In This Issue
Life experiences—both good and bad— bring about wisdom and knowledge that can be put toward navigating the future. Coupled with patience and time, Scottie Beam and Sylvia Obell landed into divine alignment after departing from a unique opportunity they hoped would last forever.
This month, the two launched "The Scottie & Sylvia Show" hosted on Issa Rae's Raedio YouTube channel. Letting us in on their sacred bestie convos and dropping wisdom along the way, fans are able to engage in the commentary and perspectives we've come to love from them both.
The “best friends who keep their finger on the pulse of the culture” chatted with EBONY about their joint return to podcasting and standing in their power as badass Black women.
EBONY: Congratulations on the debut of The Scottie & Sylvia Show! Why should people remember to never count Black women out?
Sylvia Obell: Gwendolyn Brooks has this quote that says, "We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond." We don't count Black woman out because we have each other—we don't count each other out, ever. We're gonna always open the door or window to figure out how we can get in. That's why we make each other our business. One thing a Black woman is going to do is get it done. We're always expected to be resilient superwomen, which tends to get exhausting. Being double minorities, we have to operate from the mindset of "knock me down nine times, I'm gonna get up 10." We just have no other choice. We've always had to fight twice as hard and be twice as good and all of those things. There's just a level of resiliency that God put in the DNA that's not in all the other flavors.
Folks have come to love you both deeply—respectively and as a unit—which is why there has been so much hype for your return to this space. While you have been away, how were you able to focus on bringing this new show to life in a new way?
Obell: In this situation, we have free-range to talk about anything and everything. One of the reasons why we wanted to come to Raedio was because it was Black-owned and led. There's not some random board of white people that we have to worry about. What's fun about this new period is that we get to enjoy and take advantage of that creative freedom, not be censored and be with a group that supports the mission of speaking truth to power when necessary. Also, we get to cut up and have fun. Another main difference is, even when we do choose to have interviews or when we talk about what we're watching, it doesn't have to be surrounded by one streaming company.
Working with Issa [Rae] has shown how she's just so even free in the way she moves. The example she sets—whether she's on a red carpet boldly saying that she's "rooting for everybody black" and being unapologetic—you can't help but feel empowered. Everybody falls in line. There's just an understanding of culture, what's important and what's not. We don't have to defend our work or why something Black is important. The freedom to be seen and understood saves so much time. Now, we can just get to the work and the content without having to explain why it needs to do what it does.
Scottie Beam: Everything that Sylvia said. Everything.
Let’s talk about responsibility—of our impact, our respective platforms and power. Across podcast culture, many people feel entitled to say what they want off the strength of "having a platform." Do you think Black women are held to a higher standard to maintain responsibility, or are we just truly the badasses that will save the world?
Beam: There is a lot of responsibility when it comes to podcasting and being on that microphone. When we think about microphones, we think about, people being able to tell the world what's going on. Way before podcasting was a thing, there was a thing called radio stations, where hosts could keep people abreast of what was happening in their communities and the world. When I think of the microphone and us doing this show, it's the same thing as living within our community and being able to express and tell people what's going on what's happening and how we push forward. We chat about how to look out for each other and magnify that power. It's loud and audacious.
Obell: Something we've always tried to make sure we stand behind is prioritizing Black women and speaking for them first. We're not worried about the white gaze or the male gaze. We're very much about making sure we're prioritizing the community that we are a part of, and often feel like is frequently overlooked. We care about putting her—the Black woman— first and even putting our experiences first without fear of what people may think about it or how it may come back. I think that's the responsibility we feel—to speak up for the women who paved the way for us. We had an episode on our old podcast where Nia Long talked about how so much of what she did about being an outspoken Black woman in entertainment was to open doors for women. Even our podcast made her feel like that was something that she paved the way for through her actions, audacity, brashness or whatever it may be. I think we're just trying to carry the baton that we've been so blessed to hold in that way.
You all take a moment to give out free game on The Scottie & Sylvia Show, but also affirmations for folks to take away after watching. What has been one of your favorite affirmations lately that you've developed, heard, or has been shared with you?
Beam: I've been reading this book by Dr. Joy Bradford—founder of Therapy For Black Girls—called Sisterhood Heals. One thing she posed in the text is when you're put in a position, and you're feeling insecure about things—is it fact or is it fear? We all have moments where we may not feel like ourselves. I realized that this kind of thought would actually keep me from missing out on life or an experience that you've never even felt or seen before. I think it's just important to ask yourself these things, think deeply about them, and be able to conquer those thoughts. If it's fact, then it's a fact. But a lot of the time, overthinking is fear.
Obell: I think during this past season of just off time, I really learned to stray away from the perspective of "why is this happening to me" and shift to thinking "what is this trying to teach me?" The hard things that happen in life and what we have to go through are not just arbitrary. A mantra I try to remember is pulling what my character development needs from each situation. That outlook has helped me so much.
Another fun affirmation I love that has been at the center of so many memes is "think big b*tch." There have been so many times when I wasn't thinking big enough. I never saw any of this for myself, so to be here in the space is major. EBONY was my first internship when I was in grad school, and 1000 hard things happened in between then and now. I'm realizing that the calling on our lives is a lot bigger than what either of us realized. Stepping into that and finding confidence in that has been interesting.
