We Want the Airwaves: QPOC Artists on the Rise

Back in April, I had the privilege of interviewing (straight) Australian comedian Aamer Rahman while he was touring the US. Rahman is perhaps best known as part of the comedy duo Fear of a Brown Planet, and for the video that went viral of his joke about "reverse racism". In this interview, Aamer and I discuss growing up brown and Muslim in Australia pre-9/11 versus post-9/11, getting into comedy by accident, and selling out shows all over Australia.

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

Elena Rose is a mixed-race, mixed-class, trans woman of color performance poet and minister. In this interview she described how her mom's working-class values shaped her ideas of womanhood, finding out she had a trans great aunt in the The Philippines, and her own transition as death and rebirth.

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

Musician. Author. Filmmaker. What doesn't Vivek Shraya do? Back in April, I sat down with the Toronto-based artist to discuss the economics of touring and self-publishing, racism in the music industry, and our shared love of the 1993 Salt'n'Pepa album Very Necessary. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia. Photo by Karen Campos Castillo.

Ajuan Mance is a visual artist and my former literature professor. She has been an actively involved in The Art of Living Black for several years and draws a portrait series called 1001 Black Men. She is also the author of Inventing Black Women: African American Women Poets and Self-Representation 1877-2000.

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

Visual artist Texta Queen and I discuss the differences between the US and Australia in terms of racism, making a living as an artist, and organizing DIY events. Come see both of us at the Queers & Comics Conference May 7th & 8th, 2015. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivitnia. Find more episodes at artactivistnia.com.

Indira Allegra explores issues of violence against people of color and LGBTQ people through her video and textile work. In this episode, she discusses losing her hearing while working as an ASL interpreter, getting her first film picked up for distribution in Canada, and developing a disability justice political framework.

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

Mixed-race queer Arab indigenous poet Amir Rabiyah and I discuss how to "respectfully reintegrate" parts of your racial/ethnic heritage that have been assimilated away, growing up mixed in Hawai'i, and the politics of editing an anthology. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia. Find more episodes at artactivistnia.com.

Miyuki Baker spent fourteen months traveling to sixteen countries and making zines about the queer cultures she encountered in each place. In this interview we discuss how she found the funds to travel, the connotations of "queer" in different countries, and international polyamory.

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

Devi K is the artistic director of Peacock Rebellion, a Bay Area-based queer and trans people of color performing arts organization. Peacock Rebellion produced a cabaret about the nonprofit industrial complex in 2012, and is currently training a cohort of queer and trans people of color to become activist stand-up comics. Manish used to be my boss, then we became close friends, and we just recently started working together again after a year of not speaking. Find out why in this episode.

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

Totally Radical Muslim zine editors Shenaaz Janmohamed, Aliya Karmali, and Roxana Dhada discuss how to enable prisoners to participate in zine culture, tensions between Sunni and Shi'a Muslim communities, and building solidarity between Muslims across racial and ethnic lines. (Aliya Karmali is not pictured.)

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