SEASON 02, EPISODE 02: MAPPING IT OUT
As rapper Andre 3000 from the Atlanta-based duo Outkast proclaimed to the world during the 1995 Source Awards: “The South got something to say!” For Season 2 of the BLK IRL Podcast, Anuli travels to Atlanta, GA to learn more about the local tensions between "Old Atlanta'' and "New Atlanta'' that began to take root in the 1990s as the city prepared its bid to host the 1996 Olympic Games and how Atlanta has since evolved to become one of America’s cultural capitals.
In this episode, Anuli shares the story behind the illustrated map of Atlanta, Georgia she created in collaboration with Georgia-based illustrator, Beaux Xavier for Season 2. An interactive version of the map is available on the BLK IRL® website at www.blkirl.com/season-2. Prints of the map are also available to purchase!
FEATURED SPEAKER: ANULI AKANEGBU, BLK IRL® HOST & PRODUCER
Anuli Akanegbu (Pronounced: Ah-noo-lee A-ka-nay-boo – she/her/hers) is a scholar-practitioner and social media consultant working at the intersection of business, communications, and culture. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology at New York University (NYU) where her dissertation project examines how race and desirability factor into the success of Black-identifying social media content creators, or "influencers" in the creative economy of Atlanta, GA.
Learn more about Anuli here.
featured collaborator: Beaux Xavier
Beaux Xavier is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Athens, GA. Born in the desert of Southern California, Beaux moved to Athens in 2016. Their art features a variety of styles and mediums that is inspired by their study of fairy tales, black holes, sumo wrestling, Black representation & joy.
Learn more about Beaux here.
referenced materials
Brand Polanco, Mieka. 2014. Historically Black: Imagining Community in a Black Historic District. New York: New York University Press.
Byrne, Denis. 2011. “Archaeological heritage and cultural intimacy An interview with Michael Herzfeld.” Journal of Social Archaeology. 11(2), 144-157.
Cherokee Nation. https://www.cherokee.org/
Harrison, Faye V. 2018. From Standing Rock to Flint and Beyond: Resisting Neoliberal Assaults on Indigenous, Maroon, and Other Sites of Racially Subjected Community Sustainability in the Americas. Abya-Yala: Journal on Access to Justice and Rights in the Americas, 2(1), 70-89.
Lanier, Michelle & Hamilton, Allison Janae. 2020. Rooted: Black Women, Southern Memory, and Womanist Cartographies. Southern Cultures 26(2), 12-31. https://www.southerncultures.org/article/rooted/
McKenna, Mark. 2014. Tokenism or Belated Recognition: Welcome to Country and the emergence of Indigenous Protocol in Australia 1991-2014. Journal of Australian Studies, 38(4), 476-489.
Muscogee Nation. https://www.muscogeenation.com/