We Who Are Dark

This episode continues Dr. Vaz and Professor Tomengo's conversation on Aaron Douglas's Aspects of Negro Life, this time focusing on the third painting in the series, From Slavery to Reconstruction. The conversation includes a discussion of the era of Reconstruction along with the Great Migration and the challenges and opportunities Black people faced at the turn of the 20th century.

Dr. Neil Vaz and Professor Trent Tomengo continue their discussion of Aaron Douglas's "Aspects of Negro Life", this time taking a deep dive into "Idyll of the Deep South". They discuss the ideas inherent in its imagery and asthetics and how these ideas are reflected in the writings of scholars like Robert Farris Thompson and Eric Williams.

In this episode, Dr. Neil Vaz and Professor Trent Tomengo discuss the artist Aaron Douglas and his series of paintings called "Aspects of Negro Life", particularly "The Negro in an African Setting". The conversation includes general information about the Harlem Renaissance, the historical/cultural importance of Douglas's art, and its relevance for the time period and for today.

Dr. Neil Vaz and Professor Trent Tomengo discuss the self-emancipation of Africans throughout the African Diaspora focusing on self-emancipation during the Civil War, the creation of independent Maroon nations throughout the Americas, as well as the Haitian Revolution. They delve into the importance of agency in bringing about change in the historical narrative, challenging the recent push to hide that history.

Dr. Neil Vaz and Trent Tomengo discuss West African spirituality and its influence on the development of African diasporal cultures that resulted from the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The co-hosts address the power of the drum and why it was banned along with certain African-based spiritual traditions. Nevertheless, these ancestral expressions ultimately survived and continue to thrive in Black cultures all over the world.

In this episode Dr. Neil Vaz and Trent Tomengo discuss the role that religion played in the rebellions of the Translatlantic Slave Trade and slavery in the Americas.

Dr. Neil Vaz and Trent Tomengo discuss how the Portuguese and Spanish claims to lands on either side of the Atlantic Ocean influenced the kinds of Black diasporal cultures found all over the world, including Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States.

In this conversation about the functionality of the concept of "race", Dr. Neil Vaz discusses mercantilism, the initial Western European attraction to Africa, and the rise of the Translatlantic Slave Trade.

Dr. Neil Vaz and Trent Tomengo continue their discussion of how various forms of European slavery and colonialism produced a fluid, global "Black" identity.

In this episode Dr. Neil Vaz and Trent Tomengo discuss how slavery, colonialism, and racist propaganda contributed to the collective psychology of Black people.

Dr. Neil Vaz and Trent Tomengo discuss the complexities of "race" as a concept rooted in Europen colonialism and cultual hegemony.

This is an introductory episode to We Who Are Dark, a Conversation in History and Humanities. In this episode Dr. Neil Vaz and Trent Tomengo discuss the origin of the podcast, it's format, its content, and its importance.