PAST, PRESENT, PUSHBACK

S A U N A I E
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Hosted by XO, AZ, and CDA, Past, Present, Pushback is where Sports, Politics, and Family collide. From the NFL field to Capitol Hill, from community struggles to household victories, we break down the headlines and the hidden stories shaping our world. With XO bringing the millennial sports and culture lens, and AZ & CDA grounding the conversation in political insight and family wisdom, this isn’t just another podcast — it’s a space where Black voices push back against the noise and speak truth with honesty, humor, and heart. New episodes drop weekly — short, sharp, and straight to the point

  1. The 4th of July Was Never Really About Freedom For Everybody — The Real History They Didn't Teach You

    1d ago

    The 4th of July Was Never Really About Freedom For Everybody — The Real History They Didn't Teach You

    Every year on the 4th of July, America fires up the grills, lights the fireworks, and celebrates freedom. But most people don't know the real story behind the date — that the actual vote for independence was on July 2, not July 4. That most of the founders didn't sign the Declaration until August. That the man who wrote 'all men are created equal' owned 600 enslaved people over his lifetime. That a clause calling out the slave trade was removed from the Declaration before it was signed. And that on July 5, 1852 — seventy-six years after the Declaration was adopted — a man named Frederick Douglass stood up in front of a crowd and asked a question nobody wanted to answer. In this episode of Past Present Pushback, XO, AZ, and CDA sit in the man cave and tell the full story of the 4th of July — the facts most people never learned, the hypocrisy baked into the founding, and the question that still doesn't have a clean answer: what does this holiday mean for Black Americans today? Keywords: 4th of July real history, Independence Day facts, Declaration of Independence slavery, Thomas Jefferson enslaved people, Frederick Douglass 4th of July speech, what to the slave is the fourth of July, Black Americans 4th of July, July 4 origin, American independence history, Past Present Pushback podcast

    19 min
  2. Cannabis Was Legal, Medical & Sacred For 10,000 Years — One Racist Man Made It A Crime In 1937

    3d ago

    Cannabis Was Legal, Medical & Sacred For 10,000 Years — One Racist Man Made It A Crime In 1937

    Cannabis has been used by human beings for over 10,000 years. It was medicine in ancient China. It was used in religious ceremonies across Central Asia, India, Egypt, and Africa for thousands of years before the United States existed. The American Medical Association was against making it illegal in 1937. And the man who pushed hardest to make it a crime — Harry Anslinger, the first director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics — left a documented record of quotes that tell you exactly why he did it. In this episode, XO and CDA tell the full story of cannabis — where it came from, how it spread across the world, how one racist bureaucrat criminalized it and targeted Black and Latino communities, what Nixon's own aide admitted the drug war was really about, where we are with legalization today, and the uncomfortable truth about who is getting rich off legal weed while Black people still carry records for the same thing. Keywords: cannabis history origin, marijuana history, Harry Anslinger racism, war on drugs racist history, cannabis prohibition Black community, Marihuana Tax Act 1937, John Ehrlichman drug war admission, Black cannabis arrests statistics, cannabis legalization 2026, Black owned cannabis business, Past Present Pushback podcast

    27 min
  3. June Recap: The Episodes That Hit Hardest & Everything Coming In Q3 & Q4

    Jul 1

    June Recap: The Episodes That Hit Hardest & Everything Coming In Q3 & Q4

    June on Past Present Pushback was something different. We covered the origin of Memorial Day — and the freed Black people who actually started it. We went deep on the Black Panther Party, Provident Hospital, and Red Summer. We talked about Marvin Gaye the man, not just the music. We covered Juneteenth, Father's Day, and Mother's Day — the real histories behind holidays most people celebrate without knowing where they came from. We did a Weekend Special on Karmelo Anthony and Cyrus Carmack-Belton. We broke down America's debt crisis. And we did a two-part deep dive into the scientific origin of the human race. In this recap episode, XO sits down with AZ and CDA for an open conversation — what landed, what surprised them, which episode was their favorite and least favorite, what they're still thinking about, and what they want the audience to reflect on before we move into Q3 and Q4. Keywords: Past Present Pushback June recap, PPP monthly recap, Black history podcast recap, June 2026 podcast episodes, AZ CDA reaction, Past Present Pushback Q3 preview, Black podcast 2026, Past Present Pushback best episodes

    1h 3m
  4. Is America Going Bankrupt? $39 Trillion In Debt, $1 Trillion In Interest & What The Black Community Needs To Do Right Now

    Jun 29

    Is America Going Bankrupt? $39 Trillion In Debt, $1 Trillion In Interest & What The Black Community Needs To Do Right Now

    As of June 2026, the United States is carrying $39.2 trillion in total national debt — growing by $8.19 billion every single day. The government is paying $1 trillion a year just in interest alone — more than it spends on Medicare, national defense, or Medicaid. And the Congressional Budget Office projects that interest payments alone will grow to $2.1 trillion a year by 2036. This is not a political conversation. It is a math problem. And it has real consequences for everyday Americans — especially the Black community, which is historically the first to feel the effects when the economy weakens. In this episode of Past Present Pushback, XO, AZ, and CDA sit in the man cave and have a real financial education conversation — how we got here, what it means, how it hits the Black community specifically, and what we can actually do about it. Not theory. Not politics. Real financial tools and real talk about how to protect yourself and your family while a government that spent beyond its means figures out what to do next. Keywords: America national debt 2026, is America going bankrupt, US debt 39 trillion, national debt Black community impact, Black wealth financial education, how to protect money recession, inflation Black Americans, financial tips Black community, past present pushback podcast RESOURCES — • TreasuryDirect.gov — buy I-Bonds directly from the US Treasury • USASpending.gov — see where your tax dollars actually go • GreenlineTheCommunity.com — find Black-owned banks and credit unions • NACA.com — mortgage assistance and homebuyer education • HUD.gov — down payment assistance programs by state • NerdWallet, Investopedia — free financial education resources • 'The Total Money Makeover' by Dave Ramsey — debt elimination framework • 'I Will Teach You To Be Rich' by Ramit Sethi — practical personal finance for young adults

    43 min
  5. Race Science Was Invented To Justify Slavery. Here's The Proof — And The Truth About Egypt (Part 2)

    Jun 28

    Race Science Was Invented To Justify Slavery. Here's The Proof — And The Truth About Egypt (Part 2)

    In Part 1, XO, AZ, and CDA broke down the real science of where every human being on earth came from — Out of Africa, Mitochondrial Eve, and how skin color actually evolved. Now in Part 2, they go into the harder conversation. How did real science about human origins get twisted into 'race science' used to justify slavery, colonialism, and the Holocaust? What was eugenics, who pushed it, and how far did it actually go in this country? And the question that gets debated every single day online — were the ancient Egyptians Black? This episode answers it using the actual DNA evidence from the mummies themselves, not internet arguments. Fact-checked, sourced, and handled with the seriousness this topic deserves. Keywords: race science history, eugenics explained, scientific racism debunked, were ancient Egyptians Black, Egyptian mummy DNA study, Black Pharaohs Nubia, craniometry history, Bell Curve debunked, race social construct, Past Present Pushback podcast

    27 min
  6. Did Everyone Come From Black People? The Real Science Behind Human Origins (Part 1)

    Jun 25

    Did Everyone Come From Black People? The Real Science Behind Human Origins (Part 1)

    You've heard it said — everyone came from Black people. It gets repeated online, in barbershops, in family group chats, and it's met with both pride and pushback. So in this episode, XO, & AZ decided to actually find out what the science says — not what a meme says, not what gets shouted in a comment section, but what geneticists, paleoanthropologists, and the global scientific community have actually documented through fossil records and DNA. This is Part 1 of a two-part deep dive. In this episode: the Out of Africa theory, Mitochondrial Eve, what the fossil record actually shows, how humans migrated across the planet, and how skin color evolved through a purely environmental and genetic process that has nothing to do with superiority and everything to do with survival. Keywords: origin of human race, did everyone come from Africa, Out of Africa theory explained, Mitochondrial Eve science, human migration history, evolution of skin color, race social construct science, human genetics explained, where did humans come from, Past Present Pushback podcast RESOURCES • Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Human Origins Program — humanorigins.si.edu • National Academies of Sciences — 'Using Population Descriptors in Genetics and Genomics Research' (2023) • Nina Jablonski's research on the evolution of skin color — Penn State Department of Anthropology • 'Who We Are and How We Got Here' by David Reich — genetics and human history

    24 min
  7. Father's Day Was Started By A Daughter. Took 62 Years To Become Official. Here's The Full Story.

    Jun 22

    Father's Day Was Started By A Daughter. Took 62 Years To Become Official. Here's The Full Story.

    Most people know Father's Day as ties, grills, and greeting cards. But the real story starts in 1909 — with a 27-year-old woman named Sonora Smart Dodd sitting in a church pew listening to a Mother's Day sermon and asking a question nobody had asked before. Why isn't there a day for fathers? Her father was a Civil War veteran who raised six children alone after his wife died in childbirth. He braided his daughter's hair with calloused hands. He kept the family together when it would have been easier to let it fall apart. And Sonora spent the next 62 years fighting to make sure the world honored men like him. In this episode of Past Present Pushback, XO, AZ, and CDA sit in the man cave and tell the full story of Father's Day — from Spokane 1910 to Nixon 1972. The man who inspired it. The woman who built it. Why it took 58 years longer than Mother's Day to become official. What the holiday has become vs what it was meant to be. What fatherhood in the Black community actually looks like beyond the stereotype. And what it means to honor a father. Keywords: Father's Day origin history, who started Father's Day, Sonora Smart Dodd, William Jackson Smart, Father's Day federal holiday 1972, Father's Day vs Mother's Day history, Black fathers stereotype real picture, what Father's Day means, Past Present Pushback podcast

    17 min
  8. Juneteenth: Why June 19, 1865 Changed Everything & What Most People Still Don't Know About It

    Jun 15

    Juneteenth: Why June 19, 1865 Changed Everything & What Most People Still Don't Know About It

    Most people know June 19 as Juneteenth. But most people don't know the full story of what that day actually was — and why it took more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation for Black people in Texas to hear the word freedom. Or that some enslaved people weren't told until after the harvest season was over — because their enslavers wanted to squeeze out one more crop. Or that it took a 94-year-old woman named Opal Lee walking 2.5 miles every year in tennis shoes for decades to finally push Juneteenth to become a federal holiday in 2021. In this episode of Past Present Pushback, XO, AZ, and CDA sit down in the man cave and tell the full Juneteenth story — from Galveston, Texas in 1865 to the signing ceremony at the White House 156 years later. The history, the traditions, what it means, what it represents, and why it matters now more than ever. Keywords: Juneteenth history origin, June 19 1865 Galveston Texas, Emancipation Proclamation delay Texas, Opal Lee Grandmother Juneteenth, Juneteenth federal holiday 2021, General Order No 3, Juneteenth meaning what it represents, Black freedom day history, Past Present Pushback podcast

    27 min
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About

Hosted by XO, AZ, and CDA, Past, Present, Pushback is where Sports, Politics, and Family collide. From the NFL field to Capitol Hill, from community struggles to household victories, we break down the headlines and the hidden stories shaping our world. With XO bringing the millennial sports and culture lens, and AZ & CDA grounding the conversation in political insight and family wisdom, this isn’t just another podcast — it’s a space where Black voices push back against the noise and speak truth with honesty, humor, and heart. New episodes drop weekly — short, sharp, and straight to the point

Information

  • Creator
    S A U N A I E
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © S A U N A I E
  • Show Website
    PAST, PRESENT, PUSHBACK