We Want the Airwaves: QPOC Artists on the Rise

Sri Lankan/Irish queer disabled femme writer Leah Lakshmi and I discuss her new memoir, Dirty River, racism in the publishing industry, and whether it's better to fight your way into the mainstream or just do your own thing on the outside. Photo by Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes. Read the interview here. Support the podcast here.

• Queer Black zinester and punk musician Osa Atoe discusses writing a Black punk zine (Shotgun Seamstress), touring with an all girl band (The New Bloods), and growing up Nigerian-American in D.C. in the 90s.

Read the interview at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

Queer Chicano/Native filmmaker Rob Fatal and I discuss how we come to understand who we are when parts of our history are denied us. We also take an in-depth look at his film Mi Familia, about the Ute/Apache side of his family, and discuss why post-apocalyptic cinema appeals to him as a Chicano/Native filmmaker.

Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

Cuban-American lesbian novelist and journalist Achy Obejas discusses growing up in the Midwest with her dad in a mental hospital, her racially-mixed mom trying to pass as white, and Confederate flag-sporting neighbors. We also discuss racism in the arts, corruption in Chicago, and the decline of print journalism.

Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

Comedian W. Kamau Bell discusses his past FX show (Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell), his upcoming CNN show (United Shades of America), moving his family back to the Bay Area, and teaching his daughters "in this family, we stand up".

Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

In part 2 of my interview with tech activist Lynn Cyrin, we discuss anti-Black racism at Facebook, Google, Dropbox and Reddit. Lynn explains why Facebook won't change its "real names" policy and how Quirrel (the social network she is building with CollectQT) will be better/queer-friendlier.

Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

Black trans woman tech activist Lynn Cyrin discusses being homeless in SF, crashing fancy tech events, and crowdfunding enough money to get a place her own (after moving to Portland).

Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

Indigenous multimedia artist Grace Rosario Perkins discusses Thin Leather, a series of paintings she collaborated with her dad on, the whiteness/maleness of the music program at Mills College, and UIUC's racist school mascot. She is part of the Black Salt Collective which has a show at SOMArts called Visions into Infinite Archives from January 14 to February 10, 2016. More info at http://www.somarts.org/blacksalt/.

Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

micha cárdenas has been on the cutting edge of using technology for social change since the Myspace days. In this interview she discusses virtual sit-ins, designing an app to help immigrants find water in the dessert, and being one of few trans Latinas with a PhD.

Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

Monica Trinidad is a Chicago-born, Chicago-based artist, activist, and prison abolitionist. In part one of this interview we discuss her work with Brown and Proud Press, Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration, and her impressions of protests in Oakland versus Chicago. Part two is coming later this month.

Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.