POC Voices in the Podcasting Industry
Podcasting, just like any other art form in history, greatly benefits People of Color. You can’t deny the effect that People of Color (POC), especially the African-American community, have on history and history in the making. From what we know about the creation of music genres such as jazz, hip-hop, even country music, and more – POC artists have pioneered the way. To mention just one of the many things that POC do not get their well deserved credit for. This trend is seen in the POC podcasting community as well. Let’s take a step to end the disregard!
Why Today?
Today, being Juneteenth, a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, is a great day to focus on, appreciate, and thank POC’s in our community for sharing their creativity and hard work with us. The POC podcasting community, as with much of history, have yet to gain the recognition that they deserve. During black history month and Juneteenth, many people go out of their way to support POC owned businesses. Which we should be doing, and most hopefully are, every day. Support POC owned business in your area! As many similar business and products are actually benefiting off of these smaller businesses.
Support your POC Podcasters
Not only can we support physical POC owned businesses such as storefronts, restaurants, virtual shops – we can support the ‘less in your face’ businesses. Such as POC artists, buy their artwork, their music, and for the focus of our discussion – support their podcasts. You can support by listening, purchasing products they are advertising, donating to them through their Patreon, etc. Not only producers but also podcast managers, content creators, and much more deserve our support!
Most importantly, showing your support may just make the difference in a POC podcast producer continuing their show! Edison Research and Mindshare released a POC Podcast Listener Report. In which, we can see the under-representation of POC Podcasters and topics that directly affect POC’s. The report shows that out of the POC community, there’s a large population (about 66%) of potential listeners that are being missed as they “would be interested in several key categories if the shows primarily focused on POC stories and perspectives”. More than half of those who say they’d listen if given topics that are relevant to them and their communities, are being missed as potential listeners.
So support your fellow POC podcast creators by listening, supporting, and sharing feedback. Giving them the ability to prosper in this space and encourage more POC artists to begin producing, managing, and creating podcasts and giving their community shows to look forward to! Also, when producing your own podcast show take time to consider your audience. Who you are reaching, who you want to reach, and how you can be more inclusive!
Show Your Support
We want to get ahead of supporting our fellow producers and shows in the POC community and shout out just a few people. There are many more that deserve support as well. So today and every day moving forward, pay attention to who you support and be purposeful!
Please follow, support, and listen to:
Lloyd George: Content Creator, Podcast Host of Cre8tor Hub, and Producer. He is also a friend of ours and we highly recommend his show and services.
Helping creators grow their podcasts.
Friend Forward: Friendship Expert and Podcast Creator
“Scroll through all of our helpful friend podcasts below, here to help you navigate female friends and platonic relationships.”
“dedicated to the busy, working woman who wants to build profitable businesses and brands while wearing multiple hats and living their best lives.”
Lovers and Friends: Podcast
“Educates the public on topics relating to sex, relationships, dating, self-love, and sensuality”
Danielle Desir – Podcast host and founder of WOC Podcasters
” affordable luxury travel and personal finance podcast empowering financially travelers with the tools and resources to travel the world, earn more money, pay off debt, and build wealth.”
Aim4u Ladies: Podcast
“aiming to improve your self-esteem, heal from infidelity, or just take control of your life and mind, you are in the right place.”
I know that this barely touches the surface of the work that the POC community has done nor does it fix any problems that POC’s face everyday. But it is a small step towards giving credit where credit is due and supporting those in our community!
And remember, we aren’t experts in this field and our still learning ourselves. So, if you are wanting to know more here are some great educators to learn from:
Hav
