Change The Narrative with JD Fuller

Rachel Mason is an accomplished artist, musician, filmmaker, producer, therapist, mommy and partner. Her work has been featured in some of the most prestigious museums in the world including the Whitney Museum, LACMA and the Art Institute in Chicago. As a creator and a writer she produced the acclaimed Netflix original documentary Circus of Books, a poignant film about a jewish couple running a gay porn book store offering a rare and delicoious glimpse in to an untold chapter of queer history.

What You Will Hear:

Rachel’s self description.

Creativity vs commercial success.

Taking care of mental health and the importance of therapy.

Therapy vs. Pharma and medical insurance.

The accomplishment of getting something into the mass media and the team work it takes.

Rachel’s parents porn bookstore.

The challenges and rewards of collaborations.

Political activism.

Upcoming projects.

Quotes

“Being an artist was a security blanket.”

“Art really saved me from all this social anxiety.”

“Straight people are not the enemy.”

Mentioned:

IG @futureclown

https://www.futureclown.com/ (Futureclown.com)

Melody Li is a change maker and a force. Melody uses their voice and passion as a queer person of color to affect change and celebrate all identities and abilities in all bodies. Melody is a licensed marriage and family therapist, entrepreneur, a keynote speaker, a podcaster, an educator and an activist. They developed and founded The Inclusive Therapist offering a safer and simpler way to find culturally responsible and social justice therapists centered on the needs of black and indigenous people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community. Melody is also passionate about animal welfare.

What You Will Hear:

Who is Melody Li?

Building community and spaces with the intent to offer culturally responsive, justice and liberation oriented support for service users.

Mental and transdisciplinary liberation .

Reclaiming and restoring wellness to marginalized communities

Racialized trauma and intergenerational trauma

Learning to cope

Racial hierarchy, capitalism and white supremacy

The Inclusive Therapist

Quotes

“Conversations about culture often times is usually in the footnotes.”

“My culture is integrated with all forms of my well being.”

“If I am not actively dismantling and disrupting these systems that hold so much power that can do harm then I am complicit in the harm.”

“Not only is racialized trauma the impact of an act of violence, but it is the toll,the weight of navigating the world and not being able to relax into safety.”.

Mentioned:

https://www.inclusivetherapists.com/ (The Inclusive Therapist)

IG @inclusivetherapist

https://www.melodyli.com/ (MelodyLi.com)

IG @melodyhopeli

Austin Therapists of Color

The Queen of Shade is an Intellectual entertainer, content creator, mentor, brand ambassador, singer songwriter, Shaman and social media influencer. The Queen sits down with JD and Suzy to discuss her journey, lifestyle and podcast

What You Will Hear:

Mentoring, its influence and importance

Figuring out how to manage mental health and career

Family, broken family and relationships

Having to be medically withdrawn from college

Therapy and the motivation to become an entertainer

Destigmatizing therapy

Dave Chapelle

Being LGBTQ and black

Working as a phone sex agent

Quotes

“Even if you come from a broken family you can still make something out of your life.”

“When rappers and musicians get out of the hood, they can’t go back.”

“Therapy is the only reason I am now a successful working entertainer.”

“The black communinty needs to understand we are queer we’re gay and black. You don’t get the option to only support our blackness”-TS Madison

Mentioned:

https://thequeenofshade.com/index.html (Thequeenofshade.com)

Dr. Patricia Johnson holds a doctorate of psychology and is passionate about exploring and unraveling biracial identity work. Dr. Johnson conducts workshops and classes as well as providing psychotherapy on the subjects of interracial and biracial issues.

Katrina Strohl is a Navy veteran, an aviation structural mechanic who has literally turned her life around. She is now a certified career coach and host of the “Absolutely Not” podcast which is dedicated to creating a healthy workplace. She sits down with JD and Suzy to tell her story including her own struggle with mental health.

What You Will Hear:

Resilience being the theme of Katrina’s life right now

Intersectionality and identities

PTSD, NDD and alcoholism diagnosis during Katrina’s military service

Katrina’s journey from military service to entrepreneurship

Katrina’s multiple attempts to take her own life and how that drove her to become a counselor.

Boundaries, self awareness and the importance of both.

Psychological first aid

Foster care system the good and the bad.

Quotes

“My opinions and ideals come in a rainbow effect.”

“I didn’t know how to name the harm that was being placed upon me.”

Mentioned:

http://www.katrinastrohl.com/ (www.katrinastrohl.com)

Supermodel Cristina Ferrare was put under contract by the Ford modeling agency when she was just 16 years old. She is also a mother of 7, a grandmother an amazing cook, an entertainer, a New York Times Best Selling author and a cancer survivor. She uses her humor and truth to reflect on her life and share her story everyday. Kristina joins JD to talk about all the ways she is flourishing.

.What You Will Hear:

Kristina’s childhood and passion for cooking

Transition from high school into modeling at the age of 14.

Big psychological impact of early success and dealing with rejection.

Biggest accomplishment and biggest failure.

Multiple myeloma diagnosis.

The importance of a good attitude, laughter and forgiveness.

Men being caregivers and self realizations.

Becoming an author and entrepreneur.

Food for Thought book and taking responsibility for your health.

Flourish Body, Mind, Soul

Being authentic, passionate and truthful.

Quotes

“I express my love and appreciation for all my friend through food.”

“Sometimes your chain has to be pulled in order for you to go in the direction you’re meant to go in.”

“I learned that failure is opportunity disguised as disappointment.”

“I believe food is medicine for your body.”

“You have to take control of your own life and your own health.”

Mentioned:

MAX Factor

Eileen Ford

Cosmopolitan and Vogue magazines

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1642930571/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8andcamp=1789andcreative=9325andcreativeASIN=1642930571andlinkCode=as2andtag=crisferr-20andlinkId=2d2f8ac0920b3c7f2704014a8f673a78 (Food for Thought)

https://cristinaferrare.com/ (KristinaFerrare.com)

https://flourishbms.com/ (Flourish)

Ashley McDonough combined her passions of storytelling, culture and travel, launching FREE travel app, Melanin On the Map. With her love of culture and experiences McDonough wanted to create a safe space that not only created travel opportunities for ALL minorities but changed the way the world views minority travel. Ashlei s a Howard University journalism graduate, published journalist, producer and writer. Her experience in the media industry has allowed her to obtain skills from research, interviewing, production, hosting and analytics of social media. A storyteller at heart, McDonough has produced and written thousands of culture based content at some of the top media outlets in the country. Such as Billboard, ESSENCE Magazine and Will Packer Productions XoNecole.

What You Will Hear:

The root of Ashley’s passion for travel and love for culture.

Ashley’s need for travel and desire to be an entrepreneur and it’s connection to her family’s legacy and migrant roots.

The access to and impact of travel.

The experience of the black American traveler.. Safety.

The Green Book vs. Melanin on the Map

Therapy and maintaining a healthy life.

The effects of the pandemic on Ashley’s new budding travel business

Changing the narrative through communication and conversations

Quotes

“I have this deep passion for travel because it shows you that there is more to life, it shows you that there is life outside of you and your city and your people and your network.”

“You do have a say in what you want your life to look like.”

“The black travel experience is very specific.”

“I am existing blatantly for what my blackness looks like and connecting with others whose blackness looks the same.”

Mentioned:

The Green Book

iG @ashley_milani

@melaninonthemap

App store Melanin on the Map

Featured everywhere from the New York Times to TMZ, writer, director and actress Jessie Kahnweiler, uses her art to openly share her experience. She is sought after for her voice that ranges from the comedic to the tragic to the real and always honest and humble.

What You Will Hear:

Jessie’s philosophy on life

Dealing with bulimia, healing and recovery

Being in tune with your body. The difference between 20s and 30s

Starring in “The Skinny”

Access

Privilege

Taking power and control of your own destiny

Advice

Changing the narrative through self compassion

Quotes

“Creativity is such a lesson in resilience.”

“There’s a lot of horrible, awful, unjust things in the world but you have a choice with how much you contribute to that.”

“If we were nicer to ourselves what kind of world would it be?”

Mentioned:

IG @Jessie_Kahnweiler

https://jessiekahnweiler.com/ (JessieKahnweiler.com)

Kevin Collins is an Ivy league educated author and professor who teaches screenwriting, television and film. He started his screenwriting career on the acclaimed Showtime series Soulfood. After a short stint in Hollywood he transitioned to authoring a series of Sci-Fi books, The Unveiling and the Adventures of Zoku. In this episode Kevim shares his story, his imagination and new, exciting and upcoming projects.

What You Will Hear:

Socio economics narrative vs. the black narrative.

The Black experience supporting White supremacy.

Kevin’s realizations and barrier destruction upon moving to Africa.

Racism in America and the negative impact and collateral damage of white supremacy.

Life altering events. Suffering and attachment. Vipassana meditation and tools to cope with attachment and suffering.

Accepting change.

Non-textbook lessons learned and taught. Kevin’s evolution as a storyteller and writer.

Sumerian mythology.

White Supremacy Playbook Decoded. Replacement theory: misogyny and controlling black men.

Quotes

“It only takes a few generations to not know anymore.”

“We are doing a lot of the work for white supremacy on our own.”

“Suffering comes out of attachment.”

Mentioned:

Vipassana Meditation

Zuko

http://theunveilingseries.com/ (The Unveiling Series)

Fb: KLCollins

Unveiling

Filmmaker, Innovator and Artist Robert Broadhurst sits down with JD and Suzy to discuss the impact of understanding and owning his role as a white man of privilege and it’s influence on his life. As an editor, Robert’s work has spanned Emmy award nominated television, documentary, film and commercials along with work for brands including Adidas, Apple, Nike, Balmain, DKNY, HandM, Alexander Wang and Equinox. As his role as an editor became more comprehensive and creative, naturally evolving into directing. His extraordinary film, “An Occurrence at Arverne”, is his directorial debut.

What You Will Hear:

JD and Roberts connection and past

Responsibility and obligation as a white person of privilege

Robert’s experience, as a white man, trying to tell the story of a black man

Black and White responses to Robert’s film

Social climate’s impact on the acceptance of “An Occurrence at Arverne”.

JD’s influence on Robert

Change the narrative by first understanding the narrative and your role in the narrative

Quotes

“I felt a responsibility and an obligation as a white person who has enjoyed privilege alot of my life, to contribute to the conversation and hopefully pull the veil back for other white people like black people have for me.”

“At some point you have to realize you’re in the Matrix.”

“You’ve got to be ready to accept and own your role in it.”

“You’re not going to change the world unless you change yourself.”

Mentioned:

@Robertbroadhurst

Beloved

James Baldwin

https://vimeo.com/robertbroadhurst (Vimeo/RobertBroadhurst)