Radical Imagination

Are you ready to be inspired, provoked, and galvanized into action? Prepare yourself for a stimulating journey, as we kick-start Season 5 of Radical Imagination! I’m your host, Angela Glover Blackwell, and this season, we dive deep into the minds of activists, artists, educators, and leaders who are not just dreaming big but are also crafting innovative solutions for transformative change. Our guests range from those using cutting-edge technology to preserve cultural languages and traditions, to educators pioneering an Afrofuturist high school curriculum. We explore movements to create land and housing justice and lift up the passionate young activists leading the charge toward a sustainable planet. Join us as we chart paths toward a radically inclusive, multiracial democracy, and envision a more equitable nation and a better world! Coming soon on Season 5 of Radical Imagination! Tell your family, friends and community! Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

"If we have any hopes of fundamentally breaking away from the patterns of the past and rupturing the inadequate present, the future can no longer be envisioned only by those with the privilege of time and space to imagine. It can no longer be constructed within a bootstraps narrative of personal responsibility and self-determination that treats only some as deserving of a roof over their heads. Our measure of progress must rely on how much we can transform our values to provide broad scale and equitable access to housing opportunities for all.” In this episode, Angela talks to PolicyLink Housing Director Rasheedah Phillips — Afrofuturist, attorney, tenant organizer, policy advocate, and interdisciplinary artist. Listen in as Angela and Rasheedah discuss how time can be created, reclaimed, resourced, and redeemed; and the ways that we, collectively, must operate from a place of temporal abundance versus temporal scarcity. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Non-police emergency response remains an extremely relevant topic, even though we're seeing strong pushback against the Defund the Police movement -- including from those who were initially supportive. Yet police, throughout the country, continue to remain at odds with the communities they are supposed to protect. In this episode, Angela discusses the potential of emergency triage that doesn’t involve police intervention with Brandon Anderson, an abolitionist and founder of the police reporting network Raheem and Arturo Carrillo, an emergency mental health clinician in Chicago, who is pushing for a more robust mental health support system. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Since the pandemic, people have quit their jobs in record numbers, with around 47 million people leaving their jobs in 2021. Many of these workers are Black and Latinx; many of them women. In this episode, we examine what it means to have a healthy relationship with work, and we hear a radical new way to define the role of work in our lives. Angela speaks with Sarah Jaffe, the author of "Work Won't Love You Back," and welcomes back Saru Jayaraman, founder of One Fair Wage. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

The history of the trans-Atlantic trade of enslaved Africans has been rewritten, sanitized, flat out misrepresented, and often obscured by the lens through which we observe history. As a society, when we need to get a more enlightened look at ourselves and the world around us, we turn to the vision of artists. This week’s guest Ashley Shaw Scott Adjaye is artistic director of the World Reimagined -- a national public art project in the United Kingdom that explores the history & legacy of the trans-Atlantic trade of enslaved Africans; and presents a forward-looking approach to reframing history as an essential element toward solidarity and greater inclusion. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

While reparations and reparative justice are just a talking point for some people, there is a growing movement in our country to reconnect Black people with land and property that was illegally stolen from them or their ancestors. In this episode of Radical Imagination, we learn about the radical movement for land justice– a blueprint for policy change that could pave the way for reparations for Black families nationwide. Host Angela Glover Blackwell speaks with Kavon Ward – poet, activist, and the founder of 'Where is My Land?'. Kavon has been a leader in today's fight for reparations; helping win a landmark victory around justice for Bruce's Beach in Southern California. Kavon Ward's courageous work is a reminder of how important the times are for achieving justice. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Today on Radical Imagination, Clyde Prout III, chairman of the Colfax Todd’s Valley Consolidated Tribe in California, tells the remarkable story of how his tribe reclaimed land stolen by the government nearly half a century ago. Native people were violently displaced from their ancestral homelands throughout US history, as land was stolen and sold to private owners, made “public” in the name of preserving natural resources, or set aside for agriculture and recreation. We’ll also hear from Jeff Darlington, the director of the Placer Land Trust, about the partnership that made it possible for the tribe to take back their land and restore it through traditional cultural and ecological knowledge. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Since becoming the first Sub-Saharan African country to win independence from a colonial power, Ghana has been an inspiration to Black Americans to return to Africa. For many, it's a brief journey. We're changed by what we learn about the culture and our collective past. And that informs our lives and our work when we return home. But other people stay. They make vital contributions to the culture, the economy, and the nation's future. We hear from two Black women -- Renee Neblett the Founding Director of the Kokrobitey Institute and Tonya C. Saafir-Ankomah, Esq. (aka Sista Yaa) Founder of the Sankofa Repatriation Assistance Program and African Diaspora 126+, -- who repatriated to Ghana to start better lives for themselves and help pave the road for others in the Diaspora wishing to do the same. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Even today, when many of us are in pain because of systemic inequities, we tend to hold ourselves personally accountable for the trauma we bear. And we think of healing as individual work. The season 4 debut of Radical Imagination upends these myths and frees us of the emotional burdens we shouldn't have to carry alone. Host Angela Glover Blackwell speaks with Prentis Hemphill, a writer, therapist, and the founder of the Embodiment Institute, about the revolutionary idea of collective trauma and how it can help us heal our selves, our relationships, our communities, and our society. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Radical healing. Afro-futurism. Repatriation of stolen land. Housing justice. Black Americans returning to Ghana. Bold alternatives to work and policing. On Season 4 of Radical Imagination we transcend the borders of geography and policy to explore transformative ways of healing and repairing the sins of the past, and how they interconnect with the revolutionary work of creating a just, equitable future. Coming this month! Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Debt continues to drown millions of young people, families, and retirees, especially Black and Brown communities who bear a disproportionate impact. In this episode of Radical Imagination, host Angela Glover Blackwell speaks with Astra Taylor, a filmmaker, activist and the director of the Debt Collective, a membership union who are calling for the cancellation of all types of debt. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Last November Los Angeles County voted to dismantle the largest youth juvenile system in the country to create a new approach where care is prioritized over punishment. Radical Imagination host Angela Glover Blackwell speaks with youth grassroots organizer Kent Mendoza. He was incarcerated as a youth and was involved in the reimagining of a new system. We also hear from James Bell, the founding president of the Haywood Burns Institute and a consulting partner on LA County's Youth Justice Reimagined Planning Team. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

As Covid-19 continues to sweep the world and most countries, especially in the Global South, struggle to access vaccines, Radical Imagination takes a fresh look at how the US patent system keeps billions of people at home and abroad from obtaining life-saving medicines. Since our first episode on this topic, early in the pandemic, the situation has become more dire. In India, one of the world’s largest vaccine producers, almost nobody had access to the Covid vaccine last spring, when the virus began tearing through the country. The idea behind patents is to allow companies to protect the time and money they invest in developing drugs and vaccines. In reality, companies profit astronomically while people die because they can’t afford or obtain treatment. Host Angela Glover Blackwell speaks with lawyer and activist Priti Krishtel, a leader of a global movement to change the patent system and ensure access to medicine for all. We also hear from Leena Menghaney, South Asia head of the Doctors Without Borders Access Campaign. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Artificial intelligence and algorithms are increasingly used to make life-changing decisions in policing, lending, hiring, renting, health care, and many other realms. The technology has come under fire for encoding and intensifying racial bias. But what if AI could be transformed into a tool for fighting discrimination and inequality? Host Angela Glover Blackwell discusses this intriguing possibility with Black in AI co-founder, activist, and computer scientist Rediet Abebe. We also hear the story of Terrence Wilkerson, who was unjustly trapped in the criminal legal system by questionable AI technology. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Social justice activists tend to be so driven to fix tough systemic problems that we often overlook the obvious: We want to create a society filled with joy and satisfaction for all. In this episode of Radical Imagination, we celebrate pleasure and explore its importance in the work of societal transformation. Host Angela Glover Blackwell talks with adrienne maree brown, author Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good. Join us for a conversation about finding love, delight, and pleasure for ourselves, those closest to us, our communities, and the world we hope to build. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

An economy that works for all depends on a robust system of caregiving. That has become all too clear during the pandemic, as 2.5 million women were pushed out of the workforce to care for family members. This episode of Radical Imagination looks at the growing movement to reimagine care across the lifespan, recognize it as essential infrastructure, invest in it, and improve wages and labor protections for the workers — mostly Black and immigrant women —we trust to care for the people we love. Host Angela Glover Blackwell talks with Chicago caregiver and community advocate Michelle Morton about the challenges of caring for her parents and children throughout the pandemic. We also hear from Ai-jen Poo, the visionary leader of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, about #CareCantWait, a campaign to make universal access to child care, paid family and medical leave, and home and community-based services a centerpiece of economic recovery. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

What would our economy look like if it put people before profits? For one thing, nobody would have to accept the sub-minimum wage of $2.13, which many states allow for restaurant workers -- a legacy of slavery that marginalizes and impoverishes a wide swath of a workforce made up largely of people of color and immigrants. In this episode of Radical Imagination, host Angela Glover Blackwell speaks with Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and director of the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley, about the fight to raise the minimum wage for all workers and end subminimum wages. We also hear from USC Sociology Professor Manuel Pastor about solidarity economics, a radical but commonsense concept that challenges us to reimagine our economy and how it can prioritize the needs and interests of all people. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

Radical Imagination opens with a deep dive into the 1921 massacre of hundreds of Black people in the thriving business district of Tulsa, Oklahoma. We examine how history books erased that atrocity and distorted so much of Black history. Host Angela Glover Blackwell talks with Hannibal B. Johnson, historian and Education Chair for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Commission, about the radical effort to make the story of Tulsa's Black Wall Street part of Oklahoma’s K-12 school curricula. Join us and probe the question: How can reframing history impact the future? Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

San Francisco’s District Attorney Chesa Boudin was elected on the promise of bringing justice to the criminal "justice" system. He's part of a new wave of reform-minded prosecutors who are trying to change the system, eliminate the most harmful practices, and bring accountability to policing. Host Angela Glover Blackwell talks with Boudin about his efforts to bring fairness and compassion to a system that is oppressive by design. Too often, reform from the inside simply perpetuates the status quo. Can Boudin do something different? Can reform, coupled with radical imagination, change mindsets, open new possibilities, and be a step on the path to transformation? Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us

In this episode of Radical Imagination we follow up on our coverage of police abolition. Host Angela Glover Blackwell speaks with human rights lawyer and organizer Derecka Purnell, whose advocacy has led to the dismissal of thousands of cases based on unconstitutional policing practices. We first explored the abolition movement a year ago — before the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Black people, spurred nationwide protests. Now we look at the changing political and cultural landscape that has transformed what seemed like an impossible idea — defunding and dismantling police — into a feasible solution now being considered by state and local officials. Dive into all the Radical Imagination stories that are fueling change. www.radicalimagination.us