Community Spread

Bonus Pod! With the recent targeting of transgender women in our current political culture wars I knew we needed to have a transgender women athlete on the podcast so we could get to know her experience and I found the perfect guest in Chloie Jonsson. She came on the pod to share her experiences as a transgender women. We talked about her experiences getting bullied as a child in school, her transition, her struggles with addiction, and finally her lawsuit she filed against CrossFit for not allowing her to compete in the CrossFit Games. Chloie is smart, generous, and funny I hope you learn as much from this conversation as I did.  Find her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chlojonsson/?igshid=l8jl70jc128q. She is also doing incredible work as the President of the Board of "The Out Foundation." Check it out - https://theoutfoundation.org/

On the pod this week, we have a great guest to kick off Black History Month, Wynter the Poet! Some of you may recognize her voice, she spoke the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from a Birmingham Jail last month. She's on the pod today to talk about her journey from growing up in Utah, and how poetry became her saving grace through some extremely tough times. Also, we broke down her poem "When We Say Black Lives Matter" for us in our first ever 'Okay Stop' segment. AND to top it off she blessed us with another original poem that won the 2018 Ogden Pride award. As always, please like, subscribe, rate and Share with your friends and family.

Thanks,

On the Pod this week, it's a bit of a family reunion for me! I am honored that my sister Julie Akins joined me to talk about some pretty heavy stuff. Julie is a teacher in Saint George, and she is very passionate about the social justice movements happening across the country. Now, full disclosure, it was tough for us, two white people, to talk about racial disparities in our country. So please, if you have any feedback for us and how we handled this conversation send it to me so that we can better educate ourselves and be allies in this fight for social justice. Julie spoke about what it was like teaching in the predominately white high school and trying to help these high schoolers step out of their experiences and step into someone else's. She had her class read "The Hate U Give", by Angie Thomas and it was amazing to hear their experience as a class. Please as always, if you find this conversation helpful share it with friends and family. If you have any feedback please send it to me.

Thanks,

On the Pod this week, Brock Abel speaks to us about what it was like growing up knowing that he was different, but not knowing what to do about it. Brock knew he was gay at a pretty young age, but didn't really know how to handle that and didn't really know how to come to terms with himself. He talks about how society, culture, and religion shaped a lot of the homophobia he faced both externally and internally. He even decided at one point to try and get married to a woman and make a marriage work. Join us as we listen to Brock's journey of self love and honesty. As always, share subscribe and like this episode with anyone you may know that might need to hear this story.

On the pod this week, we talk with Denise Ortiz. She's another Dreamer here in Ogden that has really made her way here but it has not been easy. She is currently a Real Estate Agent that helps her community become first time home buyers, for her she knows owning a home is the beginning of creating generational wealth and she is trying to help her community build that wealth here in Ogden. She sat down to reflect on her and her family's journey from Mexico to Utah.

On the Pod this week, Marci Ray stops by to talk about her own Christmas Miracle. Her son Elliot. Elliot had to be delivered early at 27 weeks and spent a lot of time in the hospital, getting blood transfusions, and really fighting for his life at birth. It wasn't until 2 months after his miraculous birth that Marci was told Elliot had Down syndrome. She speaks about her experience navigating through the hospitals, care givers and applying for government programs as a young parent. She lovingly remembers the support she received from her community and programs that were there for her during those tough times.

It is important to remember that she was very privileged to be living in such a community that cared for her so much, and to think about those that don't have those same opportunities or same communities or support.

On the Pod this week, Jessica talks about her time in Tremonton and how it impacted her life trajectory. She talks about her marriage and divorce at a young age and how growing up in a small town she had to overcome the small town gossip and shame that came with those decisions and how ultimately they became gave her a bit of fearlessness. Jessica speaks about her journey from waiting tables to making her way to the Utah State Capitol and finding herself to be one of the FEW People of Color and Women around. Please listen and share her story. If you are interested in getting involved contact your local city council, public office, school boards and find out ways to be more engaged.

In what was to be the coldest night of the winter, Thursday December 10, 2020, Ogden City tore down an established "tent city" that many previously unsheltered individuals were living under. The actions taken by the city are in contrast to the guidelines from the CDC. Van Aston, who you may remember from an earlier episode "Understanding Homelessness", is back on the pod to talk to Kevin about the Trauma of the event. Van talks about the barriers of trust that he and his staff have had to break through to get the previously unsheltered individuals the help they may need, and HOW/IF their staff can build back that trust with the forgotten (and sadly, dismissed) community.

If you are interested in helping, or would like to donate please keep these local places in mind:

https://www.ccsutah.org/

http://www.homelessveterans.org/

https://www.youthfuturesutah.org/

https://www.midtownchc.org/

https://www.yccogden.org/

On the Pod this week, the owners of Good Company Theatre, Alicia and Camille Washington stop by to talk about the inequities and the push toward balance of brown and black faces in theatre. They talk about their beginnings in Layton and the life experiences that motivated them to open Utah's only black owned Theatre.

On the Pod this week, I talk to Paul Sharp, who is a Nurse Practitioner that went to New York during the beginning of the Pandemic and saw the horrors firsthand. We chat about what that experience was like for him and where Utah stands currently as our COVID numbers continue to rise at an alarming rate.