Mutual Aid as Resistance: Building Systems of Care

Episode Summary: 

In this solo episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira dives deep into the power and necessity of mutual aid. Drawing from personal reflection, historical examples like the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords, and global efforts from Sudan to Florida, this episode highlights how mutual aid has always been about survival. Zaira explores how mutual aid rejects systems of exploitation and centers community care as a form of resistance—especially for marginalized communities continuously neglected by the state.

In this episode, we cover:

(00:20) What mutual aid is, how it differs from charity, and why it’s essential for survival.
(05:13) Historical examples of mutual aid in action—from the Black Panther Party to the Young Lords.
(12:35) How mutual aid shows up today across the globe and in local communities.
(17:36) The call to practice mutual aid in our daily lives and how storytelling is a form of digital resistance.

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
•  Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
•  BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
•  TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
•  Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Listen to these episodes next:

• Adoptees & Community
• What We Carried from the Black Mothers March
• Ashley Albert on Survival Strategy & Standing on Business

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by J. Way (AV Editor)
Special thanks to J. Way for editing the podcast. To collaborate with her, email her at [email protected].

Adoptee Storytelling & Film Advocacy

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira sits down with Alexandra, a British and American domestic transracial adoptee who grew up in her birth country of Hong Kong. Alexandra is the festival director of the Adoptee Film Fest, a global in-person and online film festival amplifying adoptee-centered films by adoptee filmmakers. They discuss her journey of navigating identity, community, and storytelling, and how the Adoptee Film Fest came to be. Alexandra shares her experience of growing up in a segregated society, her birth search, and the importance of creating adoptee-centered spaces in media.

In this episode, we cover:

(00:20) Introduction to Alexandra and her background as a British and American domestic transracial adoptee. 

(03:13) The impact of growing up in Hong Kong and navigating identity in a segregated society. 

(10:19) Alexandra’s birth search journey and the challenges of finding community and validation. 

(20:27) The inception of the Adoptee Film Fest and its importance for the adoptee community. 

(27:37) The role of storytelling and community building through film. 

(38:03) Alexandra’s reflections on adoptee representation in media and future plans for the Adoptee Film Fest.

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
•  Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
•  BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
•  TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
•  Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Listen to these episodes next:

• Surveillance, Saviors, and Screens: Media & Adoption with J Way 
• The Blind Side: Ownership, Propaganda, and the White Savior Playbook

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by J. Way (AV Editor)
Special thanks to J. Way for editing the podcast. To collaborate with her, email her at [email protected].

Root Work and Resilience: The Fight for Black Families

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira sits down with Tamara and Tracey Robertson, sisters, healers, and advocates serving as Healers in Residence with Movement for Family Power. Together, they discuss their journey of resisting the harms of the family policing system, while centering Black birth traditions, ancestral wisdom, and community healing. From childhood foundations of faith and service to their powerful doula work, this conversation is a testament to the resilience and power of Black families protecting their own.

In this episode, we cover:

• (03:03) What led Tamara and Tracey to do the healing work they do today.
• (07:41) Their introduction to the family policing system and how it fueled their advocacy.
• (16:02) Tamara’s story of caring for her brother and keeping him out of the system.
• (22:04) Doula work and challenges Black families face during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care.
• (32:10) The erasure of Black birth traditions and the need for advocacy in hospital settings.
• (39:32) What it means to be a Healer in Residence with Movement for Family Power and disrupting the family policing system through love and community.

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
• Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
• BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
• TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
• Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Connect with Tamara Robertson:

• Instagram: @queeeentam
• Email: [email protected]

Listen to these episodes next:

• What We Carried from the Black Mothers March
• Mutual Aid as Resistance: Building Systems of Care

Resources:

• Movement for Family Power

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by J. Way (AV Editor)

Special thanks to J. Way for editing the podcast. To collaborate with her, email her at [email protected].

Adoption, Privilege, and the Stories We Tell w/ Patrick Armstrong

Episode Summary:

In this episode, we explore the complexities of adoption, privilege, and the narratives that shape our understanding of family. Through personal stories and critical reflections, we unpack the ways in which adoption is often framed as an unquestionable good while overlooking the systemic issues at play. We discuss the intersection of race, class, and power in adoption, the impact on adoptees, and the importance of centering their voices. This conversation challenges dominant narratives and invites listeners to consider the broader implications of adoption beyond individual experiences. 

In this episode, we cover:

(01:23) Patrick’s adoption story and the moment his identity journey began.
(06:05) Rejecting his Asian identity, reading “Too Korean to Be White,” and coming to consciousness.
(10:45) Unlearning the dominant adoption narrative and embracing critical adoptee scholarship.
(15:20) The Adoptee Consciousness Model and how it reshaped his understanding of identity.
(18:03) Storytelling as resistance—and the unexpected healing that comes from being heard.
(25:13) Building The Janchi Show and learning from other adoptees through conversation.
(30:26) Becoming a parent and breaking generational cycles.
(36:36) Burnout, community care, and the daily work of staying grounded.
(39:00) Why a “positive adoption story” still carries trauma—and how to talk about it.
(43:37) Adoption and abolition: connecting the dots through history and community care.
 (48:12) What’s next for Patrick and how to support his storytelling work.

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
• Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
• BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
• TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
• Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Connect with Patrick Armstrong:

• Instagram: @patrickintheworld
• Podcasts

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by Samuel Oyedele (Editor)

Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or email him at [email protected].

Annalisa Toccara-Jones on Digital Resistance, Colonial Legacies, and Telling the Truth About Adoption

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira is joined by Annalisa Toccara-Jones, a UK-based producer, communication strategist, and doctoral researcher in journalism. Together, they explore the intersections of adoption, colonialism, race, and digital community. Annalisa shares her personal journey, the loss and reconnection in her family search, and what her research reveals about how adoptees use social media as a tool for truth-telling and resistance.

In this episode, we cover:

(01:44) Annalisa’s adoption story, navigating childhood silence, and being made small.
(06:22) The train ride that changed everything—and how one article opened the floodgates.
(09:15) How social media became a place of connection, validation, and emotional release.
(13:56) Her PhD research on adoption, identity, and digital storytelling.
(18:24) Adoption as an industry—and how colonialism still shapes global and domestic adoption.
(22:46) Shifting narratives: centering adoptees, naming structural racism, and making space for complexity.
(30:29) Christianity, identity loss, and how religion shaped her adoption story.
(33:12) Her search for biological family, finding her brother online, and the grief that followed.
(40:07) What UK records access looks like—and the painful truth she uncovered.
(47:07) Final thoughts on healing, self-trust, and showing up as your full self.

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
• Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
• BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
• TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
• Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Listen to these episodes next:

• Adoptees & Community

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by Samuel Oyedele (Editor)

Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or email him at [email protected] 

Reflections on Grief, Healing, and Honoring My Mom

Episode Summary:

In this solo episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira reflects on 2024—one of the most difficult years yet. With raw honesty, she speaks about the grief of losing a mother too soon, the journey of reclaiming memory and identity, and what it means to move through life in the aftermath of family separation. This episode is for anyone navigating complex grief, especially those whose losses are often overlooked.

In this episode, we cover:

(00:29) Why mutual aid had to wait—and what this episode became instead
(02:26) Growing up without space to grieve—and how adoption erased her right to mourn
(04:51) Reconnecting with the truth about her mom and imagining what could have been
(07:45) Holidays, no-contact, and the loneliness of not having parents to return to
(11:21) Reclaiming writing, rediscovering poetry, and healing through words
(13:17) An excerpt about grief, identity, and surviving a system that stole her family
(16:41) “Living Without Her,” a poem for her mother—and a promise to remember

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
• Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
• BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
• TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
• Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Listen to these episodes next:

• What We Carried from the Black Mothers March

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by Samuel Oyedele (Editor)

Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or email him at [email protected] 

The Role of Legal Advocacy in Family Reunification w/ Keshia Adeniyi

Episode Summary: 

The child welfare system is waging war on Black families, and Keshia Adeniyi-Dorsey is on the front lines. In this episode, she shares her journey from foster child to family defender, exposing the racist roots of CPS and the urgent need for change. Keisha breaks down her tactics for protecting families during CPS investigations, from refusing home entry to shutting down fishing expeditions. Her success rates are fantastic: 95.8% of parental rights protected and 93.7% of families reunified. "We already know, and we've already done in the past, like, right? Like, took care of ourselves, we took care of everybody else's kids too, right? We don't need the system to do it." 

In this episode, we cover:

(00:23) Meet Keshia Adeniyi-Dorsey

(01:37) Adoptions and Safe Families Act

(06:08) Reality of CPS investigations

(12:17) Protecting families during CPS investigations

(17:11) Reuniting 93.7% of families 

(23:46) Challenges of advocating for families OR Dealing with incompetence

(28:56) We don’t need police for that OR The color of the system OR  Black families don’t need CPS OR We don’t need help OR Not everyone needs help

(35:33) Affording counsel 

(43:39) Truth to power

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
• Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
• BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
• TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
• Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Connect with Keshia: 

• Website 
• LinkedIn

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by Samuel Oyedele (Editor)

Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or email him at [email protected].

Exploring Abolition, Intergenerational Trauma, and Creative Resistance w/ Benjamin Lundberg Torres Sánchez

Episode Summary:

Words matter. Especially when it comes to adoption. Benjamin Lundberg Torres Sanchez isn't just "adopted" - they were separated from their first family for 28 years. In this episode, we unpack how the language we use shapes our understanding of adoption. Benjamin shares their journey of rejecting industry terminology and embracing more accurate descriptions of their experience. We discuss how this shift in language opens up new possibilities for solidarity and political action. "I think it's just really important to name what happened to us."

In this episode, we cover:

(00:22) Who is Benjamin Lundberg Torres Sanchez?

(01:41) Conceived in violence

(04:58) Adoption day

(07:23) Good experiences but still angry OR Good vs. bad adoptions

(10:10) Learning to think critically about adoption OR Language of adoption

(14:35) Being hungry for community OR Availability of light skinned children

(18:56) Not only focusing on adoptees OR Adoptees are not alone 

(26:46) Organized abandonment 

(28:30) We Are Holding This Magazine

(37:46) Intersectionality vs. isolation

(44:12) Finding alternative power brokers OR Finding power brokers 

(48:14) Get curious 

(51:32) Support Benjamin

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
• Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
• BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
• TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
• Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Resources:

• We Are Holding This Magazine
• Benjamin’s website

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by Samuel Oyedele (Editor)

Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or email him at [email protected] 

Unpacking Adoption w/ Henry: Identity, Community, and Healing

Episode Summary:

What happens when a Black child is adopted into a white Mormon family? The Mormon church silenced Henry's identity as a Black transracial adoptee, but he's done being quiet. From "colorblind" racism to the weight of forced gratitude, he exposes the ugly truth behind his adoption. We explore the impact of media representation, the importance of acknowledging adoptee anger, and why abolishing the current system might be the only way forward. Henry shares his journey of finding community with other adoptees and reclaiming his voice. "My life was really to fill this hole in my parents' life instead of my parents being there to raise children.

In this episode, we cover:

(00:22) Who is Henry? 

(01:48) Coming out of the fog

(03:52) Adopted through the mormon church 

(06:34) Growing up with adopted sisters 

(08:26) Adoptees vs. adoptive parents on This is Us OR Adoptees vs. Adoptive parents on TV

(13:23) Expectation of gratefulness OR “I want someone to love me”

(20:26) Being allowed to feel & express

(23:21) Alternatives to family policing OR Mind your own business

(26:02) Relationship with adoptive parents while being abolitionist 

(32:27) Find your inner voice 

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
• Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
• BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
• TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
• Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Resources:

• Black Adoptee Facebook Group 

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by Samuel Oyedele (Editor)

Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or email him at [email protected] 

Adoption, Therapy, and Self-Discovery: Fai Knudson's Story

Episode Summary: 

Fai Knudson grew up in a white, conservative town, always feeling different. As a biracial, transracial adoptee, Faye faced racism and isolation. Leaving their hometown ignited a journey of self-discovery, leading to advocacy and therapy focused on adoptee mental health. In this episode, Fai shares their powerful story, the challenges of being a transracial adoptee, and how they now help others navigate similar paths.

In this episode, we cover:

(00:18) Who is Fai Knudson? 

(04:05) Feeling different

(05:32) Not allowed to read adoption paperwork 

(06:30) Coming out of the fog

(09:11) Studying adoption for master’s

(13:53) Adoptee therapists 

(21:32) Adoptee care is neglected 

(28:12) Story behind “Good Faith Therapy”

(33:20) Support for adoptees 

(35:01) Genetic graveyard 

(36:24) Finding an adoptee affirming therapist 

(39:34) Partial reunion

(47:54) Finding your authentic self 

Call To Action:

Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:

• Website: adopteescrossinglines.com
• Instagram: @adopteescrossinglines
• BlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.social
• TikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_
• Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines Substack

Connect with Fai Knudson: 

• LinkedIn
• Good Faith Therapy Website 
• Good Faith Therapy Instagram  

Resources:

• Peer Support Space 
• Grow Beyond Words
• Journey of The Adopted Self 
• Psychology Today

Work With Me:

Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Editing by Samuel Oyedele (Editor)

Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or email him at [email protected]