Black Girl Blueprint: Recent Episodes
Lauren Ritchie and Makeen Zachery
Black Girl Blueprint was founded on the belief that Black girls have long been the ones to set the trends and transform the culture in a way that only we can. To put it simply: our podcast is devoted to showcasing raw, unfiltered, and unapologetic Gen Z Black girl perspectives. Our weekly episodes will center the voices and celebrate the accomplishments of young Black women who have made their own impact on and within the culture. | Follow us on Instagram: @blackgirlblueprint | Lauren: @laurenaritchie @ecojusticeproject | Makeen: @makeenz @blkgirlculture | Email us at blackgirlblueprint@gmail.com
Season 5, Episode 1: Long time, no see! In this episode, we're returning to our cultural critic roots for a conversation around Black media, the role of art as a powerful social and political tool, and our expectations of people with platforms in Black music and film to authentically represent Blackness in their work. From Shonda Rhimes and Quinta Brunson to Rye Lane and Cowboy Carter, we're diving into Black entertainment to evaluate what misses the mark, what has value we need to return to, and the stories we'd like to see more of in the future.
Season 4, Episode 12: The hardest conversations are typically the ones most worth having. We need to confront the hard stuff to grow, but it can be difficult to navigate how to do so productively and compassionately. In this episode, we’ll be talking about some of the hardest conversations that we’ve had to have with friends, partners, parents, and colleagues, as well as the hardest truths we’ve had to accept about ourselves and the world around us. We dive into the importance of self-awareness and open communication in our relationships and feeling empowered by honesty.
Season 4, Episode 11: What happens when you don't want to work but you have needs and desires that cost money? In this episode, we break down how central capitalism is to our daily lives: how jobs take time away from things that bring us joy, and how we internalize capitalist thinking to believe that productivity determines our self-worth. We dive into Gen-Z's approach to work compared to previous generations, how the pandemic shifted our priorities, and the lives we dream for ourselves beyond exchanging labor for survival.
Season 4, Episode 10: When we’re little, it’s second nature to dream big and to be shameless about speaking your dreams aloud. But as we grow older, something shifts — a fear of embarrassment and the pressure to be realistic creep in.
In this episode, we talk about how we imagined our futures as kids and how those dreams have shaped the way we live now. We reflect on living without regret, how we can measure and hold ourselves accountable to our desires, and encouraging ourselves to lead with hope and wonder in 2023 and beyond.
Season 4, Episode 9: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! In this week's episode, we're adding another installment to our coming into adulthood series to chat about the independence and harsh realities of moving from our parent's house out on our own. We're getting into some roommate horror stories, what we wish we knew before buying furniture and hunting for our first big girl apartments, and how it actually feels to build a home for ourselves and live alone.
In this week's episode, we're joined by stylists, content creators, and overall fashion icons, Simi (@simimoonlight) and Uniekue (@uniekue) for a conversation about developing your personal style, shopping with intention, and building a wardrobe on a budget. We’ll be discussing our favorite (and least favorite) trends, size inclusivity and desirability politics in the fashion industry, and the role of Black femmes in shaping fashion and culture.
Season 4, Episode 7
In this week's episode, we are joined by journalist, author, and former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief, Elaine Welteroth, for a conversation about the post-graduate career journeys, redefining success and personal growth, and finding your passions by leading with your joy and desires.
Season 4, Episode 6: As we prepare to enter the workforce and reflect on our high school and college years, we're thinking a lot this week about impostor syndrome and those creeping feelings of self-doubt which have held us back from recognizing our merit and entering new spaces and opportunities. In this episode, we debunk impostor syndrome by tracing it back to its root causes: the lack of representation and systemic barriers in spaces we've occupied, comparison and competitive environments, and reconciling the pressure to associate our value with our productivity and arbitrary markers of success.
Season 4, Episode 5: Big news, we graduated from college!! And in this week's episode, we're getting into the full rollercoaster coaster of the emotions that this terrifying and exciting transition period into adulthood brings.
Happy Mother's Day from our moms to you and yours!
This week, we're joined by our beloved mothers, Julia Jordan-Zachery and Paulette Ritchie, to reminisce about our funniest childhood memories and discuss intergenerational cycles and motherhood. We delve into lessons they learned during their young adult years, the extent to which their mothering style was informed by their own mothers, and the rewards and challenges of raising Black girls.
This week, we're in our bag, in our feelings — whatever you want to call it! — and we're having a therapy session for the sensitive girlies. In this epiosde, we're getting into all things emotional: from expressing vulnerability, to our own sensitivity and emotional intelligence. We dive into which emotions are the hardest to express, feeling guilty for burdening others with our emotions, and the truth behind the "crybaby Cancer"zodiac sterotype. We explore how we were taught to deal with our emotions as children, and what this means for our current relationship with our emotional vulnerability as young Black women.
"Loooooveeee", or whatever Keyshia Cole said! In this week's episode, we're getting into our dating experiences as young adults. From our introductions to romance in media and in our families, to dating apps, hookup culture in college, and dating experiences as Black women at PWIs, there's a lot to unpack today! Tune in as we break down our favorite romantic movies, ideal characteristics in a partner, worst dates, and our thoughts on Black Love and the interracial dating "spirit of Tamera".
Content warning (Kanye / Pete Davidson): 7:40
For the first episode of season 4, we’re going to be talking about lifestyle changes, and how to develop routines and rituals. In this episode, we discuss holding ourselves accountable to new year's resolutions, the time we spend on our phones, craving new experiences that take us outside our comfort zone and making sure that we're creating holistic goals to take care of our bodies, minds, and spirits. It's a constant journey, but what are some steps we can take to get the ball rolling and make ourselves feel just a little more grounded?
Have you ever noticed yourself acting out of character? Feeling less like yourself?
In this week's episode, we’re going to be talking about authenticity and being true to ourselves. Especially at this age, it can be a constant journey of trying to “find yourself” and then losing yourself again and then rinse and repeat.
How do you rediscover the things that are important to you? And what happens when you notice this happening to those closest to you? Find out all of this and more today.
No new friends or whatever Drake said...! In this week's episode, we will be getting real about the challenges of making friends as we get older. We’re going to be talking about social lives, more than just learning how to be social again after the pandemic but what it's like navigating the world as an introvert or an extrovert and having social anxiety.
From catcalling to street harassment and downright belligerent men, this week's episode is all about the universal terrifying experiences we face at the hands of creepy men. Tune in for a therapy session for any and everyone who has ever had to deal with harassment from men you don't know in public. This is a much-needed time to share stories of these all-too-familiar moments, how we respond to them, and to really unpack all of the feelings that come along with them.
In this week's episode, we’re taking a journey through the years in music. From the songs we heard our parents play around the house to the first albums we ever purchased for ourselves, there's a lot of nostalgia to get into! Join us as we take a trip down memory lane and chat about our go-to feel-good tracks, the top-tier white bangers, and our music obsessions.
Have you ever had your expectations were disappointed in a relationship? Do you forgive and forget? Or did you cut it off and keep it pushing? This week, we're getting into the nitty-gritty of reacting when people don’t live up to what you expected of them from family members to romantic relationships to friends.
In this week's episode, we’re talking about what it means to live in a society that idolizes celebrities and has an unhealthy obsession with fame. Especially in the midst of the #FreeBritney Movement, it's time to discuss the impact of fame and tabloids on celebrity mental health and having grace for celebrities as real people. From the Barbz and the Beyhive on Stan Twitter to YouTube couples like Dearra & Ken… we’re getting into the good, the bad, and the downright unhealthy of celebrity culture.
Confidence, vanity, self-love, main character syndrome… a whole lot of terms but not enough conversation about how we channel these sentiments (or don’t) in the world! Tune in to this week's conversation about navigating leadership as Black women, being called high maintenance, "impostor syndrome" in the college admission process, and tips for maintaining our confidence in a world that's constantly trying to dim our light.
Do y'all ever think about how much summer breaks have changed over the years? From our summer experiences as kids (can the girls whose parents made them wear swim caps please stand up?!) to summer 2016 and how we’ve spent our summers as college students with internships, it’s time for some reminiscing! Tune in as we get into the nostalgia of childhood summers spent at camp, our summer playlists, plans for our "last summer of freedom" and the impending scaries of busy, exhausted adult summers.
A wise woman once said “I do not support all women, some of you b***hes are very dumb!!!” And thus, this episode was borne 😂
We're gonna let this week’s episode title speak for itself because this description is simply not enough. Tune into our conversation about our relationships with all of the women in our lives: our peers, our aunties and grandmas, yte women and so many more.
Your daily reminder that without Black trans women there would be no PRIDE!
Far too often Black queer women are left out of conversations about LGBTQ+ identities. In honor of this month and the rich legacy and lives of Black queer women to whom we are alllllll indebted, we're putting @brownbabyjade (jadeexbadu on TikTok) and @wowiwrite (Founder of Brainwash Media) center stage for one of our richest episodes yet!
Get ready for this week’s episode about growing up in the age of the internet this week we’re getting into our introductions to social media (yes, FarmVille and Tumblr, we’re talking about you) and how we feel about the way that influencer culture has changed our relationships with social media.
Are y'all ready for vaccinated girl summer?? In this episode, we're thinking about what a post-COVID world would look like and reflecting on all the ways that this past year has changed our social lives drastically.
This week's episode is a judgment-free zone! From our weirdest food cravings to our hottest takes on music, movies, and celebrities, we're getting into all of our most unpopular opinions.
Relationships... internships... friendships... Let that all that toxic stuff go bby!
This week's episode gets into the hard parts about accepting change and walking away from things that aren't really serving us anymore and the benefits of putting ourselves first and recognizing our self-worth!
Dinner with JAY Z or $100,000? Jk, don’t answer that.
Join us for this week's episode where we remind y'all that it's OKAY to not ~always~ be in your bag. No, you don’t have to flip your stimulus check into an LLC, AND the truth is Jay Z probably don’t want to eat let alone talk business with you anyway 😂
You know that feeling when you get older and learn all of the family tea?? The Kids’ Table talk is getting juicy this week. Make yourself at home as we get into mother-daughter relationships, divorce, and learning how to navigate the influence of our childhood in our adult relationships.
Join us for a candid conversation about dating in your 20s and in a pandemic, society's value of romantic relationships vs. platonic relationships, and ways to enjoy being single on Valentine's day!
We’re joined by Dr. Michelle Meggs, ordained Baptist Minister and advocate for spiritual practices, for a conversation our souls have been craving. In this episode, we talk about stepping into our spiritual journeys, developing a personal relationship with The Creator, and reminding ourselves that we were made with divine intention.
For this week's episode, we’ll be joined by Olivia Luther and Rania Ali for the first episode of our two-part religion series! This week, we're getting into how we were raised to understand and believe in God and where we are in our own journeys of understanding our individual relationship to God.
Get ready to chat about it ALL from the beauties and flaws of organized religion, the misrepresentation of hijabis in TV/Film, to early memories of being in church pews!
Did you miss us last week? We missed y’all!
This week we’re talking about HAIR; our relationships with it, our journeys in learning to care and love for it, and our hair goals for the future.
Welcome to our first episode of 2021! We hope y'all had a great NYE and now we're here to talk about alllllll the things we went through and learned over the past 12 months.
In this episode, we discuss everything from music to fashion and the pandemic and social justice while also taking a trip down Black Twitter memory lane! Join us for some self-reflection on lessons we faced in 2020 and the spirit we're bringing into 2021!
Sings we’re all in this together!! To everyone else going through finals season in Zoom University, our hearts are with you.
This week’s episode is doubling as a support group session for all of us pushing through exams remotely. We’ll be unpacking all of the stress of this semester from our wildest professor behavior this semester to our most recent breakdowns.
Welcome to the first episode of season two of your fave podcast for all the Gen Z Black girl tea! Get in losers, we're roasting ourselves!
We’re opening this season with some much-needed self-reflection. As a generation, we love using personality tests and zodiac signs to diagnose our behaviors but it’s time we dig into getting to know ourselves, specifically those not so nice traits of ours that we don't really like to talk about.
Does anyone else feel like it shouldn’t be THIS hard to decipher the facts during this election season?
For many of us, this election is the first time that we’ll be able to vote. From Twitter’s Kamala “The Cop” memes, to the playground behavior we’ve witnessed on the presidential debate stage, it can be hard to understand what is TRULY at stake on November 3rd, 2020.
Our final episode of the season is devoted to uncovering the truth about the candidates on the ballot this year and having a Black girl therapy session while we're at it.
Friendships are like any other important relationship in our lives... they come with ups and downs and require a lot of honesty and care. From making new friends to knowing when it’s time to end a friendship, to navigating those moments when you might be the toxic friend. It’s not very often that we get real about all that goes into our relationships with our girlfriends.
In this episode, we’re talking all things girlfriends: the benefits of keeping your circle small or large, how different friendships serve different purposes in our lives, and even knowing when it’s time for a friendship to end.
It’s positive self talk ONLY over here! Imagine a world free of all of the things media teaches us to believe about our bodies? A world in which the only things we obsessed over were the things we loved about ourselves?
This world of body positivity and love isn’t impossible and it is ours to create! Start by complimenting yourself in the mirror today, you deserve it! The world tells us so much about what our bodies should and shouldn’t be. Most of us have internalized these messages which can make self-love pretty difficult. We sat down with the Tik Tok style sensation herself, Ariam Kidale, @iambratty, to talk about practicing true body positivity for ourselves and others.
This week on Black Girl Blueprint, we’re having a much needed conversation about Black girl joy! When you’re consistently bombarded with tragedies and tales of injustice every day on social media, it can become increasingly difficult to find time to care for yourself and do things that you bring you joy and happiness!
In episode 9, we’re going to be joined by the amazing Manna Zel (@mannazel), creator of @blackandjoyful, as we get into the process of healing from trauma, taking breaks from social media, and all of the reasons why our joy should always be nonnegotiable!
Naomi Wadler is proof that there is no age limit to changing the world. While 13-year-old social justice activist Naomi is most recognized for her speech at the March For Our Lives anti-gun violence protest in 2018, she has continued to do incredible work and has inspired so many with her dedication to fighting injustice.
In this episode, we chat with Naomi about life as an 8th grader, reminisce about our own PWI middle school experiences, and get into Naomi's journey in the activist world. Join us for a conversation on the activist sphere and it's tendencies to leave Black girls out of its advocacy.
In the seventh episode of Black Girl Blueprint, we're talking all things BEAUTY. Joined by makeup artist and influencer Lauren Brown, aka Raggedy Royal, we're getting into the ins and outs of the beauty industry. As the creator of a number of trends that have shaken the beauty world, a Black woman AND a 19-year-old college student, Lauren has a very unique perspective to offer.
We each reflect on our own middle school makeup horror stories (them 2012 eyebrows, iykyk), to our staple makeup products. We're also diving into the role that the makeup world should play in this critical moment in history–– from increasing shade diversity, to paying Black influencers, join us for a conversation you won't want to miss.
For the sixth episode of Black Girl Blueprint, we're joined by Kyemah McEntyre notable fashion designer and Parsons School of Design graduate, for a conversation all about her viral prom dress and her experience navigating the fashion world as a young Black girl.
Black people have long been trailblazers of the fashion world, pushing the limits of luxury and glamour. In this conversation, we discuss the importance of moving away from what we've been taught is valuable and defining value for ourselves as we reimagine the future of the fashion world.
Your 20s can be an odd time, filled with all sorts of major life lessons and transitions. College, social media, and capitalism are all fair game in the fifth episode of Black Girl Blueprint where we’ll have a candid conversation about the growing pains of entering this new life chapter.
From our fears of aging and missing our "prime," to the pressures that many 20-somethings face to be "successful" and know what to do with their lives at an early age, there’s a lot to unpack here as we learn to stop putting so much pressure on ourselves and to cherish and enjoy these years while they last. As SZA says, God bless these 20-somethings.
This episode we are joined by actress and influencer Zolee Griggs! We'll be getting into all of the tea of the entertainment world: from 90s sitcoms, to what lacks in the industry today, and what we dream of seeing on screen in the future.
Join us as we reflect on the 90s/00s golden era of television and the Black girl characters that we're obsessed with to this day. Zolee gets into her experiences as a child actress on Disney Channel, the career path that landed her the role of Shurie on Hulu's Wutang: An American Saga, and her dreams of becoming a multi-hyphenate artist. This convo is rich in nostalgia and gems of advice from Zolee to young Black creatives seeking insight and those, like us, who are just curious about life behind the scenes.
For the third episode of Black Girl Blueprint, we welcome our first ever guest: Former Miss Teen USA, Hailey Colborn!
In this conversation Hailey speaks candidly about her pageantry journey, being a student at Princeton University, and some of the harsh realities of being crowned Miss Teen USA!
Join us as we down our personal experiences with lack of Black girl representation during our childhood as Hailey lets us know some of her biggest inspirations in the worlds of pageantry and dance, her experiences with fake friends and racism, and everything in between!
It's the co-opting of Black girl looks and lingo for me! Join us for the second episode of Black Girl Blueprint where we get into Blackfishing, Blaccents, and the story behind our name.
From Jalaiah Harmon's Renegade Tik Tok movement to the Kar-Jenner's "invention" of "Boxer Braids." We'll be discussing how Black girl's creations are far too often made mainstream without credit. We explore our own childhood horror stories of having to code-switch, get into the difference between appropriation and appreciation, and unpack how the world can better credit Black women and girls for their contributions to the culture moving forward.
Follow us on Instagram: @blackgirlblueprint | Email us at blackgirlblueprint@gmail.com
Lauren: @laurenaritchie @itsecogal | Makeen: @makeenz @blkgirlculture
Welcome to the very first episode of Black Girl Blueprint! In today's episode we introduce ourselves, get into how the lack of Gen-Z Black girl voices in the podcast world got us here, and share our vision for this show.
We love speaking things into existence, but it's time we get real about the work that goes into realizing our dreams. Join us for an unfiltered conversation on the culture surrounding wellness and self-care. We'll be exploring topics from B. Simone's technique of manifestation and Jada's infamous "entanglement" as we attempt to move past the buzzwords and uncover what self-care really looks like.
Follow us on Instagram: @blackgirlblueprint | Email us at blackgirlblueprint@gmail.com
Lauren: @laurenaritchie @itsecogal | Makeen: @makeenz @blkgirlculture