Black Podcast Culture: Fresh and Wrong

Black Podcast Culture. This is a fairly new culture created to give Black people a platform to celebrate other Black people. According to The Black Detour Team, there are over 800,000 podcasts and over 30 million episodes recorded. Although this is the case, Black voices carry only a small percentage.

Thousands of topics are covered throughout the podcasts. These topics include, but are not limited to, Black history, therapy, politics, race, entrepreneurship, mental health, music and social hot topics.

My favorite Black podcast is called Therapy for Black Girls. This podcast can be found on Apple Music and Spotify. Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist, speaks on mental health and personal development on this podcast. She gives tips and strategies on how to improve your mental health.

Dr. Bradford has succeeded in making her podcast a safe place for her listeners to ask questions. In her episode published on Oct. 5, 2022., Dr. Bradford talks with Dr. Shanita Brown, a professional counselor, about the signs of domestic violence. They speak on how Black women have fallen victim to domestic violence and how important it is to understand the context of power and control that is used in relationships.

One of my friends favorite podcasts is 85 South Show. It is a digital comedy that includes some of the most famous comedians of today. These comedians include DC Young Fly, Karlous Miller, Chico Bean and Clayton English. Young Fly, Miller, Bean and English invite celebrities of today and yesterday to discuss topics that are meant to make you laugh. But of course, they added a twist to it. Each episode is filled with Black excellence and formatted in a way that Black people will understand, because we grew up in this Black excellence. Black jokes, Black people and Black fun is what they are all about.

However, not all Black podcasts build up Black people. Some podcasters are ignorant enough to trash Black people. One in particular has risen to the limelight in recent years, Fresh And Fit. Fresh And Fit speaks on topics of women, fitness and finance.

The following are some quotes Fresh and Fit have said:
“…if you want to date…Shaniquas, go for it man.” “Me and Fresh aren’t really down with the brown like that.” “Me and Fresh don’t dabble in the dark.” “Most Black girls are annoying [and] ratchet…you are not the stereotype.” These quotes can be found in No Jumper, another podcast led by Black men. No Jumper critiqued what Fresh And Fit said. In their opinion, Fresh and Fit are putting down Black women and putting all of them into one stereotypical group.

Now it’s my turn. As a Black woman, this sh*t just pisses me off. These quotes are disrespectful and stereotype Black women. The fact that the hosts of Fresh and Fit told another woman that she doesn’t “fit the stereotype,” demonstrates they know what they said is wrong and hurtful, and yet they still said it with ease.

The woman that Fresh and Fit said does not “fit the stereotype” didn’t say anything in rebuttal about their bigotted words. She did not feel comfortable enough in the space to defend herself against two men with a large platform. Black Women should not have to experience scrutiny in spaces with other Black people, we should be uplifting one another.

Let’s start with “Shaniqua.” Fresh and Fit used a commonly stigmatized Black woman name to stereotype Black women. We live in a society that has taught us that it is okay to talk negatively about Black women. This action is not acceptable and as Black men, Fresh and Fit should not feel comfortable talking negatively about the women in their community.

Many of us have heard the phrase “It is not what you say, it is how you say it.” Let us move on to “not down with the brown,” and “don’t dabble in the dark”. Fresh And Fit thought they were being funny. The context that they used these phrases in, despite trying to be funny, caused these statements to be very offensive.

There is usually nothing wrong with having a preference. Preferences get controversial when they start to disrespect the person that is not preferred. Someone can say that they do not prefer a certain type of person without disrespecting them. This is a major problem that we face today. Many people think that it is acceptable to disrespect other demographics

Fresh and Fit said that all Black women are annoying and ratchet. According to Beal Frances, in her article Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female, this is a concept that the government has perpetuated to systematically oppress Black women. Many Black men have fallen subject to this perpetuation and the men in this podcast are a few of them.

This means that they are calling their mothers, sisters, aunties, grandmothers and daughters all “ratchet and annoying”. The situation is bigger than them and they do not see it. The best way to change their mindsets is for them to be educated on the injustices done against their people. It is then up to them whether they want to change their mindsets or not. Hopefully they do.

We live in a society where more and more Black people are becoming financially successful. We have Black doctors, Black business owners, Black entrepreneurs, Black actresses, Black singers, Black musicians, Black senators and a Black president. We even have a Black vice president. And guess what? She is a woman. Black women are in all of these professions. All who have had to overcome stigmas and forms of oppression.Who have all gotten there with access to education, networking and being in the right place at the right time.
In my opinion, Black women are at the bottom of the totem pole. Why? Because we are women AND we are Black. We are supposed to be able to go to our Black brothers for support, yet some of them put us down.

You can blame some of Fresh and Fit’s statements on them, but not all of it is their fault. Our society is designed to make life harder for the Black man and woman. Systematic oppression is real and Fresh and Fit seem to not have educated themselves on this matter.
Majority of the Black podcasts out there are for Black people. They are there to educate us on matters that we might not know about. They are there to give us a platform where it is safe to celebrate Black excellence and Black culture. They are there to give us a place to listen to other people who know what we are going through.

There are not just Black podcasts educating Black people, there are also podcasts that educate white people about Black people. This may sound funny and weird to some, but I think it is a good thing.

Educating white people about Black people will allow white people to put their feet in a Black person’s shoes. Once white people are educated about Black culture, they might start to appreciate it more. This sounds like a long stretch, but we can remain hopeful.
The Black Podcast Culture isever-growing. More and more Black people are wanting their voice to be heard and creating a podcast is a great platform to succeed in this. What is your favorite podcast?