Greg Thomas: Can Injustice Catalyze a Hero's Journey?
From How My View Grew by Amiel Handelsman
May 28, 2025 · 27 min · Season 3 · Episode 7
About this episode
Greg Thomas discusses how jazz influenced his perspective on race and the Black American experience as a hero's journey.
In this episode of How My View Grew, Greg Thomas describes how jazz saved him from hating so-called "white people" and how he learned to see the Black American experience as a hero's journey that is central to American history and culture. **Key takeaways** 3:00 Early-life learning about rabid southern racists 9:00 "I gotta pick up an instrument" 13:30 The pathologizing of Black Americans by "white" liberals 16:00 The depth and wisdom of Albert Murray, Ralph Ellison, and Stanley Crouch 19:00 "This history has got my back" and the artificiality of "whiteness" 22:00 The hero's journey 23:30 Amiel's reflections **Resources** Jazz Leadership Project Omni-American Future Project "King of Cats," Henry Louis Gates Jr's long profile of Murray in The New Yorker The Omni-Americans: Some Alternatives to the Folklore of White Supremacy by Albert Murray **Subscribe to the podcast** To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. **Share the love** Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
People in this episode
Host: Amiel Handelsman
Guest: Greg Thomas
Topics covered
- jazz
- hero's journey
- Black American experience
- American history
- racial identity
- cultural insights
Keywords
- jazz
- hero's journey
- racial identity
- Black Americans
- American culture
- Albert Murray
- Ralph Ellison
- Stanley Crouch
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Jazz Leadership Project, Omni-American Future Project
Books & works: King of Cats, The Omni-Americans: Some Alternatives to the Folklore of White Supremacy
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