I get it from my Mama?

The Stoop

Hana Baba and Leila Day

Identity, International, Thestoop, Blackness, Storytelling, African, Personal Journals, Africanamerican, Blackidentity, Blackart, Journalism, Society & Culture, Black, Diaspora, Blackculture

4.4 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you ever feel like you may be carrying patterns that aren’t yours? Do you notice the way you deal with stress, love, parenting, or hustling feels inherited?

In this episode, Leila asks herself these questions as she recalls a story from her childhood, and we dig into epigenetics—the science that says the trauma of our ancestors can leave marks on our DNA that echo through generations.

We discuss the toll of push-through culture (hey, John Henry!), and why some bodies feel like they’ve been weathered by storms they never experienced firsthand.
It’s science, personal, and a conversation about breaking cycles—before they break us.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Hannah.
0:06.0	Hey, Lila.
0:08.2	I want to tell you some modern folklore.
0:10.7	Mm-hmm.
0:11.7	My child leaned into the story of a hero in the 90s.
0:17.8	She was a black cheerleader on an all-white squad in a high school in Las Vegas.
0:24.1	Hmm.
0:25.6	So the young black girl thought making it on the cheerleading squad would give her, you know, some foundations, some new friends, exciting games.
0:36.3	She wore her black and gold uniform proudly on the field.
0:40.0	Her bob ends bumped under,
0:42.0	with the sides pulled into a shimmering scrunchy
0:44.9	to match her metallic pom-poms.
1:01.0	And outside of the belting cheers at the games, she was really quiet.
1:03.6	She didn't speak much during practice.
1:11.6	She thought if she could just lay low, she'd be part of the excitement without drawing too much attention to herself. But things started to happen that put an unwanted spotlight on her.
1:16.6	In front of the whole squad, the cheerleading coach locked eyes with her and said,
1:22.6	Some of you have gained weight.
1:25.6	Just line up with your feet together,
1:27.9	and if you can't see the light shine between your thighs,
1:31.6	then there's a problem.
1:32.9	Well, our hero's body wasn't built that way.
1:38.0	Another time the coach asked her
	...

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