How you can move forward and learn from the past (w/ Clint Smith)

2025-04-07

How do you grapple with national history, legacy, and the stories you tell yourself? Clint Smith is the author of the narrative nonfiction, How the Word is Passed, and the poetry collection, Above Ground. Clint joins Chris to talk about the cognitive dissonances that shaped American history. From understanding the complexities of Thomas Jefferson, who wrote “all men are created equal” while enslaving over 600 people – to reflecting on growing up in New Orleans – a major site for domestic slave trades, Clint urges you to examine historical contrad...

How do you grapple with national history, legacy, and the stories you tell yourself? Clint Smith is the author of the narrative nonfiction, How the Word is Passed, and the poetry collection, Above Ground. Clint joins Chris to talk about the cognitive dissonances that shaped American history. From understanding the complexities of Thomas Jefferson, who wrote “all men are created equal” while enslaving over 600 people – to reflecting on growing up in New Orleans – a major site for domestic slave trades, Clint urges you to examine historical contradictions. He also discusses his love for poetry and why it’s crucial to teach joyous moments in Black history too. So students won’t see slavery and Jim Crow as the totality of the black historical experience but can envision themselves of possibilities beyond subjugation.

Follow

Host: Chris Duffy (@chrisiduffy | chrisduffycomedy.com)

Guest: Clint Smith (Instagram: @clintsmithiii | clintsmithiii.com)

Links

Above Ground

How the Word Is Passed

Subscribe to TED

Instagram: @ted

YouTube: @TED

TikTok: @tedtoks

LinkedIn: @ted-conferences

Website: ted.com