Podcasts about Black Lives Matter

black lives matter fraud allegations investigating justice department black lives matter movement ben thomas sources say

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2025 19:34

In a city where the veil between the living and the dead is paper-thin, even luxury comes with a ghost or two. From the restless spirits of the French Quarter's grand hotels to the lingering echoes in forgotten boutique guest rooms, we check in to some of New Orleans' most haunted lodgings - and uncover the stories that never quite left.Part of our Four Shadows series, featuring original music by West Coast rapper and producer Tommy Jordan._____________________________Please be sure to like us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shadowcarriersInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadowcarriersIf you like what you hear and want to buy your storytellers a drink, you can catch us at @shadowcarriers on Venmo.If you've enjoyed this episode and want to support our work, become a patron of the podcast! Your support is greatly appreciated and is invested back into helping us create bold and new content for you throughout the year. Check out our Patreon Page at patreon.com/ShadowCarriers.If you'd like to get in touch with us, our email address is shadowcarriers@gmail.com.This Podcast and all endeavors by these individuals believe strongly that Black Lives Matter.

black lives matter new orleans west coast haunting paranormal ghost stories lore venmo french quarter room service tommy jordan

Justice Department investigating fraud allegations in Black Lives Matter movement, AP sources say

AP Audio Stories

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2025 0:38

AP correspondent Ben Thomas reports, sources tell AP that the Justice Department is investigating fraud allegations in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Winsom Sears, Trump's Second Term, and JD Vance at Turning Point USA Rally

American Ground Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2025 42:49

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for October 30, 2025. 0:30 For years, the Department of Justice has turned a blind eye to corruption—but that may finally be changing. The DOJ is investigating Black Lives Matter leaders for allegedly defrauding donors of millions, a long-overdue step toward restoring real accountability. From BLM mansions to political double standards, public trust has eroded under unequal justice—and holding every power player to the same standard, left or right, is essential to saving faith in the system. 9:30 Plus, we cover the Top 3 Things You Need to Know. President Trump has reached a trade deal with China that is expected to avert an all out trade war between the worlds' two largest economies. The Sunshine Protection Act — the bill that would give states he opportunity to ban the changing of the clocks from standard time to daylight savings time twice a year — has stalled out in Congress again. General Motors is laying off more than 3,000 workers this week.Some of the layoffs are temporary, but more than half are permanent. 12:30 Get NSorb from Victory Nutrition International for 20% off. Go to vni.life/agr and use the promo code AGR20. 13:30 A new Quinnipiac poll out of New York City shows Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani leading the mayoral race with 43%—well ahead of Andrew Cuomo at 33% and Republican Curtis Sliwa at 14%. But are the polls missing something? We dig into what those numbers really mean, questioning whether the data captures the growing frustration among everyday New Yorkers tired of crime, taxes, and government overreach. 16:00 The American Mamas tackle a question that’s stirring controversy: should the NAACP be supporting Winsome Sears—a Black female immigrant, Marine veteran, and current Lieutenant Governor of Virginia—over white Democrat Abigail Spanberger? The Mamas break down the debate fallout, the viral reactions across social media, and the growing frustration among Black Americans who feel politically manipulated. From Barack Obama’s campaign choices to the NAACP’s partisan priorities, the conversation exposes what many see as deep hypocrisy within identity politics. As more voters—especially young Black men—begin speaking out and shifting right, the Mamas ask: is this the moment America finally wakes up to the political double standard? If you'd like to ask our American Mamas a question, go to our website, AmericanGroundRadio.com/mamas and click on the Ask the Mamas button. 23:00 When Kamala Harris appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, her profanity-laced rant about Trump’s “ballroom for the rich” and looming SNAP benefit cuts turned heads for all the wrong reasons. We unpack the Vice President’s meltdown—fact-checking her claims about government shutdown funding and calling out the growing trend of political figures dropping F-bombs on national TV. 26:00 With ten months of President Trump’s second term in the books, we're looking back at the most productive stretches in modern presidential history. From record-breaking deportations and declining food stamp enrollment to rising GDP, falling inflation, and renewed energy dominance, the mainstream press is ignoring a wave of domestic and economic achievements. On everything from tariffs and tax cuts to military recruitment and peace deals abroad—this administration has delivered results where others only made promises. 32:30 Get Prodovite from Victory Nutrition International for 20% off. Go to vni.life/agr and use the promo code AGR20. 33:30 For the first time in seven years, President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet face-to-face—and strike a deal that could reshape global trade. We break down the stunning tariff reductions, China’s promise to open its markets to American goods, and what it could mean for U.S. manufacturing. But is Beijing serious this time, or just smiling through another double-cross? 36:30 Turning Point USA lights up the University of Mississippi with a massive rally that packs the stadium and spills into the streets — and it wasn’t just the crowd that made headlines. Vice President J.D. Vance took center stage, fielding tough, unfiltered questions from students and delivering one of the most thoughtful defenses of faith and freedom we’ve ever heard from a sitting VP. From his take on Christianity’s role in America’s founding to his sharp insight into the future of conservative youth, this was a defining moment for a new generation of leaders. A genuine bright spot — and one worth replaying. 40:30 Glamour UK released its “Women of the Year” issue featuring biological men on the cover. When did celebrating women become about celebrating men? We've just got to say, "Whoa!" Follow us: americangroundradio.com Facebook: facebook.com / AmericanGroundRadio Instagram: instagram.com/americangroundradioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

united states america tv women american university black new york city donald trump china chinese christianity vice president black lives matter congress mississippi marine snap beijing rally gdp black americans doj xi jinping things you need new yorkers andrew cuomo mamas general motors naacp daily show sears jd vance jon stewart turning point usa lieutenant governor second term quinnipiac winsome sears glamour uk victory nutrition international american ground radio american mamas

Amid Blame and Shame, Reclaiming Jewish Identity with Sarah Hurwitz

AJC Passport

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2025 26:38

"To me, that ark is: engaging deeply with our traditions. It's reclaiming some of what we lost when we were assimilating and trying to fit in. We have thousands of years of text that have such wisdom about the human condition, about how to be a good person, and lead a worthy life . . . What we can really do is, we can be Jews. And to be a Jew has always been to be different." Sarah Hurwitz—former White House speechwriter and New York Times bestselling author of Here All Along—returns to People of the Pod to discuss her new book, As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story from Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us. Hurwitz reflects on why antisemitism remains, in her words, "the least mysterious phenomenon," and how Jews can reclaim pride, wisdom, and purpose through Jewish text, practice, and community. Drawing from her work as a hospital chaplain and her conversations with Jewish students on campus, she makes a powerful case for reconnecting with the depth and resilience of Jewish tradition. Key Resources: AJC's Translate Hate Glossary AJC's Efforts to Support the Hostages Listen – AJC Podcasts: Architects of Peace The Forgotten Exodus People of the Pod Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Transcript of the Interview: Manya Brachear Pashman: During the Obama administration, Sarah Hurwitz served as senior speech writer for President Barack Obama and chief speech writer for First Lady Michelle Obama. But after she left the White House, she did a little bit of soul searching, and in her mid 30s, reconnected with her Judaism. She wrote about it in a book titled Here All Along, and joined us at the time to talk about it. Sarah has returned with us this week to talk about the book that followed, titled As a Jew: Reclaiming Our Story from Those Who Blame, Shame, and Try to Erase Us. Sarah, welcome back to People of the Pod. Sarah Hurwitz: Thank you so much. I'm thrilled to be here. Manya Brachear Pashman: So your title has a very powerful accusation. So tell us who is blaming, shaming and trying to erase us? Sarah Hurwitz: Yeah. So, you know, it's funny. My first book, as you know, was this love letter toJudaism. This, this journey of discovery of Jewish tradition, and I loved it so much, and I wanted to share it. You know, as I was writing it, I was thinking, Oh, where has this been all my life. Kind of a lovely, almost rhetorical question. But after it came out, a few things kind of happened that made me actually ask that question more seriously. Like, Wait, why did I not see any of the 4000 years of Jewish wisdom growing up? The first thing was, I trained to be a volunteer hospital chaplain, and you know, chaplaincy is multifaith, open to chaplains of all backgrounds. But you know, the training was kind of weirdly Christian. You know, we would talk about our ministry and our theology. And I was told that prayer is God, please heal so and so who's right here in front of me, and I'm just making this prayer up spontaneously, and they can hear me, and that's prayer. And everyone prays that way, I was told. I said, You know that that's not really a common form of Jewish prayer. But I was told, No, no, as long as you don't say Jesus, it is universal. That's interesting. And then something else that happened is I visited a college campus probably a year before October 7, and I was talking to students there at the Hillel, talking to a bunch of Jewish students. And one of them asked me, What did you do to respond to antisemitism when you were in college? And I was so stunned, I didn't even understand the question at first. And then I said, I didn't, not once, never. Not a single time did I deal with antisemitism. And the kids just looked kind of shocked, like they didn't believe me. And they started sharing stories of the antisemitism they were facing on campus. And I thought, uh oh, something's going on here. And then I really began kind of taking a deep dive into my identity. Of like, wait, so why did I spend my whole life being like, oh, I'm just a cultural Jew. I knew nothing about Jewish culture. Which is a beautiful way to be Jewish, being a cultural Jew, but I knew nothing about history, language, anything like that. When I said I'm an ethnic Jew, but Jews are of every ethnicity, so that's nonsense. Or I'd say social justice is my Judaism, but I didn't know anything about what Judaism said about social justice. Unlike these wonderful Jews who do know about social justice and spend their lives acting out Jewish social justice. And so I took a deep dive into history, and what I discovered was 2000 years of antisemitism and anti-Judaism and 200 years of Jews in Western Europe in a very understandable attempt to escape that persecution, kind of erasing many of our traditions. And I think that was kind of my answer to, where has this been all my life? And also my answer to, why did I have such an apologetic Jewish identity for so much of my life? Manya Brachear Pashman: In my introduction, I left off half the title of your first book because it was very long, but I am curious, kind of, when did you realize . . . well, let me give the full title of your book, it's Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life--in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There). So I guess, how was that delayed connection to Judaism, can you elaborate a little bit more about how it was tied to these forces that you just talked about? Sarah Hurwitz: Yeah, so, you know, something that I didn't really fully understand, I had intimations of this, but didn't really understand this, is that, you know, 2000 years ago, early Christianity very much defined itself against Judaism. There was actually a name for this, the Aversos Judeos tradition, which means against the Jews in Latin. And you know, early Church Fathers very much were defining Christianity against Judaism, because back then, both of these traditions had originated from Judaism. And you know they parted ways at some point, and the Church Fathers were really trying to distinguish Christianity from Judaism, and to get people to stop kind of practicing both traditions. This tradition really continues with Judaism defined as unspiritual, legalistic, depraved, dead, spiritually superseded. A lot of very, very ugly tropes that kind of have common themes that say that Jews are diabolically powerful, so supernaturally powerful, you can't even believe it. They are also profoundly depraved, evil, bloodthirsty, perverse, and they're in a conspiracy to hurt you. So there may be very few of them, but man, they are working together to really do harm. And you see these three themes kind of making their way through history, unfortunately, all the way basically, until the Holocaust. And I based a lot of my writing on the work of a number of really distinguished Christian scholars who make this argument. It's actually a pretty common argument among Christian scholars. And, you know, in recent decades, the church has very much disavowed its historic anti-Judaism and has worked very hard to, you know, fight antisemitism in the church. But, you know, these things really did kind of continue on through the 20th century. Manya Brachear Pashman: So you do describe in your book moments when you got oddly defensive about your Judaism, or perhaps a bit revisionist about Jewish history and the origin of Jewish traditions, or the reason why they exist now in modern day. Can you elaborate on some of those moments for our listeners and explain how you've self-corrected thatdefense? Sarah Hurwitz: You know, I think a lot of it took the form of, oh, I'm Jewish, but not that Jewish. It was just sort of this immediate, but I'm not one of those Jews. You know, those really Jewish Jews. Well, I'm sorry, would it be a problem if I were? What if social justice wasn't my Judaism, but Judaism was my Judaism? Would that be okay? You know, just beginning to notice, like, Why am I always kind of pushing it away, claiming that I'm not too Jewish? That's a very strange way to announce someone's identity. I think, you know, Dara Horn has actually a really, quite an amazing essay called The Cool Kids, and she talks about these two different types of antisemitism. And one is this kind of eliminationist antisemitism which says the Jews are bad, there's nothing they can do to be good. We must kill them. And you know, that is the Holocaust, pogroms. We learn about that kind of antisemitism in school. But there's another kind of antisemitism, which is conversionist, which says, yes, the Jews are bad, but there is something they can do to be okay and saved. And that is, they can disavow whatever we, the majority, find disgusting about Jewish civilization. So you know, back in the day, it was, reject Jewish religion and convert to Christianity, and you'll be saved, maybe. For some amount of time, possibly. In my parents and grandparents generation, it was, you know, reject your last name, get a nose job. Stop being so "Jewy", be a little bit more "waspy," and then maybe we'll let you into our club. Then maybe we'll accept you. And today, what you see is you have to reject your ancestral homeland, you know, reject Israel, and then you'll be okay. And, you know, I visited 27 college campuses, and I kind of saw how this sometimes takes on the format of almost like a Christian conversion narrative, where it goes something like, you know, growing up, my rabbi and my parents told me Israel was perfect and amazing and a utopia. And then I got to college, and I realized that actually it's a colonialist, Nazi, racist society, and I had an epiphany. I saw the light, and I took anti-Zionism and anti-colonialism into my heart, and now I'm saved. Now I'm a good Jew. And their classmates are like, now you're a good Jew. And as Dara Horn puts it, this kind of antisemitism involves the weaponization of shame. It involves really trying to convince Jews that there is something fundamentally shameful about some aspect of themselves, their identity, their tradition. And today, that thing is Israel. This idea that there's something fundamentally . . . it's like the original sin of the world. Manya Brachear Pashman: And you also talk about the tradition of circumcision, and how that came up, and you found yourself explaining this to someone. Can you elaborate on that for our listeners? Which I thought was really interesting. Sarah Hurwitz: This was during an encounter with a patient. I was doing a chaplaincy shift, and usually I don't tell my patients my religious background, I'm very neutral, unless they're Jewish, in which case, I do tell them I'm Jewish. But, you know, I was finishing up a conversation with this very lovely lady. And she was very curious about my background. And so I told her, you know, I'm Jewish. And her eyes kind of lit up, and she said, Oh, you know, many of my neighbors are Jewish. I've actually been to two brisses in the past month. And she just, you know, and she was so lovely, like, she actually seemed to be just really happy to be included in this tradition of her neighbors. And I got weirdly defensive, and was like, Oh, well, you know, just so, you know, medical professionals, they say whether you circumcise or don't circumcise, it's really, it's equally safe either way. And you know, we often, you know, when we do brisses, they're often done by a medical provider. And I'm going on and on and like, this woman did not say the slightest negative thing about this tradition, but suddenly I am defensive. Suddenly it's like, Huh, interesting. You know, I think that it was an illustration to me of the way that we can sometimes really imbibe all of the kind of negative views about Jews and Jewish traditions that are around us, and become defensive, and sometimes we don't even realize that they're there. It's almost like they're the air that we breathe. Manya Brachear Pashman: But let me challenge that and push back a little bit. I mean, is it okay to not agree with some of the traditions of the Jewish faith and be open about your disagreement with that? I certainly know a lot of Christians who don't like things that emerge from their tradition or from their community. Is that okay? Or is it not when Judaism is threatened? Sarah Hurwitz: So I actually do think that's okay. You know, I have no problem with that, but I think the problem in this situation was that I have no problem with circumcision, but I'm suddenly getting defensive and trying to convince this woman that it's not weird. And I'm thinking, why am I doing this? It was very interesting to me that I felt so suddenly defensive and anxious. You know, it was very surprising to me. Manya Brachear Pashman: And similarly, it's okay to criticize Israeli policy too, right? I mean, it's totally acceptable. Sarah Hurwitz: Absolutely. This is the thing that I'm so confused about. Where people are saying, well, you know, you're saying that it's not okay to criticize Israel. And I'm like, I'm sorry. Have you been to Israel? It's like the national pastime there to criticize the government. I criticize the Israeli government all the time, as do millions of American Jews. This idea that this is somehow… that we're somehow reacting to criticism of Israel, that's ridiculous. I think what we're reacting to is not criticism of Israel, but it's something else. You know, when you have students on a college campus saying from water to water, Palestine should be Arab, or Israelis are Nazis. I just, with all due respect, I don't see that as criticism. Nor would I see it as criticism if, God forbid, a Jewish student ever said from water to water, Israel should be Jewish, or, Palestinians are terrorists. That is hateful, disgusting, racist, eliminationist language. And if I ever heard a Jewish student say that, I mean, let me tell you, I would have quite a talking to with that kid. So that's not criticism. Criticism is, I am vehemently opposed and abhor, this policy, this ideology, this action, for these reasons. That's criticism. And I think you can use real strong language to do that kind of criticism. But there's a difference between a criticism and slurs and baseless accusations. And I think we need to be just clear about that. Manya Brachear Pashman: All right, so you just use the term from water to water instead of from river to sea. Was that on purpose? Sarah Hurwitz: Not necessarily. It's just a clearer illustration of what I think from the river to the sea really means, you know, I think that is the Arabic that is used. Infrom the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free. It's like, you can kind of make an argument that this is about Palestinian Liberation. And okay, fair enough. But I think when you get the from water to water, it shall be Arab, that's when I think there's less of an argument that it's about freedom, and it seems a little bit more eliminationist to me. Manya Brachear Pashman: Interesting. I've not heard that before. But I like that. So you call antisemitism the least mysterious phenomenon. Can you please explain what you mean by that? Sarah Hurwitz: Yeah, you know, I think, like a lot of young people, my antisemitism education was mainly just Holocaust education. And I kind of walked away thinking like, huh, how wild that the civilized world just lost its mind in the mid-20th century and started killing Jews. That's so shocking and disturbing, you know, why is that? And the answer was kind of like, well, you know, the Germans lost World War I. They blamed the Jews. There was a depression. They blamed the Jews. And when you ask why the Jews, it's like, well, because of prejudice and scapegoating. I'm like, Okay, right. But again, why the Jews? Prejudice and scapegoating, that's the answer. It's like, well, actually, the answer really is because of 2000 years of Christian anti-Judaism that preceded that. It wasn't mysterious why the Jews were targeted. This was a 2000-year neural groove that had been worn into the Western world psyche. And this is not my argument. This is the argument of countless Christian scholars whose brilliant work I cite. And so I think that the unfortunate thing about some forms of Holocaust education is that it leaves you with the impression that, oh, this is so mysterious, it's just kind of eternal and kind of comes out of nowhere. Or even worse, you might even think maybe we did something to deserve this. But it's not mysterious. I can show you its path through history. And I think it's very important that Jews understand this history. And look, I think this is very hard to teach in an average American public school. Because, you know, we live in a country where, you know, saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas is very upsetting for some people. They feel very threatened and triggered by that. So for a teacher to say, like, Okay, kids today we're going to learn about how 2000 years of Christian anti-Judaism paved the way for the Holocaust . . . I don't think that's going to go well. Even if many mainstream Christian scholars would agree that that's true, this is a challenge that we face. Manya Brachear Pashman: So you have continued, as you said, to visit college campuses where antisemitism has been an issue since October 7, more of an issue than it even was beforehand. And yet, when you were at Harvard and Harvard Law, you've said you could have walked through Harvard Yard wrapped in an Israeli flag and no one would have said a word or reacted negatively. So what has changed, and does it signal a more general shift on campuses of kind of uncensored, unbridled speech? In other words, if black students support black lives matter, or gay students are marching for pride, do you feel like there's a sense that students who disagree with that from either the right or the left, have kind of claimed a license to criticize that too? Sarah Hurwitz: No. I try to explain to college students when they say, Well, okay, my campus isn't that bad, you know, I can wear my Jewish star, and I won't get, you know, harassed or ostracized. And I say, like, okay, great, if it's not that bad, I'll just wear my Israel t-shirt and we'll see how it goes. They're like, No. And then I have to go through this long litany of like, okay, if your black classmate said to you, well, this campus isn't so bad for black students, but I can't wear my Black Lives Matter t-shirt or else I'll be harassed and ostracized. I hope you would say that's not okay, that's racism, pretty clear. Or if your queer classmate said, Well, this campus is pretty good for queer people, but I can't wear my pride t-shirt, I hope you would say, That's not pretty good. That's homophobia. You know, when the majority feels entitled to decide how the minority can embody and express their identity, I think we have a really serious problem. And sometimes the kids will push back on me. Well, no, no, but the problem isn't being Jewish. It's Israel. I'm like, okay, but if your Chinese American classmate wore a t-shirt that said China, even if all your classmates knew that the Chinese government had been interning a million Muslim Uighurs in camps and subjecting them to horrific human rights violations, would they harass and ostracize her? And they're like, Well, probably not. Right, because they would assume that she has a relationship to China that maybe involves having heritage there, or maybe she studied abroad there, or maybe she's studying Chinese, maybe she has family there. I think they would assume that she has some connection to the country that doesn't involve agreeing with the policies of the Chinese government, and Jewish students on campus really aren't afforded that courtesy. And I'll tell you, most of the Jewish students I spoke with on campus, they, like me, are extremely critical of this current Israeli government. Extremely, extremely critical. They have all sorts of criticisms about what's happening in Gaza, of the occupation. You know, their views are quite nuanced and complex, but there is no room given for that. You know, I think on some college campuses, Israel has been put into the same bucket as the KKK and the Nazi party. So I can't say to you, look, you know, I'm a Nazi, but I'm a liberal Nazi. Or, oh, you know, I'm in the KKK, but I'm not racist. It's like, come on, right? These are vile entities with which no connection is acceptable, period. And I think once Israel ceases to be a country and instead becomes the representation of all evil in the world, there's really no relationship that you can have with it that's acceptable. And I think that is a pretty devastating place for it to be today. And I'll tell you, I think it's a really challenging moment right now where I, like a lot of American Jews, I'm a Zionist. I believe that Jews have a right to a safe and secure home state in their ancestral homeland. I believe we have the right to national independence and self determination, like Japanese people have in Japan and Latvians have in Latvia, and on and on. And you know, we've run that experiment of Jewish powerlessness for 2000 years, and it didn't go well. Even as late as the 20th century. It wasn't just that two thirds of Jews in Europe got wiped out because of the Holocaust. It's that nearly a million Jews who lived in Arab lands had to flee persecution, most of them to Israel. It's that 2 million Russian Jews had to flee persecution, half of them to Israel. It's that 10s of 1000s of Ethiopian Jews, I can go on and on. So we know, we've run that experiment of Jewish statelessness, and it doesn't go well. And at the same time, we are looking at this current Israeli government, and we are appalled. We're appalled by the ideology, we're appalled by many of the policies. And you know, for me as an American, this feels very familiar, because I love this country. I'm a proud, patriotic American, and I happen to very much disagree with the current president. I happen to be very much appalled by the current president's policies and ideology. And so, I think many people are able to hold that, but somehow it's harder with Israel, because of what is in the air right now. Manya Brachear Pashman: So, really you're saying that antisemitism has distorted history. Distorted people's understanding of Israel's history, their understanding of modern Israel's rebirth and existence. It spawned anti-Zionism. Correct? Sarah Hurwitz: Yes. Manya Brachear Pashman: Did you encounter that during your time in the Obama administration? Do you see it now, in hindsight or or is it a more recent emergence? Sarah Hurwitz: I think this is more recent. I mean, you know, probably in some spaces it was, you know, I was in the administration from 2009 to 2017. I never once saw any kind of anti-Zionism or antisemitism. I mean, it was one of the best places to be a proud, passionate Jew. I knew my colleagues could not have been more supportive of my Jewish exploration. They were so proud when I wrote my first book. So I never saw any of this ever, once. And I think, you know, I think what is so confusing about this is that we often think about antisemitism as a kind of personal prejudice, like, oh, you know, Jews are fill in the blank, nasty thing. They are dirty, cheap, crass. I don't want my daughter to marry one. I don't want one in my country club. You don't really see that kind of antisemitism in the circles where I travel anymore. What you see instead is more of political antisemitism, which is antisemitism as a kind of conspiracy theory that says that we, the majority, are engaged in a grand moral project, and the only thing stopping us are these Jews. We the majority are Christianizing the Roman Empire. The only thing stopping us, these Jews who won't convert. We the majority are bringing about the brotherhood of man, the great communist revolution. The only thing stopping us, these capitalist Jews. We the Germans, are bringing about the great, racially pure Aryan fatherland. The only thing stopping us – these race-polluting Jews. And today in America, you see it on the right and the left. On the right, it's, you know, we white Christian Americans are bringing back white Christian civilization to America. And the only thing stopping us are these Jews who are importing black and brown immigrants to replace white people. That is the extremely racist and antisemitic theory known as the Great Replacement theory. It is an ugly, disgusting lie. On the left you have, you know, we this very moral group of people. we are bringing about the revolution of anti-colonialism, anti-Zionism. And the only thing stopping us are these colonialist Zionists, which is a polite way of saying Jews. And so, you know, I think it's very important to understand, as Yossi Klein Halevi, the journalist, puts it, you know, what you see again and again is whatever is the worst thing in a society, that is what the Jews are deemed to be. Whatever is the worst thing among a particular population, that is what the Jews are deemed to be. And I think we're kind of seeing that on both the right and the left today. Manya Brachear Pashman: If antisemitism defines so much, or has defined so much of Jewish identity, how do we reclaim that? How have you reclaimed that? And how have you found joy in your Jewish identity, especially after doing this book and immersing yourself and all of this extremely depressing perspective? Sarah Hurwitz: I hear this kind of line among many Jews that breaks my heart. It's this sort of self-flagellation, of like, if we just had the right PR campaign, if we just had the right tweet, then we would fight antisemitism. It's our fault, we're doing such a bad job fighting antisemitism. And, you know, I love the ambition there. I think that is so sweet. But there are 16 million of us in the whole world. That's with an M, million, like the size of like, the fifth largest city in China. We are a Chinese city. There are billions of people who don't really love us out there. And the idea that we, this tiny group of people, is going to somehow change the minds of billions of people. I really respect the ambition, but I think that's a tough one. I think it's sort of like trying to bail out a tsunami with buckets. You know, if enough of us do it, I'm sure we can make a difference. And I have such respect for the people who are doing that work. I think it's very important. But I also would just suggest that maybe we should put a little more of our energy into building an ark to weather the storm. And you know, to me, that ark is, engaging deeply with our traditions. It's reclaiming, I think, some of what we lost when we were assimilating and trying to fit in. You know, we have thousands of years of text that have such wisdom about the human condition, about how to be a good person and lead a worthy life and find profound spiritual connection. We have just so many beautiful traditions. And so I think that what we can really do is, we can be Jews. And to be a Jew has always been to be different. That was kind of our value proposition thousands of years ago when we came along and said, hey guys, monotheism. Totally different way of thinking. We said, hey, every human being is created in the image of God, which is an idea that every human being is infinitely worthy. Which, again, this is the idea that underlies things like liberalism, democracy, human rights. These are really Earth-shatteringly different counter cultural ideas, and we have so many more of those that I still think the world needs today. So I think that rather than just being anti-anti-semites, that we can be proud Jews instead, and we can really focus on becoming more learned, more vibrant members of our communities, you know, engaging in more of our traditions and our rituals. I also think, you know, Dara Horn has been doing a lot of great work about educating kids about Jewish civilization. Rather than having young people only know about the Jews via the Holocaust, she really wants to teach young people about Jewish civilization, ideas, and people. I think that is a very, very powerful and very helpful idea. Manya Brachear Pashman: So how are you doing this? How do you spend each week? How do you reclaim some of these traditions and joy? Sarah Hurwitz: For me, it's studying. That's really how I engage, you know, I have various chavrutas or I study Jewish texts. I love reading Jewish books, and I love participating in the Jewish community. You know, I love engaging with various Jewish organizations, you know, serving on various committees, and just trying to be part of this project of reclaiming Judaism, of making it more accessible to more Jews. This is what I love doing, and I'll be starting in January. I'm actually going to be starting a rabbinic program at the Hartman Institute. It's a part time program. And I'm not not planning to be a congregational rabbi, but I do want to keep writing books, and I am really grateful for this opportunity to get a much deeper, more thorough Jewish education than the one I've kind of given to myself, and, you know, kind of cobbled together. I think this is going to be a really extraordinary opportunity. So I'm very excited about that. Manya Brachear Pashman: Oh, wow. Well, congratulations. I look forward to welcoming you back to the podcast and calling you Rabbi. Sarah Hurwitz: Thank you. Manya Brachear Pashman: Thank you so much for joining us, Sarah. Sarah Hurwitz: Such a pleasure. Thank you for having me.

america god jesus christ american spotify europe israel earth china pr japan new york times christians chinese christianity german japanese merry christmas western drawing barack obama black lives matter jewish shame white house harvard spirituality nazis jews happy holidays effort blame latin gaza israelis amid holocaust palestine criticism reclaiming palestinians judaism rabbi correct arab michelle obama prejudice arabic roman empire kkk latvia western europe zionism chinese americans zionists distorted harvard law church fathers cool kids hillel american jews deeper connection ajc hurwitz jewish identity christian american russian jews ethiopian jews yossi klein halevi dara horn latvians palestinian liberation harvard yard christianizing jewy muslim uighurs hartman institute look there

Season 6, Episode 11: Jenny McGrath, Renee Begay, and Rebecca W. Walston on Resilience and Die De Los Metros

The Arise Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2025 52:09

Guest Bio: Renee Kylestewa Begay is from the Pueblo of Zuni in Southwest New Mexico. She is a mother to three daughters and married to high school sweetheart Donnie Begay. During her undergrad, she founded the Nations movement—a national ministry...Good morning. It's October 30th, 2025. Can you believe it? So I'm releasing these videos. Today's videos on resilience. Four distinct cultures coming at you. Jenny McGrath. Me, Danielle, my friend Renee Begay from New Mexico and Rebecca Wheeler, Walston. Tune in, listen to the distinctly different places we're coming from and how we're each thinking about resilience. And then find a way that that impacts you and your own community and you can create more resilience, more generosity, more connection to one another. It's what we need in this moment. Oh, and this is The Arise Podcast, and it's online. If you want to download, listen to it. There you can as well. Renee Begay (00:14):Okay, cool. Okay, so for those watching my introduction, I'll do it in my language. So my name is Renee Bega. I just spoke in my language, which is I'm from the Pueblo of Zuni tribe in Southwest New Mexico, and I shared the way that we relate to one another. So you share the clan system that you're from. So being a matrilineal society, we belong to our, there's lineage and then we are a child of our father's side of the family. And so I belong to the Sandhill Crane clan as my mom is my grandma. And then my daughters are Sandhill Crane, and then I'm a child of the Eagle Clan, which is my dad's side. So if I do introduce myself in Zuni and I say these clans, then people know, oh, okay, you're from this family, or I'm, or if I meet others that are probably Child of Crane, then I know that I have responsibility toward them. We figure out responsibility toward each other in the community and stuff, who's related to all those things. Yeah. And here in New Mexico, there are 19 Pueblo tribes, two to three Apache tribes, and then one Navajo nation tribe. So there's a large population of indigenous tribes here in New Mexico. So grateful and glad to be here.(02:22):Yeah. I guess I can answer your question about what comes to mind with just the word resilience, but even you saying a d Los Muertos, for me that was like, oh, that's self-determination, something that you practice to keep it going, to remember all those things. And then when you mentioned the family, Jenny, I was like, I think I did watch it and I looked on my phone to go look for it, and I was like, oh yeah, I remember watching that. I have a really short-term memory with books or things that I watch. I don't remember exactly details, but I know how I felt. And I know when I was watching that show, I was just like, whoa, this is crazy.(03:12):So yes, I remember watching that docuseries. And then I think Rebecca, when you're talking about, I was thinking through resilience feels like this vacillation between different levels, levels of the individual in relation to the community, how much do we participate in self discovery, self-determination, all those things, but then also connect it to community. How do we continue to do that as a community to stay resilient or keep practicing what we've been taught? But then also generationally too, I think that every generation has to figure out based on their experience in this modern world, what to do with the information and the knowledge that is given to us, and then how to kind of encourage the next generation too. So I was just thinking of all those scenes when I was listening to you guys.Rebecca (04:25):Yeah, when you said the generational thing that each generation has to decide what to do with the information given to them. This past weekend in the last week or so was that second New Kings march, and there's some conversation about the fact that it was overwhelmingly white and in my community that conversation has been, we weren't there. And what does that mean, right? Or the noticing that typically in this country when there are protests around human rights, typically there's a pretty solid black contingency that's part of that conversation. And so I just have been aware internally the conversation has been, we're not coming to this one. We're tired. And when I say I say black women specifically in some instances, the larger black community, we are tired.(05:28):We are tapping out after what happened in the last election. And I have a lot of ambivalence about that tapping out. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it does make me think about what you said that in this moment my community is taking the information given to them and making a conscious choice to do something different than what we have done historically. So that's what I thought about when you were mentioning the generational sort of space that's there. What do we do with that and what does that mean about what we pass to the next generation?Danielle (06:09):Through this moment. So I think it's interesting to say, I think Rebecca said something about does your resilience, what does it feel grounded in or does it feel solid? I can't remember exactly how she put it. And yeah, she's frozen a bit on my screen, so I'll check in with her when she gets back. And I would say I felt like this week when I was thinking about my ancestors, I felt in having conversations in my family of origin around race and assimilation, just that there was this in-between generation. And I mean like you mentioned the voting, you saw it in our voting block, the Latino voting block pretty clearly represented.(07:09):There was this hard push for assimilation, really hard push and the in-between. And I feel like my generation is saying that didn't work. And so we know the stories of our ancestors, but how did we interpret those stories to mean many of us, I would say in our community to mean that we don't fight for justice? How did we reinterpret those stories to mean the best course was silence or forgetting why people migrated. The reason for migration was not because there was a hate for our land. That's very clear to me. The reason for migration was what we see now happening with Venezuela. It was ongoing oppression of our people through the, well, in my case, through the Mexican government and collaboration with the United States government that exacerbated poverty and hunger, which then led to migration. So do we forget that? It seems like we did. And in some, I wondered to myself, well, how did a guy like Cesar Chavez or I, how did they not forget that? How did they remember that? So I think resilience for me is thinking Los was like, who were my ancestors remembering why they moved and remembering what this moment is asking me to do. Is it asking me to move somewhere and maybe physically move or mentally move or I don't know what the movement means, but it's some kind of movement. So that's kind of what I thinkRenee (09:07):I'm seeing the importance of, even just in this conversation, kind of the idea of the trans narrative across all communities, the importance of storytelling amongst each other, sharing stories with each other of these things. Like even just hearing you Danielle of origins of reasons for migration or things like that, I'm sure very relatable. And we have migration stories too, even within indigenous on this continent and everything. So I think even just the importance of storytelling amongst each other to be able to remember together what these things are. I think even just when we had the opportunity to go to Montgomery and go to the Rosa Parks Museum, it, you hear the macro story of what happened, but when you actually walk through the museum and read every exhibition, every paragraph, you start learning the micro stuff of the story there. Maybe it wasn't everyone was a hundred percent, there was still this wrestling within the community of what to do, how to do it, trying to figure out the best way to do good amongst each other, to do right by each other and stuff like that. So I just think about the importance of that too. I think Danielle, when you mentioned resilience, a lot of times it doesn't feel good to practice resilience.(11:06):For me, there's a lot of confusion. What do I do? How do I do this? Well, a lot of consultation with my elders, and then every elder has a different, well, we did this, and then you go to the next elder, oh, well we did this. And so one of my friends said three people in the room and you get four ideas and all these things. So it's just like a lot of times it doesn't feel good, but then the practice of it, of just like, okay, how do we live in a good way with each other, with ourselves, with what faith you have, the spiritual beliefs that you hold all those, and with the land, all that stuff, it's just, yeah, it's difficult to practice resilience.Rebecca (12:03):I think that that's a good point. This idea, the reminder that it doesn't always feel good. When you said it, it's like, well, duh. But then you sit for a minute and you go like, holy crap, it doesn't feel good. And so that means I have to be mindful of the ways in which I want to step away from it, take a step back from it, and not actually enter that resilience. And it makes me think about, in order to kind of be resilient, there has to be this moment of lament or grief for the fact that something has happened, some type of wounding or injury or threat or danger that is forcing you to be resilient is requiring that of you. And that's a moment I always want to bypass. Who has time to, no, I don't have time to grieve. I got stuff I got to do, right?(13:06):I need to make it to the next moment. I need to finish my task. I need to keep it together. Whatever the things are. There are a thousand reasons for which I don't want to have that moment, even if I can't have it in the moment, but I need to circle back to it. Once the chaos sort of settles a little bit, it's very difficult to actually step into that space, at least for me personally, probably somewhat out of the cultural wider narratives that I inhabit. There's not a lot of invitation to grief element or if I'm very skilled at sidestepping that invitation. So for me, that's what comes to mind when I think about it doesn't feel good. And part of what doesn't feel good for me is that what there is to grieve, what there is to process there to lament. Who wants to do that?(14:10):I think I told you guys outside of the recording that my son had a very scary car incident this week, and several people have asked me in the last 48 hours, are you how? Somebody said to me, how is your mother heart? Nothing in me wants to answer that question. Not yesterday, not today. I'm almost to the point, the next person that asked me that, I might smack you because I don't have time to talk about that. Ask me about my kid. Then we maybe could ask me about myself and I would deflect to my kid really fast.Jenny (14:59):I'm thinking about, for me, resilience feels so connected to resistance. And as you were sharing stories of migration, I was thinking about my great great grandparents who migrated from Poland to the States. And a few years ago we went to Poland and did an ancestry trip and we went to a World War II museum. I really traced World War I through World War ii, but it really actually felt like a museum to resistance and seeing resistance in every tier of society from people who were Nazis soldiers smuggling out letters that were written in urine to people making papers for people to be able to get out.(16:05):And I found myself clinging to those stories right now as ice continues to disappear people every day and trying to stay situated in where and how can I resist and where and how can I trust that there are other people resisting even if I don't know how they are, and where can I lean into the relationships and the connections that are fostering collective resistance? And that's how I'm finding it as I am sitting with the reality of how similar what we are experiencing in the US is to early days of Nazi Germany and how can I learn from the resistance that has already taken place in former atrocities that are now being implemented by the country that I live in.Rebecca (17:41):That makes me think, Jenny of a couple of things. One, it's hard to breathe through this that we are perilously close to Nazi Germany. That feels like there's not a lot of vocabulary that I have for that. But it also makes me think of something that Renee said about going to the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, and stepping really close to the details of that story, because I don't know if you remember this, Renee, but there's one exhibit that talks about this white law firm that was the money behind the Montgomery bus boycott and was the legal underpinning behind that. And I don't think I knew until I went to that museum and saw that it's like one picture on one poster in the middle of this big exhibit. And I don't think I knew that. I know a lot of things about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Busboy.(18:53):I've taught them to my kids. We know about her and the bus and all of that, but the details and to know that there was this group of white people in 1950 something that stepped forward to be resistant in that moment. And it's like, gosh, I didn't know that. And it makes me, Jenny have the question, how many more times has that happened in history? And we don't actually have that information. And so the only larger narrative that I have access to is how white people were the oppressors and the aggressors in that. And that's true. I'm not trying to take anything away from that. But also there was this remnant of people who said, not me, not my house, not my family, not today, not tomorrow, not at any time in my lifetime. Am I going to be on the wrong side of history on this conversation? And I think that that's probably true in many places and spaces that we don't have access to the detail of the stories of resistance and alliance that is there across people groups, and we don't have that information.Jenny (20:21):It makes me think of something that's front of mind just because we were in Detroit last week as we talk about Rosa Parks, she lived the end of her days in Detroit in a home that the CEO of Little Caesar's spot for her,Wow. Where it's like one, it's tragic to me that such a heroine had had to need some financial assistance from some white CEO, and that was what that CEO decided to use his money towards is really beautiful for me. And you can go to her house in Detroit. It's just a house now. But it is, it's like how many of these stories we know that actually are probably for good reason if they're happening right now, because it's not always safe to resist. And we were just having breakfast with a friend today talking about, and or what a brilliant show it is and how resistance probably needs to be underground in a lot of ways in this current moment.Danielle (21:54):Do you know the animal for Los Martos, Renee? Maybe it, it's the Libre. It's the spirit animals from Mexican folklore, and they come out and they have to, traditionally they represent three of the four elements like air, water, earth, and fire. And so they put them on the altars and they're like spiritual protectors or whatever. And they highlighted during this time, and I don't know if any of y'all have seen some of the videos of, there's a couple videos where there's a couple of these more racist folks trying to chase after a person of color, and they just trip and they fall out their face on the pavement and talking with a couple of friends, some Mexican friends, they're like, oh, Libre has got that. They just bam flat, just the idea that the earth tripped them up or something. I love that. Something in the spirit wall brought them to their knees. So yesterday I took Luis is like, what are you doing? I made him go get me all this spray paint. And I put these wood panels together and partly we had at home and I was using his wood. He's like, don't paint all of it, but I was painting this panel of this que and I'm going to put it in downtown, and it's not something I'm doing and I'm thwarting the government. But it did feel resilient to paint it or to think about the spirit world tripping up these guys. It gave me some joyRebecca (23:42):But I actually think, and I've talked to you about this a little bit, Danielle, I think what I love about that is that there's something in the collective story of Mexican people that you can borrow from, that you can pull from to find this moment of resilience, of resistance, of joy, of relief release. And I think we need to do more of that. So often when we step into our collective narratives, it's at the pain points, it is at the wounding points. And I think that I love that there's something of something that you can borrow that is a moment of strength out of our collective narrative. I think that that's actually how you grow resilience. I think it is how you learn to recognize it is you borrow from this collective narrative, this moment of strength so that you can bring it with you in this moment. I think that that's who Rosa Parks has been in my community to me in my family, I think I've told you guys this before, but I have a daughter who's now in college, but when she was in elementary school, we had a whole thing for a semester with a bus driver that just had it out for black and brown kids on her bus route to the point that all the white kids in our little suburban neighborhood were like, what the heck is wrong with a bus driver coming after all the brown people?(25:13):And I remember actually borrowing from the story of Rosa Parks to say to my daughter, this is how we're going to handle this. What does it look like for you with dignity, but really firmly say, you cannot mistreat me. You will not mistreat me on this bus route. And so to me, the story, what you're telling Danielle, is that same sort of, let me borrow from this folklore, from this narrative, something to give to myself, to my family, to my people in this moment. I love that. I'm going to borrow it. I'm going to steal it. So send me a picture of the painting.Renee (26:03):Yeah. Have you guys talked about, I guess expressions or epigenetics, I guess with resilience with epigenetics, when we do experience hardship, there's a certain way of taking that hardship in and either it alters our expression or our reaction, our behavior and how we carry that through across generations. But I was thinking of that word even with Jenny when you were talking about resilience to you, you remember it maybe probably in your body as resistance because of your great grandparents. My question was, or even just with D Los MTOs, the spirits that help that are kind of like protectors, did you guys sense that as information first or did you feel it first kind like that there's this feeling inside, you can't really quite pinpoint it, but you feel it as a practice and then when you do get that information, you're like, ah, that's what it was. Or is it the other way? I need information first. And then you're like, okay, it confirms this. I dunno. I don't know if that's a clear question, but I was just kind of curious about that. Even with the Rosa Parks, this is how we're going to do it, this is how we remember it, that was successful in its ways. Yeah.Jenny (27:54):I think for me personally, the more stories I learn, the more of me makes sense. And the same great grandparents were farmers and from where they lived to the port sold vegetables along the way to pay for their travels. And then when they got to the port, sold their wagon to pay for their ship tickets and then just arrived in the states with practically nothing. And there's so much of a determined hope in that, that I have felt in myself that is willing to just go, I don't know where this is going to lead to, but I'm going to do it. And then when I hear these stories, I'm like, oh yeah, and it's cool to be with my husband as I'm hearing these family stories, and he'll just look at me like, oh, that sounds familiar.Danielle (29:07):I think there's a lot of humor in our family's resistance that I've discovered. So it's not surprising. I felt giddy watching the videos, not just because I enjoyed seeing them fall, but it did feel like the earth was just catching their foot. When I used to run in basketball in college, sometimes people would say, oh, I tripped on the lines. The lines of the basketball court grabbed them and just fell down. And I think for a moment, I don't know, in my faith, like God or the earth has its own way of saying, I'm not today. I've had enough today and you need to stop. And so that's one way. I don't know. I feel it in my body first. Yeah. What about you? Okay.Renee (30:00):Yeah, humor, definitely A lot of one elder that I knew just with crack jokes all the time, but had the most painful story, I think, of boarding school and stuff. And then we had the younger generation kind of just ask him questions, but one of the questions for him to him was, you joke a lot, how did you become so funny? And then he was just like, well, I got to do this, or else I'll like, I'll cry. So there's just the tragic behind it. But then also, yeah, humor really does carry us. I was thinking about that one guy that was heckling the lady that was saying free Palestine, and then he tripped. He tripped backwards. And you're like, oh.(31:00):So just those, I think those captures of those mini stories that we're watching, you're like, okay, that's pretty funny. But I think for us in not speaking for all indigenous, but even just within my community, there's a lot of humor for just answering to some of the things that are just too, it's out of our realm to even just, it's so unbelievable. We don't even know what to do with this pain, but we can find the humor in it and laugh about the absurdity of what's happening and And I think even just our cultural practices, a lot of times my husband Donnie and I talk about just living. I don't necessarily like to say that I live in two worlds. I am part of both. I am. We are very present in both of just this westernized society perspective, but we do see stark differences when we're within our indigenous perspective, our worldview, all those things that it's just very like, whoa, this is really different.(32:27):There's such a huge contrast. We don't know if it's a tangent line that never crosses, but then there are moments where when communities cross that there is this possibility that there's an understanding amongst each other and stuff. But I think even just with our cultural practice, the timeline of things that are happening in current news, it's so crazy. But then you look to, if you turn your head and you look toward the indigenous communities, they're fully into their cultural practices right now, like harvest dances and ceremonies and all those things. And it's just kind of like, okay, that's got grounding us right now. We're continuing on as it feels like the side is burning. So it's just this huge contrast that we're constantly trying to hold together, living in the modern world and in our cultural traditions, we're constantly looking at both and we're like, okay, how do we live and integrate the two?(33:41):But I think even just those cultural practices, seeing my girls dance, seeing them wear their traditional clothing, seeing them learning their language, that just my heart swells, gives me hope that we're continuing on even when it feels like things are falling and coming apart and all those things. But yeah, real quick story. Last week we had our school feast day. So the kids get to kind of showcase their culture, they wear their traditional clothes, and kids are from all different tribes, so everybody dresses differently. We had a family that was dancing their Aztec dances and Pueblo tribes in their Pueblo regalia, Navajo students wearing their Navajo traditional clothes and all those things. So all these different tribes, everyone's showcasing, not just showcasing, but presenting their cultural things that they've been learning. And at the very end, my daughter, her moccasin fell off and we were like, oh, no, what's happening? But thankfully it was the end of the day. So we were like, okay. So I took apart her leggings and then took off her moccasin and stuff. Then so we started walking back to the car, and then my other daughter, her moccasin leggings were unwrapping.(35:17):We were laughing, just walking all the way because everyone, their leggings were coming apart too as they were walking to their car. And everyone's just laughing all like, okay, it's the end of the day. It's okay. We're falling apart here, but it's all right. But it was just good to kind of have that day to just be reminded of who we are, that we remain, we're still here, we're still thriving, and all those things.Rebecca (35:56):Yeah, I think the epigenetics question is interesting for the story arc that belongs to black American people because of the severing of those bloodlines in the transatlantic slave trade. And you may have gotten on the ship as different tribes and different peoples, and by the time you arrive on US soil, what was many has merged into one in response to the trauma that is the trans glamorous slave trade. So that question always throws me for a loop a little bit, because I never really know where to go with the epigenetics piece. And it also makes me understand how it is that Rosa Parks is not my ancestor, at least not that I know of. And yet she is my ancestor because the way that I've been taught out of my Black American experience to understand ancestry is if you look like me in any way, shape or form, if there's any thread, if there is a drop of African blood in, you count as an ancestor.(37:13):And that means I get permission to borrow from Rosa Parks. She was in my bloodline, and I teach that to my kids. She's an elder that you need to respect that. You need to learn all of those things. And so I don't usually think about it until I'm around another culture that doesn't feel permission to do that. And then I want to go, how do you not catch that? This, in my mind, it all collapses. And so I want to say to you, Renee, okay, every native person, but when I hear you talk, it is very clear that for you ancestry means that tracing through the clans and the lines that you can identify from your mother and your father. So again, not just naming and noticing the distinction and the differences about how we even understand the word ancestor from whatever our story arcs are, to listen to Jenny talk about, okay, great grandfather, and to know that you can only go so far in black life before you hit a white slave owner and you lose any connection to bloodline. In terms of the records, I have a friend who describes it as I look into my lineage, black, black, white, nothing. And the owner and the listing there is under his property, not his bloodline. So just noticing and naming the expansiveness that needs to be there, at least for me to enter my ancestry.Rebecca (38:56):Yeah, that's a good, so the question would be how do generations confront disruption in their lineage? How do you confront disruption? And what do you work with when there is that disruption? And how does, even with Rosa Parks, any drop of African-American blood, that's my auntie, that's my uncle. How do I adopt the knowledge and the practices and traditions that have kept us going? Whereas being here where there's very distinct tribes that are very different from one another, there's a way in which we know how to relate through our lineage. But then also across pan-Indian that there's this very familiar practice of respect of one another's traditions, knowing where those boundaries are, even though I am Zuni and if I do visit another tribe, there's a way that I know how to conduct myself and respect so that I'm honoring them and not trying to center myself because it's not the time. So just the appropriateness of relationships and stuff like that. So yeah, that's pretty cool conversation.Danielle (40:40):It was talking from a fisherman from Puerto Vallarta who'd lived there his whole life, and he was talking, he was like, wink, wink. People are moving here and they're taking all the fish. And we were like, wait, is it Americans? Is it Canadians? He is like, well, and it was people from other states in Mexico that were kind of forced migration within Mexico that had moved to the coast. And he's like, they're forgetting when we go out and fish, we don't take the little fish. We put 'em back and we have to put 'em back because if we don't put 'em back, then we won't have fish next year. And he actually told us that he had had conversations. This is how close the world seems with people up in Washington state about how tribal members in Washington state on the coast had restored coastline and fish populations. And I thought, that is so cool. And so his whole thing was, we got to take care of our environment. I'm not radical. He kept telling us, I'm not radical in Spanish. I want my kid to be able to fish. We have so much demand for tourism that I'm worried we're going to run out, so we have to make this. How do we make it sustainable? I don't know. It just came to mind as how stories intersect and how people see the value of the land and how we are much more connected, like you said, Renee, because of even the times we can connect with people across thousands of miles,(42:25):It was really beautiful to hear him talk about how much he loved these little fish. He's like, they're little and they squirm around and you're not supposed to eat. He is like, they need to go back. They need to have their life, and when it's ready, then we'll eat them. And he said that in Spanish, it sounded different, but sounded way better. Yeah. Yeah. In Spanish, it was like emotional. It was connected. The words were like, there's a word in Spanish in Gancho is like a hook, but it also can mean you're deceived. And he is like, we can't deceive ourselves. He used that word. We can't deceive ourselves that the fish will be here next year. We can't hook. And with the play on words, because you use hook to catch fish, right?That's like a play on words to think about how do we preserve for the next generation? And it felt really hopeful to hear his story because we're living in an environment in our government that's high consumer oriented, no matter who's in charge. And his slowing down and thinking about the baby fish, just like you said, Renee is still dancing. We're still fishing, felt good.Renee (43:59):I remember just even going to Juno, Alaska for celebration when all the Alaskan tribes make that journey by canoe to Juneau. And even that, I was just so amazed that all the elders were on the side on the shore, and the people in the canoe did this whole ceremony of asking for permission to come on the land. And I was like, dang, even within, they're on their own land. They can do what they want, but yet they honor and respect the land and the elders to ask for permission first to get out, to step out. So it's just like, man, there's this really cool practice of reciprocity even that I am learning. I was taught that day. I was like, man, that's pretty cool. Where are those places that will help me be a good human being in practicing reciprocity, in relationship with others and with the land? Where do I do that? And of course, I remember those things like, okay, you don't take more than you need. You always are mindful of others. That's kind of the teachings that come from my tribe, constantly being mindful of others, mindful of what you're saying, mindful of the way you treat others, all those things against. So yeah. So I think even just this conversation crossing stories and everything, it's generative. It reminds us of all these ways that we are practicing resilience.(45:38):I was going to tell you, Danielle, about humor in resilience, maybe a little humble bragging, but Randy Woodley and Edith were here last week, and Donnie and I got to hang out with them. And I was telling them about this Facebook group called, it's like a Pueblo Southwest group. And people started noticing that there were these really intimate questions being asked on the page. And then people started realizing that it's ai, it's like a AI generated questions. So with Facebook, it's kind of maybe automatically implemented into, it was already implemented into these groups. And so this ai, it's called, I forget the name, but it will ask really sensitive questions like cultural questions. And people started, why are you asking this question? They thought it was the administrator, but then people were like, oh, they caught on like, oh, this is ai. And then people who kind of knew four steps ahead, what was happening, they were like, don't answer the questions. Some people started answering earnestly these really culturally sensitive questions, but people were like, no, don't answer the questions. Because they're mining for information. They're mining for knowledge from our ways. Don't give it to them.(47:30):So now every time this AI robot or whatever asks a question that's very sensitive, they just answer the craziest. That's a good one of them was one of 'em was like, what did you learn during a ceremonial dance? And no one would ask that question to each other. You don't ask that question. So people were like, oh, every time I hear any man of mine, a country song, they just throw out the crazies. And I'm sitting there laughing, just reading. I'm like, good. Oh man, this is us. Have you ever had that feeling of like, this is us. Yes, we caught on. We know what you're doing. This is so good. And then just thinking of all these answers that are being generated and what AI will spit out based off of these answers. And so I was telling Randy about this, and he just like, well, this is just what used to happen when settlers used to first come and interact with indigenous people. Or even the ethnographers would come and mind for information, and they gather all this knowledge from indigenous communities. And then these communities started catching on and would just give them these wild answers. And then these ethnographers would gather up this information and then take it to the school, and the teachers would teach this information. So maybe that's why the school system has some crazy out there information about indigenous peoples. But that's probably part of what's happened here. But I just thought that was so funny. I was like, oh, I love us.Rebecca (49:19):Yeah, that's going to show up in some fourth graders history report or social studies report something about, right. And I can't wait to see that. Yeah, that's a good idea. So good. That feels like resistance and resilience, Renee.Renee (49:40):Yeah. Yeah. Humorous resistance. It just, yeah. So one of the questions is, have you ever harvested traditional pueblo crops?(49:52):And then some puts, my plastic plants have lasted generations with traditional care.So unserious just very, yeah, it's just so funny. So anytime I want to laugh, I go to, oh, what did this ai, what's this AI question for today? Yeah. People have the funniest, funniest answers. It givesYeah, yeah. Jenny's comment about it kind of has to go underground. Yeah. What's underneath the surface?Danielle (50:36):I have to pause this, but I'd love to have you back. Rebecca knows I'm invited every week. May invited. I have a client coming. But it is been a joy. Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that.

united states god ceo women american canada black donald trump ai washington body leadership politics mexico americans child germany canadian race project story trauma psychology spanish dance movement leaders impact black lives matter detroit resilience racism african african americans spirituality indian world war ii political mexican nazis alaska states republicans narrative democrats ice nations practices collective new mexico poland theology venezuela indigenous immigration integration ship tribe slavery palestine latino migration clothes black women maga world war formation montgomery immigrant dia de los muertos black americans libre women in leadership alaskan white supremacy juno pueblo nazi germany crane mexicana modern world somatic apache navajo mcgrath rosa parks aztec metros humorous little caesars puerto vallarta migra juneau cesar chavez trauma therapy seattle schools women who lead sandhill cranes zuni new kings in spanish gancho cultural traditions walston randy woodley

219. The Rage, Grace and Alchemy of Menopause (Tanya Forgan)

The Menstruality Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2025 55:35

For many of us menopause announces itself in our lives through some kind of betrayal. For today's podcast guest, that betrayal came in the form of a dismantling of identity that provoked one particular emotion on a whole new level - rage. Our guest today is the brilliant trauma-informed embodiment guide, facilitator, and heart activist Tanya Forgan. She explores menopause as a series of portals which show us where we're holding power and where we're not. Her initial ‘betrayal' phase of menopause rocked her to her core, coinciding with the pandemic and the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement and catalysing a dark night of the soul where she faced the harm she has experienced as a dual heritage woman in the UK. She goes on to illuminate the healing power of the repair phase of menopause, describing the rituals and community support that helped her to find the grace in the raging fire of the initiatory process. She shares what supported her to alchemise her anger and understand grief as the most exquisite expression of love in the revelation phase, and all she's discovering in the visioning and emergence portals where she is exploring the kind of grandmother she now wants to become. We explore:- How cycle awareness helped to prepare Tanya for the dismantling of menopause. - What helped Tanya when she lost her trust in her body and in society, including her amazing nervous-system-regulating yoga bath ritual!- What menopause taught Tanya about the power of circles for creating belonging, especially when it comes to race, gender, sexual experience, ability in body, power and oppression. ---Join our menopause online course: Menopause: The Great Awakener---The Menstruality Podcast is hosted by Red School. We love hearing from you. To contact us, email info@redschool.net---Social media:Red School: @redschool - https://www.instagram.com/red.schoolSophie Jane Hardy: @sophie.jane.hardy - https://www.instagram.com/sophie.jane.hardyTanya Forgan: @tanyaforgan - https://www.instagram.com/tanyaforgan

uk social black lives matter rage menopause alchemy midlife perimenopause menopausal feminine leadership menopause symptoms postmenopause hotflush menstruality

America Had a Black President. Then Came the Whitelash.

Reveal

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2025 31:56

More To The Story: America in these last 10 years has experienced generational political upheaval, clashes over race and identity, and a battle over the very direction of the country itself. Few writers have charted these wild swings better than staff writer for The New Yorker and Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb. And for Cobb, it all started when he was asked to write about an incident that was just beginning to make national news: the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black 17-year-old in Florida. Cobb recently released Three or More Is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here: 2012–2025, a collection of essays from more than a decade at The New Yorker, that all begin with that moment of national reckoning over Martin's death. On this week's More To The Story, Cobb looks back at how the Trayvon Martin incident shaped the coming decade, reexamines the Black Lives Matter movement and President Obama's legacy in the age of Donald Trump, and shares what he tells his journalism students at a time when the media is under attack.Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Daniel King | Digital producer: Artis Curiskis | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson Donate today at Revealnews.org/more Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at Revealnews.org/weekly Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky Read: Trump Shuts Down Diversity Programs Across Government (Mother Jones)Listen: Being Black in America Almost Killed Me Part 1 (More To The Story)Watch: Where's Black MAGA While Trump Wipes Black History? (Mother Jones) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

america black donald trump barack obama black lives matter new yorker cobb trayvon martin black president how we got here whitelash more to the story

Coleman Hughes: “You can't fix racism with discrimination”

Rak höger med Ivar Arpi

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2025 64:10

My guest today is Coleman Hughes — one of the most interesting voices in the American debate about race and identity. His book The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a colorblind America (Thesis 2024) has just been translated into Swedish under the title Färgblind – en strävan bortom raspolitik (NoPolar).We talk about what colorblindness really means — and why Hughes believes it's the only way out of race-based politics. We talk about Black Lives Matter, about how myths can turn into truths when they're repeated often enough, and about Martin Luther King's legacy — what he actually stood for.We also talk about culture — about jazz and authenticity, about beauty and representation — and why some forms of antiracism have ended up becoming racist in practice.Follow: Coleman Hughes Follow his Substack: Coleman's Corner Coleman Hughes on X: @coldxmanBuy his new book in Swedish here: Färgblind – en strävan bortom raspolitikOberoende endast tack vare erVi är nu över 25 000 prenumeranter här – och antalet växer stadigt. Rak höger med Ivar Arpi och Under all kritik ligger båda konsekvent på topp-20 bland nyhetspoddar i Sverige. Det är helt och hållet er förtjänst – tack för det!Skillnaden mot de flesta andra på topplistan är tydlig: medan de har public service-miljarder eller stora tidningshus med presstöd och annonsintäkter i ryggen, så har vi bara er. Konkurrensen är snedvriden, men ni har visat att det går att bygga något nytt. Vi är helt självständiga – tack vare er.Som ni märkt har vi nu tagit nästa steg med en videosatsning, som kommer ge ännu mer innehåll för betalande prenumeranter framöver. Redan i dag får du flera poddavsnitt i veckan – ofta med video – och minst en text, ibland fler.Vill du vara med och bygga vidare? Bli betalande prenumerant redan i dag och få 30 procents rabatt!Den som vill stötta oss på andra sätt än genom en prenumeration får gärna göra det med Swish, Plusgiro, Bankgiro, Paypal eller Donorbox.Swishnummer: 123-027 60 89Plusgiro: 198 08 62-5Bankgiro: 5808-1837Utgivaren ansvarar inte för kommentarsfältet. (Myndigheten för press, radio och tv (MPRT) vill att jag skriver ovanstående för att visa att det inte är jag, utan den som kommenterar, som ansvarar för innehållet i det som skrivs i kommentarsfältet.) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.enrakhoger.se/subscribe

american black lives matter racism martin luther king jr paypal swedish hughes discrimination sverige bli swish redan rak skillnaden coleman hughes myndigheten donorbox ivar arpi konkurrensen

'If You Can Keep It': Trump, Hate Speech, And Free Speech

1A

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2025 43:04

A Hitler-praising group chat. A government official with a self-proclaimed “Nazi-streak.” A swastika flag in a sitting U.S. representative's office.Those are a few of the racist, antisemitic forms of speech and expression tied to notable Republicans in recent weeks. Vice President JD Vance downplayed outrage over some of these incidents as “pearl clutching.”Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed a memo designating groups like “Antifa” and Black Lives Matter as terrorist organizations. It's part of the administration's larger effort to crack down on what it calls a widespread left-wing conspiracy to carry out acts of political violence.In this installment of “If You Can Keep It,” our weekly series on the state of our democracy, we talk about the Trump administration and the fine lines between hate speech, violence, and political dissent.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

donald trump black lives matter nazis republicans adolf hitler free speech antifa jd vance hate speech 1a if you can keep it trump hate

Why the Mind Races (and the Bladder Waits)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2025 22:41

In this episode, we explore:Why your body waits until the end of your shower to signal you need to peeHow this everyday moment reveals deeper truths about tension, distraction, and missed signalsWhat it means to actually feel safe enough to tune inWhy slowing down isn't indulgent—it's essentialHow this connects to mental health, nighttime overthinking, and suicide preventionThrive With Leo Coaching: If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey.If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help:In the US: Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386Outside the US:International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them.

[ISBW] Embracing the Imposter: Battling Doubts in Writing and Life

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2025 31:16

"If you're writing your stories down, you're more than a writer than a lot of people ever will have the courage to try to be." It's a solo episode! I get into the complexities of writing and self-doubt, the struggles of completing a manuscript, the challenges of balancing creativity with personal life, and the ever-present specter of The Imposter Cop. We try to accept the importance of focusing on one task at a time, despite everything. Also we talk about K Pop Demon Hunters, exploring its themes and storytelling techniques. (This post went live for supporters on October 22, 2025. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon!) Download Transcript Links The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs K Pop Demon Hunters NaNo2.0 Evergreen Links See all books from Season 21 Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing. Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate Theme by John Anealio Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books! — "The Bully that Knocks: The Imposter Cop" is brought to you in large part by my supporters, the Fabulists, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon! Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. Also consider leaving a review for ISBW, please! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon. October 27, 2025 | Season 21 Ep 20 | murverse.com "The Bully that Knocks: The Imposter Cop" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

[ISBW] Exploring Romance and Reality in Writing with Valerie Valdes

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2025 29:22

"You should be writing, because that's the only thing that ultimately you can have even a hope of controlling." ~Valerie Valdes Welcome back to the talented Valerie Valdes, also known as Lia Amador! We are here to launch her newest book, a fantasy rom-com titled Witch You Wood. We talk magical reality shows, romance, and tropes. We also get real about the struggles that persist even after being published. Valerie discusses her experiences with self-doubt and how she manages to push through these challenges. We also explore the nuances of writing romance, the balance between subtlety and straightforwardness, and the significance of knowing your audience. (This post went live for supporters on October 20, 2025. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon!) Download Transcript Links Valerie Valdes / Lia Amador Escape Pod International Latino Book Award Ali Hazelwood Mary Balogh India Holton Jackie Lau Archive of Our Own Baldur's Gate 3 Hades 2 Behooved Evergreen Links See all books from Season 21 Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing. Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate Theme by John Anealio Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books! — "Exploring Romance and Reality in Writing with Valerie Valdes" is brought to you in large part by my supporters, the Fabulists, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon! Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. Also consider leaving a review for ISBW, please! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon. October 23, 2025 | Season 21 Ep 19 | murverse.com "Exploring Romance and Reality in Writing with Valerie Valdes" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

S6, E11: The Night Menagerie

america tiktok barack obama black lives matter eyes threads blue sky

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2025 10:37

Step into The Night Menagerie, where the velvet curtains of 712 Orleans conceal a spectacle of terror. Beneath the glittering lights of a traveling show, a trapeze act ends in tragedy, and the roar of a caged tiger echoes through the night. This chilling tale explores the thin line between entertainment and nightmare in old New Orleans. Part of our special “Four Shadows” series - featuring original music by West Coast independent rapper and producer Tommy Jordan._____________________________Please be sure to like us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shadowcarriersInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadowcarriersIf you like what you hear and want to buy your storytellers a drink, you can catch us at @shadowcarriers on Venmo.If you've enjoyed this episode and want to support our work, become a patron of the podcast! Your support is greatly appreciated and is invested back into helping us create bold and new content for you throughout the year. Check out our Patreon Page at patreon.com/ShadowCarriers.If you'd like to get in touch with us, our email address is shadowcarriers@gmail.com.This Podcast and all endeavors by these individuals believe strongly that Black Lives Matter.

black lives matter new orleans west coast haunting paranormal ghost stories beneath lore venmo orleans menagerie tommy jordan

A Master Class on Being Human; bridging divides for a better world - 21 Oct 2025

St Paul's Cathedral

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2025 87:01

Dr Braxton is a Christian, whereas Dr Pinn is a Secular Humanist. While their respective traditions have often stood in bitter opposition, in a deeply divided world, Braxton and Pinn demonstrate that constructive dialogue is essential. This “master class” offers a compelling model for engaging across religious, ethical, and cultural differences. Through frank, personal, and deeply informed discussion, Braxton and Pinn tackle urgent topics such as ongoing violence against historically minoritised communities, the rise of religiously unaffiliated groups, and the Black Lives Matter movement. They also delve into profound philosophical questions of religion, moral evil, and hope. Discover how open exchange, respecting rather than masking differences, fosters the common good. This unique event invites us to learn how to be better people who can, in turn, transform our world into a more inclusive and loving place. Brad R. Braxton is President of and Professor of Public Theology at Chicago Theological Seminary. He is the Founding Senior Pastor of The Open Church and formerly served as the Director of the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. His most recent book is 'Open: Unorthodox Thoughts on God and Community'. Anthony Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Distinguished Professor of Humanities and professor of religion at Rice University, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Professor Extraordinarius at the University of South Africa and a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School. He received his BA from Columbia University, Master of Divinity and PhD in the study of religion from Harvard University.

Against the Grain: The NBA Player Who Refused to Kneel or Get the Shot | Jonathan Isaac

American Thought Leaders

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2025 47:04

NBA player Jonathan Isaac is known not just for his talent on the court, but for his convictions and outspoken faith. He's the author of the 2022 best-selling memoir “Why I Stand.”As a youth, he struggled with anxiety—but a chance encounter in an elevator with the man who would later become his pastor changed the course of his life.Faith helped him triumph over his battle with anxiety, but it also later put him at the center of a national debate. After George Floyd's death, at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, most NBA players chose to kneel during the national anthem. But Isaac chose to stand. Later, his decision to decline the COVID-19 vaccines also drew intense media scrutiny.In this episode, he shares his story, his convictions, his choices and why he made them, and what it means to believe in something bigger than yourself.Now, through his UNITUS shoe line, Isaac shares Bible verses and a message of hope.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

covid-19 bible nba black lives matter views grain nba players refused kneel epoch times jonathan isaac get the shot after george floyd

Hope Beyond a Moment

Interdependent Study

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2025 30:33

The hope for real change in America after the election of President Obama was stifled in the wake of racism, vigilante violence, and police brutality. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the sixth and final episode of the docuseries “Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest” titled “What Comes After Hope? (2008-2015)” (directed by Leslie Asako Gladsjo), which chronicles the years during Barack Obama's presidency when hope soared for real change in America but racism, vigilante violence, and police brutality surged and sparked the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and what we learn and take away from this incredible episode in our continued learning and unlearning work and fight for collective liberation. Follow us on social media and visit our website! Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leave us a voice message⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch store⁠⁠⁠⁠

National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality

KPFA - Law & Disorder w/ Cat Brooks

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2025 44:13

October 22nd is the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality. The day was established by the October 22 Coalition in 1996 and serves as a nationwide call to action against police violence and repression. Today, we speak with Dr. Melina Abudllah. Dr. Melina Dr. Melina Abdullah is a professor and the chair of pan-African studies at Cal State Los Angeles, as well as the co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Grassroots. We'll also hear from some families who have been impacted by police violence, including Arleta Nance, mother to Tahmon Wilson, Dionne Smith, mother to James Rivera Jr. and Roland Harris, whose son Jacob smith was also killed by police. This week's Artist Resistance in Residence is Oakland native, hip hop artist, community advocate, and owner of the brand and Oakland store Dope Era, Stanley Cox, also known as Stan Pablo, also known as Fabby Davis Jr, also known as F.A.B., but most commonly known as Mistah FAB. Follow Mistah FAB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MistahFAB Follow Mistah FAB on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fabbydavisjr1/ Follow Brooklyn Ivy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooklyn_ivy_/ __ Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality appeared first on KPFA.

los angeles black lives matter african protests oakland coalition residence police brutality national day kpfa cal state los angeles mistah fab

Racism Isn't Too Big a Topic for Kids | W. Kamau Bell and Jelani Memory | A Kids Co.

A Kids Book About: The Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2025 35:43

We hear about racism all the time in our neighborhoods, on the news, and on social media. But what does it actually look like to talk about race with our families, especially with kids? How do we help everyone understand each other, instead of shutting down or getting scared?W. Kamau Bell, a comedian and Emmy Award-winning host of CNN's United Shades of America, shares how race and identity have shaped his experiences, alongside the importance of understanding intersectionality across generations. Later in the episode, founder of A Kids Co. and author of A Kids Book About Racism Jelani Memory emphasizes that kids are ready for challenging, empowering, and important topics, and encourages parents and grownups to be honest when tackling those conversations.Key takeaways for parents:Kids can and do experience racism, regardless of their education about it. Start conversations about racism often to raise conscious kids, instead of ignoring the issue.Practice proactive conversations, especially when organic opportunities to do so are fewer.Invite different experiences and perspectives into your life, and approach them with curiosity to learn alongside your kids.⏱️ Timestamps:Keep the conversation going at home with our FREE Conversation Kit companion guide: https://delivery.shopifyapps.com/-/1fd4535ac87f7447/0d3bc39a64b1a1deFollow W. Kamau Bell on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wkamaubell/Follow Jelani Memory on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jelanimemoryNew episodes every Tuesday:YouTube: https://swap.fm/l/P8iCjNFnIWI7kTmU0vmkApple: https://swap.fm/l/kCnCRNdWkpuYYbyzyE77Spotify: https://swap.fm/l/SOQe4gSHh3vVIwPGFDetOr wherever you get your podcasts.

Damon Centola: Why Change Spreads from the Edges—Not the Influencers

The Unmistakable Creative Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2025 56:51

Damon Centola, sociologist and author of *Change: How to Make Big Things Happen*, dismantles the myth of the influencer and introduces a radically different model of how ideas and behaviors actually spread. In this thought-provoking conversation, Centola explains why change doesn't come from social media stars with massive followings—but from dense clusters in the network periphery. He explores how weak ties, wide bridges, and network dynamics shape everything from viral movements like Black Lives Matter to behavioral shifts like installing solar panels or quitting smoking. Drawing from decades of experimental research, Centola reveals that most people misjudge what causes change—believing it's money, recognition, or messaging—when it's actually subtle cues from peers. He shares how “complex contagions” require reinforcement from trusted networks, not mass exposure, and why virality alone fails to produce lasting impact. Whether you're a founder, activist, or creator, this episode will challenge how you think about social influence, innovation, and what truly drives societal tipping points. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

influencers drawing black lives matter acast spreads edges changehow

When Life Hurts: Why Admiration Still Matters

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2025 21:32

Today we'll discuss: Explore the power of admiration as a tool for connection and healing.Discuss how admiration can counteract shame, loneliness, and psychological pain.Differentiate between genuine admiration and blind flattery.Learn practical ways to admire others and yourself sincerely, even when it feels vulnerable.Reflect on the balance between setting boundaries and giving honest praise.Thrive With Leo Coaching: If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey.If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help:In the US: Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386Outside the US:International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them.

[ISBW] Nostalgia and Climate Fic with Tim Chawaga

New Books in African American Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2025 28:36

[Worldcon] was my first convention where I went to panels, gave a reading, and had a big party. It made my sweet little book feel like the huge thing it is in my heart and mind. -Tim Chawaga S21 Ep18 In this episode, we welcome Tim Chawaga, author of Salvagia, as we dive into the depths of his near-future science fiction mystery set in a flooded Florida. Tim shares the inspiration behind his book, where a freelance Salvagia diver uncovers a dead body while searching for valuable artifacts from the past. We explore the blending of genres in Salvagia, from climate fiction to humor, and discuss the delicate balance between plot and world-building in writing. Tim reflects on his debut at Worldcon, the challenges of imposter syndrome, and the importance of building connections within the writing community. (This post went live for supporters on October 16, 2025. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or get my newsletter at Ghost!) Download Transcript Links Tim Chawaga Salvagia Seattle Worldcon Evergreen Links See all books from Season 21 Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing. Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate Theme by John Anealio Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books! — "From Idea to Ink: Tim Chawaga on Crafting Salvagia" is brought to you in large part by my supporters, the Fabulists, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon! Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. Also consider leaving a review for ISBW, please! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon. October 16, 2025 | Season 21 Ep 18 | murverse.com "From Idea to Ink: Tim Chawaga on Crafting Salvagia" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

Bill V. Mullen, "James Baldwin: Living in Fire" (Pluto Press, 2019)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2025 59:58

In the first major biography of Baldwin in more than a decade, James Baldwin: Living in Fire (Pluto Press, 2019), Bill V. Mullen celebrates the personal and political life of the great African-American writer who changed the face of Western politics and culture. As a lifelong anti-imperialist, black queer advocate, and feminist, Baldwin (1924-1987) was a passionate chronicler of the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, the U.S. war against Vietnam, Palestinian liberation struggle, and the rise of LGBTQ rights. Mullen explores how Baldwin's life and work channel the long history of African-American freedom struggles, and explains how Baldwin both predicted and has become a symbol of the global Black Lives Matter movement. Bill V. Mullen is Professor of English and American Studies at Purdue University. His specializations are American Literature and Studies, African American Studies, Cultural Studies, Working-Class Studies, Critical Race Theory and Marxist Theory. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Bill V. Mullen, "James Baldwin: Living in Fire" (Pluto Press, 2019)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2025 59:58

In the first major biography of Baldwin in more than a decade, James Baldwin: Living in Fire (Pluto Press, 2019), Bill V. Mullen celebrates the personal and political life of the great African-American writer who changed the face of Western politics and culture. As a lifelong anti-imperialist, black queer advocate, and feminist, Baldwin (1924-1987) was a passionate chronicler of the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, the U.S. war against Vietnam, Palestinian liberation struggle, and the rise of LGBTQ rights. Mullen explores how Baldwin's life and work channel the long history of African-American freedom struggles, and explains how Baldwin both predicted and has become a symbol of the global Black Lives Matter movement. Bill V. Mullen is Professor of English and American Studies at Purdue University. His specializations are American Literature and Studies, African American Studies, Cultural Studies, Working-Class Studies, Critical Race Theory and Marxist Theory. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Bill V. Mullen, "James Baldwin: Living in Fire" (Pluto Press, 2019)

New Books in Literary Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2025 59:58

In the first major biography of Baldwin in more than a decade, James Baldwin: Living in Fire (Pluto Press, 2019), Bill V. Mullen celebrates the personal and political life of the great African-American writer who changed the face of Western politics and culture. As a lifelong anti-imperialist, black queer advocate, and feminist, Baldwin (1924-1987) was a passionate chronicler of the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, the U.S. war against Vietnam, Palestinian liberation struggle, and the rise of LGBTQ rights. Mullen explores how Baldwin's life and work channel the long history of African-American freedom struggles, and explains how Baldwin both predicted and has become a symbol of the global Black Lives Matter movement. Bill V. Mullen is Professor of English and American Studies at Purdue University. His specializations are American Literature and Studies, African American Studies, Cultural Studies, Working-Class Studies, Critical Race Theory and Marxist Theory. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Bill V. Mullen, "James Baldwin: Living in Fire" (Pluto Press, 2019)

New Books in Biography

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2025 59:58

In the first major biography of Baldwin in more than a decade, James Baldwin: Living in Fire (Pluto Press, 2019), Bill V. Mullen celebrates the personal and political life of the great African-American writer who changed the face of Western politics and culture. As a lifelong anti-imperialist, black queer advocate, and feminist, Baldwin (1924-1987) was a passionate chronicler of the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, the U.S. war against Vietnam, Palestinian liberation struggle, and the rise of LGBTQ rights. Mullen explores how Baldwin's life and work channel the long history of African-American freedom struggles, and explains how Baldwin both predicted and has become a symbol of the global Black Lives Matter movement. Bill V. Mullen is Professor of English and American Studies at Purdue University. His specializations are American Literature and Studies, African American Studies, Cultural Studies, Working-Class Studies, Critical Race Theory and Marxist Theory. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

Bill V. Mullen, "James Baldwin: Living in Fire" (Pluto Press, 2019)

New Books in LGBTQ+ Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2025 59:58

In the first major biography of Baldwin in more than a decade, James Baldwin: Living in Fire (Pluto Press, 2019), Bill V. Mullen celebrates the personal and political life of the great African-American writer who changed the face of Western politics and culture. As a lifelong anti-imperialist, black queer advocate, and feminist, Baldwin (1924-1987) was a passionate chronicler of the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, the U.S. war against Vietnam, Palestinian liberation struggle, and the rise of LGBTQ rights. Mullen explores how Baldwin's life and work channel the long history of African-American freedom struggles, and explains how Baldwin both predicted and has become a symbol of the global Black Lives Matter movement. Bill V. Mullen is Professor of English and American Studies at Purdue University. His specializations are American Literature and Studies, African American Studies, Cultural Studies, Working-Class Studies, Critical Race Theory and Marxist Theory. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/lgbtq-studies

Marching for Justice: The Legacy of Civil Rights Movements

Black History Mini Docs Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2025 5:33

Send us a text**"Marching for Justice: The Legacy of Civil Rights Movements"**

united states black washington black lives matter martin luther king jr civil rights montgomery movements naacp marching rosa parks voting rights act montgomery bus boycott

#104 The Barbarian Way: An Untamed Faith

Battle Ready with Erwin & Aaron McManus

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 54:18

Pre-Order The Barbarian Way now!https://www.amazon.com/Barbarian-Way-Unleash-Untamed-Within/dp/1400257395In this episode of Mind Shift, Aaron McManus and his father, Erwin Raphael McManus, celebrate the 20th anniversary re-release of The Barbarian Way, revisiting its call to reject the domestication of faith and embrace a raw, courageous spirituality. Erwin reflects on how the book challenged believers to reclaim their untamed faith and masculine spirit—an idea that remains deeply relevant in a culture that often rewards comfort over conviction. They share stories of global leaders whose lives were shaped by the book's message and explore its continued resonance in today's search for authenticity and meaning. The conversation expands into current global and ethical issues, including the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas, the moral complexities within Middle Eastern politics, and Erwin's firsthand observations about cultural and religious narratives in places like Abu Dhabi and Istanbul. Together, they unpack the contrasts between moral frameworks across civilizations and the differing values placed on human life. The discussion turns stateside with reflections on American politics—Trump's unconventional leadership, the corruption within the Black Lives Matter organization, and the tangled role of government funding in social and healthcare systems. Through it all, they return to The Barbarian Way's central theme: the need for individuals to live with courage, clarity, and conviction in an age of confusion. The episode closes with an invitation to join the upcoming book club discussions and rediscover the wild, untamed faith that still calls believers to live beyond safety.Join the Mind Shift community here: http://erwinmcmanus.com/mindshiftpodFollow On Socialhttps://www.youtube.com/@ErwinRaphaelMcManushttps://instagram.com/mindshiftpodhttps://instagram.com/erwinmcmanushttps://instagram.com/aaroncmcmanusJoin The Newsletter!https://erwinmcmanus.com/newsletter

american donald trump black lives matter israelis hamas istanbul abu dhabi middle eastern barbarian erwin untamed mindshift erwin raphael mcmanus

Andrea Freeman, "Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch" (Metropolitan Books, 2024)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 60:44

The first and definitive history of the use of food in American law and politics as a weapon of conquest and control, a Fast Food Nation for the Black Lives Matter era In 1779, to subjugate Indigenous nations, George Washington ordered his troops to “ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.” Destroying harvests is just one way that the United States has used food as a political tool. Trying to prevent enslaved people from rising up, enslavers restricted their consumption, providing only enough to fuel labor. Since the Great Depression, school lunches have served as dumping grounds for unwanted agricultural surpluses. From frybread to government cheese, Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch (Metropolitan Books, 2024) on the Ground draws on over fifteen years of research to argue that American food law and policy have created and maintained racial and social inequality. In an epic, sweeping account, Andrea Freeman, who pioneered the term “food oppression,” moves from colonization to slavery to the Americanization of immigrant food culture, to the commodities supplied to Native reservations, to milk as a symbol of white supremacy. She traces the long-standing alliance between the government and food industries that have produced gaping racial health disparities, and she shows how these practices continue to this day, through the marketing of unhealthy goods that target communities of color, causing diabetes, high blood pressure, and premature death. Ruin Their Crops on the Ground is a groundbreaking addition to the history and politics of food. It will permanently upend the notion that we freely and equally choose what we put on our plates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Andrea Freeman, "Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch" (Metropolitan Books, 2024)

New Books in History

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 60:44

The first and definitive history of the use of food in American law and politics as a weapon of conquest and control, a Fast Food Nation for the Black Lives Matter era In 1779, to subjugate Indigenous nations, George Washington ordered his troops to “ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.” Destroying harvests is just one way that the United States has used food as a political tool. Trying to prevent enslaved people from rising up, enslavers restricted their consumption, providing only enough to fuel labor. Since the Great Depression, school lunches have served as dumping grounds for unwanted agricultural surpluses. From frybread to government cheese, Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch (Metropolitan Books, 2024) on the Ground draws on over fifteen years of research to argue that American food law and policy have created and maintained racial and social inequality. In an epic, sweeping account, Andrea Freeman, who pioneered the term “food oppression,” moves from colonization to slavery to the Americanization of immigrant food culture, to the commodities supplied to Native reservations, to milk as a symbol of white supremacy. She traces the long-standing alliance between the government and food industries that have produced gaping racial health disparities, and she shows how these practices continue to this day, through the marketing of unhealthy goods that target communities of color, causing diabetes, high blood pressure, and premature death. Ruin Their Crops on the Ground is a groundbreaking addition to the history and politics of food. It will permanently upend the notion that we freely and equally choose what we put on our plates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

S6, E10: A Bayou and a Bete Noire

New Books in American Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 16:32

The still waters of Bayou St. John have seen centuries of life, death, and everything that lingers between. From restless spirits that glide across the moonlit surface to echoes of rituals long forgotten, this episode uncovers the haunted heart of one of New Orleans' most storied waterways.Part of our special “Four Shadows” series - featuring original music by West Coast independent rapper and producer Tommy Jordan._____________________________Please be sure to like us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shadowcarriersInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadowcarriersIf you like what you hear and want to buy your storytellers a drink, you can catch us at @shadowcarriers on Venmo.If you've enjoyed this episode and want to support our work, become a patron of the podcast! Your support is greatly appreciated and is invested back into helping us create bold and new content for you throughout the year. Check out our Patreon Page at patreon.com/ShadowCarriers.If you'd like to get in touch with us, our email address is shadowcarriers@gmail.com.This Podcast and all endeavors by these individuals believe strongly that Black Lives Matter.

black lives matter new orleans west coast haunting paranormal ghost stories lore venmo bayou noire bete tommy jordan

Season 6, Episode 9: Danielle S. Castillejo speak with Vanessa Ogaldez, LAMFT and Chicago and La Migra

The Arise Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 56:36

Vanessa Ogaldez, LAMFTSPECIALTIES:TraumaCouples CommunicationIdentity/Self Acceptancehttps://www.dcctherapy.com/vanessa-ogaldez-lamftFrom Her website: Maybe you have said something like, “What else can I do?” and it is possible you feel stuck or heartbroken because you can't seem to connect with your partner as you want or used to. Whether or not you're in a relationship and you have experienced trauma, hurtful arguments, or life changes that have brought on disconnection in your relationships, there is a sense of loss and heartache. You may find yourself in “robot mode” just going through your daily tasks, causing you to eventually disconnect from others, only to continue the cycle of miscommunication and loneliness. Perhaps you feel misunderstood, and you compensate by being helpful to everyone else while you yearn for true intimacy and friendships. Sometimes you feel there are so many experiences that have contributed to your pain and suffering that you don't know where to start. There are Cultural norms you may feel that not everyone can understand and therapy is not one of those Cultural norms. I believe therapy can be a place of safety, healing, and self-discovery. As a therapist, my focus is to support you and your goals in life and relationships. I am committed to you building deep communications, connections and feeling secure in the ability to share your emotions.Danielle (00:06):Good morning. I just had the privilege and honor of interviewing my colleague, another therapist and mental health counselor in Chicago, Vanessa Les, and she is located right in the midst of Chicago with an eye and a view out of her office towards what's happening with ICE and immigration raids. I want to encourage you to listen into this episode of the Arise Podcast, firsthand witness accounts and what is it actually like to try to engage in a healing process when the trauma may be committed right before someone comes in the office. We know that's a possibility and right after they leave the office, not suggesting that it's right outside the door, but essentially that the world in which we are living is not as hopeful and as Mary as we would like to think, I am sad and deeply disturbed and also very hopeful that we share this power inside of ourselves.(01:10):It's based on nonviolence and care and love for neighbor, and that is why Vanessa and I connected. It's not because we're neighbors in the sense of I live next door to her in Chicago and she lives next door to me in Washington. We're neighbors because as Latinas in this world, we have a sense of great solidarity in this fight for ourselves, for our families, for our clients, to live in a world where there's freedom, expression, liberation, and a movement towards justice and away from systems and oppression that want to literally drag us into the pit of hell. We're here to say no. We're here to stand beside one another in solidarity and do that together. I hope you join us in this conversation and I hope you find your way to jump in and offer your actual physical resources, whether it's money, whether it's walking, whether it's calling a friend, whether it's paying for someone's mental health therapy, whether it's sharing a meal with someone, sharing a coffee with someone. All these things, they're just different kinds of things that we can do, and that's not an exhaustive list.(02:28):I love my neighbor. I even want to talk to the people that don't agree with me, and I believe Vanessa feels the same way. And so this episode means a lot to me. It's very important that we pay attention to what's happening and we ground ourselves in the reality and the experiences of black and brown bodies, and we don't attempt to make them prove over and over and over what we can actually see and investigate with our own eyes. Join in. Hey, welcome Vanessa. I've only met you once in person and we follow each other online, but part of the instigation for the conversation is a conversation about what is reality. So there's so many messages being thrown at us, so many things happening in the world regarding immigration, law enforcement, even mental health fields, and I've just been having conversations with different community members and activists and finding out how do you find yourself in reality what's happening. I just first would love to hear who you are, where you're at, where you're coming from, and then we can go from there.Vanessa (03:41):Okay. Well, my name is Vanessa Valez. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist. Before becoming a therapist five years ago through my license, I worked in nonprofit for over 20 years, working with families and community and addressing what is the need and what is the problem and how can we all get together. Been involved with different movements and nonprofit organizations focusing on the community in Humbolt Park and Logan Square in the inner city of Chicago. My parents are longtime activists and they've been instrumental in teaching me how to work in community and be part of community and to be empathetic and thoughtful and caring and feeling like what happens to me happens to us and what happens to us happens to me. So that's kind of the values that I come from and have always felt that were true. I'm a mom of three and my husband and I have been together for 29 years, so since we were teenagers.Thank you. But yeah, so that's a lot of just in general who I am and culturally, I come from an Afro Latina culture. I am a Puerto Rican born here, well born in New York where my family was from and they migrated from Puerto Rico, my grandparents did. And in our culture, we are African, we are indigenous, and my dad is Puerto Rican and Native American. So there's a lot in here that I am a hundred percent all of it. So I think that's the view and experience that I come from is knowing who I am and my ancestors who are very important to me.Danielle (06:04):I mean, that encompasses so much of what I think the battle is over who gets to be American and who doesn't. Right? Yeah, definitely. From your position in your job and you're in Chicago right on the ground, I think a lot of people are wondering what's really happening? What are you seeing? What's true? Can you speak to that a little bit?Vanessa (06:32):Yeah. What's really happening here is, I don't know, it's like what's really happening here? People are really scared. People are really scared. Families that are black and brown, families that are in low income situations, families that have visas, families that have green cards, families that are undocumented, all of us are really scared and concerned, and the reason is because we feel that there is power being taken from us without any kind of accountability. So I see my friends and family saying ICE is in our neighborhood, and I mean a block away from where I live, ICE is in our neighborhood, in our schools. We have to watch out. ICE is in front of our church or ICE is patrolling our neighborhood, and we have to all come together and start throwing whistles and we have to know what it is that we're supposed to do if we get interact, if we interact with ice or any kind of federal agent, which is just in itself disturbing, and we're supposed to just get up in our day and send our kids to school, and we're supposed to go to work and do the things that we're supposed to do.(08:07):So it's traumatic. This is a trauma that we are going through, and I think that it only triggers the traumas that a lot of us, black and brown people and community have been trying to get the world to listen and recognize this isn't new for us. It's just now very aggressive and very violent and going backwards instead of forward.(08:39):I think that's how I would describe what is really happening in Chicago. On the other side, I think there's this other place of, I'm kind of really proud of a lot of our people where I think it is understandable to say, you know what? It's not me or mine, or I got my papers all together, so that's really unfortunate, but it's not something that's happening in front of me. I could understand that there are some of some people who feel that way because it does feel like a survival situation. I think though there are others who are saying, no, what happens to you is happening to me too, I'm going to keep accountable to my power. And there's a lot of allies out there. There are a lot of people who are moving and saying, I'm afraid, but I'm still going to act in my fear.(09:37):And I think that's really brave. So in that way, I feel like there's this movement of bravery and a movement of we've had enough and we're going to reinvent what it is that is our response. It's not this or that. It's not extreme to extreme, but I'm going to do it in the way that I feel is right and that I feel that it's good for me to do and I can be truthful in that. And so today I'm really proud because my kids are going to be protesting and walking out of their school and I'm super, super proud and I was like, send pictures because I'm so proud of them. And so someone could say, is that doing anything? I'm like, hell yeah, doing something. It's doing something. The kids are saying, what power do we have? Not much, but whatever I have, I'm going to put that out there and I'm going to be brave and do it.(10:34):And it's important for us to support them. I feel their school does a really good job of supporting them and guiding them through this and letting us parents know, Hey, talk to your kids about this shadow to Belmont Intrinsic Charter School. But they really are doing something. And I find that in a lot of the schools around Chicago, around the Hermosa, Logan Square, Humbold Park area where I live in Humboldt Park, I find that a lot of the schools are stepping up and saying, we are on the community side of taking care of our kids and what's best for our families. So there's that happening and I want to make sure to give that. We have to see that too.Danielle (11:15):One thing you really said at the beginning really struck me. You said power without accountability. And two things I think of you see a truck, you see a law enforcement person acting without accountability. Not only does that affect you in the moment and that trauma particularly maybe even chase you, but I think it activates all the other sense and remembrances of when you didn't have power and there was no accountability. So I thought of that, but I also thought of the people perpetrating these crimes and the way it's reinforcing for inside their own body that they can do whatever they want and not have to pay attention to their own soul, not have to pay attention to their own humanity. And there's something extremely dehumanizing about repeating and repeating and normalizing that for them too. So I was, those are the two things that kind of struck me at the beginning of what you said.Vanessa (12:14):Yeah, I think what you're saying right now is I think the shock factor of it all of how could you do this and do these things and say these things and not only feel that there won't be any accountability, and I think all of us are kind of going like, who's going to keep this accountable? But I think also, how can you do that and feel okay about it? And so I think about the president that just is, I think a person who I will always shock me all the things that he's doing and saying, it shocks me and I'm glad it shocks me. It should never be normal, and I think that's important. I think sometimes with a lot of supporters of his, there's this normalcy of that's just him. He's just really meaning what he's saying or he's just kind of blunt and I like that about him. That should never be normalized. So that's shocking that you can do that. He can do that and it not be held accountable to the extent that it should be. And then for there to be this huge impact on the rest of us that he's supposed to be supporting, he's supposed to be protecting and looking out for, and then it's permissible, then it's almost supported. It's okay. This is a point of view that other people are like, I'm in supportive.(13:47):I think that sounds evil. It sounds just evil and really hard to contend with,Danielle (13:58):Which actually makes what the students do to walk out of their schools so much so profoundly resistant, so profoundly different. Walking itself is not violent kids themselves against man and masks fully. I've seen the pictures and I'm assuming they're true, fully geared up weapons at their side, tear gas, all this, and you just have kids walking. Just the stark contrast in the way they're expressing their humanity,Vanessa (14:30):Right? Yes. I think, yeah, I see that too, and I think it's shocking and to not recognize that, I think that's shocking for me when people don't recognize that what is going on with I think the cognitive process, what is going on with people in society, in American society where they look at children or people walking and they demonize it, but then they see the things and hear the things that this administration is doing and that they're seeing the things that our military is being forced to do and seeing the things that are happening with ice agents and they don't feel like there's anything wrong with it. That's just something that I'm trying to grapple with. I don't. I see it and you see it. Well, it is kind of like I don't know what to do with it.Danielle (15:34):So what do you do then when you hear what happens in your own body when you hear, oh, there's ice agents at my kid's school or we're things are on lockdown. What even happens for you in your body?Vanessa (15:48):I think what happens for me is what probably a lot of people are experiencing, which is immediate fear, immediate sorrow, immediate. I think I froze a few times thinking about it when it started happening here in Chicago more so I have a 17-year-old little brown boy, and we're tall people, so he is a big guy. He might look like a man. He is six something, six three maybe, but this is my little boy, this is my baby, and I have to send him out there every day immediately after feeling the shock and the sorrow of there's so many people in our generations. I could think of my parents, I could think of my grandparents that have fought so that my son can be in a better place and I feel like we're reverting. And so now he's going to experience something that I never want him to experience. And I feel like my husband and I have done a really great job of trying to prepare him for life with the fact that people are going to, some of them are going to see him in a different way or treat him in a different way. This is so different. The risk is so much greater because it's permissible now,(17:19):And so shock a freeze, and then I feel like life and vision for the future has halted for everybody here.(17:29):We can't have the conversation of where are we going? What is the vision of the future and how can I grow as a person? We're trying to just say, how can I get from A to Z today without getting stopped, without disappearing, without the fear completely changing my brain and changing my nervous system, and how can I find joy today? That is the big thing right now. So immediately there's this negative effect of this experience, and then there is the how can we recover and how can we stay safe? That's the big next step for us is I think people mentioned the word resilience and I feel like more people are very resilient and have historically been resilient, but it's become this four letter word. I don't want to be resilient anymore. I want to thrive. And I feel like that for my people. My community is like, why do we have to feel like we, our existence has to be surviving and this what's happening now with immigration and it's more than immigration. We know that it's not about just, oh, let's get the criminals. We know that this is targeted. There's proof out there, and the fact that we have to keep on bringing the proof up, it makes no sense. It just means if you don't believe it, then you've made a decision that you're not going to believe it. So it doesn't matter if we repeat it or not. It doesn't matter if you're right there and see it. So the fact that we have to even do the put out the energy of trying to get this message out and get people to be aware of it(19:24):Is a lot of energy on top of the fact that we're trying to survive this and there's no thriving right now. And that's the truth.Danielle (19:38):And the fact that people can say, oh, well, that's Chicago, that's not here, or that's Portland, that's not here. And the truth is it's here under the surface, the same hate, the same bigotry, the same racism, the same extreme violence. You can feel it bubbling under the surface. And we've had our own experiences here in town with that. I think. I know they've shut off funding for Pell grants.And I know that's happened. It happened to my family. So you even feel the squeeze. You feel the squeeze of you may get arrest. I've had the same talk with my very brown, curly hair, dark sun. I'm like, you can't make the mistakes other kids make. You can't walk in this place. You can't show up in this way. This is not a time where you can be you everywhere you go. You have to be careful.Vanessa (20:38):I think that's the big thing about our neighborhoods is that's the one place that maybe we could do that. That's the one place I could put my loud music on. That's the one place I could put my flags up. My Puerto Rican flags up and this is the one place that we could be. So for that to now be taken from us is a violence.Danielle (21:01):Yeah, it is a violence. I think the fact, I love that you said at the very beginning you said this, I was raised to think of what happens to me is happening to you. What happens to you is happening to me. What happens to them is happening to me and this idea of collective, but we live in a society that is forced separation, that wants to think of it separate. What enables you to stay connected to the people that love you and that are in your community? What inside of you drives that connection? What keeps you moving? I know you're not thriving, but what keeps youVanessa (21:37):Surviving? That's a good question. What keeps us surviving is I think it's honestly, I'll be really honest. It's the knowledge that I feel like I'm worth it.(21:53):I'm worth it. And I've done the work to get there. I've done the work to know my healing and to know my worth and to know my value. And in that, I feel like then I can make it My, and I have made it. My duty to do that for others is to say, you are worth it. You are so valuable. I need you and I know that you need me. And so I need to be well in order to be there for you. And that's important. I think. I see my kids, and of course they're a big motivator for me of getting up every day and trying to persevere and trying to find happiness with them and monitor their wellbeing and their mental health. And so that's a motivation. But that's me being connected with others. And so then there's family and friends that I'm connected with talking to my New York family all the time, and they're talking to me about what's going on there and them asking them what's going on there. And then we're contending with it. But then, so there's a process of crying about it, process of holding each other's hands and then process of reminding each other, we're not alone(23:12):And then processing another level of, and we can't give up. There's just too much to give up here. And so if it's going to be taken, we're going to take back our power and we're going to make it the narrative of what it's going to be, of how this fight is going to be fought. And that feels motivating. Something to do. There's just so much we've done, so much we've built(23:35):These communities have, I mean, sometimes they show the videos of ice agents and I'm like, wow, behind the scenes of the violence happening, you could see these beautiful murals. And I'm like, that's why we fight. That's why every day we get up, that's why we persevere is because we have been here. It wasn't like we just got here. We've been here and we've been doing the work and we've been building our communities. They are taking what we've grown. They're taking research from these universities. They're taking research from these young students who are out here trying to get more information so that it could better this community. So we've built so much. It's worth it. It's valuable and it's not going to be easily given.Danielle (24:29):Yeah, we have built so much. I mean, whether it's actually physically building the buildings to being involved in our schools and advocating because when we advocate just not for our rights, but in the past when we advocate for rights, I love what Cesar Chavez talks about when you're advocating for yourself, you're advocating for the other person. And so much of our advocacy is so inclusive of other people. And so I do think that there's some underestimation of our power or a lot, and I think that drives the other side mad. Literally insane.Vanessa (25:14):I think so too. I think this Saturdays protest is a big indicator of that. I know. Which you'll see me right there because what are we going to do? I mean, what are the things we can do things and we can do. And I feel like even in the moments when I am in session with a family or if I'm on a conversation with a friend, sometimes I post a lot of just what I see that I think is information that needs to get out there. And I am like somebody's going to see it and go like, oh, I didn't see that on my algorithm. And I get conversations from friends and family of, I need to talk about this. What are your thoughts about it? And I feel like that's a protest of we are going to join together in this experience and remind each other who we are in this moment and in this time. And then in that power, we can then make this narrative what we want it to be. And so it's a lot of work though. It's a lot of work and it's a lot of energy. So then it's a job right now. And I think that's why the word resilience is kind of a four letter word. Can we talk about the after effect? Because the after effect is depleted. There's just, I'm hungry. My nervous system is shot. How do I sleep? How do I eat? How do I take care and sell? soThe(26:54):A lot of work and we got to do it, but it's the truth of it. So both can exist, right? It's like how great and then how hard.Danielle (27:08):I love it that you said it's a job. It is an effing job, literally. It's like take care of your family, take care of yourself, whatever else you got going on. And then also how do you fight for your community? Because that's not something we're just going to stop doing.Literally all these extra work, all this extra work, all this extra job. And it's not like you would stop doing it, but it is extra.What do you think as jumping in back into the mental health field? And I told someone recently, they're like, oh, how's business going? I'm like, what do you mean? How's your client load? And I was like, well, sadly, the government has increased my caseload and the mental distress has actually in my profession, adds work to my plate.And I'm wondering for you what that's like. And it almost feels gross to me. Like someone out there is committing traumas that we all see, I see in the news I'm experiencing with my family, and then people need to come in more to get therapy, which is great. I'm glad we can have that process. But also, it's really gross to say your business has changed because the government is making more trauma on your people,Vanessa (28:29):Right? And I don't know if you experienced this, but I'm also feeling like there's this shift in what the sessions look like and what therapy looks like. Because it's one thing to work on past traumas or one thing to say, let's work on some of the cognitive distortions that these traumas have created and then move into vision and like, okay, well then without that, who are you and what are you and how can you move? And what would be your ideal future that you can work towards that has all halted? That's not available right now. I can't say you're not at risk. What happened to you way back is not something that's happening to you right now that it's not true. I can't tell those who are scientists and going into research, you're fine. You don't have to think about the world ending or your life as you know it ending because the life as people, their livelihoods are ending, have ended abruptly without any accountability, without any protection. It has halted. And a lot of these families I'm working with is we can't go into future that would serve me as let's go into the future. Let's do a vision board that would serve my agenda. But I'm going to be very honest with you, I have to validate the fact that there is a risk. My office is not far from Michigan Avenue. I could see it from here. My window's there, it's right out the window. I have families coming in and going, I'm afraid to come to session(30:25):Because they just grabbed somebody two years ago and no one said anything that was around them. I have no one that I can say in this environment that is going to protect me, but they come anyway because they freaking need it. And so then the sessions are that the sessions are the safe place. The only semblance of safety for them. And that's a big undertaking I think emotionally for us as therapists is how do I sit and this is happening. I don't have an answer for you on how to view this differently. It is what it is. And also this is the only safe place. I need to make sure that you're safe with the awareness. You're going to leave my office and I'm going to sit with that knowledge. So it's so different. I feel it's changed what's happening.Danielle (31:27):Oh man, I just stopped my breath thinking of that. I was consulting with a supervisor. I still meet with supervision and get consult on my cases, and I was talking about quote anxiety, and my supervisor halted me and she's like, that's not anxiety. That's the body actually saying there's a real danger right now. This is not what we talk about in class, what you studied in grad school. This is like of court. That body needs to have that level of panic to actually protect themselves from a real threat right now. And my job isn't to try to take that away.Vanessa (32:04):Right? Right. Yeah. And sometimes before that was our job, right? Of how can I bring the adult online because the child when they were powerless and felt unsafe, went through this thing. Now it's like, no, this adult is very much at risk right now when they leave this room and I have to let them say that right now and let them say whatever it is that they need to say, and I have to address it and recognize what it is that they need. How can I be supportive? It is completely mind blowing how immediate this has changed. And that in itself is also a trauma. There had not been any preparing for, we were not prepared,Danielle (32:57):Vanessa. Then even what is your nervous system? I'm assuming it goes up and it comes down and it goes, what is it like for your own nervous system to have the experience of sitting in your office see shit some bad shit then with the client, that's okay. And then you don't know what's happening. What's happening even for you in your own nervous system if you're willing to share?Vanessa (33:24):Yeah, I'm willing to share. I'm going through it with everybody else. I really am. I'm having my breakdowns and I have my therapist who's amazing and I've increased my sessions with her. My husband and I are trying to figure out how do we hold space and also keep our life going in a positive way. How do we exemplify how to deal with this thing? We're literally writing the book for our kids as we go. But for me, I find it important to let my, I feel like it's my intuition and my gut and my spirit lead more so in my sessions. There have been moments where I find it completely proper to cry with my clients, to let my tears show.(34:34):I find that healing for them to see that I am moved by what they are sharing with me, that they are not wrong to cry. They're not wrong. That this is legitimate. And so for me, that is also healing for me to let my natural disposition of connection and of care below more, and then I need to sleep and then I need to eat as healthy as possible in between sessions, food in my mouth. I need to see beauty. And so sometimes I love to see art especially. So I have a membership to the art museum, a hundred bucks a month, I mean a year. And that's my birthday gift to me every year around March. I'm like, that's for me, that's my present. And I'll go there to see the historical art and go to the Mexican art museum, which is be beautiful. I mean, I love it. And that one, they don't even charge you admission. You give a donation to see the art feels like I am connecting with those who've come before me and that have in the midst of their hardships, they've created and built,(36:06):And then I feel more grounded. But it isn't every day. There are days and I am not well, and I'll be really honest with that. And then I have to tell my beautiful aunt in New York, I'm not doing good today. And then she pours into me and she does that. She'll do that with me too. Hey, I'm the little niece. I ain't doing all right. Then I pour into her. So it's a lot of back and forth. But like I said before, I've done the work. I remember someone, I think it was Sandra, in fact, I think Sandra, she said to me one time, Vanessa sleeping is holy.Like, what? Completely changed my mind. Yeah, you don't have to go into zero. You don't have to get all the way depleted. It's wholly for you to recover. So I'm trying to keep that in mind in the midst of all of this. And I feel like it's done me well. It's done me really good So far. I've been really working hard on it.Danielle (37:19):I just take a big breath because it isn't, I think what you highlight, and that's what's good for people to know is even as therapists, even as leaders in our communities, we have to still do all these little things that are necessary for our bodies to keep moving. You said sleep, eat the first one. Yeah, 1 0 1. And I just remember someone inviting me to do something recently and I was just like, no, I'm busy. But really I just needed to go to bed and that was my busy, just having to put my head down. And that feeling of when I have that feeling like I can put my head down and close my eyes and I know there's no immediate responsibility for me at my house. That's when I feel the day kind of shed a bit, the burden kind of lessens or the heightened activity lessens. Even if something comes up, it's just less in that moment.Vanessa (38:28):Yes, I agree. Yeah, I think those weekends are holy for me. And keeping boundaries around all of this has been helpful. What you're saying, and no thank you. Next, I'll get you next time. And not having to explain, but taking care of yourself. Yeah. So importantDanielle (38:51):Vanessa. So we're out here in Washington, you're over there in Chicago, and there's a lot of folks, I think in different places in this United States and maybe elsewhere that listen and they want to know what can they do to support, what can they do to jump on board? Is there practical things that we can do for folks that have been invaded? Are there ways we can help from here? I'm assuming prayers necessary, but I tell people lately, I'm like, prayer better also be an action or I don't want it. So what in your imagination are the options? And I know they might be infinity, but just from your perspective.Vanessa (39:36):Yeah, what comes to mind I think is pray before you act. Like you just said, for guidance and honestly, calling every nonprofit organization that's within the black and brown community right now and saying, what is it that you need? I think that would be a no-brainer for me. And providing that. So if they're like, we need money. Give that money. We need bodies, we need people, volunteers to do this work, then doing that. And if they need anything that you can provide, then you're doing that. But I think a lot of times we ask the question, what do you need? And that makes the other person have to do work to figure out to help you to get somewhere. And so even though it comes from a very thoughtfulI would say maybe go into your coffers and say, what can I give before you ask the question? Because maybe just offering without even there being a need might be what you just got to do. So go into your coffers and say, what do I have that I can give? What is it that I want to do? How do I want to show up? Asking that question is the first thing to then lead to connecting in action. So I think that that might be my suggestion and moving forward.Danielle (41:05):One thing I was thinking of, if people have spare money, sometimes I think you can go to someone and just pay for their therapy.Vanessa (41:23):Agree. Yeah. Offer free therapy. If you are a licensed therapist in another city, you have colleagues that are in the cities that you want to connect with and maybe saying, can I pay for people that want therapy and may not be able to afford it? Maybe people who their insurance has been cut, or maybe people who have lost income. If there's anybody, please let me know. And I want to send that money to them to pay for that, and they don't have to know who I am. I think that's a beautiful way of community stepping up for each other.Danielle (41:59):The other thing I think of never underestimate the power of cash. And I know it's kind of demonized sometimes, like, oh, you got to give resources. But I find just sending people when you can, 20, 15, 30, 40 bucks of people on the ground, those people that really love and care about their community will put that money to good use. And you don't actually need a receipt on what it went for.So Vanessa, how can people get ahold of you or find out more about you? Do you write? Do you do talks? Tell me.Vanessa (42:39):Yeah, like I said, I am busy, so I want to do all of those things where I'm not doing those things now, but people can contact me through the practice that I work in the website, and that is deeper connections counseling. And my email is vanessa@dcctherapy.com. And in any way that anybody wants to connect with me, they can do that there. Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that.

united states america american new york chicago europe freedom washington healing media mexico gospel sex walking trauma psychology speak therapy black lives matter racism blog african field portland surviving gender mexican families republicans cultural offer martin luther king jr democrats ice abuse puerto rico poland theology native americans therapists latinas hide stranger latino racist polish maga charlie kirk latinx immigrant lemon turning point grandparents sexual abuse puerto rican white supremacy ideology migrant clinical psychology antiracist mcgrath orthodoxy pell abuela hermosa latine migra abuelo afro latina cesar chavez abuelos somatic therapy white power supremacists collective trauma seattle schools logan square michigan avenue dox humboldt park trauma care la migra castillejo white center starlette good faith media vanessa les

Andrea Freeman, "Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch" (Metropolitan Books, 2024)

New Books in Food

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 60:44

The first and definitive history of the use of food in American law and politics as a weapon of conquest and control, a Fast Food Nation for the Black Lives Matter era In 1779, to subjugate Indigenous nations, George Washington ordered his troops to “ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.” Destroying harvests is just one way that the United States has used food as a political tool. Trying to prevent enslaved people from rising up, enslavers restricted their consumption, providing only enough to fuel labor. Since the Great Depression, school lunches have served as dumping grounds for unwanted agricultural surpluses. From frybread to government cheese, Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch (Metropolitan Books, 2024) on the Ground draws on over fifteen years of research to argue that American food law and policy have created and maintained racial and social inequality. In an epic, sweeping account, Andrea Freeman, who pioneered the term “food oppression,” moves from colonization to slavery to the Americanization of immigrant food culture, to the commodities supplied to Native reservations, to milk as a symbol of white supremacy. She traces the long-standing alliance between the government and food industries that have produced gaping racial health disparities, and she shows how these practices continue to this day, through the marketing of unhealthy goods that target communities of color, causing diabetes, high blood pressure, and premature death. Ruin Their Crops on the Ground is a groundbreaking addition to the history and politics of food. It will permanently upend the notion that we freely and equally choose what we put on our plates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/food

Andrea Freeman, "Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch" (Metropolitan Books, 2024)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 60:44

The first and definitive history of the use of food in American law and politics as a weapon of conquest and control, a Fast Food Nation for the Black Lives Matter era In 1779, to subjugate Indigenous nations, George Washington ordered his troops to “ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.” Destroying harvests is just one way that the United States has used food as a political tool. Trying to prevent enslaved people from rising up, enslavers restricted their consumption, providing only enough to fuel labor. Since the Great Depression, school lunches have served as dumping grounds for unwanted agricultural surpluses. From frybread to government cheese, Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch (Metropolitan Books, 2024) on the Ground draws on over fifteen years of research to argue that American food law and policy have created and maintained racial and social inequality. In an epic, sweeping account, Andrea Freeman, who pioneered the term “food oppression,” moves from colonization to slavery to the Americanization of immigrant food culture, to the commodities supplied to Native reservations, to milk as a symbol of white supremacy. She traces the long-standing alliance between the government and food industries that have produced gaping racial health disparities, and she shows how these practices continue to this day, through the marketing of unhealthy goods that target communities of color, causing diabetes, high blood pressure, and premature death. Ruin Their Crops on the Ground is a groundbreaking addition to the history and politics of food. It will permanently upend the notion that we freely and equally choose what we put on our plates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Andrea Freeman, "Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch" (Metropolitan Books, 2024)

New Books in Public Policy

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2025 60:44

The first and definitive history of the use of food in American law and politics as a weapon of conquest and control, a Fast Food Nation for the Black Lives Matter era In 1779, to subjugate Indigenous nations, George Washington ordered his troops to “ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.” Destroying harvests is just one way that the United States has used food as a political tool. Trying to prevent enslaved people from rising up, enslavers restricted their consumption, providing only enough to fuel labor. Since the Great Depression, school lunches have served as dumping grounds for unwanted agricultural surpluses. From frybread to government cheese, Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: America's Politics of Food, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch (Metropolitan Books, 2024) on the Ground draws on over fifteen years of research to argue that American food law and policy have created and maintained racial and social inequality. In an epic, sweeping account, Andrea Freeman, who pioneered the term “food oppression,” moves from colonization to slavery to the Americanization of immigrant food culture, to the commodities supplied to Native reservations, to milk as a symbol of white supremacy. She traces the long-standing alliance between the government and food industries that have produced gaping racial health disparities, and she shows how these practices continue to this day, through the marketing of unhealthy goods that target communities of color, causing diabetes, high blood pressure, and premature death. Ruin Their Crops on the Ground is a groundbreaking addition to the history and politics of food. It will permanently upend the notion that we freely and equally choose what we put on our plates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

[ISBW] Chinaza Bado and Moving From Romance to Epic Fantasy

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2025 29:46

Even writing badly will get you to writing well eventually. - Chinaza Bado S21 Ep17 In this episode, we sit down with Chinaza Bado, author of Birth of a Dynasty, to discuss the challenges and strategies of getting a trilogy published. Chinaza shares advice for how to query the a book and how to pitch a trilogy to publishers. We also discussed agents and marketing yourself in a competitive landscape. (This post went live for supporters on October 14, 2025. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or get my newsletter at Ghost!) Links Chinaza Bado Harper Voyager Martha Wells Evergreen Links See all books from Season 21 Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing. Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate Theme by John Anealio Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books! — "Navigating the Trilogy: Insights from Chinaza Bado" is brought to you in large part by my supporters, the Fabulists, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon! Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. Also consider leaving a review for ISBW, please! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon. September 8, 2025 | Season 21 Ep 17 | murverse.com "Chinaza Bado and Navigating the Trilogy" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

Opus 264 - Executive Director Duties (feat. Monica Ellis)

TRILLOQUY

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2025 68:16

Monica Ellis has blazed a trail in "classical" music for nearly 30 years as a founding member of the historic Imani Winds ensemble. She joins Loki to talk about her career, so far, her past and upcoming work with the Gateways Music Festival, and more! Loki offers a peek into his work as the new Executive Director of the American Composers Forum. Gateways Music Festival Monica EllisLiber Tango (arr. Jeff Scott)Afro BlueRecomposing America (presented by the American Composers Forum) ★ Support this podcast ★

Season 6, Episode 8: Jenny Mcgrath, Rev. Dr. Starlette Thomas and Danielle Castillejo speak about Christian Nationalism, Race, and History

The Arise Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2025 56:36

BIO:The Reverend Dr. Starlette Thomas is a poet, practical theologian, and itinerant prophet for a coming undivided “kin-dom.” She is the director of The Raceless Gospel Initiative, named for her work and witness and an associate editor at Good Faith Media. Starlette regularly writes on the sociopolitical construct of race and its longstanding membership in the North American church. Her writings have been featured in Sojourners, Red Letter Christians, Free Black Thought, Word & Way, Plough, Baptist News Global and Nurturing Faith Journal among others. She is a frequent guest on podcasts and has her own. The Raceless Gospel podcast takes her listeners to a virtual church service where she and her guests tackle that taboo trinity— race, religion, and politics. Starlette is also an activist who bears witness against police brutality and most recently the cultural erasure of the Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. It was erected in memory of the 2020 protests that brought the world together through this shared declaration of somebodiness after the gruesome murder of George Perry Floyd, Jr. Her act of resistance caught the attention of the Associated Press. An image of her reclaiming the rubble went viral and in May, she was featured in a CNN article.Starlette has spoken before the World Council of Churches North America and the United Methodist Church's Council of Bishops on the color- coded caste system of race and its abolition. She has also authored and presented papers to the members of the Baptist World Alliance in Zurich, Switzerland and Nassau, Bahamas to this end. She has cast a vision for the future of religion at the National Museum of African American History and Culture's “Forward Conference: Religions Envisioning Change.” Her paper was titled “Press Forward: A Raceless Gospel for Ex- Colored People Who Have Lost Faith in White Supremacy.” She has lectured at The Queen's Foundation in Birmingham, U.K. on a baptismal pedagogy for antiracist theological education, leadership and ministries. Starlette's research interests have been supported by the Louisville Institute and the Lilly Foundation. Examining the work of the Reverend Dr. Clarence Jordan, whose farm turned “demonstration plot” in Americus, Georgia refused to agree to the social arrangements of segregation because of his Christian convictions, Starlette now takes this dirt to the church. Her thesis is titled, “Afraid of Koinonia: How life on this farm reveals the fear of Christian community.” A full circle moment, she was recently invited to write the introduction to Jordan's newest collection of writings, The Inconvenient Gospel: A Southern Prophet Tackles War, Wealth, Race and Religion.Starlette is a member of the Christian Community Development Association, the Peace & Justice Studies Association, and the Koinonia Advisory Council. A womanist in ministry, she has served as a pastor as well as a denominational leader. An unrepentant academician and bibliophile, Starlette holds degrees from Buffalo State College, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and Wesley Theological Seminary. Last year, she was awarded an honorary doctorate in Sacred Theology for her work and witness as a public theologian from Wayland Baptist Theological Seminary. She is the author of "Take Me to the Water": The Raceless Gospel as Baptismal Pedagogy for a Desegregated Church and a contributing author of the book Faith Forward: A Dialogue on Children, Youth & a New Kind of Christianity. JennyI was just saying that I've been thinking a lot about the distinction between Christianity and Christian supremacy and Christian nationalism, and I have been researching Christian nationalism for probably about five or six years now. And one of my introductions to the concept of it was a book that's based on a documentary that's based on a book called Constantine Sword. And it talked about how prior to Constantine, Christians had the image of fish and life and fertility, and that is what they lived by. And then Constantine supposedly had this vision of a cross and it said, with this sign, you shall reign. And he married the church and the state. And ever since then, there's been this snowball effect of Christian empire through the Crusades, through manifest destiny, through all of these things that we're seeing play out in the United States now that aren't new. But I think there's something new about how it's playing out right now.Danielle (02:15):I was thinking about the doctrine of discovery and how that was the creation of that legal framework and ideology to justify the seizure of indigenous lands and the subjugation of indigenous peoples. And just how part of that doctrine you have to necessarily make the quote, humans that exist there, you have to make them vacant. Or even though they're a body, you have to see them as internally maybe empty or lacking or less. And that really becomes this frame. Well, a repeated frame.Jenny (03:08):Yep. Yeah. Yeah. And it feels like that's so much source to that when that dehumanization is ordained by God. If God is saying these people who we're not even going to look at as people, we're going to look at as objects, how do we get out of that?Danielle (03:39):I don't know. Well, definitely still in it. You can hear folks like Charlie Kirk talk about it and unabashedly, unashamedly turning point USA talk about doctrine of discovery brings me currently to these fishing boats that have been jetting around Venezuela. And regardless of what they're doing, the idea that you could just kill them regardless of international law, regardless of the United States law, which supposedly we have the right to a process, the right to due process, the right to show up in a court and we're presumed innocent. But this doctrine applies to people manifest destiny, this doctrine of discovery. It applies to others that we don't see as human and therefore can snuff out life. And I think now they're saying on that first boat, I think they've blown up four boats total. And on the first boat, one of the ladies is speaking out, saying they were out fishing and the size of the boat. I think that's where you get into reality. The size of the boat doesn't indicate a large drug seizure anyway. It's outside reality. And again, what do you do if they're smuggling humans? Did you just destroy all that human life? Or maybe they're just fishing. So I guess that doctrine and that destiny, it covers all of these immoral acts, it kind of washes them clean. And I guess that talking about Constantine, it feels like the empire needed a way to do that, to absolve themselves.Danielle (05:40):I know it gives me both comfort and makes me feel depressed when I think about people in 300 ad being, they're freaking throwing people into the lion's den again and people are cheering. And I have to believe that there were humans at that time that saw the barbarism for what it was. And that gives me hope that there have always been a few people in a system of tyranny and oppression that are like, what the heck is going on? And it makes me feel like, ugh. When does that get to be more than just the few people in a society kind of society? Or what does a society need to not need such violence? Because I think it's so baked in now to these white and Christian supremacy, and I don't know, in my mind, I don't think I can separate white supremacy from Christian supremacy because even before White was used as a legal term to own people and be able to vote, the legal term was Christian. And then when enslaved folks started converting to Christianity, they pivoted and said, well, no, not all Christians. It has to be white Christians. And so I think white supremacy was birthed out of a long history of Christian supremacy.Danielle (07:21):Yeah, it's weird. I remember growing up, and maybe you had this experience too, I remember when Schindler's List hit the theaters and you were probably too young, but Schindler's listed the theaters, and I remember sitting in a living room and having to convince my parents of why I wanted to see it. And I think I was 16, I don't remember. I was young and it was rated R and of course that was against our values to see rated R movies. But I really wanted to see this movie. And I talked and talked and talked and got to see this movie if anybody's watched Schindler's List, it's a story of a man who is out to make money, sees this opportunity to get free labor basically as part of the Nazi regime. And so he starts making trades to access free labor, meanwhile, still has women, enjoys a fine life, goes to church, has a pseudo faith, and as time goes along, I'm shortening the story, but he gets this accountant who he discovers he loves because his accountant makes him rich. He makes him rich off the labor. But the accountant is thinking, how do I save more lives and get them into this business with Schindler? Well, eventually they get captured, they get found out. All these things happen, right, that we know. And it becomes clear to Schindler that they're exterminating, they're wiping out an entire population.(09:01):I guess I come to that and just think about, as a young child, I remember watching that thinking, there's no way this would ever happen again because there's film, there's documentation. At the time, there were people alive from the Great war, the greatest generation like my grandfather who fought in World War ii. There were other people, we had the live stories. But now just a decade, 12, 13 years removed, it hasn't actually been that long. And the memory of watching a movie like Schindler's List, the impact of seeing what it costs a soul to take the life of other souls like that, that feels so far removed now. And that's what the malaise of the doctrine of Discovery and manifest destiny, I think have been doing since Constantine and Christianity. They've been able to wipe the memory, the historical memory of the evil done with their blessing.(10:06):And I feel like even this huge thing like the Holocaust, the memories being wiped, you can almost feel it. And in fact, people are saying, I don't know if they actually did that. I don't know if they killed all these Jewish peoples. Now you hear more denial even of the Holocaust now that those storytellers aren't passed on to the next life. So I think we are watching in real time how Christianity and Constantine were able to just wipe use empire to wipe the memory of the people so they can continue to gain riches or continue to commit atrocities without impunity just at any level. I guess that's what comes to mind.Jenny (10:55):Yeah, it makes me think of, I saw this video yesterday and I can't remember what representative it was in a hearing and she had written down a long speech or something that she was going to give, and then she heard during the trial the case what was happening was someone shared that there have been children whose parents have been abducted and disappeared because the children were asked at school, are your parents undocumented? And she said, I can't share what I had prepared because I'm caught with that because my grandfather was killed in the Holocaust because his children were asked at school, are your parents Jewish?(11:53):And my aunt took that guilt with her to her grave. And the amount of intergenerational transgenerational trauma that is happening right now, that never again is now what we are doing to families, what we are doing to people, what we are doing to children, the atrocities that are taking place in our country. Yeah, it's here. And I think it's that malaise has come over not only the past, but even current. I think people don't even know how to sit with the reality of the horror of what's happening. And so they just dissociate and they just check out and they don't engage the substance of what's happening.Danielle (13:08):Yeah. I tell a friend sometimes when I talk to her, I just say, I need you to tap in. Can you just tap in? Can you just carry the conversation or can you just understand? And I don't mean understand, believe a story. I mean feel the story. It's one thing to say the words, but it's another thing to feel them. And I think Constantine is a brilliant guy. He took a peaceful religion. He took a peaceful faith practice, people that literally the prior guy was throwing to the lions for sport. He took a people that had been mocked, a religious group that had been mocked, and he elevated them and then reunified them with that sword that you're talking about. And so what did those Christians have to give up then to marry themselves to empire? I don't know, but it seems like they kind of effed us over for eternity, right?Jenny (14:12):Yeah. Well, and I think that that's part of it. I think part of the malaise is the infatuation with eternity and with heaven. And I know for myself, when I was a missionary for many years, I didn't care about my body because this body, this light and momentary suffering paled in comparison to what was awaiting me. And so no matter what happened, it was a means to an end to spend eternity with Jesus. And so I think of empathy as us being able to feel something of ourselves in someone else. If I don't have grief and joy and sorrow and value for this body, I'm certainly not going to have it for other bodies. And I think the disembodiment of white Christian supremacy is what enables bodies to just tolerate and not consider the brutality of what we're seeing in the United States. What we're seeing in Congo, what we're seeing in Palestine, what we're seeing everywhere is still this sense of, oh, the ends are going to justify the means we're all going to, at least I'll be in heaven and everyone else can kind of figure out what they're going to do.I don't know, man. Yeah, maybe. I guess when you think about Christian nationalism versus maybe a more authentic faith, what separates them for youAbiding by the example that Jesus gave or not. I mean, Jesus was killed by the state because he had some very unpopular things to say about the state and the way in which he lived was very much like, how do I see those who are most oppressed and align myself with them? Whereas Christian nationalism is how do I see those who have the most power and align myselves with them?(16:48):And I think it is a question of alignment and orientation. And at the end of the day, who am I going to stand with even knowing and probably knowing that that may be to the detriment of my own body, but I do that not out of a sense of martyrdom, but out of a sense of integrity. I refuse. I think I really believe Jesus' words when he said, what good is it for a man to gain the world and lose his soul? And at the end of the day, what I'm fighting for is my own soul, and I don't want to give that up.Danielle (17:31):Hey, starlet, we're on to not giving up our souls to power.The Reverend Dr.Rev. Dr. Starlette (17:47):I'm sorry I'm jumping from one call to the next. I do apologize for my tardiness now, where were we?Danielle (17:53):We got on the subject of Constantine and how he married the sword with Christianity when it had been fish and fertile ground and et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, that's where we started. Yeah, that's where we started.Starlette (18:12):I'm going to get in where I fit in. Y'all keep going.Danielle (18:14):You get in. Yeah, you get in. I guess Jenny, for me and for you, starlet, the deep erasure of any sort of resemblance of I have to look back and I have to be willing to interrogate, I think, which is what a lot of people don't want to do. I grew up in a really conservative evangelical family and a household, and I have to interrogate, well, one, why did my mom get into that? Because Mexican, and number two, I watched so slowly as there was a celebration. I think it was after Bill Clinton had this Monica Lewinsky thing and all of this stuff happened. My Latino relatives were like, wait a minute, we don't like that. We don't like that. That doesn't match our values. And I remember this celebration of maybe now they're going to become Christians. I remember thinking that as a child, because for them to be a Democrat in my household and for them to hold different values around social issues meant that they weren't necessarily saved in my house and my way because they hadn't fully bought into empire in the way I know Jenny muted herself.(19:31):They hadn't fully bought into empire. And I slowly watched those family members in California kind of give way to conservatism the things that beckoned it. And honestly, a lot of it was married to religion and to what is going on today and not standing up for justice, not standing up for civil rights. I watched the movement go over, and it feels like at the expense of the memory of my grandfather and my great-grandfather who despised religion in some ways, my grandfather did not like going to church because he thought people were fake. He didn't believe them, and he didn't see what church had to do with being saved anyway. And so I think about him a lot and I think, oh, I got to hold onto that a little bit in the face of empire. But yeah, my mind just went off on that rabbit trail.Starlette (20:38):Oh, it's quite all right. My grandfather had similar convictions. My grandmother took the children to church with her and he stayed back. And after a while, the children were to decide that they didn't want to go anymore. And I remember him saying, that's enough. That's enough. You've done enough. They've heard enough. Don't make them go. But I think he drew some of the same conclusions, and I hold those as well, but I didn't grow up in a household where politics was even discussed. Folks were rapture ready, as they say, because they were kingdom minded is what they say now. And so there was no discussion of what was going on on the ground. They were really out of touch with, I'm sending right now. They were out of touch with reality. I have on pants, I have on full makeup, I have on earrings. I'm not dressed modestly in any way, shape, fashion or form.(21:23):It was a very externalized, visible, able to be observed kind of spirituality. And so I enter the spaces back at home and it's like going into a different world. I had to step back a bit and oftentimes I just don't say anything. I just let the room have it because you can't, in my experience, you can't talk 'em out of it. They have this future orientation where they live with their feet off the ground because Jesus is just around the corner. He's right in that next cloud. He's coming, and so none of this matters. And so that affected their political participation and discussion. There was certainly very minor activism, so I wasn't prepared by family members to show up in the streets like I do now. I feel sincerely called. I feel like it's a work of the spirit that I know where to put my feet at all, but I certainly resonate with what you would call a rant that led you down to a rabbit hole because it led me to a story about my grandfather, so I thank you for that. They were both right by the way,Danielle (22:23):I think so he had it right. He would sit in the very back of church sometimes to please my grandmother and to please my family, and he didn't have a cell phone, but he would sit there and go to sleep. He would take a nap. And I have to think of that now as resistance. And as a kid I was like, why does he do that? But his body didn't want to take it in.Starlette (22:47):That's rest as resistance from the Nat Bishop, Trisha Hersey, rest as act of defiance, rest as reparations and taking back my time that you're stealing from me by having me sit in the service. I see that.Danielle (23:02):I mean, Jenny, it seems like Constantine, he knew what to do. He gets Christians on his side, they knew how to gather organically. He then gets this mass megaphone for whatever he wants, right?Jenny (23:21):Yeah. I think about Adrian Marie Brown talks a lot about fractals and how what happens on a smaller scale is going to be replicated on larger scales. And so even though there's some sense of disjoint with denominations, I think generally in the United States, there is some common threads of that manifest destiny that have still found its way into these places of congregating. And so you're having these training wheels really even within to break it down into the nuclear family that James Dobson wanted everyone to focus on was a very, very narrow white, patriarchal Christian family. And so if you rehearse this on these smaller scales, then you can rehearse it in your community, then you can rehearse it, and it just bubbles and bubbles and balloons out into what we're seeing happen, I think.Yeah, the nuclear family and then the youth movements, let us, give us your youth, give us your kids. Send us your kids and your youth to our camps.Jenny (24:46):Great. I grew up in Colorado and I was probably 10 or 11 when the Columbine shooting happened, and I remember that very viscerally. And the immediate conversation was not how do we protect kids in school? It was glorifying this one girl that maybe or maybe did not say yes when the shooters asked, do you still believe in God? And within a year her mom published a book about it. And that was the thing was let's use this to glorify martyrdom. And I think it is different. These were victims in school and I think any victim of the shooting is horrifying. And I think we're seeing a similar level of that martyrdom frenzy with Charlie Kirk right now. And what we're not talking about is how do we create a safer society? What we're talking about, I'm saying, but I dunno. What I'm hearing of the white Christian communities is how are we glorifying Charlie Kirk as a martyr and what power that wields when we have someone that we can call a martyr?Starlette (26:27):No, I just got triggered as soon as you said his name.(26:31):Just now. I think grieving a white supremacist is terrifying. Normalizing racist rhetoric is horrifying. And so I look online in disbelief. I unfollowed and blocked hundreds of people on social media based on their comments about what I didn't agree with. Everything he said, got a lot of that. I'm just not interested. I think they needed a martyr for the race war that they're amping for, and I would like to be delivered from the delusion that is white body supremacy. It is all exhausting. I don't want to be a part of the racial imagination that he represents. It is not a new narrative. We are not better for it. And he's not a better person because he's died. The great Biggie Smalls has a song that says you're nobody until somebody kills you. And I think it's appropriate. Most people did not know who he was. He was a podcaster. I'm also looking kind of cross-eyed at his wife because that's not, I served as a pastor for more than a decade. This is not an expression of grief. There's nothing like anything I've seen for someone who was assassinated, which I disagree with.(28:00):I've just not seen widows take the helm of organizations and given passion speeches and make veil threats to audiences days before the, as we would say in my community, before the body has cooled before there is a funeral that you'll go down and take pictures. That could be arguably photo ops. It's all very disturbing to me. This is a different measure of grief. I wrote about it. I don't know what, I've never heard of a sixth stage of grief that includes fighting. We're not fighting over anybody's dead body. We're not even supposed to do it with Jesus. And so I just find it all strange that before the man is buried, you've already concocted a story wherein opposing forces are at each other's throats. And it's all this intergalactic battle between good and bad and wrong, up and down, white and black. It's too much.(28:51):I think white body supremacy has gotten out of hand and it's incredibly theatrical. And for persons who have pulled back from who've decent whiteness, who've de racialize themselves, it's foolishness. Just nobody wants to be involved in this. It's a waste of time. White body supremacy and racism are wastes of time. Trying to prove that I'm a human being or you're looking right at is a waste of time. And people just want to do other things, which is why African-Americans have decided to go to sleep, to take a break. We're not getting ready to spin our wheels again, to defend our humanity, to march for rights that are innate, to demand a dignity that comes with being human. It's just asinine.(29:40):I think you would be giving more credence to the statements themselves by responding. And so I'd rather save my breath and do my makeup instead because trying to defend the fact that I'm a glorious human being made in the image of God is a waste of time. Look at me. My face is beat. It testifies for me. Who are you? Just tell me that I don't look good and that God didn't touch me. I'm with the finger of love as the people say, do you see this beat? Let me fall back. So you done got me started and I blame you. It's your fault for the question. So no, that's my response to things like that. African-American people have to insulate themselves with their senses of ness because he didn't have a kind word to say about African-American people, whether a African-American pilot who is racialized as black or an African-American woman calling us ignorance saying, we're incompetence. If there's no way we could have had these positions, when African-American women are the most agreed, we're the most educated, how dare you? And you think, I'm going to prove that I'm going to point to degrees. No, I'll just keep talking. It will make itself obvious and evident.(30:45):Is there a question in that? Just let's get out of that. It triggers me so bad. Like, oh, that he gets a holiday and it took, how many years did it take for Martin Luther King Junior to get a holiday? Oh, okay. So that's what I mean. The absurdity of it all. You're naming streets after him hasn't been dead a year. You have children coloring in sheets, doing reports on him. Hasn't been a few months yet. We couldn't do that for Martin Luther King. We couldn't do that for Rosa Parks. We couldn't do that for any other leader, this one in particular, and right now, find that to beI just think it just takes a whole lot of delusion and pride to keep puffing yourself up and saying, you're better than other people. Shut up, pipe down. Or to assume that everybody wants to look like you or wants to be racialized as white. No, I'm very cool in who I'm, I don't want to change as the people say in every lifetime, and they use these racialized terms, and so I'll use them and every lifetime I want to come back as black. I don't apologize for my existence. I love it here. I don't want to be racialized as white. I'm cool. That's the delusion for me that you think everyone wants to look like. You think I would trade.(32:13):You think I would trade for that, and it looks great on you. I love what it's doing for you. But as for me in my house, we believe in melanin and we keep it real cute over here. I just don't have time. I think African-Americans minoritized and otherwise, communities should invest their time in each other and in ourselves as opposed to wasting our breath, debating people. We can't debate white supremacists. Anyway, I think I've talked about that the arguments are not rooted in reason. It's rooted in your dehumanization and equating you with three fifths of a human being who's in charge of measurements, the demonizing of whiteness. It's deeply problematic for me because it puts them in a space of creator. How can you say how much of a human being that's someone? This stuff is absurd. And so I've refuse to waste my breath, waste my life arguing with somebody who doesn't have the power, the authority.(33:05):You don't have the eyesight to tell me if I'm human or not. This is stupid. We're going to do our work and part of our work is going to sleep. We're taking naps, we're taking breaks, we're putting our feet up. I'm going to take a nap after this conversation. We're giving ourselves a break. We're hitting the snooze button while staying woke. There's a play there. But I think it's important that people who are attacked by white body supremacy, not give it their energy. Don't feed into the madness. Don't feed into the machine because it'll eat you alive. And I didn't get dressed for that. I didn't get on this call. Look at how I look for that. So that's what that brings up. Okay. It brings up the violence of white body supremacy, the absurdity of supremacy at all. The delusion of the racial imagination, reading a 17th century creation onto a 21st century. It's just all absurd to me that anyone would continue to walk around and say, I'm better than you. I'm better than you. And I'll prove it by killing you, lynching you, raping your people, stealing your people, enslaving your people. Oh, aren't you great? That's pretty great,Jenny (34:30):I think. Yeah, I think it is. I had a therapist once tell me, it's like you've had the opposite of a psychotic break because when that is your world and that's all, it's so easy to justify and it makes sense. And then as soon as you step out of it, you're like, what the what? And then it makes it that much harder to understand. And this is my own, we talked about this last week, but processing what is my own path in this of liberation and how do I engage people who are still in that world, who are still related to me, who are, and in a way that isn't exhausting for I'm okay being exhausted if it's going to actually bear something, if it's just me spinning my wheels, I don't actually see value in that. And for me, what began to put cracks in that was people challenging my sense of superiority and my sense of knowing what they should do with their bodies. Because essentially, I think a lot of how I grew up was similar maybe and different from how you were sharing Danielle, where it was like always vote Republican because they're going to be against abortion and they're going to be against gay marriage. And those were the two in my world that were the things that I was supposed to vote for no matter what. And now just seeing how far that no matter what is willing to go is really terrifying.Danielle (36:25):Yeah, I agree. Jenny. I mean, again, I keep talking about him, but he's so important to me. The idea that my great grandfather to escape religious oppression would literally walk 1,950 miles and would leave an oppressive system just in an attempt to get away. That walk has to mean something to me today. You can't forget. All of my family has to remember that he did a walk like that. How many of us have walked that far? I mean, I haven't ever walked that far in just one instance to escape something. And he was poor because he couldn't even pay for his mom's burial at the Catholic church. So he said, let me get out of this. And then of course he landed with the Methodist and he was back in the fire again. But I come back to him, and that's what people will do to get out of religious oppression. They will give it an effort and when they can. And so I think it's important to remember those stories. I'm off on my tangent again now because it feels so important. It's a good one.Starlette (37:42):I think it's important to highlight the walking away from, to putting one foot in front of the other, praying with your feet(37:51):That it's its own. You answer your own prayer by getting away from it. It is to say that he was done with it, and if no one else was going to move, he was going to move himself that he didn't wait for the change in the institution. Let's just change directions and get away from it. And I hate to even imagine what he was faced with and that he had to make that decision. And what propelled him to walk that long with that kind of energy to keep momentum and to create that amount of distance. So for me, it's very telling. I ran away at 12. I had had it, so I get it. This is the last time you're going to hit me.Not going to beat me out of my sleep. I knew that at 12. This is no place for me. So I admire people who get up in the dead of night, get up without a warning, make it up in their mind and said, that's the last time, or This is not what I'm going to do. This is not the way that I want to be, and I'm leaving. I admire him. Sounds like a hero. I think we should have a holiday.Danielle (38:44):And then imagine telling that. Then you're going to tell me that people like my grandfather are just in it. This is where it leaves reality for me and leaves Christianity that he's just in it to steal someone's job. This man worked the lemon fields and then as a side job in his retired years, moved up to Sacramento, took in people off death row at Folsom Prison, took 'em to his home and nursed them until they passed. So this is the kind a person that will walk 1,950 miles. They'll do a lot of good in the world, and we're telling people that they can't come here. That's the kind of people that are walking here. That's the kind of people that are coming here. They're coming here to do whatever they can. And then they're nurturing families. They're actually living out in their families what supposed Christians are saying they want to be. Because people in these two parent households and these white families, they're actually raising the kind of people that will shoot Charlie Kirk. It's not people like my grandfather that walked almost 2000 miles to form a better life and take care of people out of prisons. Those aren't the people forming children that are, you'reStarlette (40:02):Going to email for that. The deacons will you in the parking lot for that one. You you're going to get a nasty tweet for that one. Somebody's going to jump off in the comments and straighten you out at,Danielle (40:17):I can't help it. It's true. That's the reality. Someone that will put their feet and their faith to that kind of practice is not traveling just so they can assault someone or rob someone. I mean, yes, there are people that have done that, but there's so much intentionality about moving so far. It does not carry the weight of, can you imagine? Let me walk 2000 miles to Rob my neighbor. That doesn't make any sense.Starlette (40:46):Sounds like it's own kind of pilgrimage.Jenny (40:59):I have so many thoughts, but I think whiteness has just done such a number on people. And I'm hearing each of you and I'm thinking, I don't know that I could tell one story from any of my grandparents. I think that that is part of whiteness. And it's not that I didn't know them, but it's that the ways in which Transgenerational family lines are passed down are executed for people in considered white bodies where it's like my grandmother, I guess I can't tell some stories, but she went to Polish school and in the States and was part of a Polish community. And then very quickly on polls were grafted into whiteness so that they could partake in the GI Bill. And so that Polish heritage was then lost. And that was not that long ago, but it was a severing that happened. And some of my ancestors from England, that severing happened a long time ago where it's like, we are not going to tell the stories of our ancestors because that would actually reveal that this whole white thing is made up. And we actually have so much more to us than that. And so I feel like the social privilege that has come from that, but also the visceral grief of how I would want to know those stories of my ancestors that aren't there. Because in part of the way that whiteness operates,Starlette (42:59):I'm glad you told that story. Diane de Prima, she tells about that, about her parents giving up their Italian ness, giving up their heritage and being Italian at home and being white in public. So not changing their name, shortening their name, losing their accent, or dropping the accent. I'm glad that you said that. I think that's important. But like you said though, if you tell those stories and it shakes up the power dynamic for whiteness, it's like, oh, but there are books how the Irish became White, the Making of Whiteness working for Whiteness, read all the books by David Broer on Whiteness Studies. But I'm glad that you told us. I think it's important, and I love that you named it as a severing. Why did you choose that word in particular?Jenny (43:55):I had the privilege a few years ago of going to Poland and doing an ancestry trip. And weeks before I went, an extended cousin in the States had gotten connected with our fifth cousin in Poland. We share the fifth grandparents. And this cousin of mine took us around to the church where my fifth great grandparents got married and these just very visceral places. And I had never felt the land that my ancestors know in my body. And there was something really, really powerful of that. And so I think of severing as I have been cut off from that lineage and that heritage because of whiteness. And I feel very, very grateful for the ways in which that is beginning to heal and beginning to mend. And we can tell truer stories of our ancestry and where we come from and the practices of our people. And I think it is important to acknowledge the cost and the privilege that has come from that severing in order to get a job that was not reserved for people that weren't white. My family decided, okay, well we'll just play the part. We will take on that role of whiteness because that will then give us that class privilege and that socioeconomic privilege that reveals how much of a construct whitenessStarlette (45:50):A racial contract is what Charles W. Mills calls it, that there's a deal made in a back room somewhere that you'll trade your sense of self for another. And so that it doesn't, it just unravels all the ways in which white supremacy, white body supremacy, pos itself, oh, that we're better. I think people don't say anything because it unravels those lies, those tongue twisters that persons have spun over the centuries, that it's really just an agreement that we've decided that we'll make ourselves the majority so that we can bully everybody else. And nobody wants to be called that. Nobody wants to be labeled greedy. I'm just trying to provide for my family, but at what expense? At who else's expense. But I like to live in this neighborhood and I don't want to be stopped by police. But you're willing to sacrifice other people. And I think that's why it becomes problematic and troublesome because persons have to look at themselves.(46:41):White body supremacy doesn't offer that reflection. If it did, persons would see how monstrous it is that under the belly of the beast, seeing the underside of that would be my community. We know what it costs for other people to feel really, really important because that's what whiteness demands. In order to look down your nose on somebody, you got to stand on somebody's back. Meanwhile, our communities are teaching each other to stand. We stand on the shoulders of giants. It's very communal. It's a shared identity and way of being. Whereas whiteness demands allegiance by way of violence, violent taking and grabbing it is quite the undoing. We have a lot of work to do. But I am proud of you for telling that story.Danielle (47:30):I wanted to read this quote by Gloria, I don't know if you know her. Do you know her? She writes, the struggle is inner Chicano, Indio, American Indian, Molo, Mexicano, immigrant, Latino, Anglo and power working class Anglo black, Asian. Our psyches resemble the border towns and are populated by the same people. The struggle has always been inner and has played out in outer terrains. Awareness of our situation must come before interchanges and which in turn come before changes in society. Nothing happens in the real world unless it first happens in the images in our heads.(48:16):So Jenny, when you're talking, you had some image in your head before you went to Poland, before it became reality. You had some, it didn't start with just knowing your cousin or whatever it happened before that. Or for me being confronted and having to confront things with my husband about ways we've been complicit or engaged in almost like the word comes gerrymandering our own future. That's kind of how it felt sometimes Luis and I and how to become aware of that and take away those scales off our own eyes and then just sit in the reality, oh no, we're really here and this is where we're really at. And so where are we going to go from here? And starlet, you've talked from your own position. That's just what comes to mind. It's something that happens inside. I mean, she talks about head, I think more in feelings in my chest. That's where it happens for me. But yeah, that's what comes to mind.Starlette (49:48):With. I feel like crying because of what we've done to our bodies and the bodies of other people. And we still can't see ourselves not as fully belonging to each other, not as beloved, not as holy.It's deeply saddening that for all the time that we have here together for all the time that we'll share with each other, we'll spend much of it not seeing each other at all.Danielle (50:57):My mind's going back to, I think I might've shared this right before you joined Starla, where it was like, I really believe the words of Jesus that says, what good is it for someone to gain the world and lose their soul? And that's what I hear. And what I feel is this soul loss. And I don't know how to convince other people. And I don't know if that's the point that their soul is worth it, but I think I've, not that I do it perfectly, but I think I've gotten to the place where I'm like, I believe my interiority is worth more than what it would be traded in for.(51:45):And I think that will be a lifelong journey of trying to figure out how to wrestle with a system. I will always be implicated in because I am talking to you on a device that was made from cobalt, from Congo and wearing clothes that were made in other countries. And there's no way I can make any decision other than to just off myself immediately. And I'm not saying I'm doing that, but I'm saying the part of the wrestle is that this is, everything is unresolved. And how do I, like what you said, Danielle, what did you say? Can you tune into this conversation?Jenny (52:45):Yeah. And how do I keep tapping in even when it means engaging my own implication in this violence? It's easier to be like, oh, those people over there that are doing those things. And it's like, wait, now how do I stay situated and how I'm continually perpetuating it as well, and how do I try to figure out how to untangle myself in that? And I think that will be always I,Danielle (53:29):He says, the US Mexican border as like an open wound where the third world grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages again, the lifeblood of two worlds. Two worlds merging to form a third country, a border culture. Borders are set up to define the places that are safe and unsafe to distinguish us from them. A border is a dividing line, a narrow strip along a steep edge. A borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary is it is in a constant state of transition. They're prohibited and forbidden arts inhabitants. And I think that as a Latina that really describes and mixed with who my father is and that side that I feel like I live like the border in me, it feels like it grates against me. So I hear you, Jenny, and I feel very like all the resonance, and I hear you star led, and I feel a lot of resonance there too. But to deny either thing would make me less human because I am human with both of those parts of me.(54:45):But also to engage them brings a lot of grief for both parts of me. And how does that mix together? It does feel like it's in a constant state of transition. And that's partly why Latinos, I think particularly Latino men bought into this lie of power and played along. And now they're getting shown that no, that part of you that's European, that part never counted at all. And so there is no way to buy into that racialized system. There's no way to put a down payment in and come out on the other side as human. As soon as we buy into it, we're less human. Yeah. Oh, Jenny has to go in a minute. Me too. But starlet, you're welcome to join us any Thursday. Okay.Speaker 1 (55:51):Afternoon. Bye. Thank you. Bye bye.Kitsap County & Washington State Crisis and Mental Health ResourcesIf you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call 911.This resource list provides crisis and mental health contacts for Kitsap County and across Washington State.Kitsap County / Local ResourcesResourceContact InfoWhat They OfferSalish Regional Crisis Line / Kitsap Mental Health 24/7 Crisis Call LinePhone: 1‑888‑910‑0416Website: https://www.kitsapmentalhealth.org/crisis-24-7-services/24/7 emotional support for suicide or mental health crises; mobile crisis outreach; connection to services.KMHS Youth Mobile Crisis Outreach TeamEmergencies via Salish Crisis Line: 1‑888‑910‑0416Website: https://sync.salishbehavioralhealth.org/youth-mobile-crisis-outreach-team/Crisis outreach for minors and youth experiencing behavioral health emergencies.Kitsap Mental Health Services (KMHS)Main: 360‑373‑5031; Toll‑free: 888‑816‑0488; TDD: 360‑478‑2715Website: https://www.kitsapmentalhealth.org/crisis-24-7-services/Outpatient, inpatient, crisis triage, substance use treatment, stabilization, behavioral health services.Kitsap County Suicide Prevention / “Need Help Now”Call the Salish Regional Crisis Line at 1‑888‑910‑0416Website: https://www.kitsap.gov/hs/Pages/Suicide-Prevention-Website.aspx24/7/365 emotional support; connects people to resources; suicide prevention assistance.Crisis Clinic of the PeninsulasPhone: 360‑479‑3033 or 1‑800‑843‑4793Website: https://www.bainbridgewa.gov/607/Mental-Health-ResourcesLocal crisis intervention services, referrals, and emotional support.NAMI Kitsap CountyWebsite: https://namikitsap.org/Peer support groups, education, and resources for individuals and families affected by mental illness.Statewide & National Crisis ResourcesResourceContact InfoWhat They Offer988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (WA‑988)Call or text 988; Website: https://wa988.org/Free, 24/7 support for suicidal thoughts, emotional distress, relationship problems, and substance concerns.Washington Recovery Help Line1‑866‑789‑1511Website: https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/injury-and-violence-prevention/suicide-prevention/hotline-text-and-chat-resourcesHelp for mental health, substance use, and problem gambling; 24/7 statewide support.WA Warm Line877‑500‑9276Website: https://www.crisisconnections.org/wa-warm-line/Peer-support line for emotional or mental health distress; support outside of crisis moments.Native & Strong Crisis LifelineDial 988 then press 4Website: https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/injury-and-violence-prevention/suicide-prevention/hotline-text-and-chat-resourcesCulturally relevant crisis counseling by Indigenous counselors.Additional Helpful Tools & Tips• Behavioral Health Services Access: Request assessments and access to outpatient, residential, or inpatient care through the Salish Behavioral Health Organization. Website: https://www.kitsap.gov/hs/Pages/SBHO-Get-Behaviroal-Health-Services.aspx• Deaf / Hard of Hearing: Use your preferred relay service (for example dial 711 then the appropriate number) to access crisis services.• Warning Signs & Risk Factors: If someone is talking about harming themselves, giving away possessions, expressing hopelessness, or showing extreme behavior changes, contact crisis resources immediately.Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that. Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that.

united states god jesus christ california history president children culture kids washington marriage england crisis reality race religion colorado christians european christianity trauma foundation speaker italian speak therapy youth black lives matter racism jewish blog irish wealth rome african americans spirituality asian cnn empire afraid nazis states republicans rev discovery catholic martin luther king jr council democrats switzerland abuse poland venezuela indigenous birmingham latinas roma equality bei north american holocaust palestine latino social justice sacramento counseling injustice polish folks examining shut congo maga bahamas world war racial bill clinton washington state charlie kirk latinx arise borders prima peer afternoons latinos associated press toll white supremacy zurich mexicanos national museum normalizing methodist american indian mcgrath rosa parks schindler whiteness christian nationalism new kind spiritual formation columbine bishops crusades african american history monica lewinsky chicano turning point usa united methodist church nassau sojourners biggie smalls anglo latine spiritual abuse outpatient indio gi bill white nationalism tdd nuclear family james dobson plough white power world council collective trauma folsom prison transgenerational molo us mexican american racism trauma care red letter christians church abuse wesley theological seminary americus black lives matter plaza sacred theology buffalo state college castillejo kitsap county indwell baptist world alliance free black thought starlette lilly foundation whiteness studies good faith media charles w mills

Trumpdate: Kirk-Floyd / MidEast / Nobel / ICE

Vintage Voorhees

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2025 65:48 Transcription Available

Voorhees will make ya TRUMP TRUMP!

donald trump israel black lives matter george floyd middle east ice nebraska immigration hamas nobel omaha floyd illegal immigration mideast voorhees trump trump trumpdate kfab

Why We Look for Validation in the Hardest Places

New Books in African American Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2025 23:52

In this episode, we explore the deep-rooted tendency to seek approval from the very people who criticize us most. Together, we unpack:Why we confuse critique with wisdom and validationHow childhood dynamics and emotional wounds shape this patternThe emotional cost of chasing approval from naysayersWhy breaking the cycle matters for our mental health and self-worthActionable steps to turn toward compassion instead of criticismThis conversation is a reminder that healing doesn't come from earning acceptance—it comes from reclaiming your own.Thrive With Leo Coaching: If you want to reduce your psychological pain, regain your purpose and forge your own path, go to www.thrivewithleo.com to begin your journey.If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help:In the US: Crisis Text Line: Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386Outside the US:International Association for Suicide Prevention lists a number of suicide hotlines by country. Click here to find them.

Melissa M. Matthes, "When Sorrow Comes: The Power of Sermons from Pearl Harbor to Black Lives Matter" (Harvard UP, 2021)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2025 67:46

Since World War II, Protestant sermons have been an influential tool for defining American citizenship in the wake of national crises. In the aftermath of national tragedies, Americans often turn to churches for solace. Because even secular citizens attend these services, they are also significant opportunities for the Protestant religious majority to define and redefine national identity and, in the process, to invest the nation-state with divinity. The sermons delivered in the wake of crises become integral to historical and communal memory--it matters greatly who is mourned and who is overlooked. Melissa M. Matthes conceives of these sermons as theo-political texts. In When Sorrow Comes: The Power of Sermons from Pearl Harbor to Black Lives Matter (Harvard UP, 2021), she explores the continuities and discontinuities they reveal in the balance of state power and divine authority following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassinations of JFK and MLK, the Rodney King verdict, the Oklahoma City bombing, the September 11 attacks, the Newtown shootings, and the Black Lives Matter movement. She argues that Protestant preachers use these moments to address questions about Christianity and citizenship and about the responsibilities of the Church and the State to respond to a national crisis. She also shows how post-crisis sermons have codified whiteness in ritual narratives of American history, excluding others from the collective account. These civic liturgies therefore illustrate the evolution of modern American politics and society. Despite perceptions of the decline of religious authority in the twentieth century, the pulpit retains power after national tragedies. Sermons preached in such intense times of mourning and reckoning serve as a form of civic education with consequences for how Americans understand who belongs to the nation and how to imagine its future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

american church state americans christianity black lives matter world war ii martin luther king jr john f kennedy sorrow oklahoma city sermons pearl harbor protestant newtown rodney king matthes harvard up melissa m

Melissa M. Matthes, "When Sorrow Comes: The Power of Sermons from Pearl Harbor to Black Lives Matter" (Harvard UP, 2021)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2025 67:46

Since World War II, Protestant sermons have been an influential tool for defining American citizenship in the wake of national crises. In the aftermath of national tragedies, Americans often turn to churches for solace. Because even secular citizens attend these services, they are also significant opportunities for the Protestant religious majority to define and redefine national identity and, in the process, to invest the nation-state with divinity. The sermons delivered in the wake of crises become integral to historical and communal memory--it matters greatly who is mourned and who is overlooked. Melissa M. Matthes conceives of these sermons as theo-political texts. In When Sorrow Comes: The Power of Sermons from Pearl Harbor to Black Lives Matter (Harvard UP, 2021), she explores the continuities and discontinuities they reveal in the balance of state power and divine authority following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassinations of JFK and MLK, the Rodney King verdict, the Oklahoma City bombing, the September 11 attacks, the Newtown shootings, and the Black Lives Matter movement. She argues that Protestant preachers use these moments to address questions about Christianity and citizenship and about the responsibilities of the Church and the State to respond to a national crisis. She also shows how post-crisis sermons have codified whiteness in ritual narratives of American history, excluding others from the collective account. These civic liturgies therefore illustrate the evolution of modern American politics and society. Despite perceptions of the decline of religious authority in the twentieth century, the pulpit retains power after national tragedies. Sermons preached in such intense times of mourning and reckoning serve as a form of civic education with consequences for how Americans understand who belongs to the nation and how to imagine its future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

american church state americans christianity black lives matter world war ii martin luther king jr john f kennedy sorrow oklahoma city sermons pearl harbor protestant newtown rodney king matthes harvard up melissa m

S6, E9: A Streetcar Named Owl

donald trump dm black lives matter portland cbs ice venezuela violent israel hamas james comey truth social bondi tim miller sam stein keystone cops

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2025 9:26

The iron wheels of the New Orleans streetcars have carried generations through the heart of the Crescent City — and not all their passengers have been among the living. Along the clattering tracks of St. Charles and Canal, whispers of vanished conductors, spectral riders, and echoes of tragedy linger in the night air. This haunting journey through the city's veins is underscored by an original soundscape from West Coast artist Tommy Jordan, created exclusively for our Four Shadows series._____________________________Please be sure to like us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shadowcarriersInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadowcarriersIf you like what you hear and want to buy your storytellers a drink, you can catch us at @shadowcarriers on Venmo.If you've enjoyed this episode and want to support our work, become a patron of the podcast! Your support is greatly appreciated and is invested back into helping us create bold and new content for you throughout the year. Check out our Patreon Page at patreon.com/ShadowCarriers.If you'd like to get in touch with us, our email address is shadowcarriers@gmail.com.This Podcast and all endeavors by these individuals believe strongly that Black Lives Matter.

black lives matter new orleans named west coast haunting paranormal canal ghost stories lore venmo crescent city streetcar tommy jordan

Sam Stein: A Bunch of Violent Keystone Cops

The Bulwark Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2025 64:59

ICE and other armed federal agents are doing their best to incite violence in blue cities so they can help Trump realize his unfulfilled dream from 2020 to impose a military crackdown. At the same time, Trump can only point to what happened in Portland five years ago during Black Lives Matter protests to try to bolster his case. Meanwhile, Comey has a pretty good shot to get his case dismissed—thanks in part to a Truth Social post that was supposed to be a DM to Bondi directing her to go after his enemies. Plus, doubts around the longterm sustainability of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, the butch-up cosplay behind the blowing up of boats off of Venezuela, and the real power of conservative media influencers like Candace and Tucker. Sam Stein joins Tim Miller. Sam Stein joins Tim Miller. show notes Adrian on ICE's propaganda videos Amit Segal's newsletter Tim referenced, "It's Noon in Israel" Katie Porter's interview with local CBS reporter; starts around 13:45

The Thought That Saved Me