Podcasts about byp100

Get to know organizer, trainer, big sister, godmother of four, and National Director of BYP100, D'atra “Dee Dee” Jackson. D'atra tells us how her grandmother inspires her, and how kids and younger people can really make a difference in the world. She also tells us how she stays healthy and strong while fighting for equality as an activist. [This episode originally aired February 2021.]

Once there was a girl whose powerful voice would inspire people to fight for equality. Her name was Isabella Baumfree, but we know her now as Sojourner Truth. She was a Black woman born into slavery in Dutch-speaking rural New York in 1797. She escaped to freedom after nearly 30 years of being enslaved, was one of the first Black women to successfully sue a white man, and later changed her name to Sojourner, becoming a abolitionist and suffragist fighting for equality and women's rights. [This episode originally aired February 2021.]   About the Narrator Organizer and trainer D'atra “Dee Dee” Jackson is Co-Founder of the Durham Chapter of Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100). Dee Dee has had her hand in efforts and actions such as bringing Participatory Budgeting to Durham, Justice for Reefa campaign, and Black Mama's/Black August Bail Outs. Now, as the National Director of BYP100, she dreams of freedom, Black worlds, and building a movement of ungovernable and strategic lovers of Black liberation.    Credits This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls. It's based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. Executive Producers are Jes Wolfe and Katie Sprenger. This episode was produced by Isaac Kaplan-Woolner. Sound design by Elettra Bargiacchi and final mix by Mattia Marcelli. Corinne Peterson is Production Manager. This episode was written by Gina Gotsill. Proofread by Ariana Rosas. It was narrated by D'atra Jackson. Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi. For more, visit www.rebelgirls.com. Until next time, stay rebel!

(11/10/22) Jasiri X is the first independent Hip-Hop artist to be awarded an Honorary Doctorate. He has been deeply involved with the national Movement for Black Lives, with organizations like The Gathering for Justice, Blackout for Human Rights, Justice or Else, BYP100 and Sankofa. Still, he remains rooted in the Pittsburgh-based organization he co-founded, 1Hood Media, whose mission is to build liberated communities through art, education, and social justice. www.jasirix.com

Speaking at the People's Summit, D'Atra Jackson, national director of BYP100, embraces socialism as the cure for systemic inequality and racist policing. Gerald Horne weighs in on the plans of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to poke the dragon and travel to Taiwan. Plus protests for abortion rights and for political prisoner Dr. Mutulu Shakur. New developments in the murder of Emmett Till… And more headlines Voices: D'Atra Jackson, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Jean Roach, Gerald Horne, Dr. Kokayi Patterson, Nkechi Taifa The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep the people's voices on the air, and by support from our listeners. In this new era of fake corporate news, we have to be and support our own media! Please click here or click on the Support-Donate tab on this website to subscribe for as little as $3 a month. We are so grateful for this small but growing amount of monthly crowdsource funding on Patreon. PATREON NOW HAS A ONE-TIME, ANNUAL DONATION FUNCTION! You can also give a one-time or recurring donation on PayPal. Thank you! Links: The People's Summit 2022

To learn more about the work of BYP100, visit https://www.byp100.org/. To learn more about ARC Southeast, visit https://arc-southeast.org/.  To learn more about the work of SisterLove, visit www.sisterlove.org.

Chicago community organizer and abolitionist Tynetta Hill-Muhammad grew up in Louisiana. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, as thousands of residents waited to be rescued, they watched police arrest, shoot, and in some cases kill residents seeking basic supplies from local stores. That was the only spark Hill-Muhammad needed to envision a safer world without police. After moving to Chicago, they encountered the work of Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), a national, member-based organization of young Black organizers and activists dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. Today she's the Chicago Chapter Organizer with BYP100, and works in organizing spaces across the city on initiatives around food sovereignty, transformative justice, and public health. Interviewer Andrea Hernandez began serving as a member of the Youth District Advisory Council when she was in high school. Now 20 years old, Hernandez is completing college coursework and pursuing plans to work as a Chicago Police Department officer. She credits YDAC for her growth and understanding of the importance of public and community safety.Music: MalciArtwork: Dan MacDonald StudiosAudio Producer: Samantha GattsekExecutive Producers: Mareva Lindo & Elissa YanceyThis podcast is brought to you by Public Narrative and A Picture's Worth.Resources and Links Our Stories Our World podcast site: http://apicturesworth.org/publicnarrativePublic Narrative: http://publicnarrative.orgA Picture's Worth: http://apicturesworth.orgBYP100 Chicago Chapter: https://www.byp100.org/copy-of-new-pageCathy Cohen: http://blackyouthproject.com/about-us/cathy-j-cohen/16 Shots: The Police Shooting of Laquan McDonald:https://www.wbez.org/shows/16-shots/55c63c72-d518-4ad9-b5dc-dd0d841d79a7?gclid=Cj0KCQiAys2MBhDOARIsAFf1D1czFcyHIcOl_vyZ3g7m3Xl1kjbSeOGoRIaq7stbiDCAR6E7hfgGKz8aAq38EALw_wcBActivists Want City to Cut Ties with ShotSpotter: https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/08/23/activists-want-city-to-cut-ties-with-shotspotter-but-chicago-police-already-extended-its-contract-two-more-years/

EPISODE NOTE: Content warning for sounds of violence (gunshots); and spoiler alert for films mentioned belowGUESTAlyx is currently a Deputy Campaign Director on Policing and Incarceration at the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), organizes with BYP100 Chicago, and is a co-founder and writer with LEFT OUT Magazine. Her writing and activism are centered around the momentum and challenges of building Black power and self-determination. Her work at ACRE currently focuses on the relationship between the finance industry and policing, racialized capitalism, and how they exacerbate oppressions.OVERVIEWBrownTown spills even more the tea on in part two of the surveillance capitalism and abolitionist tech conversation with Alyx Goodwin. The team finishes their lengthy two-part discussion by breaking down myths of tech neutrality, offering anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian critiques of dystopian tech action movies, and lean into what their abolitionist tech future  looks like.Alyx and BrownTown pick up where they left off centering a couple reminders and updates before the dig in. The gang discusses the observations and broader lessons from the October 4th Chicago Police Department budget hearing, then-updates of the #StopShotSpotter campaign (1, 2), and the global ramifications of Facebook going down for several hours before unpacking policing as a logic, disaster capitalism, and the bias of tech. Alyx and Caullen discuss how prison tech came home during COVID-19 lockdowns and the advantages of public tech. David re-introduces the role of popular culture in both reinforcing copaganda and problematic systems while also offering heightened critiques of such "fictional" future worlds with tech and spectacle at the forefront. Caullen offers his abolitionist and anti-capitalist critiques of RoboCop (1987) and its early 90's sequels, RoboCop (2014), The Running Man (1987), Demolition Man (1993), and Minority Report (2002) while David and Alyx build out the real world implications, deducing the highly reflexive relationship between art and culture. Once again, they close out encouraging us to interrogate not only the uses of new technologies, but the technologies themselves as well as the unaltered violent systems that they often embolden. If surveillance capitalism and the prison-industrial complex is the puppet master of technology, who is the show for? Here's their take. Originally recorded October 7, 2021.Go back and re-listen to Part One!--Corrections and information on films mentioned:RoboCop  (2014) - 5 Reasons Why RoboCop 2014 Isn't As Bad As People Say It Is (& 5 Reasons It Is) (Screenrant)RoboCop (2014) - Opening scene takes place in Tehran, Iran, presented as "Operation: Tehran" in the film.The Politics of Demolition Man (video)The Running Man (1987) synopsis: By 2017, the United States has become a totalitarian police state following a worldwide economic collapse. The government pacifies the populace through The Running Man, a broadcast game show, where criminals fight for their lives as "runners", fleeing from armed mercenaries named the "stalkers", to earn a state pardon. (Wikipedia)Minority Report (2002) - Filming took place from March 22 to July 18, 2001, in Washington, D.C., Virgina, and Los Angeles. Film locations included the Ronald Reagan Building (as Pre Crime headquarters) and Georgetown. (Wikipedia)Mentioned in episode and extra information:Shoshana Zuboff featured in 'The goal is to automate us': Welcome to the Age of Surveillance Capitalism (Naughton, The Guardian)Gang database under a new fancy name Criminal Enterprise Information System (CEIS) (MacArthur Justice Center)Operation Legend is Bringing Surveillance Tech to Cities (Schwenk, The Intercept)Students Are Pushing Back Against Proctoring Surveillance Apps (Kelly, EFF)For Tech to be equitable, the people must control it (Alyx Goodwin, LEFT OUT)Issues in "crime" reporting  (Alex Karakatsanis)Afghan Activist: We All Deserve Refuge, Not Just Those Who Served the U.S. (Lazare, In These Times)Where Counter-terrorism Got Us  (Todd St. Hill, LEFT OUT)General McKenzie apologies for Kabul strike killing 10 civilians, not ISIS-K (Smith, The Guardian)Plans for $400-billion new city in the American desert unveiled (Holland, CNN)Dystopian world': Singapore patrol robots stoke fears of surveillance state (France-Presse, The Guardian)Chicago Drill 'n' Activism cross-platform documentary and multimedia project on drill rap and activismObama CBA Coalition and SoapBox projectPredictive policing and Chicago's Heat List (The Verge)Neighborhoods Watched: The Rise of Urban Mass Surveillance (Stein, et. al)Social justice solutions for BIPOC communities (SXSW)Citizens Police Data ProjectTech is Not Neutral--Sign the #StopShotSpotter petition and take action with the toolkit! Check #DefundCPD's social media for updates on the campaign (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linktree). Watch SoapBox's Stop ShotSpotter PSA here!Follow Alyxandra on Instagram and Twitter! Read her and others' work at LEFTOUTmag.com and follow LEFT OUT on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.Follow ACRE on their site, Facebook, Instagram, and Medium; and BYP100 on their site, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.--CREDITS: Intro soundbite from SoapBox's Stop ShotSpotter PSA edited by James Edward Murray and outro song Police State by Dead Prez. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro and Kiera Battles. Episode photo by Thoughtpoet.--Bourbon 'n BrownTownFacebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | PatreonSoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | Support

GUESTAlyx is currently a Deputy Campaign Director on Policing and Incarceration at the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), organizes with BYP100 Chicago, and is a co-founder and writer with LEFT OUT Magazine. Her writing and activism are centered around the momentum and challenges of building Black power and self-determination. Her work at ACRE currently focuses on the relationship between the finance industry and policing, racialized capitalism, and how they exacerbate oppressions.OVERVIEWBrownTown spills the tea on surveillance capitalism and talks abolitionist tech with Alyxandra Goodwin, who is recently organizing the #StopShotSpotter campaign in Chicago. In part one of this two-part episode, the gang unpack surveillance in various forms from policing to social media while unpacking the many intricacies and insidious ways it controls our lives from the most intimate to the most systemic.Alyx begins by sharing her journey growing up in the Chicago suburbs and finding her interest in movement at a young age. The gang quickly digs into the relationship between social media tech surveillance and large corporations, stating that these industries are moving faster than state regulation can keep up with or can even understand (see Zuckerberg vs. Congress). Alyx unpacks her article The True Dilemma: Silicon Valley, Race & Profit while BrownTown turns the surveillance conversation to the prison-industrial complex (PIC). As capitalism's output is always profit above all, we see the PIC's usage of surveillance to further the protection of that profit on top of uplifting the anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and the overall quell of dissent that it was founded on.BrownTown and Alyx sift through numerous related topics with surveillance and social control at the forefront, centering the current Chicago campaign to cancel the ShotSpotter contract with Chicago Police Department (which several other cities have done). LEFTOUT comrade and writer Todd St. Hill's article Where Counter-terrorism Got Us adds weight to the turn of surveillance in the U.S. after 9/11 as we reflect on the two-decade-long war in Afghanistan and the new departments and machines of surveillance that it yielded. David transitions the conversation out by asking about media narratives and pop culture's role in furthering copaganda and acceptance of new technologies without interrogating the unaltered violent systems that they often embolden. If technology is a mere puppet, surveillance capitalism and the prison-industrial complex is the puppet master. Originally recorded September 15, 2021.Part two of the conversation coming soon!--Also mentioned in episode:Shoshana Zuboff's workThe Age of Surveillance Capitalism (book)The Surveillance Threat Is Not What Orwell Imagined'The goal is to automate us': Welcome to the Age of Surveillance Capitalism (Naughton)A Company That Designs Jails is Spying On Activists Who Oppose Them (Fassler) on corporate counterinsurgencyOperation Legend is Bringing Surveillance Tech to Cities (Schwenk)Raptivist Bella BAHHS on the history of Chicago gangs and machine politics (TRiiBE)Defund CPD 2021 Survey (English, Spanish)Chicago Drill 'n' Activism cross-platform, multimedia project on drill rap and activismBnB Ep. 21 - Welcome to the Gun Show (on US vs. UK drill rap)Texas police surveillance: HALO cameras, BnB Episode 73Stingray technology for phone trackingErase the (Gang) Database in Chicago (coalition, SoapBox project)For Tech to be equitable, the people must control it (Alyx Goodwin, LEFTOUT)CPD Settlement for men wrongfully accused of murder (article, SoapBox project)Police surveillance resources and research:EndPoliceSurveillance.comChicagoPoliceSurvelliance.comElectronic Frontier Foundation--Sign the #StopShotSpotter petition and take action with the toolkit! Check #DefundCPD's social media for updates on the campaign (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linktree). Watch SoapBox's Stop ShotSpotter PSA here!Follow Alyxandra on Instagram and Twitter! Read her and others' work at LEFTOUTmag.com and follow LEFT OUT on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.Follow ACRE on their site, Facebook, Instagram, and Medium; and BYP100 on their site, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.--CREDITS: Intro soundbite from SoapBox's Stop ShotSpotter PSA edited by James Edward Murray and outro song Feds Watching by 2 Chainz ft. Pharrell. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro and Kiera Battles. Episode photo by Thoughtpoet.--Bourbon 'n BrownTownFacebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | PatreonSoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | Support

This week on the Illumination we talk High Republic and intersectional struggles with guest, T'Challa Fett! From the colonial overtones in The High Republic and tote bag conversation, to the information Cold War in Belarus and the gamesmanship around policing reform, it's a conversation worth its weight in Beskar. Follow Us: Twitter: @SithtyMinutes @AAA_Photog @LooksJediToMe @Tchalla_Fett Instagram: @PaulaBear92 @RBW3000 @General_Leia_The_Pup Show Notes: Rising Storm Tote Bag (and signed book!) Star Wars Racer Arcade Into The Dark (Review W/Radio Rebel Pod) Belarus' Tractor Beam of jets pulls down a plane Roman Protasevich US Sanctions Biden meets with Gianna Floyd George Floyd Justice in Policing Act 2021 (Full Text) BYP100 $7,200 for a family of five Police murders have not declined Racial Equity pledges are 99.5% words still

GUESTJasson Perez is a Senior Research Analyst at ACRE who studies the connections between police violence, mass incarceration, and economic injustice. Through his research, he works to create campaigns to end mass incarceration and police violence and demonstrate that the fight for democratic socialism must embrace the politics of decarceration and abolition. Previously, at the Cook Center on Social Equity, Jasson did research on the racial wealth gap created by housing discrimination against Black homebuyers. Before becoming a researcher Jasson was a lead organizer for SEIU Local 73 and BYP100. When Jasson isn’t selling his labor for sustenance, you can find him subpar rapping with the rap group BBU, organizing with the Afro-Socialists & Socialists of Color Caucus of DSA and learning how to write about politics and economics in a manner that won’t bore you.OVERVIEWFollowing up on BrownTown's first installment from 2017 focusing on the aftermath of Colin Kaepernick's kneeling to protest police brutality, Jasson Perez joins them to talk all things sports in the later half of 2020--post-COVID and post-George Floyd uprisings. With multiple, interrelated crises at the fore, the team speaks candidly on sports organization's co-opt of Black Lives Matter, the relationship between players and owners, polarization as a strategy, and competing theories of social change. Originally recorded November 2020.Topics mentioned include:Naomi Osaka wears mask in memory of Breonna Taylor at US OpenMaya Moore left WNBA to work on criminal justiceBarack Obama and The Role of the Black Bourgeoisie in Coopting Our MovementsBrian Urlacher reacts to Jacob Blake and NBA strike, Bears denounceWNBA have been doing the work (1, 2, 3)--Follow Jasson on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Afrosocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus on Twitter.--CREDITS: Intro/outro soundbites from CNN and Milwaukee Bucks set to music by Genta Tamashiro. Outro song I Can't Breathe by Montana of 300. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro. Episode photo by Jasson Perez.--Bourbon ’n BrownTownSite | Become a Patron on Patreon!SoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Support

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: What happened when radical Black protesters found themselves surrounded by mostly white Democrats, in Washington, when the media announced that Donald Trump had lost the election. We’ll find out from the chairman of the Black Is Back Coalition.  And, we’ll talk with the author of a book on mixed race women, Mulattas, and how they are depicted in Brazilian and U.S. media.   But first – the corporate press has labeled virtually all Black protests as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, but the reality is that many organizations have taken to the streets against racism and the rule of the rich.  We spoke with BREE-YA Johnson, a masters student at George Washington University who is co-chair of Black Youth Project 100 in the nation’s capital.  We asked Johnson about BYP100’s relationship with local Black Lives Matter activists.   The Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations has organized a Black People’s March on the White House every year since Barack Obama was sworn in as president. According to Black Is Back chairman Omali Yeshitela, this year’s demonstration coincided with the Saturday when the news media announced that Joe Biden had defeat President Donald Trump.   Wherever white supremacy has established itself, mixed race women have been used as symbolic weapons in maintaining racial oppression. Jasmine Mitchell is a professor of American Studies and Media and Communication at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. Dr. Mitchell is author of the book, “Imagining the Mulatta: Blackness in US and Brazilian Media.”  She says the Mulatta is depicted and exploited in similar ways by white power structures in both countries.  

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I'm Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: What happened when radical Black protesters found themselves surrounded by mostly white Democrats, in Washington, when the media announced that Donald Trump had lost the election. We'll find out from the chairman of the Black Is Back Coalition.  And, we'll talk with the author of a book on mixed race women, Mulattas, and how they are depicted in Brazilian and U.S. media.   But first – the corporate press has labeled virtually all Black protests as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, but the reality is that many organizations have taken to the streets against racism and the rule of the rich.  We spoke with BREE-YA Johnson, a masters student at George Washington University who is co-chair of Black Youth Project 100 in the nation's capital.  We asked Johnson about BYP100's relationship with local Black Lives Matter activists.   The Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations has organized a Black People's March on the White House every year since Barack Obama was sworn in as president. According to Black Is Back chairman Omali Yeshitela, this year's demonstration coincided with the Saturday when the news media announced that Joe Biden had defeat President Donald Trump.   Wherever white supremacy has established itself, mixed race women have been used as symbolic weapons in maintaining racial oppression. Jasmine Mitchell is a professor of American Studies and Media and Communication at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. Dr. Mitchell is author of the book, “Imagining the Mulatta: Blackness in US and Brazilian Media.”  She says the Mulatta is depicted and exploited in similar ways by white power structures in both countries.  

Change comes when we put our anger into action. BYP100 is an organization dedicated to creating economic, social, political, and educational freedom for all black people. For more information about BYP100, visit https://www.byp100.org.

This week we speak with Marilynn Winn, executive director of ATL-based Women On the Rise GA which was founded in 2013 for formerly-incarcerated women of color and women targeted and/or impacted by the criminal legal system. This episode is a follow-up to “Abolition, Art, and Activism” where we spoke with Chicago activist ThoughtPoet about the organization BYP100 and the movement for police abolition. Marilynn Winn joins host and Better to Speak founder Kési Felton to discuss the aftermath of the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks in Georgia, the importance of Black women's leadership in this movement, and how community members can better support folks who are currently or formerly incarcerated.--Find Better to SpeakTwitter | Facebook | Instagramwww.bettertospeak.org Find Women On the RiseTwitter | Facebook | Instagramwww.womenontherisega.org--Sources:Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind | NY TimesFacts about crime in the U.S. | Pew Research CenterCommunities Over Cages: Close the Jail ATL Campaign Additional Resources: CHANGE: A World Without Prisons (featuring Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Mariame Kaba) | CUNY Graduate Center- Center for the Study of Women and SocietyAre Prisons Obsolete? (PDF) | Angela Y. DavisSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/better-to-speak-the-podcast/donations

Max Thomas (stand-up, improv group PREACH!, organizer with BYP100) wants a full-on roast and an open casket at his funeral, and a sort of roast in a psych ward as a kid changed his life. Follow Max on IG: https://www.instagram.com/searchingformax/ (@searchingformax) and Twitter: https://twitter.com/VoodooChild9593 (@VoodooChild9593) Follow BYP100! on https://www.instagram.com/byp100/ (Instagram) and https://twitter.com/byp100 (Twitter) Follow me on https://www.instagram.com/thisisdavemaher/ (IG), https://twitter.com/ThisIsDaveMaher (Twitter), and sign up for my newsletter, https://thisisdavemaher.substack.com/welcome (Hella Immaculate)! Support this podcast

Defunding and abolishing the police has become part of mainstream dialogue since George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis in May. This topic, though older than most folks recognize, has caused a lot on controversy for many reasons in local communities as well as nationally as we inch closer and closer to the Presidential election in November. On this week's episode of the podcast, host and founder of BTS Kési Felton explores what it means to abolish the police and brings on Chris "ThoughtPoet" Brown-- photographer, writer, and BYP100 Chicago member-- to go deeper into the topic, discuss his connection between art and activism, as well as the work BYP100 is doing on the ground to educate and organize folks around defunding and ultimately abolishing the police in their founding city of Chicago and elsewhere in the country.Cover art photo courtesy of ThoughtPoet----Sources:The History of Police In Creating Social Order In The U.S. | NPR | 6.5.2020Are Prisons Obsolete? (PDF) | Angela Y. Davis Mentioned Links and Additional Resources: Abolish Policing, Not Just the Police | Haymarket Books (Event/ Panel with Mariame Kaba, Maya Schenwar, and Victoria Law)Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police | Mariame Kaba | NY TimesDefunding Vs. Abolishing The Police Explained In 6 Minutes | Joseph Capehart | BuzzFeedVideoOrganizations: BYP100, Assata's Daughters, Let Us Breathe Collective, Good Kids Mad City ----Find Better to SpeakTwitter | Facebook | Instagramwww.bettertospeak.orgFind ThoughtPoetTwitter | Tumblr | Instagramwww.thoughtpoetsopinion.comFind BYP100Twitter | Facebook | Instagramwww.byp100.orgSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/better-to-speak-the-podcast/donations

In this week's episode, David and Josh interview Melanie Johnson, Director of Multicultural Affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington. Melanie has been working in diversity and inclusion since 2012 and has worked at several universities such as Southern Methodist University (SMU), Tulane University, Tarleton State University, before settling down at UTA. Melanie brings her unique perspective as a biracial German and black woman navigating diversity and inclusion work. She talks about her experience with organizing Black Lives Matter protests, working with anti-discrimination movements in Dallas, building social justice curriculum, and more! Below are organizations that are mentioned in this podcast where you can continue to take strategic action for social change: Mothers Against Police Brutality - a Dallas-based organization that seeks to redesign the system that protects trigger-happy police officers from ever facing murder charges. Founder Collette Flanagan's son was killed by a Dallas police officer who was never punished for his actions. MAPB ultimately hopes to restore trust between police and the citizens they serve; it calls for greater civil rights, policy reform and police accountability. Innocence Project of Texas - a nonprofit human service organization that provides legal and investigation assistance to low-income Texas citizens who were convicted of crimes they did not commit. They work to gain their freedom and exonerate them. Innocence Project of Texas also advocates for the adoption of laws to improve (reform) the criminal justice system and prevent wrongful convictions Dallas For Change - a coalition showcasing and inspiring community outreach, volunteerism, and activism with the hope that individual acts will effect collective change Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) - a national nonprofit organization of black youth activists working to create justice and freedom for all. Although it was originally founded in Chicago in 2013, it's since opened a Dallas chapter. Donations to BYP100 will support the organization's daily work as well as provide bail funds, legal support and mutual aid for black activists. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) - the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. Their mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons. Local NAACP Chapters - Arlington, Texas, Dallas, Texas, Fort Worth / Tarrant County, Texas, and more! Time Stamps: 3:06 Who is Melanie Johnson? 7:00 Living German and Black 13:16 The Savior Complex at Tulane University 18:22 Social Justice Curriculum 25:58 No Kung Fu! 33:34 The Power of Social Media 36:28 Taking Strategic Action 46:18 The Future of the Movement 52:20 Defund the Police? 62:20 What Can We Do Now?

We're back with another session of speedy assessments to get you through this sweltering summer season. NAACP Legal Defense Fund: https://www.naacpldf.org/ National Police Accountability Project: https://www.nlg-npap.org/ Black Visions Collective: https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/ Know Your Rights Camp: https://www.knowyourrightscamp.com/ Color of Change: https://colorofchange.org/ BYP100: https://www.byp100.org/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fastfoodfilmfriends/support

First off, a quick note of thanks to everyone who has already contributed to our fundraising efforts for Reclaim the Block, The Bail Project, BYP100, and The Marshall Project, which we announced last week. Thanks to your donations we’ve raised over $70,000 for these causes, which is INCREDIBLE. But the sale continues. You can go to friendsatthetable.itch.io to contribute. Let’s push for $100k! At peak operating efficiency, Icebreaker Prime can comfortably house almost 10,000 soldiers, sailors, and service members, with plenty of room to train, work, and even relax. But here, in the middle of the Prophet’s Sea, far from the Apostolosian supply lines for which it was built, and still badly damaged from Kesh’s dramatic assault months prior, Icebreaker Prime is anything but operating at peak efficiency. From rations to rifles, the storehouses grow emptier by the day. Entire decks are off limits, flooded or worse. The technicians are still figuring out how the engine actually works--which means they’re far from understanding how to totally fix it. The fortress is mighty, yet thin: a single attack could mean its end. And so, the revolutionaries of Millennium Break need to make a choice. Do they aim their weapons on the un- and underprotected vessels of the planet’s richest Stels? Do they dare let loose the notorious pirate, Exeter Leap? Or do they scrimp and save, maintaining on what little they have, turning to violence only when absolutely necessary, or when safety is guaranteed..  This week on PARTIZAN: Forward, to Piracy (Sharp Tensions Across Tremulous Seas) ///Operation Dossier //Organizations Stel Kesh: The oldest established power in the galaxy, built around a stuffy (and secretive) aristocracy. They are tied to the Past. History, knowledge, stubbornness. Stel Nideo: Created the largest faith in the empire, and used that influence to shape (and surveil) mass culture. They are tied to the Present. Faith, coercion, stability.   Stel Orion: An industrial giant that controls more literal space than any other Stel, yet is also the most fragmented and unstable. They are tied to Space. Wealth, labor, expansion.   Stel Columnar: A fence-sitting democracy, made up largely of synthetics on the cutting edge of technology, art, politics, and war. They are tied to the Future. Innovation, style, cowardice. Stel Apostolos: A dynamic and diverse military powerhouse, guided by an iconic, but controversial leader. They are tied to Motion. Speed, change, violence. Scrivener’s Guild: An organization of (armed) clerks who mediate negotiations, draft contracts, and keep records of all industrial, commercial, and private business operations with Orion-aligned organizations. Unhappy with SBBR’s performance. The Church of Received Asterism: The most widely practiced faith in the galaxy, and one of the earliest major organizations in the Divine Principality, created at the beginning of the Miraculous Millenium, over 3000 years ago. Teaches that Divines, the immortal machines and mechs that helped establish the Principality's hold on the galaxy, reflect the best aspects of the state itself. The divine Strength, in other words, is like a living flag of the Principality's own strength. Organized as a central church, led by a religious leader named a “Cycle,” whose will is enacted across the Principality by their many “Songs,” who rule worlds, star systems, or sometimes entire constellations. The Church of Progressive Asterism: Created as the teachings of the prophet Logos Kantel grew in popularity 1000 years ago, and made a secondary state religion in order to prevent a large schism. Teaches that Divines are true embodiments of their names, and that the citizens and states of the Principality should look to them as guiding stars. The Divine Strength, in other words, is a reflection of strength itself, or maybe "god's strength," and we should aspire to make our strength look like the divine's. Unlike Received Asterism, there is no single central church, but hundreds of smaller sects, schools, and cults, each devoted to individual Divines, grouped sub-pantheons, or otherwise adjusted beliefs. The Disciples of Logos: A small sect, technically of Progressive Asterists, who believe that Progressive Asterism itself operates under a misunderstanding of the prophet Logos Kantel’s words. Membership spans Divinity, but remains miniscule in size compared to even other Progressive Asterist sects. The core tenets and practices of the Disciples of Logos are built around aspiration, actualization, and “progression” from one’s current self (or from society’s current state) to a future one. To encourage that process of change, the Disciples of Logos offer services like tutoring, transport, medical aid, shelter, and counseling to those on their journeys. The Church of the Resin Heart: A Disciples of Logos church on Partizan which claims to be the true inheritor of the prophet’s religious mission. The “resin heart” in question is a 3-foot large object pulled from the sea 400+ years ago and displayed as a relic by the Church. It was originally part of the Exemplar. The Friends of Gur Sevraq: The name given to the current membership of the Church of the Resin heart, who follow the teachings of a new prophet, Gur Sevraq, who has reportedly performed a number of miracles. They teach the value of and need for open communication between regular members of the principality, and dream of a galactic-communications network which would allow people to send messages between worlds in a matter of seconds or minutes instead of days, weeks, or months. With that established, the Friends believe, change and “progression” would sweep through the Principality. Millennium Break: Dissidents, idealogues, rebels, and mercenaries launch a revolution from a state-of-the-art mobile fortress. They agree on little, except this: It is time for a new Millennium. Strand Semaphore: Using ancient Hyphan technology, this messenger service is able to send text-based communications to anywhere on-moon, so long as they’ve built an outpost there. Lambic House: A group of beer-brewing monks who both operate a brewery and manage a sizable civilian settlement deep in the mountains of the Pique Ridge. Part of the Shepherd’s Crook. The Shepherd’s Crook: A sect inside of Received Asterism which began soon after the founding of the church as a collection of monks who provided safety and service to then-new colonies… in exchange for wealth and power.  Though their extortionist tendencies (and military might) was reined in by the central church, they remain a group focused on local communities rather than central bureaucracy or dogma.  They’ve also become the home of the Sovereign Immunities, an elite rank of political advisor which carries the freedom to speak directly when others would be censored and which is offered a high degree of diplomatic immunity. HORIZON: In the popular consciousness, HORIZON is a radical, anti-Principality terrorist organization. In actuality, they are a radical-reformist group, which seeks to drive out what it perceives as corruption in an empire that ought be pursuing noble (instead of selfish) ends. Rumored to be funded by Stel Kesh’s House Brightline. The Mysteries Metronomica/ “Metronomica”/“The Cult of Perennial”: Guided by the paradoxical belief in historical cycles and radical freedom, the Isles of Logos offers this faith of the Adversary, Perennial, perhaps the only safe ground in the entire galaxy.  Though colloquially referred to as “the cult of Perennial,” a title that many group members accept with a sort of sardonic pride, the full name of the group is the Mysteries Metronomica, or simply Metronomica.  Both Metronomica’s theology and praxis center on the ideas of eternal recurrence, historical cycles (large and small), and the impossibility of stability. History will turn, and they will help it on its way.  Their relationship with Perennial gives them a unique relationship to the Perennial Wave. The Red Fennecs: Technically, the Red Fennecs are an Apostolosian logistics and transport squad. In actuality, they’re utilized by their commanding officer, Tes’ili Serikos, as the backbone of a humble smuggling operation.  The Sable Court: Some say that on dark nights, they have seen these Ashen witches on the eastern edge of Lake Timea, horns and antlers glittering in the light of Girandole. Some even say that a former elect walks among them. Heresy, all of it.  Company of the Spade: A veteran mercenary unit founded by space miners who learned how to pilot Hollows in the most dangerous of settings. They’ve been brought to Partizan to combine both types of expertise. The Oxblood Clan: What started as a group of orphans turned into a labor guild and criminal enterprise with connections across Partizan. Occasionally run rough-and-tumble military ops for extra cash. Allies with SBBR. //People Apparatus Aperitif (they/them): Logos City, the largest independent city on Partizan, is known as a religious center, but its robotic night mayor ensures that everyone has a good time at the end of their time traveling the Prophet’s Path. Representative of the Mysteries Metronomica onboard Icebreaker Prime. Gur Sevraq (he/them): Leader of the Church of the Resin Heart. Miracle worker. Currently on board Icebreaker Prime. Has possession of the Divine Future, which gives them startling prescience and the ability to imagine futures outside of the confines of the hegemonic and imperialist world around him.  Si’dra Balos (Si/Si’s, they/them): During their time in a communications division of the Apostolosian Navy, Si’dra saw the cost of war first hand. Now they dream of a world where people can connect instead of fight. Tes’ili Serikos (they/them, tes/tes’): This Apostolosian transport specialist, black marketeer, and Tes’ili Serikos can get just about anything just about anywhere, for a price. Short, round, fuzzy, and good natured… unless you screw tes over.  The Blossom (he/him): The Lambic House is just supposed to make beer, sell it around the world, and keep people happy. But with each keg delivered by the sect’s Abbot of Provision, the Blossom also serves a short, populist whisper. Zo’la (zo/zo’s, they/them): As a projection artists, Zo’la seeks to create a cinematic work that captures the dynamic spirit of this historical moment. Born to Columnar, then drawn to the Apostlosian ideology of Dynamism (which values speed, change, and violence above all else. A wildcard and a vanguard. Friends with Gucci Garantine, despite having spent time on opposite sides of the Kesh/Apostolos war. Thetonious aka “Tone” (they/them) - Gucci’s primary bodyguard, originally served in a Kesh military commando squad. Elite-class expertise in urban combat, infiltration, and rapid escalation tactics. Zosimel (they/them): Legendary Apostolosian military tactician famous for troop maneuvers that overawed the enemy, producing a sensation of being overwhelmed even when the numbers didn't reflect that. Zosimel eventually outlined this strategy as a sort of broader philosophy called Dynamism. Agon Ortlights (she/her): Aided by her servicebot companions, Agon worked hard to attain the rank of lieutenant in the Company of the Spade, where she’s become a veteren mercenary, a skilled miner, and a hell of a drinking buddy.  A.O. Rooke (he/him): Former Stel Orion mercenary, now commander of the Rapid Evening’s “toughs” squad. Eiden Teak (he/him): Soldier and commander in the Sable Court. Wears the wounds of past fights on him with a distinct sort of pride, inherited from his time fighting as an Apostolosian soldier: He’s missing right leg under the knee, and a number of his antlers have been snapped and broken. Wears loose olive drab fatigues, marked the occult insignia and wards of the Court.  Mourningbride (she/her): An initiate in the Sable Court, and a former Elect.  Alise Breka (she/her): Guest lecturer at Verglaz University and Author of popular Renegade Hearts pulp series, which tells stories of daring and romantic Hallow pilots. On Partizan to research her next book, partly by interviewing the imprisoned pirate Exeter Leap. //Places The Prophet’s Sea: A massive ocean that dominates the center of most maps of Partizan. It is said that the sea was made by the prophet Logos Kantel in their first miracle, after walking the length of its radius and climbing a set of hills that would soon become islands. //Things Icebreaker Prime: A massive arsenal, garrison, airfield, and a firebase all rolled into one. Icebreaker Prime is a rumbling carrier which prowls land and sea, armed with innumerable weapons and potentially housing over ten thousand soldiers. Currently, Icebreaker Prime is under the command of Clementine Kesh and the Rapid Evening, and is hidden in the most unperturbed waters of the Prophet’s Sea. //Additional Notes Crossroads Crossroad #1: Will The Kingdom allow civilian refugees to live on Icebreaker Prime? Crossroad #2: Will the Kingdom rob the surreptitious Columnar and Orion arms shipments in order to address our resource problem? The Millenium Break Manifesto We will help those displaced by the war on Partizan. Character Bonds Valence: I feel the uncomfortable draw of the unknown from Apparatus, but must keep focus on the revolution and the way of God. An overindulgence of curiosity would sidetrack me. Apparatus: Gur Sevraq has always been a bit of a Day Mayor. I hope he has not gotten too used to the light. Gur Sevraq: Milli is right to distrust all who seek to direct her power, but she ought fight for those who share her dreams yet lack her strength.  Milli: Sovereign Immunity's connections could get us out of prison. I need to make sure this summit doesn't make him forget that. SI: This is the moment Clementine must show her mettle as a leader. If she is truly a frivolous child I will find someone better. Clem: United, Gucci and I could be a powerful force for Kesh, with me at its head. Her misplaced egalitarianism, however, is a problem. Gucci: Broun knows how to get things done and I know what they want in return. But there’s a difference between service and loyalty, and I don’t know when or where they’ll draw that line. Broun: I need Valence to keep their promise to me but I don’t believe they can. Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@sylvisurfer), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp) Text by Austin Walker Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

PODCAST 51:  Black lives matter BLM  Clarity and Answers from Jenelle + Barry + We love you, all of you, always Please listen to this full podcast to meet my friends Jenelle and Barry  What makes us American: we all come from different walks of life + it is our differences, the history of our mixed cultures and our variance of stories that make us more beautiful. My best friends Jenelle and Barry work the frontlines of communications across the US.. from NYC to LA..It was always the tough times that brought us closer together…  Our parents and grandparents survived war, famine, racism and discrimination -- let’s also celebrate many of our grandparents chose to help to fight racism:  Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Latino, Native American, Middle Eastern -- we all are coming to you with love.  Our Grandparents faced greater hardship in their time: what can help is knowing we are part of a continuation of history -- but change will only come when we put ourselves into uncomfortable situations. We are better than this. This is a call to action podcast, not a sit around and be comfortable podcast. Stay woke friends: Please listen to this full 2 hour podcast - it contains valuable information that we do not usually publicly discuss + you’ll do your part just by listening -- we wanted to make this easy and memorable for you -- and all of this is shared only with love -- no judgement.  We have a responsibility: Here’s the challenge we all have to step up to:   We must implement change:  “what did you do in this time?” - we will be remembered by the actions we took during Covid + the Financial Crisis + the #BlackLivesMatter movement.  Jenelle, Barry and I, as friends, would like to welcome you to check out our shared resources: we have thoughtfully put together for you + we also would love for you to do your own research, read, learn, educate yourself. Make a point to reach out to friends of diversity. Create your 5 year plan -- hold your company accountable. - ask them to set this up.  You’re going to have to get uncomfortable + we’re going to have to talk about these hard conversations + we send our thanks to Jenelle and Barry for sharing their personal stories + the times that challenged them + tried them -- We thank them for shining their light in those trying times, because they know the golden cracks, the imperfections, their grace is what makes them even more beautiful.   FOLLOW GUESTS + MY BESTIES: @JENELLEHAMILTON& @BARRY_PR ACTIONABLE ADVICE FOR US ALL TO LEARN FROM FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF  HUMANITY DOCUMENTARIES TO WATCH:  Just Mercy  The Thirteenth  Selma Do the Right Thing:Directed by Spike Lee  When they See Us Coming to America -- just for fun  BOOKS TO READ:  Angela Davis Books Maya Angelou Books The Hate U Give; Angela Thomas Yes Chef, Marcus Samuelsson Every Body Yoga: by my friend Jessamyn Stanley  Take the Bias Test Barry Suggested: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html  From Jenelle's Mention of following SHAUN KING:  Great to follow to keep up with current info on the movement: https://www.instagram.com/shaunking/ GRASSROOTS LAW:  This is the initiative people can sign up for to donate their time, money or expertise:  https://www.instagram.com/GrassrootsLaw// OR https://www.grassrootslaw.org/ CORPORATE AMERICA:  This organization is asking for major retailers (Wholefoods, Target, GOOP, etc) to pledge 15% of their shelf space to black-owned businesses. Incredible infographics and mindblowing stats and info on this page. Definitely worth a follow: https://www.instagram.com/15percentpledge/ BARRY'S FRIEND'S INSTYLE STORY: Great resources for people to go to - https://www.instyle.com/news/an-explicit-guide-to-being-anti-racist SUPPORTING PROTESTORS’ BAIL AND RELEASE: The Bail ProjectAn effort to combat mass incarceration at the front end of the system. They pay bail for people in need, reuniting families and restoring the presumption of innocence. Donations to The Bail Project National Revolving Bail Fund can be recycled and reused to pay bail two to three times per year, maximizing the impact of every dollar. The Bail Project is currently providing funds across the country to bail out activists and protesters. SUPPORTING LEGAL ACTIONS AND LEGISLATION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE AND SYSTEMIC CHANGE: NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. Currently suing the national policing Commission on Law Enforcement created by Attorney General Barr in addition to many other open cases supporting justice. ADVANCING DATA-BASED BASED POLICY SOLUTIONS: Campaign ZeroA comprehensive package of urgent policy solutions informed by data, research and human rights principles which can change the way police serve our communities to effectively reduce police violence nationwide. SUPPORTING CAMPAIGNS THAT HOLD LEADERS AND CORPORATIONS ACCOUNTABLE: Color of ChangeHelp people respond effectively to injustice. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, they move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. They also have suggested detailed proposals on the War on Black People. IN SUPPORT OF GEORGE FLOYD: Visit Grassroots Law Project’s Justice For Big Floyd to hold the police accountable. Sign the petitionto get justice for George Floyd.  NATIONAL A C T I V I S M Black Lives MatterGlobal organization aimed at eradicating white supremacy and building local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, they are winning immediate improvements in lives. BYP100  Member-based organization of Black youth activists creating justice and freedom for all Black people. They mobilize through building a network focused on transformative leadership development, direct action organizing, advocacy, and education. They believe in the principles of decision-making, radical inclusivity, and is building a Black politic through a Black, queer, feminist lens. Dream Defenders  A multiracial group of young people who are organizing to build power in our communities to advance a new vision for the state. Their agenda is called the Freedom Papers. Through it, they are advancing their vision of safety and security – away from prisons, deportation, and war – and towards healthcare, housing, jobs and movement for all. Know Your Rights  Camp Founded by Colin Kaepernick, they aim to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders. Showing Up For Racial Justice SURJ  is a national network of groups and individuals working to undermine white supremacy and to work toward racial justice. Through community organization, mobilization, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability. P O L I C Y A N D A D V O C A C Y ACLUExists to preserve and protect the liberties and privileges guaranteed to each individual by the Bill of Rights. They fight injustice legally and legislatively. They created an app to help people record police misconduct and they are on the forefront of legal defense for protests around the country.  MORE PLACES YOU CAN DONATE TO NOW:  Help Educate on Culture  +  Let’s Fight Racism, Now with the UN #HateIsAVirus Campaign The Boys and Girls Club  In closing, we would encourage you to peacefully educate yourself, you can do something, many things today, right in this moment, register to vote now, vote out those local leaders who aren’t doing their part, sign petitions, hire more ethnic talent and employees, and call a friend -- ask them how they are doing, reach out, date blindly-- with love, make a new friend, make a donation to a charity above, work with inner city children, volunteer to be of greater use. It’s not just a tax write off, its a human right -- exercise your right to heal humanity. -- thank you jenelle and barry -- love and light to you and God’s grace to all. Xx love, Candice   

In this episode of 'This Is Palestine,' we shift our focus to the protests that have swept the nation, sparked by the tragic murder of George Floyd by police officers on May 25. We hear from three distinct Black American voices as they discuss systemic racism and what it means to be Black in America. First, we hear from Mychal Denzel Smith, author of the forthcoming Stakes is High: Life After the American Dream and New York Times bestseller Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, New Republic, The Nation, and more. In 2014 and 2016, TheRoot.com named him one of the 100 Most Influential African-Americans in their annual The Root 100 list. Mychal navigates us through this moment and what it means, what's different about it now, and why defunding the police is vital to gaining justice. Next, we hear from Kinjo Kiema and Khury Petersen-Smith, who speak in conversation with one another about this moment and connections to global solidarity. Kinjo Kiema is an organizer with BYP100, a Black queer feminist organization working to create justice and freedom for all Black people. She is also a leader in the reproductive justice movement, and has organized within the labor and student movements, including with Students for Justice in Palestine. Khury Petersen-Smith is the Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. Petersen-Smith has been a leading activist for internationalist solidarity, economic justice, and racial and gender equality since he was a high school student. He traveled to Iraq in 2004 on a United for Peace and Justice delegation where he represented the Campus Anti-War Network.

Hey everyone, Austin here. Today’s episode kicks off an eight episode run tracing the revolutionary movement on Partizan that formed at the end of the previous episode.We’ll be playing (butchering?) the Kingdom 2nd Edition playtest by Ben Robbins. Below, you can find all the standard info that is in an episode dossier, but in lieu of a traditional description, I wanted to use this space to let you know about an initiative that we’re kicking off today. As the themes of our show have probably illustrated, all of us on this show are deeply invested in issues of justice and equality. We all stand behind the protests that have emerged across the country and world demanding justice for the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Tayler, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless others who have been taken from us. It has given us a great deal of hope to see so many rally against a culture of white supremacy and cruel, violent, and negligent policing. To that end, we’re donating $5,000 to a few groups, listed below, to help them in their fight against injustice.  We’d love it if you could help us raise even more. To help encourage that, we’ve worked with the artists and organizers of all four of the previous Friends at the Table fan zines to get permission to offer digital copies of those zines to help raise money. It's an INCREDIBLE collection of work from over 100 artists, and you can get them all right here. We’re also offering the three completed Friends at the Table Patreon postcard sets digitally for the first time ever, at a greatly reduced price from their original month-to-month cost. To check all of this out, just go to friendsatthetable.itch.io. You can pick up any of the zines for $10, each of the postcard sets for $50, or the entire bundle for a flat $150.  Finally, if you're reading this today (June 5th, 2020), then that means that Bandcamp is waiving their fees on all purchases. And because of that, Jack will be donating any money from purchases of Friends at the Table soundtracks or anything else on their Bandcamp (notquitereal.bandcamp.com) today. So that's another way you can support this drive. About the Groups We're Supporting Reclaim the Block began in 2018 and organizes Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety. They believe health, safety and resiliency exist without police of any kind. They organize around policies that strengthen community-led safety initiatives and reduce reliance on police departments. They do not believe that increased regulation of or public engagement with the police will lead to safer communities, as community testimony and documented police conduct suggest otherwise. Black Youth Project 100 is a national, member-based organization of Black 18-35 year old activists and organizers, dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. They do this through building a network focused on transformative leadership development, direct action organizing, advocacy, and political education using a Black queer feminist lens. BYP100 has chapters in Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin. The Bail Project is a national nonprofit organization that provides free bail assistance and pre-trial support to thousands of low-income people every year while advocating for dramatic transformation of the current criminal justice system. The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. Again, you can support this initiative by going to friendsatthetable.itch.io. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy this week’s episode. ///Operation Dossier //Organizations Stel Kesh: The oldest established power in the galaxy, built around a stuffy (and secretive) aristocracy. They are tied to the Past. History, knowledge, stubbornness. Stel Nideo: Created the largest faith in the empire, and used that influence to shape (and surveil) mass culture. They are tied to the Present. Faith, coercion, stability. Stel Orion: An industrial giant that controls more literal space than any other Stel, yet is also the most fragmented and unstable. They are tied to Space. Wealth, labor, expansion. Stel Columnar: A fence-sitting democracy, made up largely of synthetics on the cutting edge of technology, art, politics, and war. They are tied to the Future. Innovation, style, cowardice. Stel Apostolos: A dynamic and diverse military powerhouse, guided by an iconic, but controversial leader. They are tied to Motion. Speed, change, violence. Scrivener’s Guild: An organization of (armed) clerks who mediate negotiations, draft contracts, and keep records of all industrial, commercial, and private business operations with Orion-aligned organizations. Unhappy with SBBR’s performance. The Church of Received Asterism: The most widely practiced faith in the galaxy, and one of the earliest major organizations in the Divine Principality, created at the beginning of the Miraculous Millenium, over 3000 years ago. Teaches that Divines, the immortal machines and mechs that helped establish the Principality's hold on the galaxy, reflect the best aspects of the state itself. The divine Strength, in other words, is like a living flag of the Principality's own strength. Organized as a central church, led by a religious leader named a “Cycle,” whose will is enacted across the Principality by their many “Songs,” who rule worlds, star systems, or sometimes entire constellations. The Church of Progressive Asterism: Created as the teachings of the prophet Logos Kantel grew in popularity 1000 years ago, and made a secondary state religion in order to prevent a large schism. Teaches that Divines are true embodiments of their names, and that the citizens and states of the Principality should look to them as guiding stars. The Divine Strength, in other words, is a reflection of strength itself, or maybe "god's strength," and we should aspire to make our strength look like the divine's. Unlike Received Asterism, there is no single central church, but hundreds of smaller sects, schools, and cults, each devoted to individual Divines, grouped sub-pantheons, or otherwise adjusted beliefs. The Disciples of Logos: A small sect, technically of Progressive Asterists, who believe that Progressive Asterism itself operates under a misunderstanding of the prophet Logos Kantel’s words. Membership spans Divinity, but remains miniscule in size compared to even other Progressive Asterist sects. The core tenets and practices of the Disciples of Logos are built around aspiration, actualization, and “progression” from one’s current self (or from society’s current state) to a future one. To encourage that process of change, the Disciples of Logos offer services like tutoring, transport, medical aid, shelter, and counseling to those on their journeys. The Church of the Resin Heart: A Disciples of Logos church on Partizan which claims to be the true inheritor of the prophet’s religious mission. The “resin heart” in question is a 3-foot large object pulled from the sea 400+ years ago and displayed as a relic by the Church. It was originally part of the Exemplar. The Friends of Gur Sevraq: The name given to the current membership of the Church of the Resin heart, who follow the teachings of a new prophet, Gur Sevraq, who has reportedly performed a number of miracles. They teach the value of and need for open communication between regular members of the principality, and dream of a galactic-communications network which would allow people to send messages between worlds in a matter of seconds or minutes instead of days, weeks, or months. With that established, the Friends believe, change and “progression” would sweep through the Principality. Millennium Break: Dissidents, idealogues, rebels, and mercenaries launch a revolution from a state-of-the-art mobile fortress. They agree on little, except this: It is time for a new Millennium. Strand Semaphore: Using ancient Hyphan technology, this messenger service is able to send text-based communications to anywhere on-moon, so long as they’ve built an outpost there. Lambic House: A group of beer-brewing monks who both operate a brewery and manage a sizable civilian settlement deep in the mountains of the Pique Ridge. Part of the Shepherd’s Crook. The Shepherd’s Crook: A sect inside of Received Asterism which began soon after the founding of the church as a collection of monks who provided safety and service to then-new colonies… in exchange for wealth and power.  Though their extortionist tendencies (and military might) was reined in by the central church, they remain a group focused on local communities rather than central bureaucracy or dogma.  They’ve also become the home of the Sovereign Immunities, an elite rank of political advisor which carries the freedom to speak directly when others would be censored and which is offered a high degree of diplomatic immunity. HORIZON: In the popular consciousness, HORIZON is a radical, anti-Principality terrorist organization. In actuality, they are a radical-reformist group, which seeks to drive out what it perceives as corruption in an empire that ought be pursuing noble (instead of selfish) ends. Rumored to be funded by Stel Kesh’s House Brightline. The Mysteries Metronomica/ “Metronomica”/“The Cult of Perennial”: Guided by the paradoxical belief in historical cycles and radical freedom, the Isles of Logos offers this faith of the Adversary, Perennial, perhaps the only safe ground in the entire galaxy.  Though colloquially referred to as “the cult of Perennial,” a title that many group members accept with a sort of sardonic pride, the full name of the group is the Mysteries Metronomica, or simply Metronomica.  Both Metronomica’s theology and praxis center on the ideas of eternal recurrence, historical cycles (large and small), and the impossibility of stability. History will turn, and they will help it on its way.  Their relationship with Perennial gives them a unique relationship to the Perennial Wave. The Red Fennecs: Technically, the Red Fennecs are an Apostolosian logistics and transport squad. In actuality, they’re utilized by their commanding officer, Tes’ili Serikos, as the backbone of a humble smuggling operation.  The Sable Court: Some say that on dark nights, they have seen these Ashen witches on the eastern edge of Lake Timea, horns and antlers glittering in the light of Girandole. Some even say that a former elect walks among them. Heresy, all of it.  Company of the Spade: A veteran mercenary unit founded by space miners who learned how to pilot Hollows in the most dangerous of settings. They’ve been brought to Partizan to combine both types of expertise. The Oxblood Clan: What started as a group of orphans turned into a labor guild and criminal enterprise with connections across Partizan. Occasionally run rough-and-tumble military ops for extra cash. Allies with SBBR. //People Apparatus Aperitif (they/them): Logos City, the largest independent city on Partizan, is known as a religious center, but its robotic night mayor ensures that everyone has a good time at the end of their time traveling the Prophet’s Path. Representative of the Mysteries Metronomica onboard Icebreaker Prime. Gur Sevraq (he/them): Leader of the Church of the Resin Heart. Miracle worker. Currently on board Icebreaker Prime. Has possession of the Divine Future, which gives them startling prescience and the ability to imagine futures outside of the confines of the hegemonic and imperialist world around him.  Si’dra Balos (Si/Si’s, they/them): During their time in a communications division of the Apostolosian Navy, Si’dra saw the cost of war first hand. Now they dream of a world where people can connect instead of fight. Tes’ili Serikos (they/them, tes/tes’): This Apostolosian transport specialist, black marketeer, and Tes’ili Serikos can get just about anything just about anywhere, for a price. Short, round, fuzzy, and good natured… unless you screw tes over.  The Blossom (he/him): The Lambic House is just supposed to make beer, sell it around the world, and keep people happy. But with each keg delivered by the sect’s Abbot of Provision, the Blossom also serves a short, populist whisper. Zo’la (zo/zo’s, they/them): As a projection artists, Zo’la seeks to create a cinematic work that captures the dynamic spirit of this historical moment. Born to Columnar, then drawn to the Apostlosian ideology of Dynamism (which values speed, change, and violence above all else. A wildcard and a vanguard. Friends with Gucci Garantine, despite having spent time on opposite sides of the Kesh/Apostolos war. Zosimel (they/them): Legendary Apostolosian military tactician famous for troop maneuvers that overawed the enemy, producing a sensation of being overwhelmed even when the numbers didn't reflect that. Zosimel eventually outlined this strategy as a sort of broader philosophy called Dynamism. Agon Ortlights (she/her): Aided by her servicebot companions, Agon worked hard to attain the rank of lieutenant in the Company of the Spade, where she’s become a veteren mercenary, a skilled miner, and a hell of a drinking buddy.  A.O. Rooke (he/him): Former Stel Orion mercenary, now commander of the Rapid Evening’s “toughs” squad. Eiden Teak (he/him): Soldier and commander in the Sable Court. Wears the wounds of past fights on him with a distinct sort of pride, inherited from his time fighting as an Apostolosian soldier: He’s missing right leg under the knee, and a number of his antlers have been snapped and broken. Wears loose olive drab fatigues, marked the occult insignia and wards of the Court.  Mourningbride (she/her): An initiate in the Sable Court, and a former Elect.  Alise Breka (she/her): Guest lecturer at Verglaz University and Author of popular Renegade Hearts pulp series, which tells stories of daring and romantic Hallow pilots. On Partizan to research her next book, partly by interviewing the imprisoned pirate Exeter Leap. //Places The Prophet’s Sea: A massive ocean that dominates the center of most maps of Partizan. It is said that the sea was made by the prophet Logos Kantel in their first miracle, after walking the length of its radius and climbing a set of hills that would soon become islands. The Isles of Logos: An independent nation built by the followers of the prophet Logos Kantel’s around their very first church. Though only a small handful of islands in the Prophet’s Sea, the Isles keep a standing defense force that rivals any individual unit of the Major Stels. Pique Ridge: Territory controlled by Stel Nideo on Partizan. East of the Prophet’s Sea, comprised of a mountain range which surrounds a vast, low bay.  //Things Icebreaker Prime: A massive arsenal, garrison, airfield, and a firebase all rolled into one. Icebreaker Prime is a rumbling carrier which prowls land and sea, armed with innumerable weapons and potentially housing over ten thousand soldiers. Currently, Icebreaker Prime is under the command of Clementine Kesh and the Rapid Evening, and is hidden in the most unperturbed waters of the Prophet’s Sea. “Autonomy Itself”/“The True Divine”/The God of the Nobel/The God of Logos Kantel (they/them): Granted the power to transform Partizan into a living world to Logos Kantel 1000 years ago. Guided the Nobel and other cultures in the Scutum-Centaurus arm through the course of their history.  A God of becoming, not being, process, not finality. Their origin is unknown, sometimes debated, but rarely considered important to their devotees, who care more about Their current divinity rather than the circumstances by which it was arrived at. The phrases “the True Divine” and “Autonomy Itself” are found in some Progressive Asterists texts and doctrine, but also across heterodox and heretical religious creeds and in the teachings of gnostic and esoteric secret societies.  The Exemplar: “God’s Divine.” Originally built 1000 years ago, now spread in “parts” across the moon. Its beating heart was left in the sea. It’s countless eyes buried under the Memoria Teardrop. Its blood runs through the springs of the Pique Ridge. Its powerful voice echoes through the windswept canyons of the Barranca. And, perhaps, something else trapped below the ice in the northern reaches of Kesh territory in the Verglaz Taiga. //Additional Notes Crossroad #1: Will The Kingdom allow civilian refugees to live on Icebreaker Prime? Character Bonds Valence: I feel the uncomfortable draw of the unknown from Apparatus, but must keep focus on the revolution and the way of God. An overindulgence of curiosity would sidetrack me. Apparatus: Gur Sevraq has always been a bit of a Day Mayor. I hope he has not gotten too used to the light. Gur Sevraq: Milli is right to distrust all who seek to direct her power, but she ought fight for those who share her dreams yet lack her strength.  Milli: Sovereign Immunity's connections could get us out of prison. I need to make sure this summit doesn't make him forget that. SI: This is the moment Clementine must show her mettle as a leader. If she is truly a frivolous child I will find someone better. Clem: United, Gucci and I could be a powerful force for Kesh, with me at its head. Her misplaced egalitarianism, however, is a problem. Gucci: Broun knows how to get things done and I know what they want in return. But there’s a difference between service and loyalty, and I don’t know when or where they’ll draw that line. Broun: I need Valence to keep their promise to me but I don’t believe they can. Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Clare (@sylvisurfer), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000) Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west) Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp) Text by Austin Walker Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

We meet with Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, a Seattle-based writer, transformative justice and disability justice movement worker, and educator. By the Sound is produced and edited by Sarah Mayes. Episode 014 is hosted by Chelsea Alvarez, Aisha Hauser, and Sarah Mayes. You can support the show and learn how to join our community at: https://www.patreon.com/bythesound (https://www.patreon.com/bythesound) SHOW NOTES: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (www.brownstargirl.org) : writer, crank, disability and transformative justice worker (https://www.akpress.org/beyond-survival.html) , edited by Ejeris Dixon and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (https://www.powells.com/book/-9781849352628) , edited by Ching-In Chen, Jai Dulani, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha The Audre Lorde Project (https://alp.org/) The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex (https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-revolution-will-not-be-funded) The NW Network (https://www.nwnetwork.org) “ Policing is a Dirty Job, But Nobody’s Gotta Do It: 6 Ideas for a Cop-Free World (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/policing-is-a-dirty-job-but-nobodys-gotta-do-it-6-ideas-for-a-cop-free-world-199465/) ,” Rolling Stone (2014). BYP100 (https://www.byp100.org)   The Oakland Power Projects (OPP) ( http://criticalresistance.org/chapters/cr-oakland/the-oakland-power-projects/) Trans Lifeline (https://www.translifeline.org) The Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective (BATJC) (https://batjc.wordpress.com) INCITE! (https://incite-national.org) API CHAYA (https://www.apichaya.org) Black & Tan Hall (https://www.facebook.com/blackandtanhall/) SFSX (SAFE SEX) (https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/sfsx-safe-sex) (https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/C/Care-Work) , by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/T/Tonguebreaker) , by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Support this podcast

Quintin Williams, campaign manager at Heartland Alliance, doctoral candidate in sociology, consultant, and advocate for the freedom of those directly impacted by the carceral system; and Nnennaya Amuchie, organizer with BYP100 and No New Jails DC and an attorney with Movement Law Lab, reported on efforts to protect American inmates from the COVID-19 pandemic, and also on the conundrum of trying in this moment to support health and safety in cages that are designed to deny people both. They discuss the use of ‘violent’ to dehumanize prisoners, and reveal how much the disparate standards of care, lack of protective equipment, fear and misinformation on the inside mirror back our larger social failings. Kimberlyn Carter, political strategist for progressive campaigns, focusing on economic justice, criminal justice reform and climate justice, spoke with the Misfits about how to move the Democratic Party and what role Bernie Sanders can play in doing that. They talk about why some media continue to stand in the way of any move left and get into the latest revelations of Senator Kelly Loeffler’s stock transactions as the pandemic hit the US. Carter also reports on the ongoing voter suppression efforts and the effects they will have on the political landscape, as well as some of the conversations on how to protest and engage in direct action at a time of isolation. The apoplectic hosts also break down the absolutely astonishing unemployment numbers in the US this week and some of the ways the pandemic is being incorporated into the ongoing Russophobia and Sinophobia in US media and culture. Russia in particular came in for a walloping for daring to send a plane load of medical supplies to New York. Appalling. Also appalling: has Anthony Fauci been issued a security detail to protect him from “fervent admirers”? Wow. Love in a time of coronavirus indeed.

This week we have a special episode with two organizers from the No New Jails NYC campaign. They are in a current struggle against jail construction in NYC, which is one of the most important abolitionist campaigns going on around the world right now. Ngozi Alston and Marlene Nava Ramos are volunteer organizers with No New Jails NYC, a multi-racial, multi-gender, and intergenerational campaign aimed to shut down Rikers without building new jails. Ngozi is also a community organizer with BYP100, and centers disability justice through a Black queer feminist lens in her work throughout NYC. Marlene is a member of the NYC Chapter of Critical Resistance, a doctoral candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, and teaches at Lehman College and the Bard College Prison Initiative. Please listen to the episode and see how you can get involved ahead of key votes October 17th, in addition, listen to how you can start or get involved in a similar struggle wherever you are.

Jazmynne Williams of BYP100, which is part of the Demilitarize! Durham 2 Palestine campaign, discusses the organizing efforts underway to ensure the ban remains Visit https://therealnews.com for more stories and help support our work by donating at https://therealnews.com/donate.

On this special spotlight episode, your host, Mariah M, profiles base building organization, the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), whose members are committed to tackling injustice using a Black Queer Feminist framework. NOTE: This episode was recorded in October 2018. Since then, Charlene Carruthers has moved out of her position as National Director of BYP100. As of December 2018, BYP100 now has two National Co-Directors, D'atra Jackson and Janaé Bonsu. We at BFM would like to wish both Janaé and D'atra strength and grounding in their new positions.

This podcast is a great follow up to our last podcast which discussed healing justice, as we talk with Johnae Strong--black mommy of two: 6 yo Akeim and 2 yo Jari, educator and organizer dedicated to healing and liberation for all black people--about the Black Joy Experience album that was released by BYP100 in summer 2018. This album features a musical collection dedicated to freedom songs and liberation chants that keeps joy at the center of the fight for Black Liberation. We discuss the origin of Black Youth Project rooted in joy and healing, the Black Joy Experience album, the role of caregivers and children in the movement, and how we must be willing to be transformed in service of the work for the sake of liberation. Johnae is a parent for liberation, involving her children in the fight for liberation such as those held by BYP100. Throughout the podcast you will catch snippets of songs from the affirming “I Love Being Black” to painful “Mama, Mama Can't You See.” and uplifting “Healing.” Please support the work of BYP by purchasing/downloading the Black Joy Experience on Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify. Video: https://www.facebook.com/BYP100/videos/byp100-presents-the-black-joy-experience/1898516523533003/ For a tool/resource on how to use the Black Joy Experience in your parenting and organizing check out this Black Joy Experience guide created by BYP100 to deepen learning about history of chants and freedom songs. This podcast is a great follow up to our last podcast which discussed healing justice, as we talk with Johnae Strong--black mommy of two: 6 yo Akeim and 2 yo Jari, educator and organizer dedicated to healing and liberation for all black people--about the Black Joy Experience album that was released by BYP100 in summer 2018. This album features a musical collection dedicated to freedom songs and liberation chants that keeps joy at the center of the fight for Black Liberation. We discuss the origin of Black Youth Project rooted in joy and healing, the Black Joy Experience album, the role of caregivers and children in the movement, and how we must be willing to be transformed in service of the work for the sake of liberation. Johnae is a parent for liberation, involving her children in the fight for liberation such as those held by BYP100. Throughout the podcast you will catch snippets of songs from the affirming “I Love Being Black” to painful “Mama, Mama Can't You See.” and uplifting “Healing.” Please support the work of BYP by purchasing/downloading the Black Joy Experience on Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify. Video: https://www.facebook.com/BYP100/videos/byp100-presents-the-black-joy-experience/1898516523533003/ For a tool/resource on how to use the Black Joy Experience in your parenting and organizing check out this Black Joy Experience guide created by BYP100 to deepen learning about history of chants and freedom songs: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9fJb_pZPGLwVXdwTmFGeGlhTFU/view?fbclid=IwAR3K-FZvLoewMRyv1Xx-Ssj5ZMMlafT5ZuUKv06cz_XDYYzmeBG3L13JBEc

In this b-side, we sent down with lawyer, activist, writer and civic leader Preston Mitchum about living authentically and intentionally.Length: 37:59Host: Zach#Pride #LGBTQ #BlackLivesMatterPreston's Website: prestonmitchum.com/Preston on Twitter: twitter.com/PrestonMitchumPreston on IG: instagram.com/preston.mitchum/?hl=enTRANSCRIPTZach: What’s up, y’all? It’s Zach with Living Corporate, and yes, you’re listening to a B-Side now. Yes, we introduced the purpose of a B-Side before, but every episode is someone’s first episode. So for the new folks, B-Sides are essentially random shows we have in between our larger shows. These are much less structured and somehow even more lit--that’s right, more lit--than our normal shows. Now, y’all might ask me what do I mean by more lit? Sound Man, give me something.[Sound Man plays Jamaican air horns]Zach: You see that right there? That’s what I’m talking about. Now, listen. Often times more than not we have a special guest, and today is no different. We actually have with us today Preston Mitchum. Preston is the international policy analyst at Advocates for Youth where he advocates for the sexual and reproductive health and rights for young people and U.S. foreign policy. He’s also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching LGBT health, law, and policy. Preston currently serves as the first openly gay male chair of the Washington Bar Association Young Lawyers division the Black Youth Project DC Chapter, and he’s written for theGrio, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, Ebony, Africa.com and plenty more. Preston, welcome to the show, man.Preston: Hey, thank you for the invite. I cannot wait for this conversation.Zach: [laughs] That’s awesome, man. Now, look, I gave the intro, but please, tell us about yourself.Preston: You know, so I often describe myself as an unapologetically black queer activist and advocate hailing from Youngstown, Ohio, but currently I’ve been living in the D.C., Maryland area for the past seven years, and I love black people. So that’s everything to know about me.Zach: That’s awesome. Now, look, when I look at your profile, right, and I look at your Instagram, and I just--I look from afar, and it just seems like there’s so much there. Can you talk to me about how you got into law? Like, was it spurred by your passion around social justice? Was it a money move? Was it both? Like, talk to me about that.Preston: You know, I wish it was money. I wish. For everything that I really wanted to do to become a lawyer, I wish money was really involved in that decision ‘cause I would probably be a little bit happier. My bills would be paid a lot faster. I wouldn’t be waiting ‘til the 5th of the month to finally make that rent payment.Zach: [laughs]Preston: But all that being said, for me I’m a social justice activist to my core. Something that really matters to me, again, are black folks, are queer and trans folks, are women of color, specifically black women, and so I think for me, like, when I saw how law was framed, how the legal landscape was framed, the one thing that I really wanted to do of course, even as a lawyer, was to change the law, right, and have this (inaudible) in the background to change the lives of black folks, but what really mattered to me was policy, right? And so that was really getting in front of the law before the law came into place, because when you’re a lawyer and you’re defending people, of course, like, litigation is life-changing for many people, particularly--like, people like criminal defense attorneys, but what really mattered to me the more I thought about it was what can happen before a defendant reaches the courtroom. What policy can be designed and created and lobbied for in a way that actually changes peoples’ lives before it goes into effect, and so for me that was really important when it came to, again, the legal and policy landscape, and frankly I have a passion for marginalized communities, you know, especially rape survivors of which I am one. I’ve talked about my personal experience with rape and sexual assault, mostly on theroot.com. So, you know, my passion began for rape survivors, you know, thinking about rape culture. Later in life obviously thinking about our childhood heroes, you know, become villains. So people like Bill Cosby and R. Kelly and thinking through the ways in which, you know, we have been told that we have to defend these people because they allegedly love us, but we often times saw that love turn into pain for many people, particularly marginalized black women and girls. So, you know, in a nutshell for me what was really important was to defend the civil rights and liberties of black folks and queer folks and of other marginalized communities who are kind of pushed to the margins every single day, and that’s how I got into law.Zach: Wow, man. That’s amazing. And, you know, your profile--and even when you talk about your story, right, the main things I get from you, like, just from a vibe perspective is authenticity and intentionality, right? I believe that, you know, everyone should seek to live as authentically as possible every day, and clearly from just your mission and your passion, your purpose in life, I would say that you agree with that. Can you talk to me though about your journey and living authentically and what rewards and challenges you’ve had from that?Preston: So I appreciate you even saying that because something that I always speak about is the purpose of living as an authentic person and living with intention, right? It’s funny, I was talking to someone the other day, and I told them that I didn’t think I was breathing, and they were like, “Well, you’re living. Of course you’re breathing.” I was like, “Yeah, I actually don’t feel my stomach moving though.”Zach: Hm.Preston: And I think that’s--so I knew I wasn’t breathing intentionally. I was breathing because I have to live, but I wasn’t breathing with a purpose, and so…Zach: It was cruise control.Preston: Yeah, exactly. Right, I was like, “Oh, I’m breathing because I need to eat and I need to drink water and I need to live to see another day,” but you know, but I was learning from folks, especially, like, black folks. Like, older black people. They’re like, “Are you breathing on purpose? Feel your belly. Can you actively and actually feel your belly going in and out, up and down?” And so I kind of wanted to use that to model really how I’m living my everyday life, and so there some rewards and there are some challenges, and so the rewards is, you know, people recognizing my authenticity and my intentionality. The challenges are people recognizing my authenticity and intentionality [laughs], and I think, you know, when we live authentically, everything is not great. Everything is not gold. When you live authentically, you are subjecting yourself to be more vulnerable to harm. For queer and trans folks, for black folks who are in white areas, for queer and trans folks who are in straight-dominated areas, your authenticity can get you killed. And so I think from--and you know what, I think we see that every day, you know? Something that really is exciting me has been this new show on FX called Pose.Zach: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.Preston: And it is--I have many friends in the house and ball communities, and it is such a brilliant depiction, and it’s so incredibly nuanced of what I would like to consider at least black and brown trans women nurturing queer or gay boys, black and brown gay boys, to life. And so, you know, those are trans women who are putting themselves on the front lines every single day, who are, you know, creating new communities for them to thrive in because in the communities that they exist in, which are these straight, cis-dominated spaces, they are by and large targeted, and so for me it’s like, “What does that look like? What does it look like to exist in spaces that are mainstream, that I know I’m not gonna be accepted in, and to create these alternative spaces where I can actually be affirmed on a daily basis?” So, you know, again, those are challenges, and I will say part of those challenges particularly, you know, as being the first openly gay chair of the Washington Bar Association Young Lawyers division is that in the legal profession and also in the black legal profession is really big on respectability politics. So people usually are catapulted to be successful because they have somehow created this environment for themselves that are very white-accepting. I have never cared in my professional life to be accepted by the white community, right? Like, that’s just not my thing. [laughs]Zach: [laughs] So wait--so wait, wait wait. So I’m actually really--so I was already excited, now I’m extra excited, right? So for our listeners, right, break down respectability politics, especially from the position of an activist and, like, all of the things that you drive. Like, if there was someone here who’s listening to this who’s like, “What is respectability politics like?” Give us the Preston definition of respectability politics.Preston: Okay. All right, so Preston? So a very blunt definition. So--no, so respectability politics, or the politics of respectability, is quite frankly the notion that you--everything you do, your existence, your actions, your behaviors are for white people, and so for white people who are generally accepted who dominate--I shouldn’t say culture, right, ‘cause that’s certainly not true. [laughs]Zach: [laughs] Right.Preston: But who dominates certain things like business, law, policy, et cetera. So, you know, there’s this idea for example that now, you know, if black boys and black men only dressed up in suits and ties they would be accepted by white people, right? As if the reason why black boys are being killed on the streets, or black women also being killed on the streets, is because they don’t look a certain way. Mind you, you know, folks like Martin Luther King were clearly gunned down by FBI agents.Zach: Right.Preston: Mind you, black and brown folks were being, you know, sprayed with fire hoses in the 1950s, since antiquity frankly, but continuing up until now, right? Like, the fire hoses just look like bullets now. So, you know, the thing that we always have to remind people is, you know, live authentically and intentionally because it’s not like respectability politics is the reason why you are disliked, why you are relegated. It reminds me of when I do lobb--I lobby a lot for my job, so it reminds me of when I go to the Hill, and, you know, sometimes I’ll wear a suit and tie, sometimes I won’t. Frankly it really depends on how I feel on that day and if my eyebrows look good. And so--Zach: Listen. Wait, wait, wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa. In all seriousness--wait, wait wait. ‘Cause your eyebrows on your website? Impeccable.Preston: Thank you. To your viewers, I need them to go and see my eyebrows because I really appreciate my eyebrow lady Kim in Silver Spring, Maryland at (inaudible). [laughs]Zach: Now, are they--is it--now, this is my question. Are they--is it threaded? Or is it--like, ‘cause they look great.Preston: You know, I appreciate that. They’re actually waxed, and so I’m afraid that the more I do it I’m not gonna have anymore. I’ma be looking like Whoopi Goldberg, but hopefully that’s not--sorry, Whoopi. My bad.Zach: No disrespect to Whoopi Goldberg just in case you ever come on the show. (inaudible).Preston: I mean, she practices respectability politics sometimes too, so I hope she comes on the show so we can talk about that.Zach: [laughs] Yes. Let’s go, man. Hey, let the cannons (inaudible) for that. We callin’ you out, Whoopi Goldberg. We got beef with you. [laughs]Preston: [laughs] Right. I mean, you know, I’m pretty sure that Ted Danson and others would agree, but nonetheless. Nonetheless. No, so yes, I go to the Hill a lot. Part of my job is lobbying on behalf of young people and their sexuality and reproductive health and rights, and, you know, again, sometimes I come in a suit, sometimes I do not, and the criticism I’ve received from some of my partners within coalition spaces are that, you know, they immediately shut down the conversation the second I may walk into an office. Mind you, we’re going to Capitol Hill. Mind you, Capitol Hill’s predominantly white. Mind you, Capitol Hill’s predominantly straight. So they’re shutting down the conversation because my entire body as a black gay man just came into their office, not because of, you know, me not wearing a suit and a tie, and they’re certainly not gonna listen faster just because I wear a suit and a tie.Zach: Right.Preston: On top of that, I’m advocating on behalf of marginalized communities’ rights. So I’m advocating on behalf of abortion access, on behalf of comprehensive sexuality education that’s queer-affirming, advocating on behalf of things like pre-exposure prophylaxis and HIV prevention and treatment. So the conversation is shutting down just because we already don’t agree philosophically, and so I always have to tell people like, “Yes, it may make us feel better to pretend as though white people are going to accept us just because we are, you know, acquiescing to whatever they deem as acceptable, but that’s just simply not true, and I personally in my professional career have refused to do that for the sake of appeasing to a mainstream audience. Now, all of that being said, I think for me, I’ve decided to personally do that, and that is, you know, that’s--again, that’s word I’ve received because people were like, “You are very bold, and I appreciate you for knowing who you are and staying true to that,” and then the challenges sometimes can be, “Okay, I know the space I’m entering. I already know how I’m coming into, you know, this particular space that may or may not be safe and affirming.” So how do I navigate that accordingly? And I think that’s the conversations that I have to have every day and I’m sure that many of your viewers have to have every day too.Zach: Straight up, yeah. So that actually leads me to my next question. So you’ve done a masterful job of combining your passions around people, particularly the most unheard in our culture and in our country, in our world, in your profession. How were you able to do that, and would you consider that a situation where you’ve, like, arrived? Or is that something you have to really fight to maintain?Preston: Hm. So, you know, I would say what’s really helped me in these situations honestly have been mentors and people who I’ve networked with, really tight-knit circles and people who support me. I think without mentorships and networking it’s really impossible to--sure, you can live authentically, but I think when you’re pushed into the wall you really still need people to support you and lift you along the way, and I think sometimes that’s what’s difficult about being black and queer and trans when you’re not in spaces like D.C. or Atlanta. I mean, it’s hard still even in these spaces, but spaces like D.C., New York, Atlanta, places that presumed to be more accepting which sometimes are not. You know, if you’re in the rural south, right, how can you get mentors and networking from folks who are, you know, black, queer, and trans who are older, who are viewed as more successful? I will say personally, right, like, I don’t think I can turn on a TV many times and see two black men, two black, same gender-loving men being intimate. You know, I saw it recently. I saw it last week when I watched Pose, and I was shocked because that’s just not something that happens, you know? And I think that’s the thing, like, we have to really kind of come to terms with, right? Like Marlon Riggs one time said, “Black men loving each other is a revolutionary act,” and I think for me I recognize that, and I’m always humbled by my mentors and my networking opportunities. So that’s that. I think it’s really--I fight to maintain it every single day, and sometimes it’s easier than at other times, right? Because I think these mentors who I’ve networked with and who I’ve built loving and affirming relationships with, they will always support me, but I’m still battling a mainstream community who may not, and so, you know, thankfully--and I’m only 32, but thankfully I’ve created this kind of forcefield within myself that I know who to listen to, who to block out voices. It reminds me sometimes of when my friends would read comments after I’ve written articles, and they’ll text me like, “I am so angry what so-and-so said!” I was like, “Who are they?” Right? ‘Cause I’ve learned to just not check them out, and I’ve learned--and it just doesn’t bother me. Unless I feel like being shady on Twitter, chances are I’m not gonna respond to someone negatively responding to me ‘cause it just--I don’t even really realize it frankly, and I think--but I still think you fight to maintain that. You know, being black and queer isn’t easy, you know? Every day we walk around, even within all of our glory and our joy, we have to try to be resilient, and you know what? I think I’ve realized that I’m tired of being resilient. Resilience is a burden. It makes you literally--it puts you on this kind of pedestal if you are resilient and if your black joy shines brighter than others, but what about when people just are depressed and they want to be depressed? Are we turning our back on them because they’re not showing that they’re resilient anymore? And so for me, I’m gonna always fight to maintain it, and some of those days are gonna be better than others. I’m gonna shine. Shine, black boy, shine one day, and the next day I’m gonna be like, “I’m not getting out of this bed. Please bring the nearest bottle of Jack or Hennessy to me,” and that’s just what it’s gonna be, you know? But I do think that what’s really important is for us to kind of really think through queer and trans folks, LGBTQ folks, you know, who battle with ourselves internally every day because of social antagonism, we battle, you know, with white LGBTQ people because many white LGBTQ people--I won’t say many--some white LGBTQ people are racist and refuse to check that racism because, you know, we’re marginalized too, and it’s like, “Your marginalization looks very different.” It’s different, and it’s not layered often times, right? Like, you know, the one thing that I have to share with white people who say, “Well, you know, I grew up poor,” and I was like, “You didn’t grow up poor because you were white though, right?” Like, you can still experience hardships, but your hardships will never be connected to your whiteness. Black and brown folks and other racial minorities can never say that because we know our racial identity is always gonna be cross-connected with another oppression or marginalization that we’re experiencing, and so I think we just always have to kind of put those into play and realize, you know, the battles that we have, internally because of society, with white LGBTQ folks because of racism, and with the black folks because--straight black folks because of homophobia and transphobia, and biphobia frankly. We can’t leave out bisexuality and what that means for a lot of people. So yeah, so, again, you know, mentors helped me. They will always be there along the way. They push and support me, and in turn I give back to younger folks because, you know, without my mentors and without my close friends and my family I wouldn’t know where I would be, and I would also still have to fight to maintain that every day, and I’m fighting to maintain this authenticity and intentionality because without that I’m nothing.Zach: So, you know, in 2013 you wrote a piece in The Atlantic about coming out as a gay man, and you really tackled the nuances of that decision. Taking a step back, right, as a cis-hetero black man--that’s me, right--I think it’s easy for me to default and kind of just ignore the various identities within, like, just the diaspora, right, within our black space, and I think that speaks to a certain level of privilege. I think that’s pretty obvious. What advice if any do you have for, like, cis-hetero black men who are at the top of their own privilege pyramid of sorts and how they can be mindful, supportive allies?Preston: Yeah. So since this is a conversation I’ma talk to you like I’m a Baptist preacher.Zach: Let’s go. [laughs]Preston: So let me ask you. If your homies, if your straight homies say anything that could be perceived as derogatory about LGBTQ folks, do you think that you would be kind of confident enough in your masculinity and your sexuality to say, “Yo, that’s not cool. Don’t say that.”Zach: That’s a great question actually ‘cause I have these conversations, right? And so--and you mentioned a point about being a Baptist preacher, so we actually have--we actually have a guest that’s gonna be on the show by the time of this recording in a week. Her name is Janet Pope, and she is the leader of diversity and inclusion for Capgemini, which is, like, this global consulting firm, right?Preston: Nice.Zach: She’s actually a colleague of mine ‘cause we both work at the same firm, and so I was telling her about Living Corporate, right? And she was like--she was like, “So you say that you’re gonna include gay people in your discussion around underrepresented communities. How do you align that with your Christianity?” And I was like, “Well, let’s just say for argument’s sake like I believe exactly what the Bible says.” Let’s say that. Let’s (inaudible) what the Bible says. At the end of the day, like, everybody that I see around me are human beings, so if I sit back and I ignore somebody, right, if I ignore somebody or if I try to limit their voice, one I’m practicing the same type of oppression--I’m practicing a cheap form of the same oppression that I complain about, and on top of that you kind of--you actually rob people of their humanity when you ignore them, when you dismiss them, when you downgrade them, right? And so those are the kind of conversations I have with my friends. Thankfully, you know, but I definitely have had other discussions with people where it’s been like--I’ve been like, “Listen, this--like, nah, that’s wack,” or “No, you shouldn’t say that,” or whatever the case is or da-da-da-da. Like, let them live their life. That guy ain’t doing nothing to you. Keep it to yourself.” Whatever, whatever, and, like, those don’t always go well, right? It’s not every--like, I’m 28 years old, so, like, yes, like, I’m starting to get to the age where we’re having these nuanced, comfortable discussions, but man, three, four years ago, four or five years ago, you try to say something like that? Nah, man. It was--it was not like that, but, you know, as you get older--I know you get it. Like you said, you’re in your early 30s. Relationships change, and it’s kind of like, “Okay, I’m gonna let you have it, but you’re gonna have to back up talking to me like that or talking around me like that because I’ma check you every time.”Preston: Yeah. See, and I--oh, go ahead.Zach: Last thing is, like, I’m also really passionate about it beyond the fact that, like, what I said before, like, just recognizing and respecting the humanity of everybody, everybody around you, ‘cause they’re human beings. You know, I have gay family members. I have gay friends. So, like, it’s personal to me as well, you know what I’m saying?Preston: Yeah. See, and I really appreciate all of that because the one thing that I will say is that, you know, it actually reminds me sometimes, I mean similar when I hear--when I talk to black men, and this is not just exclusive to black men but, you know, I am one so that’s--you know, that’s what I know.Zach: Yes. [laughs]Preston: And it’s interesting talking to some black men, gay or straight, because something I’ve really noticed is when this conversation comes up when it comes to respect of women, you know, they’re like, “Yeah, I would quickly say something,” but then turn around and make a sexist comment, whether it’s covert or overt or won’t say anything to their friends when they make a sexist comment or a comment around, you know, the way a woman looks or, you know, her body parts, right? And I’m just like, “I know that seems normal, right, because we’re so used to sexualizing women in a culture that promotes rape culture and perpetuates rape culture, but that’s not okay, and that’s also problematic, right?” And so, you know, I think when it comes to--when I think about what straight men can do, what black straight men can do, always think about a couple of things, and I think one of them is certainly, like, when you really hear your homies making comments is to always, you know, be willing to say something, right? Whether it makes you look like you’re emasculated, whether it makes your friends question your sexuality, right? You need to be in solidarity, and I think being in solidarity sometimes is risking, you know, those things like the safehood of your masculinity, the safeness of your sexuality. I think, you know, that is what being an ally looks like. You know, I remember a couple of years ago we were having a protest for BYP100, and it was--you know, we were protesting for violence against trans women, black trans women, and this straight--presumably straight black man outside, who we were like, “Okay, we’re protesting on behalf of black people. Like, maybe, hopefully you should join us.” Quickly, you know, identified in my opinion as a white supremacist. He literally looked like what I imagine white supremacists to look like when they’re yelling at black people in the 60s.Zach: Goodness. Goodness gracious.Preston: You know, he got in front of one of my comrades who was a woman and started to yell at her because she’s more masculine-presenting and, you know, made comments like, you know, “If you want to be a man,” you know, insert words here.Zach: Goodness gracious.Preston: And so because I am a man I decided to intervene, right? Like that man probably would’ve threw me all around, right? But at the end of the day what allyship to women looks like to me is putting myself in harm’s way so you won’t be hit, right? Like, and I think sometimes we have to really analyze what allyship looks like for us because if people aren’t even willing to speak up when they see harm being done, they’re certainly not willing to, like, take a punch because of it, right? And I’m not saying that everything that happens you have to put yourself in harm’s way, but it was disappointing that other--that straight men out there saw this presumably straight man pretty much attacking a woman and didn’t say anything about it, and then you have to take my queer self with my tight jeans protesting outside to say something to this man, right?Zach: [laughs] Right, right.P And to me, now I’m really interrogating what manhood looks like, right? If I’m willing to throw some hands and you’re not. So I think that’s something that really troubles me, and so, you know, I think it’s also important that straight men actually admit that they have a gay friend. It’s amazing how many things that I see on social media posts, like memes, such as “Is it normal for a straight man to have a gay man best friend?” And I’m just like, “Why is this silly meme real?” Right?Zach: Right? [laughs] Right.Preston: Like, why are we even questioning this? I’m like--I didn’t literally--like, friendships are not necessarily built upon someone’s sexuality. Now, certainly there is some nuance to that because, you know, before I moved to D.C. I didn’t have many gay friends. I had some. You know, I grew up in Ohio and in North Carolina, which we existed clearly there too, but the numbers weren’t as numerous as here. And a lot of my friendships shifted to more of my LGBTQ friends because that’s the community I felt safer in. They went to the same places I wanted to go to. But I think for--you know, but obviously I still have straight black male friends, and I think, you know, the conversations came up where, you know, I would always go to every single straight bar that you could think of with them. I’m like, “Oh, God.” I’m like, “Y’all want to go to The Park AGAIN?” Like, yeah, I’ma go eat some jerk.Zach: [laughs] People love Park out there.Preston: Right? I’m like, “Fine, I’m gonna go eat some jerk, wings, and mac and cheese for $5 with a side of Crown, but also where the gay people at? ‘Cause I don’t wanna be here all night.”Zach: Straight up, though.Preston: Right? But then I would ask them like, “Yo, I’m going to this gay party. Black folks, you wanna go with me?” They’re like, “Uh, that ain’t my thing,” and I’m like, “Well, straight? That ain’t my thing either and I’m still here!”Zach: [laughs]Preston: And so I challenged their friendship because I’m just like, you know, you being the person who is centered in this space expect me, as your gay friend, knowing I’m gay, knowing I may not--Zach: To make yourself comfortable.Preston: Exactly. Like, you told me to come here with you, and I did because we’re friends, and I’ma still have a good time because we’re friends, but the second, you know, I tell you to come to a gay club, everything is gay now. Everything is about gayness. It’s not about me being a friend and you supporting your friend at a bar or a club. So, you know, again, I think that’s another thing that straight black men or, you know, straight black allies generally can do is really, you know, admit to having a gay friend, actually going once or twice to a club. Like, right? Get out of your comfort level. One of my fraternity brothers went to the bar with me, and it was amazing how--he’s straight, and it’s amazing how he said to me like, you know, “Yeah, I wasn’t comfortable a little bit, I can’t even lie.” He was like, “But, you know, when somebody tried to hit on me, I basically was just like “I’m straight,” and he left me alone.” And I’m like, “Well, what did you think was gonna happen? I know what you thought. What you thought was gonna happen was the thing that y’all do to straight women, is that y’all keep attacking them even when they tell you no, and y’all assume that all women at any place are straight as if lesbian women don’t exist. So I’m like, you know, “Just because you can’t take no for an answer does not mean that thing is reciprocated in our community.” Now, to be fair, it’s not always--Zach: [laughs] Preston got these bars for you, dog. He don’t care, boy. He let the yopper spray. My goodness. Keep going, though. [laughs]Preston: [laughs] But I can talk all the time about this issue because I think straight black men specifically in this conversation have to be better allies and have to figure out, you know, what allyship looks like, what speaking up on behalf of LGBTQ folk looks like, what, you know, sometimes putting yourself in harm’s way, though that shouldn’t be the case, and actually, you know, listening and acting as opposed to just speaking. Not for political gain, not to get the woman you like or the girl you like, but to just be a good ally to be in solidarity with people. So there’s a litany of things that I can continue saying, but it’s just really important that, you know--and I guess I’ll end on this note on saying that, you know, straight--to be good allies, heterosexual people really have to think through what it looks like to demand people to come out. I’ve had so many conversations with people over the years that said something like, “I would respect them if only they were openly gay like you,” and I’m like, “I shouldn’t get any accolades for being openly gay.” I’m in a position where, quite frankly, I pay my bills, I support myself. I’m okay with whatever consequences come my way as a result of me being openly gay. There are many people who cannot afford that. There are many people who can experience homelessness because of being kicked out of homes. There are many people who are exposed to violence every day because of it, and so I think we have to really start having these honest, raw conversations about what it looks like and the harm that people are experiencing when someone says, “I would respect them more if only they were gay like you.”Zach: Man, that’s profound, though, and I really appreciate you sharing this. I have, like, two more questions, right? So are there any resources you’d like to point the audience to on how to just learn how to be a better ally for the LGBTQ community?Preston: You know, I think the best resources frankly are everyday interactions with people, you know? ‘Cause I don’t really think you can--I mean, certainly you can Google and read up how to be an ally, but I would truly like to believe that we have enough common sense to understand what allyship looks like. I think the problem is that folks, many--in my honest opinion, many people don’t want equality. They want the ability to oppress other people, right? Like, we like to feel--as much as we try to push against whiteness, we like the ability to be white in many instances, right? And so I think, like, you know, we still have this totem pole, and we’re all trying to not be at the bottom of that totem pole, and so whenever I hear white people say, “Well, Preston, I didn’t know I couldn’t say the N word,” I’m like, “You’re--okay, you’re lying.” Right? Like, you know you shouldn’t have said that. You know you shouldn’t have alluded to it. You know you should’ve skipped over it in every rap song, but now you’re being decentered and you don’t like that feeling. You know what you should or should not do or should or should not say, you know? Straight black men know they should not be homophobic, right? And I will say obviously we can talk about, you know, Judeo-Christian, being Judeo-Christian, we can talk about fundamentalist Christians, we can talk about, you know, traditionalist principles and understandings, and that’s an important conversation to have, but we also have to peel back layers of why we think what we think, right? And why we’re pushing our thought process on other people when we haven’t even really interrogated why we think how we think. You know, many people--we’re just living and existing every day going through the motions based off of what we were told as children, not even questioning why we were told certain things. Growing up, my mom used to always be so frustrated with me ‘cause she’d always be like, “Why do you ask so many questions?” I’m like, “I love you. I know you are never going to harm me, at least intentionally, but I need to know why.” Right? And saying I said so is not an answer. Like, that’s not how youth development works, and I say the same thing for people, like, that’s not how adult development works either. We have to interrogate and question certain things, and I know that’s going a little bit off your question, but it’s only because, you know, right, like, I think resources are such an important thing in question, but I think the only way we can really, you know, truly get to the true resource, and that’s everyday interactions with folks who we want to learn from, right? And be willing, be willing to sometimes be cussed out to get to an answer we want.Zach: [laughs]Preston: I would like to believe I’m a good ally to trans people, right? I could be completely mistaken, right, ‘cause I’m not trans, and of course I would say I’m a good ally, but I know for me to even become a--for me to have been an OK ally, for me to get here, I had to be cussed out by many trans women for saying the wrong thing, for looking the wrong way, for staring too long at something, right? Like, that was--that was where I existed, you know, some years ago. I think over time the more I started to learn and genuinely be friends with trans folks, right? Like, not transactionally, genuinely be friends with trans folks is when I started to become a better ally. So we have to put ourselves in community with people if they believe, right, if that community believes that they can be safe and affirmed with your presence, ‘cause sometimes the sheer presence of someone is oppressive, and that’s why I always talk about safe spaces. That’s why I always talk about black-dominated spaces and black-only spaces, because sometimes the sheer existence of white people is exhausting, right? Because something will come up. It makes me think about this episode of Dear White People when, like, you know, they went to, you know, a party in Season One, you know, and they’re dancing and having a good time, and I forget what song came on, but of course it was a rap song, and the N word--you know, and somebody said the N word, and I’m just like, “Ugh, of course,” because when white people are around, you can absolutely guarantee it’s gonna be said once by them, right? And that’s exhausting, right? It’s laborious to have to tell someone like, “Can you not---can you not do that?” Like, “It’s Sunday. I’m trying to have a good day. I just prayed earlier,” right?Zach: [laughs]Preston: I think stuff like that is exhausting. So all that being said, the best resource is talking to people who are living these experiences.Zach: No, that’s awesome. [laughs] Look, this has been--this has been a great discussion, and, like, to be honest, before we, you know, started recording and everything, I was talking to the team and I was like, “Man, I already know this conversation’s gonna be lit. I can’t wait,” and I’ma be honest with you, Preston, you ain’t let me down at all, not that it should matter.Preston: I appreciate that.Zach: Not that my--not that my standards should matter for you at all, but I’m just letting you know I’ve had a great time. I want to thank you for coming to the show again. Before we go, do you have any shout outs? Do you have anyone you’re working with? Any other projects you want to talk about? Anything at all?Preston: Yes! I would love to shout out our youth activists at Advocates for Youth. We work with about 130 young people throughout the country, many of who are black and brown and queer and trans, and they’re every day working on projects and campaigns related to HIV decriminalization, abortion access and destigmatization. They’re working on--our Young Women of Color Leadership Initiative are working on, like, prison reform issues and issues of criminalization of black girls in schools. Our Muslim Youth Leadership project are literally existing between the identities of being Muslim and queer and trans and are building out platforms and policies on that. Our International Youth Leadership Council are pushing against the Trump administration (and?) the Global Gag Rule. I could continue, but our young people--young people are the most lit people and will literally build a liberation and a new movement that looks like freedom every single day, and so I really want shout out young people at Advocates for Youth and really young people all over the country, especially black and brown young people. You know, your viewers can definitely follow me on Twitter @PrestonMitchum or on Instagram @Preston.Mitchum. I’m really excited. I’m working on a lot of writing projects to come soon, but, you know, I’m really working on a portfolio on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the last thing that I’ll say, what’s really important is to decriminalize sex work. Something that we’re working on in D.C. is part of the Sex Workers Advocates Coalition, Collective Action for Safe Spaces, BYP100, and HIPS D.C. is--you know, we helped with council member Grosso and council member Robert White on introducing a sex work decriminalization bill. We’re attempting to get it pushed forward, so we’re needing a particular council member, Charles Allen, to move it to the public health and judiciary committee, and so that’s something that’s really important is really thinking about how sex work decriminalization is an LGBTQ issue and ironically enough how people claim to dislike sex workers but masturbate to porn every single morning. And because of that, I’ll leave off here--I’ll leave it off here, but decriminalize sex work, and thank you for the invitation. It’s been amazing.Zach: [laughs] Man. First of all, again--I keep saying first of all ‘cause I’m just taken aback every single time, but Preston-- [laughs]Preston: [laughs]Zach: So Preston, man. Look, man. As your books drop, as you continue doing what you’re doing, I hope you consider yourself a friend of the show. You’re welcome back any time, and let’s make sure--like I said as you have your things going on, let us know so we can plug ‘em for you.Preston: Absolutely, Zach. This has been so lit, and I really appreciate being here.Zach: Man, thank you so much. Okay, y’all. Well, listen, that about does us here. Thank you for joining us on the Living Corporate podcast. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @LivingCorporate, Twitter @LivingCorp_Pod, and subscribe to our newsletter through living-corporate.com. If you have a question you’d like for us to answer and read on the show, make sure you email us at livingcorporatepodcast@gmail.com. And that does it. This has been Zach. You were talking to Preston Mitchum. Peace.Latricia: Living Corporate is a podcast by Living Corporate, LLC. Our logo was designed by David Dawkins. Our theme music was produced by Ken Brown. Additional music production by Antoine Franklin from Musical Elevation. Post-production is handled by Jeremy Jackson. Got a topic suggestion? Email us at livingcorporatepodcast@gmail.com. You can find us online on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and living-corporate.com. Thanks for listening. Stay tuned.

Join us for a personal practice from Je Naé Taylor about compartmentalizing in a healthy way. How do we organize our thoughts and emotions around conflict so we can do what we need to do in the moment, and carve out space to process it thoroughly at an appropriate time? You don’t need any specific supplies or space, just listen wherever you are. Referenced in this practice:  “I am inhaling. I am exhaling.” -- prompt from Thich Nhat Hanh You can download the corresponding conversation (27 Interventional Healing and Accountability) where JeNaè Taylor & Kai M Green join us to talk about interventional healing and accountability practices - aka what to do when harm occurs in our organizations. They share about how they’ve built out intentional practices that anticipate potential harm, how they use role plays and scenarios to come to agreements and processes together before situations happen, and their commitment to supporting and including harm-doers in their restorative processes. The previous three episodes elaborate on our conversation with BYP Healing and Safety Council, focusing in on both preventional and interventional healing & accountability. -- ABOUT OUR GUEST BYP100’s Healing and Safety Council is a body of members dedicated to cultivating and supporting self-determined forms of healing, cultural production, and harm reduction. HSC exercises the conceptual tenants of the Healing Justice Framework; HSC activates this work through [a] Creative Healing Praxis which is focused on prevention, intervention, and transformation. This looks like the creation and provision of an ongoing base of preventative care modules, community based intervention to interpersonal conflict or violence, and transformative ritual through culture creation and visioning. More about BYP100: https://byp100.org/ Je Naé Taylor is a daughter of medicine folx and firefighters, and is living as a Black girl storyteller, shapeshifter and visionary. Je Naé is most curious about the practice of joy and the sustenance needed to live extraordinary. She is a founding member of the Healing & Safety Council of BYP100.-- JOIN THE COMMUNITY: Sign up for the email list at www.healingjustice.org    Social media: Instagram @healingjustice, Healing Justice Podcast on Facebook, & @hjpodcast on Twitter This podcast is 100% volunteer-run. Help cover our costs by becoming a monthly sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice or giving a one time gift here https://secure.squarespace.com/commerce/donate?donatePageId=5ad90c0e03ce64d6028e01bbPlease leave us a positive rating & review in whatever podcast app you’re listening - it all helps!   THANK YOU to all our production volunteers: Content editing by Sonja HansonMixing and production by Zach Meyer at the COALROOMIntro and Closing music gifted by Danny O’BrienAll visuals contributed by Josiah Werning

Welcome to part 2 of a 2-part conversation with Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100). This week, Healing and Safety Council members JeNaè Taylor & Kai M Green join us to talk about interventional healing and accountability practices - aka what to do when harm occurs in our organizations. They share about how they’ve built out intentional practices that anticipate potential harm, how they use role plays and scenarios to come to agreements and processes together before situations happen, and their commitment to supporting and including harm-doers in their restorative processes. Check out episode and practice 26 to hear our first conversation with BYP100, where we talked with (P) Ife Williams and Chris Roberts about preventional practices for healing and accountability. Download the corresponding practice (27 Practice: Compartmentalizing in a Healthy Way) to join JeNaè Taylor for a simple but powerful personal practice to address conflict on your own timeline. Practice episodes always publish on Thursdays. --- We need your help to fund this volunteer project! Please help cover our costs by becoming a monthly sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice or giving a one time gift at our brand new donation link here: https://secure.squarespace.com/commerce/donate?donatePageId=5ad90c0e03ce64d6028e01bb --- FEATURED IN THIS CONVERSATION: “Stay Woke, Stay Whole: A Black Activist Healing Manual” (1st edition), BYP100 Healing and Safety Council’s internal manual (not currently available to the public) “Love With Accountability” documentary filmmaker Aishah Shahidah Simmons http://www.lovewithaccountability.com/about-aishah/   ABOUT OUR GUESTS BYP100’s Healing and Safety Council is a body of members dedicated to cultivating and supporting self-determined forms of healing, cultural production, and harm reduction. HSC exercises the conceptual tenants of the Healing Justice Framework; HSC activates this work through [a] Creative Healing Praxis which is focused on prevention, intervention, and transformation. This looks like the creation and provision of an ongoing base of preventative care modules, community based intervention to interpersonal conflict or violence, and transformative ritual through culture creation and visioning. More about BYP100: https://byp100.org/ Je Naé Taylor is a daughter of medicine folx and firefighters, and is living as a Black girl storyteller, shapeshifter and visionary. Je Naé is most curious about the practice of joy and the sustenance needed to live extraordinary. Kai M Green is a Black trans educator, poet, and filmmaker from Deep East Oakland. Both Je Naé and Kai have been core members of the Healing & Safety Council of BYP100 since 2015.-- JOIN THE COMMUNITY: Sign up for the email list at www.healingjustice.org    Social media: Instagram @healingjustice, Healing Justice Podcast on Facebook, & @hjpodcast on Twitter   This podcast is 100% volunteer-run. Help cover our costs by becoming a sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice or giving a one time gift here https://secure.squarespace.com/commerce/donate?donatePageId=5ad90c0e03ce64d6028e01bb Please leave a positive rating & review in whatever app you are listening - it all makes a difference!   THANK YOU to all our production volunteers: Content editing by Sonja HansonMixing and production by Zach Meyer at the COALROOMIntro and Closing music gifted by Danny O’BrienAll visuals contributed by Josiah Werning

In this practice, you’re joining (P) Ife Williams & Chris Roberts of BYP100 Healing and Safety Council in a guided collective exercise to explore creating group cultures of safety, affirmation, trust, accountability, and validation. Grab a pen and paper or open up a notes app to take some notes, so as you listen you can learn how to facilitate this yourself for your team in the future. The prompts they teach us are: Safety within [our group] looks like… Validation within [our group] looks like… Trust within [our group] looks like… Accountability within [our group] looks like… Affirmation within [our group] looks like... You can download the corresponding conversation (26 Preventative Healing and Accountability) where we’re talking with Ife & Chris about preventative healing practices, aka how we can set up organizational practices and culture to reduce harm. They talk about enthusiastic consent, their commitment as an abolitionist organization to address harm without using the punitive systems we seek to dismantle, approaching healing with playfulness, creating openings for conflict, and the power of boundaries in creating Black-only space. The following two episodes will continue our conversation with BYP Healing and Safety Council, focusing in on interventional healing & accountability. -- ABOUT OUR GUESTS BYP100’s Healing and Safety Council is a body of members dedicated to cultivating and supporting self-determined forms of healing, cultural production, and harm reduction. HSC exercises the conceptual tenants of the Healing Justice Framework; HSC activates this work through [a] Creative Healing Praxis which is focused on prevention, intervention, and transformation. This looks like the creation and provision of an ongoing base of preventative care modules, community based intervention to interpersonal conflict or violence, and transformative ritual through culture creation and visioning. More about BYP100: https://byp100.org/ (P) Ife Williams is a Chicago native who finds herself in the intellectual praxis of liberation organizing, cultural production and scholar-activism. She is a Black mixed-race queer “art-ivist,” revolutionary mother, dreamer, student, educator, listener, and calm creator. Chris Roberts is a Black scholar, teacher, student, partner, and space-maker. Both Ife and Chris have been core members of the Healing & Safety Council of BYP100 since 2015.-- JOIN THE COMMUNITY: Sign up for the email list at www.healingjustice.org    Social media: Instagram @healingjustice, Healing Justice Podcast on Facebook, & @hjpodcast on Twitter This podcast is 100% volunteer-run. Help cover our costs by becoming a monthly sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice or giving a one time gift here https://secure.squarespace.com/commerce/donate?donatePageId=5ad90c0e03ce64d6028e01bb Please leave us a positive rating & review in whatever podcast app you’re listening - it all helps!   THANK YOU to all our production volunteers: Content editing by Sonja HansonMixing and production by Zach Meyer at the COALROOMIntro and Closing music gifted by Danny O’BrienAll visuals contributed by Josiah Werning

Welcome to part 1 of a 2-part conversation with Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100). This week, Healing and Safety Council members Pascale Ife Williams (Ife) and Chris Roberts join us to share about preventative healing practices, aka how we can set up organizational practices and culture to reduce harm. They talk about what enthusiastic consent means for their organization, their commitment as an abolitionist organization to address harm without using the punitive systems we seek to dismantle, approaching healing with playfulness, creating openings for conflict, and the power of boundaries in creating Black-only space. Next week in episode 27, you’ll hear our second conversation, where we’ll talk with Je Naè Taylor and Kai M Green about interventional practices for harm repair. Download the corresponding practice (26 Practice: Deepening Community Agreements) to join Ife & Chris in a guided collective exercise to explore creating group cultures of safety, affirmation, trust, accountability, and validation. Practice episodes always publish on Thursdays. --- We need your help to fund this volunteer project! Please help cover our costs by becoming a monthly sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice or giving a one time gift at our brand new donation link here: https://secure.squarespace.com/commerce/donate?donatePageId=5ad90c0e03ce64d6028e01bb --- FEATURED IN THIS CONVERSATION: “Stay Woke, Stay Whole: A Black Activist Healing Manual” (1st edition), BYP100 Healing and Safety Council’s internal manual (not currently available to the public) Mary Hooks, Co-Director of Southerners on New Ground (SONG) The song "I LOVE BEING BLACK" is sung here by Ife’s son, Kamari. The lyrics were written by JeNaè Taylor and music produced by Jonathan Lykes for BYP100. The song will be featured on the upcoming album "The Black Joy Experience: Freedom Songs and Liberation Chants from the Movement" which is scheduled to be released in July 2018. The lyrics are for singing by Black folks everywhere: “I love being Black, I said I love being Black! I love the color of my skin, it’s the skin that I’m in! I said I love being Black, I love the texture of my hair, and I rock it everywhere! I said I love being Black, I love being Black!”   ABOUT OUR GUESTS BYP100’s Healing and Safety Council is a body of members dedicated to cultivating and supporting self-determined forms of healing, cultural production, and harm reduction. HSC exercises the conceptual tenants of the Healing Justice Framework; HSC activates this work through [a] Creative Healing Praxis which is focused on prevention, intervention, and transformation. This looks like the creation and provision of an ongoing base of preventative care modules, community based intervention to interpersonal conflict or violence, and transformative ritual through culture creation and visioning. More about BYP100: https://byp100.org/ (P) Ife Williams is a Chicago native who finds herself in the intellectual praxis of liberation organizing, cultural production and scholar-activism. She is a Black mixed-race queer “art-ivist,” revolutionary mother, dreamer, student, educator, listener, and calm creator. We also hear from her son, Kamari. Chris Roberts is a Black scholar, teacher, student, partner, and space-maker. Both Ife and Chris have been core members of the Healing & Safety Council of BYP100 since 2015.-- JOIN THE COMMUNITY: Sign up for the email list at www.healingjustice.org    Social media: Instagram @healingjustice, Healing Justice Podcast on Facebook, & @hjpodcast on Twitter   This podcast is 100% volunteer-run. Help cover our costs by becoming a sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice or giving a one time gift here https://secure.squarespace.com/commerce/donate?donatePageId=5ad90c0e03ce64d6028e01bb Please leave a positive rating & review in whatever app you are listening - it all makes a difference!   THANK YOU to all our production volunteers:Content editing by Sonja HansonMixing and production by Zach Meyer at the COALROOMIntro and Closing music gifted by Danny O’BrienAll visuals contributed by Josiah Werning

This episode's guest Charlene A. Carruthers is a Black, queer feminist community organizer and writer with over 10 years of experience in racial justice, feminist and youth leadership development movement work.  As the founding national director of the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), she has worked alongside hundreds of young Black activists to build a national base of activist member-led organization of Black 18-35 year olds dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. Her passion for developing young leaders to build capacity within marginalized communities has led her to work on immigrant rights, economic justice and civil rights campaigns nationwide. Charlene’s forthcoming book Unapologetic.   We talked about the Black Queer Feminist Lens which is an organizing praxis used by the BYP100. Charlene discusses the Agenda to Build Black Futures and why their platform is taken up by organization’s like the DSA, and touches on the history of Black women communists and socialists like Claudia Jones who have worked to ensure that the US left understand the overlapping systems of oppression that impact Black women, queer, and trans folks. We also talk about the importance of political education, the non-permanency of allyship, prison organizing, why Charlene is clear BYP 100 cannot dismiss engagement in electoral politics, and her upcoming book Unapologetic.   (photo credit to Sara Ji)   field audio samples of BYP100: (intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmF3mVCtANE)  (outro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMTCU0G9y94)    

This is the first Chicago Drill and Activism (AKA "Chi DNA") installment of Bourbon ’n BrownTown. Chi DNA is an ongoing documentary and multimedia project, which also features interviews, micro-documentaries, and editorial pieces on drill rap and the activist resurgence in Chicago. GUEST Charles Preston is a Southside Chicago activist, journalist, and creator of Church on the 9, a glorified corner cypher series for Chicago artists and the Chatham community. Charles played a pivotal role as an organizer during the #SaveCSU campaign, and has worked with BYP100, BLM Chicago, and is a member of TEMBO. OVERVIEW Charles and BrownTown discuss the role art has always had in social movements and continues to have today. Now in the digital age, Chicago activists use various artistic mediums to push the resurgence forward. From traditional studio art to informative and beautiful zines to community corner spoken word, creative narratives are employed to educate, express, and cope. Art has been a tool of movements' past and continues to serve as a versatile component of contemporary movements. With authenticity and expression at the center, this episode also unpacks drill as a type of misunderstood art in-and-of-itself. What would not conventionally be considered movement art, the subgenre unpacks the ills of disenfranchised Black communities in a totally different way, often times coping with larger structural problems with interpersonal and intercommunal affects. CHI DNA The Chicago Drill and Activism project explores the creation, meaning, perspectives, and connections between drill rap and the resurgence of grassroots activism since the early 2010s through the eyes of the people involved. It focuses on contemporary Chicago as an intentional place for the resurgence of these two formations of cultural and political resistance during relatively the same time period. It examines how authenticity, community, and other important values to the subjects are impacted and promoted via technology, social media, and a rejection of traditional means of movement politics and corporate structures. As told by activists and drill rappers alike, the project situates the the subjects’ experiences and actions into a broader theoretical and empirical history of systemic inequality and resistance in Chicago. Follow the ongoing project at Chi-DNA.com for more. -- CREDITS: Intro song Arrogant by King Louie. Outro song Fuck Your Institution by Ric Wilson. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro. -- Chicago Drill and Activism Site | Twitter | Micro-Docs | Support Bourbon ’n BrownTown Site | Become a Patron on Patreon! SoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3 Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Support

Systematic problems don't limit themselves to just the countries we know and hear about; racism, occupation, profiteering, these are global problems and the solutions, too, must look to the world. In our first interview of this week, Cazembe Jackson, a transman and anti-racist socialist organizer from Atlanta, speaks to how the American South is typically erased from activist conversations -- despite having some of the most practice in radical organizing under conservative administrations. Plus, a conversation between two women working on abolition, Johnae Strong (of BYP100) and Masera Maru (Rhodes Must Fall), and why the movement against anti-Blackness spans the world.  Music featured "Black Man In a White World" by Michael Kiwanuka;  "Equal Rights" by Company Freak ft Dawn Tallman Support forward thinking media during our MayDay to MemorialDay membership drive for as little as $2 a month!

https://onthegroundshow.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/OTG-AUG5-2016.MONO_.mp3 A New National Platform for the Movement for Black Lives...The "After Bern" in DC...Thousands of Journalists of Color Descend on DC for a convention of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Plus headlines on the National Night Out for Safety and Liberation and other Black Lives Matter news; a protest at the embassy of the United Arab Emirates against the Green Mile Safari group; activities for the 71st anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and culture and media offerings and more. Guests and Voices: Janae Bonsu, BYP100; Jeremiah Lowery, DC for Democracy; Raphael Mimoun; Akili Ramsess, executive director of the National Press Photographers Association; April Goggans; Vincent Intondi.

Carol Jenkins is joined by Charlene Carruthers, Director of BYP100 to discuss the Black youth movement. BYP100 is an activist group within the ages of 18-35 that work for justice and freedom for all Black people

To celebrate Valentine's Day, SSW Radio produced a mini "Modern Love" inspired interview series. For the conclusion of our series, we looked beyond the love of couples: we wanted to learn about the ethos of love in activism and in building power. We talked with Fresco Steez of BYP100, a black youth activist organization dedicated to ending racial profiling, police brutality, and the prison industrial complex. She talks about what Black Love looks like, and how it fuels their organizing. These short stories about unconventional love on the South Side of Chicago range from middle schoolers to couples in their 40th year of marriage, and discussion about love found in cafes and activist organizations. Music Credit: "The Sun Was Out Intro" and "How You Doing Outro" by Ric Wilson https://soundcloud.com/ricwilsonisme

It has become the norm that when you turn on the news before the month is over another young black person has been killed at the hands of a police officer somewhere in the country. Recently Chicago has been in the news and something different happened. Out of this a new civil rights movement has emerged and it is organized and its membership is all young people between the ages of 18-35. They have strategically gathered together and collaborated across the country showing support in states where violence has emerged against a community for years. They have been there right under our very noses. The news coming out of major cities have awaken Black Youth Project 100 (BYP 100)  an activist member-based organization of Black 18-35 year olds, dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. We do this through building a collective focused on transformative leadership development, non-violent direct action organizing, advocacy and education. BYP per their has trained young black activists in direct action grassroots organizing skills, so they can build the power we need to transform our communities. They have mobilized young Black leaders on issues including ending criminalization and dismantling the prison industrial complex, expanding and securing LGBT and women’s rights. They have and are running campaigns using on the ground and digital tactics towards the goal of ending the criminalization of Black youth, racial profiling and police brutality. Joining us will again be Matt Boykin of the Chicago Branch of BYO100. He is  a member of Black Youth Project 100 here in Chicago. Originally from the Suburbs of Atlanta, Maxx has organized for a wide arrange of issue based, political and union organizing over the last few years in Georgia, Virginia and in the last two years in Illinois around the Affordable Care Act, Fight for 15, Movement for Black Lives and fighting for those living with and communities most effected by HIV. 

With Daniel back east for the holiday, Damon is joined by guest host Page May, who is one of the city's most influential and fierce organizers, to discuss the Laquan McDonald murder and the protests that have filled the streets of Chicago. Page, who is part of organizations BYP100, Assata's Daughters, and We Charge Genocide, talks with Damon about what has been seen, has been done, and where our city and culture stand right now from the front lines of the fight. Recorded live 11/26/15 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music from this week's show: LightningDog - @SabaPIVOT Alright - Kendrick Lamar Follow BYP100 for info about upcoming actions at http://twitter.com/byp_100

Special Guest: Charlene A. Carruthers, national coordinator of the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) Charlene's Bio Charlene A. Carruthers is the national coordinator of the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), an activist member-led organization of Black 18-35 year olds dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. Charlene is a political organizer and writer with over 10 years of experience in racial justice, feminist and youth leadership development movement work. Her passion for developing young leaders to build capacity within marginalized communities has led her to work on immigrant rights, economic justice and civil rights campaigns nationwide. She has led grassroots and digital strategy campaigns for national progressive organizations including the Center for Community Change, the Women’s Media Center, ColorOfChange.org and National People’s Action. Charlene is deeply committed to working with young organizers seeking to create a better world. She has facilitated and developed political trainings for organizations including the NAACP, the Center for Progressive Leadership, the New Organizing Institute, MoveOn.org, Young People For and Wellstone Action. Charlene earned a B.A. in History & International Studies from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. Charlene was born and raised on South Side of Chicago where she currently resides. ***************** Anna DeShawn & the QCrew (Queer Crew) bring authentically-edgy conversation on current topics affecting queer people of color around the country. They bring dynamic guests, engaging conversation, and the hottest independent music. You can tune-in every Thursday at 9p.m. CT/ 7pm PT/ 10pm ET.