Mixed Up

The one where there is a fundamental need for a Black Curriculum

The theme for this year's Black History Month is Saluting Your Sisters, and this week Emma and Nicole are joined Lavinya Stennett is a writer, author, educator and CEO of The Black Curriculum, which is a social enterprise whose mission is to deliver Black British history in schools throughout the UK and empower young Black students through education. Her first book, Omitted: The Untold Black History Lessons We Need to Change the Future is out next year.

Preorder our book The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Our website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Our Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast 

Lavinya's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gottabelavin_ya
The Black Curriculum: https://theblackcurriculum.com/
Omitted: https://www.waterstones.com/book/omitted/lavinya-stennett/9780008508166 

The one where you put the key in the door and you're home

The theme for this year's Black History Month is Salute Your Sisters, and this week Emma and Nicole are joined by the highly celebrated Kit de Waal for Mixed Up Book Club. Kit's critically acclaimed novel, My Name is Leon, about a mixed-race, nine-year-old boy who ends up in care in the 1980s was recently adapted for screen. Her memoir, Without Warning and Only Sometimes is about growing up poor in between three worlds, Irish, Caribbean and British in 1960s Birmingham.

Preorder our book The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Our website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Our Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast 

Kit de Waal's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitdewaal 
Kit de Wall's Twitter: https://twitter.com/kitdewaal 

The one where it looks like everybody has 'Allychip' fatigue

The theme for this year's Black History Month is Salute Your Sisters, and this week Emma and Nicole can't help but salute the original babygirl, Kelechi Okafor - author, actress and public speaker. Her debut book Edge of Here aims to bring Black women a sense of hope and permission to yearn. We discuss the themes in the book including ‘allyship’ as a cautionary tale and unconventional love.

Preorder our book The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Our website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Our Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast 

Kelechi's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelechnekoff
Edge of Here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/edge-of-here/kelechi-okafor/9781398712997 

The one where we talk to a Black British icon born of a Black British icon

REPLAY: This Black History Month, Emma and Nicole speak to actress Lenora Crichlow - a Black British icon herself and daughter of Black British icon Frank Crichlow, owner of the Mangrove and one of the Mangrove 9. You may have recently connected with Frank’s story via Steve McQueen Small Axe series. 

Lenora spoke about growing up Mixed and Black in the UK, about acting and activism, about the love story of her mum and dad and about finally being able to stop asking the world - ‘Black or white - am I ok? Am I enough? It’s not their responsibility anymore.’

Preorder our book The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Our website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Our Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast 

Culture Mix:
#AZNxBLM: https://www.kuow.org/stories/black-and-asian-solidarity-how-20-artists-explored-america-s-complicated-relationship-with-race

Naija Love Stories by Ola Awonubi

The one where you're descendant from escaped enslaved Africans who joined forces with the Seminoles in the 1700s

Emma and Nicole speak to Caitlin Bellah, a photographer and artist who shares the story of her linage and how she was inspired to investigate it by this very podcast.

She is a descendant of the Freedmen who are mostly blood descendants of the Seminole people, free Africans, and escaped former enslaved people who allied with Seminole groups in Spanish Florida in the 1700s. Many have Seminole lineage, but due to the stigma of having mixed origin, they have often been categorised as former slaves or freedmen in the past. Cailtin shares the investigation into her past and how this drives her art and sense of self, but also the challenges personally and professionally.

Preorder our book The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Our website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Our Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast

Caitlin's IG: https://www.instagram.com/caitlinbellah
Caitlin's website: http://caitlinbellah.squarespace.com/ 

The one where we have to trust we know our bodies best

Proudly supporting Coppafeel and Black Women Rising and their campaign ‘The Checklist’ which focuses on raising awareness around Black women and breast cancer - an underserved demographic within medicine when it comes to cancer.

Emma and Nicole speak to Nina Lopes, a menswear designer, dancer, and mother behind the account @frodayss. Just before she turned 37, she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer - an aggressive type of cancer which spreads quickly. She is currently at stage four. We spoke to Nina about her mixed heritage, being ignored by medical professionals, her diagnosis, parenting, and living her life to the fullest as she documents daily life with terminal cancer. 

Preorder our book The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Our website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Our Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast
Nina's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frodayss/
CoppaFeel: https://coppafeel.org/

Culture mix: 
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/frodayss
https://www.blackwomenrisinguk.org/ 

The one where you've never met another Asian Jew before

Emma speaks to Maryam Chishti and Jenni Rudolph who are the co-executive directors of LUNAR Collective, which originally began as a film series highlighting the lived experiences Jewish Asians, but has now evolved into a cross-country collective to cultivate connection, belonging and visibility for Asian American Jews through intersectional community programming and digital storytelling.

Maryam is NYC-based and is Ashkenazi Jewish and Indian, practicing both Judaism and Islam. Jenni is Cantonese, Russian Ashkenazi Jewish and secular, living in Los Angeles.

LUNAR offers events and retreats across the United States that allow a space for learning, healing, expression, solidarity, and joy.

In celebration of ESEA Heritage Month

Preorder our book, The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast

LUNAR Collective: https://www.weareasianjews.org/
LUNAR’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/asian.jews
Maryam’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/maryamlchishti
Jenni’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/jenni.rudolph/

The one where we talk about who the Good Mixed Person™ is

Emma and Nicole reflect on the last three seasons of the podcast: why we started it, how we've grown, if the discourse around mixed race identity has changed (if at all), finding the language to talk about ourselves, who the Good Mixed Person™ is, and cultivating a space where people feel like they can be open as their whole selves. 

Preorder our book, The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast
Emma: https://www.instagram.com/emsladedmondson/
Nicole: https://www.instagram.com/nicoleocran/ 

The one where you’ve never seen an Asian that looks like him

Ryan Alexander Holmes is an actor, content creator, influencer and public speaker based in Los Angeles, California. He has appeared in TV shows including The Morning Show, Dear White People and For The People.

He was recently awarded the Changemaker of the Year award by Act To Change in 2023 to highlight the impact of his work in the AAPI community.

Ryan is Chinese and African American and has been creating content online and performing comedy exploring his mixed heritage for several years. He spoke to us about how he created community online in search of people like him, using comedy to educate, language, using curiosity as a tool in work but also in finding yourself, and the longstanding support of his family.

Preorder our book, The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast
Ryan Alexander Holmes: https://www.instagram.com/ryanalexh/

The one where the labour movement hits Hollywood

Kale Futterman is a TV and screenwriter who has worked on hit shows including Netflix’s Ginny and Georgia, and films including Lifetime’s Black Girl Missing starring Garcelle Beauvais. Kale joins Nicole solo this week to speak about the Writer’s Guild of America strike.

Writers are fighting for fairer residuals from streaming platforms, and the confirmation of AI being used as useful tools and not replacements, among other things. At the time of release, the WGA has been on strike for over 100 days. Actors under the SAG-AFTRA union joined the writers on strike on July 13th.

They also talk about the importance of Black women on every level when it comes to writing Black stories, diverse storytelling, and how writing takes place on all stages of a show.

Preorder our book, The Half Of It: https://amzn.to/3rDq1qo
Website: https://www.mixedup.co.uk/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mixeduppodcast
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mixedup.podcast

Kale’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/kalefutterman/
Kale’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaleFutterman
WGA Strike information: https://www.wgacontract2023.org/
SAG-AFTRA Strike information: https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/
Entertainment Community Fund: https://entertainmentcommunity.org/