Episodes

  • Episode 8: My Microphone Evolution

    Episode 8: My Microphone Evolution
    Feb 10 2022
    In this final episode of Season 1 of the Word.Life podcast, Donney unpacks his personal journey as a performance poet, the evolution of the politics in his writing, and how writing about race and culture proved to be the true mission statement of his artistry.
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    17 mins
  • Episode 7: “America is Mine and Yours Too”

    Episode 7: “America is Mine and Yours Too”
    Feb 3 2022
    In this week’s episode of Word.Life, Donney is in conversation with poet Sasha Banks about her debut collection “america, MINE”, writing honestly about what America has been to Black people, and the injustices that impacted the collection’s writing
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    25 mins
  • Episode 6: “Fight For You” is Award-Winning Revolution

    Episode 6: “Fight For You” is Award-Winning Revolution
    Jan 27 2022
    Singer/songwriter H.E.R. is one of the most accomplished artists of her generation. “Fight For You” is a revolutionary masterpiece that added to her growing legacy.
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    11 mins
  • Episode 5: The Life and (Hard) Times of Etheridge Knight

    Episode 5: The Life and (Hard) Times of Etheridge Knight
    Jan 20 2022
    Donney talks about how the work of the late poet, Etheridge Knight inspired Black boys in Baton Rouge public schools to embrace poetry in a manner they never did before.
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    13 mins
  • Episode 4: I Find it Hard to Say (Rebel)

    Episode 4: I Find it Hard to Say (Rebel)
    Jan 13 2022
    In this week's episode of Word.Life, Donney pays homage to Lauryn Hill's Unplugged album, the  revolutionary lyrics of the track "I Find It Hard to Say (Rebel)," her meteoric rise to stardom in the late 90s and the controversy that followed her after her breakout album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
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    8 mins
  • Episode 3: Cry Freedom

    Episode 3: Cry Freedom
    Jan 6 2022
    Donney sits down with independent hip hop artist and his good friend, Marcel P. Black to discuss Marcel’s song (and album) “Cry Freedom”, the 2016 summer of unrest in Baton Rouge, and what it means to put your politics on the line beyond the rhyme.
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    33 mins
  • Episode 2: The Key to Hitting

    Episode 2: The Key to Hitting
    Dec 23 2021
    In this episode of Word.Life, Donney is in conversation with revolutionary poet, essayist, activist and scholar, Amoja ‘MoMan’ Sumler. They discuss his poem “The Key to Hitting”, systemic abuse and the literal violence that has plagued Black Americans for generations.
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    26 mins
  • Episode 1: Living for the City

    Episode 1: Living for the City
    Dec 16 2021
    In this week's episode of Word.Life, Donney unpacks Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" and the longstanding complexities of Black migration
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    12 mins