OBSCENE

A short excerpt from Episode One premiering January 20, 2019

Episode One (excerpt): Pandora to Yoko: Mythology and Contempt

Maya Contreras reading: 

“When sorrows come, they come not single spies. 

But in battalions!” - Hamlet, Act IV, Scene V. 

(Press conference with Yoko Ono)

That was Yoko Ono in 1971 speaking in front of small group of reporters. She was in the middle of a stressful custody battle with her ex-husband, facing possible deportation due to drug charges leveled against current her husband, 

and to make matters worse - she was solely being blamed -by the world - for breaking up the most successful musical group up until that point, the Beatles. 

This was the mythology ascribed Yoko that would follow her for decades.   

Her name was used as the butt of a joke. When a woman seemed to come in between two male friends, she was called ‘a Yoko’. 

Many people ignored how racism was intertwined with misogyny in the mythology of Yoko. Yoko was thought of not just as someone who broke up a beloved band, but a  home-wrecker, a gold digger, a social climber. 

This type of mythology, the kind that creates disdain and contempt for women, is not new, but that’s where I’ll start, with mythology and misogyny, and how the intersection of the two managed to affect our domestic policy. 

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Here are seven books that I read this year that expanded my understanding of American history that is often white washed, pun intended. I hope these books not only broaden your horizons, but empower you, and your advocacy work. Happy New Year.  The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated Americaby Richard Rothstein  Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in Americaby Dr. Ibram X. Kendi   The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nationby Dr. Daina Ramey Berry  Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger

by Soraya Chemaly  The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights, and the Politics of Pollution

by Dr. R.D. Bullard A Brief History of Misogyny: The World's Oldest Prejudice by Jack Holland  Deaf and Disability Studies: Interdisciplinary Perspectivesby Dr. Alison Kafer 

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Hi It's Maya Contreras, your host of Obscene. Since it’s about to be a holiday weekend I thought instead of my regular weekly preview I would dedicate this weekly spot to all of the activists and advocates that never seem to have a day off.  "‘Twas a few nights before Christmas, through many cities and townsMany advocates were quietly workingSurviving on coffee grounds When not marching or wheeling though streets  They’re educating others telling bigots to have several seats You see the life of an advocate is not glamorousBut without them our country would be quite calamitous Each day they wake with visions of what could beLike free healthcare, equal access, anti-racist policyThe work is not easy, just ask Homer it’s an Odyssey. If you know an advocate thank them todayBecause it’s incredibly taxing always to be in the frayIf it’s you, who always wakes for the fightTo secure your and others rightsThen I say to you don’t not forget about self-careWe think about you and your daily wear and tearWe know you have doubts about if your needed or consequential Please know you and your work are absolutely essentialWe love you very much and all that you doYou may not know it but we are here in our support of you". Regular previews will start again next Sunday until our official premiere on Sunday, Jan 20, 2019. Happy holidays everyone!

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OBSCENE podcast host spoke with Dr. Jessica Young this week. 

Jessica Young is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Studies at American University. Her work broadly focuses on health in economically distressed and under-resourced communities. Dr. Young’s research centers on investments and policies that improve health through community and economic development and the roles race and racism play in shaping these investments and policies. She has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, such as the American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, Journal of Law and Medical Ethics, Epidemiologic Reviews, and Family and Community Health. Dr. Young’s current research projects focus on the intersection of community development and health, including the roles and impacts of philanthropy in designing, scaling, and translating community development and health initiatives into policy. Dr. Young is also examining health in economically distressed communities, especially those communities experiencing economic changes or instability (i.e., evolving from a manufacturing economic base to a knowledge or services economy). Prior to American University, Dr. Young worked as a Program Associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Dr. Young completed her PhD in Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, specializing in Health and Public Policy. 

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Obscene podcast host Maya Contreras (Brewed In NY, PBS) speaks with Christine Platt in this preview clip.  

Christine A. Platt, JD is a historian and storyteller of the African diaspora. She holds a B.A. in Africana Studies from the University of South Florida, M.A. in African Studies from The Ohio State University and received her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law. Her debut novel, The Truth About Awiti, was published under the penname CP Patrick and won the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal for Multicultural Fiction. The Truth About Awiti is currently used in high schools, colleges and universities to teach the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Christine’s highly anticipated children series, Ana & Andrew, will be published in January 2019 (ABDO Books/Calico Kids). Christine currently serves as the Managing Director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University under the leadership of National Book Award-winning author, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. She is a proud member of the Association of Black Women Historians and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Additionally, she is an Ambassador for Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. You can follow Christine on Instagram via @theafrominimalist, where she interacts with thousands of friends and fans on minimalism and, of course, books.

Preview clips every Sunday evening until the podcast premieres Sunday, January 20th, 2019. 

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This quick preview clip is from an interview with Dr. Hazel Levy.

Dr. Levy is one of the guests throughout this 7-part podcast series premiering January 20, 2019. Preview clips and teasers every Sunday night.

Dr. Hazel Levy is a professor of biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, and embryology at the University of Florida (UF). She is the first African American woman to have a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research laboratory at the UF COM. In addition to researching cures for pediatric cancer and prioritizing the training of women of color in laboratory research practices, Dr. Levy directs an oral history project (in collaboration with UF’s Sam Proctor Oral History Program’s African American History Project) documenting the stories of the 13 (total) black women faculty researchers that have been employed at the UF COM, which has just celebrated its 61st year of existence. Hazel is also a social justice community organizer, serving as the Vice-Chair to the Women of Color Caucus (WOCC) of National Women’s Liberation (NWL) Gainesville, Florida chapter, and was recently a part of the team of grassroots organizers that supported the student-led coalition NoNazisatUF, which organized a 3000-person protest against White Nationalists on the UF campus last November.

The first season of #Obscene centers around policies that disproportionately affect women and womxn in marginalized groups. We’ll have a conversation about how some of those policies (or lack there of) put our lives and livelihoods in jeopardy. I wanted to move away from the format of political punditry and move into a dialogue with credentialed experts in their various fields. 

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