Are black women appreciated? Will we see more positive images of black women on television and in the theaters? We ask these questions with our guest, Jamela Asha (Twitter: @jamela_asha), talented Los Angeles actress and screenwriter. We talk about the Black Lives Matter movement, the mistreatment of Michele Obama while she was in the White House, and the status of the image of the black woman in America.

Black In The Bay

Episode 12: Sistahs (featuring Jamela Asha)

Is it ok to cry as a black man? Are we expected to be on our best behavior? Why do cops act the way they do? And does America love us? Will Hammond and I bring on a slew of guests: Dwight Moore, Javier Reyes, Crystal Brown, Lee-Ann Collins, Norman Gee, Thandiwe Thomas de Shazor, Shay Angelo Acevedo and Peter Fitzsimmons - a whole slew of black faces from different walks of life (a former peace officer, an activist, a school teacher, actors, writers) tackling these big questions in a massive Zoom video podcast. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many others are not just black folks who died. They aren't just a news clip or a post notification. They were people, who had families, dreams and they were Americans who should have had the right to live the American dream. This episode is dedicated to them. It's not much but it's the best we can do.

Episode 11: THE George Floyd Special

Ahmad Arbury. Brionna Taylor. George Floyd. If fighting an invisible pandemic wasn't bad enough, you have to worry about living while black. Will Hammond and I jump on Zoom and talk about the history of racism and white privilege, the Biden "You Ain't Black" comment, thoughts on the Jordan documentary and how we're functioning while we're being quarantined. We'd love to hear from you! Give us your comments and we'll try to respond back. Stay safe and stay healthy.

Episode 10: Covid While Black

The Washington Nationals won the World Series, but how many from the Chocolate City got to witness it? Not a lot with those ticket prices! Can a man sue a city for gentrification? Aristotle Theresa thinks he can. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennawang/2018/06/28/residents-sue-washington-d-c-over-1-billion-for-racist-gentrification-practices/#3c50d8b3e8f0) Beto ran out of money and is out of the 2020 race. Will and I are back and Black - we're talking about financial security in the black community: what do we learn from our parents about saving money? How much damage did Shawn Fanning and Napster do to the music community? And will Kanye make any money on his Jesus Is King album? As always, let us know what you think of the podcast and hit us up with comments.

Episode 09: Black And Green

Why are black women like Candace Owens and Wendy Williams dumping on Meghan Markle? What's Trump talking about when he says he's being lynched? Is the Me Too Movement pushing black women aside? On this episode, Will and I welcome Femi - recording artist, songwriter and producer - as we talk about the state of black music today, who are our top ten favorite vocalists, and we jump into current events, like Trump claiming to be lynched (please!), the Meghan Markle controversy and how men treat black women, especially in the music industry. To dive deep into the music of Femi, check her out here: https://femi.bandcamp.com Thanksgiving is right around the corner - if you want that wonderful taste of pumpkin or sweet potato pie, but don't want to do the cooking, let PieTisserie do it for you! Click on this website to find more information: https://www.pietisserie.com The Brooklyn Preserve will be presenting my play, Don't Open The Red Book this Sunday at 2pm. The Brooklyn Preserve is at 1433 12th Avenue in Brooklyn. I want to thank Fallon Blazer and Judith Offer for supporting black artists and community theatre. Black in the Bay supports Kehinde Koyejo and her company KK & Friends Pop Up Boutique, which specializes in selling self care beauty products. You can find more information on KK & Friends via Instagram: kehinde_selfcareguide. KK & Friends Pop Up Boutique 1540 Broadway Instagram: kehinde_selfcareguide

Episode 08: Music, Meghan And Me Too (w Guest Femi)

* Reposting, due to audio issues on the first post * Police shootings. Redlining. Code Switching. The things we as black people deal with can weigh on us. How well do we take care of our mental health? How about our children? According to CBS, suicides among our black children has risen 73% since 1991. On this episode, Will and I welcome Crystal Brown – actress, singer and director. Crystal is also the founder of Theater4life, a program that helps students develop emotional intelligence through the performing arts. You can learn more about Crystal and Theater4Life here: www.theater4life.org. We talk about black mental health, how we need a strong cultural foundation to feel strong as we walk out in the world, and how we need to be good to each other and allow our brothers and sisters to be who we want to be - so we can define within ourselves what it is to be black and proud. Black in the Bay supports Kehinde Koyejo and her company KK & Friends Pop Up Boutique, which specializes in selling self care beauty products. You can find more information on KK & Friends via Instagram: kehinde_selfcareguide. My one act play, Don't Open The Red Book, will have a reading at the Brooklyn Preserve (1433 12th Avenue in Oakland)on Sunday, October 27th at 2pm (not on Tuesday, as I said on the podcast). It's a Twilight Zone take on a young woman finding a book based on the Rape of Nanking. If you're not doing anything Sunday afternoon, I'd love to see you there. You can find more information on the Brooklyn Preserve on Facebook.

Episode 07a: Blacks and Mental Health (w Crystal Brown)

Police shootings. Redlining. Code Switching. The things we as black people deal with can weigh on us. How well do we take care of our mental health? How about our children? According to CBS, suicides among our black children has risen 73% since 1991. On this episode, Will and I welcome Crystal Brown – actress, singer and director. Crystal is also the founder of Theater4life, a program that helps students develop emotional intelligence through the performing arts. You can learn more about Crystal and Theater4Life here: www.theater4life.org. We talk about black mental health, how we need a strong cultural foundation to feel strong as we walk out in the world, and how we need to be good to each other and allow our brothers and sisters to be who we want to be - so we can define within ourselves what it is to be black and proud. Black in the Bay supports Kehinde Koyejo and her company KK & Friends Pop Up Boutique, which specializes in selling self care beauty products. You can find more information on KK & Friends via Instagram: kehinde_selfcareguide. My one act play, Don't Open The Red Book, will have a reading at the Brooklyn Preserve (1433 12th Avenue in Oakland)on Sunday, October 27th at 2pm. It's a Twilight Zone take on a young woman finding a book based on the Rape of Nanking. If you're not doing anything Sunday afternoon, I'd love to see you there. You can find more information on the Brooklyn Preserve on Facebook.

Episode 07: Black Mental Health (w Crystal Brown)

Kyrie Irving getting bowed in the face in practice. Stacey Dash attacking her husband and getting thrown in jail. A white cop gets 10 years (5 if she gets paroled) for shooting a black man in his own home. And Malik Yoba - lord, do we even need to go there?? Some folks just can't control themselves. And Will Hammond and Reg Clay's gonna talk about em'. And remember, if you have a black business you want to promote or if you want to promote yourself and whatever side hustle you got going, hit us up and let us uplift you. Black in the Bay supports Kehinde Koyejo and her company KK & Friends Pop Up Boutique, which specializes in selling self care beauty products. You can find more information on KK & Friends via Instagram: kehinde_selfcareguide.

Episode 06: Control Yourself!

Episode 05: Alton Eugene Pete by Reg Clay

Episode 05: Alton Eugene Pete

What are black kids taught in school? Can a man and a woman really be friends without crossing the line? When do you say no to money and yes to your beliefs? These and more topics are on the menu on this episode’s Black in the Bay. Tonight’s guest is Kelda Williams aka KeldaMuzik – she’s a singer, songwriter, agent and host of DivaTalkTonight. You can find out more information on Kelda here: http://keldamuzik.com Black in the Bay supports Kehinde Koyejo and her company KK & Friends Pop Up Boutique, which specializes in selling self care beauty products. You can find more information on KK & Friends via Instagram: kehinde_selfcareguide. Black in the Bay also supports Black History Flash Cards. This 52 card series is a wonderful tool to aid in our development and understanding of our long, powerful history! Sales well exceeded our expectations, so to say thank you, we have extended our 40% off offer for a limited time. Order now so you don't miss it! http://www.UrbanIntellectuals.com/bhfc As always, tell us what you think of the show and thank you for supporting Black in the Bay!

Episode 04: Chilling with KeldaMuzik

Antonio Brown - ex Steeler, ex Raider and now New England Patriot. He's been all over the news this month regarding his antics, putting himself first instead of the team and the National Football League. And now a woman has accused him of rape. On this episode of Black in the Bay, Will and I welcome Precious Stroud, the creator of Black Female Project (www.blackfemaleproject.org), an online project that strives to give voice to black women, to encourage empowerment and strength through unity. On the first half of the show, we focus on women's issues - the difficulty of women to speak out when they are assaulted and how society must change instead of normalizing abuse. On the second half we talk about the concept of the "uppity n*gger", a derogatory term used by racists against blacks who think we are above ourselves. Is Antonio Brown disloyal to his team? Or is he loyal to himself? Listen to what we think and tell us what you think.

Episode 03: Uppity

Grey's Anatomy star Isaiah Washington embraces the First Step Act, a bipartisan bill to lessen crime for nonviolent criminals and to help former prisoners to get back on their feet - but uses this bill as an excuse to leave the Democrat party. (https://americanlookout.com/greys-anatomy-star-isaiah-washington-explains-his-decision-to-leave-the-democratic-party/) Does this even make sense? Does Isaiah even want to address Trump's Zero Tolerance policy on illegal immigrants - some of whom are young girls that can't get a maxi pad while in prison - I mean, containment areas (Something Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted about this week)? On this Episode, Will and I do a bit of live streaming while we talk about why some of our brothers and sisters leave the Democrat party and embrace a party that will never embrace them. I speculate that Black Republicans like Candace Owens, Katrina Pierson, Omarosa and many others may be responding to perceived rejection by the black race - whether they were teased or ostracized when they were young, or in the case of Kanye, he simply wants to confrontational, in the name of freedom. Will also gives a shout out to his wife on their 8th wedding anniversary, and we talk on the lack of sensitive soul in today's music. Will's band HOME will be performing this Saturday at 6pm at the Bernal Height's Outdoor Sites Cinema: https://bhoutdoorcine.org/2019-under-the-stars-at-precita-park/ @Reg_Clay (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) @WillHammondJr (Twitter, Facebook)

Episode 02: Black Republicans

This is it!! Episode One of Black In The Bay - podcast where we explore social, political and philosophical issues through the African American lens. We’ll hit some current events, have some fun and get deep on some far reaching issues. We invite all to listen – you don’t have to be black to listen – but if you have a black friend, relative or loved one and were curious about the black perspective, it’s time to put your headphones on and check out Black .. in the Bay. On tonight's episode, Will Hammond (Twitter: WillHammondJr) and I (Twitter: Reg_Clay) talk about cultural foundation: what it means to be black and how we bring what we've been taught by our families and our schools about our culture, to keep us strong as we go out in the world. But what are we taught? In the Washington Post this week, there's an article on the lack of education on slavery (https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/08/28/teaching-slavery-schools/), while there's a lack of understanding from other people on what it means to be black - take, for instance, the Oklahoma anchor who said her co-host looked like an ape (• https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/27/us/oklahoma-tv-anchor-apologizes-racist-comments-soh/index.html). She didn't mean it, but had she thought about how he would have reacted to her comments, she wouldn't have said it. Right? Will and I also get into assimilation - what are we expected as black people - what does the black community expect from us and how far do we go before we lose our culture? We touch on the Kaepernick situation, we touch on the civil rights movement, and we even geek out on the good ol' days of sound systems and buying your music, instead of streaming. Did you ever have to wire up old school speakers? Speaking of music, check out: PJ Morton and his new album "Paul" https://www.pjmortonmusic.com Raphael Siddiq and his new album "Jimmy Lee" https://raphael-saadiq-us.myshopify.com Rapsody and her new album "Eve" https://genius.com/albums/Rapsody/Eve Please let us know what you think of this podcast, and tell us what topics you want us to touch on.