TSOB w/ Dr. G--The Sex Ed of Blackfolk

June 19th is Juneteenth in America, the day the last known Africans were notified of their emancipation from American Chattel Slavery. We celebrate Juneteenth on the show this week by speaking to Dr. Clarissa (Serenity) Francis, sexuality educator, researcher, practitioner and founder of the therapeutic initiative Let Freedom C.U.M. Dr. G and Dr. C have a rousing conversation about healing and its relationship to freedom, along with how Black femmes from all walks of life can see their freedom as challenging but readily accessible.

Episode Transcripts are delayed, but will be forthcoming as soon as possible.

Guest Bio:

Clarissa Serenity Francis (The Real Hot Girl Doc) is a Black Sexual Liberation scholar and AASECT certified sexuality educator who focuses on Black women’s sexual liberation and pleasure. Dr. Francis has collaborated with colleges, organizations, and community groundbreakers to bring awareness and healing to Black women and youth. She received her bachelor’s degree in Africana Studies (minor in Psychology) from Bowling Green State University (BGSU). At BGSU, she held leadership roles in multicultural organizations and became a health peer educator. She worked as a graduate assistant at Clark Atlanta University’s Student Health Services while pursuing her master’s degree from the illustrious Clark Atlanta University in Africana Women’s Studies with a concentration in Black women’s sexuality and sexual health peer education. In 2021, she earned her PhD in Human Sexuality at California Institute of Integral Studies. Her dissertation focused on the social history of pleasure activism in Atlanta, Georgia. She is an advocate for Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer philosophy and believes that it reflects Black women’s movement towards sexual liberation.      

Serenity feels called to develop safe spaces for Black women to participate in unrestricted dialogue unpacking and celebrating their bodies and diverse sexualities. She has over 10 years as a sexuality educator and is also trained in massage therapy, reiki healing, and conscious erotic touch. She currently sits on the AASECT’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee and the Leadership Collective of Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WoCSHN). She developed the Let Freedom C.U.M. Sexuality Workshop Series to equip Black sexuality professionals, and the aspiring sexually liberated, to recognize and utilize multi-disciplinary approaches to discussing Pleasure Activism as a tool for Black Sexual Liberation. Her goal is to infiltrate multi-oppressive systems to secure safe spaces for Black women to unpack intergenerational trauma, reclaim bodily autonomy, and Say Yes to (their own) Serenity! 

Dr. Francis offers workshops, training, and event planning consulting on Black sexual liberation, peer education, pleasure, and various topics concerning the Africana Diaspora & sexualities. She looks forward to collaborating with scholars, practitioners, and activists on future publications, interventions, and advocacy efforts! More information about Dr. Francis’s work can be found on her website https://sayyestoserenity.com. 

When you love music as much as we do, one conversation on the matter simply isn't enough! As a bonus episode, Dr. G sits down again with last week's guest Louie Ortiz-Fonseca, along with previous guest and musical artist Dominique Morgan! Rectifying the technical difficulties in their initial conversation attempt, the trio come together to discuss more on their understanding of music's impact on their lives, how it can influence the lives of young people, while answering a few other fun questions about musicians as sex educators, and what opportunities they see for adults to take a more intentional role in facilitating how young people process what they listen to. All-in-all? Another amazing and insightful conversation!

PLEASE NOTE: This week's transcript is delayed, yet will be forthcoming as soon as possible.

June is Black Music Month, and as such we're celebrating all the best in sexy Black music, all month long! For this episode Dr. G invites Louie Ortiz-Fonseca to the floor, sexual health educator, major music aficionado and creator of Gran Varones, the digital archive centered on the oral histories of Latino/Latinx queer men. The pair chop it up about growing up as latchkey kids and the importance of oral music history, while Louie shares his thoughts for how music can be an excellent bridgeway towards meaningful conversations with young people about sexuality and sexual health. Definitely a must listen if there ever was one!

NOTE: This episode originally featured a special guest; although, unexpected technical issues kept those vocals from being fully captured. As such, please forgive any continuity errors that make it difficult to follow the conversation in total.

Click here for the episode transcript.

Guest Bio: Louie A. Ortiz-Fonseca is an Afro-Boricua queer HIV positive creative born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. He is the creator of Gran Varones, a digital project that highlights LGBTQ pop culture history and community storytelling through a Black/Latinx lens. He also works in partnership with young people living with HIV to combat stigma, and hosts a YouTube series for LGBTQ youth, Kikis with Louie. Louie is a father of a 17 year-old son and worships the Patron St. Mariah Carey.

More information about Louie & his work can be found at http://granvarones.com/.

Intersectionality is a popular concept, but what does it have to do with sex education? In this episode, Dr. G speaks with Bianca Laureano, a legend in the profession and a pioneer in using sex ed to advance social justice. The pair cover a wide range of topics, including colorism and the complexities of race in Latin American communities, centering and citing Black women, righteous conflict, practicing accountability, and all the ways we can do better around improving our craft. An all-around power-packed conversation for sexuality professionals everywhere.

Click here for the episode transcript.

Guest Bio: Bianca I Laureano is an award-wining educator, curriculum writer, facilitator, and sexologist. She is a Foundress of the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN), The LatiNegrxs Project, ANTE UP! Virtual Freedom Professional Development School for Justice Workers, and hosts LatinoSexuality.com. She has written several curricula that focus on communities of color: What’s the REAL DEAL about Love and Solidarity? (2015) and Communication MixTape: Speak On It Vol 1. (2017) and wrote the sexual and reproductive justice discussion guide for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene published in 2018. Bianca has been on the board of CLAGS, the LGBTQ Center at CUNY, The Black Girl Project, and  SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. She resides in Oakland, CA. She is the Lead Educator for the Netflix film Crip Camp (2020) and is leading the efforts to create a curriculum that is rooted in disability justice practice, self-determination, and social-emotional learning competences! She will receive an honorary PhD for her work of justice, equity, and inclusion in the US sexuality field May 2020.

More information about Bianca can be found at http://www.biancalaureano.com, or at http://anteuppd.com.

Sometimes you can have a conversation that you intend to take in one direction, but as luck would have it you venture off and end up going somewhere else entirely. In this conversation, Dr. G speaks with the phenomenal Dominique Morgan, activist, music artist and executive director of Black & Pink, one of the largest prison abolition organizations in the nation. The two literally discuss "all the things"--a must-listen conversation sprinkled with hilarity, vernacular (are you having "sushi sex"?), real talk and insights for a lifetime.

Click here for the episode transcript.

Guest Bio: Dominique Morgan (She/Her) is an award-winning artist, activist, and TEDx speaker. As the Executive Director of Black and Pink, she works daily to dismantle the systems that perpetuate violence on LGBTQ/GNC people and individuals who are living with HIV/AIDS. Partnering her lived experience of being impacted by mass incarceration, with a decade of change-making artistry, advocacy, and background in public health, she continues to work in spaces of sex education, radical self-care, and transformative youth development with intentions of dismantling the prison industrial complex and its impact on our communities.

More information about Dominique and her work can be found at http://www.dominiquemorgan.com.

What can good sex ed look like when it isn't centering cisgender, heterosexual people? For this episode, Dr. G invites sexuality educator Nefertari Sloan to the show for a hilarious yet insightful and poignant conversation about what it can look like, and how doing so can benefit us all.

Click here for the episode transcript.

Guest Bio: Sloan is a nonbinary sex educator who has been facilitating classroom conversations about sexuality since 2016. They have facilitated over 800 LGBTQ inclusive workshops for youth aged 13-24 and their writing has appeared in Scarleteen, Racebaitr, and Upspoken, as well as a Cosmo docuseries on the need for LGBTQ inclusive sex education.

They consider themselves a spiritual being having a physical experience and is intentional about incorporating a holistic lens in the work that they do. Their hobbies include offering hugs, giving compliments, and dancing in grocery aisles. 

More information about Nefertari can be found at http://nefertarisloan.com. Nefertari is also the Training & Prevention Coordinator at MISSSEY (Motivating, Inspiring, Serving, and Supporting Sexually Exploited Youth). To support the work of MISSSEY visit http://www.misssey.org.

References

Halliday, A. S. (2019). The black girlhood studies collection. Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Scholars.

Johnson, E.P. (2005) ‘‘Quare’’ Studies, or (Almost) Everything I Know about Queer Studies I Learned from My Grandmother". Black Queer Studies, edited by E. Patrick Johnson and Mae G. Henderson, New York, USA: Duke University Press, 2005, pp. 124-158. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822387220-009

 

It's a new season of T.S.O.B., and we're kicking in the door with an equally powerful guest! Dr. Lexx Brown-James of the Institute for Sexuality & Intimacy joins Dr. G for a rousing potpourri-style conversation about intimacy, sex, masculinity, parenting, and the like. Dr. Lexx shares her personal brand of #ShameFreeSexEd, along with her thoughts about how Black femmes can heal from the sexual experiences of their past. Definitely a great way to begin the season (Content Warning: This interview makes mention of racialized sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.)!

Click here for episode transcript.

Guest Bio: Dr. Lexx Brown-James {She|Her|Dr} is an Amazon Best Selling Author, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and sexologist. Dr. Lexx loves LOVE and is especially fond of ensuring Black Love lasts. As the #CouplesClinician, she works ensure folks build and maintain fulfilling intimate relationship. At The Institute, Dr. Lexx believes Healing Does Happen and works to take care the relationship between lovers versus the ego of lovers. She also merges education and therapy using her skillset training professionals within and outside human sexuality. In professional development, Dr. Lexx works to support organizations in de-centralizing harmful oppressive practices with their clientele. In classrooms and trainings, Dr. Lexx utilizes experiential pedagogy coupled with affective based learning to challenge attitudes and support learners in being able to apply knowledge and skills.

 

Black femme folk have ALWAYS been part of the sex ed profession, even when their work wasn't exactly recognized as such. For this inaugural season finale of TSOB, Dr. G sits down with Mariotta Gary-Smith (she/they), sexuality educator and Co-Foundress of WoCSHN, the Women of Color Sexual Health Network. Together they unpack what sex ed & pleasure look like for burgeoning Gen-Xers, while Mariotta provides continuing evidence of how amazing things happen when Black people gather together.

Click here for episode transcript.

Episode Question to Ponder: Who are your favorite Black femme sexuality educators?

Homework: Reflection Exercise!

Guest Bio:

Mariotta Gary-Smith (she/her/they) is a 2nd generation Oregonian (Portland) & a 3rd generation social justice agitator. While her family history seeded her interest in social justice, she added public health & human sexuality to it – and it came together smoothly for her in high school. During that time, Mariotta was an active youth health advocate and peer educator, and served on several local youth councils, including the Planned Parenthood Teen Council (in Portland, OR.), and as a National Board Youth Representative for NARAL (now NARAL Pro-Choice America). After graduating, Mariotta completed degrees from Agnes Scott College (BA), and the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University (MPH), respectively. In the fall of 2008, she was one of 5 nationally selected scholars for the 2008-2009 Inaugural Class at the Center of Excellence for Sexual Health (CESH) Scholars Fellowship Program at Morehouse School of Medicine (in Atlanta, GA.).

In 2009, Mariotta co-founded the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WoCSHN; pronounced ‘wok-shyn’) – which is an online-based, collective organization for women/femme-identifying/gender expansive sexuality professionals of color. She’s an AASECT (American Association of Sexuality Educator, Counselors & Therapists) Certified Sexuality Educator, past AASECT Annual Conference Co-Chair (2016-2017), and a past Associate Editor for the American Journal of Sexuality Education (AJSE).

In 2012, Mariotta was asked to be a member of the Founding Advisory Committee of the We Are BRAVE! Project, a project housed at Western States Center (Portland, OR.). This WOC (Women of Color) collective laid the groundwork for the innovative We Are BRAVE! cohort program and model for individual leaders and organizations who committed to implement an RJ (reproductive justice) lens and framework as a part of their active engagement and coalition building. This important work was - and remains - a core piece of the local political movement that resulted in Oregon passing the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA) in 2017 – the most progressive reproductive health law in the United States. Mariotta has a well-earned reputation for informative, thoughtful, challenging and honest presentations, workshops and trainings about racial justice and equity, sexuality and social critique; and provides collaborative consultation with national organizations about racial justice in sexuality education and the field of Sexuality.

With over 20 years of experience working in collaboration with people/organizations across various identities & perspectives, Mariotta remains deeply committed to curating, facilitating & sustaining spaces that support clear & accountable learning on the intersections of social justice, sexual health, equity and “actionable agitation”. She’s fully invested in her ‘passion work’ – to focus on Black folks/Black sexuality and move their experience from the margins to the center. 

References (content)

Momodu, S. (2018, January 25) A Different World (1987-1993). Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/different-world-1987-1993/

Wilkerson, I. (2011). The warmth of other suns : The epic story of America's great migration. New York: Vintage Books.

References (People)

Bass, T. The Southern Sexologist. https://www.tanyambass.com/

Thompson, C. Cashawn Thompson, Mother of #BlackGirlMagic. http://cashawn.com/

Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WoCSHN). http://www.wocshn.org/

In this episode, Dr. G. chats it up with sexuality educator and founder of Sex-Positive Families, David Wraith. The two start with a discussion of his origins in HIV activism and social services, moving from there into a potpourri of topics all related to sex-positivity, and the various ways that lack of emotional vulnerability can make it difficult for some folks to experience it. A quick & dirty conversation with great laughs all around! 

**Content Warning**: Does contain brief discussions of community silence related to experiences of sexual abuse at around the 32:40 mark.

(Click here for episode transcript.)

Episode Question to Ponder: What would you ask of your sex life if you weren't afraid?

Homework: Continue your Dream Journal (see Episode .06--The Sex Ed of Our Dreams)...but make it spicy!

Guest Bio: David Wraith is a writer, activist, sex educator, and co-founder of Sex Positive St. Louis. More info about David can be found at https://davidwraith.com.

Episode References:

BitLove (2021). FetLife. https://fetlife.com/

Corinna, H. (2021). Scarleteen.com: Sex education for the real world. https://www.scarleteen.com/

It's one thing to speak of what isn't working our lives--to point out and extricate the factors that make sexuality an adverse experience for us. What does life look like, however, once those destructive factors are removed? You may know what you DON'T want...from there though, the opportunity emerges for you to determine and connect with what you do!

In this episode of the show, Dr. G chats with educator and self-proclaimed dreamer Dalychia Saah, co-founder of the wildly-popular sex ed resource Afrosexology. Dalychia shares how her dreams have gotten her closer to self-love and liberation, and provides tips on how emancipatory principles in sex ed can be applied to all areas our lives, including those outside of the bedroom.

Click here for episode transcript.

Episode Question to Ponder: What's your post-liberation fantasy?

Homework: Start a Fantasy Journal!

Instructions: Find a notebook or other book for writing that you use to keep up with your fantasies and desires--whether sexual or otherwise! Get detailed in your descriptions, and check in with yourself about how they make you feel; if you're feeling brave, you may even choose a person you trust who can support you in bringing your fantasies to life after you share!

Guest Bio:

Dalychia Saah (she/her) is a sexuality educator, professor, writer, and speaker. Through her words and work, Dalychia facilitates space for people to connect deeper with their desires for their body, relationships, life, and our world. She is passionate about people unlearning oppressive norms that are externalized, inter-personalized, and internalized that keep us from moving towards a more liberated way of being. Dalychia believes that systematic forms of oppression can be overthrown by a reclamation of intra- and interpersonal power. Dalychia is the co-founder of Afrosexology, a pleasure based sex education platform that creates educational content and workshops to center the pleasure, empowerment, and liberation of Black people.  Afrosexology’s work covers topics such as masturbation, self love, enhancing communication in relationships, radical twerking, racialized sexual oppression, body agency and much more. Through Afrosexology, she has created space for tens of thousands of people of color to reclaim their sexuality and body agency. Dalychia is a lecturer professor at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, where she teaches graduate level courses in social theory, social justice, and sexuality education. She is also a sought after facilitator and keynote speaker for conferences and events related to social justice and/or sexuality. More info about Dalychia and her work can be found at http://dalychiasaah.com/.