Stone Written

Sonja Haynes Stone Center
  • 5.0 (6)
  • EDUCATION

Stone Written (@stonewrittenpod) is an educational foray into the rich tapestry of Black experience, with navigating life at a PWI taking center stage. Hosted by Dr. Rhon Manigault-Bryant (@DoctorRMB), listeners can expect candid takes, insightful interviews, captivating stories, and an audio journey that honors the resilience and brilliance of our communities. Tune in and experience the official podcast of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, where our culture resonates, our history illuminates, and our legacy elevates.

  1. 6D AGO

    s2e7: Living at the Intersection

    In this powerful conversation, Dr. Rhon sits down with Tanasia Lea—Olympic-level triple jumper, equity consultant, birth doula, and mother—to explore what it means to live authentically at the intersection of ALL parts of who we are.  Tanasia shares her journey from New Haven to Williams College, through the corporate machine, and into transformation work that centers psychological agency, vitality, and permission to be fully human.  They discuss: 🔹 Navigating PWIs and white supremacy culture 🔹 The power of Africana Studies as a lens for understanding the world 🔹 Finding joy 🔹 The importance of surrounding yourself with people who trust you'll land well  "Everyone has agency—it's exercising that agency that provides vitality." —Tanasia Lea  Sources:   Tanasia’s website:  Tanasia’s feature in Athleta: “The Power of She”   Make the Sonja Haynes Stone Center and Stone Written your philanthropic priority! https://linktr.ee/shscgiving

    37 min

  2. FEB 18

    S2E6: Mother McNeil Taught Us

    What does it mean to sit with the odyssey of Black history—and to carry it forward with rigor, spirit, and love?  In this powerful episode of Stone Written, Dr. Rhon is joined by historian, cultural critic, and filmmaker Dr. Claudrena N. Harold, Edward Stettinius Professor of History and Associate Dean at the University of Virginia, and featured speaker for the 2025 Genna Rae McNeil Black History Month Lecture at UNC-Chapel Hill.  From her early formation in Black institutions to her intellectual awakening at Temple University, Dr. Harold reflects on the beauty and majesty of African American history—and the joy that fuels her scholarship. Together, she and Dr. Rhon consider why Black history demands that we pause and dwell with it, not rush past it; how Black Studies remains both a struggle over definition and a space of boundless possibility; and how gospel music, creative form, and intergenerational lineage sustain Black freedom work across generations.  At the heart of this conversation is a meditation on Dr. Genna Rae McNeil’s legacy. Dr. Harold shares how McNeil’s work—grounded in historical rigor and spiritual depth—inspired her McNeil Lecture, “Truth Is on the Way: Gospel Music, Black Liberation, and the Politics of Freedom in the Soul and Hip-Hop Eras.”  This episode is part testimony, part masterclass, part love letter to Black Studies. It is about Du Bois and Aretha. It is about protecting the institutions that transformed us. And it is about being keepers of the tradition in a time when truth itself is contested. Most of all, it is a reflection on what Mother Genna Rae McNeil taught us: that truth is on the way—and that we carry it forward together.  Sources:   A selection of Dr. Harold’s work: When Sunday Comes: Gospel Music in the Soul and Hip-Hip Eras (2020); New Negro Politics in the Jim Crow South (2016); and How Can I Ever Be Late (2017) and Sugarcoated Arsenic (2014) [short films co-directed with Kevin Everson].  Select sources cited: Toni Cade Bambara, The Black Woman: An Anthology (1970); Vincent Harding There is a River (1981); Bettye Collier-Thomas Sisters in the Struggle (2001); and Octavia Butler, Bloodchild and Other Stories (1995).  Key artists invoked (add to your playlists if you haven’t already!): Aretha Franklin, Amazing Grace (1972); John P. Kee, The Essential John P. Kee (2007); and Shirley Caesar, The Ultimate Collection (2011).

    46 min

  3. FEB 3

    S2E5: This Is Actually Serious w/Joshua Myers

    In this essential Black History Month conversation, Stone Written host Dr. Rhon sits down with Dr. Joshua Myers, Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Howard University and author of Of Black Study, to reflect on what Black intellectual traditions offer in our current political moment. Recorded in December 2024 but strikingly resonant today, the episode explores Black Studies not as abstraction or nostalgia, but as preparation for living, struggling, and organizing through crisis.  Grounded in the wisdom of ancestors such as June Jordan and Cedric Robinson, the episode interrogates the myths surrounding Black presence in the academy and calls for solidarity networks rooted in trust rather than transaction. Dr. Myers reminds us that Black Study lives everywhere—in our labor, our creativity, our relationships—and remains essential for navigating crisis toward collective liberation.    Sources:  Select works by Joshua Myers: Of Black Study (Pluto Press, 2023); Cedric Robinson: The Time of the Black Radical Tradition (Polity, 2021); We are Worth Fighting For: A History of the Howard University Student Protest of 1989 (NYU Press, 2019); A Gathering Together (literary journal)  Select texts mentioned in the episode: Cedric Robinson, Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition, 3rd edition (UNC Press, 2021); Richard Iton, In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era (Oxford University Press, 2008); Cheryl Higashida, Black Internationalist Feminism: Women Writers of the Black Left, 1945-1995 (Illinois Press, 2013); Anna Julia Cooper, A Vice from teh South; Erica R. Edwards, The Other Side of Terror: Black Women and the Culture of US Empire (NYU Press, 2021); June Jordan, “Bringing Back the Person,” in Life as Activism: June Jordan’s Writings from the Progressive, edited by Stacy Russo with a Foreword by Angela Davis (Litwin Books, 2014).  Additional source: SNCC Legacy Project

    54 min

  4. 11/03/2025

    S2E4: Let Us All Be Windows w/Nnenna Freelon

    In a deeply intimate conversation, Stone Written host Dr. Rhon (@DoctorRMB) sits down with grammy nominated American jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon to discuss her new book and album, exploring how jazz improvisation, deep listening, and ancestral presence shaped her journey through loss. They reflect on grief’s non-linear nature, the healing power of creativity and community, and the ways memory, music, and everyday rituals open pathways from sorrow to hope. Sources:  Nnenna Freelon's website Nnenna's stunning guidebook, Beneath the Skin of Sorrow: Improvisations on Loss (Duke University Press, 2025) Nnenna's latest album, "Beneath the Skin" (Origin Records, 2025) Support the Sonja Haynes Stone Center (linktree)

    59 min

  5. 09/30/2025

    S2E3: A Platform is Everything

    On International Podcast Day (September 30th), Stone Written celebrates the power of storytelling at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Research in Black Culture and History. Host Dr. Rhon shares seven lessons she’s learned since stepping into her role at UNC–Chapel Hill, from why “those who know, know” isn’t enough, to how platforms like this one help us tell our story before someone else gets it wrong. This episode is a brief but timely love letter to the stories that shape us—and to the people who make them worth telling. Sources: The Power of Podcasting: Telling Stories Through Sound by Siobhán McHugh (Columbia University Press, 2022) 100 Best Black Podcasts The Sonja Haynes Stone Center Linktree

    13 min

  6. 09/21/2025

    S2E2: This is Alignment

    Host Dr. Rhon speaks with artist Mark Anthony Brown Jr. and curator Ming Joi Washington about The Book of Mark a solo exhibition at the Stone Center that explores spirituality, ancestry, and diasporic practices through photography, sculpture, and time-based media. The conversation covers their collaborative process and trust-building, the influence of Black church traditions, tensions between artistic integrity and the market, and efforts to make art accessible. The exhibition opens September 2025 and runs through the fall semester. Sources:  The Book of Mark exhibition catalog more about the artist, Mark Anthony Brown, Jr.  more about the curator, Ming Joi Washington The Sonja Haynes Stone Center Linktree

    34 min

  7. 08/20/2025

    S2E1: Building the Future We've Always Deserved

    Stone Center Director Dr. Rhon Manigault-Bryant (@DoctorRMB) opens Stone Written Season 2 on the 21st anniversary of the Stone Center building. Reflecting on the Stone Center's legacy and Toni Morrison’s powerful lessons on centering Black life, Dr. Rhon speaks to the urgent need to secure sustainable funding to expand research programs, fellowships, and student support. Tune in for a pithy, but powerful conversation on creating a future that honors Black scholarship, creativity, and community — and learn how your support can make that vision possible. Join us in building the future we’ve always deserved.   Sources: The Sonja Haynes Stone Center website and linktree.  Toni Morrison's novel Paradise (1997). Check out the full video and transcript of the 1998 “Toni Morrison Uncensored” Conversation with Morrison and Jana Wendt.  Give to the Stone Center!

    17 min

  8. 06/06/2025

    S1E17: Evan Andrews-Stone Senior Stories

    Stone Written Podcast proudly presents "Stones Senior Stories," a 10-episode series celebrating the inspiring journeys of our graduating seniors. On this final episode of Stone’s Senior Stories, we sit down with Evan Andrews, a senior from Winston-Salem majoring in Political Science and Peace, War & Defense with a minor in History. Evan is deeply involved in campus leadership, serving as the Basileus (President) of the Psi Delta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and holding past roles as Vice President of the UNC National Pan-Hellenic Council and leader in organizations like the UNC Black Pre-Law Association, Richard Epps Emerging Leaders Program, and Order of the Omega. His work with Democracy NC and Cheri Beasley’s Senate campaign reflects his passion for civic engagement and advocacy. In this conversation, Evan shares his thoughts on campus culture, Black UNC, Greek life, and the challenges of elitism and collaboration in student spaces. Guest Host & Stone Written Assistant Producer: Melanie Cabrero

    38 min
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Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Stone Written (@stonewrittenpod) is an educational foray into the rich tapestry of Black experience, with navigating life at a PWI taking center stage. Hosted by Dr. Rhon Manigault-Bryant (@DoctorRMB), listeners can expect candid takes, insightful interviews, captivating stories, and an audio journey that honors the resilience and brilliance of our communities. Tune in and experience the official podcast of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, where our culture resonates, our history illuminates, and our legacy elevates.

Information

  • Creator
    Sonja Haynes Stone Center
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Stone Written