Does grief have a sound?

This is the latest episode of Homegoings, a podcast that features fearless conversations about race, and YOU are welcome here. Follow the series here.

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The number one question we get here on Homegoings from guests and listeners alike is: How did the show get its start?

Well, it’s time we break it down.

Homegoings is now a podcast, a television series, a live event space, and really truly so much more if you factor in socials and newsletters and radio broadcast — oh my. But it started as a mini-series idea on another show, called Brave Little State. During a really trying time for Black people everywhere. May 25, 2021, one year after the murder of George Floyd.

This was a sad year, and a frustrating one. Because the date not only reminded us all of his horrific public murder, it reminded us all of what we had done collectively, to ensure this never happened again. And, all we hadn't done.

In the newsroom at Vermont Public, and on the podcast Brave Little State, we were grappling with our own anti-racist efforts.We didn’t want to touch this thing, this thing called racism, unless we were really gonna touch it. And If we were gonna do that, we were gonna have to face the overwhelming death in the room. And the grief that has become as much a part of the Black existence as — well, breathing air.

How do you talk about Black death, in the media, in a way that doesn’t just focus on the tragedy of the moment, but in a way that is consistent, and intentional? How do you talk about Black people, as people instead of headlines, and statistics? How do you memorialize and humanize Black grief, joy, healing and mourning without perpetuating trauma?

It took a while, but I think eventually, we got there. The answer was what it’s always been historically. The answer was art.

In this episode, we revisit some of the very first episodes of Homegoings, and embark on a quest with Vermont-based musicians to find out: Does grief have a sound?

Bobby Hackney Jr.

Bobby Hackney Jr. is a musician who lives in Burlington, Vermont. He's one-third of the punk-rock band Rough Francis, alongside his brothers.

"[Bobby Hackney Jr.] For some reason, you know, like, ever since I was little, I was always drawn to more aggressive music. Like there was something about the energy. And just like the directness of punk rock music that spoke to me. And I remember... Actually, this was like a very pivotal moment, when I was in eighth grade, I remember seeing the Rodney King beating. And that really had a huge impact on like, you know, my perspective on American racism that was like the first time I got to see firsthand like, what it looks like, like what systemic racism—like —that's the product of it right there. And like, you know, the fact that you know, all those police officers were acquitted and nothing happened. That really had an impact on you know, me, and like my perspectives."

Check out the music video for "Tito's Revenge" off the 2019 Rough Francis album, Urgent Care:

Check out the original Brave Little State: Homegoings episode here.

Rivan Calderin

Rivan C. is a 20-year-old multi-racial Afro-Cuban-Caucasian hip-hop artist born and raised in Vermont. At the time of this interview, he was a rising senior at the University of Vermont who writes lyrics that entertain while remaining conscious. Music, he says, is his home, where people can come inside and be welcome.

"[Rivan Calderin] I can't live my life with dread, and fearing the future of what will happen for people of color, you know, You don't have to fear it. You just have to be knowledgeable of it. So when it comes, we're able to deal with it. But in the meantime, we have to live our lives. Just how any normal happy white person would."

Stream "Mayday to Pilot" off Rivan Calderin's 2020 EP, igotthejuice:

Check out the original Brave Little State: Homegoings episode here.

Listen Up Project

The Listen Up Project is an original musical based on eight months of interviews, workshops, conversations and listening sessions with more than 800 teens across Vermont. In August 2021, the show toured across the state. In this episode, Naomi Fitzpatrick, Faith Awotho and Don Kiputa speak to Brave Little State about being young and Black in Vermont in 2022, and answer listener questions.

"[Faith Awotho] I think that it's very trendy and rewarding to be anti-racist. But it's not, like, problematic at all to be racist. And, like, that's an issue, right? And so when I say “make it expensive, make it dangerous, give it social consequences.” Like, I mean exactly that. Like, you cannot excuse the instances of bigotry you are seeing in your life. And every time you see it and excuse it you are perpetuating it."

Watch this Homegoings Artist Snapshot about Naomi, Faith and Don.

Check out the original Brave Little State: Homegoings episode here.

Credits

This episode was mixed by associate producer James Stewart. Myra Flynn reported and edited this episode. Myra also composed the theme music. Other music by Rough Frances, Rivan Calderin, the Listen Up Project and Blue Dot Sessions. Elodie Reed is the graphic artist behind this episode’s Homegoings artist portrait.

See you in two weeks for the next episode of Homegoings. As always, you are welcome here.

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