Toward Inclusive Excellence Podcast Choice

Camille T. Dungy, University Distinguished Professor of English at Colorado State University, joins Toward Inclusive Excellence Editor-in-Chief Alexia Hudson-Ward to discuss her latest book, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden. An author of prose and poetry, Camille explains how she planned for the title to be a collection of nature poems, but while writing—crucially, in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic—she was instead inspired by her ongoing project to transform her yard into a space with diverse, native plants. Recounting the seven-year journey of her garden, Camille interweaves key environmental justice texts and nature writing to underscore the importance of diversifying both our gardens and environmental literature.

In the episode, Camille chats about the development of Soil and how the pandemic influenced her writing. Further, she highlights the drawbacks of cynical, doom-filled environmental writing that positions the natural world and human beings at odds. As Camille argues, this position prevents new members from joining the environmental movement, because “…a lot of people just assume that they have no place in the environmental movement because the environmental movement has no place for people.” In addition, Camille describes environmental justice as central to her writing and ethics, emphasizing social and environmental justice as one and the same. To close, she digs into her experiences with homeowners association (HOA) rules in her neighborhood and the complexity of her relationship with gardening and leisure as a Black woman.

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Dr. Martha S. Jones, Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, Professor of History, and Professor at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, returns to the podcast to discuss her research project Hard Histories at Hopkins, which investigates the history of racism, discrimination, and slavery at Johns Hopkins University and its impact on the institution and communities in Baltimore. Toward Inclusive Excellence editor-in-chief Alexia Hudson-Ward chats with Martha on the development and genesis of the project, outlining its aim to “lift the hood” of the scholarly process with a webinar series and weekly posts on Substack. In addition, Martha highlights the contributions of Hard Histories’ student-led labs that provide consistent updates and continuity to the project throughout the year.

Further, Martha digs into why this work is labeled as “hard,” explaining the emotional and psychological toll that studying slavery takes on scholars and her own personal experience with this research. Speaking to the project’s impact at Johns Hopkins, Martha explains how it affects the legacy and standing of an institution as a pillar for education. To close, Martha and Alexia follow-up on their 2021 conversation on the banning of Martha’s book, Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All. Underscoring the threat book bans and censorship pose to American education, Martha reiterates the need to stay vigilant amongst efforts to sanitize the past and endanger democratic freedom.

Episode theme music: Black is the Night by Jeris (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: DJ Vadim (djvadim) , NiGiD

Ekow Eshun, author of In the Black Fantastic, joins Toward Inclusive Excellence editor-in-chief Alexia Hudson-Ward to discuss the book’s development and how it acts as a mode of possibility for Black freedom and liberation. A companion piece to the 2022 art exhibition at London’s Hayward Gallery, In the Black Fantastic weaves together fables, myths, science fiction, and speculative fiction from throughout the African diaspora to explore Black culture and lived experiences. The title includes various creative disciplines—music, film, visual art, and more—that pull from African stories and knowledge systems to demonstrate the freedom of Black speculative thought and how it can inform the everyday.

In the conversation, Ekow describes Black speculative fiction and Afrofuturism as forms of resistance, highlighting the story of the Flying Africans and how it’s alluded to in contemporary works like Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Lemonade by Beyonce, and Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler. Further, Ekow explains how Black creatives occupying the traditionally exclusionary genres of science fiction and the supernatural bring forth non-Western forms of knowledge. Positioning identity as a fluid way of being, Ekow denounces reductive views of race and the binaries that have long restricted and reduced Black interiority. Amidst ongoing threats to DEI efforts, Ekow underscores the power of inclusivity demonstrated in his book and how it offers hope for the future in its multitudes of Black dreaming without disregarding past and continuing struggles for racial equality.

Find Ekow's book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262047258/in-the-black-fantastic/

Read more on the TIE blog: https://www.choice360.org/toward-inclusive-excellence/

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This episode features Katie Zimmerman, Director of Copyright Strategy for the MIT Libraries, and Jonathan Band of policybandwidth, two legal experts who turn their attention to the recent Supreme Court case, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith. Decided in May 2023, this case explored issues of copyright and fair use through silkscreen prints by artist Andy Warhol, which he based on an image by photographer Lynn Goldsmith of the musician Prince. The Court sided with Goldsmith, arguing that the prints were not a valid form of fair use for copyrighted content, therefore raising concerns in the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museum (GLAM) community. In this episode, hosted by TIE Editor-in-Chief Alexia Hudson-Ward, the guests discuss the major implications of this ruling, paying particular attention to the impact on creativity detailed in the dissenting opinion. They also dig into the more puzzling components of the case’s journey through the court system, guidance for GLAM workers to avoid violating copyright law, and how this case might come into play regarding creative works generated by artificial intelligence.

Episode theme music: Black is the Night by Jeris (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: DJ Vadim (djvadim), NiGiD

In the second episode of this two-part series, Jordan Clark, Assistant Director of the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP) and an enrolled member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah, discusses the urgency and practicalities of applying a decolonial mindset to the library. Interviewed by TIE’s Editor-in-Chief Alexia Hudson-Ward, Jordan underscores that diversifying an institution’s collection is only a starting point. He advocates for library personnel to educate themselves—personally and professionally—on decolonization and DEIA practices, and recommends incorporating Native zines, newsletters, and engaging materials into library resources. Jordan also surfaces examples from his time working in high school, highlighting how librarians can make the library an interactive space with Native art, quotations, and perspectives.

Next, Jordan examines challenges to opening up Native American research, and urges institutions to hire Native staff and faculty to foreground their perspectives and better connect with Native communities. Last, Jordan and Alexia chat about incorporating Native American history into AI tools. Because large language models (LLMs) mine resources that already exist, Jordan cautions that AI-sourced materials will often be problematic or rooted in a colonized mindset. He closes with the value of creating reciprocal partnerships with Native communities that form at the start of new projects and continue through development.

Episode theme music: Black is the Night by Jeris (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: DJ Vadim (djvadim), NiGiD

This two-part series of the Toward Inclusive Excellence (TIE) Podcast features Jordan Clark, Assistant Director of the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP) and an enrolled member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah. Joined by TIE’s Editor-in-Chief Alexia Hudson-Ward, this series touches on Martha’s Vineyard’s Afro-Indigenous history, adopting a decolonial mindset in higher education, and how Native American history can be integrated into artificial intelligence tools to avoid bias while also protecting Native communities and knowledge.

In this first episode, Jordan shares how in his role he plans to uplift Native voices, platform Native history, and engage with Native communities through the university. Next, Alexia and Jordan discuss the intersections between African American and Native American history, examining enslavement in early America and the US government’s practice of defining racial groups through “blood quantum laws” and the “one drop rule.” Further, they highlight the anti-Blackness perpetuated against the Wampanoag Tribe and how Afro-Indigenous intersections connect to Martha’s Vineyard’s history.

Last, Jordan walks through the difference between “decolonizing” an institution and adopting a decolonial mindset. A collective decolonial mindset—which includes centering new voices, challenging Western values, and updating language—can help break down colonial structures that limit our thought processes, resources, and solutions. Episode one of this enlightening discussion ends with Jordan’s thoughts on how academia can embrace knowledge-sharing that goes beyond the written word.

Episode theme music: Black is the Night by Jeris (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: DJ Vadim (djvadim), NiGiD