[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, Los Angeles, are you looking for unique 4 July plans for you and your friends or family? LA's greatest rivalry returns to Rose Bowl Stadium for a July 4 edition of the El Trafico soccer matchup as the LA Galaxy returned to their original home to defend their turf against LAFC. Last year, a record crowd of over 82,000 fans were on hand to witness the Galaxy victory. That's July 4 at Rose Bowl Stadium. Guaranteed fireworks both on and off the field and a celebration for all of LA Galaxy versus LAFC, the Rose bowl edition.
[email protected] tickets.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: Welcome to now. No opportunity wasted. I am your host, Angelica Ross, and let me be crystal clear from the jump, honey, this is not just a podcast. It's a movement focused on making the most out of life's opportunities and challenges right now. So today, it's our first episode. It's February 5, it's Monday kicking off the week, and I want to start things off with a quote from Buddhism Day by day wisdom for modern life by my lifelong mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, who recently passed away this past November 15 of last year. And many of his books are available now on audible and Amazon. But you can also find all of his books in our buddhist community centers all around the world.
So February 5 reads, quote, life for everyone is a struggle against the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death.
Happiness is not the absence of problems or worries.
It is to be undefeated, no matter what problems or worries we may face.
And this happiness is not solely focused on oneself.
Truly happy are those who can help others become happy. And, folks, that is exactly what I'm aiming to do with this podcast. So let me start by giving you just a little bit of context into why now.
Everything that I have done in my life has led me up to now.
Can't you see? Every step I have taken has led me to now. Okay, for those of you that don't know, that was a nod to one of my favorite films, memoirs of a geisha.
But seriously, we are in such a critical point in our history of humanity, and way too many people are afraid to speak up. Now, I'm fully aware that there are consequences to actually speaking truth to power. People are losing their jobs and their livelihood.
The AP news reported on January 29 that the diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator of public schools in south Portland, Maine, has resigned and left the state, saying that he fears for his family's safety after receiving a threatening letter from a white supremacist. Folks are being fired for social media posts in support of saying free Palestine or ceasefire.
So with this podcast, I, Angelica Ross, am choosing to speak out and take responsibility, which we Nichiren Buddhists, define as the ability to respond.
Now, I've spoken with current and former presidents, CEO's of Fortune 500 companies, faculty and staff of Ivy League schools, as well as people who are unhoused, unemployed, formerly incarcerated, newly diagnosed with cancer or HIV, and have been able to get them all to see the power and value in their lived experiences and their current circumstances.
Each episode here on now and I get to talk to people from all backgrounds who have all had their challenges and share with us how they overcame those challenges and made the most out of the opportunity.
So let's kick things off with our first segment we call now what where I discuss not only what's going on with me right now, but also the top headlines of the week, from politics to pop culture. So it's a lot going on right now. So let me kick things off with the positive things and start things off with me. It's Black History Month and Time magazine came through with a new list they're calling the closers, acknowledging the efforts of 18 black leaders who are working towards the goal of closing the racial wealth gap through business, policymaking, healthcare, entertainment and more. And your girl was included on the list, along with Issa Rae, Cory Booker, Aurora James, the Fearless fund and 13 other amazing black leaders. So make sure you go ahead, go over to Time magazine and check out that article. Of course, I will share links all across all my platforms because you know, I love to share my good news. So thank you again to Time magazine for including me on the list and inviting me to come to New York this month and celebrate with the rest of the honorees and just for acknowledging the work that has been going on with me and Transtech and celebrating our ten year anniversary this year.
And also, I just want to give a huge, heartfelt thank you to EC Pizarro III, who I was able to confidently pass the baton to as our current executive director, who has been continuing to form incredible partnerships and garner so much support for Transtech's mission, which is just to help our communities economically thrive.
[00:06:08] Speaker C: Through all transitions in life.
[00:06:11] Speaker B: So thank you so much again, Ty magazine, for for acknowledging that work. Now, before we switch gears and bask in the light of Don Rashard, I just want to take another moment during this now what segment to address Miss Nancy Pelosi for accusing the pro Palestine movement of being funded by Russia and calling for people to be investigated, saying, make no mistake ceasefire is Putin's message now. What, girl?
Thankfully, organizations like ACLU responded swiftly with a statement online saying, it's never okay for our leaders or the FBI to attack, investigate, or surveil people just because of their dissent against the government, period. Okay, so that's a slippery slope, girl. Miss Nancy Pelosi. Okay, now, I know from the Kente cloth you were wearing as you knelt in that moment of silence for George Floyd how much you deeply care about black issues and issues that black Americans are facing in this country. So how about instead, you respond to the rollbacks on affirmative action and the attack on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts? Or maybe respond to the racist lawsuit against the fearless fund that's aiming to make it illegal for black people to help fund other black initiatives.
Fast Company reported back in October that black founders only received 1% of venture capital funds and an estimated $2.3 billion of a total of 215 billion. And for women founders, that number was only slightly higher, at 1.9%.
So maybe, Madam Pelosi, you could maybe focus on the Senate hearing with the big tech companies and help us to protect Americans, specifically children, from being vulnerable to abuse, violence, exploitation, and sex trafficking. On these apps. We need Congress to take decisive action and pass at least one of the bills that were mentioned in this hearing. So your voice, Madam Pelosi, will be very useful and pushing Congress to actually pass any one of those bills they mentioned in the hearing. Maybe the Kids Online Safety act, which, I mean, at least that was one of the bills that has support from two of the CEO's, Snapchat and X.
So if you haven't seen the hearing that I'm talking about, I highly suggest that you tap in. It's a hearing with the CEO's of tick tock, discord, meta, X and Snapchat. And they're focusing on protecting kids from the harm that they have experienced using these apps and platforms. And I got to tell you, as someone who has spent decades in the tech industry, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the accountability that is needed with these tech giants. They're creating monopolies that are manipulating our entire society through an algorithm. The Human Rights Watch just released a 51 page report stating that Meta's content moderation policies and systems have increasingly silenced voices in support of Palestine on Instagram and Facebook. You don't say. And this report documents a pattern of undue removal or suppression of protected speech, including peaceful expression in support of Palestine and public debate about palestinian human rights rights.
So let me break this down for what this means in real terms. I personally have roughly 485,000 followers, but I've been experiencing shadow banning and suppression of my content so much. But when I click to look at the metrics, less than 10% of my 485,000 followers are a part of those views. Less than 10%. So how is a post that is organically showing popularity, not even reaching the people who actually follow me for being an outspoken person?
Furthermore, meta is messing with my money and when corporations are looking to strike branding partnerships with me and are asking for my current social media engagement metrics that are fraudulently low, fraudulently low due to an algorithm of suppression and when you are messing with my money, honey, we have a problem.
So anyone that is listening to this, considering the data that I'm describing, I believe that many black and brown creators have receipts in their analytics that tell a similar story. And I think that as a government, we need, we need to attempt holding these tech companies accountable and be prepared for a class action suit or something, because there is a very real case for complaint. There are so many issues that we could be focused on right now instead of making up conspiracy theories without citing a shred of evidence.
What we do have evidence of is hundreds of bodies that have been showing up in graves behind police stations. Body cams are making us all bear witness to all kinds of unnecessary and deadly force. And the government's response has only been to provide more funding for more training that's causing more fatalities for black bodies. So the training route is obviously not working.
I've been following along with all these social media posts, and I saw a hometown friend, Mary Hooks, along with Mariah Parker, who is a non binary politician here in Athens, Georgia, and they have been so vocal and keeping me informed on the movement to stop cop city. So listen, next week, Senate Bill 63 is on track to pass and would not only criminalize bail funds, but it also expands a list of offenses that are ineligible for cash bails, including things like protesting and limiting organizations from bailing out more than three different people in a year. Or simply put, if you are arrested for protesting, you are not even eligible for bail.
So listen, I'm known to show up to a protest or two. I was just recently protesting for Palestine, to free Palestine and call for a ceasefire with PSL Atlanta. And we were marching in the streets of it down to Piedmont park, where I, along with many other activists and advocates, we spoke.
Now, imagine me getting arrested at that protest and not being eligible for bail as a black trans woman no.
So one action I took today now was I contacted my local representative asking them to vote no on SB 63. And guess what?
I got an email back not long after I sent that message from Congresswoman Mary Margaret saying, I am a hard no on that.
[00:13:26] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: So I just want to say, shout out to Mary Margaret, thank you very much for voting no or saying no to SB 63. You know, the receipts is TBD, you know. So when that roll call comes up, I'm definitely going to be checking and making sure that you voted no on that. But we need more than her to make sure that this bill doesn't pass. So if you are in the state of Georgia, please contact your reps and tell them to vote no on SB 63. Now, all across, all across the country, in every single state, there are bills that are only harming american citizens, from anti abortion to anti trans bills and more. So I am encouraging everyone that is listening to please do something now. Call your officials, protest, post, share information, do whatever we have to do to protect and support each other while the system fails to do so.
All right, so next on now, we get to bask in the light of Dawn Richard, right after a word from our sponsors.
[00:14:44] Speaker D: Okay, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever. Or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road with available h track, all wheel drive and three row seating. My whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit hyundaiusa.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai there's joy in every journey.
Okay, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever. Or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road with available h track, all wheel drive and three row seating. My whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit hyundaiusa.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai there's joy in every journey.
[00:15:43] Speaker C: We are kicking things off with this podcast. Strong with strong energy, strong spirits. Right now, I am so privileged to have the good sis. The good sis. Dawn Richard, welcome to now.
[00:15:59] Speaker E: Thank you for having me. You are so great. I love you, girl.
[00:16:03] Speaker C: You are great.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: I just so y'all, just so you.
[00:16:06] Speaker C: Know, I am just very, very blessed and to understand life and things differently than what was told to me growing up and to understand that we are a reflection of our environments, and our environments are a reflection of us. And as you move through life, that changes, you know? And so my circles have changed, my environments have changed. Listen, we gonna get into all of that.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: But, like, I'm so grateful that you.
[00:16:43] Speaker C: Ended up in my sphere somehow.
[00:16:45] Speaker E: I feel this man I was just talking about. Yes, I feel the same. It took God a momentous, but he is always on time, always on time. And I didn't know, you know, like, I felt like I was in a dead end here in this music industry or in this entertainment industry, specifically with. When it comes to my circle. I was one of one for so long. I've been so good at being independent.
[00:17:09] Speaker C: You have been. You are. You actually kind of, for me, you are very much a blueprint of independent. You are a blueprint of independence. The reason you're a blueprint of independent, because I'm telling you, as someone who has, I grew up listening to music. I grew up loving all that was given to us, you know? So don't. So. So when damaged.
[00:17:34] Speaker E: Come on, talk your thing.
[00:17:36] Speaker C: When damage came up, baby, you couldn't tell me nothing. This was Angelica, probably pre trip, I don't know, his early transition, but damage and all of Danity Kane, you know, coming together was so amazing.
And then I saw you, like, breaking out of this space.
And what I know about music and what I know about the environment, I have my favorites, like, you know, your India's as well. You know what I'm saying?
[00:18:08] Speaker E: Another incredible voice.
[00:18:10] Speaker C: Incredible voice, incredible artist, incredible person, incredible spirit. And it was through her and things like that where I started to realize that the industry did not favor black women.
[00:18:22] Speaker E: Certain looking women, too, and certain looking.
[00:18:24] Speaker C: Women, the darker you are as well.
[00:18:25] Speaker E: Let's talk about colorism.
[00:18:26] Speaker C: But it also doesn't favor independence.
It favors those who see the industry as the golden ticket.
And you are lucky to be there.
Let me do everything for you. Put control your sound, your look, your everything, and listen.
You know, I can respect the art of creating a brand.
I respect having a team, because I know you got a team. I know you got a low down team.
[00:19:00] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: You know, people that you call on.
[00:19:02] Speaker C: But you, you manage that. You direct the flow of how that goes. How. Talk to me about the transition. Cause I wanna talk about transition.
Cause a lot of times people don't understand. I get it. It's hard when you are faced with something's about to change, or I'm going into unknown territory, or, like, with me, some folks might keep sliding down. So let me tighten this down real quick. Well, like, with me walking away recently from Hollywood and all of that, you know, I think sometimes I'm not afraid of the unknown, especially when I know my value and I know there's more for me to experience.
How is that transition like, for you, going from being in a group and being basically under sort of the big machine and then finding your independence?
[00:20:02] Speaker E: I think that was so well said, by the way. And kudos to you for making the transition unafraid to do so. It is very difficult. People think that is an easy thing, and it is not. So I just want to thank you, seriously, thank you for being a blueprint yourself. Thank you in a lot of ways, because that walk is a road less traveled or not traveled at all.
You're right. I think I never looked at it as a. It was survival. I've been in a situation where coming from New Orleans, survival is what we know. We are always given, not the most, but make the most out of everything.
So I never saw failure. And when I say that failure, because I'm not afraid to fail, what I mean is I never saw rejection or the possibility of not having as an option.
[00:20:47] Speaker C: For me, there was never option.
[00:20:49] Speaker E: No, I was going to make it regardless.
[00:20:51] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:20:52] Speaker E: Because I had lost everything. I knew what low looked like. I knew what bottom was.
And speaking of transitions, I also know what I. I don't like not being my true, authentic self.
[00:21:03] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:21:03] Speaker E: I cannot sit in something that is not me. It feels so fake. It feels. And I don't think people can understand that unless they live that they look at you and they'll judge, but they don't understand why transition is so important and why it is so fearless for you or for someone like me. But that's because to be something that is not who I am does not resonate. It can't be. I can't sit in something that does not make sense for me. And for me to be in something that I couldn't be my best self just did not seem right. So I am so grateful for Danny D. Cane. But you're right. We were a part of a time where we were the mecca of manufacture. Right. When you're talking about coming from a Spice girls, coming from the Britney Spears.
[00:21:46] Speaker C: Didn'T it start with making the band?
[00:21:48] Speaker E: Making the band was, like, the first real behind the scenes of.
Of, like, competition, television, music television. Because at the time, we had American Idol, but American Idol wasn't showing you.
Huff was brilliant in that way, where he was like, well, we gonna. Not only we gonna show you the bad stuff, we're gonna make bad stuff happen. Just. You can go through the trash of it, right? The shitty parts of it, right? So he made great television, but people have to understand, there was no scripts. So this was our lives.
So it was in a time where there was no. This wasn't the Kardashians or, like, this was, like, no scripts. Someone very much puppeteering. Not only our lives, but also our careers, but also the people around us. So let me say that again.
[00:22:32] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:22:32] Speaker E: Please, please. That's not just a label. Right? We are a television show, which means our manager was given to us.
[00:22:42] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:22:42] Speaker E: Our pr was given to us. Our television show was given to us. Our label was given to us. Our choreographers were given to us. Our business managers were understand that this is, like, the epitome of manufacture. So because we got in a line.
[00:23:02] Speaker C: And at the time, I'm sure you thought, oh, my God, this is amazing. This is the.
[00:23:05] Speaker E: What's we from New Orleans. What else was we gonna have, right? What else was it? Some of us, this was, like, our only opportunity. But keep in mind, we got in the line, and that line didn't stop. So once we won the competition, we were still on a television show, so we were given everything, which means no one around us was something we chose. We only chose to stand in the line.
[00:23:28] Speaker B: Did you feel. Did you feel like you had within the group?
[00:23:31] Speaker C: Because one thing I recognize, dawn now versus dawn then, your artistry.
I, like, get goosebumps. I get goosebumps thinking of between your visuals and how you are constantly, like, your genre bending a lot of times, especially because we're going to talk about this Grammy nominated or the projects that's being considered right now for Grammy nominations, just for submissions with Spencer Zahn. Spencer Zahn.
[00:24:07] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:24:08] Speaker C: Okay. Cause I'm getting there because, first of all, I listened to that and I was just, yeah.
[00:24:12] Speaker E: Pigments is one of my. One of my favorite projects. Yeah.
[00:24:16] Speaker C: If you haven't listened to this project yet, make sure you do. It's.
It's so beautiful. Like, and I actually play, like, I find myself playing it in the house when I'm doing stuff as well.
[00:24:30] Speaker E: That's what we want to.
[00:24:30] Speaker C: And it takes me and. But there's moments where I stop in the house and I'm just. Cause there's one song, you're like, will you wait for me or something?
[00:24:38] Speaker E: Crimson. It's an honest record. Right. What I always wanted, why I went independent, right. What I wanted for Danity Kane. And what I wanted for dirty money was to be able to give this creativity I had in me and push, and I just never could. So when I got solo, this was the dream, is to push myself as much as I possibly can and in the process, possibly push my people with me to expand us as well. Pigments is this beautiful project that I just, I had always knew I wanted to get into composition, into scoring, and into soundscapes. I grew up loving. I don't know if you guys listen to pure moods, but pure moods was back in the day joke, right? But it wasn't for me. It was amazing. And that's how I got introduced to Enya. Yes.
[00:25:23] Speaker C: Oh, my goodness.
[00:25:24] Speaker E: Yeah. Enya Bjork.
There were these masses.
[00:25:27] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:25:28] Speaker E: You definitely give me that, these soundscapes. And I wanted to be able to live in that space, but I never really had a black woman or man to really look at and say, oh, okay, this makes sense here, right? Because we've never really truly beyond Mahalia Jackson and these, we really don't foster those kind of classical Alice Smith. I think that. Right. And so you don't really get. They're not pushed to us. We have to seek them.
And so, for me, Pikmins was a project I've been wanting to make for a very long time. And everyone kept saying, don't do that. You're in this dance element. Electronic. That's not a smart move. And I just really didn't care what they had to say.
[00:26:02] Speaker C: I love that.
[00:26:03] Speaker E: And because of it, it's my favorite project I've ever done, because it is an honest project. And Crimson speaks to the most bear you can be when you tell someone I am not at my best, and to acknowledge not that someone else is wrong, but you yourself are not ready. To fully be the person in the space to commit to anything is such an honest conversation.
[00:26:28] Speaker C: That's the type of honesty that, oh, my goodness, I wish.
[00:26:34] Speaker E: People ain't ready to have people.
[00:26:35] Speaker C: People not ready to tell.
Let me tell you, dating right now.
[00:26:40] Speaker E: Trash for me, like, trash.
[00:26:42] Speaker C: Trash buckets, it's a lot because people cannot take responsibility. And again, when I say, I always drop this down, I always drop this down, and I'm gonna give this to you, too. But my buddhist organization, the Soka Gokai, Soka Gakkai International, SGI, we chant namiho renge kyo. Like Tina Turner, you know what's up, gotta do it. But one of the members gave me a new definition for responsibility, and I've been sharing it to the top of the hilltops every time I can.
[00:27:11] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Heel.
[00:27:12] Speaker C: And it literally is the ability to respond.
The ability to have a response, response ability. And what I recognize is when people are in relationships, you know, we.
[00:27:30] Speaker B: Many.
[00:27:31] Speaker C: People struggle alone with responding to the sun coming up. Come on. Good morning.
[00:27:39] Speaker E: What it is, do it again.
[00:27:42] Speaker C: You know, so, like, having the responsibility to have a response to what's right in front of you. And so many people, either they're not being honest with their response, or they're.
[00:27:58] Speaker E: Scared or they've lied to themselves so much they don't believe their own. They can't even believe their own truth, or they believe their truth. That is false. Like, that's the thing I live with around people, is that they have been lying so much to themselves that they believe their own hype. And that's a dangerous person because they're investing in this concept or an idea of what they think they are when truly they can't. They can't even see their own reflection. And I don't ever want to be surrounded. I've been around it for so long, that misogyny. And also, listen, that's, to me, the biggest is the misogynist culture. They are. They are that. They believe that lie. They believe it. They've been telling.
[00:28:38] Speaker B: I don't understand why there's such a.
[00:28:39] Speaker C: Stronghold on our black community with it. Like, listen, I recently had the pleasure of going to this conference called the Black Feminist Futures conference. And it's all these black women. Like, Toronto, Burke was there. Like, there's so many folks. Folks were there. And it's very inclusive, trans non binary, what have you.
And what we're talking about in those spaces seems so simple and common sense, and yet we're still finding that we are the pioneers, still bringing these concepts back to the full community that is still led by a sort of christian, patriarchal sort of view. How have you. Especially because you're such a strong force and woman.
How have you been like. Cause one thing that I'm gonna tell you one thing that has been lighting me up lately.
Cause I actually saw you did an interview lately you were doing with the hip hop caucus.
[00:29:39] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:29:40] Speaker C: And celebrating 50 years of hip hop and things like that. Yeah. You know how I wonder how honest can we be as women?
And are we going to see more honesty from the women who have traveled through those 50 years and have had to encounter the misogyny? Because my thing is, is, listen, I'm learning to be an abolitionist. I don't want to see our people locked up. But what I love that I've learned through social justice circles is learned about restraint, restorative justice, at the very least, it's about when there's some. When something has been, when wrong has been done to then go right to that space and restore justice.
[00:30:23] Speaker E: Right the wrong.
[00:30:24] Speaker C: Right the wrong. That's all we want. But we have a culture that runs away because they think it's about cancel culture and everybody trying to cancel everyone when it's actually black women, black femmes.
[00:30:35] Speaker E: We saving everybody all the time, baby. Here's the thing, right?
As a culture, we have to stop being followers and be leaders.
I'm gonna say that again. Cause culturally we tend to follow.
That's our downfall as a community, right? We follow trends. Cancel culture is a followed concept, right? We have to realize we are the leaders in the room now past that. The leaders that are trying to say that that's not the case is mostly black women.
Black women can't continuously save movements, save society, because that's what we've been doing for not just 50 years, but hundreds, hundreds of years.
I don't know how we get past it, because it would take the people, the men who have been living in the bubble of their ego to step away and understand that the only way we shift and change is if we allow women to take the forefront in that.
I think they know that. And that's why they don't allow, and I'm going to use that word, allow, because you can't allow us to do shit. But that is why they don't want us to have that kind of power. It is up to us as women.
We have to have one agenda, one purpose, and one intention. The only way we shift it is if we come together and build it so massively and it makes so much money. I'm going to be honest, they like the green.
[00:32:00] Speaker C: You're so right.
[00:32:02] Speaker E: And that's the truth of it. We make enough money and we come together in such a way, we change it. It's unfortunate, but that's the truth. Because right now, in this culture, what I've known in my world is that the women won't speak up. Because black women know when we speak up, we lose jobs. No one cares about a black woman getting hurt, raped, pillaged, pissed on, shit on. They only care if it's a white woman. And the only reason is because the white community and the white women have just a bigger following to be able to step up to them. I've seen it with my own eyes. I saw Lupita speak on her being attacked, and no one cared. I saw the hash metoo movement and the white people speaking. It was two completely different things. There was the same message.
[00:32:43] Speaker C: I didn't know Lupita had a story.
[00:32:45] Speaker E: Lupita told a story, and no one cared.
[00:32:47] Speaker B: Do you know recently, too, that's the truth.
[00:32:50] Speaker E: And the same story in the opposite way.
[00:32:52] Speaker C: New York. In a New York deli, the cashier choked and dragged a black woman outside.
Cause he thought she was trans.
[00:33:04] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:33:05] Speaker C: She was not.
[00:33:06] Speaker E: No, they love. We love to hurt the trans. Like, that's a whole other narrative, because that's fear.
[00:33:11] Speaker C: But, you know, let me tell you something. It's not.
[00:33:13] Speaker B: This is what.
[00:33:15] Speaker C: This is what. And I. You know, I'm glad we talked about all this, but, you know.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: But this is.
[00:33:22] Speaker C: I feel that black women are not allowed the full spectrum of woman, what's considered to be womanhood.
[00:33:32] Speaker E: But we're not even looked at as women.
[00:33:34] Speaker C: That's what. I'm right.
[00:33:35] Speaker E: So we can't even fight for trans. Because if a black woman has musculature or bone structure that's different than, God forbid, she's darker than a brown paper bag. We've got questions. They questioned Ciara for decades about whether or not she was a woman. Now we love her. Let's stop acting like we didn't question that beautiful ass woman about, let's stop it. Because she has strong legs. Like, stop.
[00:33:55] Speaker C: But it's not even.
[00:33:57] Speaker E: And that was us, and it was our culture.
[00:33:58] Speaker B: And it wasn't even just the questioning.
[00:34:00] Speaker E: It's the smear campaign.
[00:34:03] Speaker C: It's even less because I feel like it's also the ridicule, because sometimes they're not even questioning. Like, they even think it's a question. It's more so that your womanhood, the way it looks, does not fit the desirable shape, size, sound, feel of woman.
[00:34:24] Speaker E: And let's get into the people that sing. We don't fit in there. Let's look how they look.
I'll wait.
Because the standard. Right. Cause a man could have a pot belly flatbed as long as he got a check. We love him. Right?
[00:34:37] Speaker C: Right.
[00:34:38] Speaker E: But God forbid we have a curvature, a flat chest.
[00:34:42] Speaker B: Well, they always say that men are visual, as if, like, we not our.
[00:34:45] Speaker C: Eyes have been gouged out.
[00:34:47] Speaker E: So let's tell the truth. Which is why when we go and we speak on black trans and just trans in general, and the violent and volatile way that's being handled, it's just a long. It's a long line of, let's talk about the history of how they treat just black women in general. Like that's a part. Trans women are a part of that. That conversation. They can't get past it. They can't get past it. And it's so unfortunate because the truth is the people that can't get past it are the ones trying to have the trans girlfriend. But we're going to have another conversation about that because they're not ready to have that conversation.
[00:35:18] Speaker C: Are we not ready for that conversation?
[00:35:21] Speaker E: That's the truth. We're killing them off because we want them and we don't want anyone to know.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:26] Speaker C: I mean, you're, you know, so for.
[00:35:28] Speaker E: Me, oh, it's getting deep. The tea is hyping hot.
[00:35:31] Speaker C: It's getting very, very deep over here in the now. The now has gotten very deep.
[00:35:37] Speaker E: Giving ocean.
[00:35:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:39] Speaker C: You know, so I feel like part of the solution is, you know, one, I'm very grateful as a trans person. I am super grateful for non binary folks. I've started to identify as nonbinary as a trans, non binary woman. But, like, it's because, you know, in my buddhist practice, we believe in the cycle of birth and death. This is a continual cycle of, like, what they call a reincarnation. And that the spirit just keeps jumping back on the wheel of life. And we also believe that we do so to show yet again. Okay, let me try, you know, a trans body. Let me try, you know, someone with disability.
[00:36:23] Speaker B: Let me.
[00:36:23] Speaker C: And show how no matter what body you're in, no matter what it is that you have value and that you can obtain a very. You can vibrate. Your life can vibrate at a very high frequency where that's Buddha like, you know, all these different things. So I feel like it's less about trying to.
Trying to settle into the box that is our body and more about really trying to live in our spirits in a way that says instead of living into a gender role and saying, women do this and men do this, how about I become a whole person? How about, you know, with math, finances, bank accounts? It's not just for men, you know? Cause, sweetie, if you want, you know, let's go there then let's do all of those things.
[00:37:16] Speaker E: Tabernacle.
[00:37:17] Speaker C: But also when it comes to raising children and doing all the things, listen, some men make beautiful children.
Maybe not great fathers, but they make beautiful children. I don't think necessarily there might be anything wrong with that in the sense that if we as a society came back to, like, a village kind of standpoint and just as, like, look, we raise the kids together. How is it that a black man doesn't see a black boy as his can too, even if that's not his son, just as we see black girls? Cause I know when I see a black girl young, I see myself.
[00:37:56] Speaker E: I see myself, I see my sister, I see my niece.
[00:37:59] Speaker C: And don't let you. And do you remember, like, being young and thinking you know it all?
[00:38:05] Speaker E: Yeah, I still now, still now is just thinking I know too much and.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: Thinking, you know it all. But, like.
[00:38:12] Speaker C: And I. The fact that black boys and black girls get treated like adults from the moment they're like, twelve.
[00:38:19] Speaker E: I mean, as soon as you. Yeah, I was told when I was, you can't wear a skirt. Can't wear this. Cause your body's gonna be curvy, girl. And you don't want. How unfair when Suzy can wear those same shorts now.
[00:38:28] Speaker C: So how did so for you growing up? Cause your dad.
[00:38:32] Speaker E: Mm hmm.
[00:38:33] Speaker C: Was in what? Chocolate milk.
[00:38:34] Speaker E: Chocolate milk. Listen, I have questions about his journey. Girl names and them covers.
[00:38:39] Speaker C: Yes.
So how did growing up, how was. There was music just always a thing.
[00:38:46] Speaker E: Yeah. And my mom was a dancer, so, like, my mom had a dance in school, but she was an elementary school teacher. My dad was in chocolate milk. He was. They both graduated from the same college. Dave University.
We're so New Orleans, it's ridiculous. Like, my family is so rooted in New Orleans, but Dave University is like. Was at that time one of the most renowned black colleges. So they both graduated from there. And my mom told my dad, look, marrying you, if you gonna do this music thing, get a degree.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: She's.
[00:39:16] Speaker C: She's smart.
[00:39:16] Speaker B: Cuz, you know, cuz the music is hard.
[00:39:18] Speaker E: Where they met when they were 15 and 14. And they've been together ever since. So. Yeah. Really happen they only know of each other. They only know. Yeah. It's wild. I don't know what the wood. That's so it is it. I'm like, y'all don't even know what's out there. But okay.
It's the truth. Yeah. So my mom knew. She saw him when she was. She was 15, he was 14. And she was like, mine. Aries. But listen, I already know. And my dad's.
[00:39:42] Speaker B: And who.
[00:39:43] Speaker C: Where does the native american background come from?
[00:39:45] Speaker E: That's my dad. So, so. Well, both sides. But my dad's side is haitian. And then the fetterson's, which is on.
[00:39:51] Speaker B: My dad's mother, I'll just say, pointing.
[00:39:53] Speaker C: Out she's got receipts because I know a lot. A lot of us.
[00:39:56] Speaker B: Black.
[00:39:56] Speaker E: Yeah. I'm not appropriate. Yeah, no, no.
[00:39:58] Speaker C: But a lot people, you know, we say we got Indian. Our family.
[00:40:00] Speaker E: I. Oh, yeah, I do have Indian in my family.
[00:40:03] Speaker C: Cherokee Indian. But that's another episode.
[00:40:05] Speaker E: But, yeah, we have the Choctaws. Yeah, but. But, yes, we do.
[00:40:09] Speaker C: It's real.
[00:40:09] Speaker E: The Fedizens, my mom, my dad's mother's side, so much so that Uncle Harold Fetterson would sew his own garb. He was a part of the wild chapters. He helped with the wild chapatools and then worked with David. Chief Montana. I then asked to go to the Ouachita nation, which is still. Now very much still masking. We still mask every year during Mardi Gras. I've only been masking with him for the last three years because I would not disrespect. I had to go and learn. I had to go and meet Chief Shakazulu, Chief David. I had to learn from Queen Esettois, who is our big queen. She's our big queen. Queen Esettawa. She's really renowned in New Orleans. She's fantastic. One of the most amazing sowers. And her indigenous and african lineage is insane.
[00:40:52] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:40:53] Speaker E: So you have to. You can't just say, oh, I'm an. You have to, like, really put in the work. So respect to them. And that is a big thing in New Orleans.
[00:41:01] Speaker B: And.
[00:41:01] Speaker E: Yeah, so that's. That's on my dad's side and my mom's side is the Cajun side. That's the. The Creole side in a different way.
[00:41:09] Speaker C: My grandfather.
[00:41:10] Speaker B: My.
[00:41:10] Speaker C: Both my grandfather and my grandmother, they passed away. But I remember, like, every once in a while, my mom would always talk about, like, how my grandfather would kind of, like, break down thinking about.
I want to say his. Yeah, his mother. Because he would just always talk about, like, this white man that killed his mother, you know, and just understanding the oppression, the linked oppression between black folks who were brought to this country, Native Americans who were here, who were stolen. Literally, land was stolen underneath them. And now we find ourselves, like, just repeating history over and over again with these battles over land and over.
As an artist, where do you see personally for you? Where is the line for you of artists and activists, artists and advocates?
[00:41:59] Speaker E: There is no line. My music speaks to my truth, and that's just my personal opinion. Like, I believe what Nina Simone said. Our artists should. Your art should reflect your times. And I'm paraphrasing there, but that's what she meant. But I have no choice. Because I lived. I'm living it. I lived homelessness. I lived Katrina. I lived climate change. That wasn't a. I lived a lie. My uncle and aunt were sold a concept to work for oil companies, just like they do in the south. They say, oh, you can get great money working in big oil until you realize the big oil is affecting your family. My aunt and my dad, his brother, my dad and his sister both have had cancer.
[00:42:43] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:42:44] Speaker E: My dad still has cancer. My aunt has survived breast cancer.
Their mother died of leukemia. I'm just giving you facts, right? So my grandfather died when we went through Katrina. He was on dialysis. These are facts, right? So when I speak on now, my parents live in a beautiful home, but it is five to ten minutes away from a plant. So these are. I don't have a separation of artists, and I lived it. When I made the band for Danny Kane, we lost our house. We love Katrina happened right when I, you know, was in the pivotal part of my life. I had never had Thanksgiving with my family ever again because we were all displaced, right when my mom and dad decided to come back to New Orleans and they realized the settlement they got from FEMA was $0.13.
Not making that from their teacher settlement.
[00:43:37] Speaker C: You said like, 13. It was $0.13.
[00:43:40] Speaker E: So I just want.
It's not a. It's not a fake. Like, there's no line to say, okay, I'm an artist, and I'm gonna step away from the activism. I don't even really call myself an activist because I don't have. I'm just telling people my story. So I choose to do it in a way in my music and in the way in which I work with hip hop caucus. I just. My design is going to be different. I'm not going to be your conventional artist, because my story isn't conventional. I just choose to speak on the things I know to be true.
I love my city. My city is riddled in air pollution. My city is riddled in climate. Like, our climate is fucked up, excuse my language, because we have the worst air quality. We are the leading. It's one of the leading states in plants and petrochemicals and fossil fuels. That's just the truth.
[00:44:29] Speaker C: And what it shows, though, too, is just that big business and capitalism, it's real. They don't care. They don't care about you.
[00:44:36] Speaker E: Why all these black people have asthma. Like, these are truths. And so I don't. I'm not. I just want to inform my people because I wasn't nobody told me. Nobody told me, and I've seen both angles. I'm very happy that my aunt and my uncle were successful and made the most money out of our family.
But that's the truth. A lot of people in the south, a lot of people that live and buy these plants, they have that same story. Their family worked in big oil because it was sold to them. They were sold to black people. Then you can make all the money. Meanwhile, you're killing your people now.
[00:45:13] Speaker C: Oh, my goodness.
[00:45:14] Speaker E: It's real.
[00:45:16] Speaker C: It's so real. And you have to.
You know, it's so hard. Like, when you're talking about a job, you know, you. All these jobs and factories, but realizing that everything sort of has a cost. So then what was your inspiration to getting involved, like, with the hip hop caucus?
[00:45:33] Speaker E: So everybody kept telling me, like, when you're an artist and a musician, your way of success is you do your music, you get big, and then you do a fragrance, and then you do a clothing line. Right, right. And that's your success.
Whether you're. And when you're indie, it's by any means, sis.
[00:45:48] Speaker B: Get it?
[00:45:49] Speaker E: Find it. Yes. So, I got really good at being an entrepreneur because I was not doing my music like music, and I was handling it like a small business.
[00:45:58] Speaker C: And you, like, integrated with tech, like, yeah.
[00:46:01] Speaker E: I started thinking of my career as a small business, so I would collaborate with Adult Swim. I got a license. I was able to license my music. I started animating with them, and then I said, okay, there's something on. I'm onto this. And then I started working in tech. We were hacking all these different PlayStation and trying to find ways to do Mocap, which is motion capture. And then we were able to do VR videos in 2015, 2016, when nobody yet a few people. I'm not gonna sit there and act like we were the first, but we were among a few that were really playing with the concept of virtual reality and augmented reality. It was really great. Not above that. We partnered with Wired. Verge asked us to do their 1st 360 live performance with an oculus. So we were doing things that, like, were uncomfortable and cool and among a lot of the times, not a lot of black people. I also consulted with tech stars, which is a.
So I was working with them, and that was, like, again, 2017, 2018. So I was realizing my journey didn't have to be like everybody else's. I could be a musician, but actually have jobs and. And tap into things that most people weren't and still make good money. So it didn't have to be a fragrance line. It didn't have to be. And so I was creative director at Adult Swim. I was working as a consultant with tech stars. I was doing all this stuff, and then by the time I got to a place, because one thing I will say that labels don't do is they don't sit their artist down and say, now that you have this platform, here are some nonprofits you could look into to support. They don't educate you on. They don't care. I wish someone would have did that, because I originally wanted to work with people who did natural disasters and provide shelter because I didn't have that.
But then the hip hop caucus came along, and they were looking for an artist relations director. And I was in a point in my career where I could give back. I had finally made money enough to where I was like, now I don't want it to be about me anymore. How do I make change now?
[00:48:00] Speaker B: Listen, I hope you all are enjoying the conversation so far and picking up everything that dawn is dropping for us. There was so much that dawn and I talked about that we had to turn it into a two week premiere. So let me know your thoughts and comments on what you heard so far and tune in next week as we continue to bask in the light of Dawn. Richard. But before we go, I want to close out this episode and every episode with just a little breadcrumb of Buddhism.
In today's episode, dawn spoke about being able to polish your light and carry that light with you. In nitran Buddhism, we learn also about the concept of fundamental darkness, which is a part of the 42 levels of ignorance. And, yes, honey, there are levels of ignorance. But fundamental darkness, also known as fundamental ignorance, is what is believed to be the most deeply rooted illusion inherent in life that then gives rise to all other illusions and earthly desires. And it's mainly that there's an ignorance around the value in one's own life, or what we would call begrudging one's own life. So part of that process of even getting to the place that dawn is speaking of, you have to come up out the darkness, like jennifer lewis would say, come up, up out of that dark room. Honeydeheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh I mean, you know, that's my best impression. But sometimes the distance between the dark and the light is just a place of growth, a gradient where we can go from the darkest of dark, from just a pinhole of hope, to illuminating love and uniqueness and kindness and compassion through us and onto ourselves.
Let's detach from the ideas of who people think we are so that we can live in the reality of who we actually are.
There's an old saying, everything done in the dark will eventually come to light.
Some of the people whom many of us have held in high regard are getting caught up in salacious, jaw dropping accusations and revelations about their past behavior or their character. And listen, at the end of the day, we are all human. We all make mistakes. But my question is, what happens when instead of being exposed by the light of truth, we decide to fully step into the light of our truth? What happens when we boldly say, this is who I am, this is the art I want to make. This is the impact I want to create, and this is how I want to show up in the world.
There can be a renewing and restoring of who we are, but you gotta want it. You gotta be able to approach life with some intentionality. Like my friend Dawn Richard.
There's an intentionality in this life that we have to seize. No matter how scary it is, no matter what the darkness looks like. Even if we find comfort in that darkness, even if we find comfort in blissful ignorance of not knowing or not trying, or not wanting to take a risk of failing forward.
So we sit in our fundamental darkness and we let fear be the driving force.
And as you know, fear is the killer of all dreams.
So it is crucial that we let our light shine through every day, even if it begins with just a pinhole and grows gradually.
This is a world full of darkness, and it needs your light.
I believe this is something we can all do right now.
No opportunity, opportunity wasted. See you next week.
Have an opportunity or a challenge? Need some guidance or advice? Well, tune in to now. No opportunity wasted with Angelica Ross. Download and subscribe on any podcast platform.
