A podcast isn't exactly an ordinary venture for an ice cream company, but then, Ben & Jerry's is anything but ordinary. With its long history of getting political, a podcast about race in America actually seems like a perfect fit for the Vermont-based company, which has previously dedicated flavors to progressive senator Bernie Sanders.
Ben & Jerry's recently announced that it has partnered with Vox Media and The Who We Are Project to launch a new podcast called Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America. The podcast will dig into the lesser-known history of racial injustice in America. "Economic and social justice has been a part of Ben & Jerry's mission since our founding 42 years ago," Jabari Paul, Ben & Jerry's U.S. activism manager, said in the announcement of this project. "We now sit at a critical inflection point in our nation's history. If we are to seize the opening that this moment presents, we must be willing to acknowledge the sins of our past so that we move together toward a future of justice and equity."
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Who We Are will be hosted by Carvell Wallace and Jeffery Robinson. Wallace is a New York Times bestselling author, regular New York Times Magazine contributor, and award-winning podcaster. Robinson is deputy director of the ACLU and director of the ACLU Trone Center for Justice and Equality. This podcast is based on Robinson's multi-media "Who We Are" presentation, which he spent nine years researching, which will soon be released as a documentary.
Who We Are will be broken down into six 30-minute episodes, with each episode focusing on a different period in U.S. history and examining its link to modern-day systemic racism. While it is vital that we educate ourselves on the past and how it influences the world we live in now, if we've discovered anything in the past year, it's that listening and learning definitely aren't the only things that need to happen for us to begin dismantling systemic racism. That's why every episode of Who We Are will end with a call to action for listeners, which will hopefully help contribute to a more equitable future.
Though Who We Are is produced by Ben & Jerry's, you needn't head to the nearest freezer aisle to partake. Dig in by subscribing through Apple Podcasts.