Black, Brilliant, and... Canceled? When Black Icons Fall with Shamira Ibrahim

Black History Year

PushBlack

History, Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we’re stepping into sacred but complicated terrain: Black cultural icons and the legacies they leave behind. Culture writer Shamira Ibrahim joins us to unpack how we talk about their harms, who gets held accountable, and what we lose when we flatten people into either heroes or villains. From R. Kelly to Beyoncé, Sister Souljah to Jonathan Majors, we trace a spectrum of behavior, impact, and influence across pivotal moments in Black culture—and ask: how do we protect our people and demand better? This episode is a tender but unflinching reckoning with fame, forgiveness, and the futures we’re trying to build. For more from Shamira Ibrahim, find her at https://shamgod.substack.com/. — This podcast is brought to you by PushBlack, the nation’s largest non-profit Black media company. You make PushBlack happen with your contributions at BlackHistoryYear.com. Most folks do 5 or 10 bucks a month, but truly, anything helps. Thanks for supporting the work. With production support from Leslie Taylor-Grover and Brooke Brown, Black History Year is produced by Cydney Smith, Darren Wallace, and Len Webb, who also edits the show. Lilly Workneh is our Executive Producer and Black History Year's host is Darren Wallace. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Kate's just off to work after sleeping in the best bed in the business.
0:05.0	And my word, doesn't she look ready for anything?
0:08.0	Something about her smile is just brighter.
0:10.0	Her eyes seem glintier, and she just feels so much more...
0:15.0	Kateier?
0:16.0	Of course it's no surprise really, because last night she slept at Premier Inn,
0:20.0	and she got up to 15% off with business booker.
0:23.6	Get better sleep for your money.
0:25.6	Premier in, rest easy.
0:28.6	T's and C is a play.
0:29.6	Okay, I'm listening to a Chris Brown song and he's talking about romance with a woman.
0:35.6	Can I be swept away in his concept of romance with a woman
0:38.5	if I know his history of abusing women?
0:50.5	Why do some of our most iconic black figures rise to super A-list status only to face public cancellation or be labeled problematic?
1:03.3	Who decides what's unforgivable and who gets a second chance?
1:08.3	I'm Len from Push Black and you're locked into Black History here.
1:20.4	Bill Cosby, Kanye West, Amarosa, Michael Jackson, Azalea Banks, R. Kelly. Chances are, you think at least one of these celebrities is problematic. Or maybe you've withdrawn your support from them altogether.
1:36.3	I ain't even gonna hold you. Cancel culture is real. But it's not new. There have always been stars who have fallen out of favor with their audiences and other public figures who have lost supporters.
1:47.7	But what exactly doesn't mean to be canceled in this day and age?
1:51.3	Today we're asking, is cancel culture a form of justice or just the New Age public square?
1:59.0	And can anyone ever be uncanneled?
2:02.2	Joining our host, Darren, today is Shamira Ibrahim, a Brooklyn-based cultural writer.
	...

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