Despite major advances in HIV prevention, Black women remain disproportionately affected and often overlooked in conversations about PrEP. In this episode of Rooted, researcher Dr. Whitney Irie explains why risk is shaped less by behavior and more by social networks, access, and systemic inequities. The conversation explores stigma, gaps in provider awareness, and why many women are never told PrEP is an option. From policy to culture, the barriers are complex and urgent. So what would it take to close the gap?

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Alexsis Rodgers explains how the Black Census Project is helping Black communities turn their experiences into real policy change. Instead of just counting people, it asks what they actually want, like better wages, safer communities, and improved health. The goal is to reach 300,000 voices and build a shared vision for the future. At a time of low trust in institutions, this project is all about putting power back in people’s hands.

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Political activist Ajamu Baraka and the Black Alliance for peace is calling for a boycott of the U.S.-hosted World Cup arguing the tournament is helping “normalize” global human rights abuses. He accuses FIFA of double standards and warns the games are being used as “sportswashing.” Despite that, he tells fans to enjoy the matches—but stay politically aware. So can you love the game and still challenge the system? Or is watching part of the problem?

In an exclusive sit down with Rooted, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley breaks down the Democratic Party’s 2024 election autopsy and what it reveals about shifting Black voter support, economic frustration, and messaging failures. She challenges the idea that identity politics is to blame, arguing that issues like reproductive rights and racial equity are fundamentally economic, while highlighting voter turnout gaps, misinformation, and growing distrust within the party’s base. The conversation also explores the political impact of the Gaza crisis, Supreme Court decisions, and calls for court reform and eliminating dark money—raising urgent questions about whether Democrats can reconnect with voters and deliver meaningful change.

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A lineage rooted in soil stretches from ancestral farmland to modern city plots, where Black women are reclaiming their role as stewards, healers, and innovators. Generations of knowledge—once carried in seeds and sustained through resilience—now face the weight of historic land loss and systemic barriers to access. Yet across communities, a new movement is taking hold, blending tradition with policy, grassroots action with economic ambition—from community gardens to land trusts, and from micro plots to broader reform.

GBH News Rooted’s Paris Alston talks to Leah Penniman, the co-director and co-founder of Soul Fire Farm in New York, Nataka Crayton, co-creator of the Urban Farming Institute of Boston, and Savi Horne, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers, to explore the challenges and possibilities shaping this return to the land.

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Rooted digs into the overlooked intersection of Black womanhood, disability, and sexual autonomy—spaces where desire is policed, consent is unevenly taught, and safety is too often denied. Through a candid conversation with disability and kink advocate Nyla Morton, the episode explores how Black disabled women navigate a world that misreads their bodies, and why some find more agency in kink communities than in mainstream dating culture. It’s a conversation about power, pleasure, and the systems that decide who gets to feel free.

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As Boston Public Schools moves to introduce AI literacy districtwide, Rooted examines what artificial intelligence education really means for Black and brown students whose futures are being reshaped by automation. Host Paris Austin speaks with a former Department of Labor innovation leader and a Harvard labor economist about whether AI literacy is becoming a baseline requirement for economic survival, how algorithmic bias and surveillance threaten equity, and why both white‑collar and blue‑collar jobs are being transformed at the task level. The conversation challenges schools to rethink assessments, creativity, and workforce preparation—asking whether AI education will simply help students survive inside existing systems, or give them the power to reshape and own the future economy.

Rooted is brought to you by our sponsor, Britebound—helping middle and high school students to explore their passions, try out career paths, and make confident decisions about their future. To learn more, visit https://bit.ly/britebound

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