Podcasts about African Americans

WABC Host Bill O'Reilly joins the show to talk about the dynamics of the New York City mayoral race, expressing concerns over the potential consequences of frontrunner Zohran Mamdani's policies, particularly on public safety. Additionally, the discussion touches on the influence of foreign-born voters and the importance of African American voter support in shifting political outcomes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tiffany Boyle is a powerhouse in both business and government. As the Commissioner of Revenue for Newport News, Virginia, and the CEO of Emerge Initiatives, LLC, she combines her leadership in public service with her passion for entrepreneurship. Emerge Initiatives is a platform for business owners to access resources, learn, and gain exposure, offering services such as business documentation, social media management, and brand management. She also co-hosts the Emerge Radio Show & Podcast, where she interviews business owners and offers tips for CEOs. Elected in 2017, Tiffany became the first African American woman to serve as Commissioner of the Revenue in Newport News. She oversees a $2.8 million budget and leads a team responsible for tax assessment, correction, defense, and discovery. In recognition of her leadership and impact, Tiffany was chosen out of 12,000 nominees to be among 125 remarkable women by NewNation, with the award presented by Nexstar Media Group. Her community outreach, including the "Commissioners and Cans: Food and Fund Drive," has significantly reduced food insecurity in Newport News. Tiffany has also spearheaded Virginia's first Minority Business Commission and led efforts to address economic equity and opportunity, making a lasting impact on her community and beyond.

This week on Stitch Please, Lisa chats with costume designer LeVonne Lindsay, who turned a post breakup hobby into a career dressing drama literally. From sewing Barbie outfits to running a college costume shop, LeVonne shares what it really takes to make magic backstage. It's a fun, insightful dive into the world of stitches, stage lights, and saying no to shortcuts (until you've earned them).===========Dr. Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville, Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.Instagram: Lisa WoolforkTwitter: Lisa Woolfork======Stay Connected:YouTube: Black Women StitchInstagram: Black Women StitchFacebook: Stitch Please Podcast--Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletterCheck out our merch hereLeave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.Join the Black Women Stitch PatreonCheck out our Amazon Store

Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was a groundbreaking writer and the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Her works, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved—where she coined the word "rememory"—explore race, identity, and the legacies of slavery. Morrison's profound storytelling has made her one of the most influential voices in American literature.For Further Reading: National Women's History Museum: Toni MorrisonToni Morrison, Towering Novelist of the Black Experience, Dies at 88 Manifestations and Memory: A Look At Trauma, Hauntings, and “Rememory”'I wanted to carve out a world both culture specific and race-free': an essay by Toni MorrisonToni Morrison, a Writer of Many Gifts Who Bent Language to Her WillFor the past six years, we've been telling the stories of women you may or may now know– but definitely should. This month, we're bringing back our favorite Womanica episodes from across our back catalog. These are women throughout time and around the world who made their mark. History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn't help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we'll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.Follow Wonder Media Network:WebsiteInstagramTwitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the late ‘80s, two MCC San Francisco ministers wrote an article called “We Are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS.” We wanted to know how a gay/lesbian church came to call itself “a church with AIDS.” The answers lie in the years before our audio archive begins. So we started asking people. We explore two stories in what's likely a more complicated shift. One story is about a pair of religion geeks who learned to make queer church in New York during the early years of the AIDS crisis and then came to San Francisco to lead MCCSF. And the other is how an Easter Sunday ritual made the Christian hope of life through death viscerally real. “We Are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS,” by Kittredge Cherry and Jamies Mitulski was published in the Christian Century on January 27, 1988. For images and links about this episode visit https://www.heavenpodcast.org/episode-3. Get more Outward with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Outward and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Outward show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/outwardplus for access wherever you listen. Production credits:  When We All Get to Heaven is produced by Eureka Street Productions. It is co-created by Lynne Gerber, Siri Colom, and Ariana Nedelman. Our story editor is Sayre Quevedo. Our sound designer is David Herman. Our managing producer is Krissy Clark. Tim Dillinger is our consulting producer and Betsy Towner Levine is our fact-checker. We had additional story editing help from Sarah Ventre, Arwen Nicks, Allison Behringer, and Krissy Clark. For a complete list of credits, please visit http://heavenpodcast.org/credits. This project received generous support from individual donors, the Henry Luce Foundation (www.hluce.org), the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the humanities (www.CalHum.org). Eureka Street Productions has 501c3 status through our fiscal sponsor FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds. The music for this episode is from the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco's archive. It was performed by MCC-SF's musicians and members with Bob Crocker and Jack Hoggatt-St.John as music directors. Additional music is by Tasty Morsels.  “We See You God” is a variation on the anonymously written hymn “We See the Lord.” The soloist in “I Lift Mine Eyes Up” is Bob Crocker. It's by Antonin Dvorak, Biblical Songs, Op. 99, no. 9 on Psalm 121.  “Hush, Hush. Somebody's Calling My Name” is a traditional African American spiritual.  Great thanks, as always, to the members and clergy of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco who made this project possible.   Some links to good groups: The Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco – the congregation's current website.  Metropolitan Community Churches – the denomination of which MCC San Francisco is a part.  San Francisco AIDS Foundation – a place to seek information about HIV.  POZ Magazine – a place to learn everything else about HIV (information included). Save AIDS Research – their recent, epic 24 hours to Save Research conference with all the latest HIV research is available on YouTube through this site.   LGBTQ Religious Archives Network – the place to get lost in LGBTQ+ religious history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late ‘80s, two MCC San Francisco ministers wrote an article called “We Are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS.” We wanted to know how a gay/lesbian church came to call itself “a church with AIDS.” The answers lie in the years before our audio archive begins. So we started asking people. We explore two stories in what's likely a more complicated shift. One story is about a pair of religion geeks who learned to make queer church in New York during the early years of the AIDS crisis and then came to San Francisco to lead MCCSF. And the other is how an Easter Sunday ritual made the Christian hope of life through death viscerally real. “We Are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS,” by Kittredge Cherry and Jamies Mitulski was published in the Christian Century on January 27, 1988. For images and links about this episode visit https://www.heavenpodcast.org/episode-3. Get more Outward with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Outward and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Outward show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/outwardplus for access wherever you listen. Production credits:  When We All Get to Heaven is produced by Eureka Street Productions. It is co-created by Lynne Gerber, Siri Colom, and Ariana Nedelman. Our story editor is Sayre Quevedo. Our sound designer is David Herman. Our managing producer is Krissy Clark. Tim Dillinger is our consulting producer and Betsy Towner Levine is our fact-checker. We had additional story editing help from Sarah Ventre, Arwen Nicks, Allison Behringer, and Krissy Clark. For a complete list of credits, please visit http://heavenpodcast.org/credits. This project received generous support from individual donors, the Henry Luce Foundation (www.hluce.org), the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the humanities (www.CalHum.org). Eureka Street Productions has 501c3 status through our fiscal sponsor FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds. The music for this episode is from the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco's archive. It was performed by MCC-SF's musicians and members with Bob Crocker and Jack Hoggatt-St.John as music directors. Additional music is by Tasty Morsels.  “We See You God” is a variation on the anonymously written hymn “We See the Lord.” The soloist in “I Lift Mine Eyes Up” is Bob Crocker. It's by Antonin Dvorak, Biblical Songs, Op. 99, no. 9 on Psalm 121.  “Hush, Hush. Somebody's Calling My Name” is a traditional African American spiritual.  Great thanks, as always, to the members and clergy of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco who made this project possible.   Some links to good groups: The Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco – the congregation's current website.  Metropolitan Community Churches – the denomination of which MCC San Francisco is a part.  San Francisco AIDS Foundation – a place to seek information about HIV.  POZ Magazine – a place to learn everything else about HIV (information included). Save AIDS Research – their recent, epic 24 hours to Save Research conference with all the latest HIV research is available on YouTube through this site.   LGBTQ Religious Archives Network – the place to get lost in LGBTQ+ religious history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late ‘80s, two MCC San Francisco ministers wrote an article called “We Are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS.” We wanted to know how a gay/lesbian church came to call itself “a church with AIDS.” The answers lie in the years before our audio archive begins. So we started asking people. We explore two stories in what's likely a more complicated shift. One story is about a pair of religion geeks who learned to make queer church in New York during the early years of the AIDS crisis and then came to San Francisco to lead MCCSF. And the other is how an Easter Sunday ritual made the Christian hope of life through death viscerally real. “We Are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS,” by Kittredge Cherry and Jamies Mitulski was published in the Christian Century on January 27, 1988. For images and links about this episode visit https://www.heavenpodcast.org/episode-3. Get more Outward with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Outward and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Outward show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/outwardplus for access wherever you listen. Production credits:  When We All Get to Heaven is produced by Eureka Street Productions. It is co-created by Lynne Gerber, Siri Colom, and Ariana Nedelman. Our story editor is Sayre Quevedo. Our sound designer is David Herman. Our managing producer is Krissy Clark. Tim Dillinger is our consulting producer and Betsy Towner Levine is our fact-checker. We had additional story editing help from Sarah Ventre, Arwen Nicks, Allison Behringer, and Krissy Clark. For a complete list of credits, please visit http://heavenpodcast.org/credits. This project received generous support from individual donors, the Henry Luce Foundation (www.hluce.org), the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the humanities (www.CalHum.org). Eureka Street Productions has 501c3 status through our fiscal sponsor FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds. The music for this episode is from the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco's archive. It was performed by MCC-SF's musicians and members with Bob Crocker and Jack Hoggatt-St.John as music directors. Additional music is by Tasty Morsels.  “We See You God” is a variation on the anonymously written hymn “We See the Lord.” The soloist in “I Lift Mine Eyes Up” is Bob Crocker. It's by Antonin Dvorak, Biblical Songs, Op. 99, no. 9 on Psalm 121.  “Hush, Hush. Somebody's Calling My Name” is a traditional African American spiritual.  Great thanks, as always, to the members and clergy of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco who made this project possible.   Some links to good groups: The Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco – the congregation's current website.  Metropolitan Community Churches – the denomination of which MCC San Francisco is a part.  San Francisco AIDS Foundation – a place to seek information about HIV.  POZ Magazine – a place to learn everything else about HIV (information included). Save AIDS Research – their recent, epic 24 hours to Save Research conference with all the latest HIV research is available on YouTube through this site.   LGBTQ Religious Archives Network – the place to get lost in LGBTQ+ religious history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Benin has long tried to highlight its role in the transatlantic slave trade through monuments and memorials in the country, in the hope it would attract tourism.Now it has a new plan.It is offering citizenship to descendants of enslaved Africans around the world.US singers Lauryn Hill and Ciara received their citizenship in July. Filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife Tonya Lewis Lee have also been made Benin's ambassadors to the African-American population in America.The move is an attempt to attract talent and money to its shores and showcase the nation's culture and traditions to a wider audience.This week on The Inquiry we're asking: Can Benin win back its diaspora?Contributors: Dr Bayo Holsey, Association Professor, African American Studies and Anthropology at Emory University, United States Ana Lucia Araujo, Professor in the Department of History at Howard University, United States Dr Leonard Wantchekon, Founder and President of the African School of Economics Tonya Lewis Lee, filmmaker and entrepreneurPresenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Daniel Rosney Researcher: Maeve Schaffer Technical producer: Nicky Edwards Production Co-ordinator: Hattie Valentine Editor: Tom Bigwood(Photo: Ciara receiving citizenship of Benin. Credit: Government of Benin)

Anne Ganguzza sits down with Billy Collura, a powerhouse agent with over 30 years at CESD New York. Billy shares his unique perspective on the dramatic evolution of the voice acting industry, from the early days of union-only radio spots to the current market dominated by non-union and digital opportunities. This conversation provides essential insight into the biggest voice acting trends that have shaped the industry and reveals the simple, authentic quality that makes a voice actor successful today. 00:03 - Anne (Host) Hey guys, it's Anne from VO Boss here.  00:06 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) And it's George the Tech. We're excited to tell you about the VO Boss. Vip membership, now with even more benefits.  00:12 - Anne (Host) So not only do you get access to exclusive workshops and industry insights, but with our VIP plus tech tier, you'll enjoy specialized tech support from none other than George himself.  00:23 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) You got it. I'll help you tackle all those tricky tech issues so you can focus on what you do best Voice acting. It's tech support tailored for voiceover professionals like you.  00:34 - Anne (Host) Join us guys at VO Boss and let's make your voiceover career soar. Visit vobosscom slash VIP-membership to sign up today.  00:43 - Speaker 3 (Announcement) Slash VIP-membership to sign up today. It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss, a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza.  01:08 - Anne (Host) Hey everyone, Welcome to the VO Boss Podcast. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and today I am thrilled to welcome someone who truly defines what it means to be a powerhouse in the voiceover industry. With more than 30 years at CESD New York, Billy Collura has been at the forefront of commercials and beyond, representing talent with a direct and grounded approach that has earned him the trust of clients and voice actors alike. I think it's fair to say that he doesn't just follow the changes in the business. He really helps to shape them. So, Billy, I am so excited to have you here on the podcast.  01:44 - Billy (Host) Thank you for asking me. Yeah, this is so nice, yeah.  01:47 - Anne (Host) Yeah, I love it, and of course we're like on opposite coasts here, so you're on my home coast and so I do miss New York quite a bit and we did have a little.  01:58 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) How often do you get out here, pardon me, do you get out here often?  02:00 - Billy (Host) Do you ever get out. You know what?  02:01 - Anne (Host) Not as often as I should. I really have now started to say I'm only coming out during the warm season because I'm done with the snow. Yeah, I hear you. But I would imagine like do you travel like elsewhere in the wintertime in New York, Because I know I stay here.  02:22 - Billy (Host) I travel a lot in general um during the course of the year, but um you know, I right now I'm upstate in well. I'm up in the Hudson Valley and in the city of Hudson, which is two hours North of Manhattan, so I go back and forth Um in the winter time. No, I'm usually, I don't know, I'm usually in the Northeast sometimes.  02:43 - Anne (Host) Okay, Are you a skier? Are you a skier? No, absolutely not, Absolutely not. That was, that was what a lot. What kept a lot of people on the East coast? Um, in my area anyways, they're like oh no, I have to be able to ski in the winter.  02:56 - Billy (Host) No, I don't like the cold.  02:57 - Anne (Host) Well, I have a. I have a mountaineer in California, Uh huh.  03:00 - Billy (Host) Uh-huh.  03:02 - Anne (Host) Oh my gosh. Well, anyways, it's so nice to see you again. It's been a while. I saw you at VO Atlanta and I'm just really thrilled that I have the opportunity to talk to you. I know how busy you are, but I'm just so excited that the bosses are going to get this opportunity to really benefit from your wisdom. And so, benefiting from the wisdom speaking of that, you've been at CESD for over three decades. Um, that's, that's amazing. So how would you say that your role as an agent has evolved during that time?  03:37 - Billy (Host) Well, you know like it started when I started. Um, it'll be. Um, it'll be 32 years in May. Oh my gosh, when I started, voiceover was a smaller industry and I dabbled in a little bit of everything, okay.  03:55 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) I did commercials.  03:57 - Billy (Host) There really wasn't. There was no internet back then. So we did radio and TV commercials and industrials and I'm not even sure cable was around when.  04:08 - Anne (Host) I started. I hear you. You know we didn't have computers, any of that.  04:13 - Billy (Host) So we did a little bit of everything. And then, you know, and promos, promos were a thing, and narration and trailers, and so, you know, we did a little bit of all of that. And then, as the industry kept getting bigger and bigger, we started specializing. And all of a sudden, in animation, I dabbled in gaming, but I also, you know, but pretty much my focus was commercials, because that's where the money is, you know, and that was the day where it was just, you know, it was just TV and radio, and you made the actors made a lot of money. Yeah, it was only union, we only worked on union jobs. And now fast forward to now, where 60% to 70% of my desk is non-union. We started doing non-union in 2019. Okay, the union opportunities have pretty much dried up, and I say that, but it's ebb and flow.  05:22 I mean right now this year it was a slow summer for some reason. It was like the old days, it was really slow and I mean that union and non-union. And then I go away on vacation and it just like exploded while I was away and I've been and since then I've been playing catch up and it's been so busy with union, lots of union stuff with non union. Yeah, so it's been great there.  05:49 Yeah. So I mean that's changed and I guess for me what's changed for me is because now I specialize much more on commercials. I do have a few non-union accounts, but I have my large union study accounts, steady accounts. Um, so most of my work, uh is you know, is in the commercial world. I also happen to handle the audio books, but I always say I'm not an audio book agent. I'm the agent at CESD that handles the audio books.  06:18 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) So it's a little difference.  06:20 - Billy (Host) Um so, but the audio book, what I do love about it. You know an an an agent who left um cause she was having. She got married and had babies and she said, take the audio books. They're the nicest people in the world. And I got to say they really are, and so I've kept it.  06:36 I love it. The people are so nice. Um, I really, really enjoy it. So that you know, so I I've been doing that. I also do ADR and loop group stuff, again very specialized, and there really aren't a lot of industrials. Now I know some of the other. I'm one of five, six agents in the department and then there's another two agents that work with agencies that cater to medical industrials.  07:04 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) So they're doing I don't do personally.  07:05 - Billy (Host) I don't do a lot of industrials. I think a lot of the industrials have gone to the pay-to-play sites, so but the union stuff, the medical ones, they are still at the big agencies. I just personally don't happen to have those. I would say maybe the commercial aspect of right Healthcare like pharmaceuticals and that sort of thing is huge and more and more of those blue chip companies are going non-union and those rates are you know.  07:34 - Anne (Host) Sure. What do you attribute that? Why is that happening? What do?  07:39 - Billy (Host) you attribute it to is when it started, when digital work started happening, and these great companies, the Droga5s and there was so many, that's just the first one they were doing great work with the digital work. You know, they were just with stuff before even streaming, when they were just doing they were making commercials for digital work and they were doing fine work. They were doing really good work and these companies, these blue chip companies, were saying, hey, you did that for this much money, why don't you just take all of our network stuff? And that's how I remember, like 10, 12 years ago, a large fast food chain started going, you know, went totally non-union. And then the large fast food chain started going, went totally non-union.  08:25 Then there would be some that because they had a celebrity voice on certain spots, and then they would get a third party and more and more I feel like these agencies, these digital agencies, just kept getting better and better at it and the actors were getting better and better at it. And it's not like the cable stations that you see up here that you know these infomercial things that you know that you can tell it's non-union. You know I've fallen and I can't get up kind of stuff. These. They're doing great work.  08:56 - Anne (Host) I can't tell, are they doing great work because they have great actors or are they doing great work because the entire production value of it?  09:05 - Billy (Host) Yes.  09:06 - Anne (Host) Yes, yes, you know, people are getting better at it.  09:09 - Billy (Host) The voiceover people certainly, and it's not even I mean the voiceover so many people. Covid just changed the game and everybody you know voiceover was the one business in town that didn't shut down during.  09:23 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) COVID.  09:24 - Anne (Host) And every I always say every jaboni with a mic, you know, just set up a studio at home and said I'm going to do voiceover, and not only you know they were well-established Broadway and TV and film you know everybody was doing it and that's and that's so interesting because I would say the majority of people that you know cause I was I was super busy coaching during COVID and I just had so many people that just wanted to like make the demos and get into the industry. But I had a lot more of the talent that were more beginner right to intermediate. But I would imagine that with COVID, with celebrities right them wanting to get into voiceover because what else was there? Because they weren't able to go into a studio, and so I would say that a good portion of that, I would say a good portion of people that were getting those jobs, were probably the celebrities right.  10:27 - Billy (Host) Absolutely coaching. You know they just kept getting better and better at it. And you know, and, and we're willing to work for low wages, I mean that's the other thing. And you know we always say somebody takes a job for $100. You know it's just a race to the bottom. Yeah, you know, if you're gonna add, because you know we don't work on the non union stuff, we don't work on the non-union stuff, we don't work on certain things. I won't work on stuff just because it's not worth my time.  10:48 - Anne (Host) Sure.  10:49 - Billy (Host) And I don't mean to be like, oh, but $250 is a lot to some people. Oh yeah, for all the work that I have to go into it, for me to do it and have my assistant do it and doing the editing to maybe get it, it's just not worth it. But I do. I mean that's usually. My threshold is 250.  11:10 - Anne (Host) And I understand that because I always tell people, because I do a lot of non-broadcast narration, coaching and demos, and I'm always telling people they're like, well, I want an agent. I'm like, well, an agent doesn't get excited about non-broadcast stuff because it's a one and done thing. You don't make your money on that, and so typically you want to have a tip top commercial demo because that's where they're going to be making their money with the residuals and and that sort of a thing. So would you do? You think it has to do with the sheer volume of people that got into voiceover as well. If you've got enough, you know, if you throw spaghetti against the wall right there, some of them will stick. And so then I started to drive down. I'm going to say it started to drive down maybe the prices, uh, or people willing to do the work for less, because it just got to be competitive.  11:56 - Billy (Host) It did.  11:57 There's so many people doing it now, so many people, and especially in the non-union world, there's so many opportunities out there and you know, with the pay to plays and I've kind of changed my tune a little on the pay to plays and I kind of see they're there for a reason. They're a great, you know, tool for learning, for getting the experience, for the auditioning. And I and I learned recently when I was at a conference in Holland and met the CEO from Voices 123. And I learned that they love to put people together and to put the actor and the company together. Take it off the platform and do your thing.  12:41 They don't want to micromanage, like there are other pay-to-plays that micromanage everything.  12:45 But I really found that you know, oh, that's really nice, and then people can make money that way. They're not interested, they're just interested in making the match. So, but, that being said, there are so many people that are doing this now and, yeah, driving down the prices because you know, they may be this may not be their full-time gig, it just may be a side hustle for them. So, yeah, sure, an extra $200, an extra $100, an extra $350. That can accumulate. But unfortunately then they're like well, you did it last time for $100. Why can't you? So it's hard, it's hard.  13:21 - Anne (Host) It is, but would you say that the amount of jobs is diminishing or no, it's just as volume you know, I don't see volume as normal.  13:33 - Billy (Host) I'm busy, you know, but I don't know, like, like I said, this summer was slow with the opportunities, with the, with the auditions. I find that my casting directors, my union casting, just my casting directors in general, um, they, you know, I have some that are busier than others, some I will hear from, you know, once every other month, and then some I will hear from three or four times a week. You know, um, so it's and it's all you know. There's no logic to it.  14:03 - Anne (Host) And then on the um isn't that the truth. Yeah, and then um after all these years, wouldn't you think like you could? You could predict, you know.  14:14 - Billy (Host) I would say to actors you know, I'm not booking, it's just one phone call, it's one job, don't forget. They're only picking one person, but yeah, yeah, picking one person. You, yeah, you know, only picking one person you know and you don't know.  14:25 - Anne (Host) That's a way to put it in perspective. Actually, if you think about it, but in 400,.  14:30 - Billy (Host) You know how many people are auditioning.  14:31 That's why with select VO. You know that only allows you X amount of people to submit. So if they, if the agency says, if they invite you and they say you can only submit three people per role, they won't let you submit a fourth person. So you really have to be smart and we're not the type of agency that will send you know to ten people and then, sophie's Choice, the three that I want. You know, I don't believe in that. I don't. I feel it's a waste of time of the actor. It's certainly a waste of time for my assistant and for me to have to listen to, then you have to listen to them Exactly.  15:10 - Anne (Host) What's the point, you know, and so that translates to me to a good relationship with everybody that's on your roster, absolutely, that that knowledge of their capabilities and you can communicate, uh, back and forth to make sure that the two of you are are, you know, keeping up with one another, and you would be the one that say, okay, I'm going to handpick this audition and send this to this many people, because you're the one that has to do the work right To send it the top three, to the. So the client.  15:43 - Billy (Host) Yeah, absolutely so. It's my reputation and there are some casting directors that you know they will.  15:48 I will submit a list and they will pick who they want to hear you know, back up, if I lose, or if we lose somebody, who else would you like? Or, you know, sometimes they'll say these are the three I want to hear. Send me one of your choice that maybe I, somebody, I don't know, um, and then there are certain casting directors that will micromanage and they have to. They, you know they will only see these people and they're, you know, not flexible. But it just kind of makes me a better agent.  16:14 - Anne (Host) That's why we're.  16:15 - Billy (Host) Cesd is an exclusive agency. We don't oversign in the union or non-union world. We're still building up our non-union roster. You know we're still doing that, but that's where we have the most amount of opportunities. You know, in the non-union world, Sure, Plain and simple.  16:34 - Anne (Host) Absolutely, absolutely. So what would you say after all these years? What's kept you loving your job?  16:42 - Billy (Host) Because it's different every day. You know, that's the— that's the thing. I never know what's ahead of me. So I, you know, I just love. Every day there's some, there's a new challenge, there's something new. Also, recently I have a new assistant who I adore and I love teaching him. He's a little sponge and he wants to learn.  17:09 And so that kind of inspires me to want to teach him, and you know so that that is. I guess that's the difference, and also being able to, because the business has changed. Remotely, you know, I can start earlier, I'm not in the office, I I can work later, you know. It just kind of like the whole. It's such I don't want to say a relaxed, but I feel I feel more relaxed Now. It could be because I've been doing this for a hundred years, but I just feel relaxed, I enjoy what I do. I don't feel the pressure. I don't feel like there's no such thing as a voiceover emergency If somebody screws up or, you know, if I've given you know there's no such thing.  17:51 - Anne (Host) Bravo to that. I always say there's never a VO emergency.  17:54 - Billy (Host) No, there's never a first you know, if something went wrong, don't freak out. How?  17:59 - Anne (Host) do we fix it? How do we?  18:00 - Billy (Host) fix it, that's all you know.  18:02 - Anne (Host) Now, that's from your perspective. What about your client, your casting director? Your client's perspective? Are there VO emergencies? Yeah, there could be, that's on them, not on me. Yeah, okay, I love that.  18:13 - Billy (Host) I don't, you know, I wanna help fix the problem, you know, sure so. And I mean, yeah, you know, it's always something. Fortunately I haven't had any of those emergencies in a while. But you know, the other night I was it was nine o'clock my time and an LA. It was an LA agency booking a client. She happened to be on the West coast, so it worked out okay, but it was nine 30. And I was like you know, I'm old, I can't stay up. And then I thought, and I got a text from the casting director she goes we want to book so-and-so. I left all the information on the email. So I was like, oh well, I have to finish Gilded Age, this episode, and then, as soon as I'm done, I will get on my computer.  18:56 - Anne (Host) I love it, that's great?  18:59 - Billy (Host) I guess yeah. So that's what keeps me going. The relationship with my clients, I don't. It's different because back in the day, actors used to come into the office to audition. West Coast was different because you guys were MP3ing long before, because you all wouldn't get in a car and drive a half hour to the studio.  19:20 - Anne (Host) But in New York, well, because of the traffic.  19:24 - Billy (Host) Yeah, yeah, and that's why you couldn't get to three auditions back in the day, but it was our job in New York to get you, you know, to get you from the Upper West Side down to Wall.  19:34 - Anne (Host) Street over to Midtown yeah, I know so many voice actors who still um go into studios to audition in New York. I mean, I almost don't hear about it anymore, except for well, I'm sorry, excuse me to go into the go on for booking.  19:48 - Billy (Host) No for bookings, they will.  19:49 - Anne (Host) They encourage that now but I have heard people in the last couple of years. I mean it's not every day, but sometimes they are going in. I don't know if it's to audition or if it's to actually do the job it's usually you know there's one or two the studios.  20:03 - Billy (Host) You know a couple of the studios that do auditioning, because that's what changed? Oh, okay, that makes sense, like all the advertising agencies that were in-house casting directors and those casting directors ended up going to the studios in New York and they have in-house casting directors, so they will encourage the Sonic Unions. The. Headrooms the Sound Lounges they will encourage hey, if the client is local to New York, boom, have them come in. Oh, that makes sense. And it kind of opened up because not everybody got SourceConnect especially our older clients.  20:40 It wasn't cost effective for them for that one audition every other month. It wasn't so the foreign language people, they weren't getting it because there weren't enough opportunities. But especially I I want to say the older clients they really weren't getting so this kind of opened up. If you lived in New York you could still send an MP3 and you're able to go to Sound Lounge for the booking that was always that's always a nice caveat.  21:06 - Anne (Host) So I'm sure people ask you this all the time. Commercial voiceover has changed, evolved over the years. Advertisers have changed how they buy and consumers have changed, I think, how they listen. What would you say is what sort of things have changed in terms of trends for commercial VO? What are you looking for now that maybe is different than what was relevant maybe five, even five or 10 years ago, Because I know probably you're going to say like 30 years ago it was more of that announcer sort of style, it was promo. But you know, maybe five, 10 years ago, what has changed?  21:43 - Billy (Host) You know, it was the, you know, when I first started. It was the time, when, you know, Demi Moore started with Keds and there was that raspy, damaged sound that has kind of you know, demi Moore started with kids and she there was that raspy damage sound that has, kind of you know, was such a thing for so long and our and I know our women back then, you know, were the most successful.  22:04 - Anne (Host) I coveted that which is not a part of my genetic makeup at all. I'm like I can't, I can't get a raspy.  22:11 - Billy (Host) No, if you don't, you know you can't put oh, I woke up with a, you know, with a sore throat today. I sound great I should audition. No, you shouldn't. Exactly. So that was. You know, that was always the thing and yeah, it was the rough and tough announcers and you know all those, all those guys, and then that kind of went away and it was the John Corbett kind of sound and he was you.  22:31 he stuck around for a long time as a prototype and now it's Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones and then. So those trends kind of changed. But then about 10 years ago, everything you know really were, it was people of color. You know they wanted voices for actors and that really opened up a wide, you know a wider net. There was no general market anymore because they used to say, you know, they were very specific, we want a Caucasian voice. But now you only see that if you're doing a demo for the on-camera and the on-camera actor happens to be a certain color. But they want authenticity. I remember you know getting. Now, everybody, especially in the union world, they want authenticity. I remember you know getting. You know everybody, especially in the union world, they all want to check boxes. You know, yeah, yeah, they, yeah, so they, you know it's all ethnicities. You know we want non-binary people and I'm like what does a non-binary person sound?  23:27 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) like I don't, it took me you know.  23:29 - Billy (Host) Then I realized oh, they don't really, they're just checking off boxes, but for the, you know, for the African-American community, they were in vogue. They were, you know, I would get breakdowns, all ethnicities, and the prototypes would be Viola Davis, Tiffany Haddish and Angela.  23:49 Bassett, Do the math you know, so that was a thing. And Angela Bassett do the math. You know, so that was a thing. And I think you know, I still think that that is happening. But I'm finding a trend like that is kind of changing, where general market is truly general market. Now they want, you know, it's everybody, it's everything.  24:09 - Anne (Host) That's great. Yes, I love to hear that.  24:12 - Billy (Host) That's the way it should have been, but unfortunately it was so the other way for so long and then it shifted and now it's kind of evening out.  24:21 - Anne (Host) Sure.  24:21 - Billy (Host) Sure, I don't know.  24:23 - Anne (Host) Well, I mean, that's what I was thinking would happen at some point. Right, it would even out and it's kind of nice to hear that that's happening.  24:31 I mean, I wouldn't want it to go another extreme you know, at all, you know, and especially because the world's a little chaotic right now and I know that it's affecting companies and their advertising, and so that to me says gosh, I hope that there's still as much opportunity for everybody as there ever was. And so that's just one of those things where I think if there was a slow part of the season, maybe it's people, you know. I think there's companies trying to gauge like what's happening and what's going to be what's going to work for them in terms of advertising.  25:08 And it's not so much the voice, but the whole, the whole thing, yeah, the whole, all of it On camera, all of it, all of it. How are they going to advertise it to be effective?  25:18 - Billy (Host) And I think you know, and I think that and this is just me I feel like voice wise, I feel that the union world is more tries to check the boxes, much more than the non-union world.  25:32 - Speaker 3 (Announcement) I truly than the non-union world.  25:33 - Billy (Host) I truly believe the non-union world they're gonna pick the best voice for the job, no matter what ethnicity you are.  25:41 I find, and I just because of the actors that I speak with, not only because I speak with my non-union actors in general so much more, just simply because there's so much opportunity there. But I notice, with my union actors I just don't A I don't really have that many opportunities for them. But you know it is. I speak to certain ones more, a lot more than the others. But I don't find that, I find it much broader in the non-union world. I mean it's a different and I've learned so much about the non-union world. I mean it's a different and I've learned so much about the, the non-union community and how. You know how different it is. I feel that it is much more I don't know how to say it. It's much more of a community, I feel.  26:27 I feel that they, they really are supportive of each other, they help each other. It's not as competitive or as petty competitive as it can sometimes be in the union world, it's just, and I think it's fabulous that they really everybody's out to help each other much more in that community.  26:52 - Anne (Host) Well, that's refreshing to hear. I like that from you, Absolutely. So then for you, for talent on your roster. What sort of qualities are you looking for in any talent that might appear on your roster? You know what's funny.  27:06 - Billy (Host) When I first started, you know, when COVID happened first thing, when I and I did a lot of these classes, first thing I was like, obviously the first thing was do you have SourceConnect? You know if?  27:17 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) you have SourceConnect, because so few?  27:18 - Billy (Host) people did.  27:19 - Anne (Host) You went right to the top of my list.  27:22 - Billy (Host) Yeah, if you had SourceConnect, and then it's, you know, and then it's just about reading the copy, and that's the same basic thing is, how do you read copy? Some of my most successful people, my white actors over 40, I have a couple of them and they just read copy. So well, I don't know what it is, they just they're just, they're just great they were. And so, yeah, there's. You can't teach it, it's, you know, it's just natural. This one particular guy, yeah, does he have that Paul Rudd feel to him? Just that guy next door, just that real comfortable, relaxed, nothing pushed, that's how he is in life and that's how it comes across Right, right. Oh, there was something else.  28:06 Oh, I did this one class and there was this woman, you know, like late 20s white woman, and there was just something. I was on a panel, I was one of three people and, oh my God, she was. There was just something about her read that made me crazy and like the next day I was like I have, you know, I want to set you up. I love you, you know, I love you the best. And now, here we are. I love you, know, I love you the best, and now here we are, fast forward to probably a little more than a year. She is one of my most successful actresses on my roster. And what is it about her? I don't know. She's just fabulous. You know, she just, she just reads. It's just, it's honest.  28:50 - Anne (Host) So I'm always looking for that honest. I like that honest, yeah, authentic, yeah. And I like, with that honest, I like that honest, yeah, authentic, yeah. And I like how you know we've heard for for so long right, bring you to the party, bring you to the party, it's that. I think that's so important. And and we throw it around like, oh yeah, okay, I can bring me, but and yet so many people still try to perform, uh and and if they really can just stop in their own head and and just bring themselves to the party because, like you and I like talk like there's something about like I really like Billy, and it's, it's, it's like an intangible thing and it's your personality, right, it's, it's how we connect.  29:23 - Billy (Host) And I think that's what's so right away. The first time we met, we would just like exactly.  29:30 - Anne (Host) I think that's the same thing for voice actors. If you can, you know, if, if you've got a great personality and you're like one of those people that you can connect with right away, I mean that's what I think we're looking for, that authenticity it's you're not trying to, you know, push anything and and this is who you are and I love to hear that, because I keep telling people gosh, you are enough. I mean it really is. Please don't try to be anything other than yourself, because I really like you.  29:55 - Billy (Host) Yes, and so many voice actors. They forget that.  30:00 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) you know this is acting and I said you know you got to get out of your head into your gut.  30:05 - Billy (Host) Whether you're selling peas for 99 cents, it doesn't matter. You have to be, you know, honest and authentic with it, so important. Now I have to ask the question authentic with it, so important?  30:14 - Anne (Host) Now I have to ask the question because you know probably everybody does. And what do you think about the threat of AI in the industry, and especially now that there's? It's not even just voice, it's on camera too.  30:27 - Billy (Host) Yeah, yeah. So I mean, we keep our eye on it. We read every contract, we read every contract, we read every breakdown. You know SAG is doing their best. Bless their hearts.  30:42 You know, nava is you know, above and beyond, what they're doing with the rules and the legislation and what they're doing. You know it's coming, it's not going away and it's going to get better and better. So we just try to keep our eyes and ears on everything and try to follow the rules and say, nope, large deal right now. And there was a huge component with um. They wanted an AI replica and fortunately, the person um doing it was like no, I've heard replicas of my voice and they're not, and they never sound as good as the real thing.  31:27 - Anne (Host) Um, so that's a really interesting point because I know for a fact that that's true, because I, you know back in the day. Well, back a few years ago, I started really delving deep into that and researching companies and how they made voices, and I've heard a lot of voices and there are some people who are amazing actors but yet their voice doesn't translate. Well, either it's the AI technology that has not given, it's just it's not doing the right thing for them and, yeah, it doesn't translate.  31:56 - Billy (Host) Yeah, and he said no, I, I will not. It's my, it's my voice, it's my reputation, and I will be available whenever they need me. They were like well, what in case he's what? You know? What if he's away on vacation?  32:08 - Anne (Host) Yeah, he said there are no VO emergencies. No, there are no VO emergencies, Right, there's no VO emergencies.  32:15 - Billy (Host) So yeah, so are we concerned about it? Yeah, am I concerned, absolutely, but you know I can't lose sleep over it.  32:23 - Speaker 3 (Announcement) It's coming.  32:24 - Billy (Host) You know, it's coming, and so we just have to manage it and make it work to our advantage.  32:30 - Anne (Host) Yes, I agree, I agree, I and make it work to our advantage. Yes, I agree, I agree, I love that. So I'm very excited because you're going to be doing a class for us, a VO Boss workshop, in November. As a matter of fact, it's going to be November 12th. Can you tell us a little bit about what we're going to be doing in that class?  32:48 - Billy (Host) Well, what I usually do is I like to just kind of give my spiel about what I've been doing and I guess the do's and don'ts of the proper way to get in touch with an agent, what to expect, what not to expect from you know. Once you're submitting to an agent, I just try to, I try to just say the things you know, kind of give the tips that actors need to know. You know what's proper, what's not, what's gonna get you. You know what's gonna get you seen, what's gonna get you heard. You know what makes it easy for me, the agent.  33:24 And I've come to also realize that it works differently from agency to agency. So I can only speak to what works for me, um, at CESD, um, but we'll, you know, I'll talk about that and I'll just talk about my feelings on on what it takes, what tools you're going to need and I mean like literal tools, what kind of demos you're going to need, that sort of stuff. Do a little Q and a and then read some copy, you know and anybody that does come to the class.  33:54 um, it's gotta be commercial copy, because that's that's what I do, you know um. I, I'm, I'm not going to be able to judge you on your animation copy or you know that kind of stuff. That's not really what I do. So we'll, you know, we'll do that and we'll tear it apart and hopefully get to two pieces within the class.  34:14 - Anne (Host) Yeah, I love that. We'll see. Yay, well, I'm very excited for that and, bosses, I'll be putting a link so that you can sign up for it, because I'm quite sure it's going to go quickly. Now my last question is because you said you're in upstate New York and I, you know, I have my own, like my own, nostalgic memories of upstate New York, and so, for me, I'd be riding a horse, you know, in in the countryside. So if you weren't an agent, philly, what would you be doing right now? Oh God, would you have a different career? Would you be retired and riding horses, or?  34:49 - Billy (Host) Yeah, well, you know, I've only had three different jobs in my life, okay, well, you know, other than high school jobs. I was an actor slash waiter, and then I became an agent. You know Like I've been it's you know. So I moved to New York to be an actor and that didn't happen, but I always kind of I was. I had a friend who was a commercial casting director and so I used to go in and help him out at the casting calls.  35:20 That was back in the days of Polaroids and signing up and I really was fascinated by it. And he would you know. And he kept saying there's an opening at this agency. Do you want to go? And I would go and audition, you know, to be an assistant. Sure, and then boom, boom, boom.  35:35 And then, it just so happens, he said CED, because we weren't CESD at that point it was looking to expand the voiceover department and was I interested, and my partner at the time said go and audition. I mean go and audition, apply for the job, cause one of these days you will make more money than me. And so you know. And um and so um, and now, every year, every year. I'm still in touch with him and I call him and I say thank you, greggy, for allowing me to have this job.  36:08 - Anne (Host) Here's my annual income report allowing me to have this job.  36:11 - Billy (Host) Here's my annual income report yes, so anyway, yeah. So I've thought about this. What do I do? I'm too old to be a waiter.  36:23 - Anne (Host) I'm not going to go back, though I think I would be really good at it.  36:25 - Billy (Host) I have these- I agree, actually, you've got the social I think I could do. Yeah, so do I go. But when I retire, whenever that is, I want to social. I think I could do. Yeah, you know, so do I go. But you know, when I retire, you know, whenever that is, I'm on a travel. I just love to travel, that's, that's my thing. So you know. You know, I feel like when this is behind me, that I will, you know, I'll just travel. I'm not going to be on a horse up here, but I always had.  36:50 You know, sometimes I've had, you know, I don't know if I even want another. You know job and I'm at that point now where you know, I'm old and I don't want another career. It's not like I'm. You know, I'm going to be an artist, or you know, I once thought I thought well, maybe I'll just go do community theater somewhere.  37:07 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) I have a friend.  37:08 - Billy (Host) I have a friend, interestingly enough, a little older than I am, lives in Chicago and he started taking an acting class just for the hell of it.  37:16 - Anne (Host) For the hell of it.  37:17 - Billy (Host) And he said, the others they love it because they have somebody to play the old man in all those scenes. And I thought, oh my God, that's great, I could do that. Yeah, I love that. I thought yeah, why not community theater you? Know, if that was it. Now there's no community theater in New York City, so if that's where I retire, you know. But if I was to retire up here, you know that would interest me, and you know because I am a lover of theater, so I do.  37:46 - Anne (Host) Yeah, Well, I feel like you kept yourself in the acting world, you know by being an agent I mean in that you know, it's still like a. It's still you're very much immersed in it, and so I feel like, if that was your one love, you came to New York, by the way. Where did you come from?  38:02 - Billy (Host) I grew up in Waltham Massachusetts, oh okay. Okay yeah, just a little outside of. Boston.  38:07 - Anne (Host) Yeah, very familiar with it. I went.  38:09 - Billy (Host) Yeah, I grew up in Waltham and then I went to UMass, Amherst and then to New York.  38:14 - Anne (Host) That was my. Oh, fantastic, yeah, there you go. Well, my gosh, it has been such a pleasure chatting with you today. I mean, I could go on. I feel like we could go on, but at some point, I do have to quit at some point.  38:32 But yeah, thank you so so much for sharing your wisdom. It's been really a joy talking with you. I'm so excited for November. Guys, bosses, remember November 12th. Get yourself to vobosscom and sign up to work with this gentleman. He's amazing, and I'm going to give a great big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl. You, too, can connect and network like bosses like Billy and myself, and find out more at IPDTLcom. Guys, have an amazing week and I'll see you next week. Bye, bye.  39:05 - Speaker 3 (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, Anne Ganguzza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPDTL.   

Raina Lampkins-Fielder is the Curator of Souls Grown Deep, a nonprofit that advocates for the artistic recognition and social and economic empowerment of Black artists from the American South. With a distinguished career as an art historian, museum educator, and curator of 20th century and contemporary American Art, focusing on African American creative expression, Lampkins-Fielder has worked for over 20 years in museums and cultural institutions including the Brooklyn Museum, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Andy Warhol Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She has curated and produced many exhibitions, served as a juror for artist residency programs, organized and participated in numerous academic conferences, and spoken widely on audience accessibility to the arts in the US and abroad. She holds a BA in English from Yale University and an MA in the History of Art from the University of Cambridge, England.She and Zuckerman discuss finding solace in museums, assumptions, play as fearlessness, stewardship of precious sharing, saying thank you, vulnerability, lines of life, how art saves lives—including hers, burdens of history, stories of abundance, using sound as a curatorial strategy, being a mom and how that influences her practice, how there is no sound bite for why art matters, how art speaks to the unspeakable, and overjoying in creation!

273. Wise Living: Why to Get Outside and Travel and Read Aloud with Amber O'Neal Johnston   “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 NIV   *Transcription Below*   Amber O'Neal Johnston is an author, speaker, and Charlotte Mason homeschooling mom who blends life-giving books and a culturally rich environment for her four children and others seeking to do the same. She recommends we offer children opportunities to see themselves and others reflected in their lessons, especially throughout their books, and she's known for sharing literary “mirrors and windows” on HeritageMom.com and @heritagemomblog. Amber is also the author of Soul School: Taking Kids on a Joy-Filled Journey Through the Heart of Black American Culture and A Place to Belong, a guide for families of all backgrounds on raising kids to celebrate their heritage, community, and the world.   www.HeritageMom.com www.SoulSchoolBook.com www.APlaceToBelongBook.com www.instagram.com/heritagemomblog www.facebook.com/heritagemomblog   Thank You to Our Sponsor:  Sam Leman Eureka   Questions that We Discussed: Looking back, what would you say has helped to shape your children's character the most? What have you learned about the importance of getting our kids (and ourselves) out into nature? How do you actually make time to be a content creator and to also homeschool and travel and host?   Other Related Episodes from The Savvy Sauce: 53 Practical Life Tips with Blogger, Rach Kincaid 57 Implementing Bite-Size Habits That Will Change Your Life with Author, Blogger, Podcaster, and Speaker, Kat Lee 82 Traveling with Your Family with Katie Mueller 84 Ordering Your Priorities with Kat Lee 103 Making Family Memories with Jessica Smartt 200 Planting Seeds of Faith in Our Children with Courtney DeFeo 204 Charlotte Mason Inspired Mini-Series: A Delectable Education with Emily Kiser 207 Cultivating Character in Our Children with Cynthia Yanof 212 School Series: Benefits of Homeschooling with Jodi Mockabee 253 Low Tech Parenting with Erin Loechner   Connect with The Savvy Sauce Our Website, Instagram or Facebook    Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:11 - 2:01) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   The principles of honesty and integrity that Sam Leman founded his business on continue today over 55 years later at Sam Leman Chevrolet Inc. in Eureka. Owned and operated by the Burchie family, Sam Leman's in Eureka appreciates the support they've received from their customers all over central Illinois and beyond. Visit them today at LehmanGM.com.   Amber O'Neal Johnston is my fascinating guest for today. She's an author and speaker and coach and she's just chosen to live a very wise life as a wife and mother, and I think you're going to enjoy gleaning practical tips such as the benefits of getting our children out in nature regardless of their age. She has teens and makes this super practical for things that they would enjoy too, and she shares these incredible benefits of what happens when we simply step outdoors. She's also going to share approachable ways to introduce our family to great art and other cultures, and she gives us a fabulous book list, so, make sure you stay tuned through the end of the episode so that you can see some of the top books that she recommends. Finally, if you don't have a copy of her own latest release entitled Soul School, I highly recommend you purchase that today. Here's our chat.   Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Amber.   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (2:02 - 2:04) Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.   Laura Dugger: (2:04 - 2:14) Well, I'd love for you just to start us off and introduce us to your family, and will you just share a glimpse of your values and lifestyle?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (2:15 - 3:48) Absolutely. So, I live outside of Atlanta, Georgia with my husband Scott and our four children. We are just entering birthday season, but shortly they will be 16, 14, 12, and 10. The girls are the two oldest. The boys are the two youngest, and they've been homeschooled from the beginning, so, we're a homeschooling family. I'm originally from Illinois. My husband's originally from Ohio, but we met here in Atlanta at the High Museum of Art, which is really special. We are art loving, you know, fine arts loving, liberal arts loving family, and so, the idea that we met at the museum, I will just cherish that forever. I came to, before homeschooling, I was a stay-at-home mom, and prior to having children, I have an MBA, and I worked in corporate America in like marketing and advertising, and Scott comes from a similar background with the MBA, and he was doing work in that area too, so, we had that as a connection point, but I have always stayed home with the kids, and you know, our values are rooted in our Christian faith, and we're an African-American family, and so, we have values and cultural aspects that enter our home through that avenue as well. We are world travelers, so, we enjoy that as part of who we are, and I'm an author and a speaker, and I'm just a very happy homeschooler.   Laura Dugger: (3:48 - 4:12) I love that, and it sounds like such a rich and abundant life, and there's two little connections that I have to go back to. My husband and I had a date at that same museum. I love that you met your husband there. Oh wow, that's wild! And so, we met when we were in Atlanta, but live in Illinois now, so, which part of Illinois were you originally from?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (4:12 - 4:33) I'm from Elgin, Illinois. It's out past O'Hare Airport, and I was born and raised there. My parents were both public school principals there. My dad was principal of Elgin High, and there's actually an elementary school, Ron O'Neal Elementary School in Elgin, named after my father, so, that is where I'm from.   Laura Dugger: (4:33 - 4:46) Wow, okay, so, then even with that piece, your father being a principal, and then you said you've homeschooled since the beginning. Did you always anticipate you would homeschool, or what was your journey into that?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (4:47 - 7:15) Oh my gosh, never, and it's both of my parents were principals, so, that's wild. My grandfather was an elected school board official. My sister was an elected school board official, so, public school is just, you know, in my blood from the very beginning, and that's what I assumed I would do for my kids at first. Once Scott and I got married, and we had discussed it, we decided that I would stay home when they were little, and when they were old enough to go to school, I would go back to work, and my salary would pay for private Christian school tuition, and as the years, you know, months really came to fruition for my oldest, my husband started backpedaling, and he started talking this crazy talk about homeschooling. I'm like, that's a switcheroo for you. What are you talking about? I was like, that's weird. I don't want to do that. I don't feel called to do that. That does not seem like a comfortable space for me. I don't want my kids to endure that, and ultimately, I lacked confidence in that. I couldn't even articulate it. It felt scary, terrifying. Why would I take something so weighty into my own hands, and Scott was very persistent, and I can't even explain why he was so persistent about it, but I think to me, I feel like it was planted in him by the Lord, and he felt that this was the way he wanted to lead his family, and he did it so graciously because I was very resistant. He asked, would you please try it for one year, and if you are unhappy, you don't think it's right. I'll never ask you about it again, and that gave me a softer place to land where I felt like it wasn't signing up for a long-term commitment because I knew I was going to hate it, and I said, sure. I will do that, and oh, my gosh. It was the most amazing year, and I laugh now because my daughter was four, so, she's like four and turned five during that year, and so, she was so young, and people were like, well, what were you really doing, but I took it so seriously. I was doing all things, and I joined a homeschool support group, and I was reading about it, and I realized on Friday, I'm a stay-at-home mom, and on Monday, I took on this identity of a homeschooling mom, and it's just been a beautiful journey for us. I'm so thankful that the Lord led Scott in that way. He knew what was right, not just for our children, but for me, too, when I had no vision for it, and so, I'm just, you know, very grateful.   Laura Dugger: (7:16 - 7:30) I love that story. That's such an encouragement, and, okay, your oldest is turning 16, so, when you look back, what would you say has helped shape your children's character the most?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (7:32 - 9:29) Well, I think the time that we've all had to spend together, like intense amounts of time, so, not just quality time or quantity time, but both, and I think that there's nothing else I could have done that could replace that, so, I think that's one of the things. I think my own acceptance of the divine nature of me being their mother and those being my children, and really that leading me to embrace my mother's intuition, which is something that I was hesitant for at first because there are so many experts, and surely they know so much more than me, and that's not to say that that's not important. I read so widely. I'm always reading expert ideas and views, but what I realized is that those things can help me as tools. They can mentor me, but they can't master me because the master has already appointed me as the perfect mom for these children, and nobody knows them, the little tiny details of them that nobody knows more than me, and so, when I leaned into that and I'm like, yeah, this says this online, this book said that, this thing says that, I can take what I can from those, but ultimately I feel the spirit telling me and leading me in this way with these children, and when I really leaned into that, I have a right to do that. I am their mother. That revolutionized things, and I think that's what's helped shape my children's character the most is my willingness to lean into how I'm led to lead them, and so, that's been a motherhood journey for me, and I hope that it's a legacy that I leave with my children.   Laura Dugger: (9:31 - 9:53) And do you have any specific stories that come to mind that were examples of that mother's intuition, something that really I think it is such a gift from the Lord and that the Holy Spirit speaks to us in some unique way as mothers to be in tune with our kids, so, is there a time that it really benefited them when you exercised your mother's intuition?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (9:53 - 12:42) Well, there was one time with my third, my son, my oldest son, his name is Beckett, and he was in the high chair eating while I was braiding my daughter's hair, and I heard him start making like these really weird noises, and I looked over and it was like he was choking and gagging, and I run over, and but he seemed fine, but then he would do it again, and he started sweating, and you know today I really would say, you should call 9-1-1, but I didn't, I threw all the kids in the car, and I rushed to the ER, and when we got there he wasn't choking anymore, he wasn't sweating, they did his vitals and everything, and they said, well mom, whatever happened passed, he's fine, and you guys can go home, and I was like, no, he's not fine, I'm looking at him, he's not my little boy, his vitals are checking out, but he's not looking at me the way he normally looks at me, he's not interacting with me, the little funny things that I can make him smile all the time, he's not responding to them, and so, like, I know you have your tests, but like my, I'm telling you something's wrong with my little boy, so, they have a doctor, he comes in to tell me everything's fine, and he's sending me home, and so, I was like, well I'm not leaving, I'll just spend the night in the ER then with all my kids, because I know something's wrong, and the doctor, who's this older man, he turns to me, he looks me in my eyes, and he says, you know, in all my years of medical training, there's something that they never told us, but something I've learned throughout my career, never doubt a mother's intuition, and he said, we'll take him and run more tests, and they took Beckett back to run more tests, and they came back and said, you were right, he has swallowed a coin, and it's like just teetering on the precipice, and so, at times it was blocking his airway, and at times it was shifted a little bit, and we have to go in immediately and get it, and that could have choked him, if you had just gone home and put him down to bed, and so, in that story, I took away two things, one, that I am his mother, and I don't care what the test says, or what the data says, or what the news, or a book, at the end of the day, I knew that something was wrong with my boy, the other thing is the graciousness of that doctor, to see my humanity and my personhood beyond just the insurance payment, or protocol, or whatever, it let me know that like there's something powerful about letting other people know that you see them, and that you are connected to them, as another part of God's creation, like he respected me on that level, so.   Laura Dugger: (12:43 - 13:35) That is incredible, I'm so grateful that that story has a happy ending, and that you were assertive to say that, I think sometimes as women, probably especially as Christian women, we can think, oh I want to be nice, or not push back on somebody, but I love that you were assertive, it was what was in your child's best interest, and like you highlighted, that doctor's humility is admirable, but Amber, you mentioned too that you're a writer, and you contribute a lot to things like the Wild and Free bundles, and I was always struck by the way that you would be out in nature, and there's so much to learn, so, if you had to boil it down, what wisdom would you have to share from what you've learned about the importance of getting our kids and ourselves outdoors into nature?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (13:36 - 16:49) Yeah, that's so funny, I love that you asked me that, because I like to tell people I was raised in the air conditioning, and so, there is no one who began motherhood further away from nature and being outdoors than me, like, and I can look back at those early days of like, I knew you could take your kids to the playground, and I did do that, but like what else would you do outside, you know, and people would be like, oh we went hiking on this trail, and I was like, where did you get on it, like where do you find a trailhead, like I mean this is back, like this is where I was coming from, and I was just like, and then what would we do, like we just walk, and do we talk about trees, I don't know any trees, I know Christmas trees are evergreens, you know, so, it was just like coming from this very like foundational place where I didn't know anything, but I believed, right, I believed, I somehow inherently believed when I read that being outdoors was important for children, so, I'm reading Charlotte Mason's work, and she's talking about nature study, I'm reading Last Child in the Woods by Louvre, and I'm hearing about this, he calls it a nature deficit disorder, and I'm reading all of these different kind of people who really respected childhood, and personhood, and really wanted the best for children, I'm reading a Christian perspective of the joy in connecting with God's creation, first and foremost, but also this idea of encouraging natural and authentic physical activity, running, climbing, balancing, exploring, developing coordination, and confidence, and the mental health components, you know, reducing stress, and improving mood, and not just for the kids, but my friend from A Thousand Hours Outside, she talks about how the first time she like took her kids out for the whole day, it was for her, because she was going crazy with these all these little kids, and the house, and the bags, and the diaper bag, and the snacks, and she didn't know what else to do, so, she just went outside, and how healing that was, and therapeutic that was for all of them, the idea of curiosity, of fueling curiosity, and creativity, I've never seen my kids come up with the most, I mean, they come up with imaginative things in our house, but outside, the, oh my goodness, the things they come up with, the things they create, and make, and the storytelling that comes out of that, and I think the family bonds, our experiences, it's another way of memory making, I mean, we make memories when we go see plays, and musicals, and travel as well, so, it's not the only way, but it's a strong way of that shared outdoor adventures, so, like a couple weeks ago, we were all whitewater rafting, it's funny, like a lot of funny things happen when you're out there doing crazy stuff, and so, we have a lot of laughter, and we have a lot of inside jokes that come from our time together, so, I think that all of those, it's not just one thing, it's one of those rare things where there are all the pros, and there really are no cons, and so, I intentionally embrace that for my family, even though it's everything that I didn't have growing up.   Laura Dugger: (16:50 - 17:41) Wow, that is so interesting, I love how books have really inspired you to make changes that have benefited your entire family, and I'm thinking back years ago when I was in grad school, studying marriage and family therapy, there was this book that we read, Letters to a Young Therapist, I believe the author is Mary Pipher, and she said something that I found to be very true in my life, she said, from childhood when we all look back, our memories typically boil down to three categories, one is family dinners around the table, the second is traveling with our family, and the third is anytime we were outdoors, and so, I'm wondering that legacy that you're giving your kids, they're going to have an abundance of memories in all three of those buckets.   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (17:42 - 18:29) Yeah, I love that, and I had never read that, it's making me want to go and read her work, but I can't agree more, I mean that's what I've seen anecdotally, at least in my family, and it's definitely been the case for us, I can totally see that, the other thing I love about outdoors too is it's free, you know, so, there have, we've had times of plenty and times of not quite enough financially throughout our journey, due to layoffs, and you know, recessions, and all these different things, but that has been one thing that the travel hasn't always been as consistent as we wanted, but the nature, the time outside has always been accessible, even during COVID, that was accessible to us, so, I love it for that too, but yeah, that's really cool.   Laura Dugger: (18:29 - 18:41) Absolutely, okay, so, you started with, you were getting some inspiration from different books and speakers, but then when did you actually implement this? Do you remember how old your kids were?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (18:42 - 20:11) Right away, so, my oldest was like four, five years old, and we started going outside, now again, we had always been going to the park, so, they had been spending a lot of time outside, but I will say like that's like a very, you know, man-made structures, and you know, I can't think of it, like very cultivated space, so, we weren't spending time in uncultivated space until around there, so, maybe a four-year-old, two-year-old, and infant, and I know they started growing up in that way, and I had kids in an ergo on the back, and I remember hiking with a kid in an ergo on the front, and then snapped another one on the back, and you know, these are memories I have of being outdoors thoroughly by the time the boys were coming along, and I remember the story where we were at a creek, and I looked up for a moment, and just sheer panic that my little boy was gone, he wasn't in my eyesight anymore, and the girls were playing there, and I'm like, you know, and I look, and look, and look, and there's nothing, and no one, and all I can think you sees in the water, and I wasn't paying attention, and my heart's racing, and I'm like, girls, where's your brother? And my daughter says, mommy, he's sleeping on your back. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I just think, like, I was so tired during those years, and I just remember, I would just think, let's just go outside, and some days that's just the most I could come up with, but yeah, I was freaking out, and the little boy was sleeping on my back.   Laura Dugger: (20:12 - 21:50) And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Sam Leman Chevrolet in Eureka has been owned and operated by the Burchie family for over 25 years. A lot has changed in the car business since Sam and Stephen's grandfather, Sam Leman, opened his first Chevrolet dealership over 55 years ago.   If you visit their dealership today though, you'll find that not everything has changed. They still operate their dealership like their grandfather did, with honesty and integrity. Sam and Stephen understand that you have many different choices in where you buy or service your vehicle. This is why they do everything they can to make the car buying process as easy and hassle-free as possible. They are thankful for the many lasting friendships that began with a simple welcome to Sam Leman's. Their customers keep coming back because they experience something different.   I've known Sam and Stephen and their wives my entire life, and I can vouch for their character and integrity, which makes it easy to highly recommend you check them out today. Your car buying process doesn't have to be something you dread, so, come see for yourself at Sam Leman Chevrolet in Eureka. Sam and Stephen would love to see you, and they appreciate your business. Learn more at their website, LehmanEureka.com, or visit them on Facebook by searching for Sam Leman Eureka. You can also call them at 309-467-2351. Thanks for your sponsorship.   I'm wondering too, so, when you began, what did you start with? What did you do outside?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (21:51 - 24:13) So, we started with walking, and I also was very verbal about my, what I felt were my inadequacies with friends, and that's why, you know, I can't overemphasize the, I haven't brought that up yet, but the idea of community. You don't need a hundred friends, just a few people who either are doing the same thing as you, have done it, or know you personally so well. But I had a friend who was like this outdoor enthusiast, and I always admired her for that, and she'd be like, oh, I went to the hydrangeas, they're coming out today, and they're gonna bloom for four days, and you know, like, and she would be like, oh, do you want some wild blueberries? And I'd be looking at her with side eye, like, girl, I only eat blueberries from Publix, because how do I know that you know what you're doing? You know, those could be poisonous berries you identified wrong. So, we had this kind of ongoing thing, I just asked her, I was like, hey, could we go outside with you guys sometimes? And she was like, of course. So, our first hike was with her and her kids, and she showed me how to go outside and do nothing. Like, we didn't do anything, we just walked. And the kids let us, you know, they would stop and ponder things and ask questions, which she knew the answers to, but wouldn't answer. So, she was like, well, what do you think? Or that's something cool we can investigate, or whatever. So, I realized, wow, here's this expert naturalist who's not even using her expertise. I don't have any expertise, so I could do the same thing. Well, what do you think about that? So, the kids let us, we stopped when they stopped, we kept going when they kept going. We had plenty of water and snacks, which she had told me, which was important. And that was my first thing. It was a hike. And after that, I only went back to that place by myself with my kids without her, because that was the only trail I knew. I knew where to park and where to go, and I felt confident. And then lo and behold, I run into Charlotte Mason's work, where she talks about returning to the same place throughout the year, and having your kids compare what's happening their season to season. And so, different rationale for why I was doing that. But then I was like, look, there's beauty, even in the simplicity of me not knowing what else to do. So, that's kind of how we got into it. And then I started having more experience and going out and being more adventurous further away from home with my kids.   Laura Dugger: (24:14 - 24:24) Okay, so, then what other ways has it evolved? You mentioned whitewater rafting. So, you've got teens now. What does your time outdoors look like in this phase?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (24:25 - 26:02) So, lots of camping. So, you know, Memorial Day weekend, you know, we were camping in yurts with friends. This past weekend, we camped, we had a big Juneteenth celebration, and then we went camping for Juneteenth weekend. And so, I would say that kayaking, paddle boards, we have paddle boards, we take out fishing, I hate fishing personally, don't like it at all. But two of my kids enjoy fishing. So, I'm there for that. I'll just bring a book or whatever, because it's quite boring to me, but they love it. So, we moved. I mean, how much of a commitment is that we moved to a different house, when we were able to have our whole property is forest floor. So, it's completely shaded and intertwined with trees and plants and a kind of wild scape. And across the road is a lake where the boys can fish and I can call their names for lunch and they can hear me now. I have to yell it loud. It's kind of country. Other people probably like what is going on? I'm like, you know, but they can hear me right there. And so, the creek and just really everything. A lot, a lot of hiking, I will say we live near a mountain and we're in Georgia. So, the North Georgia mountains are not far from us. We have Appalachia or Appalachia, as my friend said, I mispronounce it. And yeah, there's nothing that isn't my one of my first dates with Scott was whitewater rafting. So, we've always kind of embraced that.   Laura Dugger: (26:03 - 26:37) Oh, that's a special way to tie in a married couple memory with your kids and get to pass that along. And water and mountains, those things are, they never get old. But I've heard others even say like, you don't have to take stuff other than water and snacks, like you mentioned, to go outside. But I like the practical tips that sometimes people take art supplies, and they can nature journal or a book to read aloud. Do you have any other practical tips like that, that you would encourage if somebody wanted to get started with this lifestyle?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (26:38 - 28:47) Yeah, I would say, um, we, okay, the best thing I can say is to just try it like I think that oftentimes I know my I'm like this, you want to try to be an expert at something before you actually put it into practice. And the point is, like, we're looking at someone's work or something that they're doing after years that they've been in practice. And then we're expecting to do that from the very beginning. And until we get there, we don't want to do it. So, for example, nature study, nature journaling, I always admired nature journaling. But when you look at people's nature journals that they people who are willing to share, there's usually a reason they're willing to share theirs because it looks beautiful. And mine didn't also look beautiful. But I was still willing to give it a try. And I love that. And I love my kids, what they've worked on. And I cherish all of our early beginning sketches. And quite honestly, I'm still not great. But I think having tools like watercolor pens and water pens where we can do watercolor on the go. And we've done many pictures out by the side of the creek on picnic blankets, especially like my older children while younger people are like, What do I do with these little ones like water, you know, like they love that splashing, making sandcastles and things while I'm painting or doing things watercolors with the with the older ones. And were they museum worthy? No. But there was a lot of enjoyment involved in a skill-based learning. So, I think asking questions and inquiry, using pictures, sure and painting, but also keeping track of things the the date that our cherry blossoms bloom, and our white cherry blossom blooms before the pink one every year and keeping track of that or paying trying to map all of the vegetation in our yard like we are, you know, know which trees what they're called where they come from that takes time. And those are things we've done. It's not like we're only just sitting there barefoot grounding ourselves and forest bathing. You know, we're out there learning as well. And I think that, you know, both are beautiful ways to enter into that.   Laura Dugger: (28:48 - 29:34) I love it. There's so many benefits. And you even mention grounding that helps so much going barefoot with inflammation and different body systems that are reset even by getting out and getting early morning light and the serotonin that's produced that turns into melatonin at night. So, we're happier in the day and sleepier at night, resetting systems in our eyes and like healing our body in different ways to an even how much better outdoor air is for us than indoor air. The benefits just go on and on. So, would you have any to add that either your family has experienced personally, or you've learned about just benefits of getting outdoors?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (29:34 - 31:29) Yeah, I think that one, even, you know, all the things you said, yes, and also the mental clarity. And that's why I don't like being time outdoors, being tied to a negative consequence for academic related behavior. So, the house across the road from ours, you know, I could say ironically, or just be like, God chose to gift us. It's a homeschooling family. They moved in a couple years ago, and they have some kids are some of our kids are similar ages. And our boys are just outside all the time together hours and hours and hours every single day. And I see the difference on days where the weather doesn't permit it or where one family or the other, you know, isn't available. There's a difference in terms of clarity and the work that's happening at the lesson table as well. And this came up, you know, my nephew, you know, they're not homeschooled, and his parents took him on a trip, which caused him to miss a day of school. And he missed an assignment that day, he didn't turn it in. And so, the school then when he got back to school punished him by keeping him indoors for recess. And I was helping, you know, my family craft a note that talks about two things. One, they punished a child for a decision the parents made. And that is grossly unfair, they should be talking to the parents about not missing school, if that's the important thing. And the second thing is, you took away the very thing that allows these children to have what they need to sit quietly and take in, you know, that that's not, that's not how you that's not an appropriate consequence. So, anyway, I feel that the mental clarity beyond the things I would have named the same things you already said, it would be the only other thing that I would bring in and why time outside actually helps us to achieve deeper and broader and more expansive learning when we are inside.   Laura Dugger: (31:29 - 31:54) That's good. And I love how you keep mentioning the piece of community that that's the best way to do this. So, regardless of somebody homeschools, or they don't, how can all of us actually prioritize this? And what's a good, healthy goal for getting started, even as specific as how much time outdoors, how many outdoors or how many days a week should we be outdoors?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (31:55 - 33:01) Yeah, that's, it's so different for every family, I think that you should go just past the point of comfort, you know, for most of us. So, if the point of comfort for you is like 30 minutes a week, then you would start out like aim for an hour a week, you know, 20 minutes, three days, if you're already outside for, you know, 10 hours, a couple hours each day, you know, I would say, maybe shake it up with what you're doing and see what would it be like to go on a really long outdoor excursion on a Saturday, or to take a day off or something like that. So, I don't want to say an exact number, because we're all entering in at a different place. For me, if someone had told me to spend eight hours outside with my kids, when I was first starting, and I'm used to going to playground for 20 minutes, that would have been overwhelming. And I would have been like; there's no way I'm ever gonna do it. So, I think like, just taking it, like, where do I feel most comfortable? And how can I push myself just past that point would be a great place to start and kind of a nice place to always stay? Like, what's the next thing that we can do to lean further into this?   Laura Dugger: (33:02 - 33:15) That's really good, very wise counsel. And Amber, you've mentioned that your family loves to travel. So, will you share any adventures that you've had as a family with world schooling?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (33:16 - 36:20) So, our goal, and it's just a fun thing, you know, I don't know if we'll totally do it, but I think we will, is to have children. So, for us, world schooling is where we're not on vacation, but we're actually deeply immersed in a learning stance in another country, another part of the world. And we're trying to do that on every continent, except Antarctica, before my oldest graduates. So, we have two continents left, we are going to be going to Asia in the fall. So, we'll be taking that one off of our list and for that particular feat. And then her senior year, we'll do Australia and hop over to New Zealand. That's the plan, if it's God's will for us to do that, that's what we would like to do, and that will complete our journey. And then we'll keep traveling, but that was just kind of a fun thing to help lead us, because there are so many places in the world to go, like how do you know? And so, that kind of helped us know, well, let's do this continent, let's do that continent. So, we took our first trip, we spent three months in South America, most of it spent in Bolivia. And I can tell you exactly the kids' ages, because my youngest turned two in Bolivia. So, they were two, four, six, and then one turned eight there. And so, that was, you know, diapers, I had a baby in diapers, a little one in diapers and still nursing when we went on our first trip. And I've never regretted that. People have said, why would you take kids so young? You know, they're not going to remember. And I think a couple thoughts. One, you'd be surprised, they do remember. They may not remember this artifact in some museum, but that's not what we spend most of our time doing. But they remember the people. And we've kept in touch with a lot of the people that we've met in these different countries. And we've even had visitors in our home, staying in our basement apartment that we met abroad. So, they do remember. They remember how things feel and taste more than they remember exactly, like historical markers and things like that. Also, I kind of compare it to like breastfeeding and nursing, like my kids, except for one little boy who held on way too long, but they don't remember that. But I believed that it was something good for them that was forming. It was helping to form who they were, not so much who they were personality wise, but their bodies as they were growing. And so, sometimes we do things that are foundational to our children's development, even if they don't have a conscious and direct memory of that thing. And that's how I see world travel. So, we've been to Europe, and we were in Greece when COVID hit. We were in the middle of a big trip there. So, we had the whole struggle to get back to the United States. We've been to West Africa, most spent in Ghana, England, France. We're going to Ethiopia this year. So, yeah, that's kind of, that's our thing.   Laura Dugger: (36:20 - 37:04) Wow. And those memories are incredible. Even let's say your children forget some of this, or if they're too young to remember all of it, you remember this and you get to share those stories with them and pass that along. I can't even imagine all of the learning that takes place from being immersed in those other cultures. But you also mentioned welcoming people into your basement apartment. So, you sound hospitable as a family. What does that actually look like? And I'm kind of going to throw two questions at you. What does that actually look like? And then both for world schooling and hospitality, what are tips for ways we can replicate that as well?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (37:06 - 39:52) So, one thing that's important to me to always share about world schooling, I have a whole chapter about our world schooling adventures in my first book, but one important thing that I call out there is Eli Gerzen. He's the guy who came up with the word world schooling. And he says, you know, we don't even need a passport to do it. That world schooling is really learning from the world around you. It could be your local library. It could be the internet. It could be your neighbors. And so, while I use this more global term of world schooling, because that's just what we call it in our family, the truth of the matter is it's a way of seeing the world and seeing all the opportunity to make connections right where you're sitting. And people are like, oh, you guys have so much money. I can't do that. First of all, we don't have so much money. Like, for instance, we have one car, right? So, there are sacrifices that we make that other people may choose to spend their money in a different way. So, we definitely don't have a ton of money. But more importantly, I'm thinking, yeah, you're saying that you don't have money, but how much have you explored your county? Like, what do you know about the history of your county? And have you been to your local historical society? And have you really, you know, got in? Have you been to an old the oldest cemetery within driving distance of your home? Have you gotten a tour of it to hear the stories of who's there? Like, you can have that same inquiry and curiosity without ever leaving. So, I'll say that first. And in terms of the hospitality part, it's like an it's an intention, right? You have to like, decide that you're going to do that, because it's so much easier not to have people at first view, like, oh, my house is not clean, and blah, blah, blah. And people don't just stop by the way they used to stop by, like my grandparents' house, it was so fun staying there in the summer, because people just folks just came in and out all day, just they come calling is what they call it, they come calling. And even when we read Jane Austin, people leaving the call guard, you know, when they came to visit, and you weren't there, like, there was this idea that you didn't have to have an appointment. And now you do, you have to let someone know before you're coming. So, it's a choice to be vulnerable, if you want to be hospitable in that way that people will see your, you know, dirty bones of your house. And you know that you're not always presenting this, like really sanitized version of your family and your family life. And so, I think that's intentional decision to say it's more important to us to be with other people and let them in than it is for us to always sanitize everything before they get here. And I don't mean sanitizes and clean the house that too, but I mean sanitizes and everyone's behaving the way that I want them to behave in front of people and all of that as well.   Laura Dugger: (39:53 - 41:05) When was the first time you listened to an episode of The Savvy Sauce? How did you hear about our podcast? Did a friend share it with you? Will you be willing to be that friend now and text five other friends or post on your socials anything about The Savvy Sauce that you love? If you share your favorite episodes, that is how we continue to expand our reach and get the good news of Jesus Christ in more ears across the world. So, we need your help.   Another way to help us grow is to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Each of these suggestions will cost you less than a minute, but it will be a great benefit to us. Thank you so much for being willing to be generous with your time and share. We appreciate you.   Well, and I think it is a biblical command for all of us and it does bless the person or the people that we are hosting, but there are also rewards for us in the process. So, if you even just could think of one reward of a way that this hospitality has blessed your family, what would you say?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (41:07 - 41:55) Well, I would say John chapter five, it says, you know, this verse we've all heard, "I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit apart from me, you can do nothing." So, you know, when we talk about hospitality, we spend a lot of time talking about what my family is doing for other people. But also, that means that my family is constantly in contact with other believers and other people who are helping us with our faith to helping us to remain connected to Jesus. And without that connection, we know that there's nothing that we can do, nothing of any spiritual significance. So, while I'm inviting those people into our lives, it also ensures that my family is not alone in what we're trying to do in our faith. So, like, that's one of a very easy benefit, I can say right off the top.   Laura Dugger: (41:56 - 42:18) Then that one is truly invaluable for our children to get to witness the way other people live out their faith, and it impacts each of us. But I'm also curious, how do you manage your time so that you can be a content creator, and you can homeschool and travel and cultivate these relationships?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (42:20 - 46:08) So, first, let me say that it's not always easy. And there are seasons where I feel like I'm doing a really good job with that. And there are seasons where I feel like I'm not doing a good job. I always prioritize my family first. And so, during the seasons where I feel like I'm not doing a good job, it's very public. People can see I did not post on Instagram for a month, or I'm not speaking as much. They're finding it harder to find opportunities to hear me speak, or I have a long lull before books are published. Those are times where I've turned inward towards my family, where I felt like I didn't have the bandwidth for everything. And so, that's something I have to deal with on a constant basis, because I know that my business or my ministry is not as rich and robust as it could be. I have ideas for days. I have ideas and the ability to bring them to fruition. But I'm not willing to sacrifice the time that it takes to do those things in this season. Because even though I don't have little kids, I definitely have more time than I did when I had little kids. It's not even just time; it's more mind clarity as well. But I don't have as much time as people with little kids would think, because I want to be fully present, even for my teens. When they want to talk to me, I want to be talkable too. I want to be available to them. And we're going to places. We're doing things. They're busy. I'm busy. And I'm trying to prepare them for young adulthood. And that's just as time-consuming as trying to prepare my young children for the next stage of their development. So, I guess it's so messy. Oh my gosh, it's messy. It's chaotic. It's a little bit crazy. But in the center of it all, I really appreciate the opportunities I do have to do the things that help refuel, help me refuel. So, I'm a writer. So, writing isn't just about creating a book. It's that I get to create a book, but really it's about the process and how cathartic it is for me to sit in silence and wonder about things and be able to write them out. And oh, lo and behold, there's a publisher who is interested in publishing those things. But the real work for me is in the process of writing. Then when I come home from a coffee shop or I emerge from my room, I come back more enthusiastic about what it is we're working on and what we're doing. The other thing that I would share is that I don't do all of that stuff by myself. So, things that people don't, just like I say, I have one car and we travel the world, people are like, oh, okay, this is not what I thought. My husband does all the laundry, every piece of laundry in this house that the teens do their own, but all the laundry that's done, he does and has done for over a decade. So, that's a thing I have to say, because you might be picturing that I'm doing all of those things. Or when I wrote one of my books, I was struggling and Scott was like, how can I help you? And he was like, what if we get help to come in with the kids like a nanny or something a few hours a week? I'm like, no, that's the last thing I want somebody to touch. So, he's like, well, what is it? So, we hired a chef, and she would prepare all of our dinners according to like what I, how I like my family to eat and lots of whole foods and good things. And she would drop them off at our house. It was very expensive, but I used part of the money from the advance from the publisher to pay for that so that I could write the book. So, I think those are things that a lot of times people don't talk about, but I have support in place. I'm not super woman any more than anyone else.   Laura Dugger: (46:08 - 46:49) Oh, I appreciate that real picture and those creative ideas because as mothers, we don't just make goals for ourselves. Like you said, we have these dreams and ideas that we could put into practice, but we consider our relationships as well and how it will impact everyone. So, I love hearing practically how that plays out for you and the trade-offs that you've chosen to make. And I know that you and I also share a passion for reading aloud. So, if we could get really practical for a moment, what are some of your most recommended read aloud for families from a variety of age groups?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (46:50 - 53:05) Well, I'm always ready for that question, but I have to say, it's almost asking me, which of my children are my favorite? It's so hard in so many ways, but for younger elementary, I picked three books that I think kind of help show how expansive I feel like I want my children's reading life to be. So, this book is called Indigo Dreaming, and it's a book about two girls, one's in North America and another one we can believe is off the coast of Africa. And they're both doing what they do in their own homes. And it's beautifully illustrated also, but they're both doing what they do in their own homes while wondering, is there another little girl in this world doing what I do, liking what I like? Well, indeed there is. And it's poetic and it has soft paintings. It's just stunning. And then another one is called The Magic Doll. It's a children's book inspired by African art. And in this book, the mother desperately wants to have a child, but she's dealing with infertility, and she turns to the use of an infertility doll. And what would I say about that? My family doesn't believe that, but it's a book that I read with my children because we were going to visit this culture. And I wanted to explain to them how we can respect something and learn about it even without adopting it. And that you can understand the yearning of a mother's heart to hold a child in her hand and the desperation that that could bring about. And I wanted them to know that we would see fertility dolls there and what they meant and things like that. And it's also beautifully illustrated, which is important to me. And then this one's just a fun book. It's called I Had a Favorite Dress, but as the dress starts getting too small, she cuts it and turns it into a skirt. And then it gets turned into this. And then the little, small piece gets turned into some socks. And then it's just a little scarf and snip, snip, sew, sew, pretty hair bow. And so, the same piece of fabric, this favorite dress she had, every time she can't use it in that way anymore, it gets moved and shifted. Into something else. And this book reminds me to just, you know, sometimes we share heavier topics with our children, even beautiful topics, but sometimes it's just joy. Like that's the whole purpose of the book is to smile and have fun. And I'll move more quickly for the older elementary books. I have this book called Schomburg. It's a nonfiction book about Arturo Schomburg and the man who built a library, which is now housed. His home library is now housed as part of the collection of the public library system in New York. And he collected books about all types of black and brown people. And it was considered one of the foremost library collections. So, as a book lover, I love that story. This one's called Heart and Soul. It's the story of America and African Americans with stunning illustrations by Kadir Nelson. So, I love visual art. I always say my family, we can't afford to buy the most exquisite art for our walls, but we have an exquisite art collection through our picture books that I've collected. And then the last one is for that group is John Henry by Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney illustrations. So, those are two powerhouses of African American author and illustrator. Both have passed. And it is the tall tale of John Henry told in a way that you've never seen before. For older kids, like middle schoolers, I love this one Big Open Sky because it's about some black exodusters who are moving west. And it goes so well for families who love Little House on the Prairie. But, you know, Little House on the Prairie, in some ways, there's some instances that are a little disrespectful to Native Americans and black people. And this is like a redemptive story, not instead of but alongside of it to say that there were black people that were also moving westward and what was their journey. And it's written in verse, like, oh, my gosh, I can't even tell you enough about that. This book, The Angel Orphan, my friend Leah Bowden wrote this book, and it's the story of Charlotte Mason. So, in chapter book form. So, there's also a picture book that someone wrote, but this is a beautiful story about Charlotte Mason. And my family's all-time favorite on my kids read aloud is The Winged Feather Saga by Andrew Peterson. And that whole series, oh, my goodness, that cemented so much of our family lexicon, because it's filled with like made up words. And it I mean, we have jokes and talks and sayings for days coming out of that series. For our older teenagers, um, or even early elementary, early middle school and early teenage years, the Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is just like a such a classic, Mildred D. Taylor that many of us read. But she also wrote a young adult version where Cassie is entering young adulthood. So, different age audiences, but same author. And a lot of people haven't heard of the other book All the Days Past, All the Days to Come. So, for high school, I love that. And then I threw a couple things in for mama. I'm an epic story of called Homegoing about two sisters and the different paths their lives take during a time I'm part of it is told in Africa and part of its told in the United States. And the last book I have is this memoir, A Black Mother's Garden. It's called Soil. And she uses her actual real garden at her home to kind of give us this idea of life. And it's, it's, you know, it's, it's hard to explain, but it's her it's part memoir, part gardening, like learning and talking about the plants, but also how all of that can turn into kind of like the soil of your life and the people being plants, and she really focuses on wildflowers. So, it's a stunningly, like poignant and beautiful memoir. So, those are my favorite, you know, and now if you ask me tomorrow, you're going to get a different stack.   Laura Dugger: (53:07 - 53:27) I love it. What a gift to get to see all of those you and I share some of those favorites, and you've introduced me to some new ones. So, I'm very grateful and hope everybody listening feels the same. But speaking of books, you've authored more than one. But will you tell us about your most recent release entitled Soul School?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (53:28 - 55:58) Yeah, so, Soul School is it's Soul School: Taking Kids on a Joy Filled Journey Through the Heart of Black American Culture. And I know it's so hard with those. But it is a book of books. So, people who have enjoyed Honey for a Child's Heart, or The Read-Aloud Family, those types of books, which I have adored, and I have all of them, and I've highlighted them or, or Give Your Child the World is another one, highlighted them and dog eared them and have used them to check out books for the library for my children for many, many years. And, and at the same time, I was always very, you know, on my heart that the books that I spend a lot of time reading with my children that I choose and I select are never really included in most of those books.   And there was the season, you know, I'm like, frustrated, you know, I'm mad. I'm like, why? Why are they putting these books in here? And then the more I thought about it, I was like, the most you can ask for a mother to do when she's sharing these books, when it's coming from that is what she read with her children. So, am I going to be mad at her that she didn't read what I think she should read? No, do I wish that it had been more expansive? Sure, I do. But how many of us wouldn't go back and do something differently if knowing what we know today or whatever. So, I wrote a companion like the I see not to replace those books. But this book is filled with African American and black diasporic children's literature starting from preschool all the way through high school.   The first part of the book, I talk about what I'm looking for specifically in books about black American culture, and why those things are important. So, the first few chapters, first five chapters are really teaching the teacher. And then the rest of the book, which makes up most of the book are really rich annotated book lists with descriptions why I chose the book discussion questions, project ideas, and something called second helpings. Like when you think of a big soul food dinner, you go through the line the first time and you fill your plate, but then you go back for second helpings of the things that taste the very best. So, if your child likes this book, then here are two second helpings that they also would probably enjoy. And you know, the book was years in the making, I read all 300 plus books in there from cover to cover. And that's kind of my contribution to raising our children.   Laura Dugger: (56:00 - 56:40) Wow, I mean, it is a stunning piece of work. And there's so much for your family, but also for all of us. So, I think of being one of your kids, what a treasure that their mom read 300 books and put this together. But for all of us, I love books on books. And like you said, we can use it to go to the library or then once we read those and find which other ones we love, we can add it to our home collection. So, thank you for that powerhouse of work. And Amber, there's still so much more that you could share with us. Where can we go after this conversation to connect with you or to learn more?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (56:42 - 56:56) Go to heritagemom.com. And there you'll find all of my books and years' worth of blog posts and book recommendations and other things. My Instagram is @heritagemomblog and the same at Facebook.   Laura Dugger: (56:56 - 57:12) Wonderful. Okay, we will add those links to the show notes for today's episode. And you may be familiar that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for you today, Amber, what is your savvy sauce?   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (57:12 - 57:50) Oh, this is such a great question. I love this part of your podcast. I would say that my savvy sauce is learning to be a really great listener. Like if there's nothing else, then that's listening to my husband and the things of his heart and listening to my children and my neighbors and my friends.   But also, people I don't know, people in other places. And also, people I disagree with and being willing to be quiet and listen and take what I can from what they're sharing as well. So, that is, I think my savvy sauce is being an introspective listener.   Laura Dugger: (57:50 – 58:13) That is well said. You are such an inspiring and creative soul. And I have thoroughly enjoyed this chat. And I know I've been hearing you speak on other podcasts and reading your work for years. So, this was such a treat to get to connect with you today. And I just want to say thank you for being my guest.   Amber O'Neal Johnston: (58:14 - 58:16) Thank you so much for having me.   Laura Dugger: (58:16 - 1:01:59) One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term gospel before?   It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you.   But it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves.   This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own.   So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a Savior. But God loved us so much, he made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute.   This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him. That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin.   This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.   We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us.   Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   So, would you pray with me now?   Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place.   I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you. Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life?   We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me, so me for him.   You get the opportunity to live your life for him.   And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason.   We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you ready to get started?   First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible.   The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible.   I selected the Quest NIV Bible, and I love it. You can start by reading the book of John. Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ.   I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ.   We also have show notes including where you can read scripture that describes this process. And finally, be encouraged.   Luke 15:10 says, “In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Send us a textWhat happens when the generation meant to build the future feels like they don't have one?In this raw and deeply personal solo episode, host Lira Ndifon steps out from behind the interview mic to share her own harrowing battle with depression—a journey that stripped her of her identity but ultimately led her to her purpose. But her story is just the beginning. Lira confronts a crisis hiding in plain sight: the staggering rates of mental health struggles among children and teens. Armed with alarming statistics, she reveals that 73 to 74 million children in the US are grappling with mental health issues, yet a devastating 79% receive no support.This isn't just about numbers; it's about the silent suffering behind closed doors, the stigma that keeps young people—especially young men—from speaking up, and the societal pressures contributing to suicide becoming the second leading cause of death for ages 10-34. Lira challenges the silence, arguing that open conversation is not the risk—it's the antidote. She connects the dots between untreated mental health, community violence, and the specific hurdles faced in African and African American communities.This is a must-listen for parents, educators, and anyone who cares about the next generation. You will discover:Lira's Untold Story: How losing her identity led her to the depths of depression and the self-reflection practices that brought her back.The Shocking Statistics: A clear breakdown of the youth mental health crisis and why it demands our immediate attention.Beyond the Stigma: Understanding the unique challenges and cultural barriers preventing young people, especially boys, from seeking help.Your Mental Wellness Toolkit: Four simple, powerful tools—journaling, meditation, exercise, and community—that Lira personally used to heal and that you can implement today.This episode is a powerful blend of vulnerability and data, a heartfelt plea for awareness, and a practical guide to finding hope in the darkness. It's a reminder that your pain can become your power, and that you are never, ever alone.If this conversation moved you, please share it. Your voice matters. Show your support by liking, following, and subscribing to the Self-Reflection Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen. Every subscription helps us break the stigma, provide resources, and build a world where mental health is prioritized.Support the showCall to Action: Engage with the Self-Reflection Podcast community! Like, follow, and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube (Self-Reflection Podcast by Lira Ndifon), and all major podcast platforms. Share your insights and feedback—we value your contributions! Suggest topics you'd like us to explore. Your support amplifies our reach, sharing these vital messages of self-love and empowerment. Until our next conversation, prioritize self-care and embrace your journey. Grab your copy of "Awaken Your True Self" on Amazon. Until next time, be kind to yourself and keep reflecting.

Dr Boyce explains why Native Americans owe wealth to black people.

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

On this episode of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the failure of mainstream bioethics to include the perpectives of African American women, and the resultant disparities in health outcomes, with Wylin D. Wilson, Associate Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School and author of Womanist Bioethics: Social Justice, […] The post Wylin D. Wilson (Ep. 47, 2025) appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Women in the U.S. are under political, economic, social, and reproductive siege. The rights we fought for, like abortion rights, are now fully available in only nine states. The Trump regime has attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as well as the employers offering such programs. As an illustration of the effects of these attacks, more than 300,000 African American women in the U.S. have lost their jobs. At the same time, women are joining their sisters worldwide in opting out of both marriage and childbearing despite the pressures of the Trump administration for women to return to the role of household slaves to their husbands.   Learn more about CHH:   We make it a point to provide the show free of ads. Your contributions help keep this content free and accessible to all. If you would like to simply donate one time, you can do so by visiting us at http://www.democracyatwork.info/donate.  Become a monthly donor: http://www.patreon.com/democracyatwork

Dr Boyce discusses the AI revolution and the role of AFrican Americans

Dr. Joaquin E. Wallace is a nationally recognized financial strategist, author, and behavioral finance educator whose mission centers on economic mobility and generational transformation. A former appointee to the California State Quality Education Commission, he is the author of Generational Wealth Begins with Generational Knowledge® and Welfare to Work: A Practitioner's Perspective on How to Develop and Implement a Successful Welfare to Work Program — a blueprint that has helped thousands transition from public assistance into sustainable, white-collar careers.Dr. Wallace's pioneering Welfare to Work model was featured in both Black MBA Magazine and Essence Magazine, which spotlighted his commitment to job readiness, corporate placement, and long-term career retention for marginalized communities. His approach blends workforce development with community empowerment — ensuring participants not only find employment but retain and advance in professional spaces often inaccessible to them.Honored with the Wells Fargo Living History Makers Award, Dr. Wallace is also recognized in the Contemporary Black Biography series, which documents the lives of African Americans who are reshaping economic, cultural, and social narratives. Through his proprietary Seven-Stage Generational Wealth Model©, he integrates behavioral finance, neuroscience, and culturally attuned coaching to help families build wealth that lasts.Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Generational-Wealth-Begins-Knowledge%C2%AE-Empowerment/dp/B0FG1WMKB2http://www.drjwallace.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/i-am-refocused-radio--2671113/support.Thank you for tuning in to I Am Refocused Radio. For more inspiring conversations, visit IAmRefocusedRadio.com and stay connected with our community.Don't miss new episodes—subscribe now at YouTube.com/@RefocusedRadio

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Michelle Lilly. A cryptocurrency and blockchain educator and entrepreneur. Here's a summary of the key points discussed:

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Michelle Lilly. A cryptocurrency and blockchain educator and entrepreneur. Here's a summary of the key points discussed:

The Context of White Supremacy hosts the weekly summit on Neutralizing Workplace Racism 10/16/25. The most powerful people classified as White within the US government have decided to continue the so-called "shutdown" indefinitely. President Trump says the permanent terminations of furloughed employees shall begin. Some Suspected Racists now report that they are now being impacted by the federal shutdown and are nervous about their financial future. If small number of White sacrifices are feeling a slight economic difficulties, non-white people, especially those classified as black, will be financially eviscerated. The New York Times featured a lengthy Sunday report explaining how: "The African American unemployment rate has surged over the past four months, from 6 to 7.5 percent, while the rate for white people ticked down slightly to 3.7 percent." President Trump's "actions have disproportionately harmed Black workers." #PresidentTrumpTookMyBlackFederalJob INVEST in The COWS - http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: http://cash.app/$TheCOWS Call: 720.716.7300 Code: 564943#

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Michelle Lilly. A cryptocurrency and blockchain educator and entrepreneur. Here's a summary of the key points discussed:

Glenn discusses the Supreme Court's upcoming decision in a case based on the Voting Rights Act, which originated from a controversial redistricting map in Louisiana that sorts people by race to guarantee congressional seats. There is no constitutional right to proportional representation. Is the Left arguing that African-Americans are incapable of doing simple tasks in an attempt to defend the Voting Rights Act? Journalist Megyn Kelly joins to discuss her upcoming event with Glenn and the racism that came from Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Glenn and Stu discuss the Trump administration's ongoing attacks on drug vessels in an attempt to curb illegal drugs entering the country. Glenn and Stu react to former Vice President Kamala Harris' claim that she was the most qualified presidential candidate. New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli joins to discuss the failed liberal policies that have plagued New Jersey. Glenn discusses the upcoming No Kings protests that are planned for this weekend. Glenn reveals more of what he will show at his event with Megyn Kelly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Renue Healthcare https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit https://Renue.Healthcare/Todd Bulwark Capital https://KnowYourRiskPodcast.comBe confident in your portfolio with Bulwark! Schedule your free Know Your Risk Portfolio review. Go to KnowYourRiskPodcast.com today. Bizable https://GoBizable.comUntie your business exposure from your personal exposure with BiZABLE.  Schedule your FREE consultation at GoBizAble.com today. Alan's Soaps https://www.AlansArtisanSoaps.comUse coupon code TODD to save an additional 10% off the bundle price.Bonefrog https://BonefrogCoffee.com/toddThe new GOLDEN AGE is here!  Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE at:The Todd Herman Show - Podcast - Apple PodcastsThe Todd Herman Show | Podcast on SpotifyWATCH and SUBSCRIBE at: Todd Herman - The Todd Herman Show - YouTubeKetanji Brown Jackson and Barack Obama: Black-on-Black Mental Abusers // The Godfather of Vaccines Tells on Himself // If Jesus Endorsed Same-Sex marriage, He Would Have.Episode Links:Ketanji Brown Jackson bizarrely compares African Americans to disabled people not being able to enter buildings: “They don't have equal access to the voting system. They're disabled.”California, this November 4th, the whole country is counting on you. Prop 50 puts our elections back on a level playing field, preserves independent redistricting over the long term, and lets the people decide. So return your ballot today. Vote yes on 50.Obama is the most hyper-partisan post-President we've ever had. He's still acting that way, even on a day as historic as this. Democrats are having a heck of a time understanding where they went wrong and why America has rejected them and embraced President Trump and his agendaThis slick weasel is lamenting the weaponization of the justice system under President Trump, with a perfectly straight face no less. Anybody who was even awake since 2016 now can see this grifter lying right into the camera in real time.The Godfather of Vaccines proves why the Henry Ford Study is important. Retrospective Studies are the only way to get past the "Ethical" argument. At 0:20s, Dr. Stanley Plotkin looks at the camera and Aaron Siri, and realises he is cooked. 

The Supreme Court appears ready to overturn the last remaining provision of the Voting Rights Act, a civil rights law meant to undo Jim Crow-era policies that disenfranchised Black voters. This week, the court heard oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais over the state's redistricting map. The case was brought by a group of self-described "non-African-American voters" who argue the creation of Louisiana's second majority-Black congressional district violates the Constitution. Marisa and Scott are joined in studio by Lisa Graves, a former senior Justice Department official and executive director of the progressive watchdog group True North Research. Graves' new book "Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights" ties the rolling back of civil rights to the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts.  Check out Political Breakdown's weekly newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TikTok creator Taylor Cassidy joins host Carol Jenkins to discuss her new book, Black History is Your History—a powerful exploration of influential African American figures and their lasting impact on society.

We get up close and personal with entrepreneur, philanthropist, professor and community engagement specialist Delceno Miles. She's owner of The Miles Agency… arguably the oldest Black owned public relations firm in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Hear her thoughts on economic growth for minority businesses, what drives her philanthropy, and why she believes civic engagement is critical to our daily lives. Plus, find out about her latest honor – being named First Citizen of Virginia Beach!

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decisionmaking process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you've got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 122 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys discuss the first film in their Hughes Brothers series, Menace II Society (1993). Leaving the world of Ozu, the boys return to a more contemporary setting by explore the films of Allen and Albert Hughes, identical twin brothers who became known for their bold music videos in the late 1980s, early 1990s for artists like Tone Loc and Tupac Shakur. But it was their first feature, Menace II Society, that took the world by storm as it followed the life young black men in LA trying to making it out the neighborhood they lived in, surrounded by the accepted violence that's systemic, perpetrated by a country willing to allow this section of the world fall apart from within. Released a few years after Boyz in the Hood, this is a sharper, edgier, meaner, realist look at the Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods that we've ever seen before on screen, introducing the world to a duo of vital voices in cinema. Ryan and Jay break down their thoughts on the film, it's comparisons to other African American coming of age films made in the early 1990s, the violence found within the film, the strong directorial voices found within this debut feature, the strong cast that make up the film, and their relationship with the directors and their filmography. You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube and more. This podcast runs 1h53m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of the Hughes Brothers with a review of their next film, Dead Presidents. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let's get into it. Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).

Dr. Christy Clark-Pujara brings some clarity to the recent political attacks on history that are attempting to erase multicultural aspects of our American past. Not just history but education and knowledge itself. This moment is similar to the time after Reconstruction with the response to Black people engaged in the political process and having power. Points to cultural backlash historically like Birth of the Nation and Gone with the Wind portraying a negative propaganda of African American contributions to the US. Also, hear about a program that Dr. Clark-Pujara has been a part of that connects K-12 teachers to historians and academics to bring back their experience to their classrooms. Funding was cut this year, so she is having to figure out a way to still make it happen in a different form. Department of African American Studies - UW-Madison alexgee.com Support the Show: patreon.com/blacklikeme Join the Black Like Me Listener Community Facebook Group

In this episode, Hilliard sat down for a nothing but game episode with big sis, FELICIA D. HENDERSON — an accomplished, award-winning showrunner, writer, director, producer, educator, and activist, with over twenty-five years of film, television, theater, and comic book content credits!Felicia created Showtime's Emmy Award-nominated, three-time NAACP Image Award-winning series, SOUL FOOD, television's first successful African American drama, and last year, through her production company, WaterWalk Entertainment, she wrote, directed, and produced her first short film, Humanitas Prize-nominated and multiple festival winner, THE REBEL GIRLS -- a true story based on a group of girl-warriors who were arrested in 1963 for attempting to integrate a movie theater in Southern Georgia – which you can currently see on all American Airlines domestic flights.Her writing and producing credits include dramas FIRST KILL, THE PUNISHER, EMPIRE, GOSSIP GIRL, and FRINGE. Her comedy credits include SISTER-SISTER, MOESHA, and EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS. Felicia is an Associate Professor in Northwestern University's Department of Radio/Television/Film, where she teaches screenwriting and production courses. She holds a PhD from UCLA's Department of Film, Television, and Digital Media and her research interests include politics, race, gender, and cultural capital in the TV writers' room.Felicia is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a board member of the Leadership Academy for underrepresented girls called Shero's Rise, and along with her sister-colleagues: Sara Finney-Johnson, Mara Brock Akil, and Gina Prince Bythewood, she endowed the Four Sisters Scholarship in screenwriting, directing, and animation at UCLA. She also endowed the Felicia DHenderson Scholarship in Screenwriting, also at UCLA. Most importantly, Felicia is “Auntie” to over 30 nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. She grew up in Pasadena, California, but owes her skills in the kitchen – including melt-in-your-mouth candied yams, corn bread dressing, and banana pudding from scratch -- to her mother's Mississippi roots. Currently, she splits her time between Los Angeles, Chicago, and wherever film and TV production takes her.SUBSCRIBE - like, follow, share & 5-star review!PART 2 COMING SOON ON YOUTUBEYouTube Shorts, Videos & BONUS CLIPS! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCua83eFRxVA1-r3ry5c0-fQOur Motto: “Keep it GAME all day!"WWW.SCREENWRITERSRANTROOM.COMMERCH (NEW T-SHIRTS/HOODIES), and all things Rant Room!https://screenwriters-rant-room.printify.me/productsSCREENWRITERS' RANT ROOM - LIVE OCTOBER 24, 2025 12:30PM-1:45PMTHE CULVER THEATERMICHEAUXFILMFEST.COMEMAIL:ScreenwritersRantRoom@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Hilliard Guess on all social media @Hilliardguess.bsky.socialIG: @ScreenwritersRantRoomGuest:@feliciadhen1BTS: Chase "Zoom" Bell@z00m12@defiproductionllcWE ARE NOW OPEN TO SPONSORSHIPS AND BRANDING OPPORTUNITIES⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ : Screenwritersrantroom@gmail.com

I am one who considers Rodney Barnes a master storyteller when it comes to Horror. The man behind Killadelphia, Monarch, Batman Full Moon, and Blacula has a resume full of popular titles that makes him a must have when he releases a new comic. Today we speak about a story of the Crownsville Hospital in a suburb of Annapolis, this Psych Hospital from 1911 to 2004 was held under scrutiny for its treatment of African Americans through segregation, over crowding, mistreatment of patients, and Illegal Medical Experimentation. In fact, Mr. Barnes Grandmother he tells us worked there as a Nurse. This story is based on real life horrors the facility still stands today abandoned where security guards suspiciously hear screams from the building. This leads to this tale where Detective Mike Simms and Journalist Paul Blair set forth to investigate this land where the paranormal spirits are not only sympathetic victims but also Forces of Vengeance. Elia Bonetti gives a feel of nostalgia in each page as the setting is the 1970's.This is also the first book where Oni Press is debuting their new logo setting forth a new era in their company.Written by Rodney BarnesArtwork by Elia BonettiVariant cover by Jason Shawn AlexanderCrownsville debuts November 5thSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-faqs-project-hosted-by-james-grandmaster-faqs-boyce/donations

My Conversation with Dr Greer begins at 30 mins Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Dr Greer recently appeared with Dr Jason Johnson on Culture Jeopary, more importantly she has published a new book that we talk about. It's called How to Build a Democracy (Elements in Race, Ethnicity, and Politics) The Blackest Question is a Black history trivia game show. Join Dr. Christina Greer as she quizzes some of your favorite entertainers, history makers, and celebrities while engaging in conversations to learn more about important contributions in Black history and Black culture. The Blackest Questions entertains and informs audiences about little-known but essential black history. Topics range from world history, news, sports, entertainment, pop culture, and much more. Christina Greer is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University - Lincoln Center (Manhattan) campus. Her research and teaching focus on American politics, black ethnic politics, urban politics, quantitative methods, Congress, New York City and New York State politics, campaigns and elections, and public opinion. Prof. Greer's book Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream (Oxford University Press) investigates the increasingly ethnically diverse black populations in the US from Africa and the Caribbean. She finds that both ethnicity and a shared racial identity matter and also affect the policy choices and preferences for black groups. Professor Greer is currently writing her second manuscript and conducting research on the history of all African Americans who have run for the executive office in the U.S. Her research interests also include mayors and public policy in urban centers. Her previous work has compared criminal activity and political responses in Boston and Baltimore.  Prof. Greer received her BA from Tufts University and her MA, MPhil, and PhD in Political Science from Columbia University Join us Monday's and Thursday's at 8EST for our Bi Weekly Happy Hour Hangout's !  Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Follow and Support Pete Coe Buy Ava's Art  Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing Gift a Subscription https://www.patreon.com/PeteDominick/gift

I can tell you it was like sitting with a long, lost neighbor when sitting with Kelly E. Carter.  And in fact, we were neighbors of sorts back in the day. It wasn't until I was searching for images to create the icons for this podcast did I realize I was in the presence of true maverick royalty.  Besides being a New York Times best selling author, she has reported from the greatest sporting events of the world: the NBA FInals, Super Bowls, Grand Slams, Stanley Cup Finals and much more. And more intriguing, she was the woman reporter in the locker room! I was so intrigued and we could have spoken for hours because she is the Founder of the wine tourism group, Napa Valley Noir. sitting down with Kelly E. Carter in the studio for this episode of Wine Talks was like taking a stroll down memory lane while simultaneously hitching a ride on a train heading straight for the future of wine tourism. There's something about Kelly—her energy, her wit, and just her knack for storytelling—that gets you thinking about the wine industry in ways that feel both nostalgic and freshly invigorating. We kicked things off with some good old home turf banter—Kelly's Windsor Hills childhood (Ray Charles and Ike & Tina Turner for neighbors, no less) and my own roots in Inglewood. Instantly, there was this shared sense that, before wine stole our hearts, Southern California had given us some pretty unique perspectives on culture and community. And as Kelly pointed out, “you'll never know everything” about winemaking, which is honestly the very reason some of us keep swirling, sipping, and studying. I know I do. What genuinely impressed me was Kelly's trajectory. She was the first female to cover the Lakers—how many people do you meet who set out in fourth grade to be a sports journalist and actually make it happen? She wasn't just content to report on sports. She made her mark, switched lanes into entertainment, and then into luxury travel writing, which eventually led her to Florence and Positano. It's the kind of layered journey you don't hear about every day. You talk to some folks, they've been in wine their whole lives. With Kelly, it's travel, sports, culture—all converging in the glass. We got into the nitty-gritty of wine and travel writing and how AI could never replace the boots-on-the-ground experience. I had to laugh—when Kelly plugged Napa into chatbots, she got recommendations for wineries that are closed for renovations. "You have to know the latest," she said, reminding me that the best wine stories are always written with real shoe leather, not just code. Her insights into Napa Valley tourism were equally compelling. As the founder of Napa Valley Noir, Kelly's passion lies in creating experiences rich in narrative, not just pouring cabs for folks who made it big in tech and want a taste of the valley lifestyle. She's all about partnerships with wineries that have soul, stories, and a genuine connection to their craft—whether it's a historic vineyard run by women or an impromptu meeting with Thomas Keller that leaves guests starstruck. Frankly, I couldn't agree more. The stories make the bottle—and the memories. That's what keeps this business alive, even as the market shifts. Kelly also talked about the recent surge in African American visitors to Napa, thanks in part to celebrity influence (LeBron, Kobe, you name it), and her drive to ensure these visitors experience the full magic Napa has to offer, not just what's on the surface. She's honest—her intake forms ask straight-up about comfort level on bottle prices. She knows how to match guests with the right wineries, sometimes calling in a favor for an extra pour or a charcuterie board, because that's how relationships form and deepen in this business. There's a lesson in Kelly's methods: whether it's a group of corporate execs, first-timers, or veteran collectors, she makes sure the experience is tailored and memorable. Maybe it's the aftermath of her own battles—her candor about beating a rare cancer got me thinking about perspective, gratitude, and the importance of living fully, whether it's raising a glass or hiking through a vineyard. Talking with Kelly reminded me why I started this podcast in the first place. It's the human stories behind the wines, the journeys of the people who bring them to life—and the shared desire to know just a little bit more, one sip, one story at a time. Cheers to Kelly and to all of us still curious.   YouTube: https://youtu.be/AXGYAhnctSE   Napa Valley Noir  https://napavalleynoir.com Alpha Omega Winery https://www.aowinery.com Brown Estate Vineyards  https://www.brownestate.com French Laundry  https://www.thomaskeller.com/tfl Bouchon Bistro https://www.thomaskeller.com/bouchon Ad Hoc https://www.thomaskeller.com/adhoc Visit Napa Valley (tourism board) https://www.visitnapavalley.com AAAV - Association of African American Vintners https://www.aaavintners.org 1010 Wine Bar https://www.1010wineandsmallplates.com Vera Wang  https://www.verawang.com Tod's  https://www.tods.com Mohawk Industries  https://www.mohawkind.com #WineTalksPodcast #KellyECarter #PaulKalemkiarian #NapaValleyNoir #NapaValleyTourism #AfricanAmericanWineCulture #WineIndustryStories #WinemakingEducation #WineTastings #TravelWriting #ItalyToNapa #LuxuryTravel #AAAV #WellnessInNapa #WinePricing #BordeauxBlends #WineExperiences #WineBusinessChallenges #CelebrityWineCulture #PersonalMemoir #HeadAndNeckCancer

In the 1950s, the predominantly African-American and Hispanic Manhattan neighborhood once known as San Juan Hill was razed. Lincoln Center was established in its place. Beginning today, the organization will celebrate the neighborhood through the Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival, running to October 29. Composer Etienne Charles discusses his multimedia project, "San Juan Hill: A New York Story," which will be performed on October 23. Plus, Loren Schoenberg, senior scholar of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, explains the history of San Juan Hill.

Host Shanera Williamson talks with the co-creator of Black Boy Therapy, Nick Young.  As a therapist, pastor and mental health advocate, Young helps parents and educators recognize and address indications of mental stress in black boys.  Listen in for tips and encouragement on how you can help the young African American males in your life thrive.   Connect with Nick Young and Black Boy Therapy: Website, Instagram, TikTok   Connect with Shanera and Brown Mama Bear: Facebook, Instagram, Website   Make sure you share Brown Mama Bear with at least 3 friends so you have someone to talk with about these things.  

Sam Ryder talks to Samira about his career, gaining Eurovision success with Space Man and he performs the song Armour live, a track from his forthcoming album Heartland.With chart topping songs and a global smash hit animated film, directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans talk about creating the phenomenon that is KPop Demon Hunters.The Pulitzer prize winning African American writer Hilton Als and biographer Miranda Seymour discuss author Jean Rhys.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet

In this episode you will discover: Diversity Means Everyone - Race is just one piece. Consider how age, language, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, and geography intersect to shape each person's experience with aphasia. Go Into the Community to Build Trust - Sustainable partnerships require leaving your institution and showing up consistently. Visit centers, share meals, and invest time where people gather. Trust develops gradually through authentic presence. Listen to Real-Life Struggles First - Before starting therapy protocols, hear what families actually face: shifted gender roles, children as language brokers, lack of community aphasia awareness, and disrupted family dynamics. Train Future Clinicians Differently - If you're building or revising academic programs, front-load diversity with a foundational intersectionality course in semester one, then integrate these principles across every subsequent course and clinical practicum.   If you've ever wondered how to better support multilingual families navigating aphasia, or felt uncertain about cultural considerations in your practice, this conversation will give you both the framework and the practical insights you need. Welcome to the Aphasia Access Aphasia Conversations Podcast. I'm Katie Strong, a faculty member at Central Michigan University where I lead the Strong Story Lab, and I'm a member of the Aphasia Access Podcast Working Group. Aphasia Access strives to provide members with information, inspiration, and ideas that support their aphasia care through a variety of educational materials and resources.   I'm today's host for an episode that tackles one of the most important conversations happening in our field right now - how do we truly serve the increasingly diverse communities that need aphasia care? We're featuring Dr. Jose Centeno, whose work is reshaping how we think about equity, social justice, and what it really means to expand our diversity umbrella. Dr. Centeno isn't just talking about these issues from an ivory tower - he's in the trenches, working directly with communities and training the next generation of clinicians to do better. Before we get into the conversation, let me tell you a bit more about our guest. Dr. Jose Centeno is Professor in the Speech-Language Pathology Program at Rutgers University. What makes his work unique is how he bridges the worlds of clinical practice and research, focusing on an often overlooked intersection: what happens when stroke survivors who speak multiple languages need aphasia care?   Dr. Centeno is currently exploring a critical question - what barriers do Latinx families face when caring for loved ones with post-stroke aphasia, and what actually helps them navigate daily life? His newest initiative takes this work directly into the community, where he's training students to bring brain health activities to underserved older adults in Newark's community centers.   As an ASHA Fellow and frequent international speaker, Dr. Centeno has made it his mission to ensure that aphasia research and care truly serve diverse communities. His extensive work on professional committees reflects his commitment to making the field more inclusive and culturally responsive. So let's get into the conversation.   Katie Strong: As we get started, I love hearing about how you came into doing this work, and I know when we spoke earlier you started out studying verb usage after stroke and very impairment-based sort of way of coming about things. And now you're doing such different work with that centers around equity and minoritized populations. I was hoping you could tell our listeners about the journey and what sparked that shift for you.   Jose Centeno: That's a great question. In fact, I very often start my presentations at conferences, explaining to people, explaining to the audience, how I got to where I am right now, because I did my doctoral work focused on verb morphology, because it was very interesting. It is an area that I found very, very interesting. But then I realized that the data that I collected for my doctorate, and led to different articles, was connected to social linguistics. I took several linguistics courses in the linguistics department for my doctorate, and I needed to look at the results of my doctoral work in terms of sociolinguistic theory and cognition. And that really motivated me to look at more at discourse and how the way that we talk can have an impact on that post stroke language use. So, I kept writing my papers based on my doctoral data, and I became interested in finding out how our colleagues working with adults with aphasia that are bilingual, were digesting all this literature. I thought, wait a minute. Anyway, I'm writing about theory in verb morphology, I wonder where the gaps are. What do people need? Are people reading this type of work? And I started searching the literature, and I found very little in terms of assessing strengths and limitations of clinical work with people with aphasia.   And what I found out is that our colleagues in childhood bilingualism have been doing that work. They have been doing a lot of great work trying to find out what the needs are when you work with bilingual children in educational settings. So that research served as my foundational literature to create my work. And then I adopted that to identifying where the strengths and needs working with people by new people with aphasia were by using that type of work that worked from bilingual children. And I adapted it, and I got some money to do some pilot work at the from the former school where I was. And with that money I recruited some friends that were doing research with bilingual aphasia to help me create this survey. So that led to several papers and very interesting data.   And the turning point that I always share, and I highlight was an editorial comment that I got when I when I submitted, I think, the third or fourth paper based on the survey research that I did. The assessment research. And one of the reviewers said, “you should take a look at the public health literature more in depth to explain what's going on in terms of the needs in the bilingual population with aphasia”. So, I started looking at that and that opened up a huge area of interest.   Katie Strong: I love that.   Jose Centeno: Yeah, that's where I ended up, you know, from an editorial comment based on the studies of survey research. And that comment motivated me to see what the gaps were more in depth. And that was in 2015 when that paper came out. I kept working, and that data led to some special issues that I invited colleagues from different parts of the world to contribute. And then three years later, Rutgers invited me to apply for this position to start a diversity focused program at Rutgers, speech language pathology. At Rutgers I met a woman that has been my mentor in qualitative research. Pamela Rothpletz-Puglia is in nutrition, and she does qualitative, mixed methods research. So, her work combined with my interest in identifying where the needs were, led me to identify the needs in the work with people with aphasia through the caregivers using her methodology. And I'll come talk more about it, because it's related to a lot of different projects that I am pursuing right now.   Katie Strong: I love this. So, it sounds like, well, one you got a really positive experience from a reviewer, which is great news.   Jose Centeno: Well, it was! It's a good thing that you say that because when we submit articles, you get a mixed bag of reviews sometimes. But, this person was very encouraging. And some of the other reviews were not as encouraging, but this was very encouraging, and I was able to work on that article in such a way that got published and it has been cited quite a bit, and it's, I think it's the only one that has pretty much collected very in depth data in terms of this area.   Katie Strong: Yeah, well, it sounds like that really widened your lens in how you were viewing things and taking an approach to thinking about the information that you had obtained.   Jose Centeno: And it led to looking at the public health literature and actually meeting Pamela. In fact, I just saw her last week, and we met because we're collaborating on different projects. I always thank her because we met, when our Dean created an Equity Committee and she invited the two of us and somebody else to be to run that committee. And when Pamela and I talked, I said to her, “that qualitative work that you are doing can be adapted to my people with aphasia and their caregivers”. And that's how we collaborated, we put a grant proposal together, we got the money, and that led to the current study.   Katie Strong: I love that, which we're going to talk about in a little bit. Okay, thank you. Yeah, I love it. Okay, well, before we get into that, you know, one of the things I was hoping you could talk about are the demographics of people living with aphasia is becoming really increasingly more diverse. And I was hoping you could talk about population trends that are driving the change or challenges and opportunities that this presents for our field.   Jose Centeno: Yeah, that is actually something that I've been very interested in after looking at the public health literature because that led to looking at the literature in cardiology, nursing, social work, psychology, in terms of diversity, particularly the census data that people in public health were using to discuss what was going on in terms of the impact of population trends in healthcare. And I realized when I started looking at those numbers that and interestingly, the Census published later. The Census was published in 2020, several years after I started digging into the public health literature. The Census published this fantastic report where they the Census Bureau, discussed how population trends were going to be very critical in 2030 in the country. In 2030 two population trends are going to merge. The country gradually has been getting older and at the same time in 2030 as the country is getting older, 2030 is going to be a turning point that demographic transition, when the population is going to be more older people than younger people. So that's why those population trends are very important for us because people are getting older, there is higher incidence for vulnerabilities, health complications. And of those health complications, neurological, cardiovascular problems, stroke and also dementia.   Katie Strong: Yes. So interesting. And maybe we can link, after we finish the conversation, I'll see if I can get the link for that 2020 census report, because I think maybe some people might be interested in checking that out a little bit more.   Jose Centeno: So yeah, definitely, yeah.   Katie Strong: Well, you know, you've talked about diversity from a multilingual, bilingual perspective, but you also, in your research, the articles I've read, you talk about expanding the diversity umbrella beyond race to consider things like sexual orientation, socioeconomic background and rural populations. Can you talk to us a little bit about what made you think about diversity in this way?   Jose Centeno: Very good question, you know, because I realized that there is more to all of us than race. When we see a client, a patient, whatever term people use in healthcare and we start working with that person there is more that person brings into the clinical setting, beyond the persons being white or African American or Chinese or Latino and Latina or whatever. All those different ethnic categories, race and ethnicity. People bring their race and ethnicity into the clinical setting, but beyond that, there is age, there is sexual orientation, there is religion, there is geographic origins, whether it's rural versus urban, there is immigration status, language barriers, all of those things. So, it makes me think, and at that time when I'm thinking about this beyond race, I'm collecting the pilot data, and a lot of the pilot data that was collected from caregivers were highlighting all of those issues that beyond race, there are many other issues. And of course, you know, our colleagues in in aphasia research have touched on some of those issues, but I think there hasn't been there. There's been emphasis on those issues but separately. There hasn't been too much emphasis in looking at all of those issues overlapping for patient-centered care, you know,  bringing all those issues together and how they have an impact on that post stroke life reconfiguration. You know, when somebody is gay. Where somebody is gay, Catholic, immigrant, bilingual, you know, looking at all of those things you know. And how do we work with that? Of course, we're not experts in everything, and that leads to interprofessional collaborations, working with psychologists, social workers and so on.   So that's why my work started evolving in the direction that looks at race in a very intersectional, very interactional way to look at race interacting with all these other factors. Because for instance, I am an immigrant, but I also lived in rural and urban environments, and I have my religious and my spiritual thoughts and all of those, all of those factors I carry with me everywhere you know. So, when somebody has a stroke and has aphasia, how we can promote, facilitate recovery and work with the family in such a way that we pay attention to this ecology of factors, family person to make it all function instead of being isolated.   Katie Strong: Yeah, I love that. As you were talking, you use the term intersectionality. And you have a beautiful paper that talks about transformative intersectional Life Participation Approach for Aphasia (LPAA) intervention. And I'd love to talk about the paper, but I was hoping first you could tell us what you really mean by intersectionality in the context of aphasia care, and why is it so important to think about this framework.   Jose Centeno: Wow. It's related to looking at these factors to really work with the person with aphasia and the family, looking at all these different factors that the person with aphasia brings into the clinical setting. And these factors are part of the person's life history. It's not like these are factors that just showed up in the person's life. This person has lived like this. And all of a sudden, the person has a stroke. So there is another dimension that we need to add that there in that intersectional combined profile of a person's background. How we can for aphasia, is particularly interesting, because when you work with diverse populations, and that includes all of us. You know, because I need to highlight that sometimes people…my impression is, and I noticed this from the answers from my students, that when I asked about diversity, that they focused on minoritized populations. But in fact, all this diverse society in which we live is all of us. Diversity means all of us sharing this part, you know, sharing this world. So, this intersectionality applies to all of us, but when it comes to underrepresented groups that haven't been studied or researched, that's why I feel that it's very important to pay a lot of attention, because applying models that have been developed to work with monolingual, middle class Anglo background…it just doesn't work. You know, to apply this norm to somebody that has all of these different dimensions, it's just unfair to the person and it's something that people have to be aware of. Yeah.   Katie Strong: Yeah. And I think you know, as you're talking about that and thinking about the tenets of the Life Participation Approach, they really do support one another in thinking about people as individuals and supporting them in what their goals are and including their family. You're really thinking about this kind of energized in a way to help some clinicians who are maybe thinking, “Oh, I do, LPAA, but it's hard for me to do it in this way”. You probably are already on you road to doing this, but you really need, just need to be thinking about how, how the diversity umbrella, really, you know, impacts everybody as a clinician, as a person with a stroke, as a family member.   Jose Centeno: Yeah, and, you know, what is very interesting is that COVID was a time of transition. A lot of factors were highlighted, in terms of diversity, in terms of the infection rate and the mortality was higher in individuals from minoritized backgrounds. There were a lot of issues to look at there. But you know, what's very interesting in 2020 COVID was focusing our attention on taking care of each other, taking care of ourselves, taking care of our families. The LPAA approach turned 20 years old. And that made me think, because I was thinking of at that time of disability, and it made me think of intersectionality. And I just thought it would be very helpful for us to connect this concept of intersectionality to the LPAA, because these issues that we are experiencing right now are very related to the work we do as therapists to facilitate people with aphasia, social reconnection after a stroke and life reconfiguration. So, all of this thinking happened, motivated by COVID, because people were talking about intersectionality, all the people that were getting sick. And I just thought, wait a minute, this concept of intersectionality, LPAA turning 20 years old, let's connect those two, because my caregiver study is showing me that that intersectionality is needed in the work that we're doing with people in aphasia from underrepresented backgrounds.   Katie Strong: Yeah, I'm so glad that you shared that insight as to how you came to pulling the concepts together. And the paper is lovely, and I'll make sure that we put that in the link to the show notes as well, because I know that people will, if they haven't had the chance to take a look at it, will enjoy reading it.   Jose Centeno: And just let me add a bit more about that. Aura Kagan's paper on, I forgot where it was in [ASHA] Perspectives, or one of the journals where she talks about the LPAA turning 20 years old. [And I thought], “But wait a minute, here's the paper! Here's the paper, and that I can connect with intersectionality”. And at the same time, you know, I started reading more about your work and Jackie Hinckley's work and all the discourse work and narrative work because that's what I was doing at the time. So that's how several projects have emerged from that paper that I can share later on.   Katie Strong: I love it. I love it. Yeah, hold on! The suspense! We are there, right?   Jose Centeno: This is turning into a coffee chat without coffee!   Katie Strong: As I was reading your work, something that stood out to me was this idea of building sustainable community relationships in both research and clinical work with minoritized populations. You've been really successful in doing this. I was hoping you could discuss your experiences in this relationship building, and you also talk about this idea of cultural brokers.   Jose Centeno: Wow! You know this is all connected. It's part of my evolution, my journey. Because as I started collecting data in the community from for my caregiver study, I realized that community engagement to do this type of qualitative work, but also to bring our students into the community. It's very important to do that work, because I you know this is something that I learned because I was pretty much functioning within an academic and research environment and writing about equity and social justice and all these different areas regarding aphasia, but not connecting real life situations with the community. For example, like having the students there and me as an academician taking that hat off and going into the community, to have lunch, to have coffee with people in the community, at Community Centers. So those ideas came up from starting to talk with the caregivers, because I felt like I needed to be there more. Leave the classroom. Leave the institution. Where I was in the community it's not easy. I'm not going to say that happened overnight, because going into any community, going into any social context, requires time. People don't open their doors automatically and right away. You know you have to be there frequently. Talk about yourself, share experiences. So be a friend, be a partner, be a collaborator, be all of these things together, and this gradually evolved to what I am doing right now, which is I started the one particular connection in the community with a community center.   How did I do that? Well, I went all over the place by myself. Health fairs, churches, community centers. People were friendly, but there wasn't something happening in terms of a connection. But one person returned my email and said, “we have a senior program here. Why don't we meet and talk?” So, I went over to talk with them, and since then, I have already created a course to bring the students there. I started by going there frequently for lunch, and I feel very comfortable. It is a community center that has programs for children and adults in the community. They go there for computer classes, for after school programs for the children. The adults go there for English lessons or activities and they have games and so on. And it's very focused on individuals from the community. And the community in Newark is very diverse. Very diverse.   So that led to this fantastic relationship and partnership with the community. In fact, I feel like I'm going home there because I have lunch with them. There's hugs and kissed. It's like  seeing friends that that you've known for a long time. But that happened gradually. Trust. Trust happens gradually, and it happens in any social context. So, I said to them, “Let's start slowly. I'll bring the students first to an orientation so they get to know the center.” Then I had the opportunity to develop a course for summer. And I developed a course that involved activities in the community center and a lecture. Six weeks in the summer. So this project now that I call Brain Health a health program for older adults, is a multi-ethnic, multilingual program in which the students start by going to the center first in the spring, getting to know people there, going back there for six weeks in the summer, one morning a week, and taking a lecture related to what brain health is, and focusing that program on cognitive stimulation using reminiscence therapy. And it's done multilingually. How did that happen? Thank God at the center there are people that speak Portuguese, Spanish and English. And those people were my interpreters. They work with the students. They all got guidelines. They got the theoretical content from the lectures, and we just finished the first season that I called it. That course they ran this July, August, and the students loved it, and the community members loved it! But it was a lot of work.   Katie Strong: Yeah, of course! What a beautiful experience for everybody, and also ideas for like, how those current students who will be soon to be clinicians, thinking about how they can engage with their communities.    Jose Centeno: Right! Thank you for highlighting that, because that's exactly how I focus the course. It wasn't a clinical course, it was a prevention course, okay? And part of our professional standards is prevention of communication disorders. So, we are there doing cognitive stimulation through reminiscence activities multilingually, so we didn't leave anybody behind. And luckily, we have people that spoke those languages there that could help us translate. And my dream now the next step is to turn that Brain Health course into another course that involves people with aphasia.   Katie Strong: Oh, lovely.   Jose Centeno: Yeah, so that is being planned as we speak.   Katie Strong: I love everything about this. I love it! I know you just finished the course but I hope you have plans to write it up so that others can learn from your expertise.   Jose Centeno: Yeah, I'm already thinking about that.   Katie Strong: I don't want to put more work on you…   Jose Centeno: It's already in my attention. I might knock on your door too. We're gonna talk about that later.   Katie Strong: Let's get into the work about your caregivers and the work that you did. Why don't you tell us what that was all about.   Jose Centeno: Well, it's a study that focuses on my interest in finding out and this came from the assessment work that I did earlier when I asked clinicians working in healthcare what their areas of need were. But after meeting Pamela Rothpletz-Puglia at Rutgers, I thought, “Wait a minute, I would like to find out, from the caregivers perspective, what the challenges are, what they need, what's good, what's working, and what's not working.” And later on hopefully, with some money, some grant, I can involve people with aphasia to also ask them for their needs. So, I started with the caregivers to find out in terms of the intersectionality of social determinants of health, where the challenges were in terms of living with somebody with aphasia from a Latinx background, Latino Latina, Latinx, whatever categories or labels people use these days. So, I wanted to see what this intersectionality of social determinants of health at the individual level. Living with the person at home, what happens? You know, this person, there is a disability there, but there are other things going on at home that the literature sites as being gender, religion, and all these different things happening. But from the perspective of the caregivers. And also I wanted to find out when the person goes into the community, what happens when the person with aphasia goes into the community when the person tries to go to the post office or the bank or buy groceries, what happens? Or when the person is socializing with other members of the family and goes out to family gatherings? And also, what happens at the medical appointment, the higher level of social determinants in terms of health care? I wanted to find out individual, community and health care. The questions that I asked during these interviews were; what are the challenges?, what's good?, what's working?, what's not working?, at home?, in the community?, and when you go with your spouse or your grandfather or whoever that has a stroke into the medical setting?, and that's what the interviews were about.   I learned so much, and I learned the technique from reading your literature and reading Aura Kagen's literature and other people, Jackie Hindley literature, and also Pamela's help to how to conduct those interviews, because it's a skill that you have to learn. It happens gradually. Pamela mentored me, and I learned so much from the caregivers that opened all these areas of work to go into the community, to engage community and sustainable relationships and bring the students into the community.   I learned so much and some of the things that were raised that I am already writing the pilot data up. Hopefully that paper will be out next year. All these issues such as gender shifting, I would say gender issues, because whether is the wife or the mother that had a stroke or the father that had the stroke. Their life roles before the stroke get shifted around because person has to take over, and how the children react to that. I learned so much in terms of gender, but also in terms of how people use their religions for support and resilience. Family support. I learned about the impact of not knowing the language, and the impact of not having interpreters, and the impact of not having literature in the language to understand what aphasia is or to understand what happens after stroke in general to somebody.   And something also that was very important. There are different factors that emerge from the data is the role of language brokers, young people in college that have to put their lives on hold when mom or dad have a stroke and those two parents don't speak English well in such a way that they can manage a health care appointment. So, this college student has to give up their life or some time, to take care of mom or dad at home, because they have to go to appointments. They have to go into the community, and I had two young people, college age, talk to me about that, and that had such an impact on me, because I wasn't aware of it at all. I was aware of other issues, but not the impact on us language brokers. And in terms of cultural brokers, it is these young people, or somebody that is fluent in the language can be language brokers and cultural brokers at the same time, because in the Latinx community, the family is, is everything. It's not very different from a lot of other cultures, but telling somebody when, when somebody goes into a hospital and telling family members, or whoever was there from the family to leave the room, creates a lot of stress.   I had somebody tell me that they couldn't understand her husband when he was by himself in the appointment, and she was asked to step out, and he got frustrated. He couldn't talk. So that tension, the way that the person explained that to me is something that we regularly don't know unless we actually explore that through this type of interview. So anyway, this this kind of work has opened up so many different factors to look at to create this environment, clinical environment, with all professions, social work, psychology and whoever else we need to promote the best care for patient-centered care that we can.   Katie Strong: Yeah. It's beautiful work. And if I remember correctly, during the interviews, you were using some personal narratives or stories to be able to learn from the care partners. And I know you know, stories are certainly something you and I share a passion about. And I was just wondering if you could talk with our listeners about how stories from people with aphasia or their care partners families can help us better understand and serve diverse communities.   Jose Centeno: You know, the factors that I just went through, they are areas that we need to pay attention to that usually we don't know. Because very often, the information that we collect during the clinical intake do not consider those areas. We never talk about family dynamics. How did the stroke impact family dynamics? How does aphasia impact family dynamics? Those types of questions are important, and I'll tell you why that's important. Because when the person comes to the session with us, sometimes the language might not be the focus. They are so stressed because they cannot connect with their children as before, as prior to the stroke. In their minds, there is a there are distracted when they come into the session, because they might not want to focus on that vocabulary or sentence or picture. They want to talk about what's going on at home.   Katie Strong: Something real.   Jose Centeno: And taking some time to listen to the person to find out, “Okay, how was your day? How what's going on at home prior?” So I started thinking brainstorming, because I haven't gotten to that stage yet. Is how we can create, using this data, some kind of clinical context where there is like an ice breaker before the therapies, to find out how the person was, what happened in the last three days, before coming back to the session and then going into that and attempting to go into those issues. You know, home, the community. Because something else that I forgot to mention when I was going through the factors that were highlighted during the interviews, is the lack of awareness about aphasia in the community. And the expectations that several caregivers highlighted, the fact that people expected that problem that the difficulty with language to be something that was temporary.   Katie Strong: Yeah, not a chronic health condition.   Jose Centeno: Exactly. And, in fact, the caregivers have turned into educators, who when they go into community based on their own research, googling what aphasia is and how people in aphasia, what the struggles are. They had started educating the community and their family members, because the same thing that happens in the community can happen within the family network that are not living with this person on a day-to-day basis. So, yeah. All of this information that that you know, that has made me think on how clinically we can apply it to and also something how we can focus intervention, using the LPAA in a way that respects, that pays attention to all of these variables, or whatever variables we can or the most variables. Because we're not perfect, and there is always something missing in the intervention context, because there is so much that we have to include into it, but pay attention to the psychosocial context, based on the culture, based on the limitations, based on their life, on the disruption in the family dynamics.   Katie Strong: Yeah, yeah. It's a lot to think about.   Jose Centeno: Yeah. It's not easy. But I, you know. I think that you know these data that I collected made me think more in terms of our work, how we can go from focusing the language to being a little more psychosocially or involved. It's a skill that is not taught in these programs. My impression is that programs focus on the intervention that is very language based, and doing all this very formal intervention. It's not a formula, it's a protocol that is sometimes can be very rigid, but we have to pay attention to the fact that there are behavioral issues here that need to be addressed in order to facilitate progress.   Katie Strong: Yeah, and it just seems like it's such more. Thinking about how aphasia doesn't just impact the person who has it. And, you know, really bringing in the family into this. Okay, well, we talked about your amazing new class, but you just talked a little bit about, you know, training the new workforce. Could you highlight a few ideas about what you think, if we're training socially responsive professionals to go out and be into the workforce. I know we're coming near the end of our time together. We could probably spend a whole hour talking about this. What are some things that you might like to plant in the ears of students or clinicians or educators that are listening to the podcast?   Jose Centeno: You know this is something Katie that was part of my evolution, my growth as a clinical researcher. I thought that creating a program, and Rutgers gave us that opportunity, to be able to create a program in such a way that everybody's included in the curriculum. We created a program in which the coursework and the clinical experiences. And this happened because we started developing this room from scratch. It's not like we arrived and there was a program in place which is more difficult. I mean creating a program when you have the faculty together and you can brainstorm as to based on professional standards and ASHA's priorities and so on, how we can create a program, right? So, we started from scratch, and when I was hired as founding faculty, where the person that was the program director, we worked together, and we created the curriculum, clinically and education academically, in such a way that everybody, but everybody, was included from the first semester until the last semester. And I created a course that I teach based on the research that I've done that brings together public health intersectionality and applied to speech language pathology. So, this course that students take in the first semester, and in fact, I just gave the first lecture yesterday. We just started this semester year. So it sets the tone for the rest of the program because this course covers diversity across the board, applying it to children, adults and brings together public health, brings together linguistics, brings together sociology. All of that to understand how the intersectionality, all those different dimensions. So, the way that the I structured the course was theory, clinical principle and application theory, and then at the end we have case scenarios. So that's how I did it. And of course, you know, it was changing as the students gave me feedback and so on. But that, that is the first course, and then everybody else in their courses in acquired motor disorders, swallowing, aphasia, dementia. You know, all those courses, the adult courses I teach, but you know the people in child language and literacy. They cover diversity. Everybody covers diversity. So, in the area more relevant to our conversation here, aphasia and also dementia. In those courses, I cover social determinants of health. I expand on social determinants of health. I cover a vulnerability to stroke and dementia in underrepresented populations and so on. So going back to the question, creating a curriculum, I understand you know that not every program has the faculty or has the resources the community. But whatever we can do to acknowledge the fact that diversity is here to stay. Diversity is not going to go away. We've been diverse since the very beginning. You know, like, even if you look, if you look at any community anywhere, it's already diverse as it is. So, incorporating that content in the curriculum and try to make the connections clinically. Luckily, we were able to do that. We have a clinic director that is also focused on diversity, and we cover everything there, from gender issues, race, ethnicity, all of those, as much as we can. So, the curriculum and taking the students into the community as much as we can.   Katie Strong: Yeah, I love that. So, you're talking about front loading a course in the curriculum, where you're getting people thinking about these and then, it's supplemented and augmented in each of the courses that they're taking. But also, I'm hearing you say you can't just stay in a classroom and learn about this. You need to go out.   Jose Centeno: Exactly! It's a lot. It didn't happen overnight. A lot of this was gradual, based on students feedback. And, you know, realizing that within ourselves, we within the course, when we were teaching it, oh, I need to change this, right, to move this around, whatever. But the next step I realized is, let's go into the community.   Katie Strong: Yeah, yeah. Well how lucky those students are at Rutgers.   Jose Centeno: Thank you.   Katie Strong: Well, we're nearing the end of our time together today. Jose and I just wanted, before we wrap up, I just wanted to ask you, “what, what excites you most about where aphasia research and care could go, or what do you think might need our most attention?”   Jose Centeno: That's a great question, because I thought of it quite a bit. But I'll focus it in terms of our diverse population, where the aphasia research should be. I think my impression is that there should be more attempts to connect the theoretical aspects of language with the psychosocial aspect. In other words, and this is how I teach my aphasia class. I focus the students on the continuum of care. The person comes in after stroke. We try to understand aphasia, but we aim to promoting life reconfiguration, life readaptation, going back into the community. So, here's the person with aphasia, and this is where we're heading to facilitating functioning, effective communication in the best way we can for this person, right? So, if these are all the different models that have been proposed regarding lexicon, vocabulary and sentence production and so on. How can we connect those therapeutic approaches in a way that they are functionally usable to bring this person back? Because there is a lot of literature that I enjoy reading, but how can we bring that and translate that to intervention, particularly with people that speak other languages. Which is very difficult because there isn't a lot of literature. But at least making an attempt to recruit the students from different backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds. And this, regardless of the backgrounds, there are students studying, interested in studying other cultures. And the curriculum exposes students to ways that we that there is some literature, there is a lot but there is some literature out there to explain vocabulary sentences in other languages post stroke in people with aphasia that, you know, we can use therapeutically. I mean, this is what's been created. So, let's look at this literature and be more open-minded. It's difficult. We don't speak every language in the world, but at least try to connect through the students that speak those languages in class, or languages departments that we have on campus, how those projects can be worked on. I'm just trying to be ambitious and creative here, because there's got to be a way that we should connect those theoretical models that are pretty much English focused intervention paradigms that will facilitate social function/   Katie Strong: It's a lot a lot of work, a lot of work to be done, a lot of a lot of projects and PhD students and all of that. Amazing.   Jose Centeno: I think it's as you said, a monumental amount of work, but, but I think that there should be attempts, of course, to include some of that content in class, to encourage students attention to the fact that there is a lot of literature in aphasia that is based on English speakers, that is based on models, on monolingual middle class…whoever shows up for the research project, the participants. But those are the participants. Now, I mean those that data is not applicable to the people [who you may be treating]. So, it's a challenge, but it's something to be aware of. This is a challenge to me that, and some people have highlighted that in the aphasia literature, the fact that we need more diversity in terms of let's study other languages and let's study intervention in other populations that don't speak English.   Katie Strong: Absolutely. Well, lots of amazing food for thought, and this has been such a beautiful conversation. I so appreciate you being here today, Jose. Thank you very, very much.   Jose Centeno: Thank you, Katie. I appreciate the invitation and I hope the future is bright for this type of research and clinical work and thank you so much for this time to talk about my work.       Resources   Centeno, J. G., (2024). A call for transformative intersectional LPAA intervention for equity and social justice in ethnosocially diverse post-stroke aphasia services. Seminars in Speech and Language, 45(01): 071-083. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-1777131 Centeno, J. G., & Harris, J. L. (2021). Implications of United States service evidence for growing multiethnic adult neurorehabilitation caseloads worldwide. Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 45(2), 77-97. Centeno, J. G., Kiran, S., & Armstrong, E. (2020). Aphasia management in growing multiethnic populations. Aphasiology, 34(11), 1314-1318.  https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2020.1781420 Centeno, J. G., Kiran, S., & Armstrong, E. (2020). Epilogue: harnessing the experimental and clinical resources to address service imperatives in multiethnic aphasia caseloads. Aphasiology, 34(11), 1451–1455. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2020.1781421 Centeno, J. G., Obler, L. K., Collins, L., Wallace, G., Fleming, V. B., & Guendouzi, J. (2023). Focusing our attention on socially-responsive professional education to serve ethnogeriatric populations with neurogenic communication disorders in the United States. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 32(4), 1782–1792. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_AJSLP-22-00325 Kagan, A. (2020). The life participation approach to aphasia: A 20-year milestone. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 5(2), 370. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_PERSP-20-00017 Vespa, J., Medina, L., & Armstrong, D. M. (2020). Demographic turning points for the United States: population projections for 2020 to 2060. Current Population Reports, P25-1144.             https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p25-1144.html    

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

Many communities face an uneven food landscape: plenty of cheap junk food, but few places to buy fresh, healthy food. This pattern—often called “food apartheid”—doesn't happen by accident; it grows from redlining, unfair rules, and corporate control. The impacts are steep: higher rates of type 2 diabetes, kidney failure, and learning problems in Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities, along with unsafe conditions for farmworkers. These harms have a long history, and government subsidies and convincing marketing keep ultraprocessed foods on top. However, we take practical steps to make change including investing in regenerative and community farms, protecting and fairly paying farmworkers, and enforcing civil-rights laws so public dollars support real food, healthy soil, and communities that thrive. In this episode, Leah Penniman, Dr. Rupa Marya, Raj Patel, Karen Washington, and I discuss why food injustices exist and how we can create regenerative food systems to serve everyone. Leah Penniman is a Black Kreyol educator, farmer/peyizan, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to land. As co-Executive Director, Leah is part of a team that facilitates powerful food sovereignty programs - including farmer training for Black & Brown people, a subsidized farm food distribution program for communities living under food apartheid, and domestic and international organizing toward equity in the food system. Leah has been farming since 1996, holds an MA in Education and a BA in Environmental Science from Clark University, and is a Manye (Queen Mother) in Vodun.  Dr. Rupa Marya is a physician, activist, mother, and composer. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco where she practices and teaches Internal Medicine. Her research examines the health impacts of social systems, from agriculture to policing. She is a co-founder of the Do No Harm Coalition, a collective of health workers committed to addressing disease through structural change. At the invitation of Lakota health leaders, she is currently helping to set up the Mni Wiconi Health Clinic and Farm at Standing Rock in order to decolonize medicine and food.  Raj Patel is a Research Professor at the University of Texas at Austin's Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs, a professor in the University's department of nutrition, and a Research Associate at Rhodes University, South Africa. He is the author of Stuffed and Starved, the New York Times bestselling The Value of Nothing, co-author of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things. A James Beard Leadership Award winner, he is the co-director of the award-winning documentary about climate change and the food system, The Ants & The Grasshopper.  Karen is a farmer, activist, and food advocate. She is the Co-owner and Farmer at Rise & Root Farm in Chester, New York. In 2010, Karen Co-Founded Black Urban Growers (BUGS), an organization supporting growers in both urban and rural settings. In 2012, Ebony magazine voted her one of the 100 most influential African Americans in the country, and in 2014 Karen was the recipient of the James Beard Leadership Award. Karen serves on the boards of the New York Botanical Gardens, SoulFire Farm, the Mary Mitchell Center, Why Hunger, and Farm School NYC. This episode is brought to you by BIOptimizers. Head to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use code HYMAN to save 15%. Full-length episodes can be found here:Why Food Is A Social Justice Issue Food Justice: Why Our Bodies And Our Society Are Inflamed A Way Out Of Food Racism And Poverty

4. Heroism Without Orders and the Last Stand AUTHOR NAME: Admiral James Stavridis, United States Navy (Retired) BOOK TITLE: To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision This segment emphasizes extreme courage. Cook Third Class Doris "Dorie" Miller, an African-American man in the segregated Navy, displayed pure heroism at Pearl Harbor by aiding the wounded captain and operating an anti-aircraft gun, earning the Navy Cross. Commander Ernest Evans led the heroic "last stand of the tin can sailors" at Leyte Gulf, charging the massive Japanese fleet (including Yamato) and successfully bluffing their retreat. 1944 IMPERIAL JAPANESE DESTROYER IN LEYTE GULF

This week we're treated to the deep expertise, wisdom, and compassion of agent Regina Brooks. Regina has lots of experience shaping and selling memoirs to publishers. In this week's show, we talk about what makes a memoir saleable, but also about what Regina looks for when memoir projects cross her desk. We cover author platform, celebrity memoir, and advice for memoirists looking to get published. Regina even invites our listeners (when they're ready) to send her their proposals. A great and much-needed publishing interview, memoir-style. Also, in today's Book Trend Brooke and Grant take the space to apologize for a recent ad spot run on Memoir Nation that they did not and do not endorse. Regina Brooks is the founder and CEO of Serendipity Literary Agency in New York, the largest African American–owned agency in the US. She is the president of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) and coproducer of the People of Publishing Conference and a founding member of Literary Agents of Change (LAOC) and the Black Book Accelerator. Brooks is the author of Writing Great Books for Young Adults and You Should Really Write a Book: How to Write, Sell, and Market Your Memoir. Brooks is a copublisher with Open Lens, an imprint of Akashic Books. Brooks has been highlighted in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. When she's not agenting, she's gardening, fishing, and flying her own plane (always in a dress). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1906, the mutilated body of young sales clerk James Logan was discovered on Southern California's grandest resort hotel, The Raymond. When an African American tailor was accused of the crime, the city's allegiances split. Half of the city of Pasadena wanted the man condemned to death, but the other half fought to save him, believing he had been framed.Sources:Biery, Bryan. “The Princes: Pasadena's Regal Family.” Colorado Boulevard Newspaper. 12 March, 2024. https://www.coloradoboulevard.net/the-princes-pasadenas-regal-family/Lindquist, Heather. “‘Exploring Pasadena's Past'- The Heart of Pasadena's Communities of Color.” Pasadena Museum of History. 18 June, 2022. https://pasadenahistory.org/exploring-pasadenas-past-the-heart-of-pasadenas-communities-of-color/Liu, Yan. “A full moon in another land: The Moon Bridge in the Japanese garden of the Huntington Library.” Frontiers of Architectural Research Vol. 9 Iss. 3, September 2020. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263520300182#abs0010Most of this episode consists of original research, drawn from the newspapers listed below.Newspapers: California EagleLiberator (Los Angeles)Long Beach TribuneLos Angeles Evening ExpressLos Angeles Evening Post RecordLos Angeles HeraldLos Angeles TimesPasadena Star NewsPasadena PostSacramento Daily UnionSan Francisco Daily CallSouth PasadenanSouth Pasadena RecordMusic: Edvard Grieg's 1906 'Butterfly' is this episode's background music. Credits to Holizna, Fesilyan Studios & Virginia Liston. For more information, visit www.oldbloodpodcast.com

On this episode of Cooking Issues, Dave Arnold welcomes culinary historian and award-winning author Michael Twitty to discuss his new book The American South. Twitty shares stories of growing up with Southern food traditions, his deep research into the region's culinary roots, and how gardening, foraging, and heritage recipes shaped his perspective on what “Southern food” really means.The conversation ranges from okra soup, red rice, and long-simmered green beans to the history of sweet tea, sassafras, poke salad, and rice bread. Twitty explains how dishes evolved across communities—African American, Indigenous, European, and immigrant—and why understanding migrations is key to understanding Southern cuisine. He also reflects on the challenges of translating historical recipes for modern cooks, the impact of changing agriculture on flavor, and the importance of reclaiming overlooked foodways.Along the way, the crew trades stories about Taiwan's cocktail bars, bison steaks, and Maryland fried chicken, while diving into listener questions on how to approach historic cookbooks and balance authenticity with adaptation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this Healthy Mind, Healthy Life episode, Mayor Teresa Thomas-Smith shares a direct, practical lens on leadership: your inner voice sets the ceiling for your strategy, culture, and impact. We dig into stripping away the “best self” mask, why vulnerability is a leadership asset (not a weakness), and simple practices to rewrite self-talk so results shift—at work and at home. Expect grounded examples, a real story of reframing under pressure, and clear steps to build an authentic, values-led leadership presence. Search-friendly themes: leadership mindset, authentic leadership, inner narrative, self-talk, mental fitness for leaders, emotional resilience, boundaries, trauma-informed growth.   About the Guest  : Teresa Thomas-Smith is the first African American and first female Mayor of Palmetto, Georgia. A global speaker and transformational strategist, she champions “lead her ship”—leading from essence, not titles—through radical authenticity, compassion, and practical inner work.   Key Takeaways: Authenticity is whole-self leadership: stop performing a “best self” and lead as a full human so others feel safe to do the same. Self-talk is the foundation: strategy and skills are only as strong as the inner voice driving them. Name the ego, don't obey it: acknowledge the loud, critical voice and consciously choose the truer one. Give yourself grace: change happens “right now,” one choice at a time—especially when you feel stuck. Write your story: put the desired outcome on paper; clarity + intention reduce fear and organize action. Release what no longer serves: notice old vows, roles, or narratives and consciously let them go. Your energy leads the room: remembered essence creates lightness, connection, and trust in teams. Practical starter: when negative self-talk spikes, pause, name it, thank it for trying to protect you, and release it; then speak a truer sentence aloud. If you're in immediate danger: India: Dial 112 (all emergencies). Download the 112 India app for quick SOS. 112 India+1 USA/Canada: Dial 911 (life-threatening emergencies). UK/Ireland: Dial 999 or 112. Both connect to emergency services. GOV.UK India – free, confidential mental-health support Tele-MANAS (Govt. of India): Call 14416 (alt: 1800-89-14416). 24/7 counseling in multiple languages. telemanas.mohfw.gov.in+1 KIRAN Mental Health Rehabilitation Helpline (Govt. of India): Call 1800-599-0019 (24/7). Press Information Bureau+1 NIMHANS Helpline:080-46110007 (advice, counseling). Disability Empowerment Dept Vandrevala Foundation:+91 9999 666 555 (mental health support). Disability Empowerment Dept Jeevan Aastha:1800-233-3330 (suicide prevention & counseling). Disability Empowerment Dept OneLife:78930-78930 (suicide prevention & crisis support). Disability Empowerment Dept United States 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988, or chat via 988Lifeline.org (24/7). 988 Lifeline+1 LGBTQ+ youth:The Trevor Project — 24/7 phone/text/chat support. Phone 1-866-488-7386; see site for chat/text. (Note: the LGBTQ-specific “Press 3” option on 988 has ended, but Trevor remains active.)The Trevor Project+2Governor of California+2 Canada 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 9-8-8 (24/7). Canada.ca+1 United Kingdom & Ireland Samaritans:116 123 (free, 24/7). Samaritans+1 Shout (text support): Text SHOUT to 85258 (24/7). Shout 85258 Global directories (find local help anywhere) Find a Helpline: Verified crisis lines in 130+ countries (phone, text, chat). Find A Helpline Befrienders Worldwide: Global network of emotional-support centers. befrienders.org Note: Numbers and services can change. If a line doesn't connect, try another option above or search your country at Find a Helpline.   Connect with the Guest  : Instagram: @TransformHerWithTeresa Website: https://www.peacefulsoulllc.com Want to be a guest on Healthy Mind, Healthy Life? DM on PM - Send me a message on PodMatchDM Me Here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/avik   Disclaimer: This video is for educational and informational purposes only. The views expressed are the personal opinions of the guest and do not reflect the views of the host or Healthy Mind By Avik™️. We do not intend to harm, defame, or discredit any person, organization, brand, product, country, or profession mentioned. All third-party media used remain the property of their respective owners and are used under fair use for informational purposes. By watching, you acknowledge and accept this disclaimer.   Healthy Mind By Avik™️ is a global platform redefining mental health as a necessity, not a luxury. Born during the pandemic, it's become a sanctuary for healing, growth, and mindful living. Hosted by Avik Chakraborty—storyteller, survivor, wellness advocate—this channel shares powerful podcasts and soul-nurturing conversations on: • Mental Health & Emotional Well-being• Mindfulness & Spiritual Growth• Holistic Healing & Conscious Living• Trauma Recovery & Self-Empowerment With over 4,400+ episodes and 168.4K+ global listeners, join us as we unite voices, break stigma, and build a world where every story matters. Subscribe and be part of this healing journey. ContactBrand: Healthy Mind By Avik™Email: join@healthymindbyavik.com | podcast@healthymindbyavik.comWebsite: www.healthymindbyavik.comBased in: India & USA Open to collaborations, guest appearances, coaching, and strategic partnerships. Let's connect to create a ripple effect of positivity. 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Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Jamal Bryant.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Jamal Bryant.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Jamal Bryant.

This week on Stitch Please, Lisa and Mind the Force Podcast host Kristine McPartlin geek out over the secret language of Star Wars fashion from Luke's hopeful robes to Darth Vader's villain chic. They laugh about the Empire's tiny hats, dissect Jedi linen minimalism, and revel in Queen Amidala's 20 yard gowns. It's a hilarious, insightful dive into how every stitch in a galaxy far, far away tells a story and yes, sometimes that story is simply “Nazis bad.”====Where You Can Find Kristine! MInd The Force Podcast===========Dr. Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville, Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.Instagram: Lisa WoolforkTwitter: Lisa Woolfork======Stay Connected:YouTube: Black Women StitchInstagram: Black Women StitchFacebook: Stitch Please Podcast--Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletterCheck out our merch hereLeave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.Join the Black Women Stitch PatreonCheck out our Amazon Store

Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines, Iowa, boasted an impressive résumé—complete with a supposed doctor of education degree. But what truly stood out was how Roberts managed to advance his career on a résumé filled with false information. What was real, however, was his record: He was living in the U.S. illegally, had an active deportation order, and had a prior weapons charge. How did a man with fake degrees, false citizenship claims, and a criminal record end up leading an entire school district? Victor Davis Hanson says the answer lies in the dangers of DEI on today's episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “ Why would a sophisticated city and a sophisticated school district hire someone without specifying his citizen status or his degrees? And the answer was: He was a diversity, equity, and inclusion candidate. He was a charismatic, apparently, they thought, black American. This was mostly a white city. It had large minority population. They felt it would be a goodwill gesture to hire the first African American—although he was not an African American, he was a citizen of a foreign country. And he was here illegally. But nevertheless, they thought that would be reflecting on their goodwill, their sensitivity, their liberality. “

1. The Prosperous Mariner Community of Marblehead and its Revolutionary Leadership Author: Patrick O'Donnell Book Title: The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington across the Delaware Marblehead was the second-largest port city in Massachusetts and a thriving cosmopolitan community, with a population estimated at about 5,000. Its economy relied heavily on fishing, specifically codfish from the Grand Banks, which were salted and traded globally via a massive merchant fleet. This commerce fostered some of the wealthiest men in the colonies. Key leaders included Jeremiah Lee, a man of enormous wealth and influence, and John Glover, a scrappy, stocky, red-haired self-made man who started as a cobbler and built a successful fleet of ships. These men, along with Elbridge Gerry, were prominent members of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, sitting on crucial committees of supply and safety. They leveraged their trade routes to bring in vital resources, such as gunpowder and cannon, securing Spain as the colonies' "first foreign aid" in 1774. Glover led the Marblehead Regiment, which was notably diverse, including African Americans like Caesar Glover and Romeo, who sailed and fought together.