Do you need black skin to be Black? How might concepts such as white privilege be limiting our understanding of how racism works? In Episode 117 of Overthink, Ellie and David chat with philosopher Lewis Gordon about his book, Fear of Black Consciousness. They talk through the history of anti-Black racism, the existential concept of bad faith, why Rachel Dolezal might have Black consciousness, and Frantz Fanon’s experience of being called a racial slur by a white child on a train. From the American Blues to the Caribbean movement of Negritude, this episode is full of insight into Black liberation and White centeredness. In the bonus, Ellie and David go into greater detail about how Black liberation is connected to love.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works Discussed: Steve Bantu Biko, I Write What I LikeW.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black FolkFrantz Fanon, Black Skin, White MasksEdouard Glissant, Introduction à une Poétique du DiversJane Anna Gordon, “Legitimacy from Modernity’s Underside: Potentiated Double Consciousness”Lewis Gordon, Bad Faith and Antiblack racismLewis Gordon, Fear of Black ConsciousnessRebecca Tuvel, “In Defense of Transracialism”Support the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | [email protected] | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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