S11 E215: "Your Connection To Your Culture Can Be What Propels You Forward...Or Holds You Back": Joy Bailey-Bryant Holds Space With Dr. Gee
Release Date: 11/11/2025
Black Like Me
Dr. Gee ends Season 11 with his deep and thoughtful reflections on the season and the times we are living in, as a Black man. His mic drop episodes don't hold back but speak from an honest place, making sense of our world. This episode is a special conversation as Jeremy Holiday reflects on being a part of the show from the beginning as a producer and engineer. He discusses the evolution of the show alongside his own ongoing racial justice journey. Dr. Gee talks to Jeremy about the lessons he has learned from being involved in the show and who were the guests that stuck out to him...
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Rev. Lilada Gee shares from a deep place of self-reflection about how to best spend her life as she faced cancer. She details the importance of travel and cultures in the last year. Lilada shares about her recent trip to South Africa in order to mentor other Black women, including Kay Hawkins, who also joins the show talk about her experience as a young woman. It was Kay’s first international trip and also her 21st birthday. Lilada is surely passing along a passion for travel, learning from African culture, and building a community of empowered women. Learn more about opportunities with Rev....
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Dr. Gee and Dr. Charles Taylor discuss the richness of African American history and understanding the wisdom of African heritage. Dr. Taylor considers how people around the country are still figuring out how to celebrate Juneteenth. It must be about history. One of Dr. Taylor’s recent endeavors is a documentary on The South Madison Renaissance, including Dr. Gee’s development of The Center for Black Excellence and Culture. Documentary Dr. Charles A. Taylor is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and consultant whose work has profoundly shaped the understanding and...
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Joy Bailey-Bryant, Lord Cultural Resources President, returns to the show as The Center for Black Excellence and Culture building comes to completion. As an expert in cultural spaces and innovative museums, Baily-Bryant is involved in supporting the development of The Center for Black Excellence and Culture in Madison, WI. They connect over shared Black culture and tell stories of the power of preserving culture, demonstrating the resilient power of culture that has space to speak into itself. As leader of cultural planning at the largest cultural consultancy in the world, Joy works with city...
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Dr. Emily Auerbach is a great storyteller and cares deeply about helping make other people’s stories great. Hear the story of her work of leading the Odyssey Project and mentoring non-traditional students through literature and the humanities. Dr. Auerbach talks about their whole family approach that brings all generations into the learning opportunities. The hope is that the program is a launching pad into further education at UW-Madison. Dr. Gee and Dr. Auerbach share so many connections to graduates who have completed degrees and are active in the community. They also share the...
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Dr. Emily Auerbach is a great storyteller and cares deeply about helping make other people’s stories great. Hear the story of her work of leading the Odyssey Project and mentoring non-traditional students through literature and the humanities. Dr. Auerbach talks about their whole family approach that brings all generations into the learning opportunities. The hope is that the program is a launching pad into further education at UW-Madison. Dr. Gee and Dr. Auerbach share so many connections to graduates who have completed degrees and are active in the community. They also share the...
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Dr. Christy Clark-Pujara brings some clarity to the recent political attacks on history that are attempting to erase multicultural aspects of our American past. Not just history but education and knowledge itself. This moment is similar to the time after Reconstruction with the response to Black people engaged in the political process and having power. Points to cultural backlash historically like Birth of the Nation and Gone with the Wind portraying a negative propaganda of African American contributions to the US. Also, hear about a program that Dr. Clark-Pujara has been a part of that...
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Dr. Gee welcomes Harry Hawkins back to the show again to discuss what it means to lead a cross-cultural organization that is focused on empowering the Black community. Harry Hawkins has moved into the President and CEO role of the non-profit , as Dr. Gee transitions into new endeavors. The two innovative leaders discuss what it is like serving the Black community in a predominantly white community. They have both had to navigate cross-cultural environments in their work. The discussion covers drawing out underserved groups, like Black women and young Black men. Hear Harry Hawkin's background...
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Dr. Gee and Professor Stephen Kantrowitz discuss the erasure of history that has happened in other nations in order to understand the current US government attempts to control historical information and ideology. You will be shocked to hear the ways that historical and scientific research are being attacked through elimination of funding and discrediting of academic knowledge. One of the current realities is that current students will be discouraged from seeking out new perspectives and the truth of historical perspectives because of perceived connections to DEI. Hear how government...
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Kaleem Caire shares how his family, their audacity, and legacy have inspired him to create change in Madison. They discuss how Kaleem challenged Dr. Gee to build something new - his church, social justice non-profits, The Center for Black Excellence and Culture. The inspiration came from each other to see something new built. Listen to how education is a major factor for the health of the community by investing in the next generation who will be running the community. Kaleem explains what is behind One City Schools and what they are doing different to shift the educational...
info_outlineJoy Bailey-Bryant, Lord Cultural Resources President, returns to the show as The Center for Black Excellence and Culture building comes to completion. As an expert in cultural spaces and innovative museums, Baily-Bryant is involved in supporting the development of The Center for Black Excellence and Culture in Madison, WI. They connect over shared Black culture and tell stories of the power of preserving culture, demonstrating the resilient power of culture that has space to speak into itself.
As leader of cultural planning at the largest cultural consultancy in the world, Joy works with city officials, institutional leaders, and developers, in global municipalities like Chicago; New York; Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Dharan, Saudi Arabia to creatively plan cities and bring people (life!) to public institutions. Joy led the teams for institutional and cultural planning on remarkable projects like the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., reaching more than 1,000 stakeholders across the country to learn their expectations for the new museum; the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, directing citywide engagement in locations as large as Chicago and small as Decatur, Georgia – speaking with thousands of individuals in meetings and on social media – to assess, project, and plan for their cultural needs; and planning and opening the expansion of the Albany Civil Rights Institute in Albany, Georgia—unearthing thousands of untold stories of the Southwest Georgia Civil Rights Movement.
A cultural planning specialist, certified interpretive planner, and outreach facilitator, Joy honed her specialized skill working in collaborative roles at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and notable cultural planning projects.
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