Becoming the People Podcast with Prentis Hemphill

Visit another powerful stop on the What It Takes to Heal book tour. Author and activist, Marc Lamont Hill, interviews Prentis about their book at the Library and Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington D.C. Together, they explore the threads of generational trauma, Prentis' practice of 'cry dates' and how allowing feeling helps us arrive in the present moment. They also discuss t...

In this bonus episode, the seats are turned as W. Kamau Bell interviews Prentis about their book What it Takes to Heal.   These two dig into the complexities of being a middle child, why healing is often dismissed as "soft" or seen as an individualistic pursuit, and make the case that real healing is rooted in community. They also talk candidly about shame versus guilt, actual accountabi...

This bonus episode is a throw-back to the launch of Prentis’ What it Takes to Heal book tour. This summer marks the two year anniversary of the book’s release and we wanted to share the intimate conversations that happened across the country while Prentis was on tour. This is a live recording from Brooklyn, where Prentis sits down with their friend adrienne maree brown. The two discuss what it mea...

This week, we’re diving into faith and doctrine and how it shapes our worldview. Pastor Kristian A. Smith – public theologian, Spiritual Humanist, and digital pastor of The Faith Community Virtual – is here to share about his journey of deconstructing his theology and what can be fruitful and reorganizing when we have the courage and community to ask the big deep questions about faith. Follow Kris...

Prentis is joined by Francis Weller - writer, therapist and soul activist. He wrote the Wild Edge of Sorrow and so eloquently shares about the collective responsibility of grief. Prentis and Francis talk about the hero's myth, the emptiness of whiteness and how grief rituals and communal ceremonies help reconnect us to the deep echo chamber of the soul. Check out Francis’ book the Wild Edges...

Poet and writer Megan Falley joined Prentis to share about the life of her late partner Andrea Gibson, and generously offered her learnings on how we can live our lives as richly and fully in the time given.  Watch “ Come See Me in the Good Light” on Apple Follow Megan on Substack: Things That Don't Suck Check our her book Drive Here and Devastate Me Support the show The Becoming the People P...

This week, Prentis shares their assessment that the leadership model in our culture feels outdated.  They share the concept of two leadership qualities that we could begin to possess on the individual or collective level -- will and surrender. And ask the questions-- How do we start to practice fluidity along the continuum of will and surrender to embody new ways of being leaders? And where can we...

Teacher, author and Zen Master, Norma Wong, is here to talk about her new book, Who we are becoming matters: the courage wisdom and aloha we need in the time of collapse.  Norma helps us see further than we can see on our own and asks the question, who do we need to become to meet that horizon?  Follow Norma Check out her book: Who We Are Becoming Matters: The Courage, Wisdom, and Aloha We Need in...

Prentis is joined by their friend, author and activist Kazu Haga, to explore his new book Fierce Vulnerability . Kazu asks us to consider a new type of courage, and together they converse about the value of deep interdependence, collective trauma, and how the “us vs. them” binary worldview is at the heart of what is destroying our relationships and our planet.  Follow Kazu on Instagram Check out h...

Prentis has returned to the pod after a short bereavement leave from the passing of their father. They are sharing how grief and time are pairing up to teach them how to bring more fluidity and honesty to their presence to allow more to be here now. They are also sharing a sweet story from their drag king past. If you’re enjoying this season, please support the podcast over on Patreon . Support th...

This episode originally aired in August 2024. We gather to honor the luminous legacy of Audre Lorde through the lens of Alexis Pauline Gumbs' radiant new book, Survival Is a Promise . Alexis joins us to unveil the journey of crafting Audre's biography, a tribute to the vibrant pulse and power of Audre’s words and practice. Together, we revel in the profound lessons Audre imparted on us a...

This episode was originally aired on July 1st 2024. Kai Cheng Thom - MSW, Qualified Mediator, Somatic Sex Educator, performance artist, community healer, award-winning writer, and author of Falling Back in Love with Being Human joins us for this episode. A consummate dreamer and believer in revolutionary potential, Kai brings radical love to her work and this conversation. Join us while Kai and Pr...

This episode first aired in July 2024. Prentis is joined by the National Director of the Working Families Party, Maurice Mitchell. Maurice shares the roots of his organizing; reminds us of our power as a people and inspires us to continue to conjure and build a compelling vision toward the worlds we dream of. Support the organizations that Maurice mentioned in the episode: Working Families Party M...

We won't be dropping a new episode this week, as Prentis is away mourning the passing of their father.  To honor this tender moment we are resharing an episode from last season with Transformative grief activist, movement strategist, and writer Malkia Devich Cyril. Malkia shares stories and wisdom from their personal experience of loss, the possibility that emerges when we attend to our grief...

Death doula, author and trainer, Alua Arthur, is a clear voice of what death could be if we brought it into the center of our lives. Alua brings her profound wisdom from confronting the existential and seemingly unfaceable realities of death. In this episode she breaks down the tastiest five layer fear of death cake and shares what’s possible for all of us when we hold death with reverence. Check...

Prentis addresses the rolling back of the Voting Rights Act and the impacts on our hope and imagination. They remind us of the power and audacity of the visionary ancestors that dared to dream before us, and encourage us to practice recovering our imagination to envision what we want next for our future. Join us on our new Youtube channel for the Imposing Beauty on Our Future Livestream - get your...

Aisha Nyandoro is the CEO of Springboard To Opportunities and leader in the campaign to end generational poverty through guaranteed income. She joins Prentis this week to talk about her program Magnolia Mother’s Trust. They also discuss what the true meaning of wealth is and how our institutions shape the idea of who is worthy and deserved. Aisha brings a call of radical resourcing and shares her...

Prentis is sharing a rageful invitation and calling all Traitors to the Project of Patriarchy. They are sharing their thoughts on how the manosphere manipulates men’s pain for more power, and how we need more traitors to reshape what it means to be a good man. An hour after Prentis recorded this episode about patriarchal violence, they read the news about the man who took the lives of his wife and...

Posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, author and our favorite trickster, Báyò Akómoláfé is on the podcast again. Prentis and Báyò get lost in this episode as they traverse Blackness, radical non-completion, AI, and the second fall of humanity.  Check out Dr. Akómoláfé’s new book, Selah   Follow Báyò on Instagram If you enjoyed this episode, listen to Báyò’s first conversation with Prentis from the...

This week’s episode is centered around cultivating a relationship with self that is non-contingent. A self that is not tied to or determined by the myths of human beings. They are exploring how to activate a sense of belonging to something bigger to help us build the most powerful, authentic and potent versions of ourselves. If you want to dive deeper into this conversation about the Contingent Se...

Author Melissa Febos is here to talk about her book The Dry Season - a memoir of her year of celibacy. Prentis and Melissa explore how to build a true understanding of our interiors, erotic energy outside of sex, and what it means to truly hold power in this world. Check out Melissa’s book - The Dry Season and follow her on Instagram @MelissaFebos The Uses of the Erotic by Audre Lorde Support the...

In this week’s mini-episode, Prentis is talking about the kind of movement they want to b a part of. A movement rooted in empathy, filled with curiosity and where we take the risks to traverse the distance between each other. They are addressing one of the crises of our time – our inability to connect with each other and to meet people where they are at. They share their vision for exploring the d...

Ai-jen Poo, the Executive Director the Domestic Workers Alliance joins Prentis this week to share her vision for how care is the foundation to democracy and how we get free. They explore how caregivers are futurists, imagining how human life could be different if care were at the center.  Follow Ai-Jen on Instagram Check our her book The Age of Dignity Support the show The Becoming the People Podc...

This week’s mini episode is a love letter to children. Prentis reflects on how they are carrying the greatest weight of cruelty in our time—and why failing to protect them betrays our future. Prentis also shares an invocation to James Baldwin and borrows from his moral clarity to ask what it means to intervene when children are being harmed. Apply for the Becoming the People In-Person Training May...

Dean Spade joins the pod this week to discuss his book, Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up and Raise Hell Together.  He brings a sharp, layered perspective on how we are shaped by the systems around us—and how we can wake up to the patterns of control we’ve internalized. Together, we explore what it means to turn our relationships into spaces for healing, liberation, an...