Yashica is the author of “Coming Out As Dalit: A Memoir”. The two explore Yashica’s journey hiding her lower, “formerly untouchable” Dalit caste, why "nobody cares about caste anymore" is laughable, passing as an upper caste Indian, and why all Indian cultural exports from movies to food have to be viewed through the lens of caste.
IDE Impolite Conversation is available on all major platforms. 🎧 Listen 🎧 on our YouTube Channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have thoughts on this episode? Share them on social media using the hashtag #impoliteconversationpodcast. Also follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter and email press@iconoclastdinner.com with feedback or questions! A FREE and easy way to support is to rate and review us.
Pod Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Duresny “Rez” Nemorin (Producer) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)
Lezli has her final deep dive of Season One with Dr. Régine Jean-Charles, associate professor of French and African and African Diaspora Studies at Boston College. During this penultimate episode of the season, the two discuss Haiti's significance as the first Black republic, the global significance of Haiti’s defeat of France, as well as the Haitian sacrament that takes place around the world on January 1st.
Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-hosts Zuri and Nava; Spelman College ‘21 + ‘23 close out Season 1 with the first of a two part conversation. They get an update from Zuri’s classmate, Chantia Murphy ‘21 who joined for Episode #4 under the theme “Climate Change + COVID-19 + Communities of Color.Chantia is an English Major with a 3.9 GPA, first generation American and college student with aspirations of working for a media outlet that focuses on telling Black stories. Earlier in the season Chantia shared the financial impact of COVID-19 on her family meant she might not be able to return to Spelman for her senior year. With first semester complete Chantia provides an update.
Podcast Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Nava Levene Harvell (Co-Host) / Zuri Levene Harvell (Co-Host) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)
Lezli finishes up her two-part conversation with Dr. Charles L. Hughes, author of Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South, which was named by Rolling Stone, as one of the Best Music Books of 2015. Charles is the DIrector of the Lynne & Henry Turley Memphis Center at Rhodes College, where he is also an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies, History and Africana Studies. The two explore prominent Black R&B and Soul artists such as Ray Charles that also made Country albums, how Charley Pride navigated the homogeneity of the Country Music genre, the dynamic that created the Lil Nas X controversy, and what his hopes are for the future of Country Music.
Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-host Zuri; Spelman College ‘21 have a conversation with two HBCU VC Fellows; Kendall Camp; Morehouse College ‘22 Host of Privileged Black Kids Podcast and Trea'jure DahlSpelman College ‘22. The four explore the minuscule percentage of VC dollars going to Black-owned startups, how Kendall and Trea'jure became interested in VC, what makes VC internships uniquely difficult to obtain, and how students should leverage their campus community whether they're interested in VC or not.
Lezli continues her exploration of American music with a two-part conversation with Dr. Charles L. Hughes, author of Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South, which was named by Rolling Stone, as one of the Best Music Books of 2015. Charles is the DIrector of the Lynne & Henry Turley Memphis Center at Rhodes College, where he is also an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies, History and Africana Studies. The two explore American folk traditions associated with Country Music, how people of color get written out of America’s folksy roots, the impetus for the creation of the “Hillbilly Music” genre; Country Music’s predecessor, why this music became central to American white identity and the fundamental differences between Country Music and Blues.
Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-host Nava; Spelman College ‘23 finish up their two-part episode conversation with Alston Bowman; Spelman College ‘21 and Zula Oliveira; Clark Atlanta University ‘23 about what veganism elucidated for them regarding how Americans consume meat, the misconception that a vegan diet HAS to be more expensive than an omnivore diet, being policed by meat-eaters, tips for transitioning to a plant-based diet along with some of their favorite vegan brands, and vegan cooks and content to follow and subscribe to on the gram and YouTube.
Lezli chats with Dr. Jack Hamilton, cultural historian, Associate Professor of American Studies and Media Studies at The University of Virginia, Pop Culture Critic for Slate Magazine, and author of the award-winning book, Just around Midnight: Rock and Roll and the Racial Imagination. The two explore the intersection of Race Records and the birth of contemporary pop music, why Adele gets placed in a different genre than Jazmine Sullivan, and what the movie TROLLS WORLD TOUR was talking about; beyond appropriation.
Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-host Nava; Spelman College ‘23 begin a two-part episode conversation with Alston Bowman; Spelman College ‘21 and Zula Oliveira; Clark Atlanta University ‘23 about why they chose veganism, the challenges of being vegan at their respective HBCUs, how they think their institutions can ensure all students; meat eaters and plant eaters can be adequately nourished, and why being vegan is both a lifestyle as well as form of activism that affirms their Blackness.
What does the Charleston dance craze of the 1920s and Bebop Jazz have in common; they were both born in the long-gone NYC neighborhood of San Juan Hill. Lezli chats with Dr. Lance Freeman Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and author of A Haven and a Hell: The Ghetto in Black America about the cultural displacement that occurs during gentrification, as well as gentrification’s intersection with federal policy. They explore the correct approach to gentrification so the cultural landscape is preserved in the process.
Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-hosts Nava; Spelman College ‘23 and Zuri; Spelman College ‘21 host a special Thanksgiving episode where they discuss some lesser-known facts about one of America’s most celebrated historical figures, Sarah Josepha Hale, the Godmother of the American Thanksgiving and one of the founders of Vassar College. They also discuss Indigenous People’s Day and Christopher Columbus myths.
It’s officially the holiday season. Lezli is joined by Detroit-based Iconoclast Dinner Culinary Honoree and owner of Flowers of Vietnam, George Azar. He shares a brief update on the most recent shutdown in Michigan and how he's impacted as a restaurant owner. They also explore what it was like growing up as a Palestinian Christian in Southwest Detroit, George's feelings on how being an Arab Christian impacted how the Arab-American community received him, and how his family celebrated as well as what was on the table during the two most important holidays in his home; Easter and Christmas.
Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-host Nava; Spelman College ‘23 continue the conversation around the historic Biden/Harris win “On The Yard” with Taylor Davis, Howard University ‘21, The 82nd Miss Howard University and a member of the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. as well as Nia Page,Spelman College ‘20, Immediate Past Spelman College SGA President and National African-American Engagement and Program Coordinator for The Biden Campaign. They explore why they think there was higher civic engagement among their peers this election season, their thoughts on their peers that did not exercise their right to vote, and how the Biden/Harris win hopefully increases the cultural competence and interest around HBCUs and BGLOs. Nia also shares specifically how HBCUs and BGLOs were meaningfully engaged by the Biden campaign.
Kamala Harris the first woman to hold the second-highest office in the land is an HBCU alumna and member of a BGLO. These groups were integral to the win. Stacey Abrams, another HBCU alumna who helped turn Georgia from red to blue. Lezli explores if this means aspects of African-American culture will move from the margins to the mainstream with Howard Alumna, Dr. Nadia E. Brown associate professor and University Faculty Scholar of political science + African American studies at Purdue University.
Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-host Nava; Spelman College ‘23, chat with Tennille Mack; Spelman College ‘21, Assistant Editor of Arts & Entertainment for The Maroon Tiger and Shasa Revell; Howard University ‘21, reporter for The Howard Hilltop. They discuss what they’re watching and why, who's winning the streaming war, fundamentals of what's missing in content, and how they think Quibi missed the mark.
Lezli closes out this theme with Tina Ngata, a Ngati Porou author and researcher from the East Coast of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Her work involves advocacy for environmental, Indigenous and human rights. They explore who the god Tiki is, and why he is so sacred to the Māori, WWII, R&R culture, and Elvis movies.
The last of three volumes of “ON THE YARD” episodes inspired by the HOMECOMING HOLIDAY. Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-host Zuri; Spelman College ‘21, chat with Kennedie Batiste; The 90th Miss Southern University A&M College and Kaylan A. Tanner; The 85th Miss Dillard University about pageant culture at deep south HBCUs. They discuss the significance of campus royalty at HBCUs, their pathways to becoming queens, and the legacy that queens leave on their HBCUs.
Lezli continues this five-episode theme with Dr. Panivong Norindr, author of Phantasmatic Indochina French Colonial Ideology in Architecture, Film, and Literature, as well as Samia Errazzouki, Ph.D. candidate examining early modern Northwest African history, prior to which she was Morocco-based journalist. The three explore how French Imperialism bound their countries’ histories and people to each other, the 1992 Academy Award-winning film Indochine serving as a “French Gone With The Wind”, The Myth of Tangier, snake charmers, and static fictional narratives that preserve a colonialist fantasy of these regions that have endured in tourism, novels, films, and culinary culture.
