Latest / Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela] / Capítulo 092: How to Self Care During the Apocalypse with Najeia Mention

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Capítulo 092: How to Self Care During the Apocalypse with Najeia Mention · Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela]

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Radio Radio Radio Commies, a Myth and Bullshit, a radio
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: phonic novella. Look Radio hosted by Malama Locomotis. Welcome back
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: to season four of local radio podcast Rosas Wanted for
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Crimes against the Patriarchy. We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: to bring you Quarantine Confidential, a special pandemic broadcast about
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: our experiences with quarantine and COVID nineteen. I'm Theosa and
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: I'm Ala. Our intention behind this mini series is to
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: archive our experiences during this global coronavirus pandemic. Thank you
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: so much for joining us on this year long journey.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: So last time on Quarantine Confidential all we interviewed the
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: one and only Maria you know Josa about her new
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: book Once I Was You. It was an incredible interview.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: If you have not tuned in to our last GAPLO,
• 1:13
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• 1:18
  Speaker 1: super blessed to be able to host a conversation between
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: the ASA and Maria on our Instagram Live and that
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: was amazing. Great job, Yosa, you killed it. Thanks girl. Yeah,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: if you haven't checked out the i G Live if
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  Speaker 1: can tune into that episode with Maria no Josa on
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• 1:41
  Speaker 1: an incredible opportunity to be able to do that. She's
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: super cool, she's a Peabody Award winning journalist, founder of
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  Speaker 1: Futuro Media, she's a podcasting giant. She's amazing um and
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: she has a new book. So go check out Once
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: I was you. We talked about what we talked to
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• 4:55
  Speaker 1: onto the substance, Onto the Gardener. We have so much
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: to talk about. This episode is jam packed. There's so
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: much going on in the world, in the news, on
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Instagram and We're gonna try and run through the most
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: relevant topics from this week. We cannot cover everything because
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: there's just so much happening, but at the top of
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: our list our most recent occurrence. Right before recording this,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: sends me a screenshot of a freaking troll on Instagram
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: leaving nasty, hateful comments on the ass Instagram. So I
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: check mine and the same troll has also left nasty
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: hateful comments on my Instagram. What is that about? Well,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: he also left comments on the local instagram as well. Okay,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: so I log onto Instagram, you know, I just you know,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: check my notifications, and I see these two comments from
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: this dumbast troll account. Um, it's like a faceless account.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: It's like one of those where they just post, you know,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: random things to this person post a lot of like
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: figurines and like Lego type things and there, you know whatever.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: So they commented on on my Instagram on a couple
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: of pictures. Um, just some really ridiculous comments. And then
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: I checked the look at page and of course there
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: was a recent comment, and so I texted Mala and
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: I was like, hey girl, this person just like is
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: commenting on my page and commented on the look a
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: thought to like, check out your page, and of course
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: he went and he left a comment on my last
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: pictures as well. And so my theory is that this
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: man probably saw the l A Times Today Spectrum news feature,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: the news segment with Lisa mcgree, and that led him
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: to our Instagram pages because it wasn't main It is
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: a more mainstream press and publication that we've received recently,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: and so I'm definitely curious us to see if there's
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: gonna be um, you know, more of that now, if
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: that's going to become the norm now that we're a
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: little more more mainstream. I guess, like, is this success?
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: I don't know, right, is this what it feels like
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: to make it? Like? The trolling increases And for those
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: who maybe are not aware, look at our radio. We
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: were in the l A. Times. We had a full feature.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: In fact, our feature was the cover story UM in
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the l A Times Calendar section. We were cover girls.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Our photo was huge, It took up the entire first page.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: It was amazing. The journalists who wrote about us. Her
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: name is Stephanie Mendez, shout out, thank you so much
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: for seeing our value and for putting our work out
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: there in the paper of record here in our hometown,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: the l A Times. So we have this big l
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: A Times feature, you know, cover page of the calendar section.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: And then the l A Times reached to us because
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: they have like a daily news show on Spectrum one
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: News called l A Times Today, So they invited us
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: to come and talk on l A Times Today about
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: the podcast about Latin X people and sexuality and all
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: the stuff we talk about on here. So we are
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: getting pressed. We're getting more and more pressed, which is
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: extremely exciting for us because it means more opportunities right
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: or hopefully will present themselves. But it also means, like
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: theos I said, it's more exposure um to people who
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: are really not necessarily our target audience. And sometimes those
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: people are really cranky men um who like to hate
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: on fems. And that's what we have here. He told
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: me that I don't know how how to wear shorts correctly,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: like in one of my videos, and I was like,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: what are you talking about? Am I? Am I wearing
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: shorts in correctly? Dosa? Am I doing it wrong? Can
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: you tell me? Would you would you tell me if
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: I was wearing shorts incorrectly like you would you would
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: tell me, right, I would one let you know if
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: you were wearing shorts incorrectly, which I don't know if
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: that's possible to do, but you know, in case that
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: work to happen, I would one let you know, Um,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: you know I The picture that he commented for me
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: was this picture from last year from our event at
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: the Wing and I'm like holding a microphone, and I like,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: in my caption, I talked about how, you know, I
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: used to be afraid and nervous of talking on a
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: microphone and to present anything, but now it's just you know,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: a part of what I do, because I think we
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: both get that question a lot, like how do we
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: get how do we build confidence to you know, speak publicly?
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: And so that was the caption for that photo a
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: year ago. And so he comments, I bet the money helps,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: and I was like, um, well, yes, been there who
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: actually the money does help? Spot on it's accurate. But
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: also this troll asked, dude went back months and months
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: and even a year into your profile because you know,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: like that's wild, Like that's dedication and to cherry pick
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: which post he's gonna comment on, like how does one decide?
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: And the ones that he commented on for me are
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: like not necessarily recent posts. So he had himself a
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: good old time on our grids looking at all of
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: our photos and videos before he decided to be salty.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: And you know what, thank you for the engagement. I
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: guess I always appreciate a comment, you know, I appreciate
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: the engagement. So we're mainstream now. If you see trolls
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: trolling us, um, you know, like feel free to jump in.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Listeners were giving you the green light to jump in
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: in the comments section. Yeah, you know, it's just part
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: of being a creator on the internet, especially if you're
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: a woman. I think that we have really kept ourselves
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: in a pink bubble. You know, for the most car
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: we know who are demographic is we speak to y'all
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: our listeners, um, and we've been able to keep the trolls,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: I think pretty much for the most part away. We've
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: had like some pretty intense examples that we've shared in
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: the past. But you know, I'm really curious to see
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: if there's going to be correlation, which I think that
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: there will be between the mainstream press and now more
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: you know, trolls or like men commenting bullshit on the
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: page agreed. We're going to keep an eye on it
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: and when it happens, because it will happen, we will
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: talk about it on the podcast, So don't you worry
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: about that. And other news and other look at our
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: news We had a key, ute, fucking photo shoot this
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: week because we are launching new merch. We have shirts,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: we have masks, and they're going to be available on
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: our online store, on our website look at what our
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: radio dot com. There will be discounts available for patrons
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: and those who are subscribed to our newsletter. So once again,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: if you are interested, you can head to our website
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: look at the radio dot com, sign up for our
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: newsletter besitos, and also become a patron so that you
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: can get access to these discounts and things like that
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: as we start to launch more merch and more webinars
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: and products and things like that, so keep an eye
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: out for that. The other really super exciting thing that
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: happened this week was the Savage fenty Show and we
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: both watched it. Yes Um, that was like the highlight
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: of my Friday. Well no, I mean we shot our
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: merch yesterday Friday as well, but afterwards my end of
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: day wind down like treat was to watch the Savage
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: by Fenty Show. And let me just tell you, there
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: were so many beautiful things about the show. I love
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Rihanna and her vision of you know, creating a lingerie
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: line that's you know, for everybody. And but still one
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: of my favorite favorite things. The most exciting thing was
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: seeing our girl, our friend past guest a look at
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: that our radio walk in the Savage by Fenty Show. Yes,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Vanessa is a star. So we first interviewed Vanessa like
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: a very very early in her modeling career, and she
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: had just got cast to appear in Latina, Like she
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: had not done the show yet at the time that
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: we conducted our interview with her. So we did our
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: interview with her. Then she was on Latina and it
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: was a big deal. And now like this summer, Vanessa,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I mean she's been a Savage fenty ambassador for a
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: little while now, which is super exciting. But then the
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: summer Vanessa got a cover. She was on the cover
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: of Vogue Mexico and last night she was in the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: flesh part of the Savage Fancy Show. We saw her.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: It was super exciting. I loved Rihanna's show. It was glorious.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: I love the music of the choreography, I love the concepts.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: There are a bunch of fun surprise guests like Miguel
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Saying prominently and um to me Moore was in there
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: and Willow Smith and all kinds of people like it
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: was just a really fun show. So shout out Red,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: shout out Vanessa. It was a great time. I think
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: you can still watch it on Amazon Prime if you
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: have not done so yet. Yes, it was such a
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: good show. There were so many amazing, beautiful people involved. Um.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Also Paris Hilton was included, um, which I thought was interesting,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: but she was in it, and yeah, you can definitely
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: still check that out. So now switching gears a little bit.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: You know, we are going to talk about some things
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: that are happening in the news and some heavy, heavy
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: topics and so, MoMA, do you want to discuss some
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: of the things that we were going to bring today,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: some of the topics we were gonna bring today. Yes, so, uh,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: for those of you who are based in California, this
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: is probably more familiar news for our Cali listeners than
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: for our listeners who live out of state. I'm not
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: sure how much coverage the murder of Sean monte Rosso
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: has gotten nationally but earlier in earlier this summer, in
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: June of this year, Sean monte Rosso was fatally shot
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: and killed by a Viejo police officer. Viejo is a
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: town um in northern California near Sacramento, So police Viejo
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: police officer named Officer jar ton Uh shot and killed
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Sean Montroso while Montroso was allegedly on his knees, had
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: his hands above his waist, and the Viejo police officer
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: shot him through the windshield of his unmarked police pickup truck.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: So this week, Um, this is the four month anniversary
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: of the murder of Sean monte Rosso. It is my
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: understanding that the family has been calling for a private investigation,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: has been asking Governor Newsom to address the murder of Sean,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: and that has not happened. It's my understanding that charges
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: have not been filed against Officer Jared Ton. So this week,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Sean's two sisters went to the home of Governor k Newsome.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: They went to his house and they demanded that Governor
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Knewsom come outside and Uh talk about Sean's case and
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: launch an investigation. Into his murder instead of having a
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: conversation with this family and with these two women they like,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: these two girls were met with over thirty police officers.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Over thirty police officers showed up on the scene and
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: men from the Secret Service and Sean's sisters were both
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: detained and were put in jail in the Sacramento County Jail.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: If you want more information, you can follow the at
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Brown Issues Instagram account or the at Justice for Sean
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: underscore that's at Justice the number four Sean s e
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: a n Underscore for more information about the situation, about
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: what's going on, and ways to help and to contribute. So,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: you know, we do our best on Local Toora to
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: talk about issues important to our communities, and right now,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: you know, with everything that has been going on for
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: years with police violence, police brutality, and police murder, we
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: want to continue having those conversations and especially bringing the
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: local news onto the podcast when it's not getting the
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: media attention and the coverage that it deserves. It's wild,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: it's ridiculous. It's horrifying that even with daily protests for
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: months now across the country against police violence, that the
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: least continue to kill people in cold blood innocent people,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: um and acting as judge jury and execution are extra
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: judicially murdering innocent people and unarmed people. So again, if
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: you want to learn more about this case, you can
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: check out the Brown Issues Instagram account or the Justice
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: for Sean Instagram account. And yeah, I love to to
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: the family Mons family, and you know, we at look
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: at Dora. We want to know what happened to him,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: and we want an investigation to be launched as well,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: and we want charges to be filed against police, police
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: officers who kill people. So that's that piece. There's also
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: a ton of news right now about Donald Trump and
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: the White House because everyone has COVID nineteen like everyone, yes,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: so you know, in national news, in international news, global news,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: you know, the President of the United States has tested
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: positive for COVID. As you all may already know. You know,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: he as somebody that has really tried to publicly downplay
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: the seriousness of COVID. He has questioned the legit gitimacy
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: of mask wearing and all kinds of different things, right
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: when told the thousands of people that have died, has said,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: it is what it is. And so you know, he
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: has now tested positive and a string of other White
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: House officials and staff, and so we're each day, you know,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: since the youth broke more White House officials have been
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: coming out that they have also tested positive. Kelly and
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Conway has also tested positive. And I don't know if
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: y'all are on TikTok, but if you are, UM, you
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: all should consider following her daughter, Claudia. She is a
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: TikTok star. She really talks so much shit about her
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: mother in the best possible way, because as you all know,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: Kelly and cand Way is the devil, and so she
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: has also tested positive. UM, A ton of other White
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: House officials have tested positive. I want to say the
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: Speaker of the House, I'm sorry, not the Speaker of
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: the House, the um speaker of the r NC has
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: also tested positive. And so this is an interesting to
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: say the least time. There's, of course, as you may
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: already know, a ton of conspiracy theories on the web
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: about if Trump is actually you know, if he actually
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: has COVID nineteen, and so we are definitely interested in
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: seeing how this all plays out. And there is a
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: lot on the line. There's a lot writing on this
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: right because the Republicans right now are trying to get
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: a scot TO seat filled with so and so Barrett
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: but like very ultra conservative, like pseudo feminist lady that
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: they're trying to um still root er Ginsberg's now empty
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: SCOTU seat with the last time that we recorded, I
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: don't think that our BG had passed away. So that's other.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: That's other news, right that we haven't really talked about
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: on the podcast. But like with the President being super
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: sick and who knows what his condition is going to
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: look like in the coming weeks, there's like legal and
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: implications and election implications and SCOTUS implications, and there's just
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: a lot writing on this illness that now has befallen
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: the White House. They have engaged the President and his cabinet,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: his people, right, they have engaged in like multiple super
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: spreader events, and so the contact tracing is going to
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: be a major effort. And I'm pretty sure that we're
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: gonna see a lot more Republicans testing positive in the
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: future because we only know of a few folks right now,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: but the list is definitely gonna grow. So we're gonna
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: keep an eye on it. We're gonna keep an eye
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: on things um and see what happens. It's wild, wild times.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: And I do follow Claudia Conway on TikTok and she's
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: so funny because you know, she's fifteen, so she's like
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: posting things about her mom and she knows that there's
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: a national audience and everyone is looking at her. But
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: then at the same time she posts these TikTok's where
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: she's like, let me delete my problematic TikTok before I'm
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: on Fox News again, Like why why is the media
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: so obsessed with everything a fifteen year old girl has
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: to say? Like, ask me out already, CNN asked me
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: out already, Fox News, Like I'm turning on Twitter for
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: what for what? She's very aware the media is very
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: focused on her. That's its own interesting situation right there.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: And I would not want to be at that dinner
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: table in that house because it seems tense, absolutely, girl,
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, what a god damn miss Uh you know
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: that Trump was not wearing his mask when he was
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: in meetings and around people, you know, and it's just yeah,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: it is a very crucial time and there's a lot
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: of conspiracy theories about uh, you know, Trump not actually
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: having COVID and that just using this as a way
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: to attempt to delay the election. And so you know,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: I actually hope that he does have COVID and that
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: this isn't a big farce because what a mess. But anyway,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: and other news, Um, I will not be sending him
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: thoughts and prayers, and you know, it is what it is. Look,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: I barely pray for myself as it is. I'm not
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: going to waste the couple of prayers that I have
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: on a fascist I'm just not gonna do it. It's
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: not my jam, it's not my thing. So don't feel
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: obligated to pray or send well wishes to the White House.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Remember how they abandoned all of us when the pandemic
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: took off there. They were not sending thoughts and prayers
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: to us. They have not been sending checks. So if
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: I don't have a check in my in the mail,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: I can't send a prayer, you know what I mean.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: There's an exchange there, and it's not really it's not.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: There's not a balance. We have not struck a balance.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it is what it is, and we'll see
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: what happens, all right. And in more fun news, it
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: is my favorite time of the year. We are officially
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: in Spooky season, Halloween season, the season of fall. Um.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: You know, it's my favorite time of the year because
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: my mom decorates the house. She's always She's done this
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: for years. She brings out her Halloween decorations. The horror
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: films are streaming. It's the best time of the year.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: I actually like Halloween better than Christmas. Don't come for me,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: love me some Halloween. My favorite are the folks who
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: um like on October one they started posting Mariah Carey's
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Christmas album because first some folks October and the beginning
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: of all Mark's Mariah season. So I just feel like
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: October is a good month all the way around. We
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: have the second half of Latino Heritage Month, we have
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Spooky season, we have Mariah music, and it's Biosa's birthday month. Yes, yes,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: what is my birthday is at the beginning of October. Um,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: I love this time of the year for that reason
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: as well. I'm turning twenty seven, I'm entering my Saturn
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: return and so send me all the good vibes and
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: best wishes y'all. Um, if you've been through your Saturn
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: return and let me know how that went. For you. Um,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: I've heard lots of things, so I'm just trying to
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: mentally prepare for the next three years and also just
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: this year in general. Um, what else. It's libre season,
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: it's my birthday, it's Halloween season. I do think that
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: we need to get through Halloween before we start celebrating
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: or getting excited for Christmas. That is my opinion. Let
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: Halloween have its month. That's a hot take. You heard
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: it here first. And make sure that you send Bosa
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: some birthday wishes on the gram On pod on Apple
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Podcast with a five star review and a glowing comment.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: I think that would be the ideal birthday gift, right, Like,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: I'm just assuming that, And send money to look at
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: da Dash Radio. You don't even have to Venmo me personally,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Venmo the project, Venmo this indie podcast. You know, we
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: love the support. Financial support is always, you know, very helpful.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: But if that isn't available to you, the five star
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: reviews on Apple podcast definitely helped. Yes, so many exciting
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: things going on and this episode is not over yet.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: We have an incredible guest in the second half of
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: this episode. My friend from college, Nigaia mentioned we were
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: both American Studies majors. And we were in the same
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: like cohort for our senior capstone thesis situation. So we're
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: gonna hear from Nagaia, who is a grad student at
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the University of Michigan, and that's coming up in the
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: second half. So hang Kite or Caster and and and
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: and and and and and and and and and and
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: and and and and and and and and and and
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: um um um um um um um um um um
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: um um um um um of it and Bill Ship,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: all right, look on motus today. We are incredibly excited
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: to invite onto the podcast Nigeria mentioned. Nigeria's originally from
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: New Haven, Connecticut. She earned her bachelor's degree in Community
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Health and American Studies and minor in Africana Studies from
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: Tufts University, which is where we met. We're friends from college.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: We were both American Studies majors. So we're very excited
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: to invite um Nigeria onto the podcast today. She's actually
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: in her final semester of her Masters of Social Work
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: degree and Masters of Public Health dual degree at the
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: University of Michigan and Arbor, where she studies interpersonal mental
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: health practice and health behavior and health education. As a
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: health equity and racial justice strategist, Nigeria has been involved
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: in and committed to promoting health equity from a variety
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: of approaches, including advocacy, therapy, research, and policy. Nigeria is
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: passionate about promoting the health and well being of black
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: and brown communities, especially women and fems. These days, you
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: can find her finishing up grad school while while co
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: facilitating a therapy group for black women, conduct conducting research
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: on black mental health, and fighting for the lives of
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: marginalized folks. Welcome onto the podcast. It's so good to
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: have you. Thank you for having me. Yeah, we've been
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: kind of going back and forth on Instagram, UM, you know,
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: about things happening in the world, just funny memes, UM
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: spending trash like all of the above, and also talking
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: about UM an interview. So I want to start with
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: asking you, let's catch up and if you can share
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: with us what you've been studying and the research that
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: you've been doing. Yeah, So when we finished TUFFS, it's
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: like a little break UM. And then I spent some
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: time in DC working in the health policy space, and
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: I think from that I really realized how much I
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: wanted to study mental health UM and really kind of
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: create avenues for black and brown folks to be mentally well,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: UM and try to really bridge that gap that exists
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: between us being well and UM what have you. So
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: after that, I decided to go to Michigan. My family
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: thought I was crazy. They no one, we don't have
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: any family there anything. But they had a lot of UM,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: really interesting programs that aligned with what I wanted to do,
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: specific coursework UM for treating mental health among UM black people,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: researchers who are doing this, and I said, I have
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: to be there. So that's what I'm doing now. I'm
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: finishing up grad school. UM. I kind of went so
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: that I could really learn how to you UM, develop
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: interventions and UM, you know, really develop ways to address
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: our mental health needs because UM, we need support and
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: we need people who look like us doing it. So
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: that's why I'm there. UM and social work. I've been
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: able to learn clinical skills, so I've been doing therapy
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: with folks UM and public health has really provided a
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: way to design, implement, evaluate, and kind of scale those initiatives.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you Nija for one for being here and for
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: sharing more about the work that you're doing sounds like
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: you're doing innovative, incredible work. So my question for you
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: you mentioned, you know, you began the health policy space
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: and you're currently you know, thinking about developing interventions and
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: how to put that into practice for folks that need
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: it right and so, what are what's an example of
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: an intervention in that isn't being used right now but
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: would be super helpful and necessary for people of color
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: in have in crisis, having a mental health crisis. What
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: is that like? Well, how do you envision that? Yeah?
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: So I think in a dream world, I would want
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: to kind of coordinate what's out there UM from like
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: a grassroots level, state level, and national level around focusing
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: on the mental health of black and brown communities. UM.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: And so I think there are different types of interventions,
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: but I think having kind of like an way to organize, UM,
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: the the great work that's being done UM from like
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: a central location. I've seen that happen in other spaces,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: but that would be my dream. UM. I think there
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: are different interventions from like a larger scale to smaller scales.
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: So when I think about the stuff that I do,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: is having maybe a support group that's specifically for black
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: women and fem so or specifically for Latin X groups. UM.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: At school, UM, I know, Mala. You'll remember at Tufts
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: social isolation is real predominantly white university and we barely
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: had any you know, therapists of color at the school.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: And so having that and then on top of you know,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: kind of like a lack of a where I mean,
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: I don't set of awareness, but a lack of effort
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: put towards focusing on our mental health, especially when we're
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: navigating so many challenges, maybe being first generation college students. UM.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: Maybe you know, looking at like the Associo Economic Peace.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: You know, a lot of rich folks at Tufts, and
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: it can get isolating. So m really having groups UM,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: I think is a really big deal because you know,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: you have people who look like you and the group
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: and you can talk about, you know, things you might
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: not feel comfortable talking about otherwise. So group therapy, you know,
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: support groups is one intervention UM that I have found
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: to work really well. UM. And then you know, you
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: have individual therapy. And I think right now, you know,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: we're in an interesting time with covid UM. Everyone's home
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: and we're spending a lot of time on the internet, UM.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: And so even thinking about ways we can leverage social
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: media to support people's mental health UM is really exciting. UM.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: I work with UM a professor at the University of Michigan.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: Her name is Dr Daphne Watkins, and she leaves the
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: Why the Men Project, and that is one intervention UM
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: that uses social media to focus on UM, black men,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: embloys mental health. And so you know, there are things
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: that are out there, but I think it's important for
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: you know, those things to gain more attention. And also
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: how do we scale it so that you know, it's
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: more common practice UM, and we don't have to work
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: so hard to find what we need. Yeah, I'm like
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: now I'm thinking about how you were talking about toughs
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: and the mental health issues just even wrapped up in
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: like going to school, and so much of that has
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: to do with the environment and the cold and like
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: you said, like the student body, UM, the Confederate flags that,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: oh my goodness, are in Medford, like in people's garages,
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: the swastikas found on campus, like so many things added
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: to the stress of like an already stressful situation, which
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: is school. So I want to know how we can
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: take that example and even apply it to right now,
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: and how our environment all these multiple factors, the pandemic, UM,
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: white supremacy, police violence, fires, and extreme heat and the
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: list goes on and on. But how these compounding factors
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: can be affecting our mental health. Yeah, it's it's a
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: big deal, UM. And I don't know about y'all, but
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: for me, it has been a struggle. You know. Yes,
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: I'm a therapists, Yes, I studied public health, and I'm
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: struggling just like everyone else. And I think it was
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: really interesting to notice how, you know, I could be
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: providing therapy to someone and they're they're experiencing the same thing. Quote.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: You know, there's they're facing a pandemic. You know, they're
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: also faced with UM, increased visibility of racism UM and
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: it's traumatic UM. And so you know, I think it's
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: really important for us to really pay attent into how
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: we're feeling. You know, this is suicide UM Prevention Awareness Month.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: Like having these conversations, I think is one step. Checking
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: in with your friends, checking in with yourself, you know, monitoring,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: you know, even how much time you're spending on social media.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: It's traumatic to be watching videos of people who look
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: like you being killed, Um, week after week. UM, there's
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: a lot of grief that we're experiencing, whether it's grief
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: around you know, things you were looking forward to and
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: you can't because of the pandemic. UM. You know, maybe
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: there were events that you were looking forward to, parties,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: you know, graduation, my graduation in person ceremony was canceled,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: whatever it was. You know, we have a loss of
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: normalcy and that's a form of grief, and it's it
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: can be problematic when we don't process that grief and
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: those um, those tough feelings that we have right out,
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: because it feels like there's one thing after the other
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: that's kind of weighing us down. But there are opportunities
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: to kind of look at, okay, self care, you know,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: my mental health, my physical health as a form of resistance,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: and what that looks like for you specifically. I'm glad
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: you brought up self care, um, I tweeted out the
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: other day. You know, basically, is this a good time
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: to seek out therapy or are the therapists stressed out too?
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: Like how do you take care of yourself as like
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: this sort of emotional caregiver to as a profession at
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: and in school. How do you take care of you
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: in the midst of everything. Yeah, that's a really good question.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: I think for me, it has changed over time with
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: everything going on. I think in the beginning, you know,
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: maybe in March, um, I was doing you I was
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: working out, you know, doing virtual yoga, virtual workouts with
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: friends who were you know, in different parts of the country. Um.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: And that was helpful for me, you know, when we're
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: seeing these like increased visibility of racial terror and violence. Um,
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: that was really helpful for me. But then after a
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: point it became too much, and I had to say, Okay,
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: how about I just go for walks, right, Like, it
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily have to be like a big thing. You
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: don't necessarily have to run a mile. What about walking
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: and slowing down things? What about checking in with friends?
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: What about you know, back then, there were virtual dance parties,
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: vircial zoo. You know, it feels like so long ago,
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: but it was only a few months ago. It's wild,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: it's so weird, and it's flying in this this new,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: this new world that we have. So yeah, back then,
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: that's that's what I was doing. Um. I continue to
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: do therapy throughout that time, you know, seeking therapy for
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: myself being a part of groups like I mentioned, UM,
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: I'm in a group for black folks and that's been amazing.
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: It's led by a black woman, and it's really helpful
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: to be seen and heard on multiple levels. UM. And
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: now you know, I'm back home in Connecticut. UM, I
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: was not playing with the University of Michigan. I'm risking
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: my life to be going to the class in person.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: And so I came home. I'm staying with family and
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: that has been helpful for my mental health. But this
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: first day that I came back, I had slept better
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: than I had before. UM, just given everything going on. UM.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: And I think also even checking in with your health
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: provider can be self care. UM. They are doing virtual
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: you know, video visits. UM. I told my you know
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: actor who was a black woman, Hey, I'm having trouble sleeping.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: What are your suggestions? UM? You know, she suggested different things.
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: And I think, you know, just being realistic about how
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: you're feeling and where you are and kind of working
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: from there. UM. And I think, you know, we have
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: to get creative as well, because maybe some of the
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: self care things we were doing before might not be
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: available to us. So I love to sauce the dance.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: I don't know when the knights and I'll be able
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: to that this, you know, pandemic, and so you know,
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: what are other things that I can do that also
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: bring me joy that also you know, are helping me
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: get through. I was thinking earlier when you said, you know,
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: revisiting what our self care looks like. I didn't realize
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: until the pandemic hit and businesses were forced to close
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: how reliant I was on receiving services as a part
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: of my self care, like getting my nails done, getting
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: a pedicure, going to a brewery, like after work by myself,
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: like I. And so I resonates with me what you're saying,
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: like how we have had to rethink about rethink what
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: our self care looks like. And so we're in a
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: moment of you know, physical distancing, social distancing, but that
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: also allows room for isolation, right like you mentioned earlier.
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: So what are some You've given some great self care
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: tips already, but what are some other ways that folks
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: that are experiencing maybe a heighth and level of depression
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: of anxiety, what are some ways that they can take
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: care of themselves While there may be home alone, have
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: less contact with their friends, with their loved ones. Yeah,
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: that's a really good question. I know. Um, at one
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: point during the pandemic, we were scheduling virtual you know,
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: like video check. I feel like I'm the video check
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: queen of what's that? And so I feel like when
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: the pandemic happen, it was like my moment for everyone
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: to be on the same page, UM, to do video
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: chats and check in. But um, you know, the depression
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: and the isolation, UM is real. Some people are by
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: themselves physically, you know, maybe they live by themselves. Maybe
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: they don't you know, have a pet or what have you. Um,
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: And it gets difficult, and I would recommend people find ways,
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: whether it's you know, calling or texting. You know, you
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: can also do socially distant meetups. Um, you know, the
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: public health person and me, you know you can still
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: Um I'm thinking about you know, you can go on
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: socially distant dates. You can you know, do things outside
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: my I've seen you doing roller skating, like whatever your
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: thing is. Kind of think about, you know, what is
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: it that I can still do. Maybe I can't do
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: you know the things that I used to do. But
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: what is available, UM. And you know, social media can
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: be helpful to like finding things. But I think, UM, really,
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: you know that social support UM is a big factor
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: to kind of counteract some of that, UM social isolation
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: and also maybe some depression, maybe some suicidal ideation, because
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: that is also real UM to really kind of be
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: another form of support for you. You know, you don't
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: necessarily have to go through it alone. You know, you
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: don't have to struggle alone. UM. Who was in your circle?
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: You know, Bumble, I'm back in Connecticut. Bumble has you know,
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: different UM features for like networking and friends, and so
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: maybe you're in a situation like me when you're like,
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: well maybe my friends moved away because of the pandemic,
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: what have you? You know, Bumble has like fine friend option.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: I think it's called BFF. And I met with someone
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: today for the first time in a park. You know,
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: so just like trying to be creative UM to like
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: figure out Okay, you know, who can be my social
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: support perhaps in this time of social isolation depression, UM,
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: that can really be a big help. Okay, So since
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: you brought up Bumble, can we talk about dating in
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: the pandemic? So are you dating in the pandemic, how
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: does it work right now? From a public health standpoint
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: of court. From a public health standpoint I thought it
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: was so funny and also amazing that the New York
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: City Department of Health UM really early on in the
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: pandemic put out like a like a fact sheet about like, okay,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: then you know you are your safest sex partner, you know,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: like the explicit language. And I was like, yes, this
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: is what we need. But I think really being realistic,
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: you know with the public about okay, what are safe
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: ways you can still meet people, you know, still do
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: what you need to do? UM And so am I dating?
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: I am on dating apps right now, and so I
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: mean so far it's just been like socially, just an
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: outdoor thing, Like I feel comfortable doing things outdoors. So
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: maybe a restaurant has you know, a covered patio outside,
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: or you know, maybe it's you know, going for a
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: walk or something. I don't know, but you know, for
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: now that's working. I don't know tv D for the
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: windsor but this is where we are right now, and
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to not trying to be in the present.
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: That's so true, live in the moment, not in the
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: inevitable snow that's coming. Yes, but I have I've been,
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: you know, like it's I feel like we're all kind
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: of figuring it out as we go. Yea, what is
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: quarantine dating? What is maintaining relationships with anyone during quarantine? Um? Truly?
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: Because also the last thing that I want to happen
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: is like I don't know, say, like God forbid, knock
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: on all the wood, God forbid knock on all the
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: wood that like, I like go on a socially distant state,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: and then shortly they're after get sick, and then like
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: and now it's this big, this big ripple effect with
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: like my family and this person and this I don't
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: even know this person, and so those those things like
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: also are kind of like running through my head. But
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: on the other on the other side of the coin,
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: it's like this is a very like inhumane situation that
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: our government has sort of forced us into. And there's
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: a reason why the other countries acted so quickly, because
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: they knew they only had people's attention spans for so long,
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: and they had a very short window in which they
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: had to act or else they lose everybody. And like,
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: I feel like a lot of that has happened here,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: and it's like I could just kind of be celibate,
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: you know, life of her mentitude. I could until this
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: is over. But also do I can? I can? I
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: still live a little. I don't know. I don't know which.
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: I don't know where the line is for me yet.
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: I'm still trying to figure that out, you know. Yeah,
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: And I think what you said about like knowing where
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: the line is for you is important. You know. I
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: think when I think about maybe parents right now, you know,
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: they may have lost childcare because of the pandemic, or
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: maybe now they can't have it back, and so, you know,
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: I think there was an article in the New York Times.
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: I don't know, but basically you have to kind of
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: assess like, Okay, there's going to be risk either, so
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: like what are you what kind of risk are you accepting?
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: You know, that's that's comfortable for you, that's comfortable for
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: your family, right you know? When I was in Michigan,
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: I lived with UM two other UM people, and I
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: had a conversation like what are we comfortable with? You know,
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: I do things outside? What do you do? Having open
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: conversations that I think UM can help with some of that,
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: you know, ambiguity, um and trying to figure out how
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: to still live life um in the midst of a
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: pandemic truly. And I was talking to my friend she's
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: in her first year, Yeah, very real. My friend Lily's
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: in her first year of med school. And she was saying, like,
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: it's really important right now to like not be ashamed
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: necessarily of like the way you're mitigating risk in your
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: own life. And if you are going to the beach,
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: like I am going to the beach a lot, or
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: if you are going to the park like I do
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: go to the park, right, Like, don't you don't have
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: to hide that from people. It's just be open that way.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: Folks can decide for themselves, like if they want to, like,
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: you know, share space with you at a distance or not,
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: or if whatever it is that's going on. It's just like, uh,
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: the world that we're in is like if we're going
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: to live, like, just do it, you know, to like
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: you said, the extent that you're comfortable with or you're
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: able to, but also be willing to share that with
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: the folks that you then are spending time with just
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: because of what's happening, you know, right, that made me
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: think of, um, we used to do these like well,
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: I mean they're still happening. I'm just not in Michigan
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: to do it too. But these Black Joy picnics, Um,
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: there are some we have like a group chat Black
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: grad group me chat at the University of Michigan, and
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: you know, someone just has the idea of like, hey,
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: let's have a black Joy picnic, and I think, um,
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: you know, one, it was amazing to just like be
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: in company with their black folks socially distant in the
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: midst of a pandemic, in the midst of all the
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: isolation and the the struggle. Um, but then to like
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: have a moment of joy as resistance and like listening
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: to music and dancing and being free. But something that
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: came up with that was also consent. So you know,
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: if you you know, if you see someone you know,
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: like are you okay with me giving you a like
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: do you want to put a mask on to take
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: this picture with me? Right? So also like asking people
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: what they're comfortable with and having like a culture of
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: consent as well as a part of that. Yeah. Absolutely,
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: we talked about this on an earlier episode. Um that
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: I think the pandemic has forced us to create a
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: culture of consent that I don't think people were ready for,
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: and also has forced our hand to be transparent. Maybe
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: folks that weren't practicing transparency with their loved ones before
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: now are are forced to write they have to. UM.
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: Like you said, it's mitigating what folks are comfortable with.
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: So thank you so much for sharing everything that you
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: did today. UM. Where some working folks keep up with
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: your work? Where can people follow you if you're open
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: to that? Yeah? So I am on Instagram. UM. I
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: have an account called your Faith msw MPH so why
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: oh you r f A v M sw mph UM,
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: and its public and there I've been sharing some information
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: about UM, you know, things we were talking about today
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: about you know, how I can stay mentally well during
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: this time of extreme struggle. UM. Or you know, just
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: things in general related to public health and social work,
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: likely related to racial justice. So things related to the
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: census and why that's important to us, or voting or
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: whatever it is. UM. Just trying to keep people informed
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: and sharing my and knowledge around that. UM. I'm also
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: on LinkedIn, so if you want to contact me, you
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: have more questions, you want to work together. I'm open. Um,
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: I've had one other thing that I think could be
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: helpful for people because I know I noticed this with
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: myself as well. Um, because you know, we talked about
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: self care, but also self care could look like advocacy
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: for some people. UM. And I think that's relevant right
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: now with Black Lives Matter, um, whatever the case may be.
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: You know, you're trying to push some change forward, and
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: that might be a form of self care for you. UM.
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: And it's also important to be mindful of like my
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: energy right and I feeling depleted or am I feeling
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: recharged after this? You know? Am I taking on too much?
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: Do I need to delegate? Do I need to take
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: stuff off my place? So I also wanted to mention
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: that because I know for me, I'm naga doing the
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: most mentioned and I tried to do the both all
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: the time. UM, And so really pay attention to, Okay,
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: what am I giving my efforts to. You know, advocacy
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: can look like a lot of different things. Maybe you're
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: talking with family, maybe you're you know, having a book
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: club about you know, whatever it is. I saw like
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: Melaniated Social Work was doing like parable of the Sower,
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: and they were doing like a book club about that,
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: but um, you know donation protests. You know, I was
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: going to protest. Just really think about, you know, what
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: is it that I want to contribute, And also check
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: in with yourself about how you're feeling in your energy level.
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: I know it's hard right now because you want to
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: stay informed about COVID and what's happening, you know, with
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: the political climate UM, and that can be really draining UM.
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: And so I think it's just really important to check
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: in with yourself about how you're doing and what you're
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: taking on on UM because you don't want to burn
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: out either. So I wanted to share that. Thank you
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: for including that. I know a lot of our listeners
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: are in school and they're working and their moms and
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: they multitask a lot and also are engaging in plenty
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: of advocacy. So I think that that's super valuable and
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: I know we need to hear that too. We cannot
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: do everything all at once. We have to take care
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: of ourselves and it's okay like you said, to delegate
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: and and also work with others and let folks help
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: you out and stuff. So thank you for that. Yeah,
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: thank you once again for joining us on this episode
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: of look at Our Radio. Um As always, listeners, you
• 55:40
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