The BIG We

Anasa has been thinking a lot about money—specifically, how race impacts class and one's ability to "manifest abundance." What happens when "All you need is LOVE"  is just not true? How do Black folks heal their personal relationships to abundance while asserting a need for repair from the structures that systematically kept them from it on a material level? Join the conversation and tell us what you think! Tweet/Facebook/Instagram us @thebigwepodcast or drop us a line at [email protected].

“The most powerful thing we can do in this time is to be our most free selves. Imagine who you would be if you were FREE!” -Anasa Troutman

The BIG We is back! In this episode Anasa and Calvin talk about the history and magic of #BlackAugust and why sustaining Black JOY is the most powerful, radical, healing, freeing thing they can do in this #YearofReturn. Plus: thoughts on #ToniMorrison #Ablackladysketchshow #Southside and more of our #Pop3 pop culture faves! Don’t miss the new #hopespot segment where we share what’s bringing us hope in times of apocalypse, and Anasa’s pro-tips on how to manifest more JOY in your life! (Hint: it has to do with ice cream.) 

Check out the #SongsofSolomon Toni Morrison tribute playlist to accompany this episode at: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3dDgkMAcIEKKDMnIA60w8G

What's bringing YOU joy and hope in these times? Give us a shout on twitter/instagram/fb  at @thebigwepodcast or by email [email protected]. 

Read the full show notes at thebigwepodcast.com

This 4th of July, Calvin raises a red black and green cup in honor of Frederick Douglass. What does freedom really look like, sound like, taste like to you? What is a celebration of freedom that connects to a Bigger We? Tell us how you're reinventing this colonizer holiday @wethebigwe! 

In our finale episode of this season, Calvin and Anasa share their thoughts, heartbreaks, and meaning making of the #GameofThrones Finale. Plus: ancestral storytelling through food, #afrosurrealist back to the future, and a surprise ancestry reveal from Calvin! 

Tweet us @wethebigwe - What’s a food that tells the story of your ancestors? & Email us your alternate Game of Thrones endings [email protected]

Stay tuned for Season 2 - possibly in....Ghana!

Calvin makes a BIG Announcement and Anasa publicly apologizes to Beyoncé... Tune in and find out how you can practice transformative love in public in this era of Thanos and BBQ Beckies. Plus: lessons from the songbook of Stevie Wonder, #Moechella vs. Gentrification, transformative Black Queer #MetGala fashion, and exclusive #GameofThrones Pro-wrestling conspiracy theories - all brought to you with love & power by your fave culture nerds!

What does Avengers: Endgame have to teach us about humanity in this #YearofReturn??? Calvin and Anasa break it all the way down and nerd allllll the way out, guiding us through the superhero film's secret BIG We agenda...

Plus:  Homecoming, Guava island, Black power naps, and our can't-miss culture recommendations for your watchlists!

If YOU had the infinity gauntlet, how you would you transform the world? Tweet us @wethebigwe 

PS. Be t-shirts twins with Calvin & support racial, gender & climate justice and 100% clean energy for the 100% by snagging these limited edition threads here —>  https://represent.com/endgame

In this episode, Anasa gets schooled on love by her civil rights hero Dr. James Lawson & Calvin has a landmark birthday that teaches him about the magic of unexpected returns. Join them as they dish on everything from difficult love to the new Octavia Butler tv adaptations, Jordan Peele’s Us, and Game of Thrones!  

Calvin and Anasa take the Year of Return to Hawaii with special guests Zen Master Norma Wong and filmmaker Na’alehu Anthony, exploring the powerful Native Hawaiian movement that's reclaiming indigenous language as a pathway to the future—and sailing Polynesian canoes around the world!

Norma Wong is a Zen teacher and strategy practitioner. In earlier years, Wong served as a Hawai‘i state legislator, on the policy and strategy team for Governor John Waihee with federal and Native Hawaiian portfolios, and community organizing and policy work in the Native Hawaiian (indigenous) community. She was active in electoral politics for over thirty years. Current and recent work include: strategic thinking and transformational development.  Wong is a teacher at the Institute of Zen Studies and Daihonzan Chozen-ji, having trained in Zen for nearly 40 years. She serves practice communities in Hawai‘i, across the continental U.S., and in Toronto, Canada. Among her areas of teaching: the Zen perspective of strategy and The Art of War; leadership and strategy in the 7 generations context; and mind-body practice in secular and organizational settings. She received her inka shomei (Mind Stamp) as an 86th generation Zen Master of Chozen-ji.

Nāʻālehu Anthony is a Native Hawaiian from Kaʻaʻawa, O’ahu and is the founder of Palikū Documentary Films - a production company that focuses on documentaries and oral histories with a special emphasis on Hawaiʻi and its people. Nāʻālehu’s other great passion is being a part of the voyaging community. As a crew member since 1995 and more recently as a captain aboard Hōkūleʻa, his voyaging experiences have shaped and defined him as a person and has been a focal point for his films. Anthony is also the CEO for ʻŌiwi Television Network, the first and only Hawaiian owned and operated television network. Nāʻālehu’s upbringing, education, and experience led him to pursue his most recent role in the community as Vice Chairman and Oʻahu Commissioner for the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission. His recent film,  MOANANUIĀKEA: ONE OCEAN ONE PEOPLE ONE CANOE, a documentary celebrating Hōkūleʻa’s historic Mālama Honua Voyage, premiered at the Hawai‘i International Film Festival November 2018. 

Theme music by Pacita Rudder

Transition music by Kawika Kahiapo

Calvin and Anasa weren’t expecting a visit to a former plantation in North Carolina to change their lives, but sometimes we need to go back to the past to heal the future. Hear their tales of return to Southern land, to  joy beyond justice, to the songs of Lauryn Hill, to the trauma of R.Kelly. Find out how and why they’re claiming 2019 as the Year of Return and join them in their journey!