Politini - BLIS.FM

Whenever the pendulum swings in politics it knocks the most vulnerable among us square on their behinds. It seems that every time we make advances towards equality we take at least 12 steps backwards during an off cycle or midterm election. WHY? Why is voter turnout so low during this time? Was a win for conservatives in Houston regarding LGBT inequality really a mandate? Has stagnation in politics become our new normal? With Guest Christina Gorczynski, is the principal consultant and CEO of First Person LLC, a Houston-based strategic advisory firm specializing in smart leadership for socially responsible organizations.

It's too complicated, the complexities are just too many. These are often just a few of the comments people make when discussing the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict. Are these statements to some extent true--sure, but there are also basic things that us as human beings understand the basis of which is freedom, dignity and liberty. What we ask in this episode is has conflict in this region; which has been going on for decades become our new normal or is a peace a possibility? With guests, Matthew Duss, President at the Foundation for Middle East Peace and Jack Jenkins Senior Religion Reporter at ThinkProgress

This week will go down as the week that black girls crossed the line. The week that our magic was shining bright for all the world to see and we were unapologetic about it--Sure, this week was one for the history books, but we are wondering if as Viola Davis recited in her Emmy speech if more black thespians will be walking over that imaginary line and if diversity in Hollywood will become our new normal ? With guests, Former Editor-at-Large of Essence, Emil Wilbekin, Managing Editor, Newsone.com Chrissy Coleman and Editorial Assistant, Essence Magazine Taylor Lewis.

Name-calling, bullying, and cliques… no we're not talking about the film Mean Girls, we're discussing the GOP presidential candidates and their treatment of each other and our democracy. Since Donald Trump announced that he was running for president he has turned his campaign into a cross between the Bachelor and RHOEverywhere. So, the question we ask this episode is has the GOP turned into a party of trolls and has Reality TV politics become our new normal? With guests, MSNBC National Correspondent and author of Frature: Barack Obama, The Clintons and the Racial Divide, Joy-Ann Reid and Democratic Strategist and Pollster Stefan Hankin.

With politicians competing for the bottom and pop culture making less art and creating more antics we wonder what the summer of 2015 will be called by historians. Will it be called the summer of our discontent, the summer of trauma, the summer of drama or maybe the second dark ages? With guest Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Erica Fener-Sitkoff

While we cried tears of joy at the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage--our hearts broke for the victims of white supremacy at the Charleston, SC AME church. With each inch of progress we make in this country we seem to take about 12 feet back. So, in this episode we ask is lopsided justice our new normal? With guests Reverend Delman Coates, Senior Pastor of Mt Ennon Baptist Church and Ian Millhiser, author of Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted and Justice Editor at Thinkprogress.org

While Caitlyn Jenner will not have to bare the burden of unemployment, violence and sex work for survival like other transgender women namely those that are low income, black and brown--her presence and the mostly positive media fodder over her Vanity Fair cover has us wondering if transitioning to acceptance has become our new normal? With Guests: Zeke Stokes, VP of Programming at GLAAD and Sarah McBride, LGBT Activist and Research Associate at the Center for American Progress.

"Thug", "angry", "at-risk" these are just a few of the terms that the media uses when describing black Americans in the news whether innocent or guilty. Consequently, when it comes to mass killings at the hands of white males--this warrants debate over mental illness and services made available not a condemnation of the white community or questions about their influences and culture at-large. When will unbiased news become our new normal? With guest Dr. Brittney Cooper, Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University and co-founder of The Crunk Feminist Collective and a regular contributor at Salon.com.

According to the US Census data there are currently 17K nail salons scattered across the country. In NYC alone there are almost 2K salons. While the nail industry is booming--raking in an astonishing $7B yearly--salon workers are making only $35 a day or worse not being paid at all. In this episode we ask can fair trade nails become our new normal? And discuss the human cost of pampering. With guests, Ai-Jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) and co-director of the Caring Across Generations campaign and Miriam Yeung, Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF).

We know it's hard to get positive images of black folks on TV, but what happens in Hollywood when your black and LGBT? With the success of shows like 'Empire' and films like 'Blackbird' can being young, black, dope and OUT in Hollywood become our new normal? With guest writer/producer Benjamin Corey Jones.

Do you want a side of race talk with your coffee? Are viral assaults the latest trend? Has "new black thought" ala Raven Symone become our new normal? We're dishing on all the news that's had us scratching our heads this week and wondering if we have reached our breaking point. With Guest, Christina Coleman, Managing Editor of Newsone.com and Contributing Editor for Global Grind.

Following a weekend where President Obama's Selma speech captivated the nation a racist video was released. University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon members were captured on video doing a racist chant. Conservative media outlets blamed Rap music for the blatant act of racism. In this episode we ask is blatant ignorance and blame our new normal? With guest actress/singer/dancer, co-star/co-producer of Hello Cupid and co-star of Dear White People, Ashley Blaine Featherson.

Slut, whore, sexy, empowered. Women seem to hurl these titles at one another on the regular, but what's the distinction? What makes a stripper a whore but a Kardashian sexy? They are both showing their bodies for money. From stripper cardio classes to stripping to live we're getting into the politics of slut-shaming. With Guest, Danielle Belton, Founder of the Black Snob and Editor-at-Large for Clutch Magazine Online.

Whether flawed, functional or fabulous there is something about seeing black love--fictional or real that makes our hearts flutter. There is so much more to black relationships than the Huxtables, so we're counting down some of our favorite iconic black love moments, movies and couples both fictional and factual. With Bringing the FIRE guest, Wade Davis, former NFL player and founder of You Can Play.

Director Bill Duke released his latest documentary entitled Light Girls. The doc was his follow up to his initial film, Dark Girls, which aired on the OWN network back in 2013. His goal it seems with these documentries are to delve into the issue of colorism within the black community. However, we're puzzled about how colorism can be discussed without mentioning the white elephant in the room--namely white supremacy. With Guest, Dr Yaba Blay, professor, producer, and author of (1) Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race.

From rape culture to transgender equality and racial justice, we thought Hollywood was winning lately--that is until the Oscar nominations came out. We've said it before and we'll say it again, our country is rapidly changing and becoming browner by the year; yet none of our current institutions including the Academy reflect this fact. So, tonight we ask when can technicolor in casting and awardees become our new normal? With guests: Lena Waithe (producer of Dear White People, Bros and creator of Twenties), Helena Andrews (author Bitch is the New Black and Washington Post columnist) and Zeke Stokes (VP of Programs at GLAAD and founder of ZekeStokes.com a small batch goods company).

Can a hashtag start a revolution? That's one of the questions that have been swirling around as thousands of protests took hold of the country in 2014. What's most interesting though is that unlike the civil rights movement of the 1960s this new wave of collective black activism is being helmed by women--queer black women to be exact. So, in this episode we ask have we seen the last of "colorlessness" and has #BlackLivesMatter become our new normal? Guest: Alicia Garza and Nakisha Lewis.

Sleep deprivation, water boarding and forced feedings. These are just a few of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" aka torture methods that were highlighted in the CIA's report released this week. What's most troublesome about this report, is how eerily similar it is to some of Hollywood's biggest hits like Homeland, The Bourne trilogy and Scandal's B316. In this episode we ask if the quest to secure democracy by any means necessary has become our new normal? With guest Igor Volsky, Managing Editor of ThinkProgress.org

How do fairytales shape how we view our own personal power as women? In every tale a woman is in dire need of being rescued--she is rarely the one doing the rescuing. While there is nothing wrong with attending fabulous ball, wearing gorgeous ensembles and they like we wonder if there is a place for feminism and fairytale in the 21st century and if re-writing the fairytale and scripting our own stories will become our new normal. With guests, Founder of LiL SoSo Productions & Cultural Architect, Risikat Okedeyi and Artist, Writer and Creator of the project Feminine Folklore, Goldie Dean.

Hyper-sexuality, nudity, inflated egos and the like have all become par for the course on the path to celebrity. However, with the myriad of "look at me, look at me" celeb PR stunts from exhibitionism to more troublesome behavior we wonder how celeb behavior has permeated our sub consciousness and if the glorification of narcissitc tendacies have become our new normal? With guests, Dr. Rachel Kiston (Ph.d) and Chrissy Coleman News and Political Editor for Global Grind

What would happen if instead of running from our identities, our race and ethnicity we embraced it and created a space where we were not only seen but could forge constructive conversations about our differences? Thankfully there is another movement underway to combat the "new black"--one we're calling black renaissance 2.0. Will the resurgence of self-identified black artists will become our new normal? Guests director/creator of Dear White People, Justin Simien and designer of Nubian Skin, Ade Hassan

In a world where we shame women for gaining weight during pregnancy and teens head to YouTube to vaildate their beauty by posting videos, is it possible for us to ever believe we are actually enough--just the way we are? Or has beauty shaming become our new normal? With author of the memoir, You're Not Pretty Enough, Jennifer Tress.

While media outlets have the power to assuage or fan the flames of fear, in the case of Ebola, they have decided to do the latter. In this episode we wonder if Ebola hysteria has become our new normal or is there a way to put this genie back in the bottle? With Guest Tara Culp-Ressler, Health Editor at Thinkprogress.

Mutha-F'in cranberries, what about a little broccoli for that ass? These are just a few of the gems that the blog turned cookbook Thug Kitchen drops in their foray into a culinary "gangsta vernacular"--and people everywhere have been eating up every word, until it was discovered that the initially anonymous bloggers were white. Is this just a good lesson in strategic marketing or has culinary blackface become our new normal? Guest, writer and communications strategist, Maya K. Francis .

From Black-ish to How to Get Away with Murder to Gotham and more, our television shows are finally starting to mirror the shifting demographics of our society. In this episode we wonder if the revelation, that people of color can actually exist in a multi-dimensional way on the small screen will become our new normal? With guest Emil Wilbekin, Creative and Strategic Marketing Professional and Chief Creative Officer of World of Wilbekin.

When TMZ released the second video of NFL Player Ray Rice knocking out the mother of his child the incident went viral on social media spawning the hashtags 'Why I Stayed' and 'Why I Left' making the public's outrage go viral. In this episode we ask has violence against women become our new normal? And if so does social media have the power to stop it? With guests Dr. Kaila Story, assistant professor of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Louisville and Chantal Barlow, founder of the Unconventional Apology Project.

Style and smarts are not mutually exclusive entities. Remember the movie Legally Blonde when Elle Woods ditched her hot pink ensembles for black frocks and glasses to fit in at Harvard? What about Olivia Pope? Would she wield as much power and presence on Scandal if her style game wasn't equally as fierce as her political fixing? Politini went to the center of fashion power, VOGUE magazine, to get the scoop on how a younger generation of women are redefining what it means to be stylish and powerful.

Many may still balk at twitter-activism and it's ability to produce real-life solutions, but solutions can't be hatched without an initial spark and realization that there IS a problem. In this episode we ask has #hashtag activism become our new normal? With guests Nina Smith, Director with Impact and Risikat Okedeyi, Founder of LSP, a cultural architecture firm and English Professor at Prince George's Community College.