Episode Summary In this episode, things get heavy on The Tight Rope as Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose, with their special guest Gina Belafonte, navigate the balance that artists must keep to be accessible and also stand resolutely for social justice. Spotlighting the importance of lyrical vision and imagining, they uncover paths to hope and sustenance in today’s music and its role in social movements. In the context of her father Harry Belafonte’s legacy, Gina Belafonte deepens the conversation on the necessity of intergenerational connections, personal commitment, and the arts in every arena of our lives. Don’t miss the next steps to evolution in this episode of The Tight Rope.    Cornel West Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University. A prominent democratic intellectual, social critic, and political activist, West also serves as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West has authored 20 books and edited 13. Most known for Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, West appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span, and Democracy Now. West has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films, including Examined Life, and is the creator of three spoken word albums including Never Forget. West brings his focus on the role of race, gender, and class in American society to The Tight Rope podcast.    Tricia Rose Professor Tricia Rose is Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. She also holds the Chancellor’s Professorship of Africana Studies and serves as the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives. A graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Brown University (Ph.D), Rose authored Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk about Sexuality and Intimacy (2003), and The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (2008). She also sits on the Boards of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Color of Change, and Black Girls Rock, Inc. Focusing on issues relating to race in America, mass media, structural inequality, popular culture, gender and sexuality and art and social justice, Rose engages widely in scholarly and popular audience settings, and now also on The Tight Rope podcast.     Gina Belafonte Daughter of Julie and Harry Belafonte, Gina Belafonte is an actress, director, award-winning producer, artivist, and cultural figure. She serves as the Executive Director of Sankofa.org, a social justice organization that educates, motivates, and activates artists and allies in service of grassroots movements and equitable change. A native New Yorker, Gina is Producer of internationally acclaimed documentary film Sing your Song (HBO), as well as The March (PBS) and Survivors Guide to Prison (Netflix). Also a member of Daughters of the Movement, she co-chaired the 2017 Women’s March Los Angeles and co-founded the non-profit organization, The Gathering For Justice, a multi-cultural, multi-generational organization that focuses on youth incarceration and the criminalization of poverty. Today, Gina lives in LA and New York and works with diverse artists, activists, and organizations worldwide to promote cultural and civic engagement in the 21st century.    Insight from this episode: Personal reflections from Gina Belafonte on honoring family legacy and forging her own path in the fight for Black freedom.  Details on the life, struggles, and revelations of Harry Belafonte. Benefits of critical engagement within families. Strategies on overcoming fear and pressure in the face of radical decision making. Strategies on how progressive Black artists can move into a deeper imagining of our future and speak truth to power.  Reasons why evolution, not just revolution, is needed dur