Active Allyship...it's more than a #hashtag!"

Sunni and Lisa are taking a hiatus from the podcast.  Please continue to follow us on instagram @activeallyship.podcast 

We appreciate you!! 

Lisa is  solo and is joined by Kate Sloan who talks about her upcoming book,  200 Words to Help You Talk About Sexuality & Gender.  Based in Toronto, Canada, Kate Sloan is a journalist, blogger, podcaster, and educator who has been writing about sex online and in print for over five years. On her blog she writes twice a week about sex, kink, relationships, fashion, beauty, writing, and mental health.

ABOUT  200 Words to Help You Talk About Sexuality & Gender

It's frustrating not having the proper vocabulary to describe how you're feeling.

Have you ever felt self-conscious when talking about a subject you aren't familiar with? Do you want to support your friends or loved ones when they come out to you but you don't want to say the wrong thing? Or maybe you're exploring your gender or sexual identity and can't figure out the correct term for what you're feeling. 

Let 200 Words to Help You Talk About Sexuality & Gender help navigate those conversations. The newest offering from Laurence King and Kate Sloan guides readers through the sometimes overwhelming topics of sexuality and gender. By offering 200 definitions of frequently used terms, 200 Words becomes the perfect guidebook to speaking with confidence on these topics.

Our list of words fall under multiple categories to cover the wide range of vocabulary. From topics such as Gender Identities and Expression to Attraction & Desire, you'll learn which words are inclusive and which are archaic and offensive. We know gender and sexuality can seem like a big subject to decode, let us guide you through it.

Sunni and Lisa talk about Kentajo Brown Jackson and more! 

This is a re-play of an episode of our interview with Sunni and Lisa Propaganda about his book, Terraform: Building a Better World 

From https://www.prophiphop.com: 

 With LA flowing through his veins & armed with a bold message, Propaganda has assembled a body of work that challenges and guides.  Propaganda’s ideas stem from where he sits at the intersection. He sees how cultures cross and inspire one another, and can see the oneness of us all. Propaganda will cause you to nod your head, but more importantly he will stretch your mind & heart.   

Book description:  Terraform: Building a Better World

In this debut collection of essays and poetry, musician, speaker, and activist Propaganda inspires us to create a better, more equitable world.

“If we get to make the very cultures that shape who we are, then let us remake them in the best way possible.”

In this deep, challenging, and thoughtful book, Propaganda looks at the ways in which our world is broken. Using the metaphor of terraforming—creating a livable world out of an inhospitable one—he shows how we can begin to reshape our homes, friendships, communities, and politics.

In this transformative time—when we are redefining what a truly just and equitable world looks like, and reflecting on the work that needs to be done both in our spiritual and secular lives—Propaganda rallies readers to create that just world. He sheds light on how nefarious origin stories have skewed our views of ourselves and others and allowed gross injustices, and demonstrates how great storytelling and excellent art can create and shape new perspectives of the world and make all of us better. 

Sunni and Lisa talk share their thoughts on the situation with Will Smith and Chris Rock. 

Sunni and Lisa are joined by Mary Ann Sieghart, the author of The Authority Gap: Why Women Are Taken Less Seriously Than Men and What We Can Do About It . 

Book description:  The Authority Gap: Why Women Are Taken Less Seriously Than Men and What We Can Do About It .

Imagine living in a world in which you were routinely patronized by women.

Imagine having your views ignored or your expertise frequently challenged by them.

Imagine people always addressing the woman you are with before you.

Now imagine a world in which the reverse of this is true.

The Authority Gap provides a startling perspective on the unseen bias at work in our everyday lives, to reveal the scale of the gap that still persists between men and women. Would you believe that female US Supreme Court Justices are interrupted four times more often than male ones...96 percent of the time by men? Or that British parents, when asked to estimate their child's IQ, will place their son at 115 and their daughter at 107?

Marshalling a wealth of data with precision and insight, and including interviews with pioneering women such as Baroness Hale, Mary Beard, and Bernadine Evaristo, Mary Ann Sieghart exposes unconscious bias in this fresh, feminist take on how to address and counteract systemic sexism in ways that benefit us all.

The Brady Bunch and a splash of the United Colors of Benetton, that’s what Heather Mathes, author of Paid to Be Perfect: The Secret to Finding Your Perfect was marinated in! 

Lisa and Sunni have a follow-up conversation - Lisa originally interviewed Heather on her podcast Naturally Savvy.  Heather’s story definitely goes beyond that conversation.  The ladies get into Heather’s background which includes her adoption, which was extraordinary.   

She was adopted by a white family who actually fought to make sure “Love” was at the center of the decision - Love over Race. Yes, I know!

Not to give too much away, but Heather’s biological parents were an interracial couple back in the day, like the 70’s. So you can imagine the thought process for adoptions.  Listen up, so that you can get into this conversation - very insightful and enlightening!  The richness of cultures in Heather’s family is all about Love! 

Optimism-sauce, that’s what Brendan Slocumb was marinated in!  What a phenom!  An amazing violinist and author, his debut novel is called “The Violin Conspiracy”.  According to Brendan, the book parallels his real life by like 92%, so it’s pretty close to real-life experiences - Brendan’s lived experiences actually.

The book, whew!  This conversation!  The connection that Sunni and Brendan have is akin to six degrees of separation - such a really small world!  Lisa was fortunate enough to  interview Brendan for his book tour, wait, did you listen?  If not, you’ve got to be sure to listen, let’s call it the “Introduction - Overview - Interview”.

This black man’s gifts are super natural.  Simple stated, he’s a creative who’s talents cross platforms seamlessly.  Do you know where the roots from classical music came from?  Have you been to a symphony before?  We discuss the importance of “exposure” - it’s a theme during this conversation.  Young, Seasoned, Black, White and everyone in between, classical music is for everyone!  

Lisa is hosting solo and is  joined by Brendan Slocumb, who talks about his book, The Violin Conspiracy.

 Brendan Nicholaus Slocumb was born in Yuba City, California and was raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a degree in music education, concentrations on Violin and Viola. While at UNCG, Brendan was the concertmaster for the University Symphony orchestra and served as the principal violist. He performed with numerous small chamber ensembles, including flute and clarinet choirs, and in the BESK string quartet.

As a musician, Brendan has performed on violin with the Washington Metropolitan Symphony, the McLean Symphony, the Prince George's Philharmonic, and the Alexandria Symphony. He currently serves as the concertmaster for the 

NOVA- Symphony Orchestra. Brendan has been a frequent adjudicator and guest conductor for several district and regional orchestras throughout North Carolina and Virginia. He also performs chamber music with members of the Annandale symphony. He maintains a private music studio teaching lessons to students on violin, guitar and piano. 

He is the founder of the nonprofit organization, Hands Across the Sea, based in the Philippines. After touring the Philippines with the Northern Virginia Chamber Ensemble and witnessing firsthand the conditions that many of the young music students and their families endure, Brendan founded the Hands Across the Sea to offer support to the Berea School of the Arts in Manila, by providing instruments, lessons, and monetary support. The organization also supplements school supplies and dental and medical assistance. 

In his spare time, Brendan enjoys writing, exercising, collecting comic books and action figures, and performing with his rock band, Geppetto's Wüd.

BOOK DESCRIPTION: The Violin Conspiracy

Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. If he’s lucky, he’ll get a job at the hospital cafeteria. If he’s extra lucky, he’ll earn more than minimum wage. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music.
 
When he discovers that his great-great-grandfather’s beat-up old fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach. Together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Ray will have to piece together the clues to recover his treasured Strad ... before it’s too late.
 
With the descendants of the man who once enslaved Ray’s great-great-grandfather asserting that the instrument is rightfully theirs, and with his family staking their own claim, Ray doesn’t know who he can trust—or whether he will ever see his beloved violin again.

Lisa is hosting solo today and is joined by Wayne Francis, who talks about the book he wrote with John Siebeling. Wayne Francis leads the New York City location of The Life Church and was the founder and lead pastor of the former Authentic Church, which merged with The Life Church in early 2020. Wayne and his wife, Claudene, have been married for twenty years and have two beautiful teenage daughters, Haleigh and Ryleigh.

For years, Pastors John Siebeling and Wayne Francis have led thriving congregations that are the embodiment of diversity; Siebeling in Memphis and Francis in New York City. Many churches and leaders have sought their counsel, hoping to emulate their success. 

 At the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in Summer 2020, they pooled their insights and experiences to help others facilitate conversations about racism. The guide they developed is the basis of God and Race. 

 Siebeling and Francis examine the White-Black tension from both perspectives and answer all the uncomfortable questions we’re afraid to ask—regarding ourselves, our families, our work and relationships, and the church. Most important, they provide practical steps anyone can take to become part of the solution. 

 Whether you are a church leader or just a caring person who wants to make a difference, God and Race provides inspiration and guidance to help you become an agent of reconciliation and change. These two wise pastors teach you how to find your voice and join in healing, to help bring our divided communities together with open minds, open hearts, and open hands.

 Many Christian books on race either do not ask the hard questions or, if they do, speak as critics outside the mainstream church. Siebeling and Francis probe the meaning of racial reconciliation and reveal how the church can be a positive and effective leader to move us forward, beyond hate and injustice, to equality and love.