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Lezli has her final deep dive of Season One with Dr. Régine Jean-Charles, associate professor of French and African and African Diaspora Studies at Boston College. During this penultimate episode of the season, the two discuss Haiti’s significance as the first Black republic, the global significance of Haiti’s defeat of France, as well as the Haitian sacrament that takes place around the world on January 1st.

Relevant and Recommended Reads:

• The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)

• The most successful slave rebellion in history created an independent Haiti and secured the Louisiana Purchase

• A Warming Soup Joumou Family Recipe From Sommelier Bianca Sanon

Podcast Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Duresny “Rez” Nemorin (Producer) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)

Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-hosts Zuri and Nava; Spelman College ‘21 + ‘23 close out Season 1 with the first of a two part conversation. They get an update from Zuri’s classmate, Chantia Murphy ‘21 who joined for Episode #4 under the theme “Climate Change + COVID-19 + Communities of Color.Chantia is an English Major with a 3.9 GPA, first generation American and college student with aspirations of working for a media outlet that focuses on telling Black stories. Earlier in the season Chantia shared the financial impact of COVID-19 on her family meant she might not be able to return to Spelman for her senior year. With first semester complete Chantia provides an update.

Podcast Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Nava Levene Harvell (Co-Host) / Zuri Levene Harvell (Co-Host) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)

Lezli finishes up her two-part conversation with Dr. Charles L. Hughes, author of Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South, which was named by Rolling Stone, as one of the Best Music Books of 2015. Charles is the DIrector of the Lynne & Henry Turley Memphis Center at Rhodes College, where he is also an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies, History and Africana Studies. The two explore prominent Black R&B and Soul artists such as Ray Charles that also made Country albums, how Charley Pride navigated the homogeneity of the Country Music genre, the dynamic that created the Lil Nas X controversy, and what his hopes are for the future of Country Music.

Relevant and Recommended Reads:

• Charley Pride Country Music Hall of Fame

• Ray Charles’ “Modern Sounds in Country” Cultural Impact

• Country Music is Also Mexican Music

Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-host Zuri; Spelman College ‘21 have a conversation with two HBCU VC Fellows; Kendall Camp; Morehouse College ‘22 Host of Privileged Black Kids Podcast and Trea’jure DahlSpelman College ‘22. The four explore the minuscule percentage of VC dollars going to Black-owned startups, how Kendall and Trea’jure became interested in VC, what makes VC internships uniquely difficult to obtain, and how students should leverage their campus community whether they’re interested in VC or not.

Relevant and Recommended Reads:

• Why it’s so Hard for Black Entrepreneurs to Find Funding

• A VC’s Guide to Investing in Black Founders

• Diverse Startups and Investors Matter

Lezli continues her exploration of American music with a two-part conversation with Dr. Charles L. Hughes, author of Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South, which was named by Rolling Stone, as one of the Best Music Books of 2015. Charles is the DIrector of the Lynne & Henry Turley Memphis Center at Rhodes College, where he is also an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies, History and Africana Studies. The two explore American folk traditions associated with Country Music, how people of color get written out of America’s folksy roots, the impetus for the creation of the “Hillbilly Music” genre; Country Music’s predecessor, why this music became central to American white identity and the fundamental differences between Country Music and Blues.

Podcast Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)

Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-host Nava; Spelman College ‘23 finish up their two-part episode conversation with Alston Bowman; Spelman College ‘21 and Zula Oliveira; Clark Atlanta University ‘23 about what veganism elucidated for them regarding how Americans consume meat, the misconception that a vegan diet HAS to be more expensive than an omnivore diet, being policed by meat-eaters, tips for transitioning to a plant-based diet along with some of their favorite vegan brands, and vegan cooks and content to follow and subscribe to on the gram and YouTube.

Relevant and Recommended Reads:

• Why Black Americans are more likely to be vegan

• Can I afford to go vegan?

• 10 Black Influencers in the Vegan Instagram World to Follow

Podcast Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Nava Levene Harvell (Co-Host) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)

Lezli chats with Dr. Jack Hamilton, cultural historian, Associate Professor of American Studies and Media Studies at The University of Virginia, Pop Culture Critic for Slate Magazine, and author of the award-winning book, Just around Midnight: Rock and Roll and the Racial Imagination. The two explore the intersection of Race Records and the birth of contemporary pop music, why Adele gets placed in a different genre than Jazmine Sullivan, and what the movie TROLLS WORLD TOUR was talking about; beyond appropriation.

Relevant and Recommended Reads:

• How ‘Race Records’ Turned Black Music Into Big Business

• Music Industry Rethinks ‘Urban’ as a Genre for Black Artists

• As Labels Abandon ‘Urban,’ They Should Also Consider Ditching ‘Pop’

Podcast Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)

Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-host Nava; Spelman College ‘23 begin a two-part episode conversation with Alston Bowman; Spelman College ‘21 and Zula Oliveira; Clark Atlanta University ‘23 about why they chose veganism, the challenges of being vegan at their respective HBCUs, how they think their institutions can ensure all students; meat eaters and plant eaters can be adequately nourished, and why being vegan is both a lifestyle as well as form of activism that affirms their Blackness.

Relevant and Recommended Reads:

• Why Black Americans are more likely to be vegan

• The complicated relationship between Blackness and veganism | Living

• Black Vegans Step Out, for Their Health and Other Causes

Podcast Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Nava Levene Harvell (Co-Host) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)

What does the Charleston dance craze of the 1920s and Bebop Jazz have in common; they were both born in the long-gone NYC neighborhood of San Juan Hill. Lezli chats with Dr. Lance Freeman Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and author of A Haven and a Hell: The Ghetto in Black America about the cultural displacement that occurs during gentrification, as well as gentrification’s intersection with federal policy. They explore the correct approach to gentrification so the cultural landscape is preserved in the process.

Relevant and Recommended Reads:

• Shifting Neighborhoods: Gentrification and Cultural Displacement in American Cities

• Chinatown’s famed Empress of China restaurant space to be reopened by former Hakkasan chef

• How Lincoln Center Was Built (It Wasn’t Pretty)

Podcast Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Rez Nemorin (Producer) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)

Lezli and her ON THE YARD co-hosts Nava; Spelman College ‘23 and Zuri; Spelman College ‘21 host a special Thanksgiving episode where they discuss some lesser-known facts about one of America’s most celebrated historical figures, Sarah Josepha Hale, the Godmother of the American Thanksgiving and one of the founders of Vassar College. They also discuss Indigenous People’s Day and Christopher Columbus myths.

Relevant and Recommended Reads:

• How the fourth Thursday in November officially became Thanksgiving

• Christopher Columbus: 3 things you think he did that he didn’t

Podcast Team = Lezli Levene Harvell (Host & Executive Producer) / Zuri Levene Harvell (Co-Host) / Nava Levene Harvell (Co-Host) / Justin Bates (Sound Engineer)