Black Privilege? White Privilege? What Privileges Do You Hold?

The Seeds You Sow

This week on The Seeds You Sow Podcast, we had an in depth conversation about the concept of black privilege. Part of this conversation was inspired by Radio Personality Charlamagne Tha God's autobiography "Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes To Those Who Create It." Although Charlamagne catches our attention with this title, the book itself is an autobiographical account of his personal life experiences and does not detail the full concept of Black Privilege. We were were curious about this controversial term however, and the type of emotions, thoughts, and conversations it could spark so we decided to engage in a balanced dialogue on the topic. We noted how the term of "Black Privilege" could possibly be problematic and unintentionally negate the systemic structures of white privilege which are in place to keep people of color at a disadvantage. Oppositely, we explored the notion that the idea of "Black Privilege" could be interpreted as a state of mind. With this context, this term becomes one of empowerment, used to inspire individuals and communities alike to take pride in their blackness and develop stronger mindsets with which they can dismantle systems of oppression. Our goal was to have a balance conversation and to present both sides of the argument, so we referenced the following articles. Equity Matters, Why Black Privilege Doesn't Make Much Sense posted eurweb.com and Why CharlamagneTha God Loves Telling White America about Black Privilege from New York Time's online publication. We also delved a little deeper and broaden our scope of privilege, thinking more critically not only about black privilege vs. white privilege, but the many types of privileges we all hold in society, and the various ways it shows up in our daily lives. By taking time to acknowledge our individual privileges we are better able to recognize our power, and the inherent responsibility to call out certain injustices in our society. We are hoping this episode inspires you to stop, reflect, and check in with your own given privileges so that you can better position yourself to serve others in your community.