meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Black History Year

“Poetry Is Not a Luxury”: How Words Shape Freedom with Yolanda Wisher

Black History Year

PushBlack

History, Society & Culture

4.32.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2024

⏱️ 89 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Host Darren Wallace, with our producer Len riding shotgun, sits down with poet, educator, and former Philadelphia Poet Laureate Yolanda Wisher to talk poetry. Together, they dive into the historical and cultural significance of griots and spoken word, revisit the impact of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and reflect on Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize win. Yolanda also shares how her work—through projects like Love Jawns: A Mixtape and Stellar Masses—inspires and mobilizes communities. Poetry is all around us. This episode is here to help us understand and reconnect with its healing and transformative power. To learn more about our guest, visit www.yolandawisher.com Black History Year (BHY) is produced by PushBlack, the nation's largest non-profit Black media company. PushBlack exists to amplify the stories of Black history you didn't learn in school and explore pathways to liberation with people who are leading the way. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com — most people donate $10 a month, but every dollar makes a difference. If this episode moved you, share it with your people! Thanks for supporting the work.  Hosting BHY is Darren Wallace. The BHY production team includes Brooke Brown, Amber Davis, Mina Davis, Kevin McFall, Gabby Roberts, and Leslie Taylor-Grover. Our producers are Cydney Smith, Darren Wallace, and Len Webb, who also edits the show. BHY’s executive producers are Julian Walker and Lilly Workneh. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Just how powerful are our words in the real world?

0:04.0

Find out when we explore the power of spoken word and poetry.

0:08.0

Up next on Black History Year.

0:15.0

Hey, want to hear a PC Game Pass advert?

0:18.0

I'll take your silence as a yes.

0:20.0

Want you games on day one like Call of Duty Black Ops 6 or Stalker 2?

0:23.6

I thought so.

0:24.6

How about unlocking all the League of Legends champions when you link your Riot Games account?

0:28.6

Or for one low monthly price?

0:30.6

Well guess what?

0:31.6

We got you.

0:32.6

Learn more at Xbox.com slash PC Game Pass.

0:35.6

Stalker 2 available November 20th, 2024.

0:37.9

Game catalog varies by region and overtime.

0:40.2

And yeah, that's the end of the script.

0:45.9

As poet Audrey Lord once wrote,

0:51.9

poetry is not a luxury.

0:54.4

It's where we name the unnamed, uncover buried truths, and reimagine the world and

1:00.5

our place in it.

1:02.4

The white fathers told us, I think, therefore I am, Audrey Lord once wrote, and the black

1:07.9

mothers in each of us, the poet, whispers in our dreams, I feel, therefore I can be free.

1:15.5

I'm Len from Push Black, and you're listening to Black History Year.

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -51 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PushBlack, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of PushBlack and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.