Modern Minorities

“Music journalism doesn't have to be chasing celebrities or whether this music is good or not. You can ask what does it mean — and sometimes that itself can be provocative. Being in Atlanta opened my eyes to the work that we do.”

Christina Lee is a music journalist who’s covered Atlanta’s hip hop scene for over a decade. Her award-winning culture reporting and criticism appears in Billboard, The Guardian, NPR Music, Vulture,The Washington Post and more. Christina goes so far beyond just covering the fun celebrity aspect of music - she has a real community and social angle to her work - covering the local - and national impact of elements like criminal justice, RICO statutes, gentrification, and even jury duty - and what they mean to our society at large. Basically punk rock for journalism - work that is definitely worth a read. Christina’s a contributing editor to community journalism nonprofit Canopy Atlanta. She also co-host and co-write the limited podcast series “King Slime: The Prosecution of Young Thug and YSL” - covering the ongoing trial of Jeffery Lamar Williams, known across the globe as Young Thug. This is a show not just following an ongoing case, but really digging into the whys of the prosecution - in Atlanta of all places - which has become a modern day mecca to hip hop and Black culture. Beyond her work - and as rad as Christina sounds - and is - it was really interesting to hear her growing up between two cultures in the suburbs of Maryland, and how MTV gave her a glimpse into what writing and journalism could be. 

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PERSON: Gunna - wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunna_(rapper)

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“The only way we're ever going to watch a women's sports game in its full glory is if we had our own place.”

Have you ever walked into a bar dedicated exclusively to womens’ sports? Jenny Nguyen hadn’t either. So she opened The Sports Bra bar in Portland, Oregan. Longtime FrieMMd of the pod - Melissa Haughton, famed Canadian podcast producer joins us to give us a preview of one of her shows - REBOUND REVOLUTION which is up for a Signal Award. VOTE HERE BY 10/5: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2023/shows/general/lgbtq

REBOUND REVOLUTION is not-so-basketball basketball podcast (by editaudio), bringing you the revolutionary on and off the court happenings in the WNBA, hosted by Dr. Money McEachern. Dr. Money and Jenny dive into why creating a welcoming space to women and gender diverse sports is long overdue, and why Portland could should be the next home for a WNBA team. editaudio is on a mission to make the audio industry more representative of what the world actually looks like.

VOTE FOR REBOUND REVOLUTION (by 10/5): vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2023/shows/general/lgbtq

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“Inclusion starts at our kitchen tables. If you aren't building cross-cultural relationships - actively learning about a lived experience that is not your own - how do you expect to show up at work differently as an inclusive leader?”

Mita Mallick is a returning FrieMMd of the pod, who came back to talk about her upcoming book — Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths To Transform Your Workplace (Pre-order now =). This is a re-airring of a past episode to support our pal Mita’s new book.

Mita’s a corporate change-maker with a track record of transforming businesses. She’s an outspoken sharer of innovative - and thought provoking ideas in the area of inclusion and equity. Mita’s currently Carta’s head of inclusion, equity and impact, AND co-host of Brown Table Talk, a top LinkedIn podcast where she helps break down the challenges women of color face in the workplace. Mita’s extensive career - as a fierce advocate of including and representing Black and Brown communities - has crossed orgs like Carta, Unilever, Pfizer, AVON, Johnson & Johnson and more - as she’s a sought after speaker and coach to start-up founders, executives, and public CEOs. Mita’s a LinkedIn Top Voice, a contributor for Harvard Business Review, Adweek, Entrepreneur and Fast Company, and has been featured in the The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, Forbes, Axios, Essence, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Business Insider. Jump in for a conversation as we break down many of the myths from her book - and confront our own biases and myths. 

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“He made me laugh, he made me sad, he almost made me cry — this was a superpower. I went on this wonderful, connective human experience with another person, just by watching him.” 

Sung Kang is an American filmmaker - best known for his role as Han Lue in the Fast & Furious franchise, a character he first portrayed in one of the seminal Asian American films Better Luck Tomorrow. But Sung is also someone we’ve known - and had our eye on - for awhile. A thoughtful soul, originally a troublemaking kid from Georgia found his way thru package stores, garages, and street performers, becoming an early, indelible face of what Asian Americans could be - so much further beyond the model minority myth. Sung actually stopped by to talk about two pretty significant, personal projects dropping at the same time THIS week - a new podcast CAR STORIES, and a new independent film - SHAKY SHIVERS. Please note that Shaky Shivers, being an independent film was granted a promotional exception from the ongoing writers and actors strikes, which this pod fully supports. Sung’s new podcast podcast - CAR STORIES - was actually a project Raman was early involved in, and covers an an area Sung’s always been passionate about - how cars can be a vehicle (no pun intended) into the human condition and culture. And the film, SHAKY SHIVERS, is Sung’s d directorial debut, an almost throwback and love letter to the campy horror films we all grew up on. Hearing Sung’s humble origins, journey, and motivations will help you understand why so many are drawn to his approach and work. But be sure to check out his latest work - film and podcast - both dropping on Thursday, September 21st.

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“I’d been around the block on so many different businesses, and people of color were often left behind. And so building HUE was really about bridging that divide.”

Fahad Khawaja is a leading community builder who is the Co-Founder & CEO of HUE - a culture & community platform that aims to amplify voices of color, to increase our visibility, and to pave a path for us all to rise. Fahad has a deep belief that we build a better future by bringing the margins to the mainstream and doing well by doing good. His work transforms companies with purpose, product, and people at the core, bridging community and culture to design for diverse communities. Fahad’s company HUE - has propelled organizations to deliver sustainable growth, including Fortune 50 brands, unicorn tech Startups, and top media companies and agencies. If you’ve got any professional sway at your job, you should be talking to HUE on what small steps your company can be making - wearehue.org

Fahad’s won all the awards - like the AdAge 40 Under 40, The Drum Global Change Maker of the Year, and has been recognized in The New York Times, USA Today, Fast Company, Business Insider, Adweek, Ad Age, and more. But over the years of our friendship, we’ve always been struck with his thoughtful, authentic, and humble-but-impatient manner to make things happen. While we actually discuss a bit about his experiences around 9/11, it’s not about where Fahad is from, but where he’s coming from, and where we’re all going.

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“Knowing it's rooted in a truth makes the story hit harder. You linger in the frames and you’re left with it” — “the graphic form really gives it a unique power, 

Have you ever wondered what its like to be an Asian teenage artist coming of age in the suburbs of the big city, with an unpredictable and often unbearable mother, while also saddled with a sense of regret and ennui? IN LIMBO is the debut graphic memoir by Deb JJ Lee. In this graphic novel Deb is a young Korean American teenager, trapped in a inescapable feeling of otherness 

For a while, Deb’s English wasn’t perfect. Her teachers can’t pronounce her Korean name. Her face and her eyes―especially her eyes―feel wrong. Things only get harder once high school starts - shifting sands of arts and academics, escalating tensions at home, friendships made and frayed, and mental health struggles that are all too real to anyone who's ever felt like an outsider. With stunning art and a tale that feels like you're slipping in and out of an all too familiar dream, this is a story that you can't leave easily. IN LIMBO is moving work of mental health, gender identity, and growing up. For many of us who have often felt like outsiders, this story is painfully familiar, and brings forth a lot of empathy for those around us invisibly struggling. 

Raman and longtime frieMMd of the pod Ryan Joe discuss this breakthrough work on Quarantined Comics. Since we occasionally read stories that reveal a minority truth for our majority ears, it feels appropriate to share on Modern Minorities. Also, so Sharon + Raman can take a much needed summer break as we rest, recuperate, and plot the future of the pod. Be sure to pickup a copy of IN LIMBO, wherever you get your favorite books.

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“Even in Tulsa, the place where this happened, this was not widely known. I felt writing something that could ground the story and the people there would be honestly a valuable contribution to our nation's understanding of itself.”

Victor Luckerson is a journalist and author working to bring neglected black history to light. His new book is Built from the Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa's Greenwood District, America's Black Wall Street. Victor’s book chronicles the history of Tulsa's Greenwood District and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. On May 30, 1921 a mob terrorized the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa a flourishing black business, district affectionately called Black Wall Street. In less than 24 hours - as many as 300 people were killed, 800 people were treated for injuries, and more a thousand homes and businesses - 35 city blocks - were burned to the ground

But what’s interesting about Victor and his book is that he doesn’t just cover the tragedy and the aftermath, but rather choose to paint a grounded human story - providing the perspective of families who have called the community home for generations. The New York Times named “Built from the Fire'' an editor’s choice pick, calling it "absorbing" and "outstanding." Victor’s a former staff writer at The Ringer and business reporter for Time - his writing and research have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Wired, the Ringer, the Guardian, and Smithsonian. Victor also manages an email newsletter about black history called “Run It Back." Victor also shares quite a bit of hometown and academic history with Raman - both hailing from Montgomery, Alabama, and attending the University of Alabama - where Victor was editor of the Crimson White, the University’s student paper (Raman was not). Enjoy this candid conversation and really unique take on Tulsa, the people of Greenwood, and how we need think about this and where we need to go as a society. And be sure to pick up a copy of “Built From the Fire” wherever you get your favorite books. 

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“There's no one right way to be Asian American you know? The diasporic experiences trying to grapple with culture, what to keep and carry, what to relate to - so very human and universal.” 

Shin Yu is many things - poet and writer, but also podcast host and producer of Ten Thousand Things – a show for Seattle’s NPR affiliate KUOW Public Radio. Shin Yu’s also currently the Civic Poet of Seattle (2023-2024) and author of 11 books, including most recently Virga. She is the recipient of awards from the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture, 4Culture, and The Awesome Foundation, as well as a 2022 Artist Trust Fellow and she was shortlisted in 2014 for a Stranger Genius Award in Literature. Shin Yu served as Poet Laureate for The City of Redmond from 2015-2017. Shin Yu’s work has appeared in publications throughout the U.S., Japan, China, Taiwan, the UK, and Canada - in publications like Atlas Obscura, Tricycle Magazine, YES! Magazine, NYTimes, Zocalo Public Square, Seattle Met, ParentMap, Seattle’s Child, International Examiner, and South Seattle Emerald, and many more. Sharon and Shin Yu related to each other in a ranging conversation about Chinese childhood and raising bi-racial children - both of which have formed her ideas about art, literature and storytelling. You’ll appreciate her deep passion for connecting communities, connecting cultures, and drawing out beauty in the most unique ways 

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After last week's episode about Adrian Tomine’s latest film SHORTCOMINGS - based on his 2007 graphic novel of the same name - we wanted to share a 2020 conversation frieMMd of the pod Ryan Joe + Raman had on Quarantined Comics, about Tomine’s autobiographical work The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist. But this is no regular comics geek out - because this marks one of the first real “MM like” conversations Raman + Ryan had way back when in 2020 - where we talked about how this particular comic made us reflect on our own lives. We can't recommend The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist enough, so be sure to pick up a copy wherever you get your favorite books. And don't worry, Sharon and Raman will be back shortly with more than a few NON-COMICS minority voices for all our majority ears...

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“I wasn't thinking about an audience. It was a pure outpouring of just whatever came to me. I was rebelliously and ambitiously not giving them the book they were looking for.”

Adrian Tomine is an American cartoonist who we’ve admired** for years. Adrian is the creator and writer of the 2007 graphic novel SHORTCOMINGS, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the year. SHORTCOMINGS was also recently turned into the film of the same name*, which happens to be the directorial debut of Randall Park. Shortcomings premiered at the 2023 Sundance film festival. This is a book and film you need to see. Adrian’s been creating comics since he was SIXTEEN - and since then he’s become known for not just his comics, but also his infamous New Yorker covers (since 1999!). His artwork and stories have a wry, thoughtful candor about them. From comics like Optic Nerve, Sleepwalk, Killing and Dying, all published from Drawn & Quarterly. Adrian also created graphic memoirs like Scenes From an Impending Marriage, and The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist. Adrian’s comics have been anthologized in publications such as McSweeney’s, Best American Comics, and Best American Nonrequired Reading. In 2022, Adrian’s short stories were adapted into the film Paris, 13th District directed by Jacques Audiard, with a screenplay by Céline Sciamma and Léa Mysius. As you’ll find in this candid conversation, Adrian Tomine is many things - a cartoonist, filmmaker, husband, father, and reluctant Taylor Swift fan. More importantly, his work will make you think, wonder, and sometimes smile, smirk, wonder, and most importantly feel. 

*NOTE: This conversation was booked independently through Adrian’s book publisher - Drawn & Quarterly, not the film studio, out of respect for the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strike. Huge thanks to the team at Drawn & Quarterly for arranging this interview with a creator whose work we’ve loved for so long. 

**Extra special thanks to Quarantined Comics co-host Ryan Joe for jumping to join Raman Sharon while she was out saving cinematic orphans from the evils of avarice and artificial intelligence.

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