Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast features movement voices, stories, and strategies for racial justice. Co-hosts Chevon and Hiba give their unique takes on race and pop culture, and uplift narratives of hope, struggle, and joy, as we continue to build the momentum needed to advance racial justice in our policies, institutions, and culture. Build on your racial justice lens and get inspired to drive action by learning from organizational leaders and community activists.
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Episodes
Episode 05: Kenrya Rankin, Fighting White Supremacy, and Black Romance Literature
Kenrya Rankin, author, activist, doula, and former senior editorial director of Colorlines, joins Chevon and Hiba to talk about everything from ‘freedom dreaming’ to Black love and sex in books and podcasts. Kenrya talks about her beginnings in Cleveland and her move to New York, what her book How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide To White Resistance means to her one year later, and her own journey as co-host of The Turn On, a podcast about sex and literary erotica.
Episode 05: Kenrya Rankin, Fighting White Supremacy, and Black Romance Literature
Kenrya Rankin, author, activist, doula, and former senior editorial director of Colorlines, joins Chevon and Hiba to talk about everything from ‘freedom dreaming’ to Black love and sex in books and podcasts. Kenrya talks about her beginnings in Cleveland and her move to New York, what her book How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide To White Resistance means to her one year later, and her own journey as co-host of The Turn On, a podcast about sex and literary erotica.
We preview a new Mass Freedom FRED Talks conversation between Dawn Harrington, Executive Director at Free Hearts, and Jessica Rodriguez, an immigrant rights activist and Director of the Southside Workers Center. They explore why it’s important to build solidarity across movements to end mass incarceration and mass detention.
In celebration of Black History Month and Valentine’s Day, Hiba and Chevon discuss the late Eva Rutland’s contributions to the romance novel genre, and talk about the importance of uplifting Black romance writing and representation.
Resources (by order of mention)
Eva Rutland, Browne Popular Culture Library (Thread)
Entwined Destinies Digital Gallery: Elsie B. Washington, Vivian Stephens, and 40 Years of Black Voices in Romance
https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/exhibits/show/entwineddestinies/introduction
30 Romance Authors of Color You Should Be Reading, Twin Cities Geek
http://twincitiesgeek.com/2019/12/30-romance-authors-of-color-you-should...
Mass Freedom FRED Talks with Dawn Harrington and Jessica Rodriguez
https://www.massfreedom.org/fred_talks/
Kenrya Rankin Website
The new and updated Colorlines website
How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide To Resistance
The Turn On Podcast
https://www.theturnonpodcast.com/
Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva and Melissa Franqui
Episode 04: Angela Glover Blackwell, “Who Do We Think We Are” Colorlines Series, Discussing Lizzo and Body Positivity
Angela Glover Blackwell, founder in residence at Policylink, and host of the new Radical Imagination Podcast, joins Chevon and Hiba to talk about her longtime work as a leading voice in the movement for equity and racial justice. In this conversation, Angela talks about the “racial moment” we are currently living, and challenges us to think radically in creating narratives that will lead to concrete solutions.
Episode 04: Angela Glover Blackwell, “Who Do We Think We Are” Colorlines Series, Discussing Lizzo and Body Positivity
Angela Glover Blackwell, founder in residence at Policylink, and host of the new Radical Imagination Podcast, joins Chevon and Hiba to talk about her longtime work as a leading voice in the movement for equity and racial justice. In this conversation, Angela talks about the “racial moment” we are currently living, and challenges us to think radically in creating narratives that will lead to concrete solutions. Drawing on a lifetime of experience as an activist, Angela provides a reframing of “hopelessness” in this moment in the U.S., and inspires us to use the moment as an opportunity for important social change.
We introduce our brand new Colorlines series “Who Do We Think We Are” by Race Forward’s Senior Fellow, Rosana Cruz that is timely in the wake of the recent “American Dirt” book controversy. Hiba sits with Rosana for a conversation about the creation of the series, and their experience interviewing Latinx-identified movement leaders, artists, and cultural innovators about how they define themselves racially.
Hiba and Chevon also discuss the former ‘Biggest Loser’ trainer Jillian Michaels and her recent comments on Lizzo’s body image, Lizzo’s response and self-affirmations, and place Michaels’ comments in the context of systemic racism, anti-blackness, and fatphobia.
Resources (by order of mention)
“Who Do We Think We Are” Colorlines Series
http://bit.ly/WhoThinkWeAreCLSeries
PolicyLink
Radical Imagination Podcast
“My Role in a Social Change Ecosystem” by Deepa Iyer
http://bit.ly/SocialChangeEcosystemIyer
Update on Moms For Housing Campaign
http://bit.ly/RFMomsForHousingUpdate
Angela Glover Blackwell on Twitter
Executive Producers:
Hendel Leiva and Melissa Franqui
Episode 03: Talking about Race and Marijuana, Police Abolition, and Stigma
Kassandra Frederique, managing director of policy, advocacy and campaigns at Drug Policy Alliance, joins Chevon and Hiba to talk about her work in advancing policy and community solutions to reduce the harms associated with drug use and the carceral system. They also touch on the importance of language as an organizing tool, and provide a framework that demonstrates racial justice work and marijuana policy reform are inextricably linked.
Episode 03: Talking about Race and Marijuana, Police Abolition, and Stigma
Kassandra Frederique, managing director of policy, advocacy and campaigns at Drug Policy Alliance, joins Chevon and Hiba to talk about her work in advancing policy and community solutions to reduce the harms associated with drug use and the carceral system. They also touch on the importance of language as an organizing tool, and provide a framework that demonstrates racial justice work and marijuana policy reform are inextricably linked.
Resources (by order of mention)
Drug Policy Alliance
www.instagram.com/drugpolicyalliance
Vocal New York
Follow Kassandra Frederique on Twitter
EPISODE 02: The “Joker”and Cancel Culture, and Immigration & an Expanded Lens on the Crisis at the Border
In this episode of Momentum, Hiba and Chevon take on ‘cancel culture’ in the comedy world, discussing “Joker” director Todd Phillips recent comments about not being able to make comedy films because of “woke culture”, and Saturday Night Live’s recent hiring and firing of Shane Gillis.
EPISODE 02: The “Joker”and Cancel Culture, and Immigration & an Expanded Lens on the Crisis at the Border
In this episode of Momentum, Hiba and Chevon take on ‘cancel culture’ in the comedy world, discussing “Joker” director Todd Phillips recent comments about not being able to make comedy films because of “woke culture”, and Saturday Night Live’s recent hiring and firing of Shane Gillis.
Race Forward’s Research Associate Yirssi, joins the conversation to talk about her work with “Shattered Families” around the intersection of immigration enforcement and the child welfare system, and gives us insight into the current state of the work and what she saw on her recent trip to Arizona and Mexico.
Our featured guest is Tsion Gurmu, Legal Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), who joins the podcast for a conversation on her background as an asylum seeker from Ethiopia, BAJI’s efforts in lifting up black immigrant experiences with narrative projects such as their recent Black Lives At The Border webinar and direct work in Tapachula, Mexico.
Resources (by order of mention)
Shattered Families
www.raceforward.org/research/reports/shattered-families
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
www.firrp.org
RAICES
www.raicestexas.org
Al Otro Lado
www.alotrolado.org
Colorlines Reporting
www.colorlines.com/series/shattered-families
BAJI (Black Alliance for Just Immigration)
www.baji.org
Black Lives At The Border (report and webinar)
www.baji.org/resources-webinars-black-lives-at-the-border/
http://bit.ly/BAJI_Webinar
Demands from the Assembly of African Migrants in Tapachula
http://bit.ly/demands-assembly
National Immigrant Integration Conference
(October 20-22, 2019)
www.niicnewamericandreams.org/register-2019
Executive Producers:
Hendel Leiva and Melissa Franqui
Episode 01: Introduction To Momentum With Chevon and Hiba
In this very first episode of Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast, get to know co-hosts Hiba and Chevon as they record from the new Race Forward offices in midtown Manhattan, sipping on Big Freedia wine!
Episode 01: Introduction To Momentum With Chevon and Hiba
In this very first episode of Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast, get to know co-hosts Hiba and Chevon as they record from the new Race Forward offices in midtown Manhattan, sipping on Big Freedia wine!
Chevon and Hiba discuss how they came to understand and become committed to racial justice work. Chevon talks about learning about systemic racism from an early age, and how it showed up in different ways throughout her life. Hiba talks about her Sudanese Muslim background, her work with the National Urban League, and her work coordinating convenings at Race Forward.
Executive Producers:
Hendel Leiva and Melissa Franqui