There is a line in Spiderman, Across the Spider-Verse, when Peter Parker laments that he’s sick of hearing about the fate of the multiverse. He’s turned off by, had enough of, all the highfalutin, esoteric jabber.
The Marvel dialogue feels fitting in an election year when even folks within the same political parties can’t seem to agree. And it’s a sentiment that in some way captures the crux of the most recent episode of How to Really Run a City, The Citizen’s acclaimed podcast co-hosted by former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and Citizen co-founder Larry Platt. Their guest is the polymath Charles Blow, columnist for The New York Times and author of the 2021 book The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto and last year’s companion HBO documentary, South to Black Power.
In a wide-ranging and impassioned conversation, Blow makes the case for a type of new Black Power movement by calling for a Black migration to the South (he moved to Atlanta, GA, four years ago) and opining on the diminishing Democratic Party loyalty of Black men in America. The mayors and their guest dive deep into the risks run when politicians focus on philosophical debates over more day-to-day issues like jobs and the economy.
Check out the episode here, and be sure to check out Blow’s provocative book and documentary. As always, let us know what you think – and who you’d like to hear on future episodes of the podcast — at podcast@thephiladelhpiacitizen.org.
