HealthRaceSolution Sessions
afropunk solution sessions, ep. 10: identity
For Black people, just being visible, vocal, and expressive can be an act of resistance. Marginalized folks are persecuted for our identities every day, and finding our truths can be a journey. But our identities are complex and worth celebrating. Through our art, activism, traditions, legacies, and enduring unity, we find freedom in our stories.
In this season’s final episode of AFROPUNK SOLUTION SESSIONS, “Identity,” Bridget and Yves explore the meaning of identity with a bunch of special guests. Transgender rights activist Raquel Willis gets real about accepting ourselves on our own terms, and artist Lonnie Holley shares the importance of creating meaningful artwork. The epic mother-daughter duo Michaela Angela Davis and Elenni Davis-Knight talk lineage and Black genius. Podcaster Nicole Kelly, Hair Nah creator Momo Pixel, New Orleans historian Glenn Jones, and actress and producer Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni also get into the in and outs of identity.
We get into:
- The importance of sharing our truths
- Reckoning with our heritage and history
- Living our best lives and finding joy in our stories
- Learning about and honoring our culture and ancestors
- Reading down myths about our identities and defining ourselves
- What kinds of stories film and television tell about Black people
Solutions:
- Find your authentic voice.
- Look for joy in your identity.
- Take pride in all your identities.
- Find beauty in our differences.
- Visit Blackmasking.org
- See One Drop of Love
Featured in this episode:
MoMo Pixel
Singer, Art Director, and Creator of Hair Nah!
MoMo Pixel is a Singer, Host, Art Director, and Creator of viral web game Hair Nah!.
Raquel Willis
Activist, Writer + Speaker
Raquel Willis is a Black queer transgender activist, writer and speaker dedicated to inspiring and elevating marginalized individuals, particularly transgender women of color. She is a National Organizer for Transgender Law Center, the largest organization in the U.S. advocating on behalf of transgender and gender nonconforming people.
Lonnie Holley
Artist + Educator
Lonnie Holley was born on February 10, 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama. From the age of five, Holley worked various jobs: picking up trash at a drive-in movie theatre, washing dishes, and cooking. He lived in a whiskey house, on the state fairgrounds, and in several foster homes. His early life was chaotic and Holley was never afforded the pleasure of a real childhood.
Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni
Playwright, Actor, Producer + Educator
Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni is currently touring her one-woman show: One Drop of Love. Fanshen is also Head of Strategic Outreach at Pearl Street Films and serves on the boards of Mixed Roots Stories, The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and Project Greenlight Digital Studios.
Glenn Jones
Activist + Founder of Inaugural Black Masking Cultural Festival
New Orleans native Glenn Jones’ Grandfather Joseph M. Jones started the largest Black Newspaper in New Orleans 51-years-ago with a mission to serve the community and Glenn’s father, Terry B. Jones, has kept that torch burning for the last 35 years.
Nicole Kelly
Journalist, Host and Producer of bitchface Podcast
Nicole Kelly is an artist working in sound, situation, and prose. Her writing has appeared in ZYZZYVA, Drunken Boat, Fiction Southeast, and elsewhere, and she is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow. She hosts & produces bitchface with Phoebe Unter.
Michaela Angela Davis
Image Activist, Mad Free
She is a writer, cultural critic, fashion, beauty culture editor, editorial brand director, commentator, speaker, conversationalist and community servant who engages in and expands the conversation of identity, race, gender and beauty across all media.
Elenni Davis Knight
Global Sales and Marketing Manager, Briogeo
Elenni Davis- Knight is a young, beauty professional and enthusiast.Following the sequined skirt tails of her mother Michaela Angela Davis, her passion was realized early as a child lost in the beauty closets of Essence, and Honey magazines.
Get The Latest
Signup for the AFROPUNK newsletter
Related
ActivismSolution SessionsSolution SessionsSolution Sessions
Solution Sessions: Here’s what went down at the Target Powered Solutions Sessions in Minneapolis.
