For journalists Leila Day and Hana Baba, they often found themselves having interesting conversations centered around questions that people of the African diaspora often ask. As Black women from different cultures, Leila from the U.S. and Hana from Sudan, they felt that addressing these issues publicly could help others.
The two women are now the hosts behind the podcast, The Stoop. Through this platform, they tackle questions like is it appropriate for Black Americans to wear traditional African garb or should we always be supporting everything Black?
“We use storytelling to talk about things centered around blackness and identity,” Leila told Travel Noire. “We use our journalism backgrounds to tell stories born out of questions that we may not always have the answer to.”
Each 25-minute episode begins with a personal story whether from the hosts or a listener. They then take a deep dive into the topic in hopes of having the conversation in a light-hearted way, to show that different cultures can talk about their differences.
On the latest episode, the women spoke with a traveler named Deborah who made the decision to move to Paris after being exhausted by the race convos in U.S. Deborah say she doesn’t identify as a Black woman, only as Deborah.
After years of planning, she felt that Paris would bring a different experience to her life and the women of The Stoop asked the why’s of Deborah’s decision.
In an older episode, Hana traveled back to Sudan where she tackled the issue of colorism and skin bleaching in the country. She recalls things being so severe that certain businesses would offer the creams by the teaspoon just so people could afford and use them.
“We started this podcast because we love storytelling and it’s not something that you can find everyday on general radio while still being able to be your authentic self.”
To listen to these episodes and others, you can visit the website: www.thestoop.org. You can also find them wherever you subscribe to podcasts including Apple and Spotify.
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