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What can Black literature teach us that history books alone cannot? In this episode of Troof 2 Power, I sit down with Dr. Chloe Hunt to discuss African American literature, Black speculative fiction, education, identity, horror, AI, and why literature remains one of the most powerful ways to understand Black history and culture.

This episode of Troof 2 Power was recorded in a real principal’s office—so we leaned into it.I’m joined by my cousin, Dr. Kaylan Holloway, a school principal, for a conversation about what it actually takes to lead as a Black man in education. We talk about the different hats he has to wear—from connecting with students in a culturally grounded way to navigating stakeholders, expectations, and institutional pressure.We get into cultural competence, identity, leadership, and the reality of needing to be “Black enough” in different rooms for different reasons. And as the conversation opens up, we also talk about faith, what an individual relationship with a higher power looks like when you’re carrying responsibility for a whole community.Troof 2 Power (a Casual Consciousness series) centers the value of education, guarding and extending Black historical memory, and normalizing deconstruction in a colonized world.If something in this conversation hits, leave a comment: what part stayed with you?Connect / UpdatesInstagram: @ troof_podBusiness/Collabs: 4casualconsciousness @gmail.com ​

Happy Halloween! We're skipping the intro and diving straight into one of the most unsettling and thought-provoking movies of the year that came out on Netflix earlier this year. They Cloned Tyrone is a governmental conspiracy and sci-fi film that touches on many themes relevant to the Black community. In this episode of Troof to Power, we talk through some of these themes as they relate to contemporary Black folk in America today. I hope you enjoy the episode!

Today's episode features the Bay Area's D1Healing. In this episode, D1 details how she started her business of sharing the benefits of healing stones, developed this brand into a non-profit for local youth, and shares valuable insight into personal healing journeys. To connect with D1 for all your healing stone needs, head to D1healing.com or follow her on IG @ D1healing. I hope you can transform this episode of Troof into some personal Power.

In today’s episode, Dr. Joesph Marshall, an educator, activist, founder of the Alive & Free program, and the first president of USF’s Black student union, speaks Troof to Power by sharing some of his indispensable wisdom. This half of our conversation covers the creation of USF's Black Student Union in the late 60s and Dr. Marshall's beginning of his educational career. Stay tuned for great stories and a decisive knowledge transfer on this episode of Troof to Power!

This episode takes the first step at attacking the solutions for Black communities in the United States. I brought on third-year urban studies major (film minor) Zach to share his insight on how reparations can help the Black community now. The first step of doing something great is getting the thoughts from ideas to words to eventually tangible results; tuning in gives you an inside look into the minds of young Black students taking that first step.

This episode comes from a topic I started thinking about months ago but needed more time to work on. As I've grown and explored more perspectives across the diaspora, I began to see the commonalities among Black people nationally and globally. As a new California resident, I cannot stop comparing my experiences in Black America to my current one in the Bay Area. Luckily, when I want to learn something, I start a dialogue and have a podcast. In this episode, I have three very different conversations with guests from all over Black America with a common link to California. This episode experiments with three other interview formats and discussion styles in delivering this week's Troof.

This episode breaks down my experience on the eye-opening 10-day Southern Heritage Immersion trip taken by students in my university's Black Achievement Success and Engagement (BASE) program. Starting in New Orleans, Louisana through Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi, we visited historically significant areas for Black America. Including but not limited to the Whitney Plantation (Louisiana), Fannie Lou Hamer's memorial (Mississippi), and the Lorraine Motel (Tennessee). Over the course of 10 days, I absorbed priceless knowledge about my ancestors that public school and even higher education never thought of teaching me. I have seen the importance of keeping our people's stories alive and I hope to do so in the future with the growth and development of my platform. Thank you for listening and don't forget to share and send feedback!

It's been a little over a year since my last episode, and I've undergone MUCH growth and development. This episode answers how my passion for spreading ideas on this platform has been restored and what experiences I've had along the way with a glimpse of what's to come. I hope you enjoy the episode and share it with your friends!