We’ll start with an easy question, “Does race matter?” In this episode, Pawlet Brookes and Cynthia Oliver explore the ninth commandment, “Race matters, who created it? Long live James Baldwin.” Cynthia Oliver is a Bronx born, Virgin Island reared, award winning choreographer and performance artist. In her conversation with Pawlet, Cynthia reflects on the shared experience of Blackness around the world, the reality (and construct) of race, identity, activism, and Black womanhood.

Black Manifesto, the 10 Commandments: Black Women Speak Out, is a 10-part podcast series hosted by nora chipaumire and Pawlet Brookes. Black Manifesto brings together voices of Black women from around the world as a collective conversation, making the invisible visible, and addressing how we work to reshape a new world in which Black women are seen and heard, and a resource for inspiring creativity, learning, and unlearning. Each guest will discuss one commandment from nora’s Black Manifesto, offering their interpretations and insights.