Posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, author and our favorite trickster, Báyò Akómoláfé is on the podcast again. Prentis and Báyò get lost in this episode as they traverse Blackness, radical non-completion, AI, and the second fall of humanity. 

• Check out Dr. Akómoláfé’s new book, Selah 
• Follow Báyò on Instagram
• If you enjoyed this episode, listen to Báyò’s first conversation with Prentis from the Finding Our Way podcast.

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The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

This week’s episode is centered around cultivating a relationship with self that is non-contingent. A self that is not tied to or determined by the myths of human beings. They are exploring how to activate a sense of belonging to something bigger to help us build the most powerful, authentic and potent versions of ourselves.

• If you want to dive deeper into this conversation about the Contingent Self - Join the Patreon!
• RSVP for the free Being the ground: Toolkit for care and connection in crisis response Live call on April 13th
• Mini-Toolkit for Crisis Responders

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The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

Author Melissa Febos is here to talk about her book The Dry Season - a memoir of her year of celibacy. Prentis and Melissa explore how to build a true understanding of our interiors, erotic energy outside of sex, and what it means to truly hold power in this world.

• Check out Melissa’s book - The Dry Season and follow her on Instagram @MelissaFebos
• The Uses of the Erotic by Audre Lorde

Support the show

The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

In this week’s mini-episode, Prentis is talking about the kind of movement they want to b a part of. A movement rooted in empathy, filled with curiosity and where we take the risks to traverse the distance between each other. They are addressing one of the crises of our time – our inability to connect with each other and to meet people where they are at. They share their vision for exploring the doorways that help us connect across worldviews and what’s possible when we can meet in contradiction and build a reality together.

Shownotes:

• Being the ground in crisis response - Live Call - April 13th - Available in English & Spanish
• Listen to Prentis on the Movd Podcast with Mariah Rooney
• Support Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity

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The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

Ai-jen Poo, the Executive Director the Domestic Workers Alliance joins Prentis this week to share

her vision for how care is the foundation to democracy and how we get free.They explore how caregivers are futurists, imagining how human life could be different if care were at the center. 

• Follow Ai-Jen on Instagram
• Check our her book The Age of Dignity

Support the show

The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

This week’s mini episode is a love letter to children. Prentis reflects on how they are carrying the greatest weight of cruelty in our time—and why failing to protect them betrays our future. Prentis also shares an invocation to James Baldwin and borrows from his moral clarity to ask what it means to intervene when children are being harmed.

• Apply for the Becoming the People In-Person Training May 6-9th
• RSVP for the Being the ground: Toolkit for care and connection in crisis response webinar April 13th

Support the show

The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

Dean Spade joins the pod this week to discuss his book, Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up and Raise Hell Together. He brings a sharp, layered perspective on how we are shaped by the systems around us—and how we can wake up to the patterns of control we’ve internalized. Together, we explore what it means to turn our relationships into spaces for healing, liberation, and deeper connection.

• Get Dean’s book, Love in a F*cked Up World
• Follow Dean on Instagram
• Community Justice Exchange

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The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

Sendolo Diaminah is here to point us to the pathway of hallelujah! Co-Director of the Carolina Federation and community strategist, Sendolo brings profound wisdom for how we’re abdicating our power, shares how she is guided by prophetic wisdom and offers inspiration for how we can all take more potent action in our lives.

- Support Carolina Federation

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The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

In this week’s mini-episode, Prentis reflects on their time in Minneapolis, what the Epstein files are revealing to us about shame and patriarchy, and how the performance of shock is tied to our own need to be innocent.

Join us over on Patreon to watch the full episode and come explore these themes and topics together -  @Prentishemphill

Support the show

The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

Activist, advocate, author, and co-founder of the me too movement, Tarana Burke joins Prentis for this episode. Tarana is sharing the portals that me too has opened and made possible in our culture, her framework on the solvability of sexual violence, and how we shouldn’t believe the lie that we can’t break apart systems of power.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains conversation of sexual violence and child sexual abuse. If you are triggered by that, please be choiceful how you listen to this episode. Pace yourself, take breaks, or listen with a friend

• Check out the me too International: Survivors Sanctuary
• Follow Tarana on Instagram
• If you enjoyed this conversation, go listen to Prentis’ first convo with Tarana on the Finding Our Way podcast

Support the show

The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda

In this week’s mini-episode, Prentis explores the complexities of burnout and the importance of using our agency to make meaningful action in the world.

Join us over on Patreon to watch the full episode and come explore these themes and topics together -  @Prentishemphill

Support the show

The Becoming the People Podcast Team:

• Producers: Prentis Hemphill & devon de Leña
• Sound Engineer and Editing: Michael Maine
• Original Music: Mayyadda