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SMNTY Classics: Joy Harjo · Stuff Mom Never Told You

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  Speaker 1: Hey, this Sanny and Samantha. I come to stuff. I
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  Speaker 1: never told your reflection if I heard you. And today
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  Speaker 1: we have an exciting update about an activist around the world,
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  Speaker 1: don't we Samantha.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, we are talking about Joy Harjoe native poet and advocate.
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  Speaker 2: We love it and she has just released an album.
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  Speaker 2: So this is from Nativenewsonline dot net Insomnia and Seven
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  Speaker 2: Steps of Grace, a new album that infuses lyrical poetry
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  Speaker 2: sung by Joy Harjo with the jazz sounds from Grammy
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  Speaker 2: Award winning artist Esperanda Spaulding. So Joe Harjo, the musician, activist,
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  Speaker 2: and former National Poet Laureate, will release her new album
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  Speaker 2: on April twenty four. So it's just been released obviously
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  Speaker 2: this year via Smithsonian folk Ways. So this year being
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty six, always forget to put that, but yes,
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  Speaker 2: April twenty twenty six, they released her album. It's produced
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  Speaker 2: by Gramy winning composer, bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding. So
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  Speaker 2: it is Harjo's debut release for the label that was
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  Speaker 2: part of that article. So if you go to her
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  Speaker 2: sitewww dot Joyharjo dot com, they write this on the
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  Speaker 2: album Harjo trends the fertile ground at the intersection of
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  Speaker 2: jazz and poetry, leaning into the improvisational aspects of both,
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  Speaker 2: while incorporating other sonic touchstones from throughout her life, prog rock, grunge,
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  Speaker 2: and crucially, the traditional music of native communities throughout the Southwest.
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  Speaker 2: Quote this musical project has found its footing during a
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  Speaker 2: time a thick layer turmoil throughout our community's, Harjo writes
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  Speaker 2: in the album's existsive liner notes, which gives shape to
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  Speaker 2: Harjo's history as an artist, poet, and musician. So really excited.
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  Speaker 2: You should definitely check out that album if you want
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  Speaker 2: to go to our site. It does give a clip.
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  Speaker 3: It is beautiful.
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  Speaker 2: It is beautiful, and it feels like one of those
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  Speaker 2: that you could just like ease into meditation almost and
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  Speaker 2: she talks about the album being like a story the
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  Speaker 2: way that they have mapped it out and how it
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  Speaker 2: goes into it. So definitely something to check out. So
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  Speaker 2: excited when we get to see amazing updates like this. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: so please enjoy this classic episode. Hey, this is Anny
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  Speaker 2: and Samantha and welcome to STEF. I never told your
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  Speaker 2: protection of iHeartRadio and welcome We are currently entering Native
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  Speaker 2: American Heritage Month here in the US, so of course
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  Speaker 2: we had to start our activists around the world celebrating
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  Speaker 2: a Native Indigenous activist and advocate. Yeah, just so you know,
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  Speaker 2: I guess today is November fourth of twenty twenty four.
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  Speaker 2: During November is when the US does the Native American
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  Speaker 2: Heritage Month, not necessarily the same as the Indigenous People's Day,
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  Speaker 2: which is when we do all instead of Columbus Day.
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  Speaker 2: We've had many conversations about that. So because around what
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  Speaker 2: is the US Thanksgiving? Realizing how kind of atrocious some
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  Speaker 2: of these holidays are the US just like you know,
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  Speaker 2: we're going to stamp a time of celebration for the
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  Speaker 2: you know, oppressed peoples. So if people don't get too
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  Speaker 2: upset with us, so this month is celebrated as Native
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  Speaker 2: American Heritage Month. And of course there's also a big
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  Speaker 2: conversation about like the commonalities of titles and names. We
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  Speaker 2: have gone through waves of different types of names for
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  Speaker 2: the Native American communities. A lot of the Natives, I think,
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  Speaker 2: have said they'd rather be called First Nations, which makes
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  Speaker 2: perfect sense. I've had people say that Native in general
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  Speaker 2: just point blank and so there's a lot of deep
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  Speaker 2: conversation Native Americans, even Harjoe, who we're about to talk about,
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  Speaker 2: you know, like who has talked about this situation about
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  Speaker 2: you know, being okay with say Native American as is.
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  Speaker 2: But things can change. So please note at this point
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  Speaker 2: in time it is Native American Heritage Month. If that
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  Speaker 2: changes in the future, we will change with the times
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  Speaker 2: as the preferences I've changed and will change throughout the years.
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  Speaker 3: Just put that caveat there. I love it with that.
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  Speaker 2: But today we are celebrating, as we said, Joy Harjoe,
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  Speaker 2: a poet, musician, writer, activist, so many things for her
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  Speaker 2: native community and just Native communities in general. Harjo made
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  Speaker 2: history by being named the first Native person to be
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  Speaker 2: a US Poet Laureate, and she was appointed that in
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  Speaker 2: twenty nineteen and served every year until twenty twenty one.
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  Speaker 2: And she has been recognized for all her works before this,
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  Speaker 2: and of course continues to get much praise since then.
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  Speaker 2: So we're not just saying this is our only thing,
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  Speaker 2: but it was pretty big significance. As you know, we
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  Speaker 2: love to talk about first in general, which is atrocious
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  Speaker 2: that it was anyway, Like, there's so many things when
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  Speaker 2: it comes to writing and arts where the people of
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  Speaker 2: color just left behind because the system is racist.
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  Speaker 3: But anyway, still we're gonna celebrate this.
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  Speaker 2: As I say this in a very negative, pessimistic way,
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  Speaker 2: but we celebrate her and the fact that she was
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  Speaker 2: the first to be appointed as a Poet Laureate in
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  Speaker 2: twenty nineteen and again, as we said, she saved for
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  Speaker 2: three years. Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in nineteen
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  Speaker 2: fifty one and is a part of the Muskogee Creek Nation,
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  Speaker 2: and though her childhood was a rough one, she was
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  Speaker 2: able to turn to her love for the arts and
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  Speaker 2: education as a way of coping. In her teenage years.
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  Speaker 2: Harjo talked about how she joined an all Native rock
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  Speaker 2: band she wrote songs for them, and then also a
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  Speaker 2: theater group at the Institute of American Indian Arts or IAIA,
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  Speaker 2: in New Mexico.
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  Speaker 1: And it was here she really started to understand the
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  Speaker 1: importance of her heritage and of art. She told Southwest
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  Speaker 1: Contemporary magazine this about her experience, quote, I was there
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  Speaker 1: during the time of the contemporary Native art revitalization that
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  Speaker 1: changed everything in the art world. It was an exciting
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  Speaker 1: time to be at IAIA. Even we younger high school
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  Speaker 1: students knew we were in the middle of a crucial
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  Speaker 1: time in Indian country politics and thought we were part
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  Speaker 1: of the generational current in which we were thinking about
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  Speaker 1: cultural sovereignty before sovereignty was a common word on our tongues.
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  Speaker 2: Right and throughout her life, she was only grown in
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  Speaker 2: her love for her community into bringing awareness for her community.
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  Speaker 2: And it was through her art that she was able
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  Speaker 2: to express herself and a love for her people. Here's
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  Speaker 2: a bit from womenhistory dot Org. Harjo had a hard
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  Speaker 2: time speaking out loud because of her many harsh experiences.
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  Speaker 2: She said, quote, I remember the teachers at school threatening
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  Speaker 2: to write my parents because I was not speaking in class,
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  Speaker 2: but I was terrified. Instead, Harjo started painting as a
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  Speaker 2: way to express herself. And yeah, she even talked about
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  Speaker 2: the influences in her life as well. They said, growing up,
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  Speaker 2: Harjo was surrounded by artists and musicians, but she didn't
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  Speaker 2: know any poets. Her mother wrote songs and her grandmother
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  Speaker 2: her aunts were both artists. These influential women inspired Harjo
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  Speaker 2: to explore her creative side. Harjo recalls the very first
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  Speaker 2: poem she wrote, which was in eighth grade, which I
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  Speaker 2: feel like you and I have had these experiences as well.
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  Speaker 2: We're like poetry. I have a feeling it's not on
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  Speaker 2: her level, Like pretty sure about that, but still we
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  Speaker 2: understand this need. So after graduating school, Harjo would go
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  Speaker 2: on to attend the University of New Mexico and eventually
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  Speaker 2: published a book of our Poems in nineteen seventy five
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  Speaker 2: titled The Last Song, which includes like nine of her poems.
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  Speaker 2: After graduating, Harjo went on to attend the University of
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  Speaker 2: Iowa for a Master of Fine Arts, and then she
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  Speaker 2: continued her education at several other institutes for film and
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  Speaker 2: other arts.
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  Speaker 3: So she just kept going.
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  Speaker 2: I feel like she just loved the exploration part, and
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  Speaker 2: I love that for her. And though she continues her
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  Speaker 2: time in the different variations of artistry, including painting and music,
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  Speaker 2: her love for poetry remains.
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  Speaker 1: Yes. And here's what she told Southwest Contemporary dot Com
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  Speaker 1: when they asked her about the role of poetry and
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  Speaker 1: why she continues to write it. Quote, I believe the
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  Speaker 1: role of poetry is what it has always been. Our
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  Speaker 1: hearts get broken again and again, but can be put
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  Speaker 1: back together again with poetry. It is the art closest
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  Speaker 1: to music. It Trump's rhetoric can carry grief, ecstasy, celebration
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  Speaker 1: of despair, or joy. It is a tool for the
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  Speaker 1: kind of disruption needed to clean a wound and heal.
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  Speaker 1: It predicts how we will know who we are in
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  Speaker 1: forthcoming generations. Without it, we will no longer be human.
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  Speaker 1: I keep writing poems because it is kind of a
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  Speaker 1: calling one I didn't actually choose. I was in an
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  Speaker 1: art path. I loved painting and photography. Poetry first came
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  Speaker 1: to me through music. My very early years are marked
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  Speaker 1: by my mother's song making and love of poetry. I
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  Speaker 1: loved poetry, but had no intention of becoming a poet.
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  Speaker 1: It came upon me and essentially asked me to take
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  Speaker 1: care of it. Poetry has become my most teacher. On
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  Speaker 1: that I honor with poetry and music.
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  Speaker 3: That sounds like a poem right there. I love just
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  Speaker 3: her interviews like that as well, so.
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  Speaker 2: With the many books she has written. She's also written
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  Speaker 2: in autobiography. In it, she speaks about her becoming an
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  Speaker 2: advocate for her community and the Native people. In an
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  Speaker 2: NPR interview, they asked her about this and she said, quote,
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  Speaker 2: the sixties, I equated with you know, civil rights, you
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  Speaker 2: know it was a humanity alert that this country is huge,
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  Speaker 2: there's more of us, and not everyone has equal rights.
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  Speaker 2: In the late sixties, I was at Indian boarding school
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  Speaker 2: in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Not your usual boarding school,
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  Speaker 2: but it was an art school, and I remember hearing
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  Speaker 2: about Martin Luther King being killed and all of that
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  Speaker 2: was on the news. And we were all young Native
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  Speaker 2: artists there from eighth grade to two years postgraduate. We'd
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  Speaker 2: stay up late nights talking and making art together and
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  Speaker 2: talking about what it meant to be a Native person
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  Speaker 2: and about history and about how our art was part
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  Speaker 2: it was part of history making. And she continues, and
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  Speaker 2: I think what I've become to realize that what has
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  Speaker 2: motivated my art making is really a strong need for justice,
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  Speaker 2: for people to be treated for everyone. And when I
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  Speaker 2: say people, I also mean animals and insects and the birds,
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  Speaker 2: and the earth and the earth person that we are
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  Speaker 2: all part of that. There's a key element, and that's respect.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, when I became more actively involved as
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  Speaker 2: a student at the University of New Mexico, I was
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  Speaker 2: painting then and just starting to write poetry. I remember thinking,
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  Speaker 2: if my work does nothing else, when I get to
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  Speaker 2: the end of my life. I want Native peoples to
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  Speaker 2: be seen as human beings. And this message has been
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  Speaker 2: something she's been spreading in her poems, books, songs, and paintings,
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  Speaker 2: and along with her being appointed as a Poet Laureate
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  Speaker 2: for three years, she has earned many other accolades, including
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  Speaker 2: winning Yale's twenty twenty three Bulligan Prize for American Poetry.
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  Speaker 2: And of course she has won awards for her music
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  Speaker 2: album as well, including a recent work she just did.
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  Speaker 2: And with all of that, we also had to end
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  Speaker 2: with one of her poems. So that's how we're going
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  Speaker 2: to go. Apologies if we butcher it as pretty usual,
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  Speaker 2: and this one is called fire. A woman can't survive
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  Speaker 2: by her own breath alone. She must know the voices
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  Speaker 2: of mountains. She must recognize the foreverness of blue sky.
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  Speaker 2: She must flow with the elusive bodies of night winds
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  Speaker 2: who will take her into herself.
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  Speaker 1: Look at me. I am not a separate woman. I
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  Speaker 1: am a continuance of blue sky. I am the throat
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  Speaker 1: of the mountains night wind who burns with every breath
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  Speaker 1: she takes.
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  Speaker 2: Gorgeous and yeah, she has like ten books, I believe
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  Speaker 2: just of her poetry alone, so definitely worth reading. She
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  Speaker 2: has a lot out there that's just open, so if
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  Speaker 2: you just want to look her up again. Her name
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  Speaker 2: is Joe Harjoe. She's pretty famous, so just because we're
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  Speaker 2: featuring her doesn't.
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  Speaker 3: Mean she's not known obviously. Yeah, but we.
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  Speaker 2: Just really wanted to celebrate what she is doing, give
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  Speaker 2: her the flowers that she deserves, and many more as
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  Speaker 2: she is still with us, and continue to see what
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  Speaker 2: she does and how she publishes more and more of
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  Speaker 2: our works.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, so go check her out listeners if you
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  Speaker 1: have not already, and if you have and you have
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  Speaker 1: favorite poem, we do love poems here, so send that
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  Speaker 1: our way. You can email us at stephaniemom Stuff atiheartmedia
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: dot com. You can find us on Twitter at mom
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Stuff podcast or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Never Told You. We have a tea public store and
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: a book you can get wherever you get your books.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Things is always to her a super producer, Christina, our
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: executive producer Maya, and your contributor Joey.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
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  Speaker 1: Stuff I Never Told You is production of my Heart Radio.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio. You can check
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• 12:45
  Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.