Not Your Little Lady

This week’s episode goes where many less evolved men won’t dare go. The menstrual cycle! 

Guest Tashina Southard talks about the service organization - Aunt Flo-town - that she helped start in Florence, Alabama. Aunt Flo-town was started in an effort to provide women with feminine hygiene products no matter their situation or whether they forgot to grab a tampon before rushing to work. 

We chat about what the organization does, disaster relief funding, the politics that impact periods and why she started this organization. 

The Who’s that lady (from history)? is Joanne Simpson, the first woman to receive her degree in meteorology. 

Episode Resources: Aunt Flo-town, Bloody Good Period, Room in the Inn

Back in September NYLL asked people not living in the South to send in questions for a Q&A episode. Most of the questions were answered. However, Ivy from The Get podcast wanted to know about interracial relationships from the perspective of Southern women of color.

In anticipation of Valentine's Day and thanks to Ivy posing the question, Allison sits down with Benita Logsdon - a native of Alabama - on this episode to discuss her love story. The story includes details of her experiences regarding dating and eventually marrying her husband who is Caucasian. She talks about the challenges and joys of being in an interracial relationship. 

The Who's that lady (from history)? is Mildred Loving, the woman who challenged and defeated Virginia's ban on interracial marriage.

Hey y'all! 

This episode is just an update and explanation as to why there will be no new episode release for January 24th. 

However, come February 7th the podcast will return to releasing episodes every other Wednesday.

In January of 2017 Kayla Sloan - this episode's guest - attended the Women's March in Nashville, Tennessee. That experience inspired her to take the next step and become involved in community organizing. On this episode, Kayla talks about her past year, how she became involved in campaigning, her role with the Young Dems, the difficulties of being a Democrat in the South and her plans for 2018. 

The Who's that lady (from history)? is Patti Smith, a singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist.

This episode's Listen Here features The Cult of Domesticity.

Episode Resources:

Emerge Alabama

Shoals Area Young Democrats

Equality Shoals

Project Say Something

When mentioning the holiday season Southerners - and Americans in general - will automatically think about the traditions associated with Christmas or Hanukkah. But, what about Kwanzaa? Most of us have a vague idea of what Kwanzaa is; however, there’s much more to the holiday than we’re taught in public school. 

In episode 20 Allison chats with Maria Estes Hall, co-founder and chair of Kwanzaa Nashville, about how her organization celebrates the African-American cultural holiday. Estes Hall talks about when Kwanzaa was first celebrated, Nguzo Saba, symbols associated with the week-long celebration and what it means to African-Americans in the South to celebrate their roots. 

The Who’s that lady (from history)? segment highlights the life of Shirley Chisholm, the first woman and first African-American to seek the nomination for United States President. 

On the new section - Listen Here - Allison highlights The Vocal Fries, a podcast about linguistic discrimination.

The Holidays are filled with food, friends and family. With all those wonderful things can come stress. Never fear, we’ve got your back. 

And surprise! 

That "we" means Allison and Sarah! Guest Iris Daly is a part-time yoga instructor. She shares with us ways to manage stress throughout the holidays which includes meditation, yoga poses, managing triggers and how to maintain boundaries with family.

The Who’s that lady (from history)? is Phillis Wheatley from Vashti Harrison’s new book Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History.

Listener resources: 

Tara Brach - Guided Meditations 

Sunset Yoga on the Old Railroad Bridge

The South is a beautiful, complex place. It's something hard for those not from here to understand. So, on this episode Allison and guests living in Florence, Alabama answer questions about the South from those living in different areas of the country. We discuss what states are considered Southern, sexism, racism, accents and religion. 

Special thanks to those who sent in questions. 

This past September U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of an Obama era executive order. That announcement changed the lives of 800,000 young adults. One of those young adults is this episode's guest.

Marisol Estrada is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient living in Georgia. On this episode, we chat about her experiences in the South, the process she went through to become DACAmented, what that meant to her and how the Trump administration’s decision to end DACA in March of 2018 will impact the future of those who benefited from the program. 

The Who’s that lady (from history)? is Fannie Lou Hamer, an activist from Mississippi. 

Social Media Contact: 

Twitter: @elly_marisol

Facebook: Marisol Estrada or Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance

With the holidays approaching we all start thinking about food. For this episode Allison chats with Hope Williamson about all things farming including raising turkeys and what it's like being a farmer in the South. Williamson gives tips on how to use your Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. 

Our Who's that lady (from history)? is Nanyehi "Nancy" Ward, who was a Beloved Woman of the Southeastern Cherokee. 

Who loves Halloween? Here at NYLL it’s one of the top favorites, so this week in honor of the holiday Allison chats with Debra Glass. Glass is an author and tour guide for Haunted History of the Shoals Ghost Walk. On the episode we chat about Glass’ first encounter with a ghost and two ghost tales of women from Northwest Alabama. Staying with the Halloween theme the Who’s that lady (from history)? is Tituba, one of the first three women accused of being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials.

*Note: You’ll notice the audio quality is a bit off for this episode. We’d like to think it’s Parthenia and Olivia making their presence known.*