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S1E1: What is Books, BBQ & Black History?
41 Plays11 days ago
In the first episode of Books, BBQ & Black History, listeners will be introduced to your host Toya, an NC based social scientist, organizer, and educator. Listeners will learn how attacks on Black history and knowledge inspired the creation of this podcast. In addition to the origin of the podcast, listeners will also learn more about the meaning of each part of the name and how it pays homage to the host’s Eastern North Carolina roots. Finally, we’ll explore the importance of creating a learning space where Black people and perspectives are centered and some topics listeners will be learning about this season.
Instagram & Threads ➡️ @booksbbqblackhistory
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Transcript
Introduction to Books, Barbecue, and Black History
00:00:01
Toya Thomas
All right, y'all. So welcome to Books, Barbecue, and Black History. This is actually the first episode, the pilot episode. I'm very excited to be here. And who am I? So my name is Toya. I am a North Carolina-based social scientist, educator, and organizer who holds an abolitionist praxis.
00:00:24
Toya Thomas
These are things that I'll talk a little bit more about throughout the season. So the work that I do within these spaces, I'll definitely expand upon. And speaking of the work, the work that I'm talking about. I have been engaging in for over a decade. So that work includes teaching, curriculum design, research, grant writing, community organizing. I'm sure I've left things out, but you know as I talk, I'm sure it will come out.
00:00:49
Toya Thomas
But I say all of this to say that as we're kind of going through these episodes, I really want people to understand that I do know what I'm talking about. These are things that I either have expertise in or that I engage in the community and have learned about it in that sort of way. And I really feel the need to make that point because part of the reason I even started this podcast, which I'll talk a little bit more about later,
00:01:15
Toya Thomas
is because i see so many people with podcasts who are what i call experts in nothing and spreading a lot of like harmful information and so i feel like if you know basically if they can do it i can do it and i feel like what i'll be putting out will be a lot more beneficial specifically to Black people. So that's a little bit about me. Like I said, as we go through the episodes, the seasons, you will definitely get to know more about
Significance of Podcast Name
00:01:42
Toya Thomas
me.
00:01:43
Toya Thomas
Now really want to talk about the origin of the name of this podcast. So the name of the podcast is Books, Barbecue, and Black History. So I'm going to tell you a little bit about each of those pieces. So the books part is pretty simple. it's I love books. I love reading.
00:02:00
Toya Thomas
I have loved reading like my entire life. Anyone who knows me in real life will be able to tell you that I am a walking, you know, kind of a library. i just love reading. You're always to catch me with a book or telling you about a book. Also really important to this podcast because a lot of the information that I'll be sharing are things that I've like actually read in books. And I can pretty much guarantee that there is some Black person out there that that has written a book about something that you probably need to know or want to know. so i'm a I'm very excited to be able to share like some of the things I've learned with people. So that's the books part. The barbecue part is a little more personal because that is actually paying homage to my North Carolina roots, specifically my eastern North Carolina roots. Shout out to the 252.
00:02:52
Toya Thomas
I have a deep recognition that people really do not respect the South, specifically in the United States, a lot. And as someone who lives in the South, as someone you know who lives in North Carolina, who lives in who has lived in Eastern North Carolina,
00:03:10
Toya Thomas
It is just very important for me to always pay homage to that and to point that out because a majority of the places that people denigrate in that way also have like very, very large Black population. So I'm from one of the areas that has the largest population.
00:03:28
Toya Thomas
or had the largest Black population in North Carolina. So it's really important for me to point that out. Also pointing out the barbecue part because I am from Eastern North Carolina. And for those of you who are not from North Carolina, that's very relevant because Eastern North Carolina is known for its barbecue. I would argue we have the best barbecue, but I know that I am biased because I grew up there.
00:03:50
Toya Thomas
So Eastern North Carolina barbecue is whole hog barbecue cooked... Over wood. It is literally the best barbecue that you can have. So i I really have to say that there is Lexington style in North Carolina as well, which is good.
00:04:06
Toya Thomas
i will, you know, give them a little credit. It is good. But Eastern North Carolina style is what I'm essentially riding for. But again, that whole point is am really paying homage to that North Carolina, you know, background that I have. So that is what the barbecue is about. Last part of the name is Black History. And this one is kind of an ironic thing, but it's more of like, I am actually not a historian, but I know a lot of history and I do a lot of studying of history. I'm actually a social scientist who uses history, a lot of Black history actually,
00:04:44
Toya Thomas
to teach and research about the structures the structures of society. So I'll talk more about like my social science background in an upcoming episode. but But the whole point of the Black history is that as someone who struck studies and teaches about the structures of society, I also understand that like you have to understand the foundation of something to understand like how it actually functions as a structure. And so the foundation of society would be history. So history is really, really, really important to understand how society works today, how it has worked in the past, how people would like it to work in the future. So the Black history part is because in my discussions about things, I'm going to talk about a lot of Black history to kind of explain
00:05:33
Toya Thomas
why things kind of function the way that they do, because this is also something we don't get to hear a lot about. And I'd also point out the Black history is really, really important because there's also a very marked effort right now, and there has been historically to stop the learning of Black history. And I would just say if white supremacists are telling you not to learn something, I can guarantee it's something that you need to know. So you will definitely be learning something while you're here with me.
Purpose and Mission of the Podcast
00:06:01
Toya Thomas
All right. So next thing i want to talk about is why does this podcast exist? A few reasons. So the first I was already kind of touching on, and it's really around this erasure of Black knowledge and history.
00:06:16
Toya Thomas
Like I said, there is a very market effort. they You hear it in the language of woke, critical race theory, DEI, which means diversity, equity, and inclusion, by the way. the you know the The language may change, but the meaning is still the same. There is a marked effort to prevent diversity.
00:06:35
Toya Thomas
information Black people and other marginalized groups to actually be learned and taught and and also their history and so for me this is a really important place for me to kind of present that stuff because as someone who has been learning a lot of this stuff i totally understand why they do not want us to be learning this as Black people so all the stuff that they tell me that i really shouldn't be sharing oh we're going to learn about that So again, this is really important for me to kind of point out, you know, why we were kept unaware of our history, our own knowledge and discouraged from reading and learning. So we are definitely going to unpack that.
00:07:15
Toya Thomas
would also note that Black people need spaces where they are centered and safe. And this is a way for me to create that space. And so while I love that you know there may be other people who are gonna be here, who are gonna be listening to this, I really need to be clear that this is first and foremost a Black space. And if you are not Black, you are a guest here. So Black lives will always be centered in these spaces. Black perspectives will always be centered in these spaces. That is ultimately my priority in kind of creating this. So please feel free to be here to learn, but just understand that Black people will be centered here always.
00:07:56
Toya Thomas
Also want to point out in the midst of that, that even though Black people are centered, there's always this, the understanding of, you know, all skin folk ain't kin folk and the margins of the margins will always be centered here. I'm not going to explain all skin folk ain't kin folk because if you were Black, you already know. So there is no deeper explanation needed for that.
00:08:19
Toya Thomas
So I want to make sure that it is a safe space for you know all versions of Black people, all the intersecting identities of Black people. So that includes transgender people, gay people, asexual, bisexual, disabled, the poor, immigrants, people who are parents. these are people These are specific groups within the Black community that I expect to be respected and protected in any space that I create. So all of that to say is that this is not a safe space for bigots. So I'll leave that there.
00:08:53
Toya Thomas
Also think that this is the podcast exists because access to education is something that's just very personally important to me. I think the things that I...
00:09:05
Toya Thomas
have taught about for years that i don't feel like people should have to pay to actually learn the information. I think that it should be accessible and free to people. I think learning should be free. I don't think that we should just be learning to get a job. And so this is a way to kind of pass that information along so you don't have to be in a class and take a test or you know anything like that or just be in a formal institution or find someone to you know teach you these things. so I hope to be that space to do that.
Homage to Black Oral Traditions
00:09:39
Toya Thomas
Also wanted to say that this podcast exists because it is paying homage to the Black historical tradition of passing down information orally. I was really thinking about the Griot when I was thinking about that and their role within... within a lot of different African cultures was as a storyteller, as a historian. And so even though I love to read, i also understand that passing information down along orally is something that has been very common within our communities, Black communities. So that is something that I have really thought about. And that's why i wanted this to be a audio only podcast for now.
00:10:21
Toya Thomas
But there will be transcripts available for all these episodes as well. So i also think that this podcast is really important because Black people have been very miseducated and undereducated about our history. Most of what I learned and what I'll be sharing throughout the season are things that I have learned due to my own curiosity, not just not because I went to school to learn it.
00:10:44
Toya Thomas
I had to choose to go learn some of this information. And a lot of it I just learned after I learned research skills when I was in graduate school. So I really had to take it upon myself to educate myself about this because this is not common knowledge.
00:10:59
Toya Thomas
I learned how society functions and why it functions the way that it does within my social science studies. So that really cleared up a lot of questions that I had on why Black history isn't taught and why we don't have more access to Black knowledge.
Focus on Black Authors and Educational Bias
00:11:14
Toya Thomas
The majority of the books that I have in my collection and that I'll be talking about are authored by Black people.
00:11:22
Toya Thomas
Those who aren't are marginalized in another way, but they do read Black authors. I find it very important for me to read majority Black books because throughout a lot of my education, I have only been given books written by white people. And that that gave like a distorted view of like how I saw the world. So once I started reading Black people, it literally shifted everything about how I understood myself, you know, as a Black person, all the, but you know, I'll get into that at some point, but I say all that to say, I can't wait to share more Black authors, their ideas, and the Black history I've learned from them and will continue to learn from them you know throughout our time together. And I also don't think that this information that I'm talking about is information I should keep to myself.
00:12:11
Toya Thomas
I did not go to school to learn this stuff just to get a job for someone to pay me. Like, yes, I like, you know, to be paid for the work that I do. But I also don't think that knowledge is something that you should like keep to yourself. The whole point is to spread it.
00:12:26
Toya Thomas
I also don't believe that people can tell me that I can't talk about Black history and I can't talk about Black knowledge. That's that's literally white supremacy, which a lot of people keep denying exists. I know white supremacy exists. i'm not like I don't debate that with people. We'll talk about white supremacy, of course, but... I'm not going to let people tell me what I can and cannot talk about specifically when it comes to me as a Black person and like my perspective, my lived experience, my knowledge, my history, all of those things. So throughout this you know throughout this season, we'll talk about you know white supremacy. We'll talk a little bit about why gender is not biological.
00:13:05
Toya Thomas
We'll talk about why we talk about Black and white people so much when we're discussing race. I'll go into the importance of knowing where you live. So I'll talk about some notable North Carolina history.
00:13:15
Toya Thomas
And we'll talk about why you need to have more more radical imagination than your oppressors. So those are things that I've learned about and that I, you know, sometimes teach about. But those are things that I want to share with people just to, you know, provide just some more context about the world that we're actually living in and And really, that's because i believe that Black-centered knowledge should be free and accessible. it is like I said it's very very important for me to share the things that I know and specifically with people because this may sound like very cliche but like I went to school to learn about how society works so that I could learn solutions that I could bring back to the Black community and help with or provide information about so I literally
00:14:02
Toya Thomas
am doing this because i believe that Black-centered knowledge should be free
Centering Black Experiences and Counter Narratives
00:14:06
Toya Thomas
and accessible. I really want to center Black people in a world that tries to convince us that we don't matter. And you know i feel like the more that we learn about ourselves and about the world that we've been you know put into, then it'll make it easier to like push back against these versions of ourselves that we know are not true. Black people of all marginalizations deserve to learn about who they are from people who look like them and center their experiences and perspectives. I cannot emphasize enough white people who know me in real life know that I do not do not coddle people's feelings when we're talking about you know social inequality or oppression or when we're talking about history that makes people uncomfortable. I do not coddle those feelings because
00:14:50
Toya Thomas
People, people experience violence all the time because people's feelings are coddled and i just cannot participate in that. So I just want to be clear about that. So every episode, one thing that I'm going to do is I'm going to share just an interesting fact that I have learned about. about just the world society and it's always going to be something relevant to Black people or Black history Black knowledge maybe even North Carolina a good amount of the time so today this is specific to North Carolina and this was something I just learned and in like just doing random research about something I was looking up for like a class so some of this information is is just information I learned on the go But one thing I learned about North Carolina is that it is actually the first state to institute free public education using taxpayer money for all children.
Historical Insights of North Carolina
00:15:46
Toya Thomas
and that specifically, they were the first state to guarantee education to formerly enslaved children, so Black children. And I found that to be interesting when I was like reading through the history or doing the research I was doing because of the marked defunding that North Carolina is doing with education. And I'll say right now in, you know, 2026,
00:16:13
Toya Thomas
the way that they're defunding education. I hope, you know, one day that this episode means nothing as far as like the funding of education, North Carolina, but I can't help but think that there is some connection between, you know, North Carolina being the the first state to guarantee education, public education paid for by taxpayers, by the way, to all children within the state And the way that it is going about like deeply defunding it right now, I just feel like there's a connection, but you know, we'll we'll talk about that.
00:16:49
Toya Thomas
So what I will leave you with is also this final inspirational quote, I guess I have. And it is that you need to know where you live.
00:16:59
Toya Thomas
That is actually something I say a lot to people who I come across in a lot of educational spaces. You really need to know where you live. The conditions that you live in as a Black person has both a social and a historical context, meaning that there are social structures in place, which we'll talk about, but social structures in place that influence your behavior as an individual and historical context that also influences your understanding of, you know, the world that you're living in. So if you don't know, you know, the structure and you don't know the history, it will be hard to make those connections. But that's really why I'm here to help, you know, open up some of those hidden things, I should say.
00:17:43
Toya Thomas
And I'm just going to share the things that I've learned that have been useful to me. that I think could be useful to you. And I'm going to continue learning. So a lot of this stuff is going to be things that I learned, but a lot of it is also going to be, I'm going to be learning just as I'm going along. So I really hope to learn stuff from you all too. So yeah, so I'm excited that you're here and I'm really looking forward to learning with you this season.