WEBVTT - This Wild and Complicated Time 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.480 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok F Daily with 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:18.520 Me your Girl. Daniel Moody recording from the Home Bunker. 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:21.720 Pre recording. Dear friends, as I am away for a 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:24.160 couple of days, I would love to say that I'm 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:26.439 taking some rests, but you know that I'm away from 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:30.040 the pod but on social media, so as always follow 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.240 me there, and you know that if there is breaking news, 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:37.360 I will surely have a microphone and a laptop. That's 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:40.280 what it means to kind of pseudo go on vacation 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.600 these days. Nonetheless, I'm really excited to bring to you 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:49.280 a pre recorded conversation with a friend of the show, 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:53.760 Anna Deshaun, who is the founder of E three Radio 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.560 and The Cube and is the host of Queer News 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:01.480 podcast and Second Sunday. We get into a really good 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:06.080 conversation Anna and I about you know, obviously the state 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.800 of politics, but also about faith and what it means 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:14.280 to hold faith in this moment, and also what this 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:19.400 political moment means for people that live at the intersections 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:25.080 of multiple identities. This conversation was recorded prior to the 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:30.240 announcement that Joe Biden would be stepping down from reelection 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:34.319 and the announcement of Vice President Kamala Harris as our 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:39.640 new Democratic nominee. This is a good conversation, however, because look, folks, 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:43.560 as we make our way into this election, we know 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:45.920 exactly what is at stake and what I can say 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:51.200 right now, just days, you know, removed from this seismic 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:55.560 shift in our body politic, is that people are energized 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:58.600 in a way that I have not seen. I am 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.280 hopeful in a way that I have not been hopeful 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:05.080 probably since two thousand and eight. There is just this 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:11.000 palpable energy and excitement that I am just so grateful 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:15.399 that I was wrong. As everybody knows, I was very 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:20.000 staunchly against Joe Biden stepping aside, only because I thought 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:22.880 that the Democrats were going to fall into absolute disarray 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.440 and it was going to be inevitable that Donald Trump 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.920 would be elected because of it. But now seeing the 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.600 way that people are hitting the ground running. You had 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.280 forty four thousand black women show up for a call 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:39.079 that raised over a million dollars. Then the following day 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.040 you had over fifty thousand black men show up for 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:45.560 a call that raised over a million dollars. Now you're 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:49.560 having aapi, folks, do a call. White women are being 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:53.440 organized to do a call. Different communities are taking on 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:57.000 the responsibility of what it means to activate in this 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.040 moment with three and a half months to go to 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:04.040 the election. The stakes are still the same, right, but 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.800 the players are different, and I think that that matters. 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:10.720 And you know where we are right now. I continue 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.440 to share on social media ways in which people can 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:17.120 get activated. If you have the ability to give money, 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:20.000 give money, if you have the ability to organize it, 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.080 get out the vote in your town, in your city, 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:27.079 do that right. If you have the opportunity to organize 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.760 and host salons and discussions in your home to talk 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.280 to people about what is at stake in this election 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:37.960 with friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, do that. We all have 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:40.760 a role to play in this moment, and we have 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:44.200 three and a half months. So every single person needs 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:46.200 to roll up their sleeves and needs to get to 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.680 work and needs to do what they can where they can, 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.120 so that we can get Vice President Kamala Harris and 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:55.600 our democracy over the fucking finish line and finish Donald 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:59.839 Trump off once and for all. So that's where I am. 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:03.880 I am energized. I'm taking a few days away, but 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:07.360 I'm never really too far away, and leaving you with 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:11.520 some really great interviews in the meantime. Coming up next, 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:19.159 my conversation with Anna Deshon, Folks, I am very happy 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:22.840 to welcome back to the show. Anna Deshon, who is 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:25.640 a founder of E three Radio and The Cube and 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:30.560 is the host of Queer News, a podcast covering all 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:35.159 that queer news. Anna, it has been what did you 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.720 say before, A wild time? 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:40.920 It's wild and complicated. 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:44.440 Wild, wild and complicated. I think that if there was 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:47.560 a word or two words to describe twenty twenty four, 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.839 that is what we would use. I would use the 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:54.360 same as well. Let's just start with this for you 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.520 as you cover the news of the community, about the community. 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:02.560 What is happening to and in and around the LGBTQ 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.760 plus community. What has made it the most wild and 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.520 complex time in your opinion? 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.520 Where do we start? Danielle, Oh, my God, and so family. 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:17.159 Always always great to be on WOKF with you, So 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:21.560 thanks for having me back. You know, as black quear women, 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:23.720 every day our identity is in the news. So that's 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:27.320 just let's just start there. So wild and complicated times 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:30.159 when it comes to abortion rights, when it comes to DEI, 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:33.279 affirmative action, everything that is being rolled back at time, 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:35.640 and then we get to queer and I just feel 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.679 like history is continuing to repeat itself, and I feel 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:40.800 like we haven't learned a single lesson. So I've been 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.400 sitting in this reflective moment of what does it mean 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:48.560 to be in this time while history is in fact 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:52.440 repeating itself where we are looking ahead thirty years to 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:54.600 be able to repeal all the stuff that's happened over 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:58.520 the last eight and what does that mean for us? 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:01.719 I have another posse a Sunday, we had Bishop flunder 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:05.839 On and she talked about believing that we come from 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.320 eternity into time and then back into eternity and had 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:12.080 me thinking, like what are we doing with this time? 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:15.839 Like how do we how will the future talk about 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:19.680 us right now? And y'all it's complicated and and why 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.240 What I mean by that is I report one week 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:27.720 about how some of Desantus' anti trans policies have been 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:31.599 rolled back, clarified, cleared up, moved to socide, okay right. 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.400 Recently a couple weeks ago, I reported about how that 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:38.200 judge Judge Hinkel Right put a permanent ban on that 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.160 whole trans healthcare business in Florida. So folks who identify 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:43.360 as trans can now have health care there because he said, 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.760 it doesn't matter what you think, you can't stop somebody 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:49.599 from getting health care for themselves. Right. That is a 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:54.600 big win. That is a major moment because Desantus's legislation 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:56.960 laid the groundwork for all these other states to use 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:00.680 as a blueprint for all this anti trans legislation. Right, 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.560 So now we sort of have a blueprint and now 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:06.039 a precedent that could also be used in other states 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:09.480 to roll back all this anti translationlation. Right. But then 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:13.920 I you know, another day rolls by, and I'm also 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:18.040 reporting about how Utah there's colleges in Utah who are 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:22.240 closing pride centers because of di regulations, right. 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:26.280 And not just Pride centers, the Black Center, the Indigenous Center, 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:31.800 all of these different centers for historically marginalized communities that 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:36.600 were place of community right and connection are being closed down. 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:39.040 Yep, that's right, and now being a rolled all up 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:41.480 into one place as if everybody's needs are the same 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:45.080 and as everybody you know, resources ought to look the same. 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:49.480 It makes no sense, right, And then I've got a 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:53.280 celebrating on the White House lawn. It's great pride celebration 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.400 that didn't happen, you know, four years ago. These are 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.520 things we ought to appreciate. At the same time we 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.640 in amidst these wars that we're funding genocide that's happening. 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.960 What are we doing here? Where is our humanity? Is 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:10.920 also complicated? And then we have probably the on record, 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:15.120 the worst presidential candidate coming up here in November. But 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:16.960 all the same time, day y'all was in here, Like 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:19.160 it feels like history's repeating itself. I'm sitting here like 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.360 this feels like the Bull O'Connor of our time. Like 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:26.280 I feel like this is like the Inneded Bryant of 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:30.040 our time, right, like Marjorie Taylor Green's like, for example, 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:33.280 come to mind, And I just find myself one to 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:36.280 tap back in to all of our ancestors, the Ella 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.160 Bakers and the Fannie Lou Hammers, and the people who 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.559 had taught us how to get through those times, because 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:44.040 I feel like I feel like we are in it. 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:49.959 I think that similarly, I have found myself really looking 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:55.080 back right, looking in history to provide some solace, to 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:59.720 provide some hopefulness, and faith because what we are up against, 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:06.280 while daunting, is nothing like what our ancestors were up against. 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:10.400 I'm reading a book by a friend, Jen M. Jackson, 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:14.400 doctor Jackson, called Black Women Taught Us, and going through 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:17.520 each chapter is about, you know, a different black feminist 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:22.280 from a different time who was dealing with being you know, 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.920 Ida b Wells, being run out of her state with 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:29.960 death threats, all because she was covering in great detail 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.720 the lynchings that were happening right that mainstream white media 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:38.080 wasn't covering, talking about enslaved you know, women hiding out 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:41.080 in attics addicts that weren't even high enough to be 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:43.079 able to stand up in or really long enough to 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:45.840 be able to lay down in. But what freedom looked 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.640 like to her was like the freedom of space and body. 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.720 So that's where she hid on the plantation. So it's 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.960 just one reminding ourselves that inside of I think our 0:09:56.120 --> 0:10:02.679 DNA lies like a great resili and a blueprint of 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:04.839 how to move forward, because I think that what we 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:11.319 were lulled into believing is that the bull Connors were gone, 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:14.960 is that we had toppled them, you know, and that 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:17.640 it was now our time to move forward. And there 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:20.079 were never going to be people who were going to 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.000 stand in our way because we had pushed them to 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.480 the margins. And I think that that's where we got 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:24.960 caught up. 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:29.000 Oh we did. We got complacent. We got so complacent, 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:32.400 and I think, especially with queer folks, I think about 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.920 marriage equality being the start of that complacency, thinking that 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:39.240 that was the ultimate right, that was like the silver ullan, 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.319 that was it, you know, from here all other things 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:46.160 are solved. But even during that time, if you talk 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:48.720 to anybody whose identities were marginalized, that was not their 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.440 number one issue. They trying to find housing, employment. And 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:57.000 so when we don't tackle the most basic fundamental rights 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:00.400 of those who are the most I like what Arlen 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:04.160 Hamilton says, like the most underestimated of us, you know, 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:08.640 then we really aren't solving the real problems. And I 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:12.360 think that's what we have found in all the efforts 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:14.839 of all of our ancestors. It's like we've solved this 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:18.679 one piece, but we haven't really solved the real problem 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:21.560 in this country. I mean, let's be real, I don't 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.840 know what is possible in all of its shapes and forms, 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:28.280 given how this place started. I tell people our time 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:32.680 in conversation like this was a great experiment. Okay, there's 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:34.640 no other country in the world made up like the 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:38.240 United States of America. It's still a great experiment. And 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:44.560 it's not been going that great Okay, Okay, there's some 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:48.679 things that are like really shining bright lights, but Chile, Chile, 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:52.040 to be in this body has not been the greatest 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:55.840 of times, right, It's been pretty awful. So I think 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:59.160 we find ourselves in this place, in this experiment and 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:03.360 not knowing how to actually solve it, actually solve it. 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:10.640 Yeah, as a black queer woman, we are facing down. 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:16.200 So much is at stake in this election, and for you, 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:19.120 you know, and the folks that you talk to on 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:23.120 your shows, Like, as we get closer to the election, 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:28.199 what are you hearing from other black queer people, queer 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:33.160 people of color in terms of the threat and the fear. 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:37.680 Yeah, it's tough. It's hard because are we looking to 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.520 save what was a like white center democracy? Is that 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:44.840 what we're really looking to say, We're looking to create 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.360 a new democracy? What does that look like? And what 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:51.880 I hear is the goal is to fight fascism? Balid 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:58.120 valid okay, And is the democracy we've been in the 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:00.200 one that's been working. Has that been working for you? 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:02.520 Has that been working for me? Has that been working 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.160 for my cousins, all the black men I know? Has 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:06.800 that been working for all the black women I know? 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.200 For all the queer folks I know? I don't think so. 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:12.280 So I'm hearing I'm gonna do what I gotta do 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:14.920 when it's time to go vote, you know, because I 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:18.160 know voting people. They're gonna go and they're gonna vote 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:23.640 against fascism, but they are not happy or pleased with 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:28.680 the other options. I mean, it just feels like we're 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:30.560 constantly sucking this rock in a hard place. And I 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.280 catch myself saying, oh, this is like the most crucial election, 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.240 because I feel like every time there is something crucial 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:41.720 happening to black and brown bodies period. Every presidential election 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:43.839 is important to as a matter of fact, every local 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:47.240 election is even more important to us. And so I 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:50.360 catch myself and I catch other people saying, like, don't 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:54.080 say like this is the child. Every election is yep, 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.080 important to our bodies, but this is just what we 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.080 have to deal with in this particular election, in this 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:03.199 particular time. So I find people just being just terribly conflicted. 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:07.520 How are you finding hope? We've been saying on wookf 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:09.680 And I say, you know all the time, Pride is 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:11.880 three hundred and sixty five days a year, and there 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:17.680 is something about my feeling where I become conflicted because 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:21.800 I'm just like, even going to attend the White House 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.520 Pride event was a deep conflict for me. 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:25.680 You know. 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:30.040 I woke up that day and I was just like, hmm, well, 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:37.520 you know, still sending weapons and bombs and murdering tens 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:43.400 of thousands of Palestinians every single day, and there is 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:44.600 no sign of stopping. 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:45.680 And so. 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.600 How do I not be complicit? So talk to me 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:55.160 about like the conflict if any you were feeling. 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:59.440 Yeah, it is. It is what I'm facing here in 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:04.560 Chicago as well. Right, We've got a black man as 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.440 mayor of this city right now, right, this is a 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:11.040 historical moment for us. We haven't had one since Harold Washington. Right. 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:15.920 He's also a liberal mayor, doing very positive things, guaranteed 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.720 minimum income type of stuff like stuff that's like, okay, 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.400 that's like fighting capitalism type stuff, you know. And we 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:26.120 also have the shortest parade on record happening this year 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:28.720 for the Chicago Pride Parade. We also have a shorter 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.360 route this year. Now it's the Pride Parade, something that 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:34.160 I have shown up at every single year. No, I'm 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:36.840 at an age child, I've been to the parade, so okay, 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.840 I have done the rainbow thing. Okay, I don't need 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:43.240 the rainbow thing. And in fact, I'm queer every day, okay. 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:48.240 And I felt it was incredibly important to fight for 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:52.520 the Pride Parade because I remember being the baby gay 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:56.120 who had never seen anything like that before and just 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.520 knowing how incredibly important it is. Yeah, that these types 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:03.320 of spaces exists. Despite the capitalism that comes along with 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:08.240 the corporate you know whatever that they put on, it 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.800 is still important to so many people who don't have 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.560 the opportunities to come out, who don't have the privilege 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:17.640 and who have never celebrated before, and that is worth 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:19.680 fighting for. And so I feel the same way about 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.200 the White House. It is important to show up because 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.680 there might be another time, but we are not allowed 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:28.840 where literally he does everything. If he's elected again, he 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:32.520 will erase us from every single document moment that exists 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:36.520 in every legal period. His goal is to erase our existence, 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:38.680 and that is exactly what he will do quickly and 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.560 swiftly with some type of executive order and break some 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.240 other type of protocol that nobody ever thought of president 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:47.000 would ever break. Like, I think that is his goal 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:49.920 and mission in life. And so I don't think it's 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:53.600 this or that, it's but and and I think that 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:56.800 we just have to stay committed to what we know 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.280 is important, which is centering the most marginalized of us, 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.560 because we if we actually sent to the most marginalized, 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:07.119 everybody wins. And when you ask me, like how, I 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.200 get hope. I do my best to tell balanced stories 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:13.760 and have a balanced pod because what bleeds is not 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:17.760 what leads on this podcast, because that doesn't serve us. 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.439 It just makes us sad and depressed. Yeah, but you 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:25.840 know this past week Shakirie richardson freaking is a bright light. Okay, 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:29.560 she let the storytelling on my pod, all right, as 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:33.240 a queer black woman out here running as fast as flow. Joe, Oh, 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.200 that is good news. When I tell a story. This 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.040 man he came out in his obituary at the age 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:39.680 of eighty five. 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:45.440 Oh my god, see the story. Yeah, it broke oh god, Anna, 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:49.600 it broke my heart. Yeah, to think that you would 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:58.760 carry that secret until your death to say that you 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:04.199 had lost the love of your life decades prior, you know, 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:08.159 and the fear had like it really it broke That 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:09.400 story broke my heart. 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:12.800 It broke my heart. And at the same time, I 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.800 was like, he had the courage enough to write that, 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:18.320 and if somebody on the other end had the courage 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.840 enough to follow the directives, because clearly there was something, 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:25.119 you know, where he felt like he couldn't but somebody said, 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:27.080 this is what he wanted, and he's gonna be buried 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:29.280 next to the person that he loved his entire life. 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:34.879 You know, when I report about young people fighting back, 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.080 like I got the chance. We have Senator Mike Simmons 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:41.080 here in the state of Illinois, our first out elected 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:47.280 state senator, black man with locks. Okay, I am a 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:50.480 fan of Senator Centimons, and this year for his Pride 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:53.400 press conference, he actually was like, ain't none of y'all 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:56.560 talking this year? I want to center queer youth. And 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.520 he had a queer youth panel that gave me so 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:03.920 much hope, Danielle listening to these young people sixteen, seventeen, 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:07.800 eighteen years old talk about their queer identities, their experiences 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:10.720 in school, their experiences with their families, them having the 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.320 courage to sit up here and be recorded and be 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.920 broadcasted out everywhere about how they are fighting for their 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:21.040 humanity because if they don't like, who will? And the 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:24.120 I'm stepping up and saying that's what I'm doing because 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:27.560 I love us so much. That gives me hope, you know. 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:29.399 And that's the tough type of stuff I like to 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:32.240 report on. And that's why I end every podcast with 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:36.600 Anna's word, because we're more than just these terrible moments, 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:39.719 and I don't believe we're going to stop fighting. And 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.000 I think that that ought to give all of us 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:42.960 a little bit of hope. 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.959 I think that it's just like one young people listening 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.240 to young people. I mean, the college campus uprisings gave 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:56.480 me so much hope because it was a stark reminder 0:19:56.560 --> 0:19:59.320 that it is and has always been young people that 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:02.000 move this kind treeforward, that hold up a mirror and 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:04.960 show us all who we are. So whether it was 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:09.000 Ryan White during you know, the beginning of the AIDS crisis, 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:12.639 being a child going on the news to talk about 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:16.719 having had contracted AIDS, whether it is these young people 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:21.320 queer kids saying like you can strip off the safe 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:23.719 space stickers from the classroom, but like I'm still going 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.239 to be gay right, Like you know, So it is. 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:30.560 I think that it's so important because those of us 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.240 who are older, I think, can get calcified in our 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:38.119 frustration and our apathy, and so I think that it 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:41.440 is really important to have those reminders. 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:45.680 Often we're so easily jaded. That's what, Yeah, we are. 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:47.639 But it's not to say that there isn't a lot 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:49.840 that has jaded us the jaded nate. 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:50.640 It is valid. 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:53.920 Yeah, what is it that you hope that folks get 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:57.800 from your POD's Sunday Sermon and Queer News? Like, what 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:00.240 is it that you hope that you are able to 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:02.639 contribute to the media landscape? 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:07.200 So with queer News, my hope is that I contribute 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.200 to this canon, that is this news cycle, no matter 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:13.240 what's happening on the social media networks with their shadow 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:16.040 banning or whatever is happening on this particular day or moment, 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:18.679 but that people can hear news that they are not 0:21:18.720 --> 0:21:25.000 getting anywhere else period. That centers us first, and for me, 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:27.920 that is what I hear from people, and that is 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:31.440 where people center their gratitude around this piece of work, 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:34.240 and that encourages me. I was actually recently at in 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:38.440 DC for Capital Pride and what a great time I had. 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.400 I'm looking forward to World Pride. And a sister came 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:43.919 up to the table and talked about how my reporting 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:47.280 on Britney Griner before anybody else even cared about what 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:50.280 was happening with her, meant so much to her. And 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:51.800 that's why I do it, and that's why I think 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:56.520 it's important, because a Britney Grinder story is important every day, 0:21:57.040 --> 0:21:59.639 not just on the day that someone sent a press release. 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:02.560 Important to us every day, and so that's what I 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:05.920 hope people get from Queer News. And then with Second Sunday, 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:08.600 it is an opportunity for us to talk about stories 0:22:08.600 --> 0:22:11.240 that we don't get to talk about out loud. It's 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:14.879 literally about black queer people finding keeping in sometimes losing faith. 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:17.800 And there's a lot of us who grew up in church, 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:20.560 in the Christian Church in particular, and it caused us 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:22.560 a whole heck of a lot of harm. And we 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:26.000 have found some type of spiritual grounding or not in 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:29.040 other ways and shapes and forms, and we talk about it, 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.840 but nobody else hears about it, and I wanted the 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:35.399 world to hear about how the Christian Church has not 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:38.199 only harmed us, but we are still okay, and for 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.720 other people to know that they can be okay too, 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:43.320 because there's so many other people who have felt ostracized 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:46.640 from the church or cast aside in the church who 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:49.280 can relate to the stories that we're telling. And I 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:52.439 feel like that is really resonating with a lot of people. 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:54.359 I love it. I love it. 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:56.080 You're giving me a run for my money with your 0:22:56.119 --> 0:22:59.200 multiple pods. Now I gotta go pick out like a 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:01.960 fourth thing, fourth and fifth one to stay in the race. 0:23:03.560 --> 0:23:06.000 Tell people where they can find your shows, Listen to 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:08.639 your shows, share your shows. 0:23:08.640 --> 0:23:12.000 One hundred percent so you all can totally listen wherever 0:23:12.000 --> 0:23:14.199 you get your podcasts. I would also love for you 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:16.920 to go visit the qube t a t qu b E. 0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:19.600 It's our currated platform of the best black and brown 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:22.359 pods out here. You can go there and listen, you know, 0:23:22.440 --> 0:23:24.080 and wherever you get your pods. I know how y'all 0:23:24.119 --> 0:23:28.960 are y'all particular, So go wherever you go to follow, listener, subscribe, 0:23:29.080 --> 0:23:31.160