WOKELAND

History is being made! For the first time in almost 30 years, a Green Party candidate has advanced to the general election for California State Assembly District 14 (AD-14). Mark Rendón, a retired educator and union organizer, joins Wokeland to ask the question California Democrats don’t want to answer: after decades of a Democratic governor and a Democratic supermajority in the legislature, why hasn’t life in California gotten better?

Mark makes the case that Democrats and Republicans answer to the same corporate donors, and that the people running Sacramento have put California up for sale. While rents climb, data centers get proposed in our backyards, and hundreds of thousands of Californians go unhoused, the state hands tax credits and loopholes to the same people funding campaigns. Newsom is campaigning against the billionaire tax, while over 200 California billionaires hold an estimated $2 trillion.

Mark also breaks down how Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, chair of the Appropriations Committee, let the CalCare bill die without a vote, and what Medicare for All would mean for Californians, including the Oakland students he’s watched go without the healthcare they need.

Mark Rendon is the Green Party candidate for California Assembly District 14. 

Disclosure: Wokeland host Elsa is a registered Green and a volunteer with the Mark Rendón for AD-14 campaign. This episode was produced independently, with no funding from the campaign. All opinions are her own.

Do you think colorism impacts Black women differently than Black men? We certainly do! In fact, we'd argue that Black men are the main purveyors of colorism (we still love ya'll though!) There are few topics in our community that are more divisive than colorism and in this episode we look to address the nuances of how Black women experience colorism,  issues with their identity, worth, and safety based on their skin tone. We are joined by  Nchimunya and Shay Bones, who share their personal stories on the stereotypes, traumas and complexity of their complexion. 

Be sure to follow our gworls on IG:  

Nchimunya: @nchimuns

Shay Bones: @shayybones

There are few topics in our community that are more divisive than colorism and in this episode we look to address the nuances of how Black men experience colorism, and issues with their identity based on their skin tone. We are joined by Bebe and Jared, Co-hosts of The Humble  Loser Podcast, who share their personal stories on the stereotypes, traumas and complexity of their complexion.

Please follow The Humble Loser Podcast on all podcast platforms --

IG: thehumbleloserpodcast // YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd7KGTBQ-60LKicCozZkpKA

Who knew reimagining travel would be so profound for Black people?! Those of us who chose to leave America also left our problems behind and we get deep into that conversation on this episode.  

Anitra Smith joins us as we discuss why travel was especially important (and controversial) for Black folks during the panasonic. Anitra is a public health leader, travel blogger and creator of Don't Trip Travel - a blog dedicated to encouraging women to travel and balance their 9-5's.  

Be sure to follow Anitra's social media and travel blog for all things travel!  

IG: @donttriptravel // Blog: https://donttriptravel.com/

This episode was recorded at Stay Diff Studios in Oakland, CA. You can watch the full video on our Youtube page @ Wokeland Podcast.

The Simone's are back! We kick off Season 3 by catching up on events that turned our world upside down the last 2 years. We had some pretty big life changes and we know you did too. We review some moments in time during lockdown and discuss news in pop culture, and how Black folks reimagined travel in 2020.    

This episode was recorded at Stay Diff Studios in Oakland, CA. You can watch the full video on our Youtube page @ Wokeland Podcast. 

If you're like us, you have many questions surrounding covid-19. Enter, Dr. Ivory Dean, who is a scientist with a Ph.D in Cancer Biology. Dr. Dean is trained to understand various disease models and has conducted breast cancer research at UCSF and is now in Washington D.C. finishing a science policy fellowship at the National Science Foundation. We learn how covid-19 came about, why soap (not hand sanitizer) is the real MVP, and some ways to keep you and your family safe.

Resources: 

Support Small Business's in Oakland: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H5k6zzguCjAs8uurgDTNlRFKd1C8pEayJsWcpvCJ5DM/edit?fbclid=IwAR1zCoTSMmUia-2nFIvj-YqtpBCqh2LSBJ9uprpOVk_sbM4WfgasOhWdQzw#gid=0
 

Rent Relief: https://www.ktvu.com/news/coronavirus-rent-relief-eviction-moratoriums-enacted-across-bay-area

Oakland's  COVID Numbers: http://www.acphd.org/2019-ncov.aspx

With so much uncertainty in the world right now with covid-19 influencing our day-to-day lives, we spoke with Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney of District 3, to give us insight on how the virus is impacting the lives of Oakland residents. She informs us of what the city of Oakland is doing to protect renters, the houseless population, and hospitals in need of aid. 

For information regarding city of Oakland's rent assistance -- https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/rent-adjustment-program

For tax filing and assistance with  unemployment applications --

Financial Tax Freedom                                                                     Teddy Teshome: 510-904-4305

Think of this as your go-to, one stop shop for all of your burning HR questions. Our all Black panel of HR specialists share some best practices in the workplace to assist your level up in 2020. They addressed how to escalate matters of concern, how to address the Becky's in the office, our mental health, how to negotiate salary upon hire, and so much more.

Our panelists also help demystify their roles as Human Resources and provide some insight on how their Blackness impacts their jobs at the recruiting, hiring/firing, and compensation phases of their job functions.

Our panelists ---

Matthew Kirby, Owner, Principal Consultant, Honest Human Resources Consulting LLC

During the day, Matthew works as a People & Culture Partner for a large non profit. Outside of his 9-5, Matthew demystifies stereotypical perceptions of Human Resources through his conversational, engaging and weekly broadcasts of the Honest Human Resources Podcast.

Tigist Takele, Associate Director of HR, Gilead Sciences

Tigist Takele-Maylor, MBA, is a Senior HR professional with over 15 years of HR experience in Biotech, Engineering and Healthcare industries. Tigist's area of expertise is in Leadership Development, Employee Relations and Executive Coaching. She aspires to continue to support people of color and women navigate the workplace as well as transition into Leadership roles.

Jordan Cisneros, Recruiting Coordinator, IDEO

As a Recruiting Coordinator for IDEO, a 40 year old global design company, Jordan’s work revolves around using her role to increase access to design for marginalized communities. When she’s not fighting systemic racism in the workplace and beyond, you can find her cuddled with bae at home watching reruns of Insecure.

The end of 2019 is near!

We started the decade off with a newly elected Black president in Barack Obama, and we're ending it by impeaching a crooked white one, how fitting?

There were so many moments this decade that defined  our culture and our lives. This episode isn't exhaustive  of everything but we dig into some of the highlight moments that happened in Oakland, The Bay, and beyond. 

See yall in 2020! Keep that #ImpeachmentEnergy going into the new year. 

-The Simones

@wokelandpodcast