The Institute of Black Imagination Podcast

In this episode of The Institute of Black Imagination, host Dario Calmese sits down with Gina Paige, the co-founder of African Ancestry, to explore the transformative power of knowing your roots. For over two decades, Gina has pioneered DNA ancestry tracing for people of African descent, helping countless individuals reclaim their lineage and reshape their identities.

Today, we browse the mind of Dr. Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress, appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama. Dr. Hayden is the first woman and the first African American to hold this position at the National Library. As an actual librarian, Dr. Hayden is known for advocating for the privacy of library users and for her initiatives to promote broad access to public libraries and their resources. 

In this episode, we explore the profound impact of literature on Dwayne's transformation, his encounters with influential poets like Sonia Sanchez, and the survival strategies that poetry offered him during his incarceration.

This special edition of the podcast is our final episode of 2022.

Today we are revisiting our conversations with thirteen of our guests from this year as they illustrate what happens when you lead with love. Our guests not only talk about romantic love but also highlight what it means to be madly in love with your work, what it can teach us about ourselves, and how important it is to fall head over heels for the process. We will close today’s episode with the kind of love they imagine for the future.

In the episode we discuss how it is possible to fall in love in a pandemic and what we do to protect ourselves from love and harm. If you aspire to write or create, allow this professor to guide you out of your belief in writer’s block and into your seat of messy. Sensitive content: sexual abuse and r*pe.

In today’s episode calls into question for whom we are fighting? Whose wars are worthy of discussion and what harms are so deeply ingrained within our consciousness that we ignore our own civilian casualties. As the world witnesses the 16th month of a war in Ethiopia, Timnint’s journey reminds us of the refugee, the warrior, and the heroes we often dismiss and determine unworthy of home.

n today’s conversation, Bisa tells the stories of African heritage and American homes through the artistry and craft we all know as quilts. Her use of vibrant color and fine fibers reminds us that intentionality, textiles, and choice allow our spirits to be known and rendered as portraits suspended in time and stories are never forgotten.

Today’s conversation is one of iconoclastic voice and elder stateswoman reason. Wherever you are in life, you’ll find a treasure trove of timeless wisdom in this conversation with Bethann Hardison. Save it. Bookmark it. Come back to it whenever you need to remind yourself to keep dancing on your journey.