Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson and Maijia Digiorgio visit Friends and have that real talk about race and food shaming with host Marina Franklin.

Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson is currently Professor and Chair of American Studies at the University of Maryland College Park. She is also author of the award-winning Building Houses out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power, a groundbreaking study that explores the nexus between food, gender, race, class, and power in the United States. Her forthcoming book, Eating While Black: Real Talk on Food Shaming and Policing in America, examines anti-Black racism in and around our food lives.

She is a cultural studies expert who combines design thinking, qualitative assessment methods, (including interviews, focus groups, observations and record reviews), oral history and material culture to foster social and systemic change. She has consulted for a number of historical and cultural heritage sites, public and private sector organizations, and provided numerous keynote addresses on race and culture. A proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Dr. Williams-Forson holds her bachelor's degree in English, African-American Studies/Women’s Studies from the University of Virginia. She earned her master’s and doctorate in American Studies (with a certificate in Women’s Studies) from the University of Maryland College Park.

Maija DiGiorgio is a comedian, actor, writer, radio personality, filmmaker, musician, and a NY-to-LA transplant. In her first year of doing stand-up comedy, she took the comedy world by storm while taping five national TV appearances, which included her receiving a standing ovation at NBC’s “Live from the Apollo”. Her hour special for Comedy Dynamics titled “Maija! Maija! Maija!,” recorded at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC, is on Amazon Prime. Her Dry Bar Special “Maija Pinion” is currently airing on Amazon Prime and AppleTV has already reached over six million views on the web.

Since her impressive start in comedy, DiGiorgio has performed at a wide array of notable venues and events throughout the world—including New York City’s Beacon Theater, the New Orleans’ Essence Festival, and Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival—as well as on TV performances across most major networks—including HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam,” NBC’s “Comics Unleashed,” Fox’s “Laughs” and the “Uncontrolled Comedy Hour,” and BET’s “Comic View.” Through her work, she has had the opportunity to perform alongside many industry standouts, including Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Bill Burr, Dane Cook, Wanda Sykes, Mike Epps, and Tracy Morgan. DiGiorgio has been described as “Fantastic!” by Dave Chappelle and has been referred to as “A f**king star!” by Bill Burr. 

Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf