Latest / Stuff Mom Never Told You / Women Around the World: Lady Phyll
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stefan
- 0:07Speaker 1: Never told your protection of I Heart Radio, and we
- 0:19Speaker 1: are here celebrating activists and advocates around the world. Maybe
- 0:23Speaker 1: we should put that in our title somehow. Um, And
- 0:25Speaker 1: as we always do, we love to celebrate all the
- 0:28Speaker 1: things we can want themes, historic themes, all of that,
- 0:32Speaker 1: and want to keep on our intersectional journey in giving
- 0:35Speaker 1: flowers to those who keep fighting for the rights of
- 0:38Speaker 1: all of our people and for us. So yeah, that's
- 0:42Speaker 1: our tagline, I think? Is that? Is that? It? That?
- 0:44Speaker 1: The one? Oh? I mean sounds great. I'm gonna have
- 0:47Speaker 1: to like look at it and see how long it is.
- 0:49Speaker 1: But yeah, pretty short. But I don't like anything short.
- 0:54Speaker 1: So come on and before we start, since you know again,
- 0:59Speaker 1: we don't want to just been to it any I
- 1:02Speaker 1: have a get to know you question, but not one
- 1:04Speaker 1: that's gonna hopefully make you vomit or anything or bladed anywhere.
- 1:07Speaker 1: Don't blame reference to a story that she was featured
- 1:11Speaker 1: for in a couple of years ago, for thirteen Days
- 1:15Speaker 1: of hel aw I was gonna say their ten weeks.
- 1:17Speaker 1: I think that's how we sell them. Rate Halloween Years
- 1:22Speaker 1: of Halloween. So but the series Thirteen Days of Halloween,
- 1:28Speaker 1: So if you don't know what we're talking about, you
- 1:30Speaker 1: should go check it out. What was the title of
- 1:31Speaker 1: the episode, Well, I caught it red Velvet. I think
- 1:35Speaker 1: in the the format of not mine being like you
- 1:40Speaker 1: should call it red velvet. I think it was called
- 1:43Speaker 1: like forking. It was called the garden, like forking, passing
- 1:45Speaker 1: the garden, but also kicking. Michael Key said my name
- 1:48Speaker 1: he did, so I'm gonna just like wipe my hands
- 1:52Speaker 1: of that and a success. It's amazing. But yeah, so
- 1:56Speaker 1: just you know, throw back to that reference. But again,
- 2:00Speaker 1: it's not gonna be that intensive promise, and I did
- 2:02Speaker 1: give you a heads up, but I think it's gonna
- 2:03Speaker 1: be funny if you had to have an as known
- 2:06Speaker 1: as or an a k A like you know, any
- 2:11Speaker 1: the blank or blank something any what would you want
- 2:14Speaker 1: or what do you think people would give you? See,
- 2:18Speaker 1: I know you said don't panic, but I did kind
- 2:21Speaker 1: of panic because this happened sort of right before, which
- 2:25Speaker 1: is kind of my bad. But I was looking at
- 2:27Speaker 1: my leg I have me and my close group of
- 2:30Speaker 1: friends that have been friends since kindergarten or around there
- 2:33Speaker 1: have like a post it note where we postum nicknames
- 2:36Speaker 1: for each other. None of them are really appropriate for
- 2:39Speaker 1: this question. I don't think I would like it to
- 2:41Speaker 1: be like Annie the kind or Anie Annie the cinnamon role,
- 2:47Speaker 1: or I even was like Annie the Brave, but then
- 2:50Speaker 1: I thought in parentheses it would be brave braves or
- 2:52Speaker 1: any she bravely runs away. Why because I can also
- 2:56Speaker 1: be pretty cowardly when it comes to facing my emotions,
- 3:00Speaker 1: So this became a very intense card. Even yeah, definitely
- 3:05Speaker 1: did not mean it to go that route. I would
- 3:06Speaker 1: say it would definitely be a Star Wars or fandom
- 3:11Speaker 1: level of a k for you. We need a generator,
- 3:15Speaker 1: but you know, we have really creative listeners. So if
- 3:17Speaker 1: y'all can think of one for any police and you
- 3:19Speaker 1: can take one from MA, go ahead to because I
- 3:22Speaker 1: don't know if I have one either. Mine are all
- 3:24Speaker 1: negative connotations, which would be like save me the sad sack,
- 3:28Speaker 1: or you know, if you wanted to go into like
- 3:33Speaker 1: school superlatives. I was the most dependable, and it really
- 3:37Speaker 1: was on the nose. I was like, yeah, I'm pretty boring,
- 3:40Speaker 1: so it can be reliable to a point. I am
- 3:43Speaker 1: very loyal to every point as well, so you know,
- 3:47Speaker 1: I don't know what beyond that. Hopefully it wouldn't be
- 3:52Speaker 1: too sad or negative, right, But yeah, this is how
- 3:56Speaker 1: we go about it, don't we. Yeah, think oil is good.
- 4:02Speaker 1: I almost I almost went with Jedi, but I was like,
- 4:04Speaker 1: I can't. No, I can't the new Jedi. Yes, well
- 4:11Speaker 1: that's why Jedi. No. I just feel like I'm not
- 4:18Speaker 1: cool enough. That's all something to do with Definitely the
- 4:21Speaker 1: seers of the Jedies or something like that. I could
- 4:24Speaker 1: see like you are and aren't the sears that kind
- 4:27Speaker 1: of taking the historical context and sees and knows what's happening.
- 4:30Speaker 1: I felt that could be you for sure. Oh yeah, okay,
- 4:35Speaker 1: the seer of fandom. I didn't say fandom, but yes,
- 4:41Speaker 1: we know the power of the fandom. So you know what,
- 4:44Speaker 1: that's a that's a heavy duty duty. It is. Well,
- 4:49Speaker 1: today we're talking about I know everybody's like, what is happening,
- 4:54Speaker 1: but we are talking about phil Opoku Jimma, also known
- 4:58Speaker 1: as Lady phil a Ka, which is by the way,
- 5:01Speaker 1: a fantastic a k A. And this is what made
- 5:05Speaker 1: me think of it, because, yeah, she's very well known,
- 5:08Speaker 1: especially in the UK, for all of her work. Um
- 5:10Speaker 1: and as an activist who has always been an advocate
- 5:13Speaker 1: for her community even before graduating school at a young age.
- 5:17Speaker 1: And she's had a lot of great influences in her
- 5:19Speaker 1: life to move forward as this and Lady Phil is
- 5:22Speaker 1: a powerhouse who is the embodiment of intersectional activism to me. Um.
- 5:28Speaker 1: Lady Phil is the founder of UK Black Pride, which
- 5:31Speaker 1: was started in two thousand five as a Black Lesbian
- 5:34Speaker 1: in the UK Facebook group. They planned a day event
- 5:37Speaker 1: for the community of South and on Sea and has
- 5:40Speaker 1: now stretched as quote Europe's largest celebration for l g B,
- 5:44Speaker 1: d q I plus people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin
- 5:47Speaker 1: American and Middle Eastern dicit which is on their site
- 5:50Speaker 1: by the way, um and Yeah, they have grown in
- 5:53Speaker 1: leaps and bounds and have done some amazing work in
- 5:57Speaker 1: the UK and around the world. Yeah and at the
- 6:00Speaker 1: organization still here and bigger than ever a Lady Phil
- 6:03Speaker 1: has been working hard for the queer and black community
- 6:06Speaker 1: in the UK as well as all over the world
- 6:08Speaker 1: and about UK Black Pride, Opuku Jemma is just beyond proud,
- 6:14Speaker 1: she says about it in an interview with Bustle. We've
- 6:16Speaker 1: built an amazing team behind UK Black Pride. It has
- 6:19Speaker 1: inspired a whole new generation of global activists that I
- 6:22Speaker 1: see as change makers. That's what gives me energy. Black
- 6:26Speaker 1: Pride demonstrates immense power that is rooted in love and solidarity.
- 6:30Speaker 1: That's what makes me proud. Yeah. And talking with Vogue
- 6:46Speaker 1: in two thousand nineteen, she talked about why she began
- 6:49Speaker 1: the organization. She said, when your community is always under
- 6:52Speaker 1: attack and you're constantly seeing injustices where black and brown
- 6:55Speaker 1: bodies are constantly being attacked, you must do something. When
- 6:59Speaker 1: you look at the Stonewall riots, there was no one
- 7:02Speaker 1: single point of motivation. People decide that enough is enough
- 7:05Speaker 1: and we need to be seen and heard invisible three
- 7:08Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five days of the year. We're not
- 7:11Speaker 1: going to take not being heard anymore, or our Muslim
- 7:14Speaker 1: brothers and sisters being treated like second class citizens. And
- 7:18Speaker 1: a little bit more on the organization, she says, UK
- 7:21Speaker 1: Black Pride is an organization which is set up very
- 7:24Speaker 1: much like the other pride in the country around the world,
- 7:27Speaker 1: but it happens to center around queer people of color,
- 7:30Speaker 1: so African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American, Pacific, Indigenous people. It's
- 7:35Speaker 1: an opportunity to not just celebrate being queer and being
- 7:38Speaker 1: l g b d q I A plus, but also
- 7:40Speaker 1: to look at the challenges we face on a daily
- 7:43Speaker 1: basis while campaigning against homophobia, bi phobia, transphobia, intersex phobia,
- 7:48Speaker 1: as well as the structural systemic racism that exists in society,
- 7:52Speaker 1: in our workplaces, in our schools, our hospitals and so forth.
- 7:56Speaker 1: And she has been doing so much more, including being
- 7:59Speaker 1: the executive director of clidasop Trust, which was started in
- 8:03Speaker 1: twenty campaign for the human rights of the LGBTQ plus
- 8:06Speaker 1: community around the world. Opko Jemma was appointed in twenty nineteen,
- 8:11Speaker 1: making her the first black woman to head a leading
- 8:14Speaker 1: lgbt Q plus organization in the UK, and she has
- 8:18Speaker 1: been involved in bringing queer voices to the written world,
- 8:22Speaker 1: editing and publishing Sister and and Thology written by LGBTQ
- 8:26Speaker 1: plus women of African and or Caribbean descent. Over thirty
- 8:30Speaker 1: one writers were included. On top of that, she has
- 8:32Speaker 1: been the Grand Marshal for both New York Pride and
- 8:35Speaker 1: Toronto Pride. Right She's been there um and she's been
- 8:38Speaker 1: recognized for her amazing work, including getting the Black LGBT
- 8:42Speaker 1: Community Award of the Big Society Award, nomination World Pride Powerless,
- 8:46Speaker 1: European Diversity Awards Campaigner of the Year in twenty seventeen,
- 8:50Speaker 1: was on the Pride Power List in one and so
- 8:53Speaker 1: many more. And as for the future, she says in
- 8:56Speaker 1: the same vote interview quote, I hope for the future
- 8:59Speaker 1: that we see real, meaningful change for black and brown
- 9:02Speaker 1: people in the country and abroad, that the rights that
- 9:05Speaker 1: are afforded to some are afforded to all. That's why
- 9:09Speaker 1: we're doing what we are doing. Pride is not just
- 9:11Speaker 1: the celebration. It's about the change that needs to happen
- 9:14Speaker 1: so that we are not constantly living in a state
- 9:16Speaker 1: of being marginalized. I may not be here in the
- 9:20Speaker 1: next ten years, twenty years, or thirty years, but I
- 9:22Speaker 1: want to be able to leave a legacy, a legacy
- 9:24Speaker 1: that means that the shoulders of the giants I have
- 9:26Speaker 1: sued upon well, that the next generation can do that too,
- 9:30Speaker 1: that they aren't having to fight twice as hard as us,
- 9:33Speaker 1: but things are made easier for them. Yeah, and we
- 9:36Speaker 1: wanted to have that end quote because absolutely, I think
- 9:41Speaker 1: we all hope to be able to make it easier
- 9:45Speaker 1: for the next generation and not to see the cyclical
- 9:49Speaker 1: cycle that unfortunately we have to. And as in fact,
- 9:52Speaker 1: she talked about how they started this organization, the UK
- 9:56Speaker 1: Black Pride, because she was somewhat disappointed a out Pride
- 10:01Speaker 1: in its events at the young age, and how it
- 10:03Speaker 1: was all pretty much for the white community and showing
- 10:07Speaker 1: what it is to be diverse, and again talking about
- 10:10Speaker 1: the intersectional needs of marginalized communities. That it's great that
- 10:14Speaker 1: you know, we're celebrating one thing, but while aren't we
- 10:17Speaker 1: including all the things? And I think we've talked about
- 10:19Speaker 1: that so often, whether we're talking about the Women's March,
- 10:21Speaker 1: where we're talking about feminism in itself, that it has
- 10:24Speaker 1: to be intersectional or doesn't mean anything. And uh, yeah,
- 10:28Speaker 1: we have to celebrate those who have pushed for that
- 10:31Speaker 1: narrative to finally be at the forefront. Yeah. And I
- 10:35Speaker 1: love the idea of thinking about the next generation and
- 10:40Speaker 1: having that hope of I'm doing this so the next
- 10:43Speaker 1: generation can build off of it and do even better
- 10:45Speaker 1: and so on and so forth. Um, I think it's
- 10:48Speaker 1: very hopeful. Yeah, Yeah, it's very hopeful and needed. So yes,
- 10:53Speaker 1: happy to to talk about these people as always to
- 10:56Speaker 1: give flowers as always, and also as always, if you
- 11:00Speaker 1: have any suggestions for people organizations we should shout out
- 11:04Speaker 1: in this segment, please let us know. You can email
- 11:08Speaker 1: us at Stephanie your Mom Stuff at ihart me dot com.
- 11:10Speaker 1: You can find us on Instagram at Stuff I've Never
- 11:12Speaker 1: Told You are on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast. Thanks
- 11:14Speaker 1: as always to our super producer Christina. We need to
- 11:17Speaker 1: give her her flowers to you who are probably get
- 11:20Speaker 1: like will flower. Yes, Christina, and thanks to you for
- 11:27Speaker 1: listening Stuff I Never Told You respection I heart radio.
- 11:30Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my radio was bea her radio app,
- 11:32Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or you listen to your favorite shows