Brown Genius

The Mestiza Project was created in the spring of 2017. Artists who identity with Mestiza/o, LatinX, Latina/o, Chicana/o, XicanX, Indigenous, and mixed races and cultures were invited to co-create the Mestiza Project. We did not know who would show up, what would unfold, or what the end result would be. Writers, poets, musicians, drummers, and interested community members gathered for a day of improvisational readings, jam sessions, drum circles and collaborations. The Mestiza Project features Zay Rios, Ric Urrutia, Yuzo Nieto, Yaneis Autumn, Kimberly Ming, Yasmin Mercedes, Bianca Mikahn, Joshua Abeyta, Diego Florez, Molina Speaks, Sheree “lovemestiza Brown, and more. The Project was recorded by Jesus Rodriguez and Sly “SG” Guevara, and produced by Rodney Sino-Cruz.The Mestiza Project - Denver was arranged by Molina Speaks to reflect a stream-of-consciousness journey through Mestiza/o time and space.

Brown Genius hosts professors Santiago Guerra, Ph.D. and Karen Roybal, Ph.D. Both professors teach for the Department of Southwest Studies at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. Dr. Roybal and Dr. Guerra co-planned a Mestiza Futures Symposium with Molina Speaks and Sheree Brown in the fall of 2018.

Afrofuturist, hip-hop artist and community educator Ill Se7en joins us to talk about the roots of culture, black and brown aesthetics, and constructs of race and color. This discussion stretches across personal, intercultural, and cross-cultural dimensions. https://soundcloud.com/ill-seven

Brown Genius hosts master artist Stevon Lucero for a conversation about God, Art, Time, Dreams, and Life's Purpose. Stevon Lucero has been painting for over 50 years. He is a Chicano Meta-Realist who is recognized internationally for his contributions to Surrealism, Indigenous art, and cultural art of the American Southwest.https://www.stevonlucero.com

Candi CdeBaca, Executive Director of Project VOYCE, joins Brown Genius for a conversation about youth advocacy, community development, institutions, and the non-profit industrial complex. We conclude with a focus on the power we have to create alternative realities.

Brown Genius features Los Mocochetes band in studio, with original live music recordings and perspectives on culture, humanity, Chicanismo and Indigenous roots.

Professor, Criminal Justice Reform Advocate, and Social Justice Activist Lisa Calderon joins Brown Genius to discuss her work, and the future of activism in America.

We conclude our two-part interview launch with artist, herbalist and healer Eutimia Cruz Montoya. In this segment we focus on ancestral medicine, self-healing, and community healing for a new era.

Eutimia Cruz Montoya is a lineage-raised contemporary curandera, herbalist, licensed acupuncturist, Real Foods Activist, and Food Systems Educator. She joins us on Election Night 2016 for the birth of the Brown Genius Podcast.