MarShawn McCarrel | Activism Kills Artwork

The Black Moon Podcast

The Black Moon Podcast is an exploration and interrogation into Black death. This podcast aims to deepen our knowledge about the life stories of Black people who have passed away and situate their death in the societal context in which they died. The Black Moon Podcast is additionally here interrogate the understanding of death in the western world and provide vital information that will hopefully help Black people be better prepared to engage with death. Lastly, this podcast is here to hold space for collective healing. Rather than experiencing the death of Black people through viral trauma-porn and hashtags centered around the last moments of life, BMP aims to remediate the harm being done to our psyches from watching Black people die. This podcast is written and produced by Gambian-American Poet Olka Baldeh.

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The Black Moon Podcast

MarShawn McCarrel | Activism Kills

June 06, 2019 • Olka Baldeh • Season 1 • Episode 1

The first episode of the Black Moon Podcast honors the life of MarShawn McCarrel. MarShawn, or “Shawn” as his friends knew him, was a community organizer, a poet, and a bringer of joy to everyone around him. He inspired people to help others. His tribe described him as “living the commitments that many of us talk about everyday.” They said that “MarShawn was a soldier for the liberation of all people. His spirit was effervescent with visionary beauty, creativity, and love.”

On Monday, February 8th, 2016 around 6pm, at the tender age of 23, it is said that Marshawn McCarrel committed suicide in front of Ohio’s Statehouse. He was pronounced dead at the scene from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. There were no witnesses to the shooting.

Topics touched on in include; activism, police brutality, depression, suicide, racism, and the suspicious deaths of Black activists all around the nation.

Referenced in this episode:

A Year in the Death of Tyrone West - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG-8jardyX4

Original music by: Siddy Beats