UnHidden Voices

My youngest daughter Aasiya and I interview each other. Our conversation is an intimate mother-daughter discussion of our identities as Black women. It is funny. It is healing. It is joy. You'll get to hear from Aasiya what it is like to be a college student during the COVID 19 and antiblackness pandemics, and during the current election cycle. Also, I want to give a special shout out to Tasneem, who turns 21 on October 15. Loving you always. Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday infinity!!! If you like this episode please subscribe to our podcast. Listen, Learn, and Amplify with us. The full transcript can be found here.

This episode is exciting because it is an opportunity to listen to my cousin Dina and her youngest daughter Kiara speak about racism in the South.  Dina has two daughters, London and Kiara. Dina and Kiara sat down with me to discuss the experiences they have living, working, and going to school in North Carolina. They candidly about their experiences with racism. Kiara talks about being in school and learning about Black history from teachers who do not share her culture and negative interaction with the police. In the end, they both speak to the inspiration they receive from our family to follow their dreams and not give up. If you enjoy the episode, please subscribe and tell a friend about our podcast. Listen, Learn, and Amplify with us!

This episode is the opportunity to hear from my brother, Sundiata Al Rashid. He is Amir of the Lighthouse Mosque located in Oakland, California, a manager of a housing facility for the homeless, and a doctoral student at the Graduate Theological Union. He studies the history of Black American  Muslims as descendants from West and North Africa.  In our discussion, Sundiata defines the terms Black and Mulatto. He also introduces the history of the Melungeon people to us as he shares what it means to be a Black American Muslim today. You will get an opportunity to learn more about our personal history from Sundiata who has the best memory of anybody you will ever meet. He shares details of life events and people that we grew up with including our white stepbrother Adam. The full transcript to the episode can be found here.

This episode is a real treat because I sit down with my cousin, Randal "Randy Croudy, stage manager, essential worker, and beautiful example of a young Black man in America. During my interview with Randy, he describes what it means to grow up as a Black boy in different parts of the United States, to work in the entertainment industry, and to be a part of a family that centers education and family love. Randy is Wanda's son, Aunt Dolores's grandson, and one of the oldest in our children's generation. It is easy to recognize his strength, his easygoing nature, and his love for family. Listen, learn, and amplify with us! The full transcript of the episode can be found here. 

This episode has a special guest introduction by my mother Brenda Harker. It features my cousin, Designer, and Professor, Wanda Croudy as she discusses the role of art and the artists in documenting the movement for Black lives. Wanda is also the host of @Itbeginswithpassion an Instagram which gives space and opportunity for the deeply felt passions of artists and designers each week. Wanda speaks of trailblazers who understand the importance of art for addressing racism and antiblackness and expressing the emotions of our time. The full transcript can be found here. Listen, learn, and amplify with us.

This episode is a reboot of one of our most beloved episodes. It is an interview with my cousin Matin Abdel-Qawi, Principal, father, friend, and mentor. You will learn a lot from him about what it means to be a Black man in America and a part of a family. Listen, learn, and amplify with us. The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Trigger warning. This is a two-part episode that is an open-hearted conversation with my dear Sister Amelah El Amin, Co-Founder of Mu'eed Inc. Sister Amelah is a humanitarian and eating rights activist. We talk about her motivation to feed the hungry, the generational trauma that has impacted our families, and our community. We discuss the uniqueness of our experiences as Black Americans, and that we have cracks in our Blackness including our experiences with sexual abuse. We talked about concrete ways to collectively heal including addressing the trauma that we have experienced in our histories. The transcript to the episode is here.

In this special two-part episode, my friends and colleagues from Sacramento State University's Teaching Credential program,  Drs. Margarita Berta Avila, Jose Cintron, Mimi Coughlin, Dale Allender, and I draw on ancestors like James Baldwin to show us the importance of rage as an emotion for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). We discuss the impact of the double pandemics of COVID 19 and Antblackness on our families, lives, and work. We reclaim our rage because decidedly, we are outraged by the pandemics and the disastrous response in the United States. Wondering what your role is when it comes to addressing the double pandemics? Listen to us push each other to deepen our understanding of and define for ourselves and each other what it means to be allies, accomplices, and co-conspirators. The transcript can be found here https://docs.google.com/document/d/12.

Greetings (Un)hidden Voices, family welcome to episodes 9 parts 1 and 2. These next two episodes were filmed in one long 2-hour conversation that I had with my friends and co-authors of Humanizing Online Teaching, Raina Leon and Mary Raygoza. These women are faculty at Saint Mary's College of California in the Single Subject Teacher Education Program. They have been doing the work of humanizing education. I really have a lot of admiration for both of them. So, we sit down and we talk about how we reimagine school. It’s this idea that we can’t go into our schools with the same concepts that we had before because too much has happened. We’ve lost too many people. We’ve lost nearly 200,000 people. Can you imagine that? Nearly 200,000 people have died since school ended last semester. We also have a pandemic of antiblackness that caused the death and harm to Black folks and a movement for Black lives. I figured out how to breathe over the course of this summer. And part of my breathing is my recognition that as long as I have a breath in my body I can make a contribution to the movement for Black lives. And that’s what this episode is. That’s what this podcast does. We really appreciate you for listening, for learning, and for amplifying. Join our movement. Check us out unhiddenvoices.org. Let’s keep learning and growing and breathing together.

This episode features my cousin Sharn Collins who is the youngest cousin in my Mom's generation. Even though he is from Mom's generation, we claim him in mine. Sharn and I differ in our understanding of police brutality and violence. He urges Black people to not defy the police because they see themselves as authority figures. He also points out that a lot of what he has learned in life is based upon people providing examples of how not to behave. Unlike Sharn, I think that police violence is a result of institutional racism. Sharn and my disagreement is a perfect example of how to disagree without being disagreeable because we do it with love and laughter. We model for you and hopefully, provide a concrete example of how to listen and better understand different perspectives. Listen to this conversation in its entirety. I promise you will learn a lot and amplify it with us!