Why Black Imagination Is A Blueprint of Liberation with adrienne maree brown

Black History Year

PushBlack

History, Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Black History Year, host Darren sits down with adrienne maree brown to discuss how Black imagination has always shaped history—from Harriet Tubman’s vision of The Promised Land to Octavia Butler’s Earthseed philosophy. They’re breaking down the powerful ways Black folks have used imagination—not just to escape oppression, but to turn freedom dreams into homes, communities, and whole new worlds. How have generations of Black people turned their dreams of freedom into reality? What lessons from history push us to dream bigger about the future? And how do we make sure imagination isn’t just a dream—but something real? -- To find more of adrienne's incredible work, visit https://adriennemareebrown.net/ — This podcast is brought to you by PushBlack, the nation’s largest non-profit Black media company. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com. Most folks do 5 or 10 bucks a month, but truly, anything helps. Thanks for supporting the work. With production support from Leslie Taylor-Grover and Brooke Brown, Black History Year is produced by Cydney Smith, Darren Wallace, and Len Webb, who also edits the show. Lilly Workneh is our Executive Producer and Black History Year's host is Darren Wallace. 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

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0:00.0	Harriet Tubman, what was that? What is it if you're enslaved and you are imagining freedom and you believe a star can take you there?
0:07.3	That's not woo-woo hippie shit. That's how you get free.
0:13.3	In 1993, Price author Octavia Butler wrote her prolific novel, Perible of the Soar, that predicted life in 2024.
0:21.1	And many of her predictions came true.
0:23.7	Her writing takes on police brutality, the rise of the MAGA movement, and even January's
0:28.1	Los Angeles fires.
0:30.1	She describes violent storms, deadly drowns, and economic conditions where we struggle to buy
0:35.1	bread and make decent incomes.
0:37.6	Again, this was in 1993.
0:41.2	I'm Darren from Post Black, and you're listening to Black History Year.
0:49.1	Octavia Butler wasn't just a writer.
0:51.5	She was a visionary, a profit of possibility, a maker of world. She didn't
0:56.9	just warn us about racism, hatred, and greed. She showed us how the choices we make today
1:01.8	shape the world we'll live in tomorrow. She's called the mother of Afrofuturism. And for good reason,
1:09.2	Butler didn't just predict the future. She created it.
1:12.6	So how did she do it?
1:14.6	What was her secret?
1:15.6	How did her stories come so close to the reality we're living in right now?
1:20.6	Butler engaged her radical imagination.
1:24.6	She envisioned what the future could look like based on her analysis of events of
1:28.3	the past and present. Today, we're exploring the role of the radical imagination, what it is,
1:34.6	how Butler used it, and how we can tap into it to shape our own futures. And we've got the perfect
	...

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