Black Artistry: Inspiration Recrafted

Have you ever seen Jacquelin Harris of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform? If you have, you’ll be thrilled to know that she and the company will be performing at Sadler’s Wells (15–19 September 2026). If you haven’t, this pitstop podcast interview might make you want to!
One of the things I love about African American culture is the Ghanaian concept of Sankofa: looking to the past in order to enrich and inform the present. It’s an idea that resonates deeply with the work of Alvin Ailey. Drawing on the lived experiences, histories and what he described as the “blood memory” of African Americans, Ailey transformed those stories into extraordinary choreography: work that continues to move audiences decades later and brought to life by consummate dancers such as Jacquelin Harris.
As a podcaster, I draw on my PhD research into African American and Afro-Brazilian oral and written texts to shape conversations with Black academics and creatives from around the world. My interviews are an opportunity to explore not only what people do, but also the histories, ideas and cultural traditions that inform and inspire their work.
So, I was especially thrilled when the company told me that Jacquelin had managed to squeeze me into her incredibly busy schedule. The interview came together at rather short notice, which meant recording from home rather than in a studio, but I’m delighted that, alongside the audio version, I’m also able to share the full-length audiovisual interview: (Jacquelin Harris: Carrying the Legacy of Alvin Ailey). 
In this podcast on Black Artistry: Inspiration Recrafted (Season 2, Episode 3), we talk about Alvin Ailey’s enduring legacy, the role of improvisation in Black dance, and why storytelling is so central to Jacquelin’s craft. We also explore what it means to carry a legacy while continuing to create something that is distinctly your own. It was a fascinating conversation, and I can’t wait to see Jacquelin and the company bring Ailey’s work to the stage at Sadler’s Wells.

In recent years, jazz has been seen as something removed from Black cultures.  When people think of jazz dance, they often think of the performances they see in musical theatre.  Eager to find out about the relationship between jazz dance and other dances to have come out of Black communities, I invite three members of Jazz Dance Elite to Resonance FM to educate me! This is a first for me, as I'm interviewing three people. I also ask them to demonstrate some dance steps... for an audio podcast!  I hope you like it!
You can see some of their demonstrations, here:
The shim sham: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZYIdx-I7Ut/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Improvisation and call & response: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcEqP34oBxV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
 
The cake walk and the Lambeth walk: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZmLX_ZI_rx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
 

This is part 1 of a podcast with non-fiction writer (Charles) Jermaine Jones.  Here we talk about one of his artistic inspirations: Runners by the Nigerian artist Nsofor. In this podcast, he talks us through his process of reading abstract art and the relationship between that and his work, stating 'the writer in me makes me gravitate towards visual art'.
image courtesy of Anthony Chukwudinma Nsofor

I discuss From Poverty to Prosperity: A Ghetto Exit Strategy as a Rite of Passage, with the author (Charles) Jermaine Jones.  Jermaine flew over from his home in DC to London for the event, which was in front of a live studio audience at New Beacon Books (North London) as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations. The event was a success: it was informative, there was laughter, but also tears as Jermaine shared with us some life-changing decisions taken by people close to him. As I wanted to leave enough time for Q& As, we only discussed the topics that came out of From Poverty to Prosperity. In a second episode, we will discuss one of Jermaine's artistic inspirations.

In this podcast I chat to Malik Al Nasir, who kindly sent me an advance copy of his second memoir: Searching for My Slave Roots : From Guyana’s Sugar Plantations to Cambridge.  Malik has had a remarkable life, not least because he was mentored by the late Gil Scott-Heron (listen here to my previous podcast with him ⁠https://www.mixcloud.com/MorleyRadio/morley-prize-podcast-series-2-episode-4/⁠).  Searching for My Slave Roots and this latest interview are really insightful. Malik discusses his own family background, but because some members were British establishment figures (or connected to them), we learn a lot about how the profits of Atlantic chattel slavery established modern UK institutions.  A must-listen for those interested in British and Caribbean history.

In this episode, I speak to New Orleans-born London-based soul singer Acantha Lang.  Joining me in the recording studio, Acantha chats about one of her inspirations: the legendary Mavis Staples, as well as her own journey into the music industry.
This episode was recorded at the end of 2025. Since then, Acantha has released another beautiful single: Til I Get It Right (see podcast cover photo). When I caught up with her recently, she mentioned a few upcoming performances with her 7-piece band - must-sees if you're in London or Luton: Saturday 30 May at Red Rooster Festival (Euston London), stage time 5:30 pm, Sunday 31 May at Bear Club Luton,  stage time 3:30 pm and Sunday 21 June at Ronnie Scott’s (Upstairs), stage time 8 pm.  Look out for Acantha's collab Grocery Store, to be released at the end of May.  I can't wait for her second album Ain’t That The Truth, coming out at the end of this year.  Sign up to her mailing list to be the first to know about new music and upcoming shows: acanthalang.com. Happy listening!

In this episode, I chat to non-fiction short story writer Dorothy Lennon. We talk about Kiese Laymon's powerful memoir Heavy: An American Memoir and how its honesty liberated Dorothy as a non-fiction writer.  Related to Kiese's work and one of the interesting elements of our conversation for me as a linguist are Dorothy's insights on African American vernacular expression.  Dorothy shares some of her own writing, including the hilarious non-fiction short story 'Momma Sounds Like a White Girl'. I can't wait for her forthcoming short story 'The Closets of Others' to come out.

In this podcast, I chat to spoken word artist and self-defined diva Desree. She talks about the influence of Dizzee Rascal's Sittin Here from his debut album Boy in da Corner, which seemed to define the mood of his generation and signalled a revolution in music production.  We discuss Desree's launch into performance poetry as well as the ethics that motivate and guide her work.

In this podcast, I talk again to soul food scholar, barbecue judge, James Beard award winner and former politico Adrian Miller, whom I first interviewed to talk about his book Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine one Plate at a Time.     In this equally informative and humorous podcast, he discusses the role of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man in his life, a book which he makes a point of reading every decade.  He also talks about his latest book Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, which documents the lives of some legendary Black pit masters. He educates me on the role of vinegar (particularly apple cider vinegar) as a pork marinade, which I’ve recently applied to my cooking. In this continuous chain of learning about Black creatives, I’m looking forward to interviewing Eudell Watts IV (a descendant of Arthur Watts, who was a very successful pitmaster in his day). Adrian is hoping to bring the story of street food to the UK later this year. I can't wait!

Street photographer Mr Geez is this month's interviewee. We met on the London Underground about a year ago, when he asked to take my photo for a collection that he was working on.  I had the pleasure of interviewing him at the end of  summer 2025.  We talked about one of his inspirations, the legendary polymath Gordon Parks, and his own journey as a street photographer.