We’re sharing an episode from our friends over at Broken Record. On Broken Record, acclaimed producer Rick Rubin, bestselling author Malcom Gladwell, and former New York Times editor Bruce Headlam talk with the musicians you love about their lives, inspiration, and craft. In honor of Black Music Month this June, we’re sharing Justin Richmond’s conversation with Sonny Rollins.    The legendary saxophonist and composer talks about one of his first big gigs playing alongside other jazz icons like Bud Powell and Fats Navarro. He also explains why he no longer actively listens to music, and for the first time ever, Rollins talks about how Charlie “Bird” Parker is the reason he kicked drugs.    You can hear more from Broken Record at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/brbmm?sid=roperollins.

We’re sharing an episode from our friends over at Broken Record featuring one of our past guest on The Tight Rope, Grammy-award winning artist and Maroon 5 keyboardist PJ Morton.    On Broken Record, acclaimed producer Rick Rubin, bestselling author Malcom Gladwell, producer Justin Richmond, and former New York Times editor Bruce Headlam talk with the musicians you love about their lives, inspiration, and craft.    In honor of Black Music Month this June, we’re sharing Bruce Headlam’s interview with Grammy-award winning artist and Maroon 5 keyboardist PJ Morton. PJ talks to Bruce Headlam about what it was like growing up as a preacher’s son and how his relationship with gospel music has impacted the way he makes music. He also talks about being a recovering workaholic, and his friendship with the great Stevie Wonder.    You can hear more from Broken Record, from our friends at Pushkin Industries, at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/brbmm?sid=pjrope.

We're sharing a special episode from our friends at Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso. Talk Easy is a different kind of interview podcast, a space for guests to slow down and share how they arrived at the place they are today—and where they hope to go tomorrow. Rigorously researched and irrepressibly curious, Talk Easy hosts dialogues driven by compassion with artists, activists, and politicians. On this episode, Dr. Cornel West talks to Sam about his Robin Hood-like sensibility, discovering our purpose from womb-to-tomb, and the legacy of being a "jazz man" who fights for justice, love and freedom. You can hear more episodes of Talk Easy at https://link.chtbl.com/tightropetalkeasy

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content until December 31, 2021! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! In the final episode of The Tight Rope, Cornel West and Tricia Rose reminisce on all of the wonderful guests and poignant moments we’ve had this past year. Tune in to learn why the show is ending as we take a journey through our favorite moments. We are eternally grateful for everyone who has supported The Tight Rope and hope you stay connected with us. To get updates and learn what’s next for SpkerBox Media, subscribe to our newsletter at spkerbox.com. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! As we prepare for our final episode of The Tight Rope next week, we wanted to take it back to where it all started. Please enjoy this re-release of our very first episode. In this profound episode, Cornel West and Tricia Rose use Prince's iconic "Purple Rain" to explore a spectrum of topics. Join us for an in-depth discussion on race, gender fluidity, justice, resilience and excellence. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Marc Lamont Hill, award-winning journalist and host of Black News Tonight, walks The Tight Rope this week! Join us for a profound discussion on debating extreme conservatives, Bill Cosby’s recent release from prison, and being grounded by a deep love of Black people. Dr. Marc Lamont Hill is currently the host of Black News Channel's primetime show, Black News Tonight as well as the Coffee & Books podcast. An award-winning journalist, Dr. Hill is the author or co-author of six books, as well as the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University. Since his days as a youth in Philadelphia, Dr. Hill has been a social justice activist and organizer. Today, his research agenda focuses on the intersections between culture, politics, and education in the United States and the Middle East. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Why did 2x WNBA Champion Renee Montgomery opt out of the 2020 season? In this throwback episode, Renee sits down with the professors to discuss why she felt called to leave basketball to focus on social justice reform. Renee Montgomery, a native West Virginian, has completed her 11th season in the WNBA, now playing for the Atlanta Dream. She was drafted 4th overall by the Minnesota Lynx in 2009. She won National Championships with the UCONN Huskies in 2009 and professionally with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and 2017. In the 2018 WNBA season, she broke a WNBA League record for most 3 pointers made in a half (7). This past WNBA season, she reached the 500 mark for 3 pointers, making her 12th on the all-time list. In addition to her WNBA basketball career, Renee has started her own non-profit (Renee Montgomery Foundation - RMF) whose mission is to provide fun experiences to youth and families and teach them life lessons through principles learned in sports. Montgomery has opted out of the 2020 WNBA Basketball season to focus on social justice reform. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! This week, we’re thrilled to welcome Professor Teodros Kiros, leading authority on moral and African philosophy and dear colleague of Dr. Cornel West. Join us for a rich philosophical discussion between brilliant academics in an episode unlike any other. Teodros Kiros is considered a leading authority on moral philosophy and a leading voice in African philosophy, with 17 books published. He has been a W. E. B. Du Bois Fellow at Harvard University for the past 20 years and has been nominated three times for Berklee's Distinguished Faculty Award. Kiros is also the producer and host of the internationally acclaimed television program African Ascent. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! What is love? Is it the virtue we need the most right now? This week, the professors take on the most powerful virtue, love. Tune in to learn why learning how to love requires learning how to die and how this virtue can transform us all. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Two-time Academy Award-winning actress, author, and activist Jane Fonda joins the professors for a fiery conversation on taking action against injustices. Tune in to learn about the calling that keeps her going and how she gives her life meaning. Plus, Fonda shares a deeply moving story she has never revealed publicly before. Jane Fonda’s career has spanned over 50 years, accumulating a body of film work that includes over 45 films and crucial work on behalf of political causes such as women’s rights, Native Americans, and the environment. She is a seven-time Golden Globe® winner, Honorary Palme d’Or honoree, 2014 AFI Life Achievement Award winner, and the 2019 recipient of the Stanley Kubrick Excellence in Film Award as part of BAFTA’s Britannia Awards. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! In this exciting collaboration with Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and HITRECORD, Kenneth Morris, Jr. walks The Tight Rope. Kenneth Morris, Jr. descends from two of the most influential names in American history: he is the great-great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass and the great-great grandson of Booker T. Washington. Morris continues his family’s legacy of anti-slavery and educational work as co-founder and president of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, a nonprofit organization based in New York. His career and life path have been driven by a clear focus on FDFI’s mission “To Build Strong Children and to end systems of exploitation and oppression.“ We discuss Morris’ collaboration with HITRECORD, an open online community for creative collaboration founded by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Kenneth Morris and HITRECORD are partnering to create a series of art pieces that celebrate Black Excellence and highlight influential figures from Black history. Contribute your ideas and get involved with the project at hitrecord.org/monuments. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! In the second installment of our series of virtues, Cornel West and Tricia Rose dive into the true meaning of integrity. Tune in to learn why the professors consider integrity to be one of the most important virtues and why the lack of it could lead to the demise of the human race. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

This week on The Tight Rope, the professors are joined by Dr. Gina Paige, co-founder of African Ancestry. African Ancestry is the world leader in tracing lineages of African descent with a database of over 30,000 indigenous African DNA samples. Join us for a rich discussion on why Black people are the original victims of identity theft and how African Ancestry is working to rectify this. In 2003, Dr. Gina Paige co-founded African Ancestry, Inc. (AfricanAncestry.com) and in doing so, pioneered a new way of tracing African lineages using genetics, and a new marketplace for people of African descent looking to more accurately and reliably trace their roots. Paige travels the world helping people demystify their roots and inform on identities so that they may better understand who they are by knowing where they’re from. Paige resides in Washington, D.C. and holds a degree in Economics from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Paige was honored with an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Global Oved Dei Seminary University. Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

This week on The Tight Rope, Stokley Williams opens up about founding Mint Condition, his new solo project Sankofa, and why he considers himself a sonic healer. Tune in to learn Stokley’s favorite songs of his career and the influences that helped him develop his signature style. Stokley is a GRAMMY-nominated vocalist, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who is one of music’s best-kept secrets. He has worked with some of the biggest names in music including Prince, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and more. He’s known best as the lead singer and drummer for legendary R&B group Mint Condition. In 2017, Stokley embarked on a new solo journey with the release of his debut album Introducing Stokley, which produced two #1 singles, “Organic” and “Levels.” He now continues that journey in a new partnership with the legendary Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis’ Perspective Records. Stokley’s new single “She” is off his sophomore album due out this winter. Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Coordinating Producers: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Killer Mike walks The Tight Rope this week for an unfiltered conversation on knowing your worth and giving back to your community. Mike shares personal stories about the people who shaped him as an artist and inspired his activism. Tune in to hear why Mike dedicated his career to uplifting others and inspiring the next generation of artists. Plus, Mike shares his favorite books of all time and why he believes 'education is emancipation.' Atlanta native, Michael Render, aka Killer Mike, is a Grammy-award winning rapper, businessman and activist. He is one half of the hip hop duo, Run the Jewels, host of the Netflix series, “Trigger Warning with Killer Mike,” co-owner of the famed Atlanta restaurant, Bankhead Seafood, and co-founder of Greenwood digital bank. Of all his roles and responsibilities, recognition and celebration, Mike is most proud to be called “husband” to Shana, and “father” to two sons and two daughters. Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Follow Killer Mike on Social Media! Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Dustin Hodge Production Coordinators: Lindsey Schultz, Christian Ware Berry Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

To listen to the full episode with Roxane Gay, please visit our Patreon!  This week, New York Times Bestselling author, professor, editor, and social commentator Roxane Gay walks The Tight Rope. Gay and the professors discuss the devastating attacks on Palestine and why so many public figures are afraid to speak out. Plus, learn why Gay felt called to be a writer and how she fell in love with the essay form. Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, The Audacity. Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Follow Roxane Gay on Social Media! Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook | Website Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Dr. West and Professor Rose push each other as they reflect on the murder of George Floyd and its sustained significance one year later.    Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive full episodes! You can sign up at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod.   Please share our content with your friends & family by following us on social media. Thank you!   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightrop...  Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod  Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry  EP/Host: Cornel West  EP/Host: Tricia Rose  Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis  Producer: Ceyanna Dent  Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)   #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose

This week Professor and activist Dr. Maulana Karenga joins the professors to discuss his relationship with Malcolm X, his beliefs about what is necessary to develop a true sense of Black identity, and Kawaida-- his interpretation of ancient Egyptian ethical thought as a living tradition and a useful philosophical option for critical reflection on the urgent issues of our time. Dr. Maulana Karenga is professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies at California State University—Long Beach. He is also the creator of the pan-African cultural holiday Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles) and author of the authoritative text titled Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture. An activist-scholar, he is chair of the organization Us and the National Association of Kawaida Organizations; and Executive director of the African American Cultural Center and the Kawaida Institute of Pan-African Studies; and also co-chair of the Black Community, Clergy and Labor Alliance, BCCLA. He is currently writing a major work on the social and ethical philosophy of Malcolm X titled The Liberation Ethics of Malcolm X: Critical Consciousness, Moral Grounding and Transformative Struggle. Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Learn more about Dr. Maulana Karenga by visiting his website! Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Recorded on December 17th, 2020, with the holiday spirit close at hand, Dr. West and Professor Rose welcome Father Michael Pfleger, long-time Senior Pastor of The Faith Community of Saint Sabina to reflect on the state of our democracy and his beliefs on the role of faith communities in the fight for social justice, especially at the community level. In addition to discussing his hopes for the Biden administration, Father Pfleger reflects on the course of his extensive and active ministry. Throughout his career, Father Pfleger has been recognized for his commitment to equality and passionate stance against injustice and has sought to break down the walls of racism and denominationalism by building unity among all people founded on truth and based on Jesus’ command to love one another. This holy calling has led him to be a parent, a preacher, a teacher, a lecturer and an activist. Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Follow Father Pfleger on Social Media! Twitter | Facebook | Website  Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

This week Professor Jeffrey Stout, longtime friend and colleague of Dr. West joins us on The Tight Rope to talk about virtues and the political significance of friendships. Tune in to hear Dr. Stout recount his experiences teaching with Dr. West and how their intellectual pursuits led to their bonds of brotherhood. Jeffrey Stout is a theorist of democratic culture, best known for his teaching and his scholarship on social movements, religion, ethics, pragmatism, and film. Early on, he was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements. His undergraduate degree is from Brown, and his doctorate is from Princeton, where he taught for more than four decades. Stout’s most recent books are Democracy and Tradition and Blessed Are the Organized: Grassroots Democracy in America. His current project is “A Political History of Religion,” which expands on the Gifford Lectures he delivered in Edinburgh in 2017. Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! Full video version of this episode and others here! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

This week, former Mayor of New Orleans and self-proclaimed “white southerner,” Mitch Landrieu,  sits down with the professors to discuss how his upbringing in the south was centered around building community with his Black neighbors, as opposed to building a sense of superiority. Landrieu describes his belief that we must truly fix America, not just ‘change the carpet,’ and talks about how America has been “divided by design.” Finally, hear Dr. West reflect on his times growing up returning to the south during summers and the impact these experiences had on his personal development. Mitch Landrieu is an American Politician, Lawyer, author, speaker, nonprofit leader and CNN political commentator. He served as the 61st Mayor of New Orleans (2010-2018) When he took office, the city was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and in the midst of the BP Oil Spill. Under Landrieu's leadership, New Orleans is widely recognized as one of the nation’s great comeback stories. Landrieu gained national prominence for his powerful decision to take down four Confederate monuments in New Orleans, which also earned him the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. In his best-selling book, In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History, Landrieu recounts his personal journey confronting the issue of race and institutional racism that still plagues America. In 2018, he launched E Pluribus Unum (“Out of Many, One”), an initiative in the South created to fulfill America’s promise of justice and opportunity for all by breaking down the barriers that divide us by race and class. Prior to serving as Mayor, Landrieu served two terms as lieutenant governor and 16 years in the state legislature. He and his wife Cheryl live in New Orleans, where they raised their five children. Follow Mitch Landrieu on Social Media!  Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Website Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show HERE! Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

In part 2 of their conversation, @HakiMadhubuti and the Professors continue their conversation answering the question “How can we best pass on the legacy of institution building?” Tune in for Professor Madhubuti’s answer as well as his reading of his poem “Liberation Narratives.” A leading poet and one of the architects of the Black Arts Movement, Haki R. Madhubuti (pronounced Mad-hu-boo-tee) —publisher, editor and educator—has been a pivotal figure in the development of a strong Black literary tradition. He has published more than 31 books (some under his former name, Don L. Lee) and is one of the world’s best-selling authors of poetry and non-fiction. His book, Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous? The African American Family in Transition, has sold more than one million copies. Follow Professor Madhubuti and Third World Press! ~Third World Press~ Twitter | Website ~Professor Haki Madhubuti~ Twitter | Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here! Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join us on our Patreon! Full video version of this episode and others here! Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Become a member of our Patreon family for full episodes, behind-the-scenes access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod OR, Donate to the show here!  Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join us on our Patreon! Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

This week, @HakiMadhubuti joins the Professors for a conversation about his body of work and how he was, as one of his books is entitled, Taught By Women. Describing Gwendolyn Brooks as his “cultural mother,” Professor Madhubuti talks about the importance of the mentorship he received through his relationship with her and how he came to believe that literature is essential to self-discovery. Finally, synergizing his love for the written word with his belief in the necessity of building Black-led institutions, Professor Madhubuti discusses the institution he created--- Third World Press. A leading poet and one of the architects of the Black Arts Movement, Haki R. Madhubuti (pronounced Mad-hu-boo-tee) —publisher, editor and educator—has been a pivotal figure in the development of a strong Black literary tradition. He has published more than 31 books (some under his former name, Don L. Lee) and is one of the world’s best-selling authors of poetry and non-fiction. His book, Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous? The African American Family in Transition, has sold more than one million copies. Follow Professor Madhubuti and Third World Press!  ~Third World Press~ Twitter | Website  ~Professor Haki Madhubuti~ Twitter | Facebook Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join us on our Patreon! Full video version of this episode and others here! Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

This week, Bob the Drag Queen joins the professors for a conversation about love-- love of self, love of community, and love of one’s fellow humans-- and all of the obstacles that arise in the process of giving or receiving this love when a person doesn’t fit within certain “norms.” Together, they explore the power of being celebrated for who you are, the reluctance to acknowledge homosexuality and gender non-conformity in the Black community, and why systemic racism is like a pair of ill-fitting pants. “Bob The Drag Queen” describes herself as “hilarious, beautiful, talented and...humble.” Bob’s unabashed confidence won her the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar” on season 8 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” multiple acting roles for HBO, Netflix, Sony Tristar, MTV, and VH1. Bob has recently released her second comedy special, “Bob The Drag Queen: Live at Caroline’s” available on iTunes, as well as season 3 of “ Sibling Rivalry," the podcast she co-hosts with her drag sister Monét X Change. Follow Bob on Social Media!  Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Facebook Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join us on our Patreon! Full video version of this episode and others here! Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

As Women’s History Month comes to a close and Black Women’s History Month begins, we revisit some of our favorite moments with the powerful women we’ve had on The Tight Rope. With this compilation, we hope to celebrate the strength and wisdom of women across generations and identities, join us in our tribute to our honored guests and women everywhere. “When we focus on the oft ignored generosity, genius and greatness of women, it enriches us all.”-- Professor Tricia Rose Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join us on our Patreon! Full video version of this episode and others here! Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

In a special edition of The Tight Rope, Dr. Cornel West provides closing thoughts on his “ridiculous situation at Harvard” with respect to his being denied tenure at the institution. Join Dr. West and Professor Tricia Rose as they discuss the finality of Dr. West’s decision to leave Harvard and return “home” to Union Theological Seminary. Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join us on our Patreon! Full video version of this episode and others here! Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

The professors invite Rapsody to discuss the legacy of the Black music tradition and how it continually reiterates itself within “new genres” creating a cultural archive. Additionally, Rapsody discusses her journey ‘making it’ in the business without compromising her vision for her artistry and the stories she wants to tell. As they discuss both the legacy and future of hip-hop, the Professors and Rapsody discuss the popular tropes in hip hop music and interrogate how gender stereotypes manifest both ‘the business’ and music itself. Finally, they speak to the political nature and origins of hip hop and exchange views on how it continues to fortify generations of freedom fighters. Rapsody is a Jamla/Roc Nation artist who has spent the better part of the present decade lapping peers and counterparts while mesmerizing fans who still prefer their rhymes detailed and nutritious. The Snow Hill, North Carolina native has more than held her own alongside greats like Kendrick Lamar, Black Thought and the late Mac Miller. She has been broadcasted and hailed by media giants––from NPR to USA Today to TIME  Magazine to BET (2013’s Hip Hop Cypher) to NBC (The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, 2015). In 2014, XXL named her one of the 20 Greatest Female Rappers of All Time. The following year, Dr. Dre crowned her his “favorite female emcee.”  Follow Rapsody on Social Media!  Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Website  Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join us on our Patreon! Full video version of this episode and others here! Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

On the 62nd anniversary of the Broadway premiere (March 11, 1959) of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Dr. West and Professor Rose reflect on the Black literary tradition as they focus on the legacy of both Lorraine Hansberry and Gwendolyn Brooks as revolutionaries and exemplars who are often misunderstood as the “Darlings of the White Liberal Establishment.” The professors discuss the tension between the relation of love and freedom (interpersonal justice) on the one hand and the struggle for political and economic justice on the other while expertly explaining why and how some of the authors’ most popular works are still misinterpreted in the modern world as less revolutionary than they reveal themselves to be beneath the surface. Lorraine Hansberry was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway and is best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun. At the age of 29, she won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award — making her the first African-American dramatist, the fifth woman, and the youngest playwright to do so. Hansberry worked at the Pan-Africanist newspaper Freedom, with other intellectuals such as Paul Robeson and W. E. B. Du Bois. Much of her work during this time concerned the African struggle for liberation and their impact on the world. Hansberry's writings also discussed her lesbianism and the oppression of homosexuality. She died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 34 and was the inspiration behind Nina Simone’s famous song entitled "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", which was also the title of Hansberry's autobiographical play. Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the most highly regarded, influential, and widely read poets of 20th-century American poetry. She was a much-honored poet, even in her lifetime, with the distinction of being the first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1950. She also was poetry consultant to the Library of Congress—the first Black woman to hold that position—and poet laureate of the State of Illinois until her death 32 years later. In 1976, she became the first African-American woman inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Authoring more than 20 books of poetry as well as a novel, Brooks was dedicated to celebrating the humanity of Black people and using her work as a vehicle for civil rights activism. *Read Tricia's article (2014) on 'A Raisin in the Sun' here!*  Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media! Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join us on our Patreon! Full video version of this episode and others here! Previous video episodes on our Youtube! Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum joins Dr. West and Professor Rose on The Tight Rope to talk about the critical importance of having curriculums, educators, and school communities that are dedicated to affirming and embracing students of color in general and Black students in particular. She explains the fundamental tenets of this practice in terms of what she calls “ABC’s:” Affirming Identity, Building Community, and Cultivating Leadership. Additionally, the Professors reflect on the resurgence of Dr. Tatum’s 25 year-old best-selling book, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” and Other Conversations About Race, as they discuss the movement of young people fighting for social equity and guidance. Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, president emerita of Spelman College, is a clinical psychologist widely known for both her expertise on race relations and as a thought leader in higher education.  In addition to authoring best-selling books and acting as a civic leader, her thirteen years as the president of Spelman College (2002-2015) were marked by innovation and growth; her visionary leadership was recognized in 2013 with the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award. Find Dr. Tatum on social media: LinkedIn | Twitter| Website: TedX talk: “Is My Skin Brown Because I Drank Chocolate Milk?”  Follow The Tight Rope on Social Media!  Patreon | Twitter | Instagram |  Facebook  Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content!  You can join us on our Patreon!  Full video version of this episode and others here!  Previous video episodes on our Youtube!  Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SpkerBoxMedia

In this episode of The Tight Rope, the Professors welcome acclaimed actor Mayim Bialik to join them in conversation. Together they engage in a nuanced discussion of Mayim’s positionality as both a female in Hollywood and as a devout, proud member of the Jewish faith. Delving into the long history of solidarity amongst the Jewish people and Black Americans, Mayim details her dismay at the state of racism in America, her upbringing as a staunch advocate for social justice, and her perspective on the apparent contradictions between her faith and her political ideologies. With openness and laughter, Mayim, Dr. West, and Professor Rose hold space for critical discussion around complex ideas on feminism, zionism, and anti-racism while remaining rooted in one another’s deep humanity.  Mayim Bialik is an acclaimed actor known for her work in Blossom and The Big Bang Theory, a Doctor of Neuroscience, a New York Times bestselling author, a Producer, a Director, a Podcast host of Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown, and a practicing member of Judaism. She lives in Los Angeles with her two sons and three cats.    Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod​ Full video versions at https://youtube.com/therealnews​ Previous episodes at https://youtube.com/thetightropepod​   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightrop...​ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod ​ Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-yt​ Sign up for our newsletter: hhttps://therealnews.com/sign-up-yt​ Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews​ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews   Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)   #TheTightRope​, #CornelWest​, #TriciaRose​, #SpkerBoxMedia​

In a special edition of The Tight Rope, Dr. Cornel West speaks freely about his “ridiculous situation at Harvard” with respect to his being denied tenure at the institution. Join Dr. West and Professor Tricia Rose for a conversation as they reveal some of the possible underlying reasons for the rejection and as they dredge up the bedrock systemic issues at play in higher education. The Tight Rope just got a lot tighter! For additional insight into this matter of critical importance, check out the interview in The Chronicle of Higher Education with Max Alvarez, Editor-in-Chief of The Real News Network.    Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod​ Previous episodes at https://youtube.com/thetightropepod​   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod​ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod ​ Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)    #TheTightRope​, #CornelWest​, #TriciaRose​, #SpkerBoxMedia​

In the second installment of a 2-part conversation, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. steps back on The Tight Rope to further explore his new documentary The Black Church - This is Our Story, This is Our Song. The series reveals the broad history and culture of the Black church and explores African American faith communities on the frontlines of hope and change. The Black Church features interviews with Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Bishop Michael Curry, Pastor Shirley Caesar, and our very own Dr. Cornel West. Dr. Gates is an American literary critic, professor, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.   Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod​ Full video versions at https://youtube.com/therealnews​ Previous episodes at https://youtube.com/thetightropepod​   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightrop...​ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod​ Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-yt​ Sign up for our newsletter: hhttps://therealnews.com/sign-up-yt​ Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews​ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews   Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)   #TheTightRope​, #CornelWest​, #TriciaRose​, #SpkerBoxMedia​

Today's Tight Rope Special Edition features the Lucas Brothers -- co-writers for the new film JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH -- and actor Lil Rel Howery who had a powerful cameo in the film. JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH -- directed by Shaka King and produced by Ryan Coogler and Charles King -- tells the story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his betrayal by FBI informant William O'Neal. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton, Lakeith Stanfield as William O’Neal, Martin Sheen as J. Edgar Hoover, and JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH is set to premiere in theaters and on HBO Max February 12th. www.judasandtheblackmessiah.com/   Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod​ Full video versions at https://youtube.com/therealnews​ Previous episodes at   https://youtube.com/thetightropepod​ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightrop...​ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod​ Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-yt​ Sign up for our newsletter: hhttps://therealnews.com/sign-up-yt​ Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews​ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope​, #CornelWest​, #TriciaRose​, #SpkerBoxMedia​ #JudasAndTheBlackMessiah

In the first installment of a 2-part conversation, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. begins by exploring his own lineage and African American history in general to draw connections to the community’s powerful connection to Christianity in his new documentary The Black Church - This is Our Story, This is Our Song. The series reveals the broad history and culture of the Black church and explores African American faith communities on the frontlines of hope and change. The Black Church features interviews with Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Bishop Michael Curry, Pastor Shirley Caesar, and our very own Dr. Cornel West. Dr. Gates is an American literary critic, professor, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.   Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod​ Full video versions at https://youtube.com/therealnews​ Previous episodes at https://youtube.com/thetightropepod​   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightrop...​ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod​ Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-yt​ Sign up for our newsletter: hhttps://therealnews.com/sign-up-yt​ Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews​ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews   Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)   #TheTightRope​, #CornelWest​, #TriciaRose​, #SpkerBoxMedia​

This week, civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson steps onto “The Tight Rope” with Dr. Cornel West and professor Tricia Rose to talk policing and pedagogy. DeRay highlights some alarming statistics about police violence, which continued unabated in 2020 despite nationwide protests and the outcry of a multicultural coalition of concerned citizens. Recounting his years as a teacher, DeRay also connects his pedagogical practice to his calling as an activist.   Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod​ Full video versions at https://youtube.com/therealnews​ Previous episodes at https://youtube.com/thetightropepod​   Twitter: @deray https://twitter.com/deray​ IG: @iamderay https://www.instagram.com/iamderay/​ https://www.deray.com​ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightrop...​ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod​ Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-yt​ Sign up for our newsletter: hhttps://therealnews.com/sign-up-yt​ Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews​ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews   Credits: Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)   #TheTightRope​, #CornelWest​, #TriciaRose​, #SpkerBoxMedia​

In this episode, acclaimed journalist and op-ed columnist for the New York Times, Charles M. Blow, walks The Tight Rope with Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose. The author of bestselling memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones shares a grand geopolitical vision for Black America in his new book, The Devil You Know. The new text is an unsettling manifesto, proposing nothing short of what some may see as the most audacious power play by Black people in the history of this country.   Become a member of The Tight Rope Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod​ Full video versions at https://youtube.com/therealnews​ Previous episodes at https://youtube.com/thetightropepod​   Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) ​ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod​ Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-yt​   Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/sign-up-yt​ Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews​ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

In this special episode, Dr. Cornel West and professor Tricia Rose walk “The Tight Rope” with Max Alvarez, editor-in-chief of The Real News Network. The Real News Network is a nonprofit, viewer-supported center for digital journalism dedicated to telling the stories that matter to movements fighting against systems of oppression. For the next few months, “The Tight Rope” and The Real News Network have partnered to bring you exclusive conversations with some of the world’s foremost thought leaders, educators, activists, artists, and intellectuals. Listen in as Dr. West and Max discuss how Fyodor Dostoevsky mutually inspired their worlds of ideas, and Dr. Rose ties that literary connection to the purpose of their powerful partnership. Become a member of The Tight Rope Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can join at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod​ Full video versions at https://youtube.com/therealnews​ Previous episodes at https://youtube.com/thetightropepod​   Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)   Guest Socials/Guest Links: Max Alvarez’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/maximillian_alv​ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod​ Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and making a small donation: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-yt​   Sign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/sign-up-yt​ Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnews​ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

This week, Dr. Cornel West & Professor Tricia Rose step out on The Tight Rope with Frederick Joseph: an award-winning marketing professional, media representation advocate, and author of the New York Times Bestseller, The Black Friend. Frederick is the sole creator of the largest GoFundMe campaign in history, the #BlackPantherChallenge, which ultimately generated over $43 million dollars in earned advertising and media, and it raised over $950K to allow more than 75,000 children worldwide to see 'Black Panther’ for free. Frederick talks to the professors about using his professional skill set and storytelling abilities to create action-based marketing campaigns centered on social justice and empowerment. He reveals that, in addition to fighting against injustice and against the global pandemic, he is also embroiled in a daily battle against multiple sclerosis (MS).   Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod. Check out the full video version at https://youtube.com/therealnews   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod   Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)

Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod.   Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #MLK #Poverty #PoorPeoplesCampaign #America #Inauguration

Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: Ceyanna Dent Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose

Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: Ceyanna Dent Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose

Thank you for joining us for the launch of The Tight Rope! For those of you who are just now stepping out on The Tight Rope with us, here is a look back at some very powerful moments on the program. We hope that you enjoy!   Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod.   Learn more at... https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod   Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Producer: Ceyanna Dent Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose

In the final conversation of 2020, Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose invite award-winning recording artist, actor, and activist Common to step out on The Tight Rope to talk about his new album, A Beautiful Revolution (Pt 1), and the power of allowing love to have the last word. Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod   Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: Ceyanna Dent Producer: James Artis Booking: Evan Seymour  #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Common

In this special crossover episode, Tight Rope co-hosts Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Tricia Rose join Briahna Joy Gray and Virgil Texas, co-hosts of the Bad Faith podcast. Become a member of our Patreon family for BTS access and more exclusive content! You can sign up here at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod   Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose

We commemorate the assassination of Black Panther Party leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, 51 years ago this week, with one of their lawyers, Flint Taylor. He tells Tricia Rose and Cornel West how he successfully sued the F.B.I. for orchestrating the massacre on Chicago's west side as part of COINTELPRO. Taylor is co-founder of the People's Law Office and author of "The Torture Machine: Racism and Police Violence in Chicago", now available via paperback, hardcover, or digital from your local independent bookstore. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Hosts: Tricia Rose and Cornel West Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Linda Blake, Christian Ware, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #BlackLivesMatter #DefundPolice

Rashad Robinson, the fearless leader of Color Of Change, takes Tricia Rose and Cornel West inside his White House meeting with former President Barack Obama, reveals whether or not President-elect Joe Biden has thanked his organization for helping him win, and delivers a hopeful message for racial justice activists.   Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Hosts: Tricia Rose and Cornel West Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Linda Blake, Christian Ware, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Biden #Trump #Obama #BlackLivesMatter #Election2020 @Peppermint247 @RashadRobinson @ColorOfChange

To commemorate the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Peppermint takes us behind the scenes of her activism, "RuPaul's Drag Race", and how her maternal grandmother shaped her political identity. Plus, Tricia Rose and Cornel West ponder the Biden-Bernie paradox for Black voters in this week's Office Hours session. Black Queer Town Hall Peppermint on Twitter Peppermint on Facebook Miss Peppermint on YouTube The Tight Rope website The Tight Rope on Facebook The Tight Rope on Instagram The Tight Rope on Twitter Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Hosts: Tricia Rose and Cornel West Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Linda Blake, Christian Ware, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #TransRights #TDOR #Biden #Bernie #Trump #BlackLivesMatter #Election2020

For the first time since the #Election2020 Watch Party, Tricia Rose and Cornel West share their thoughts, feelings, and formulations on where we are, where we might be going, and where we should be going, in this special extended Office Hours episode featuring questions from our Patreon peeps. Join our Patreon family at https://www.patreon.com/thetightropepod Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #KamalaHarris #Kamala #Biden #Trump #Socialism #BlackLivesMatter #Election2020

Tracee Ellis Ross joins Tricia Rose and Cornel West on The Tight Rope for a deep dialogue about her experiences as a Black actress and the daughter of Diana Ross. Between a lot of laughter, Ms. Ross shares the sources of her inspirations as an entertainer and as the CEO and Founder of PATTERN, a haircare brand she created “for the curly, coily and tight-textured masses.” The three also discuss the importance and implications of joy and rest within marginalized groups, particularly Black communities. Ms. Ross can currently be seen starring in Season 6 of ABC’s Emmy, SAG, NAACP, Critics Choice, Golden Globe-nominated and Peabody-winning comedy series Black-ish. She recently signed a multi-year overall deal with ABC Signature under her production company, Joy Mill Entertainment. Insight from this episode: ● Discussion of different forms of Black futurism. ● Perspective on the entertainment industry’s relationship with Black beauty. ● Perspective on the politics of Black joy. ● Acknowledgment of the artistry of comedy. Quotes from the show: ● “Hearing each other's voices and developing a collective vocabulary, that's an important part of creating an alternative consciousness to the madness that we're facing.” –Tricia Rose The Tight Rope ● “As I started to embrace my own hair, like I could probably Chronicle my journey of self acceptance through my journey with my hair. As I started to meet my hair, greet my hair except my hair and on some really strange days love my hair. I started to understand who I was and also connect myself to a larger legacy of what my hair was a part of.” –Tracee Ellis Ross The Tight Rope ● “Our identity doesn't have to be designed in relation to trying to get out of the trauma, and out of that supremacy and all of that. Instead, if you were to imagine oneself, one's blackness, one's beauty, one sense of home from that space, what do you become, what liberation is, is available to you?” –Tracee Ellis Ross The Tight Rope ● “That's part of how I guide myself through my work is that it's not really about creating something that I want you to see a certain way, but that I want you to feel a certain way.” –Tracee Ellis Ross The Tight Rope ● “[Comics] have this over-sensitivity to other people's pain. And therefore, they they choose to be wounded healers and bruised uplifters to others.” –Cornel West The Tight Rope ● “Me being alive fully, freely, all of that is resistance; and particularly the self care, and the ability to rest: to rest your heart, to rest your soul, to rest your body, to give your body the honor that it deserves, to listen to your body.” –Tracee Ellis Ross The Tight Rope ● “In this world that we have with social media and all that your brain never gets a chance to wander. It never gets a chance to ponder things, or to just be, and those to me, are the spaces where change actually occurs.” –Tracee Ellis Ross The Tight Rope ● “The young people say all the time, ‘stay woke, stay woke.’ I say you’re going to suffer from insomnia. You can’t just stay “woke” all the time, you want to stay fortified. You stay fortified so you know when to rest you know how to get your armor in place, you know how to recast yourself so you know how to be the kind of love warrior and spiritual soldier that you need with love and justice at the center of it.” –Cornel West The Tight Rope Learn more at: https://www.thetightropepodcast.com https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Editor: Linda Blake Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #TraceeEllisRoss #Blackish #BlackBeauty This episode was produced and managed by Spkerbox Media.

Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant, a member of Socialist Alternative, and leading civil rights lawyer Connie Rice are organizing protests and sharpening their legal strategies, just in case President Donald Trump tries to steal this election rather than peacefully transferring power to former Vice President Joe Biden. They joined Tricia Rose and Cornel West for the final hour of our live #Election2020 Watch Party, produced in cooperation with The Real News Network. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Trump #blacklivesmatter #Biden #Socialism #Seattle #CivilRights

Socialism became a wedge issue on the campaign trail and may have helped President Donald Trump win Florida. But those who call themselves socialists will keep fighting, including Jacobin Magazine editor Bhaskar Sunkara and Highlander Center co-executive director Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson. They joined Cornel West and Tricia Rose during their live #Election2020 Watch Party in cooperation with The Real News Network. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Trump #blacklivesmatter #biden #love #election2020 #socialism #communism #Appalachia

Dr. Eddie Glaude reflects on the deep split in the fabric of American politics as part of our #Election2020 Watch Party with Cornel West and Tricia Rose, in cooperation with The Real News Network.  Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Trump #blacklivesmatter #EddieGlaude

Tricia Rose and Cornel West started and ended their #Election2020 Watch Party with some spiritual and creative food. Father Michael Pfleger from the southside of Chicago and musician Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah set the mood for an emotional election night. Produced in cooperation with The Real News Network. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Trump #blacklivesmatter #biden #love #election2020 #Catholic #Jazz

Marianne Williamson, acclaimed author and 2020 Democratic candidate for president, joined Cornel West and Tricia Rose on election night to mourn the lack of a landslide and visualize a stronger position for progressives in America's fractured political landscape. Produced in cooperation with The Real News Network. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Trump #blacklivesmatter #ubi #universalincome #medicareforall #peace #courseinmiracles #mariannewilliamson

Filmmaker Michael Moore wanted his last conversation before election to be on The Tight Rope - and we were happy to welcome him back as our first returning guest. The Flint, Michigan native teams up with Cornel West and Tricia Rose to strategize the best way to get the proverbial ball all the way past the goal line. Hike! Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #MichaelMoore #Trump #blacklivesmatter #biden #love #flint #michigan

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, explains to her mentors Tricia Rose and Cornel West why more faith-based Black and Catholic are supporting reproductive freedom at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is moving in the other direction, in this special pre-election edition of The Tight Rope. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producers: Allie Hembrough, Ceyanna Dent, Evan Seymour, Lindsey Schultz, and James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #prochoice #prolife #abortion #feminist #abortionrights #mybodymychoice #plannedparenthood #trump #blacklivesmatter #biden #reproductiverights #prolifefeminist #prochoiceisprolife #love #reproductivejustice #blacklivesmatter

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), the groundbreaking Somali-American activist from Minnesota, lays out her #PeopleFirst plan to transform American society and how the progressive movement will do if Democrats win back the Senate and the White House. Plus, Tricia Rose and Cornel West discuss the tale of two cities - Tulsa 1921 and Minneapolis 2020 - in this week's Office Hours session. This special edition of The Tight Rope is a takeover episode with Intelligence Squared.  The Tight Rope and Intelligence Squared websites The Tight Rope on Facebook Intelligence Squared on Facebook The Tight Rope on Instagram Intelligence Squared on Instagram The Tight Rope on Twitter Intelligence Squared on Twitter Intelligence Squared podcast on Spotify Intelligence Squared podcast on Apple Podcasts   Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Election2020 #Vote #Democracy #BlackLivesMatter @IlhanMN #Minneapolis #GeorgeFloyd #Tulsa #TulsaMassacre #TheSquad #IntelligenceSquared

The generation of folks who cast their first-ever vote for Barack Obama, also known as millennials, are feeling down about democracy, according to a new global study by the University of Cambridge. Tricia Rose and Cornel West reflect on the reasons for their discontent and why much of it is noble and justified, in this special Office Hours session. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Election2020 #Millennials #Vote #Democracy #BlackLivesMatter

Cornel West and Tricia Rose hosted a Presidential Debate After Party with special guests Briahna Joy Gray, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, and Dr. Ron Daniels. Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is a democratic socialist and was once dubbed "America's coolest mayor" by the Guardian. He says his state is where the presidential election will be decided and updates us on the situation there. Briahna Joy Gray was the National Press Secretary for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. A Jill Stein voter in 2016, she publicly said she would not endorse Joe Biden in the general election. She hosts a new podcast with @ChapoTrapHouse co-founder @VirgilTexas called @BadFaithPod. Dr. Ron Daniels is a political veteran both as a candidate, when he was a presidential candidate in 1992, and as a consultant, when he was deputy campaign manager for Jesse Jackson in 1988. He is also founder and president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century. Set a reminder so you are notified when we're going live. https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Host: Cornel West Host: Tricia Rose Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry Coordinating Producers: Allie Hembrough and Ceyanna Dent Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Debate #PresidentialDebate #Debate2020 #ChapoTrapHouse #Pennsylvania #Reparations #Election2020 #Biden #Trump

Patreon co-founder and CEO Jack Conte tells Tricia Rose and Cornel West how the pandemic is driving musicians and other performers to create new models for survival, in this special edition of The Tight Rope. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #Patreon #JackConte

Patricia Arquette explains to Tricia Rose and Cornel West how her now-famous speech during the 2015 Academy Awards led to positive change for millions of women - and backlash from Black and LGBTQIA+ critics. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #WomensMarch2020 @PattyArquette #EqualPay #ERA

Cornel West and Tricia Rose host a live Vice Presidential Debate After Party featuring special guests Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Matt Gonzalez, and Tricia Zunker. U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee represents California's 13th District and is a leading member of the Congressional Progressive, LGBT Equality, and Black Caucuses. Matt Gonzalez ran as an independent vice presidential candidate in 2008 and was president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors when Sen. Harris was elected S.F. District Attorney in 2003. He narrowly lost a tough S.F. mayor's race against Gavin Newsom and is now the chief attorney in the S.F. Public Defender's Office. Tricia Zunker is the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District, which went 56% for Barack Obama in 2008 and 58% for Donald Trump in 2016. She is currently an Associate Justice on the Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court and school board president in the district's biggest city, Wausau. https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Host: Cornel West Host: Tricia Rose Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry Coordinating Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #TriciaForWI #VPDebate

Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg reveals to Cornel West and Tricia Rose what he said in his testimony during the Julian Assange extradition hearing and sheds light on America's dark side - then and now. Click here to watch Dr. West's conversation with Julian Assange, recorded inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in May 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0Np-DxdHas Producer's note: This conversation was recorded a few hours before President Trump revealed his positive COVID-19 diagnosis. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records)   #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #JulianAssange #Wikileaks #DanielEllsberg #PentagonPapers #Whistleblower #DonaldTrump

Anthony Fauci, M.D. delivers a prescription of hope in the midst of this global pandemic and sets the record straight after getting name-checked twice during the presidential debate. Plus, Office Hours is in session as Cornel West and Tricia Rose check in on our collective and personal mental health. Producer's Note: This was recorded a few hours before it was revealed that President Trump tested positive for COVID-19. Mental Health Resources: For crisis counseling and support related to COVID-19, call the Disaster Distress Helpline (1-800-985-5990) or text TalkWithUs to 66746. For those experiencing a suicidal crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255), or text HOME to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. Assistance is also 24/7 through that Lifeline and their website suicidepreventionlifeline.org. Folks can also call the NAMI Helpline at 800-950-NAMI. Or in a crisis, text "NAMI" to 741741. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #DrFauci #Fauci #Coronavirus #COVID19 #Trump #Biden

On this episode of The Tight Rope, Oscar-award winning actor Mahershala Ali opens up powerfully to our hosts Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose about his life, his religion, his supporting role in Green Book, and his upcoming leading role in Blade. You won’t want to miss this fascinating, honest, and spiritual conversation with Mahershala. In Office Hours, Dr. West and Tricia remember Breonna Taylor and discuss the specific and collective loss felt about the decision to not charge the cops involved with her death on this episode of The Tight Rope.   Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Mahershala Ali Mahershala Ali is an awarding-winning actor, producer, and former rapper, known for his roles in House of Cards (2016), Moonlight (2016), Luke Cage (2016), True Detective (2019), and Ramy (2020). With a diverse range and incredible skill set, Ali has won numerous accolades, including the 2019 and 2017 Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Green Book and Moonlight, respectively. In 2019, Time magazine named Ali one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world.    Insight from this episode: Behind-the-scenes look at Mahershala’s journey and conversion to Islam along with his experiences with his name in Hollywood and accepting his creator’s advice.  Reasons why Mahershala is so serious. Honest reflections on why Mahershala said yes to his role in Green Book, how he prepared for that role, and his reflections and regrets after the fact.  Discussion on Mahershala’s upcoming role in Blade and his connection to Wesley Snipes. Reflections on the power of the arts to empower people and to create imaginative spaces and new realities.    Quotes from the show: “I was constantly in these environments where I was the “other.” In doing so, you become hyper-aware of your Blackness… I don’t think I ever allowed myself off the hook to necessarily relax and go, “Alright, I can kind of play around a little bit.” I always felt a certain pressure to keep certain things together.”  –Mahershala Ali The Tight Rope Episode #19 “I’ve been very blessed in my life to have the right people at the right time filling in these spaces or at least giving me the information to fill my own voids, to be a co-creat

Professors Cornel West and Tricia Rose reflect on the decision by Black Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron not to hold those responsible for killing Breonna Taylor accountable - and how the Movement for Black Lives can address this week's shooting of two Louisville police officers. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor #BlackLivesMatter

Episode Summary On this episode of The Tight Rope, Professor Tricia Rose’s favorite MC of all time, Rakim, joins her and Dr. Cornel West for a conscious-raising conversation about the past, present, and future of hip hop and the “turning point” that this moment could be. Rakim lets us into his creative process and shows us that no one knows better than him the power of words, especially the words truth and humility. Dr. West and Tricia hold Office Hours to discuss the politics surrounding the whistleblower allegations of forced hysterectomies on ICE detainees on this episode of The Tight Rope.     Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Rakim Rakim is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, Rakim is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled MCs of all time. Their album Paid in Full was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV in 2006. Eric B. & Rakim created four albums together, and Rakim produced three solo albums. In 2019, Rakim, hailed for his brilliant artistic style, adding layers, complexity, depth, musicality, and soul to rap, released his memoir Sweat the Technique: Revelations on Creativity from the Lyrical Genius.    Insight from this episode: Reflections on the role that music and hip hop have played in Black traditions of survival and spiritual fortitude.  Strategies for thinking and using words in an aspirational way to maintain hope and positivity. Details into Rakim’s musical influences, such as Coltrane, James Brown, and Frank Sinatra, and the direct impact they had on his hip hop.  Rakim’s thoughts on the return on consciousness in music, “Hip hop 2021,” and how the hip hop scene can and should look like moving forward.  Behind the scenes of the making of Paid in Full and writing the title track for Juice.   Quotes from the show:   “As Black folk, we should never be surprised by evil or paralyzed by despair. We have known every possible catastrophe, every possible calamity. We look unflinchingly at it, be honest and candid about it, try to preserve the integrity of our souls, and keep on moving.” –Dr. Cornel West The Tight Rope Episode #18 “When hip hop came out, I felt like it was there for me. It was the youn

Professors Tricia Rose and Cornel West reflect on the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and offer solace to those of us mourning the painful consequences as much as the loss, in this special edition of Office Hours. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #RBG #SCOTUS #SupremeCourt #RuthBaderGinsburg

Professors Cornel West and Tricia Rose are open for Office Hours and this week, they examine the troubling past and present of America's bodily control of POC. A whistleblowing nurse alleges that an OB/GYN performed "questionable" hysterectomies on undocumented women inside a private ICE detention center in Georgia - and now Democrats in Congress hoping to defeat the President in November are investigating. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #AbolishICE #TuskegeeExperiments #Election2020

Episode Summary On this episode of The Tight Rope, Professor Noam Chomsky shares with our hosts, Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose, the wisdom that only comes with 91 years of experience. Linguist, social critic, and political activist, Professor Chomsky confronts issues of survival as he speaks on the impacts of the COVID pandemic and the decisions of the Trump administration locally and globally as well as the feasibility and necessity of a New Green Deal and the heroics of everyday, unknown people that truly make the difference. Join us for a reframing of what really matters during this time on this episode of The Tight Rope.     Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Noam Chomsky Considered the founder of modern linguistics, Professor Noam Chomsky is one of the most influential and critically engaged public intellectuals in the world. He has written more than 100 books, including Syntactic Structures, Language and Mind, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, and most recently Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal. He is Laureate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona and Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Professor Chomsky’s immense contributions go beyond linguistics into analytic philosophy and cognitive science.   Insight from this episode: Strategies for sustaining our commitment to intellectual thought during this multilayer catastrophe.  The two biggest questions that human beings are currently facing and why no one is talking about them.  Critiques of the internal battles of the DNC and what we need to do if Biden is elected.  Insights into how capitalistic logic worsened the pandemic. Connections between religion and justice along with Professor Chomsky’s thoughts on the “self-hating Jew,” “flatterers of the court,” and liberation theology.    Quotes from the show: “If you look at history, we’ve been through very hard times, but a lot has been accomplished. In many ways, it’s a much better country, much better world, than it was 60 years ago, a 100 years ago-- not in all respects, but in many respects. And many battles that were fought hard, and won, we can just take for granted and move on.” –Noam C

Nikole Hannah-Jones, winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize, shares her upbringing in Iowa, the influence of Ida B. Wells, and the roots and reaction to her seminal 1619 Project. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepodTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepodCreator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #1619 #Reparations

Episode Summary Bootsy Collins transforms The Tight Rope on this Special Funk Edition. Bootsy, Dr. Cornel West, and Professor Tricia Rose talk all things funk in the context of the perils of following trends, the process of self-acceptance and self-discovery, confronting fear, and the “manipulation of the funk.” Bootsy shares details about his upcoming album The Power of the One. Hear what funk means to Bootsy Collins and how we must be funky in our own lives on this episode of The Tight Rope.     Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Boosty Collins Bootsy Collins, a great “Funkmaster,” has been making music since 1968. He played bass with the Pacesetters, James Brown, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective. He also wrote songs and arranged rhythm. Black music “artistic nobility” from Cincinnati, Bootsy was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by Bass Play magazine, and he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. No one says it better than Dr. West when he describes Bootsy as an “exemplar of the greatest modern tradition in the world which is Black music wrestling with suffering and transfiguring and transforming it into such a way that the sonic effects on souls, soul to soul, [are] mediated with genius, mediated with talent, mediated with discipline, mediated with vision.” Check out Bootsy’s new album The Power of the One, which includes a collaboration with Dr. West. All proceeds from the streams and downloads of his new song, “Stars,” will go to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund.    Insight from this episode: Secrets behind the key to the funk and how to make something out of nothing.  Insights into the past, present, and future of funk music.  The story behind the bassline of “Flash Light” and Bootsy’s artistic self-discovery.   Bootsy Collins’s take on Black Lives Matter and the current moment. Behind-the-scenes details on past and present collaborations between Boosty Collins and Dr. West.    Quotes from the show: “I don’t never want to lose that kid inside me because when I lose him, I lose a part of myself.” –Bootsy Collins The Tight Rope Episode #14 “One of the things about funk, and one of the great gifts that we Black people have brought to the world in terms of the d

Jazz elder and survivor Sonny Rollins shares his incredible stories from the past nine decades as one of the preeminent tenor saxophone players. He also delivers some existential wisdom for these challenging times and tells us why “It’s all good.”   Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/PCLOfeA7mX8   Check out “Rollins in Holland”, a brand new archival release from Resonance Records in partnership with the Nederlands Jazz Archief, coming out later this year. The deluxe 2-CD and limited-edition 180g 3-LP set is officially sanctioned by Rollins and features three previously unissued performances with bassist Ruud Jacobs and drummer Han Bennink in May of 1967 at Vara Studio in Hilversum, the Arnhem Academy of Visual Arts, and a televised performance at the Go-Go Club in Loosdrecht. The new box set also includes an extensive booklet with never-before-published photos from each venue; essays by Rollins biographer Aidan Levy and Dutch jazz journalist/producer Frank Jochemsen; and interviews with Rollins and Bennink. You can pre-order at https://resonancerecords.org/product/sonny-rollins-rollins-in-holland/. Learn more at https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #SonnyRollins #HarlemPride #Jazz

Episode Summary Former police officer and F.B.I. agent Dr. Erroll Southers, director of Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies at the University of Southern California, reveals how to transform racist police departments from within, his motivations to join law enforcement, and the “ticking clock” which domestic white terrorists use to countdown to the year 2045, when America's population is expected to become majority P.O.C. Plus, in Office Hours, hosts Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose explore the structural limits and spiritual thresholds of America and ponder the existential question: Is America even capable of treating the masses of Black people with decency and dignity?     Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Errol Southers Dr. Erroll Southers is an internationally recognized expert on counterterrorism, public safety, infrastructure protection, and homeland security. He serves as Director of the Safe Communities Institute and of Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies at the University of Southern California and Professor of the Practice in National & Homeland Security.    Insight from this episode: Explorations of the possibilities of the 2020 election in the context of the apparent helplessness of the current moment.  Surprising statistics about America and its homegrown violent extremism.  Strategies for activists looking to change law enforcement policy and create systems of accountability.  Information on the power of police unions and other barriers to true accountability in law enforcement.  Insights into the hope and patriotism that music and its boundarylessness produces.   Quotes from the show: “Spirit [and] solidarity pushes back despair and despondency, so we have some sense of possibility.” –Dr. Cornel West The Tight Rope Episode #13  Quoting his father on why he joined law enforcement: “You can’t change the castle from outside the moat.” –Erroll Southers The Tight Rope Episode #13 “When you train people and dress people for war, they go into a neighborhood to do battle… They’re in a warrior culture, when they need to be in a guardian culture.” –Erroll Southers The Tight Rope Episode #13 “Police unions and police officers are afforded more protections than the people they arrest. And I ca

Cornel West and Tricia Rose reflect on the good, bad, and ugly coming out of Wisconsin following the shooting of Jacob Blake and deadly attack on #BlackLivesMatter protesters by child soldier Kyle Rittenhouse. "Thank God we've got this marvelous resistance taking place. Across the board. Beginning with the Milwaukee Bucks and with brother LeBron James. We salute them." -Cornel West "Seeing so many Black men speak from sadness, fear. It was less about a anger and more about a smoldering sadness bordering on despair." -Tricia Rose "We would be numb if we weren't wrestling with despair." -Cornel West   Learn more at thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: twitter.com/thetightropepod Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP/Host: Cornel West EP/Host: Tricia Rose Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose #BlackLivesMatter

Episode Summary Join Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose on this episode of The Tight Rope in their compelling conversation with NFL superstar and author of Things That Make White People Uncomfortable Michael Bennett. From the strong women in his life and the path to embracing his intellect, to the exploitation of celebrity and “ownership” in the NFL, Bennett engages on all levels with our hosts. Office Hours focuses on “COVID in the Classroom,” both its impact on the learning environment and its economic realities. Hear about Bennet’s thoughts on discernment, retirement, and Colin Kaepernick on The Tight Rope.     Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Michael Bennett Michael Bennett is a recently retired 11-year NFL veteran with three Pro Bowl victories and a Super Bowl title. He was a pivotal defensive end for multiple teams including the Seattle Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys. Bennett, an outspoken proponent for social justice and vocal anti-racist in the NFL, has a podcast called “Mouthpeace” with his wife Pele Bennett and a book titled Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, which he is developing into a scripted TV series. Bennett also works with Athletes for Impact, an organization focusing on athlete activism, and he and his wife established The Bennett Foundation with their three daughters.     Insight from this episode: Details on Bennett’s recent retirement from the NFL and his new path forward.   Secrets to having a spine and making it shine.  Personal reflections from Bennett and his wife Pele on going “back to Africa” and his work with iamtheCODE in Senegal.  Strategies on cultivating leadership not driven by ego.  Words of encouragement from our hosts on fulfilling your purpose while also being sensitive to what is happening in the world.    Quotes from the show: “You don’t pity people who you are fundamentally tethered to.”  –Tricia Rose The Tight Rope Episode #12 “I worry that while we’re trying to survive COVID, somebody’s engineering a world after COVID that is not the world that we want.” –Tricia Rose The Tight Rope Episode #12 “You can’t segregate me from my Blackness, you can’t segregate me from my culture, you can’t segregate me from my community because I am that.” –Michael

Cornel West and Tricia Rose bring you live coverage and commentary of the final night of the 2020 #DemConvention featuring Joe Biden's speech from Wilmington, Delaware and special guests Congressman Ro Khanna, Zephyr Teachout, Howie Hawkins, and Angela Walker. https://www.thetightropepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetightropepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetightropepod Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thetightropepod Host: Cornel West Host: Tricia Rose Creator/EP: Jeremy Berry EP: Seo McPolin Coordinating Producer: Allie Hembrough Producer: James Artis Beats x Butter (IG: @Butter_Records) #TheTightRope #CornelWest #TriciaRose

Episode Summary In this episode, Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose nail down issues of white allyship, undoing invisible racist ideologies, and the hallmarks of possessive investment in whiteness with their beloved guest Professor George Lipsitz. They provide commentary on the leadership of the Black freedom movement of the past and present as well as the “slow violence” of racism rooted in power, interest, and property. Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose hold office hours to offer their takes on the removal of racist monuments and its role in the larger work of dismantling systemic racism. This is an episode of The Tight Rope you will want to return to again and again.     Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     George Lipsitz Professor George Lipsitz is an American Studies scholar and Professor Emeritus of Black Studies and Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his Ph.D in History at the University of Wisconsin, and his current studies focus on social movements, urban culture, African American music, inequality, the politics of popular culture, and Whiteness Studies. Lipsitz has authored numerous books including The Possessive Investment in Whiteness, How Racism Takes Place, Midnight at the Barrelhouse, Footsteps in the Dark, A Life in the Struggle, and Time Passages. Lipsitz also co-authored The Fierce Urgency of Now: Improvisation, Rights and the Ethics of Co-Creation. He serves as a Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African American Policy Forum and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Fair Housing Alliance. Lipsitz is an intellectual pioneer and respected figure of the Black freedom movement.    Insight from this episode: Questions we must ask ourselves about self definition as the Black freedom struggle and crisis of the current movement passes to another stage.  A reframing of “white allyship” and “white fragility” in the context of George Lipsitz’s scholarship on the possessive investment in whiteness.  Details on the coordinated crimes of the Pentagon, Wall Street, and the police, specifically the connection between violence abroad and violence “at home.” A call to move beyond symbolic victories when structural changes are needed.

Day one of The Tight Rope @DemConvention watch party. Cornel West and Tricia Rose are joined by guest commentator Connie Rice from the Advancement Project. They unpack the keynote speeches of Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama as well as speeches by Jim Clyburn, Doug Jones, and Amy Klobuchar. Watch our #DemConvention watch party live between 9-11pm ET during Joe Biden’s speech Thursday August 20 and Donald Trump’s speech Thursday August 27. Click here to receive reminders about our live watch parties on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VcNiCjNwSHs.

Episode Summary In this episode of The Tight Rope, our hosts are joined by Dr. Cornel West’s very own student at Harvard, award-winning actress, producer, and change agent Yara Shahidi of Grown-ish fame. Learn about Yara’s passion for storytelling, her new production company 7th Sun that she launched with her mother, as well as her Black Iranian heritage. Yara reads and discusses her favorite passage from James Baldwin. The episode ends with a fascinating Office Hours discussion on John Lewis, his life, legacy, and politics. Join the rich dialogue that brings together joy and justice with Yara Shahidi, Dr. Cornel West, and Professor Tricia Rose on The Tight Rope.     Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Yara Shahidi Yara Shahidi is a 20-year-old actress and producer, most known for her role as Zoey Johnson in Black-ish and Grown-ish. Among numerous nominations and awards, she was a 2020 NAACP Image Award nominee for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (Grown-ish) and 2019 Teen Choice Award nominee for Choice Summer Movie Actress (The Sun Is Also a Star). Yara is a vocal activist and champion for social justice. Her newly launched production company, 7th Sun, recently signed with ABC to “develop and produce scripted and alternative television projects for cable.” The aim of 7th Sun is to focus on stories from underrepresented communities and their histories, heritages, cultures, and joys. Yara is the youngest producer to work on network television, and she is also involved with Girls for Gender Equity and the Third Wave Fund.    Insight from this episode: Strategies on creating spaces of joy and sanity in the present moment of crises and pandemics.  Behind-the-scenes look at Yara’s life as a student at Harvard and growing up in Hollywood in the context of Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement.  Reflections on Yara’s connections to both Prince and the Obamas and their role in shaping her and her family.  Selections and analysis of James Baldwin’s “The Artist’s Struggle for Integrity.” An honest look at Black freedom fighter and neoliberal politician John Lewis, and productive myth-making, Black violence, and the seduction of politics.    Quotes from the show: “We have to come to terms with catastrophe,

Episode Summary In this episode, Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose dance with their respected guest Jane Elliott on The Tight Rope. Known for her Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise and continued advocacy for anti-racist education and activism, Elliott debates with our hosts about the nature of racism and the language we use to discuss it. They wrestle with the inspiration of the present moment and the necessity to recognize the economic realities of the “lies” about race, along with the ever-importance of education. Join in the spirited conversation with “moral titan” Jane Elliott who emphasizes the possibility of change in our society on this episode of The Tight Rope.   Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Jane Elliott Jane Elliott is an internationally known teacher, lecturer, diversity trainer, and recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education. Many will know of Elliott from the now famous “Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise” she devised for her third-grade class of all-white students in Riceville, Iowa in 1968. Implemented the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the exercise was created to help her young students understand structural racism on a personal level. Elliott has spent more than 50 years as an anti-racism activist, educating people about discrimination and unconscious biases.      Insight from this episode: Strategies on white allyship and what to ask instead of “What can we do? How can we get involved?” Details on Jane Elliott’s 52 years on the tight rope of fighting racial bias. Reflections on the repetition of history and the dangers of an educational system that is meant to indoctrinate racial bias and systemic racism.  Details on the racism of our language and alternative vocabulary for conversations on race.  Strategies on how to effect change after education has taken place and keep fighting in the face of entrenched interests and white privilege.    Quotes from the show: “If you’re committed to spiritual integrity, if you’re committed to moral courage, you’re going to fight every evil. And white supremacy is an evil.” –Dr. Cornel West The Tight Rope Episode #9 “I jumped off the boat a number of years ago when I said to my student

Episode Summary In this episode of The Tight Rope, award-winning hip hop artist Lecrae joins Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose for dialogue about posturing in the world of rap, the meaning of being a revolutionary Christian in today’s world, and the importance of having moral courage no matter what your ideology. They critique the policing of genres and stereotypes of Trap music. Lecrae also speaks vulnerably about his healing journey from depression after the “American dream” failed him and all of America. Be sure not to miss this powerful episode of The Tight Rope.    Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Lecrae Lecrae is a celebrated, award-winning, multiple platinum artist. As a rapper, author, activist, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Christian, Lecrae has forged his own path combining his faith and hip hop talents. Houston-born Lecrae has earned two Grammys and a No. 1 album on the Billboard Gospel chart, a first for a hip-hop album. Lecrae’s seventh album Anomaly debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Gospel charts simultaneously in 2014, another first for any album. His 2016 memoir Unashamed inspired millions as a New York Times Bestseller, and this October, he will share more of his vulnerable honesty in his upcoming book I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith. Truly a revolutionary force in hip hop music and the Christian community, Lecrae remains true to himself standing for love, justice, and humanity. Lecrae’s newest album Restoration will be released in August 2020. Listen to his latest song “Deep End” now.   Insight from this episode: Details on the sense of hope and connection to inner emotional worlds that people are looking for and are becoming more open to in hip hop music. Secrets to transforming personal suffering into creativity. Reflections from Lecrae and Dr. West on being artists, thinkers, and Christians, who speak truth, love people, and seek justice.   Details on Lecrae’s journey to form his musical and activist identities, along with his inspiration for his upcoming album Restoration. Secrets to handling backlash, standing true to yourself, and finding your path to spiritual, mental, and emotional healing.  How to walk alongside people with diffe

Episode Summary In this episode of The Tight Rope, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore joins Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose to shine light on the current state of crisis in America, white privilege, white fear, and citizen filmmakers. They emphatically connect the catastrophe of the criminal justice system to larger issues and discuss ways to move into a “new normal” that challenges bystander sensibility and police accountability taken out of the larger context of democratic accountability and multiracial solidarity. This is an episode of The Tight Rope that you do not want to miss.   Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums, including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (BA) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality, and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Michael Moore Michael Moore, one of America’s best-known documentary filmmakers and political provocateurs, has for over 30 years produced controversial and award-winning films and TV series that tackle critically important political and social issues in American society, including big business, corrupt governments and politicians, capitalism, and health care.  Moore, from Flint, Michigan, won the Academy Award for best documentary for his 2002 Bowling for Columbine. He continues to produce successful and controversial films, most recently Planet of the Humans (2019), an eco-documentary and “full-frontal assault” of the failures of the environmental movement, directed by Jeff Gibbs. Moore examines and jokes about current issues on his own podcast Rumble with Michael Moore.   Insight from this episode: Strategies on remaining hopeful in turbulent and violent times. Responses to the question “Now what?” Details on how to change the American police system and police accountability  to empower communities. Strategies on shattering a spectatorial stance and avoiding being a bystander citizen. Strategies on creating universal solidarity without downplaying individual suffering. A call to commitment and sacrifice in the struggle for freedom and equality.   Quotes from the show: “In the time of Trump, in the time of pandemic, have we been turned into a nation of bystanders?” –Michael Moore (quoting Cornel West) The Tight Rope Episode #1 “If you want to end crime, end poverty. If you want to end crime, empower women.” –Michael Moore The Tight Rope Episode #1 “The very first thing

Episode Summary In this episode of The Tight Rope, Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose extol the excellence and creativity of Black athletes, along with their special guest NBA legend Isiah Thomas. They discuss the role of education in and out of the home and how to bequeath to younger generations the tradition of having the courage to be the best. Thomas shares his experiences growing up in the 60s in the West Side of Chicago and the spirituality of taking care of people. Dr. West, Professor Rose, and Isiah Thomas take this episode of The Tight Rope back to the neighborhood with this “lane-crossing” conversation you won’t want to miss.    Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Isiah Thomas Isiah Thomas is a 12-time NBA All Star, 2-time NBA Champion, and NBA Hall of Fame point guard, who played his entire career with the Detroit Pistons. Born and raised on Chicago’s West Side, Thomas is not only known for his contributions to the NBA as player, coach, manager, executive, and analyst, but also for his successful business initiatives and philanthropic endeavors. Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, Thomas also earned a Master’s degree in African American Studies from Berkeley.    Insight from this episode: Reasons why we must not forget the importance of Black athletes, with their inspiring moral courage, in social justice movements. Explorations of the mind, time, and body connection athletes must harness in their pursuit of excellence.  Secrets into the science and music of high-performance athletes. Personal reflections from Isiah Thomas on the “absence and presence” of growing up on the West Side of Chicago. Strategies on creating structures that provide more access to stories and critical historical frameworks.  Strategies on “crossing lanes” in an effort to build up and fortify communities, individuals, and our oral histories.    Quotes from the show: “Black athletes and artists have been so important in coming out of the community and giving people a sense of hope and possibility, but they understand fully the struggles that Black communities face.” –Tricia Rose The Tight Rope Episode #6 “I always try to situate our precious Black athletes, male and female, within the context of the B

Episode Summary In this episode of The Tight Rope, Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose connect with Tony award winning actor and rapper Daveed Diggs to dive into his career, upbringing, influences, and playing the “fool.” They wrangle with the nuances of hip hop past and present, colorblind ideologies in theater, and the healing power of Black creativity. Get ready for the twists and turns in this episode of The Tight Rope!   Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Daveed Diggs Daveed Diggs, Oakland native, is a rapper, actor, singer, songwriter, and producer. He graduated from Brown University (B.A.), and after his Tony and Grammy Award winning performance as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s widely-acclaimed Broadway production of Hamilton (Best Featured Actor in a Musical (2016) and Best Musical Theater Album (2016)), Brown University conferred Daveed an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts. As a member of experimental hip hop group, clipping., Daveed has released multiple albums including their third full-length record, There Existed an Addiction to Blood (2019). He continues acting with roles in Black-ish (2016-2018), Wonder (2017), Velvet Buzzsaw (2019), and Snowpiercer (2020). Daveed wrote, produced, and starred in Blindspotting (2018), a performance that earned him a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.    Insight from this episode: Strategies for collective healing to massive collective trauma.  Details on Daveed’s recent and upcoming creative projects, including reflections on growing up in Oakland and filming Blindspotting.  Behind-the-scenes look into how Daveed picks roles and his Black-Jewish heritage.  Reflections on diversity in the theater and its audiences.  Strategies on exposing children to new music to generate curiosity.   Quotes from the show:  “How do you step into the unknown in such a way that you bring the best of the past with you? You bring all the love and all the joy and all the memories that’s gone into the shaping of who you are.” –Dr. Cornel West The Tight Rope Episode #5 “The vicious legacy of white supremacy has been one in which it has tried to convince Black people that we are less moral, less beautiful, less intellig

Episode Summary In this episode, things get heavy on The Tight Rope as Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose, with their special guest Gina Belafonte, navigate the balance that artists must keep to be accessible and also stand resolutely for social justice. Spotlighting the importance of lyrical vision and imagining, they uncover paths to hope and sustenance in today’s music and its role in social movements. In the context of her father Harry Belafonte’s legacy, Gina Belafonte deepens the conversation on the necessity of intergenerational connections, personal commitment, and the arts in every arena of our lives. Don’t miss the next steps to evolution in this episode of The Tight Rope.    Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Gina Belafonte Daughter of Julie and Harry Belafonte, Gina Belafonte is an actress, director, award-winning producer, artivist, and cultural figure. She serves as the Executive Director of Sankofa.org, a social justice organization that educates, motivates, and activates artists and allies in service of grassroots movements and equitable change. A native New Yorker, Gina is Producer of internationally acclaimed documentary film Sing your Song (HBO), as well as The March (PBS) and Survivors Guide to Prison (Netflix). Also a member of Daughters of the Movement, she co-chaired the 2017 Women’s March Los Angeles and co-founded the non-profit organization, The Gathering For Justice, a multi-cultural, multi-generational organization that focuses on youth incarceration and the criminalization of poverty. Today, Gina lives in LA and New York and works with diverse artists, activists, and organizations worldwide to promote cultural and civic engagement in the 21st century.    Insight from this episode: Personal reflections from Gina Belafonte on honoring family legacy and forging her own path in the fight for Black freedom.  Details on the life, struggles, and revelations of Harry Belafonte. Benefits of critical engagement within families. Strategies on overcoming fear and pressure in the face of radical decision making. Strategies on how progressive Black artists can move into a deeper imagining of our future and speak truth to power.  Reasons why evolution, not just revolution, is needed dur

Episode Summary Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose unravel the Black pain of the present in the context of the tremendous legacy of African American creativity and music, in this special extended version of Office Hours. They connect Black musical tradition to the current political moment and pay special homage to Prince and his iconic “Purple Rain.” Discover how you can transform this current moment in this important episode of The Tight Rope.    Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget, featuring Prince. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Insight from this episode: Recollections of Dr. Cornel West’s first impressions of and ensuing friendship with Prince.  Reasons why Black music is important and the role it plays in social activism.  Strategies on generating a new sound for the current moment, extending and elaborating on the Black American musical tradition. How to leverage the current “tipping point” as a catalyst for lasting social movement.  Details on the need for creative, interactive spaces for BIPOC. Strategies on utilizing technology to create impact and effective change.   Quotes from the show: On the Black musical tradition and its relationship to historical trauma and suffering: “To look unflinchingly at all the hurt and the pain and yet still dish out the compassion and creativity, the style and smile-- that’s the great gift to America.” –Cornel West The Tight Rope Episode #2 “Any time you lyrically express a catastrophe, the catastrophe does not have the last word.” –Cornel West The Tight Rope Episode #2 “Music touches the hopeless, and it can heal, sustain, equip, fortify… Once you get oppressed folk fortified, woo, Lord, that’s like Sly Stone’s “Stand!”” –Cornel West The Tight Rope Episode #2 “Part of the contemporary spiritual war against young folk, especially young Black folk, is to get them to consent to a capitalist economy that’s shot through with wealth inequality. You get them to consent to a militarized nation state that will contain them or incarcerate them if they step out of line. But also you get them to consent to a commodified culture so that they’re distracted into things that are superficial: status and spectacle.” –Cornel West The Tight Rope Episode #2 “[C]apitalism and neoliberalism have destroyed local

Episode Summary In this inaugural episode of The Tight Rope, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez aka #AOC shares her whirlwind journey from New York City to the halls of Congress, pulls the curtain on power, and explores what it will take to heal our nation. Plus, hosts Cornel West and Tricia Rose reflect on the movement to #DefundThePolice in their Office Hours segment.   Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Serving the 14th district of New York in the Bronx and Queens, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez touts a 100% People-Funded Democratic Socialism platform. She is an educator, organizer, service worker with a deep understanding of income inequality. As a third-generation Bronxite, AOC believes in combating systemic problems by fighting for systemic solutions, like Medicare for all, federal jobs guarantee, the end to mass incarceration, and the Green New Deal. She attended Boston University and previously worked as Educational Director with National Hispanic Institute where she helped Americans, DREAMers, and undocumented youth in community leadership and college readiness. AOC serves working-class people over corporate interests and advocates for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. Insight from this episode: Strategies on not being “locked in” while on lockdown.  How to respond and intervene in systems that are impoverished of empathy and compassion.  Behind-the-scenes look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s meteoric rise in politics, including the impact of her education, time abroad in West Africa, and close relationship with her father.  How to remain true to your morals, values, politics, and spirituality when faced with pressures to conform or be reduced down to a niche.  Benefits of the discipline of non-attachment to work, money, social acceptance, and ego.  Details on what “defunding the police” really means to Dr. West and Professor Rose.   Quotes from the show: “I am one point that is a result of waves of generational inertia.” –Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez The Tight Rope Episode #7 “You can’t let your identity be subsumed with this superficial political identity of red or blue or this tribe. [It’s] not what do you want to be but how do you want to