June 24, 2020
How This Podcast is Providing African American Content During A Critical Time In the U.S.
The new conversations around race relations sparked by the current protests over racial injustice and police brutality have caused a new surge in interest in Black American history and culture. Amazon’s best-seller list for books has been dominating with the topic of race with black-owned bookstores seeing record sales. This also applies to other forms of media including podcasts.
Black History Year by PushBlack, the country’s largest media advocacy organization for Black Americans, recently debuted at No. 1 on Apple Podcast under history and No. 6 in overall streaming podcasts on the platform in addition to amassing over 20,000 in its first 48 hours of launching. The six-episode series covers topics around the Black experience ranging from young Black millionaires to Black gun ownership. The goal was to engage and educate Black Americans about their history to create a more engaged population of Black voters.
“It was important for us to fill the gap in the podcast world with a series that can educate and activate our subscribers to build their personal power and create lasting economic and political change,” said Julian Walker, interim co-CEO of PushBlack in an email interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE.
“People are looking to amplify Black voices and Black-centered products and services now more than ever as a direct result of the racial injustices that are happening in our communities. During these unprecedented times in our country, Black Americans need an outlet to connect us to our history of struggle and resilience. Our content provides this and more.”
Walker hopes to keep creating content to educate subscribers about their history hoping to bring change in our current political landscape. “We are glad people recognize our platform as an outlet they can turn to during times where reputable and trustworthy information is needed,” he continues.”We will continue to amplify Black voices from our podcast and daily communications.”