Being the national spelling bee champion may not be the dream of every kid growing up in South Los Angeles, but Akeelah was special. Dear Culture speaks to several people, including her rival Kyla Pratt about what Akeelah's accomplishments and spelling bee co-win meant for the culture.

<p>Being the national spelling bee champion may not be the dream of every kid growing up in South Los Angeles, but Akeelah was special. Dear Culture speaks to several people, including her rival Kyla Pratt about what Akeelah's accomplishments and spelling bee co-win meant for the culture.</p>

Welcome to Dear Culture, the podcast version of the conversations you’re already having with the people you don’t even realize you know.  Every week, cultural commentator and editorialist Panama Jackson will be a tour guide through some intersection of Blackness and culture. Bringing his years of experience writing and commentating on the culture from an educational and entertaining viewpoint, Dear Culture will engender everything Don King meant when he uttered the words, “...and that’s the Blackness.” We might not know where we’re going when we start, but what we do know is that by the time you get to the end, you will undoubtedly say, that was Black and that was the culture. Dear Culture is the podcast for all of the people who know the appropriate call-and-response for when somebody enters the room and says, “God is good…” because that is the culture.

<p>Welcome to Dear Culture, the podcast version of the conversations you&rsquo;re already having with the people you don&rsquo;t even realize you know.&nbsp; Every week, cultural commentator and editorialist Panama Jackson will be a tour guide through some intersection of Blackness and culture. Bringing his years of experience writing and commentating on the culture from an educational and entertaining viewpoint, Dear Culture will engender everything Don King meant when he uttered the words, &ldquo;...and that&rsquo;s the Blackness.&rdquo; We might not know where we&rsquo;re going when we start, but what we do know is that by the time you get to the end, you will undoubtedly say, that was Black and that was the culture. Dear Culture is the podcast for all of the people who know the appropriate call-and-response for when somebody enters the room and says, &ldquo;God is good&hellip;&rdquo; because that is the culture.</p>

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