Strange Fruit

Sober spaces for LGBTQ folks to socialize are on the rise. With many of them facing social stigma, discrimination, harassment and violence, LGBTQ people are at a greater risk for drug and alcohol addiction than their straight counterparts. We wondered just how easy or difficult it is for queer folks to commit to sober living when so much of gay social is tied to parties, nightclubs and bars and many of our community’s biggest Pride Festival sponsors are beer and liquor companies. In this week’s episode, we hear from four friends of the show who called to tell us about their individual struggles with substance abuse and their new lives of sobriety free from drugs and alcohol. In Hot Topics, we discuss why the body-shaming sentiment of “she’s let herself go” is never a good excuse for when a man cheats on his wife. Support our work with a one-time donation! Click here: donate.strangefruitpod.org

In recognition of Minority Mental Health Month, we continue examining issues affecting African Americans and their mental well-being – or the lack thereof. In February 2016, 23-year-old Black Lives Matter activist MarShawn McCarrel took his own life on the step of the Columbus, Ohio courthouse steps. This March, the body of another social activist, 29-year-old Amber Evans, was found in a Columbus river, and her death was also ruled a suicide. JoAnne Viviano, Health Reporter for The Columbus Dispatch joins us this week to discuss the toll that fighting for social justice can take on the mental health of activists like McCarrel and Evans. The activists she interviewed for her piece in the Dispatch cited long workweeks, encountering widespread racism, vicariously transferring traumas, and unrealistic expectations of fellow activists as some of the factors that adversely affect their mental health – and have necessitated a shift in how their community looks after one another in a commitment to a healing process.

Because July is Minority Mental Health Month, we’re dedicating this entire episode to discussing the mental health and wellness of black kids and adults. Our first guests this week are Aaron Hunt, a clinical psychology doctorate student and co-author of “Depression in Black Boys Begins Earlier Than You Think,” and his partner Lee Dukes, a special education teacher and a second-year Master of Education student. They join us to discuss suicide and depression in black boys, how the school system is complicit in creating and fostering poor mental health, and what it will take to turn this trend around. Later, therapist Brittany Johnson join us to discuss how poverty, race and unresolved childhood traumas are leading more black adults to seek therapy. She credits Millennials with breaking the stigma around mental health and therapy. Johnson, author of the self-published book "Get Out of Your Own Way: 21 Days to Stop Self Sabotage,” shares tips on recognizing and conquering anxiety. In Juicy Fruit, we salute c

Social movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp have brought greater attention to the issue of sexual harassment and sexual assault. These movements are largely focused on women and girls – so what about the nearly 1 in 4 men who have experienced sexual violence? Zeke Thomas is a music producer, deejay and the son of NBA Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas – and he’s a survivor of sexual assault and rape. In 2017, Thomas revealed in a nationally-televised interview that he was sexually assaulted at 12 years old, and then experienced date rape at the age 27, committed by a man he met on a dating app. Thomas joins this week to discuss his journey from silent victim to empowered advocate in his role as first male advocate for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Beyond the work he’s done as for Sexual Violence awareness and LGBTQ and racial equality, Thomas is also a popular Hollywood DJ, having performed for celebrities including Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, and Jay-Z. Thomas also reveals what music is certain to get B

In 1920, black farmers in this country owned some 15.6 million acres of land, but by 1999 that number had fallen to 2 million.  In 1910, there were nearly one million black farmers in America. In the year 1999, only 18,000 remained, and statistics showed that black farmers were disappearing at a rate five to six times that of white farmers. Leah Penniman, farmer and educator at Soul Fire Farm in the Albany, New York, area, attributes the virtual disappearance of Black farmers to decades of discrimination against Black farmers by the US government – denying them farm loans, for example – and racist violence targeting land-owing Black farmers in the South. But after 100 years in decline, Penniman writes for YES Magazine, Black farmers are making a comeback. She joins us this week to say that these farmers aren’t just growing healthy food, but just as importantly they are healing racial traumas, instilling collective values, and changing the way communities of black folks think about the land. Later in the show

Mothering within Black communities can take many forms. Dr. Patricia Hill-Collins coined the term “other mother” to describe a woman who cares for a child that is not biologically her own. In many Black families, the role of the aunt has fit this function. Sometimes aunts are blood or marriage relatives but many of them are chosen family – mom’s best friend from college or the elderly neighbor down the street who looks after the community’s children. She can serve as a quiet confidant or a gentle authority figure. This week we spoke writer Brandon T. Harden about his Philadelphia Inquirer article, “They may not get a holiday, but ‘aunts’ are the backbone of the black community.” Later in the show we talk with freelance journalist Sonia Weiser about the troubling financial realities of New York City’s Legal Aid attorneys – many of who have to moonlight as rideshare drivers or bartenders to make ends meet – as highlighted in her New York Times piece, “Lawyers by Day, Uber Drivers and Bartenders by Night.” Stran

In the US, June is recognized as LGBTQ Pride Month. Celebrations and festivities are held throughout the month to commemorate the rebellion that began at the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, and to celebrate the social and legal advances for LGBTQ people in the 50 years since. This weekend in Louisville marks the return of the annual Kentuckiana Pride Festival, our city’s largest and longest-running annual Pride celebration. Our guest this week is the organization’s president and director, Allen Hatchell who joins us to discuss the festival’s headlining entertainment, vendors and what changes folks should expect this year.  We also have the beginnings of a tough but important public conversation about community gatekeeping, transphobia, and gay racism within LGBTQ pride organizations, and Allen addresses some of our public criticisms of the Kentuckiana Pride Festival. Strange Fruit wouldn't be possible without you! Click here to support the work we do: donate.strangefruitpod.org

While becoming a mother is often a wondrous, exciting and joyous endeavor, it can also be wrought with anxiety, fear and even danger for many black women. We begin this week by speaking with author Dani McClain about the politics of black motherhood, and her TIME essay “I Won’t Let Racism Rob My Black Child of Joy.” In the essay, McClain recounts being pregnant with her first child in the summer of 2016 -- the same summer that Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota were killed by police. “Reading the news of these men’s deaths brought to mind black children who had died just as senselessly: 17-year-old Jordan Davis, gunned down at a Florida gas station by a white man annoyed by the music Davis and his friends played; 12-year-old Tamir Rice, killed by police in a Cleveland playground as he held a toy gun; 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones, shot and killed by police during a middle-of-the-night raid on her home." In order to avoid succumbing to her fears, McClain made a plan to interview

But it's not uncommon that once these social safe havens are created and made public, organizers and attendees are met with the inevitable barrage of interrogations and accusations regarding such spaces: "Why is this space just for black people?" "Why is this club just for Latinx people?" "Isn’t a black gay pride event divisive and 'reverse racist?'" Our first guest this week is Berkeley-based writer Kelsey Blackwell, who wrote the essay “Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People.” We discuss with Kelsey the need for POC-only gathering places that are free from white judgement and the stereotypes and marginalization that permeate mainstream society. Later in the show we get specific in the conversation of race, with Salem State Communications professor Joshua Adams. He recently published a piece on Medium: We Should Stop Saying “People of Color” When We Mean “Black People” “Saying POC when we mean black people is this concession that there’s a need to describe a margin

Welcome to a new season of Strange Fruit! In her essay “'Children do not deserve privacy,' and other abusive myths masked as good parenting," Oakland-based writer and educator Amber Butts examines the complicated feelings she holds for the ex-stepfather who raised and provided for her. “His metric for goodness was stepping up and taking care of a child that wasn’t his,” she writes. “But my ex-stepfather is not a good man.” It wasn’t until Butts saw a social media post where a mother said she knocks on the door before entering her kids’ rooms that Butt was reminded of the lack of privacy she had as a child and she began to reflect on how refusing children privacy is one of several abusive practices mislabeled as good parenting. We discuss the need for parents and caregivers to actively work to examine and undo the “misleading metrics” of good parenting that they inherited from previous generations. Butts says children deserve houses that aren’t prisons. “Anything that mirrors how the state achieves contro

Affordable and stable housing has long been a precarious and stressful pursuit for many Americans. Housing costs across the country have risen, and evictions are becoming much more commonplace than in past years. In 2016, American property owners filed at least 2.3 million eviction claims. Princeton’s Eviction Lab, which recently released the nation’s largest eviction database, revealed that the Southern region is the area of the country’s most impacted by evictions and that Black renters are disproportionate the victims of the eviction crisis. Eviction Lab’s report revealed that nine of the 10 cities with the highest eviction rates are not only located in southern states but are also cities that are at least 30 percent black in population. This week we chat with Atlanta-based journalist Max Blau about why southern renters are losing their homes at such high rates, and we examine some of the social and political obstacles standing in the way of safe, stable and affordable housing for many African Americans.

The 2018 film "Boy Erased" brought conversion therapy to the attention of many film goers. Sometimes referred to as reparative therapy or ex-gay therapy, conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of trying to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity through psychological or spiritual methods. This week we’re joined by Tanner Mobley, Director of Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky, and Mikhail Schulz (also known as award-winning drag entertainer Vanessa Demornay), who is a self-described survivor of conversion therapy. Schulz and Mobley agree that conversion therapy is dangerous, and promotes the idea that LGBTQ people can and should change who they are. Mobley and his organization are leading efforts to ban conversion therapy in the state, and legislation has been introduced in both the Kentucky Senate and House which aims to make it illegal to practice conversion therapy on minors. Guests: Tanner Mobley, from Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky Conversion therapy survivor (an

With the 91st Academy Awards just weeks away, we decided to have one last conversation about former would-be Oscars host Kevin Hart, his violently anti-gay tweets, and his recent reconciliation appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Tre’vell Anderson, Director of Culture & Entertainment for Out Magazine, joins us to discuss why Ellen was the wrong person to pardon Hart. Later in the show we talk about the difference between simply fitting in and actually belonging within gay male culture.  Scholar-activist and writer Dr. Jeffry Iovannone reflects on finding his place in mainstream gay culture and finding community and acceptance among his peers. In Juicy Fruit, we discuss a pack of polar bears that invaded a Russian town and a mother in Maryland who’s going to extremes to find her son a date for Valentine’s Day.

Studies have shown that black students learn better in school environments where their cultural identities are reflected by the school’s curriculum, teachers and administrators. This week we talk about school culture and choices, with New York Times reporter Eliza Shapiro about her feature, ‘I Love My Skin!’ Why Black Parents Are Turning to Afrocentric Schools. Later in the show, we are joined by co-Directors David Y. Chack and Karen Edwards-Hunter, and actor Tyler Madden from “The Green Book,” which is currently running in Louisville. The play is inspired by Victor Hugo Green’s, “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” which from 1936-1967 helped African Americans traveling in automobiles across the United States find helpful services and places that were friendly to blacks travelers.

This week, filmmaker Billy Cliff joins us to discuss His new film, A Long Road To Freedom: The Advocate Celebrates 50 Years, which spotlights milestone moments in LGBTQ history through never-before-seen footage, and engaging interviews with such folks as Margaret Cho, Don Lemon, Gloria Allred, DeRay Mckesson, and Caitlyn Jenner. Narrated by Laverne Cox, with music by Melissa Etheridge, the documentary chronicles five decades of the fight for LGBT equality, and the magazine that covered it all. For our feature interview this week, we speak to tech guru, entrepreneur, and star of the Golden Globe-nominated hit TV show "Pose," Angelica Ross. She joins us to discuss her career, her innovative strides within the tech world, and the importance of black trans visibility. And in Juicy Fruit: Famed restaurateur, model, author, and television host B. Smith has often been dubbed the “Black Martha Stewart.” Now she’s suffering from Alzheimer's and relies on her longtime husband and business partner Dan Gasby to take care

Monosexism is a belief that monosexuality (being straight or gay) is superior to bisexuality or other non-monosexual orientations. It's often paired with biphobia, and both are still pervasive within, and outside of, the queer community. This week we chat with loyal Strange Fruit listener Hayden Smith, who describes himself as, “a 28-year-old black, bisexual, writer, poet, and activist, happily immersed in a same-sex interracial marriage to my partner of five years.” Hayden joins us to discuss how bi-erasure and gay racism have affected him and had an impact on his relationship. For our feature interview, we welcome to the studio Patrese D. McClain and Cecil Blutcher, from the cast of "Pipeline" at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Written by Dominique Morriseau and directed by Steve H. Broadnax III,  "Pipeline" is a heart-wrenching portrayal of a mother and son grappling with the “school-to-prison-pipeline” for young men of color in the U.S. education system.

For many African Americans, style has never been simply about keeping up with the latest trends or adhering to what one would consider chic. After the Great Migration--the movement of millions of black Americans out of the rural South--style also signaled financial success and social clout, despite racial prejudice. This week, Chicago Tribune writer Lolly Bowean joins us to discuss her recent piece, “In handing down furs, black women continue a rich tradition." Later in the show we explore another aspect of African American culture, the sometimes toxic relationship between black mothers and their children. Journalist Arah Iloabugichukwu’s explores this phenomenon in her piece, “The Strained Relationship Between Black Mothers & Their Daughters.” And in hot topics, we discuss all the places that folks shouldn’t put Vicks VapoRub.

In his recent The New York Times essay, “I Cross My Legs. Does That Make Me Less of a Man?” novelist Brian Keith Jackson reflects on his childhood worry that crossing his legs would telegraph his sexuality. Eventually he realized he was repeating the move in an attempt to shrink from the judgmental gaze of others. He joins us this week to talk about overcoming this fear and learning to open up. We also chat with South African HIV Activist and writer Krishen Samuel about his essay “Becoming a Real Gay Boy: Gender vs. Sexuality." Samuel joins us to offer a gay man’s perspective on what he describes as the straitjacket that is masculinity when you do not fit neatly into your gendered box. And, most importantly, some of special friends and family send Kaila a birthday tribute that brings her to tears. Happy Birthday, Kaila!

We’re joined this week by Dr. Tamura Lomax, independent scholar and the co-founder and CEO of the online feminist and anti-racist publication The Feminist Wire, to discuss her book, "Jezebel Unhinged: Loosing the Black Female Body in Religion and Culture." In the book, she traces the Jezebel trope (the portrayal of black women as naturally lascivious and seductive) from the black church to black pop culture. On today's show, we discuss how the persistence of this trope perpetuates heteronormativity, gender hierarchy and patriarchy within black communities and cultural institutions. Later in the show we chat with writer Matthew Thompson about his provocative essay, “The messy relationship between f*ggots & the Black American pop diva,” which explores the symbiotic relationship between black women pop stars and black gay men. In Juicy Fruit, I reveal how holiday music can be bad for your health, while Doc shares the story of a fun-loving parrot who likes romantic music and ordering ice cream from Alexa.

Our featured guest this week is black gay stand-up comic Sampson McCormick, who’s headlined such venues as the historic Howard Theater, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Laugh Factory in Hollywood, Harvard University, and the National Museum of African-American History in Washington D.C. An award-winning entertainer, Sampson join us to talk about his decades-long career of breaking barriers, overcoming obstacles, and shattering expectations as a black queer comic. And he weighs in some of his fellow comics who’ve made headlines lately, including Mo’nique, D.L. Hughley, and, of course, Kevin Hart. In a very special edition of Juicy Fruit, my sister-in-law Steu stops by the studio and we discuss whether it’s time for Santa to get a makeover.