Session 438: Black Memory Work & Healing
Therapy for Black Girls
iHeartPodcasts and Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D.
4.8 • 5.7K Ratings
🗓️ 19 November 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As we head into the holidays, many of us will encounter old memories and create new ones. You may spend time recounting stories from your childhood, learning a new line dance, or even taking orders in the kitchen on how to make a family recipe. Memory-keeping has long been a practice for humans across the globe, but for Black people, those traditions look different. And in the age of technology, the way memories are created, stored, and used introduce a new set of questions around who gets to call them their own.
This week we're joined by Dr. Tonia Sutherland. Currently a professor and dean at UCLA, she’s dedicated her research to unpacking the uniqueness of Black memory work. And in her book, ‘Resurrecting the Black Body: Race and the Digital Afterlife,’ she digs into how technology, history, and data longevity affect how we practice archivism, and how those practices impact our digital afterlives.
About the Podcast
The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast is a weekly conversation with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed Psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, about all things mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, a weekly conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves. |
| 0:23.8 | I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. |
| 0:30.0 | For more information or to find a therapist in your area, visit our website at Therapy for Blackgirls.com. While I hope you love listening to |
| 0:40.4 | and learning from the podcast, it is not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with a licensed |
| 0:47.1 | mental health professional. Hey, y'all. |
| 0:56.7 | Thanks so much for joining us for session 438 of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. |
| 1:01.7 | We'll get right into our conversation after a word from our sponsors. |
| 1:09.3 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 1:18.1 | As we head into the holidays, many of us will encounter old memories and create new ones. |
| 1:23.5 | You may spend time recounting stories from your childhood, |
| 1:26.8 | learning a new line dance, or even |
| 1:28.5 | taking orders in the kitchen on how to make a family recipe. Memory keeping has long been a |
| 1:33.8 | practice for humans across the globe, but for black people, those traditions look different. |
| 1:39.1 | And in the age of technology, the way memories are created, stored, and used introduce a new set of questions around |
| 1:45.7 | who gets to call them their own. Today, I'm excited to be joined by Dr. Tanya Sutherland. Currently, |
| 1:51.9 | a professor and dean at UCLA, she's dedicated her research to unpacking the uniqueness of |
| 1:57.0 | black memory work. And in her book, Resurrecting the Black Body, Race and the Digital |
| 2:02.5 | Afterlife, she digs into how technology, history, and data longevity affect how we practice |
| 2:08.2 | archivism and how those practices impact our digital afterlives. If something resonates |
| 2:14.1 | with you while enjoying our conversation, please share with us on social |
| 2:17.7 | media using the hashtag TBG in session. Or join us over in our Patreon to talk more about the |
| 2:23.9 | episode. You can join us at community.therapyfor blackgirls.com. Here's our conversation. |
... |
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