A Love Story for the Ages! from Our Ancestors Were Messy

Snap Judgment

Snap Judgment and PRX

Snap, Glynn, Storytelling, Wnyc, Society & Culture/personal Journals, Performing Arts, Washington, Society & Culture/documentary, Arts/performing Arts, Music, Arts

4.8 • 11.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Three epic romances, but only one of them makes it into the time capsule. Nichole, Zakiya, and Emmanuel must choose the best Black Love story for the world of the future.

This week on Snap, we're featuring an episode from our friends at Our Ancestors Were Messy.

Our Ancestors Were Messy, is a podcast covering the gossip, scandals, and pop culture that made headlines in the Black newspapers of segregated communities during the pre-Civil Rights era. On each episode, host Nichole Hill and her guests follow the story of an ancestor in search of opportunity, adventure, love, and a way to beat Jim Crow. Hill and her guests learn the mess - and eventual history - their ancestors make along the way.

You can listen to this incredible show on any podcast platform!

Our Ancestors Were Messy is hosted by Nichole Hill (@nicholewthanh). This episode feautres Emmanuel Dzotsi (@newsmanual_) and Zakiya Gibbons (@zak_sauce). Executive Producer A.A. Hernandez. Sound design by Helena de Groot. Story Producer Martina Abrahams Ilunga (@m_tina). Research Producer Chioke I'Anson. Story Editing by Shonte Hill. Show Art by Aseloka Smith.

Season 16 - Episode 21

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Snap Studios
0:04.0	Okay, so in the black community, history doesn't just come from textbooks.
0:15.3	Often comes early in the morning, or late at night, round the kitchen table.
0:20.6	With cousins, you just met and elders who swear they wipe your bottom when you were a baby.
0:28.8	It starts with a story, the back and forth, the bobbing, the response, the testimonies, church.
0:35.8	The elder becomes the griot.
0:38.3	The family becomes a chorus.
0:40.3	It's not a lecture, it's a performance.
0:42.3	And when the griot says those magic words,
0:45.3	come to find out,
0:48.3	the rule erupts.
0:51.3	Laughter, tears, gas, clas, clas, stonked, because stories are not just told to pass down.
0:57.5	And today, around the Snap Kitchen Table, we're reaching back through time to bring on the griot.
1:04.8	To shine light on stories, the history books forgot, but Granny never did.
1:09.7	I'm proud to introduce you to Nicole Hill.
1:13.7	Hosts with the incredible podcast, our ancestors were messy.
1:17.7	Yes, messy.
1:20.0	Not dignified.
1:21.9	Not statues on a pedestal, but real, full of life, gossip, scandal.
1:26.6	Nicole digs into black newspapers from America's apartheid years,
1:31.7	from Harlem to Houston, and encumbers pop culture and community.
1:36.9	From back when you had to fight, just to have a paper in the first place.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 24 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Snap Judgment and PRX, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Snap Judgment and PRX and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.