Season 1 Finale: Angela Glover Blackwell's Reimagining Democracy for a Good Life — Chapter 6: Hope is a Discipline

This is a bonus episode. Back on Juneteenth, we shared Episode 1 of Angela Glover Blackwell's Reimagining Democracy for a Good Life. Last Wednesday, you heard our full conversation with Angela. Today, we're closing that loop with Chapter 6, the final episode of Season 1: Hope Is a Discipline. Angela and choreographer Ana Maria Alvarez explore how art moves a place, and a country, from resistance to creation, with stops along the way for joy, honest pushback on whether LA is really "the model," and a reminder from Mariame Kaba that hope has to be practiced, not just felt. Season 2, focused on Georgia, is out now.

Reimagining Democracy for a Good Life is a podcast created by PolicyLink in partnership with Pineapple Street Studios.

Chapter Markers

• 00:00 — Cold open: Charles White's mural and Angela's reflection on Black artists in the fight for democracy
• 03:32 — Show intro: welcome to Chapter 6, Hope Is a Discipline
• 07:17 — Ana Maria Alvarez on Contra-Tiempo Activist Dance Theater and art as resistance
• 09:15 — Intergenerational organizing: Ana Maria's parents and the village that built PolicyLink
• 10:33 — Resistance as a healthy democratic practice, the salsa metaphor
• 12:53 — Joy as fuel for the movement, adrienne maree brown and Pleasure Activism
• 15:25 — Is LA the model? Denise Fairchild's honest pushback
• 16:31 — Manuel Pastor: "a thing of beauty with our friends"
• 17:35 — Anthony Thigpen: standing at the brink
• 18:30 — 2024, the biggest global election year in history
• 21:00 — Hope is a discipline, the Mariame Kaba idea
• 22:07 — Justin Jones and Justin Pearson: expelled, reinstated, undeterred
• 23:17 — Fight for 15, ROC United, and the New Georgia Project with Nse Ufot
• 25:58 — Closing reflection and Shanaka Hodge's poem
• 27:22 — Angela's closing charge, credits, and a call to vote

Resources & Links

• Follow Reimagining Democracy for a Good Life: wherever you listen to podcasts! Season 2: Georgia is available now: https://www.policylink.org/resources/podcasts
• Learn more about PolicyLink: https://www.policylink.org/
• Listen to our full interview with Angela Glover Blackwell (Episode 294): https://caremorebebetter.com/reimagining-democracy-with-angela-glover-blackwell/
• Revisit our Juneteenth share of Episode 1: Los Angeles: https://caremorebebetter.com/juneteenth-feature-angela-glover-blackwells-reimagining-democracy-for-a-good-life-episode-1-los-angeles/
• Questions or reflections? Email hello@caremorebebetter.com

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