Durags & Degrees

Hello, everyone, you may have noticed that it's been a while since our last episode was released. And that is because during our break we decided that it was best to put a bow on Durags and Degrees. It's very sad news for all of us, but Karl, Broiles, Jorden, and I fulfilled the goal we set out to accomplish. We want to thank you all, our listeners and supporters for rocking with us throughout this entire journey because, without you all, this space wouldn't exist. We hope that over our 15 episodes of Durags and Degrees, that we've been able to put you on to new ways of thinking and experiencing the world we live in. Even though new episodes won't be created, all of our episodes will live on wherever you get your podcasts, so please revisit them if you're feeling a little nostalgic! Please don't hesitate to continue to connect with us on our individual socials! We will miss you all dearly. Thank you for coming on the ride! Oh, and one more thing, respectability politics? We don't know her.  Follow Broiles on Instagram Follow Jorden on Instagram Follow Jermaine on Instagram Follow Karl on Instagram

Weed. Loud. Mary Jane. We all know someone who indulges in this plant. Despite marijuana being used recreationally in certain states, it has yet to be nationally legalized. Furthermore, the market for cannabis is beginning to bud (pun intended), considering the likelihood of its legalization changing within the near future. For this episode, we decided to discuss marijuana, cannabis culture, and certain hypocrisies within our flawed system with a special guest, Tyler Davis (@t_davis_). Tyler works with the company SAP XTRAXX, a fully integrated marijuana business. We're so excited to have someone who sees very clearly the business side add a different point of view to the discourse. If you would like to give your perspective on a topic we have slated, or want to be featured yourself, feel free to contact us @duragsanddegreespod on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and rate on all your favorite streaming platforms!

Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be constructive to society as a whole, and therefore deserve influence or authority greater than that of others. Specifically, Black elitism is a term used to address classism in the Black community and is typically used to criticize the Black upper and upper-middle class. The conversation around Black elitism is very nuanced as some argue about where it shows up, where it stems from, and if it is harmful? We also know that Black elitism has its roots in Black capitalism. Though we love to see Black people succeed and have wealth, we have to discuss whether Black elitism and capitalism should even be a thing and should people even think they are “above” someone else in the Black community. Let's be clear, capitalism is detrimental. So, Black capitalism will not push us towards equality but further away and closer to white supremacy. If you would like to give your perspective on a topic we have slated, or want to be featured yourself, feel free to contact us @duragsanddegreespod on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and rate on all your favorite streaming platforms! Check the links below!!

Molly & Issa, Dijonay & Penny, Joan & Toni, Noah, Alex, Ricky, & Chance from Noah's Arc. Black Twitter has been in shambles over each of these friendships more than once. These shows make us ponder the nuances of companionship. "Friend" is a term thrown loosely by some, and sacred to others. And just like our Blackness, our friendships are not monolithic. So for this episode, we are going to talk about these nuances, centering our own unique experiences with one another, of course. We intend on using this episode to better understand ourselves as a group. Outside of our Black and queer identities, what else do we connect on? What makes us tick? What do we expect out of one another? If you would like to give your perspective on a topic we have slated, feel free to contact us @duragsanddegreespod on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and rate on all your favorite streaming platforms! Check the links below!!

2020 and 2021 has been quite an era for music. We have been through not one, but two pandemics; racial and health. For many of us, we have leaned onto artists reflecting our emotions and stages of life best. This of course is no new concept. From childhood on through life, music has provided therapy during the happiest and worst moments. In fact, research shows music has a direct correlation with decreasing one's heart rate and relieving their anxiety. Check out this episode to hear how the host's different life experiences parallel the music of our lives, AND head to Spotify or Apple Music for a sneak peek into their music libraries. If you would like to give your perspective on a topic we have slated, feel free to contact us @duragsanddegreespod on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and rate on all your favorite streaming platforms! Check the links below!!

Back for our season 2 premiere, Durags and Degrees is coming in hot. Not that we never did before, but it's special this time! Disparities in the health care system have been a hot spot of contention for a while now and for good reason. Lack of access to health care has had an abundance of negative impacts on Black people for generations; especially since we're already bogged down with racism showing up in everything from voting laws to the Olympics, plus a dash of misogynoir for our Black women and feminine presenting people on the side. So, today we're going to dive a little deeper into how these disparities show up in our life experiences.  If you would like to give your perspective on a topic we have slated, feel free to contact us @duragsanddegreespod on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and rate on all your favorite streaming platforms!

For our Season One Finale, we decided to base the discussion around the trailblazing favorite, POSE. POSE is a record-breaking show that spotlights a scene near and dear to the queer community, house culture. One of the main characters from Pose, Blanca, says, "your house is a family you can choose. And the balls allow you to celebrate the life others do not deem worthy." We couldn't do this episode without having a trans perspective, given the pivotal role that Black and Latinx transwomen played in the creation of house culture. For this reason, we are joined by our guest, Harmen (@himhunonline). We spoke with her about some of her house culture experiences, but also just about this show we know and love. If you would like to give your perspective on a topic we have slated, feel free to contact us @duragsanddegreespod on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and rate on all your favorite streaming platforms, and we'll catch y'all in Season 2!

This week we dig into celebrities' struggle with the lack of privacy that comes with the price of fame. However, we don't agree that all of the world should have access to every aspect of a celebrity life simply because they are a public figure. Though some celebs embrace sharing all of their lives: whether through social media, books, and/or documentaries, others rarely allow the public to know what is going on behind the scenes. This struggle to maintain control of your privacy intersecting with the autonomy to disclose whatever, whenever begs the question, how transparent do you feel celebrities should be as public figures, if at all? If you would like to give your perspective on a topic we have slated, feel free to contact us @duragsanddegreespod on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and rate on all your favorite streaming platforms, and we'll catch yall next, next Wednesday.

Toxic seems to be a token word associated with the Zellenial generation. As it pertains to gender expression we see toxic masculinity repeatedly mentioned, and for good reason. Whether you are gay, straight, man, woman, non-binary, something in between, or do not subscribe to any of those identities, we have all experienced our fair share of toxic masculinity. For today's conversation, we want to unpack our experiences with toxic masculinity and indicate attributes that help to quickly identify this cultural pattern. If you would like to give your perspective on a topic we have slated, feel free to contact us @duragsanddegreespod on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and rate on all your favorite streaming platforms, and we'll catch yall next, next Wednesday.

As Black people, we have quite the hard time living without engaging in politics. The laws, funding decisions, and elected officials impact the Black community in a very real way. Plainly, Black do not really have the privilege to disengage from politics as often as some other communities do. And therein lies the importance in being not only politically engaged, but politically aware of the times. In the weeks since the Inauguration, Pres. Biden has pushed through a total of 44 Executive Orders. These executive orders or EOs range in topic from health care, equity, COVID-19, immigration and environmental issues. This episode talks about how these executive orders have impacted our community alongside our guest, Jordan Fields (Host of Black Girls Talk Back).

Black Women have carried Reality TV on their backs since Tami hit the Real World back in 95. It's no secret that Black Women are the stars of Reality TV. Between memes, sound bites and raking in millions of viewers on a weekly basis, Black women are the cornerstone of reality TV. Yet, the Black Women in the field must constantly deal with harsher critiques from critics, the public and their peers, alike. Respectability politcs, tropes of "toxic Black Excellence" and misogynoir, come into play consistently. So, we wanted to take some time to raise up Black Women and thank them for once again being the backbone of yet another American system in this episode.

If you do not know what a Platonic relationship is, its a relationship where two people must experience a deep connection that does not in any way lead to sexual intimacy. These relationships are often used interchangeably with friendships however, we wanted to open the chat to a conversation about what exactly platonic relationships look like. As always, Jermaine, Karl, and Jorden (your hosts) will give you our opinion and truth about platonic relationships, but we wanted to do something different. This week, we had the pleasure of inviting four of our Black, Queer friends to the discussion to get their opinions about what, how, and if platonic relationships can function. Check it out.

One of the main reasons our American culture has a custom of giving and receiving presents at Christmas is to remind us of the birth of Jesus Christ. And of course if you do not celebrate Christmas, you probably spend the holiday season expressing your love and gratitude towards family in other ways. However, critics of the commercialization of Christmas tend to attribute the growth of holiday gift-giving to corporate marketing efforts. In 2019, American citizens each spent an average of a whopping $1,325 in gifts for Christmas. Now different reasonings attribute to this number, but they don't necessarily validate this high cost. However, the expectation of gift-giving may be some bullshit, and cause folks to lose focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Check out our take on this holiday tradition.

A random celebrity does an interview on Good Morning America and they say that black people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and work harder instead of blaming everything on systemic racism, what will happen to that celebrity? They're cancelled! Cancel culture is a fairly new phenomenon that has taken over social media and some would say, has celebrities “walking on eggshells”. Join us as we add our thoughts to a movement that is dividing society right down the middle.

It is no secret the experience of a white student differs greatly from the experience of a black student at a predominantly white institution. As former black students, we understand the stress and constant burden of continuously doing the work to better the social climate for generations to come. Unfortunately this results in a high level of stress, over extending commitments, and at times experiencing burnout. This episode details some personal experiences from your favorite hosts and timely nods to culture. Check it out.

Black sitcoms are an integral part of the black experiences. Family, partnership, and friendships exhibited in the sitcoms reflect real life. We are able to have authentic, dinner table conversation by having a televised point of reference. Netflix decided to nod to black culture, and produce a campaign titled Strong Black Leads. In this episode we take a look back in to the most memorable episodes to discuss how it relates to our experiences. 

Our culture is not a monolith. Black people can be a whole slew of things while having both durags and degrees. Between your hosts, Jermaine, Karl, and myself we all have 22-ish years of black, queer experience. We want this bi-weekly podcast to be your home base for 3 folks shooting the shit about the wild world we live in, and maybe a pop culture moment for the girls, too! We are finally in a place where you can be a bunch of things all at once, and this podcast is no different.