Let's Grab Coffee

This month Let’s Grab Coffee features conversation with Black Is America host and creator, Dominic Lawson. On today’s show, Dominic and I talk about the importance of trailblazers, like one on today’s featured Black is America episode - Marian Anderson. Before listening to the episode together, we talk about the importance of community support in achieving our dreams. And, like Marian, we also talk about times we were denied an opportunity only to have that opportunity come looking for us later.

This month Let’s Grab Coffee features conversation with Black Is America host and creator, Dominic Lawson. On today’s show, Dominic and I discuss the ongoing connection between past and present focusing on the fight for Civil Rights. One objective of the Civil Rights Movement was desegregation of leisure spaces and today’s featured Black Is America episode highlights the lengths one man went to draw attention to this part of the fight for racial equality. Tune in to learn more about Ledger “Roller Man” Smith’s unique journey to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

This month Let’s Grab Coffee features conversation with Black Is America host and creator, Dominic Lawson. On today’s show, Dominic and I talk about the motivation behind Black Is America and how he creates each episode. We also listen to the Black Is America episode on Tom Lee. Many Memphians will be familiar with Tom Lee Park but may not know the heroic actions that led to his being commemorated with a park named in his honor.

What music do you like? How do you know? And how does your favorite music streaming app know – or not? Questions of music taste and how the people creating music recommender systems define it motivate Nick Seaver’s book, Computing Taste: Algorithms and the Makers of Music Recommendation. On today’s show, I’m joined by Nick to discuss his book, his own taste in music, and what he learned as he talked, worked, and hung out with the people behind the algorithms. Nick Seaver, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Tufts University, where he is also the director of the program in Science, Technology, and Society.

Who are you and how do you know? Much of our identity begins with our name and our family origin stories, but what happens when the stories you thought you knew begin to unravel? Questions of identity, family, and truth are at the center of Shannon Gibney’s latest novel - The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption. On today’s show I sit down with Shannon to discuss her book, some of the primary themes around adoption, race, and what we know or think we know, and how she’s creating new stories about herself and adoption. Shannon Gibney is an award winning author and university professor. Her previous novels include See No Color _and _Dream Country.

It’s that time of year where everything is supposed to be merry and bright, yet the holidays are often one of the most stressful times of year. With deadlines looming, expectations for extravagant gift-giving, family gatherings, too many social events, or loss of loved ones, you may be feeling less than joyful. Today I’m joined by Dr. Justin K Dodson of Navigating Courage Counseling & Consultation to talk about how to lessen the stress of the season. We talk about some common holiday stressors, strategies to address them, and what’s bringing us joy.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing Brackeen v Haaland, a case that challenges the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). ICWA was meant to preserve Native American families, traditions, and cultures and protects tribal sovereignty by granting tribal nations “exclusive jurisdiction” over their enrolled members and their lands. Accordingly, the impact of the outcome of Brackeen v Haaland extends far beyond family preservation. On this episode, SunAh is joined by Susan Harness to discuss the history of child removal specifically within American Indian families and the outcomes of placing American children with non-native families. She also describes the importance of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the potential effect of the Brackeen v Haaland case. Susan is the author of _Bitterroot: A Salish (Say-lish) Memoir of Transracial Adoption. _She is a transracial adoptee and a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

In 1995, President Clinton proclaimed November as National Adoption Month but in recent years adoptees have reframed it as National Adoptee Awareness Month recenter adoptee voices, experiences, and expertise, which have historically been marginalized. On this episode, SunAh sits down with Patrick Armstrong to discuss the importance of this reframing, current adoptee issues, and how he has been engaging in adoptee advocacy. Patrick is a transracial Korean American adoptee, podcaster, speaker, and advocate. He is one of the co-hosts of the Janchi Show, a podcast that explores and celebrates the experiences and stories of Korean adoptees everywhere, and a producer of Dear Asian Americans, a podcast for and by Asian Americans, focusing on authentic storytelling rooted in origin, identity, and legacy.

Notes go hereClassical music is for everyone, including you; you just might not know it yet. In “Declassified: A Low-Key Guide to the High-Strung World of Classical Music,” Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch demystifies classical music, breaking down the massive genre into its compositional periods, giving insights into the attitudes and everyday life of musicians and composers, and helping classical music novices cultivate an ear for the music. On this episode of Let’s Grab Coffee, SunAh sits down with Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch to learn more about classical music and why she walked away from her career as  concert violinist.

Hidden in history are countless stories of everyday people who did extraordinary things. In “Tien Fu Wu: Freedom Warrior,” Dawn K. Wing tells the story of how Tien Fu Wu escaped child slavery during the Chinese Exclusion Act era to become a humanitarian worker, helping other enslaved women and children. On this episode of Let’s Grab Coffee, SunAh is joined by Dawn K. Wing to learn more about how she learned about Tien Fu Wu and the lessons from Tien Fu Wu’s life that we can apply today. Dawn K. Wing is a Reference and Instruction Librarian at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul, MN and the founder of Water Pig Press. “Tien Fu Wu: Freedom Warrior” is her second historical comics biography. To learn more about her debut historical comics biography about Tye Leung Schulze, check out episode 68.