Society makes it hard for Black people to imagine liberation or freedom outside of our experience in White America. Because so much of our existence is a product of resistance and survival, even our creative spaces consciously and subconsciously speak to a relationship with oppression or designing solutions to issues Black people didn’t create. But if we could imagine a “state of nature” outside of racism or white supremacy—one that does not limit our fullness to narrow, exoticized, or romanticized tropes of our African origins or American journey, but rather pays homage to and embodies them—what might that look like? And how might we reverse-engineer back (or forward) into a fresh and compelling vision for ourselves? From Chains to Links sits with the brilliant Intelligent Mischief team—Aisha Shillingford, Artistic Director, and Terry Marshall, Founder & Executive Creative Director—who share how imagining whole, well-Black-beings is a crucial part of visioning and world-building.

How much do we really credit Black people with the innovation of freedom and liberation? The significance of the Underground Railroad is not only how it freed enslaved Black people, but how leaders like Harriet Tubman and unknown conductors innovated safe, trusting and liberatory pathways and spaces for Black bodies. From Chains to Links is joined by Jeff Lindor Founder, CEO of Gentlemen’s Factory, Inc, for a powerful exploration of liberatory practices, the power of spacebuilding, and the ways environment impacts innovation as Black visionaries build out their dreams.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has been a staple of corporate America for the past several decades, with peak attention at the height of movements challenging the lack of safety of Black lives post the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020. At an unprecedented rate, Black leadership was visible across industries and as a result, institutions began confronting generations-old practices which created barriers for marginalized communities. But as power concedes nothing, “anti-woke” efforts conspired assaults all the way up to the Supreme Court. Furthermore, many racial justice advocates have long called out the shortcomings of DEI and its cousin affirmative action—neither of which have remedied the second-class citizenry of Black people in America. Thus, our first episode tackles the real question: “what’s next for racial justice advancement?”

From Chains to Links kicks off with policy expert, professor and Senior Fellow at Brookings Institute, Andre M. Perry, author of the book Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities.