The Institute of Black Imagination Podcast

Today's episode is an exploration of the stars, so get your notebooks out. Dossé-Via walks us through the African origins of modern astrology, how star-gazing is actually compatible if not embedded within Christianity, Islam, and other religious practices, and what compatibility REALLY means.

In today's episode, Robert explores what it means to lead with legacy in mind. We talk through the lessons learned from fully immersing oneself in their craft and the importance of building a community.

In today’s episode, Camille reminds us just how vital resilience and listening to your own voice can be. She shares lessons from rejection and struggle and encourages us to be ourselves regardless of the stakes.

In today's episode, we explore why urban design cannot exist without hip-hop. We lean into what can happen if we start to understand the nature of urban environments, and Sekou reminds us that whether it is hip-hop, your career, or practice, it's essential to make sure love is at the center of what you do.

In part one of today’s episode, Frank reminds us to be fearless in the pursuit of knowledge, even if that knowledge reveals unhealthy truths. Strap in, as Frank takes us on a ride exploring Afropessimism and themes of reconciliation, activism, and what it means to be a young Black man living in a state of social consciousness and racial reckoning.

In this episode, he shares the importance of food origins as a space for reclamation and what it means to examine who and what’s being left out of the story. We explore Stephen’s own origin story–growing up in Atlanta in the ’80s–along with topics that range from his start as a young sommelier, the implications of citizens being divorced from food culture, and ultimately how being crushed by a series of life events propelled his career forward; leading him from self-doubt to conviction.

In this conversation, we discuss a wide range of topics from Eboni’s experience growing up in Brooklyn during the ’80s, to her studies of Black Theology along with her definition of Womanist Theology. Through conversation, vulnerability and curiosity eventually we land on what that pivotal moment in Eboni’s life was that ultimately propelled her to pursue her calling.

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 conversation, Dario sits with urbanist and architect Toni Griffin. Toni’s work asks us to question the design of our neighborhoods, communities, and cities. From values of belonging to voices of protection, Toni’s work calls us to stand in the center of who we say we are while gazing through the cities we claim to love.

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 episode is a special one. This time, Dario is in the hot seat, in an extremely candid conversation with our inaugural IBI Fellow, Adam Saleh, an anti-disciplinary designer and current senior at UC Berkeley studying computer science and linguistics.