Jalen Izrael took a break from 10-hour shifts in the Bezos mines for a conversation with his dad (and dinner). We talk about what he remembers from his childhood, the disillusionment that led to getting his GED and a job instead of finishing high school, the Arby’s-to-Coco-Bread Spectrum of female genitalia, and why “Hamilton” is for white people. Then we get into family: my role in his life, his siblings, his advice for stepparents, and the thankless job of parenting. I didn’t get rated a 10, but hey, I ranked infinitely better than “Hamilton.”

Resources:

• Jalen’s SoundCloud
• Dummart
• Hermit and the Recluse
• “Some Rap Songs” by Earl Sweatshirt
• “Fraudulent Activity” by TeejayX6
• “Graduation” by Kanye West
• “ZUU” by Denzel Curry
• "Native Son" by Richard Wright

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media

Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett is a professor in Kent State University’s Department of Psychology, where she is Director of the Program for Research on Anxiety Disorders among African Americans (PRADAA), and the author of "Soothe Your Nerves: The Black Woman's Guide to Understanding and Overcoming Anxiety, Panic, and Fear." We talk about growing up in a rural town where your family IS the Black community, being forced to reckon with your Blackness, and having to choose: get mad about institutional racism in psychology or do the research. Then we hash out how and why Dr. Angela thinks Black men give Black women the blues, my theory on why Black women can’t find good Black men, the myth of “acting white,” and the one indisputable fact about being Black in America. Also, my “Boujie Card” and why she would be reticent to fix me up with any of her friends, beyond the obvious. It’s #conversationforadults.

Resources:

• Twitter: @dranjela
• "Soothe Your Nerves: The Black Woman's Guide to Understanding and Overcoming Anxiety, Panic, and Fear" by Angela Neal-Barnett
• “The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can't Find Good Black Men” by jimi izrael
• The PRADAA Lab (Program for Research on Anxiety Disorders among African Americans)

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media

Damentia Wright is the (recently married) owner of Wright Cummings Property Management and an 18-year Army veteran. That’s D-A—mentia, not d-E—mentia; don’t get it twisted. We talk about working with international investors from everywhere but Mars, opening a children-only hair salon, the secret to co-parenting a 16-year-old valedictorian with two businesses, and messing around with folks who have master degrees and PhDs, not EBTs and STDs. Then we’re joined by a special guest, D. M. “Donny” Gaines, who tells us about the novels he wrote during an 18-year stint in prison and the woman who stole his publishing money. Then, Damentia flexes her parenting skills a bit more.

Resources:

• Wright Cummings Property Management
• Rated G Styling Studio
• D. M. Gaines’ books

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media

John Boles is, to dramatically oversimplify things, a communist: the red menace that American politicians have been using as a boogieman since the end of World War 2. But it doesn’t matter what label you use or identify with — Socialist, Leftist, Commie — it still scares the shit out of folks in this country. We go beyond the label to talk about what his political beliefs actually are, class issues, disentangling class and race, the problem with allyship, the big blob of bullshit that is the healthcare-industrial complex, political trauma, and the etymology of “cracker.” We also talk about another label that we both wear, widower, what his wife was like in high school, getting married at 19, supporting her through mental health crises, the bar she still haunts, and his advice for other men who have lost their wife.

Resources:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/yungdresscode
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbLCyQcwO3DYUnLmd2YG5yQ

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media

Shalira Taylor is the owner of DMT Cleveland and a rising GOP politico — she ran three times for two Republican positions. We talk about how we met at a talent search for Black Tail Magazine, doing makeup for "The New Binky Show" and “#POPCORN (APOTHEOSIS),” and growing up as a popular unpopular kid. Then, unlike President Donald Trump, Shalira answers the hard questions: Did Trump grab her booty? Does Trump have any Black friends? Is he racist, and how do Black Republicans reconcile Trump’s attitude towards black people? Also, could Trump “get it?” She’s black, fine and #MAGA … on #conversationforadults.

Resources:

• Instagram: @st4oh
• Facebook: facebook.com/shalira.taylor
• Twitter: @st4oh
• DMT Cleveland
• Watch: “The New Binky Show INTRO”
• Watch: “#POPCORN (APOTHEOSIS)”
• Read: “Booty Queens”

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media

Erykah “E.T.” Townsend is a pop artist using pop-culture imagery to comment on consumerism, breaking down traditions, and life in general — her work picks up where Andres Serrano, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol left off. We talk about being Afropunk, Freak Stylee and exploring creative identity, and how to be “Boujie.” We explore the Dirty Bubble, the Plain White World, getting bullied (and revenge) at Arby’s, Mr. Rogers, the challenge of parenting a young creative Black child, the everyday knee on the neck, and when this dude tried to Karen me. It’s the cool life on #conversationforadults

Resources:

• E.T.’s art: milkcrate.studio
• Instagram: @milk__crate
• “38. Photographer Amber Ford: Ebony Eyes”

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media

Toni Blackman is a poet, global music educator, and Hip-Hop Ambassador. We reminisce about when meeting and getting money when the Black Internets was young, how gentrification killed the gypsy cabs, and that time in Denver she curved me like Bubba Wallace #daytona500. We the man who seduced her with his cooking and other fly exes (except the one that gave her a wrinkle), the choices she makes in relationships, being single, finding peace with her Pops and whether any man, woman, or otherwise is really loyal. Black Women’s Inspirational Booties, what Toni is looking for in a man (asking for a friend) and convincing me I owe my ex an apology for that book  … we go there on #conversationforadults #ImNotBeingSued for this.

Resources:

• toniblackmanpresents.com
• Instagram: @toniblackman
• Facebook: facebook.com/ToniBlackman4
• Twitter: @ToniBlackman
• YouTube: youtube.com/user/ToniB104/videos
• Rhyme Like a Girl
• #LyricalDebate
• “The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can't Find Good Black Men” by Jimi Izrael

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media

RA Washington was a child preacher at tent revivals all over the South who found a calling in music, poetry, and prose. We talk feminism, young black men suffering abuse at the hands of caregivers (and how being a rape victim affects manhood), the history of the Black Poetic Society, and that time I bought an 18-dollar “artisan chocolate” candy bar — WTF? Oh snap! — I know his sister?! Then we address the controversy and accusations that rocked the relationship with his band, Mourning [A] BLKstar, and table the “he said/she said/they said” beef between the two of us I had no idea existed. Jehovah’s Witnesses, college life and low-key shade …  brothers gonna work it out … on #conversationforadults.

Resources:

• Instagram: @clevelandtapes
• Facebook: facebook.com/rafeeqwashington
• Twitter: @clevelandtapes
• Find R.A. Washington’s books
• clevelandtapes.us
• guidetokulchur.org
• Listen to my eps with Mekkah: conversationforadults.com/episodes/26-27

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media

Miss Wanda is an amazing woman with a bright smile and warm spirit. We talk about growing up in the projects, meeting her husband at a fruit stand and why her marriage ended. We talk about vaginismus, sexual trauma and having difficult conversations about intimacy in relationships. Then, she asks for advice on three situations: the widower on the love boat, the plumber who may want to lay some pipe, and Dude with an extra ticket to Jamaica. Signals get crossed, cues are misconstrued and ulterior motives are revealed, to Miss Wanda’s surprise. It’s like “Love and Hip-Hop” with none of either on a very special #conversationforadults.

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media

The first time I saw Vonda Gardner, she was a stranger on the street. The second time I saw Vonda, her mugshot was in the news. The third time I saw her, she was sitting behind a microphone in my apartment. We talk about the Spirit Airlines scissors incident, making your own fun and sandwiches as a poor kid, and all the folks she saw come through while living above Kermit “The Super Star Maker” Henderson’s record store: Will Smith, En Vogue, Too Short, Queen Latifah, The Fat Boys. Then we get into the conversations Black people won’t have around white people, co-parenting with multiple partners, and the video that vindicated Vonda.

Resources:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vondagardnerwadley
• “The Denzel Principle”

Let’s Talk:

• Website: conversationforadults.com
• Instagram: @conversationforadults
• Facebook: facebook.com/conversationforadultswithjimiizrael
• Twitter: @convoforadults

Conversation for Adults is a production of Crate Media