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>> WELCOME TO "BASIC LACK."

SOME OF YOU ARE JOINING US ON OUR PODCAST AND OTHERS ARE JOINING US ON OUR DIGITAL PLATFORMS.

FOR 56 YEARS, "BASIC BLACK" HAS BEEN COVERING ISSUES THAT IMPACT THE LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS OF COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, AND FOR MORE THAN 10 OF THOSE YEARS, I HAVE HAD THE HONOR OF LEADING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WIDE-RANGING TOPICS FROM THE LEGACY OF THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT TO COVID'’S A DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT ON PEOPLE OF COLOR, MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES, AS WELL AS ECONOMIC AND VOTING DISPARITIES.

INCLUDED IN THE MIX, INSPIRATIONAL STORIES UP FIRSTS IN EVERY FIELD.

ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF ARTISTS, FILMMAKERS, ESPECIALLY A FILM EXPLORING FAMILY AND LEGACY WHICH BECAME A GLOBAL PHENOMENON.

THIS IS MY LAST SHOW AS HOST OF THE PROGRAM.

MORE DETAILS ON THAT LATER IN THE SHOW, BUT TONIGHT, I AM LOOKING BACK AT A FEW OF THE MEMORABLE EPISODES DURING MY TENURE AS HOST WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON ONGOING ISSUES AND TOPICS THAT CONTINUE TO BE RELEVANT TODAY.

JOINING ME THIS EVENING, RENÉE GRAHAM, ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND OPINION COLUMNIST OF "THE'’S" OP-ED PAGE.

PROFESSOR AND INTERIM DEAN OF GRADUATE OR PROFESSIONAL STUDIES AT EMERSON COLLEGE.

AND THE SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, GBH NEWS CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING.

WELCOME TO ALL OF YOU.

GLAD TO HAVE THE OLD GANG BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.

I WANT TO START WITH PROBABLY THE THING THAT NOBODY EXPECTED TO HAPPEN DID HAPPEN, AND AFTER IT HAPPENED, WE GOT SOME WOULD SAY PREDICTABLE RESPONSE, AND THAT WAS THE ELECTION OF AMERICA'’S FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT, BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA.

DURING THE EPISODE ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA'’S LEGACY, THE DISCUSSION LOOKED AT THE FORMER PRESIDENT'’S THOUGHTS ON RACISM.

TAKE A LOOK.

>> ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE SPEECH LAST WEEK WAS HIM TALKING ABOUT THE FACT THAT PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING EACH OTHER AND WHILE HUGE CORPORATIONS BECOME RICHER AND RICHER.

IT IS ALMOST LIKE A MARXIST ANALYSIS.

THE POINT HE WAS MAKING WAS THIS DIVIDE AND CONQUER ASPECT OF AMERICAN SOCIETY, WHICH, AGAIN, HE ALSO ADDRESSED IN THE 2008 SPEECH.

HE SEES THAT AS THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM.

HE SEES RACE RELATIONS AS EMANATING FROM THAT, BUT IT IS ALMOST SECONDARY.

IT WAS INFERRED THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA WAS A POST-RACIAL PRESIDENT.

HE NEVER SAID THAT OF COURSE.

>> AND HE CORRECTED IT.

>> HE CORRECTED IT.

HE SEES RACISM IN REALISTIC TERMS, NOT LIKE MARTIN LUTHER KING SAUL RACISM, WHICH WAS FAR MORE START.

NOT LIKE MALCOLM X SAUL RACISM.

BECAUSE THEY DID NOT SEE IT AS A UNIVERSAL PROBLEM.

IT IS A UNIVERSAL PROBLEM.

WHAT THEY LOOK FOR WHAT SPECIFIC SOLUTIONS, PRESCRIPTIONS, AND WHAT BARACK OBAMA SEEKS -- >> HE SUGGESTED THE WAY FOR FIXING IT FALLS EQUALLY ON BLACK PEOPLE AND WHITE PEOPLE.

THAT'’S NOT RIGHT.

THIS IS NOT PROBLEMATIC.

IS IT JUST WRONG.

>> WE WILL LET YOU PICK UP FROM THERE.

THERE ARE MANY LEGACIES OF PRESIDENT BARACK'’S PRESIDENCY.

I WILL NOTE AS MANY OTHERS HAVE THAT BLACK LIVES MATTER CAME TO BE DURING THE TIME OF HIS PRESIDENCY, WHICH IS INTERESTING.

IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT SOME WOULD HAVE HOPED WOULD HAPPEN WITH REGARD TO AN EASING OF RACE RELATIONS.

THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM.

>> IS IS INTERESTING TO HEAR MYSELF SAYING THAT BACK THEN, I DON'’T THINK I WAS WRONG.

I THINK I WAS RIGHT.

SADLY, I HAVE BEEN PROVEN RIGHT.

BARACK OBAMA WAS A WONDERFUL PRESIDENT -- WELL, HE WAS A GOOD PRESIDENT.

LET ME SAY THAT.

HE HAD MANY FAILINGS.

THIS WAS A FUNDAMENTAL AND THAT I THINK HE JUST MISREAD THE NATURE OF WHITE SUPREMACY AND HOW DEEPLY EMBEDDED IT IS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY, AND UNFORTUNATELY, I THINK THAT HAS BEEN PROVEN CORRECT.

THIS BACKLASH WAS AS PREDICTABLE AS IT IS VIOLENT AND ENDURING.

IT IS WHAT IT IS.

>> PHILIP, HAVE YOU CHANGED WHERE YOU WERE COMING FROM AT THE TIME?

>> BARACK OBAMA'’S ANALYSIS WAS THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE UNIVERSAL PRESCRIPTIONS.

THE PROBLEM WITH UNIVERSAL PRESCRIPTION FOR RACISM, AS WE SEE WITH SUPREME COURT'’S RECENT DECISIONS ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, IS THAT THEY ARE PROBLEMATIC.

THEY DON'’T WORK.

THEY DON'’T ADDRESS THE RACIAL PROBLEMS.

I WAS NOT SO MUCH DEFENDING BARACK OBAMA BUT TRYING TO DESCRIBE WHAT HIS SOLUTION WAS, WHAT HE SAW AS A SOLUTION, WHICH IS A NOTION OF A UNIVERSAL PRESCRIPTION TO RACISM.

THAT IS TO SAY, A PRESCRIPTION THAT HELPS ALL PEOPLE.

THE PROBLEM IS, YOU SEE BIGOTS NOW INVOKING THE NAME MARTIN LUTHER KING AND HIS WORDS TO TRY TO ADDRESS THEIR FEELINGS OF VICTIMHOOD.

SO, YES, I CALLED BARACK OBAMA'’S CONTEXT OF UNIVERSAL PRESCRIPTIONS IS WRONG.

KIM WAS CORRECT IN THAT SENSE.

>> OK, I WAS CORRECT.

GOT YOU.

>> I WAS TRYING TO DEFINE WHAT BARACK OBAMA WAS ATTEMPTING TO DO AND BARACK OBAMA IN THIS SENSE WAS WRONG, AND HE SHOULD HAVE PAID GREATER ATTENTION TO THE EXTRAORDINARY LEVEL OF RACIAL ANIMUS THAT WAS PERCOLATING IN THIS COUNTRY THAT HAS COME TO A HEAD, AS WE SEE RIGHT NOW IN THIS NATION.

COMING OUT OF THE WOOD WORKS.

>> TO PICK UP ON THE POINT THE FILM MADE, I THINK THAT WAS A SHORTCOMING OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY AND PERHAPS BARACK OBAMA HIMSELF.

HE COULD NOT -- HE WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THE BACKLASH, SO WHEN THE BACKLASH CAME, HE DID NOT NECESSARILY KNOW HOW TO ADDRESS IT BECAUSE HE WAS STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO TALK ABOUT RACISM BUT NOT TO OFFEND WHITE PEOPLE, AND YOU CANNOT DO BOTH OF THOSE THINGS.

YOU CANNOT BE WORRIED ABOUT WHO GETS OFFENDED.

I THINK HE WENT TOO FAR IN THAT DIRECTION IN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WAYS OF TALKING ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE COUNTRY, TALKING ABOUT, SAY, TRAYVON MARTIN'’S DEATH, BUT YOU HEARD THE BACKLASH WHEN HE SAID TRAYVON MARTIN COULD HAVE BEEN MY SON.

PEOPLE GOT UPSET ABOUT THAT.

HE TRIED TO THREAD THE NEEDLE AND MISSED, I THINK, FAR TOO MANY TIMES.

HE NEEDED TO CONFRONT IT MORE DIRECTLY THAN HE WAS ABLE TO DO.

>> I WOULD ALSO SAY WITH THE TRAYVON MARTIN EXAMPLE, IT WAS A CLEAR REMINDER THAT I AM A BLACK PERSON IN THIS ROLE, WHICH PEOPLE DID NOT NECESSARILY WANT TO HEAR.

FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, IT WAS LIKE, OH, RIGHT, HE IS A BLACK PERSON, AND HE IS IDENTIFYING WITH SOME OF THE ONGOING STRUGGLES OF BLACK PEOPLE WHOSE SON COULD HAVE BEEN TRAYVON MARTIN.

>> ONCE THEY ACKNOWLEDGE HE IS A BLACK PERSON, THEY HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THEY HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT, WHICH MADE THEM UPSET.

>> AND THEY HAD TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE EXISTENCE OF WHITENESS, WHICH IS THE MAIN THING THEY DON'’T WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE.

>> IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CLEARER AS A RESULT OF THE SKIP GETS EPISODE WITH THE POLICE OFFICER IN -- POLICE OFFICER EPISODE IN CAMBRIDGE.

>> WELL, YOU KNOW, WE THOUGHT WE HAD EXPERIENCED A RACIAL RECKONING DURING THE TIME OF COVID, TO ADD A LOT TO THE EPISODE.

AND THIS IS GEORGE FLOYD'’S MURDER.

HIS UN-CAMERA MURDER SHOULD WORLD AND OUR DISCUSSION OF THE DEATH AND ITS AFTERMATH, THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION NOTED FLOYD'’S COMPLICATED A RACIAL PANDEMIC THAT COULD HARM AFRICAN-AMERICANS AS MUCH AS COVID-19.

THIS IS THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTION ABOUT HOW THEY WERE DOING EMOTIONALLY.

>> I WILL BE FRANK.

I HAVE BEEN ALTERNATING BETWEEN NUMBNESS AND ALMOST RESIGNATION BECAUSE I KNOW I PERSONALLY HAVE BEEN WRITING AND TALKING AT ALL OF US HAVE BEEN FIGHTING AND TALKING AND BEGGING AND PLEADING ABOUT THIS FOR DECADES, AND OF COURSE, OUR PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DOING IT SINCE DAVID WALKER, RIGHT?

1831.

FREDERICK DOUG, PHYLLIS WHEATLEY, RIGHT?

THIS IS NOTHING NEW.

EVERY TIME, WE HAVE TO REAWAKEN WHITE AMERICA.

>> I TILT BETWEEN RAGE AND EXHAUSTION, YOU KNOW?

YESTERDAY, DURING GEORGE FLOYD'’S FUNERAL -- LITERALLY, AT THE SAME TIME, SENATOR RAND PAUL WAS ON THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE, LECTURING KAMALA HARRIS AND CORY BOOKER ABOUT LYNCHING AND WHY IT WOULD NOT MEET THE STANDARD OF BEING A FEDERAL HATE CRIME, BUT THAT'’S WHERE WE ARE IN AMERICA.

I JUST FELT EXHAUSTED.

I JUST FELT COMPLETELY WORN OUT, AND THAT IS WHAT IT IS ABOUT.

IN SOME WAYS THROUGH TO THE BEGINNING OF THIS PANDEMIC BECAUSE AS A JOURNALIST, YOU DON'’T GET TO STEP AWAY FROM IT.

YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT IT, BUT IT IS ALSO HAPPENING TO YOU.

>> I WANT TO BEGIN THIS PART OF OUR RESPONSE TO THAT EPISODE BY SAYING THERE WERE A LOT OF PLEDGES MADE, AND A LOT OF PROMISES MADE, BOTH CORPORATE AND INDIVIDUAL'’S WERE GOING TO DO BETTER.

"WE WANT TO LEARN BETTER.

WE WANT TO LISTEN."

ALL OF THAT.

SOME OF THOSE PLEDGES HAVE, FRANKLY, BEEN RENEGED ON, AND IT IS ALMOST AS THOUGH THIS PERIOD OF TIME THAT GOT PEOPLE GOING TO THE STREET AROUND THE WORLD -- NOT JUST HERE IN AMERICA.

IT WAS SUCH A STARK RESPONSE TO LOOKING AT THIS VICIOUS MURDER IN THE BROAD DAYLIGHT ON CAMERA, BUT HERE WE ARE.

>> HERE WE ARE.

THE WHOLE IDEA OF RACIAL RECKONING I NEVER REALLY BOUGHT INTO.

THIS COUNTRY DOES NOT RECKON WITH RACE, SO THE IDEA THAT EVEN WATCHING GEORGE FLOYD'’S SLOW, AGONIZING MURDER UNDER A COP'’S KNEE WAS GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING -- I WAS JUST NEVER CONVINCED.

AND IT DIDN'’T.

YOU HAD CORPORATIONS THROWING CRUMBS.

WE CAN DO THIS.

WHEN YOU ASKED FOR CHANGES IN BOARD ROOMS, WHAT YOU GOT WAS AUNT JEMIMA OFF THE PANCAKE BOX, WHICH SUDDENLY, IT OCCURS TO THEM, THAT IS SOMETHING WE CAN QUICKLY DO THAT IS NOT GOING TO REALLY HARM US, BUT WHAT DID IT CHANGE?

THEY WERE ROLLING A ROCK UPHILL, AND AT SOME POINT WENT, WE ARE DONE, AND THE ROCK ROLLED RIGHT BACK TO WHERE IT WAS, WHICH IT ALWAYS WAS GOING TO DO BECAUSE THEY WERE NEVER GOING TO MAKE THE EMOTIONAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR FINANCIAL INVESTMENT IN CHANGING THESE SYSTEMS OF RACISM IN AMERICA.

>> RIGHT.

THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL EPISODES.

I REMEMBER YOU CLEARLY ASKING ME, IS IT GOING TO BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME N WHITE KIDS ARE IN THE STREET.

I REMEMBER CLEARLY SAYING WHITE KIDS HAVE BEEN IN THE STREET BEFORE.

IN THE 1960'’S AND CIVIL RIGHTS, THERE WERE ALLIES.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE CYCLICAL NATURE OF BLACK PROGRESS AND VIOLENT, WHITE BACKLASH IN THIS SOCIETY, THIS WAS ALWAYS JUST GOING TO BE ANOTHER CYCLE BECAUSE THIS COUNTRY REFUSES TO RECKON WITH THE BASIS OF WHITE SUPREMACY.

IT IS NOT RACISM -- I WANT TO BE CLEAR -- WHITE SUPREMACY.

IT IS ABOUT POWER.

HIS IS NOT ABOUT FEELINGS.

AS STOKELY CARMICHAEL SAID, IF A WHITE MAN WANTS TO LYNCH ME, THAT IS HIS PROBLEM.

IF HE HAS THE POWER TO LYNCH ME, THAT IS MY PROBLEM.

RACISM IS ABOUT POWER.

UNTIL THE EMBEDDED STRUCTURE IS WILLING TO RELEASE THAT POWER, IT WILL NOT CHANGE.

EVERYTHING ELSE WILL BE WINDOWDRESSING, AND WE KNEW IT WOULD BE.

I THINK WHAT IS SURPRISING IS HOW QUICKLY IT REVERTED.

THAT WAS THE ONLY THING THAT WAS SURPRISING.

HOW QUICKLY THOSE CORPORATIONS SAID NEVER MIND.

HOW QUICKLY THE PROMISES OF DEI SAID NEVER MIND.

HOW QUICKLY IT REVERTED.

THAT SURPRISED ME.

I THOUGHT IT WOULD LAST A LITTLE LONGER, BUT I'’M NOT SURPRISED IT DID NOT CONTINUE.

>> WHAT I MIGHT PUT ON THE SURPRISE LIST IS HOW FAST WE ACTUALLY HAVE LAWS ON THE BOOKS THAT SAY YOU CANNOT EVEN DISCUSS HISTORY THAT IS UNCOMFORTABLE AND BOOKS ARE OFF THE SHELVES BECAUSE WE DON'’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THESE EXPERIENCES, COMING FROM A PLACE WHERE IT SEEMED AT THE TIME EVERYBODY IN THE COUNTRY WANTED TO HAVE A REAL DISCUSSION ABOUT IT.

>> IT IS STILL IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT THAT WE HAVE WHITE ALLIES AND BIPOC ALLIES, AND PROBABLY THE NUMBERS INCREASED AFTER THE KILLING OF GEORGE FLOYD.

HAVING SAID THAT, THE BIGGEST PROBLEM RIGHT NOW, AS BOTH OF YOU HAVE STATED, IS THAT THE BACKLASH HAS BEEN FEROCIOUS, BUT THE BACKLASH HAS TO BE PUT IN THE CONTEXT OF SYSTEMATIC BACKLASH.

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IS OCCURRING ORGANICALLY.

THE SOME OF IT MAY BE, WITHOUT QUESTION.

BUT THIS IS AN ORGANIZED EFFORT TO PUSH BACK A TON.

WE KNOW THAT PROGRESS, THERE IS A NOTION OF FORWARD PROGRESS, AND WE HAVE BEEN SEEING THAT, BEGINNING WAY BEFORE THE CIVIL-RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

WE HAVE ALWAYS MOVED FORWARD, BUT THERE IS ALWAYS AN ATTEMPT TO MOVE BACKWARD, AND THAT BACKWARDS MOVEMENT IS FEROCIOUS, AND IT DOES AND IS TAKING THE FORM OF LAWS AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.

ATTACKS ON DEI COME IN EVERY EQUITY, AND INCLUSION, WE ARE SEEING NOT JUST IN CONSERVATIVE COMMUNITIES.

WE ARE SEEING IT IN NOMINALLY LIBERAL COMMUNITIES BECAUSE THERE IS A THREAT OF THAT PROGRESS THAT WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT.

IT HAS BEEN ENUNCIATED IN A WAY THAT IS SCARING PEOPLE.

WHY?

BECAUSE THERE IS A ZERO-SUM INVOLVED.

"IF YOU ARE WINNING, WE ARE LOSING."

THE WHOLE NOTION OF CORPORATIONS PUSHING BACKWARDS IS NOT PARTICULARLY SURPRISING WHEN YOU HAVE EMPLOYERS AND CEO'’S SAYING, "MAYBE WE HAVE GONE TOO FAR," SO ON AND SO FORTH WITHOUT ANY COGNIZANT UNDERSTANDING THAT IF WE ARE GETTING TO A POINT WHERE WE REALLY HAVE A PLURALISTIC DEMOCRACY IN THIS COUNTRY, IT'’S GOING TO HAVE TO INVOLVE PLURALISM.

I THINK THERE IS THIS CONCERN THAT IT HAS GONE TOO FAR, AND IF WE THINK THAT THINGS WERE PERHAPS BAD IN 20, WE HAD BETTER PREPARE FOR 2024.

>> OH, ABSOLUTELY.

>> BECAUSE WE ARE EXPERIENCING A BACKLASH THAT IS NOT JUST SYSTEMATIC AND THAT IT THE DEPRIVATION OF CERTAIN RIGHTS, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT VIOLENCE.

WE ARE TALKING ABOUT GROUPS THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GREEN LIGHT -- PROUD BOYS, SO ON AND SO FORTH, AND NEO-NAZIS HAVE COME OUT OF THE WOODWORK, DEMONSTRATING OVERPASSES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MASSACHUSETTS.

ATTACKS AT THE UNITED STATES CAPITAL.

EXACTLY.

>> IT DOES NOT GET ANY WORSE THAN THAT.

>> EVEN PEOPLE WHO ARE NOMINALLY SPEAKING UP AS IN FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR, SENATOR MITT ROMNEY STEPPED DOWN NOT BECAUSE OF AGE, AS HE SAID, BUT BECAUSE HE HAS TO HAVE A SPECIAL SECURITY FORCE EVERY DAY WITH HIM NOW.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

>> THAT'’S WHERE WE ARE NOW.

>> AND LIBRARIANS ARE UNDER ATTACK, SCHOOL TEACHERS ARE UNDER ATTACK.

>> SCHOOL BOARDS HAVE BEEN WEAPONIZE.

>> IT'’S A LOT.

COVID WAS A MASSIVE -- IT JUST TOOK A MASSIVE HIT ON EVERYBODY -- LET'’S JUST SAY THAT -- IN THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD, BUT IT WAS A PARTICULAR THING FOR US.

DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR SUFFERED ENORMOUS HEALTH AND ECONOMIC LOSSES.

IN THIS CLIP FROM "RACE AS A HEALTH IMPERATIVE," WE DISCUSSED THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE FLU EPIDEMIC OF 1918 AND THE 2020 CORONAVIRUS.

>> FIRST OF ALL, IT IS RACE AND RACISM THAT DETERMINES WHAT HAPPENS IN EPIDEMICS.

THE REASON WHY I MAKE A DISTINCTION IS THAT ONE, RACISM IS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE IN THAT WHERE ONE WORKS, WHERE ONE LIVES , WHAT KIND OF HEALTH CARE ONE GETS DETERMINES HEALTH, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THIS HISTORICALLY, IN THE 1918 INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC, THIS WAS A TIME -- AND IT STILL IS, I THINK, VERY CURRENT -- WHERE THERE'’S THIS BELIEF THAT BLACK BODIES ARE DIFFERENT, THAT THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT BLACK BODIES THAT MAKES AFRICAN-AMERICANS VULNERABLE TO DISEASES.

YOU SAW THAT IN 1918, BUT IN 1918, IT ALSO WAS A TIME WHERE THIS WAS NOT JUST THE TIME OF THE INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC.

IT WAS THE TIME OF WORLD WAR I, BUT IT WAS ALSO AT THE TIME OF VERY RIGOROUS AND STRENUOUS XENOPHOBIA AND ALSO RACISM.

THIS WAS DURING THE TIME OF JIM CROW, SO YOU FOUND THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS HAD TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES, THAT BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT GO INTO WHITE HOSPITALS, THAT IT WAS THE BLACK COMMUNITY THAT TOOK CARE OF ITSELF, AND I THINK WE ARE SEEING THAT NOW, THAT THE BLACK COMMUNITY AND OTHER COMMUNITIES OF COLOR ARE BEARING THE BURDEN OF TRYING TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.

>> I MEAN, I THINK SHE SAID IT ALL.

I THINK SHE SAID IT ALL.

I JUST WANTED TO RAISE THAT BECAUSE, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE HAVE, OFTEN THE THREAD IS WHITE SUPREMACY AND RACISM, AND THERE, COVID BROUGHT IT ALL TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT JUST RESTED ON COMMUNITIES OF COLOR.

WE TOOK THE BRUNT OF IT.

WE WERE THE ESSENTIAL WORKERS.

THAT WAS IT.

I JUST -- AND I WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT WE WERE EARLY ON "BASIC BLACK" TALKING ABOUT THESE ISSUES BEFORE AND A LOT OF OTHER FOLKS MADE THE CONNECTION -- MADE THE RACIAL CONNECTION TO THE DISEASE.

I JUST WANT TO GET ON THE TABLE.

I WANT TO MOVE ON BECAUSE I WANT TO GET ANOTHER SEGMENT IN BEFORE WE CLOSE, BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT IS THE ESSENCE OF WHAT THE "BASIC BLACK" SHOW DOES, IS TO GET RIGHT TO THOSE ISSUES.

I WANT TO CONCLUDE -- LET'’S UPLIFT.

WE WERE ALL WEARING THE THAT SHE KEYS AND EARRINGS AND BEING ALL EXCITED WHEN "LET PANTHER" CAME OUT.

-- WE WERE ALL WEARING THE DA SHIKIS AND EARRINGS AND BEING ALL EXCITED WHEN "BLACK PANTHER" CAME OUT.

IT BECAME A CULTURAL PHENOMENON.

IN THIS EPISODE, KIM REFLECTS ON THE AFRICAN CONNECTION AND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF OUR HISTORY AND OURSELVES.

>> ONE OF THE PROFOUND THINGS ABOUT IT IS IN THE AFRICAN /AFRICAN-AMERICAN CONNECTION, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY FOR COOGLER TO MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT AFRICAN-AMERICAN YEARNING FOR A HOMELAND.

THAT'’S OUR STORY THAT WE ALL KNOW, THIS MOMENT IS ASIAN OF AFRICA AND THIS LONGING, AND I THINK IT WAS BRILLIANT TO LOOK BACK THIS WAY.

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY TO DO A STORY ABOUT THE LOST CHILD, WHICH IS WHAT WE ARE, THIS IMAGE OURSELVES AS THE LOST CHILD, BUT THERE WAS ONE POINT WHERE IT SAYS, "MAYBE THE DATE -- "MAYBE THEY WERE THE ONES WHO WERE LOST AND THAT'’S WHY THEY COULD NOT FIND US."

THE POINT WHERE THEY NEED TO FIND EACH OTHER, IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT US FINDING OUR WAY HOME, WHICH IS WHAT WE INTERNALIZE SO MUCH.

WE ARE NOT LOST.

WE NEED TO FIND EACH OTHER, WHICH IS A POWERFUL IMAGE, POWERFUL MESSAGE FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.

I HEAR A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY, I DON'’T KNOW MY HISTORY.

WE ARE LOST.

THAT IS A DEVASTATING THING FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE TO INTERNALIZE.

THIS MOVIE SAYS, "THAT'’S NOT TRUE."

>> I LOVE IT.

>> THAT'’S GOOD.

>> AND IT IS SO IMPORTANT.

THAT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT WE ARE NOT LOST, NOT BROKEN, NOT DYSFUNCTIONAL.

WE ARE A STRONG, RESILIENT, AMAZING PEOPLE WHO HAVE MANY, MANY CHALLENGES, BUT WE ARE NOT LOST.

QUICK THINK OF EVERYTHING WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH.

WE ARE HERE.

>> WE ARE NOT LOST.

>> KILLMONGER BECAME, LIKE, THE HERO.

HE IS NOT A VILLAIN.

HE'’S AN ANTIHERO.

HE ALSO ULTIMATELY WOULD HAVE BECOME THE BHUTO SEKO BECAUSE HE WAS AUTHORITARIAN.

>> THANK GOD THEY DID "WAUCONDA -- "WAKANDA FOREVER" TO REMIND US.

IT WAS NOT A MARVELOUS STORY.

THAT'’S WHAT EVERYBODY TOOK FROM IT.

IT WAS AN ORIGIN STORY, YES, BUT IT ALSO HAD LAYERS ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY AND MULTIPLE LEGACIES, WHICH REALLY RESONATED OUTSIDE COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, BY THE WAY.

THAT IS WHAT WAS SO TREMENDOUS ABOUT THE FILM.

>> WHAT WAS ALSO TREMENDOUS IS WHAT WAS HAPPENING EXTERNALLY, AS YOU POINT OUT.

THE FACT WE TOOK A GROUP OF KIDS, MYSELF AND OTHERS, TO SEE THIS MOVIE OVER IN DORCHESTER, AND THE EXHILARATION OF THESE KIDS AND THE COSTUMES THAT THEY WORE TO THE EVENT.

IT WAS SO CELEBRATORY, AND IT WAS NECESSARY AT THAT TIME.

IT WAS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO BRING OUT -- I MEAN, THEY HAD IT ALREADY, BUT IT REALLY BROUGHT OUT THE PRIDE IN THESE YOUNG PEOPLE AS IT BROUGHT OUT PRIDE ACROSS ENTIRE COMMUNITIES OF BLACK FOLK THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

>> THE AFRO FUTURISM ELEMENT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE WHAT AFRO FUTURISM SAYS IS THAT WE DO HAVE A FUTURE, THAT WE EXIST IN THE FUTURE.

WE SURVIVE, WE THRIVE, WE GROW AND GLOW.

THAT WAS PART OF IT, TOO, THAT IT WAS SHOWING US GOING FORWARD AND BEING IN THE FUTURE, NOT TO MENTION THE STRONG WOMEN ASPECT.

>> I CAN REMEMBER BEING IN AN AIRPORT AND SEEING TWO BLACK MEN PASS EACH OTHER LIKE THIS.

AND I WAS JUST LIKE, "YEAH."

ON THE ONE HAND, IT WAS MEANINGFUL AND IT MEANT SOMETHING.

IT MEANT THAT THE MOVIE CONNECTED WITH THEM BEYOND JUST A BIT OF ENTERTAINMENT, THAT THAT WAS IMPORTANT AND WE NEED THAT.

>> WE ABSOLUTELY NEED THAT.

BY THE WAY, I DRESSED UP AND TOOK PICTURES OUTSIDE THE MOVIE THEATER.

WE WOULD BE REMISS IF WE DID NOT NOTE THERE WERE SO MANY TALENTED PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH IT, BUT RUTH CARTER, THE CUSTOM DESIGNED OR WON TWICE, TWO ACADEMY AWARDS FOR HER DESIGNS IN REALLY CONNECTING WITH THE AFRICAN DESIGN AND TAKING IT TO ANOTHER PLACE THROUGH HER OWN CREATIVITY.

I MEAN, TALENTED STORYTELLING.

>> AND HOW AUTHENTIC THAT WAS.

THAT WAS IMPORTANT, TOO, THE FACT SHE COULD BE PART OF THAT AND WAS NOT JUST TYPICAL HOLLYWOOD PROJECTION.

>> YET.

>> HE ALSO SAW THE ASIAN KIDS AND WHITE KIDS AND LATINO KIDS, YOU KNOW, DRESSING UP IN MOVIE THEATERS AROUND THE COUNTRY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE BLACK PANTHER.

>> KIDS WHO SAW THEMSELVES IN THAT STORY.

WHEN HOLLYWOOD GETS IT RIGHT, THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS.

YOU SEE YOURSELF.

EVEN IF THE PERSON DOES NOT LOOK EXACTLY LIKE YOU, THERE IS A PLACE FOR YOU.

>> THE POINT IS THAT THE BLACK EXPERIENCE CAN BE UNIVERSAL, JUST LIKE THE WHITE EXPERIENCE IS UNIVERSAL.

BECAUSE WE INHABIT EVERYTHING THAT IS HUMAN.

IT CAN BE PARTICULARLY BLACK BUT ALSO UNIVERSAL.

>> PLUS, I WILL NOTE THAT CHADWICK BOSEMAN, HE WHO PLAYED THE BLACK PANTHER AND SADLY HAS DIED, ONE OF HIS GREAT QUOTES IS THAT THE MORE A UNIVERSAL STORY CAN BECOME VERY SPECIFIC IF YOU PAY ATTENTION TO ALL OF THE DETAILS, AND HE NEVER WAS MORE CORRECT THAN THIS BECAUSE THERE WAS NO DISCUSSION OF -- WHY DID THEY HAVE THIS IN THERE?

WHY WEREN'’T THERE MORE WHITE PEOPLE IN IT?

IT WAS JUST, HERE IS THE STORY AND JUST GET INTO IT.

>> IT DEMOLISHES, IF IT NEEDED TO BE DEMOLISHED, THE MYTH OF COLORBLINDNESS.

COLORBLINDNESS IS NOT TO BE ASPIRED TO.

YOU CAN CELEBRATE UNIQUE CULTURES AND SEE THE UNIVERSAL IN EACH OF THIS.

>> AS ALWAYS, ENLIGHTENING CONVERSATION FROM ALL OF YOU.

THANK YOU, PHILIP.

THANK YOU, KIM.

THANK YOU, RENÉE.

THAT IS THE END OF OUR BROADCAST AND END OF OUR SHOW.

BEGINNING NEXT WEEK, YOU WILL SEE A NUMBER OF NEW AND FAMILIAR FACES IN THIS HOST CHAIR.

THEY WILL CONTINUE THE MISSION OF "BASIC BLACK," GUIDING ENGAGING DISCUSSIONS IMPORTANT TO COMMUNITIES OF COLOR.

WHILE I AM SIGNING OFF HERE, I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE.

YOU CAN STILL HEAR ME ON 89.7 FM SUNDAY NIGHTS AT 6:00 P.M.

I WILL BE CONTRIBUTING TO GBH NEWS AND COHOSTING AN EXCITING NEW DAILY RADIO PROGRAM, "THE CULTURE SHOW," HIGHLIGHTING BOOKS, MOVIES, AND CULTURAL TRENDS.

HOPE YOU WILL TAKE A LISTEN.

IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR AND PRIVILEGE.

THANK YOU.