Akilah heads back to her hometown of Florence, KY to attend her former high school’s homecoming celebration and kick off her campaign to get the Boone County Rebels mascot changed.

If you have a racist mascot at your high school, or are an alumni of a high school with a racist mascot, and want to share your own experience, please email us at rebelspiritpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to talk to you!

Akilah heads back to her hometown of Florence, KY to attend her former high school’s homecoming celebration and kick off her campaign to get the Boone County Rebels mascot changed.
If you have a racist mascot at your high school, or are an alumni of a high school with a racist mascot, and want to share your own experience, please email us at <a href="mailto:rebelspiritpodcast@gmail.com">rebelspiritpodcast@gmail.com</a>. We would love to talk to you!

Rebel Spirit is a brand new podcast series from Akilah Hughes (Crooked Media’s “What a Day”) about her return to her small town of Florence, Kentucky with a mission to change her high school’s mascot from a Confederate General into a Biscuit. The show features moving interviews with everyone from the artist behind “Gritty,” The Philadelphia Flyers’ viral mascot, to principals at schools across the nation who have made this change. In speaking to people at every inflection point of the issue of problematic mascots, Rebel Spirit endeavors to make the process of correcting historic wrongs less of a bummer.

Rebel Spirit is a brand new podcast series from Akilah Hughes (Crooked Media’s “What a Day”) about her return to her small town of Florence, Kentucky with a mission to change her high school’s mascot from a Confederate General into a Biscuit. The show features moving interviews with everyone from the artist behind “Gritty,” The Philadelphia Flyers’ viral mascot, to principals at schools across the nation who have made this change. In speaking to people at every inflection point of the issue of problematic mascots, Rebel Spirit endeavors to make the process of correcting historic wrongs less of a bummer.

Rebel Spirit

Episode 1: A Homecoming

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/31504ed0-7f01-4f89-8bb1-b1d1013b70da/transcript

Help us win a Signal Award for Rebel Spirit! Voting is open through Thursday, October 9th and you can vote in each of our categories at the below link. We're nominated for Limited Series - Comedy and Limited Series - Activism, Public Service and Social Impact.

https://rebelspiritpodcast.com/vote/ 

Thank you for all your support!

And keep an eye out for updates on Rebel Spirit season 2 which will be coming next year!

Help us win a Signal Award for Rebel Spirit! Voting is open through Thursday, October 9th&nbsp;and you can vote in each of our categories at the below link. We're nominated for Limited Series - Comedy and Limited Series - Activism, Public Service and Social Impact.
<a href="https://rebelspiritpodcast.com/vote/">https://rebelspiritpodcast.com/vote/</a>&nbsp;
Thank you for all your support!
And keep an eye out for updates on Rebel Spirit season 2 which will be coming next year!

Rebel Spirit Signal Award Voting!

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/95b872fc-5abc-4653-a5fb-b36e016368e4/transcript

Rebel Spirit is nominated for a Webby Award and we need your help to win!

Go to this link and vote for Rebel Spirit: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/limited-series-specials/diversity-equity-inclusion-belonging

Or just go to vote.webbyawards.com and search for Rebel Spirit. 

Thank you so much for your support!

Rebel Spirit is nominated for a Webby Award and we need your help to win!
Go to this link and vote for Rebel Spirit:&nbsp;<a href="https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/limited-series-specials/diversity-equity-inclusion-belonging">https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/limited-series-specials/diversity-equity-inclusion-belonging</a>
Or just go to vote.webbyawards.com and search for Rebel Spirit.&nbsp;
Thank you so much for your support!

Vote For Rebel Spirit To Win A Webby!

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/4f464131-115e-494e-b3df-b2bf01584578/transcript

It's the last episode of the season, and Akilah is thinking about her home, Florence, Kentucky. Over the course of our reporting, we've been told how much the town and county are changing, how much more diverse they're getting. What does the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration and diversity mean for Florence? What does it mean for all of us? One last open record request underscores what we're up against, even as the battle feels larger than ever.

To view a selection of the open records we received from the school, along with bonus content for other episodes, visit our new website: https://rebelspiritpodcast.com

If you have a racist mascot at your high school or are an alumni of a high school with a racist mascot and want to share your own experience, please email us at rebelspiritpodcast@gmail.com.

We would love to talk to you!

Correction: We reference Linda McMahon as Education Secretary in this episode, as of publishing she is just the nomination.

It's the last episode of the season, and Akilah is thinking about her home, Florence, Kentucky. Over the course of our reporting, we've been told how much the town and county&nbsp;are changing, how much more diverse they're getting. What does the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration and diversity mean for Florence? What does it mean for all of us? One last open record request underscores what we're up against, even as the battle feels larger than ever.
To view a selection of the open records we received from the school, along with bonus content for other episodes, visit our new website:&nbsp;<a href="https://rebelspiritpodcast.com/about/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://rebelspiritpodcast.com/about/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1739311975551000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3yaxJqIGkdaOn8qAKPNDjU">https://rebelspiritpodcast.com</a>
If you have a racist mascot at your high school or are an alumni of a high school with a racist mascot and want to share your own experience, please email us at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:rebelspiritpodcast@gmail.com">rebelspiritpodcast@gmail.com.</a>
We would love to talk to you!
Correction: We reference Linda McMahon as Education Secretary in this episode, as of publishing she is just the nomination.

Episode 12: Erasures 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/2eb16bd4-6182-45f2-9bad-b28f0056699e/transcript

Episode 1: A Homecoming

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