In this interview with Dr Rianna Walcott, Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Maryland and King’s Alumni, we discuss careers in academia. Rianna talks through her own career journey and demystifies the process of pursuing an academic career – something she had to navigate as the first person in her family to do so. She also discusses her experience as one of only a handful of Black academics in the UK higher education system, including the unpaid labour that often falls upon Black members of staff, as well as how this compares to her experience in the US university system.

The Black Podcast is joined by Kelechi Okafor, Sequoia Holmes, and Dr. Rianna Walcott. In this episode, The Black Podcast discussed Black language. We played a word association game to compare Black British vs. African American slang particularly used in California, the DMV, and Baltimore. We looked at similarities and contrasted different ways we use slang in different regions. Then we talk about how each of them got into podcasting as a way to break barriers to Black conversation.
​
Kelechi Okafor is from Britain, has Nigerian heritage, actress, director, astrology lover, and The creator of the “Say Your Mind” podcast that ended on January 29, 2024. This podcast looked at current affairs and popular culture through a Black British lens. Now she is the host of the new podcast “Meet Me at The Altar” published in March of this year. You can find her Instagram, @kelechnekoff.

Sequoia Holmes is from California, loves astrology, and has been podcasting since 2016. She is currently on her 4th podcast. She is the host of the podcast “Black People Love Paramore.” Funny enough, *not* a Paramore podcast. This podcast explores the common & uncommon interests of Black people. You can find her on Instagram: @bplppod

Dr. Rianna Walcott is from the UK and is a communication professor at the University of Maryland. She Works in the Black Communication and Technology Lab at the Communications department. Her research focuses on Black British identity presentation in social media spaces. 
This episode was produced by Madeline Seck.

​Rianna Walcott, a postdoctoral associate in the Black Communication and Technology Lab at the University of Maryland shares how we can prioritize long-term self-preservation for people of color and how to stay whole while driving social change. Recorded Feb. 15-17, 2023 at the frank gathering (frankgathering.org)

A blogpost highlighting my current work as a DISCO/BCaT Lab Fellow