Chidiebere Ibe & his passion for art and medicine was the perfect guest for DBC's 1st TIE DIE episode, where we highlight & explore the intersection of Technology, Innovation & Education + Diversity, Inclusion & Equity. We sat for a delightful convo. Tune in and find out:

• the big role his Christian faith plays

• desire to "normalize" & response to negativity

• thoughts on studying in the US or UK

• childhood sparks of creativity and surgery

• holiday plans

Excited about my guest and what this young man means for the culture, our culture, the world in general. He’s the 25-year-old Nigerian recent college graduate & pre-med student who has been making news and social media headlines with his medical illustrations of Black people. Wait til you hear the role he said God has played and is playing in his life! He shares why he’s doing this and what it means to him and the makings of him. Who is he? What are his plans for his future? Is he interested in doing any studying in the U.S.? And what about his childhood? What inspired him? Parents? Siblings? An extra piece of his story that’s so special is that he’s self taught! Have you SEEN these illustrations? Google him! Imagine my shock when he told me he did not do art as a child, in terms of drawing. He was creative & would construct things. Plus he was into animals, you’ll hear about a lizard, but a thing I really wondered about was this idea of being a doctor and an illustrator. I often see one or the other – the doctor focuses on medicine and hires an illustrator; or an artist/illustrator often focuses only on drawings and not on medicine, so the fact that these 2 fit so perfectly together for him piqued my interest. He talks about that, and that also made him the perfect fit for the first TIE DIE DBC episode. Enjoy!

The incomparable, amazing educator and author Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, author of Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy, visits Daily Border Crossings and gets candid, discussing everything from food and family to 19th century Black women who inspired her work to Taboo and Spades! She discusses her book including how she came up with the title, why the book -- which is grounded in the teachings from Black women in Black literary societies from long ago -- is for all students. Gholdy has made such waves, she’s now working with music super producer Pharrell Williams & shares about that. 

You may have heard about her style of pedagogy or even heard her thoughts on critical race theory —some of which she shares on this episode — but what do you know about her? What drives her? What was life like growing up and who were the special ppl who poured into her so wonderfully that they created the beautiful human she became who now pours into so many? What did she say about Jazmine Sullivan's speech at the Soul Train Awards & hear how she connects that to the long history of Black excellence & Black education. Black excellence and education are the foundation of her book — why does she think her book has been such a success and more importantly, what advice does she have for aspiring authors? Speaking of her book, a number of teachers and schools and districts are using her framework, while many schools, when it comes to antiracist and inclusive and culturally responsive teaching, say they prefer to wait for teacher buy-in to do so. Wait for Gholdys strong views on buy in and why it’s extremely problematic, harmful, and a shameful thing to do. Finally, Gholdy joins me for the new Point Counter Point, where guests get 30 seconds to discuss each item in a list of topics -- and we learn if she's a Taboo or Spades person!

on the host, on past guests, & on what new/dif things & people to expect this season! This is a special rare chance for listeners to get a peek into the life of the host. I, Samantha Fletcher, am so used to interviewing people BUT this time, I will be I’ll be taking questions and sharing my journey. Listeners can expect to hear what I've been doing, including what a year at Harvard for a mid-career wife, mother, busy Black woman was like, as well as some powerful life lessons I've learned that I believe will help plenty of folks out there. I'm hoping to share valuable nuggets of wisdom I picked up from my life journey. I'm also gonna tell you about some exciting upcoming guests this season -- hello Dr. Gholdy Muhammad! -- and changes/additions to the show -- hello YouTube & more guests!

And will update you on guests from last season -- for example, you’ll hear from Marty Swaim talking about race from the perspective of a white educator and antiracism leader (from ep 1) and from the popular Asian American educator episode (ep 7), I caught back up w Cindy and Ariana, you'll find out if things have or have not changed for them. Othering continues. We will explore it, bring it to light, and learn from it. Come find out what I have in store -- and how it can help move you forward to being a better human being and inclusive member of society. Excited! I’ve missed you!

Renowned and gifted speaker, author, and advocate for justice, Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III is pastor of the historic Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago -- just one of his many roles. Add filmmaker to that list; he recently founded Unashamed Media Group. Rev. Dr. Moss talks Covid 1619 “the original pandemic,” what children should do and parents should NOT do when interacting with police, and offers his keen insight on the world today, including the racial protests and white people’s roles in them, response to people critical of Black Lives Matter’s intentional inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals, and what needs to happen for lasting racial change.

Protests against racism and in support of Black lives continue around the globe. What does this mean at the local level? I talk with Sophie and Brooke, 2 white 20-something protesters on why now; college professor Kamille Bostick responds to a protester’s striking disappointed admission about needing to unlearn many things including particularly inaccurate information a teacher taught her about the point of the Civil War; and Alexandra Bailey, the leader of a DC neighborhood group, DC Neighbors for Racial Justice, about ways they are committing to take action.

Our inaugural episode begins with an interview with Marty Swaim. A public school teacher for years, she retired with disappointment on her heart about the achievement gap and awareness of its connection to race. After leaving the classroom, she co-founded Challenging Racism, an organization that aims to "educate people about the prevalence and inequities of institutional and systemic racism, giving them knowledge and tools they need to challenge racism where they encounter it."