The ZAMI NOBLA Podcast

This interview was recorded in February 2024. Sangodare (Julia Roxanne Wallace) is a sweet space for transformation. Sangodare comes from a thick legacy of Black Baptist preachers and church leaders and currently activates Black Feminist sermonics at a weekly Sunday Service held by Mobile Homecoming Trust. As co-founder of Black Feminist Film School (2012), Visiting Artist in Film at Lawrence University (2017-18) and Artist in Residence at UMN-Twin Cities in the Art Department (2017-19), Sangodare brings a creative, evolutionary and love filled approach to filmmaking, composing, interactive design and preaching. As co-founder of Black Feminist Film School (founded along with Sista Docta Alexis Pauline Gumbs, APG) Sangodare created Ritual Screening, a film viewing technology that is interactive and grounded in Black Feminist practice and our non-linear reality. As co-founder of Mobile Homecoming with APG, a national experiential archive project, Sangodare amplifies generations of Black LGBTQ brilliance. Sangodare's most recent exhibition called Inherit Light: An Evolutionary Practice of Love Consciousness (including a month long gallery exhibition at UMN in 2018) engages Black southern preaching and singing legacies, sound, altars, sacred implements through sculpture and installations, film and nature. It also features small and large-scale ruminations on round sculpture and buildings - domes. The dome in Inherit Light is the multi-sensory and interactive sacred space where Sangodare's invocations and sermons are ignited through the site-specific exhibits of Inherit Light. Sangodare (pronounced shahn-GO-dar-ay) Sangodare’s Website https://www.sangodare.com/ Mobile Homecoming https://www.mobilehomecoming.org/live A Sweet Space for Growth & Transformation https://sangodare.podia.com/ Quirc https://quirc.app/

In February 2024, The ZAMI NOBLA Podcast sat down to talk with Kendra Bryant Aya and Cyndi Ixchele Aya about their internet creation, “This is US: Unscripted Sundays with Kindy.” The couple shared the joys and challenges of maintaining a digital presence and the sacredness of storytelling. Kendra N. Bryant (s/hers) is a Black lesbian womanist, a fraternal twin, who enjoys reading, writing, singing, dancing & shucking & jiving to & about all things Black. She spends too much time theorizing about white America’s hypocrisy; fangirls over Alice Walker; writes tankas & haikus; & trips the light fantastic to Kanye West, Aretha Franklin, & Lauryn Hill. When the spirit moves her, Kendra paints & collages, too. She endeavors to be a renowned poet. In the meantime, she works as an associate professor of English at North Carolina A&T State University. Read more about Kendra at drknbryant.com. Cyndi Ixchele Aya (s/hers) is a queer Black woman and a mother of two sons who enjoys assisting people in developing tools and practices that promote their healing. She is a licensed clinical mental health counselor with 15+ years counseling experience. Cyndi Ixchele leans into non-traditional healing methods through her energy work as a reiki master, which informs the holistic approach she takes in supporting her clients’ mind-body-spirit selves. She believes when people consider their whole selves, they are more likely to engage in healing practices that fully support their lived experiences. Read more about Cyndi and her practices at innerversations.com. Follow them at the links below: Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@we.are.kindy Instagram https://www.instagram.com/we.are.kindy/

Lana Williams is the Board Chair of ZAMI NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging). She is a Financial Coach, with over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Her experience includes banking, mergers and acquisitions, investment advising, and bank industry consulting with some of the largest Fortune 500 companies. Positions she’s held include Regional Sales Manager, Senior Sales Consultant, and Project Manager. As a Financial Coach, Lana helps clients develop healthy money habits. She educates and works one-on-one with them to create a financial plan that reflects their goals. Together, they structure budgets, implement debt payoff strategies, and create savings plans. She also serves as an accountability partner, cheerleader, and supporter. Lana is a graduate of Florida A&M University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics. She has been an active volunteer most of her adult life. In addition to her current role as Chair of the Board of Directors, Lana has previously served on boards including Fourth Tuesday, and In the Life Atlanta, both in the LGBTQ+ community in Atlanta, GA. She also served on the United Way Allocations Committee. Lana is an avid traveler, and lover of music, theater, photography, and most recently, camping. lana@lwilliamfinance.com 404.490.1872 Ebook: The Financial Detox https://payhip.com/b/W8B1g Website https://www.lwilliamfinance.com/ IG https://www.instagram.com/lwilliamfinance TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@lwilliamfinance YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@lwilliampersonalfinanceedu3863 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lwilliamfinance

Lynnette White and Sabrina Francis-White sat down with Angela to share how a Blind date turned into a Fairy Tale Come True. And to discuss what it takes to sustain 32 years of love, understanding and marriage. As they continue to plan their next adventure in life.

Mary Hooks is a 42yr old, Black, lesbian, feminist, abolitionist, pan-Africanist, mother, wife and a member of Southerners On New Ground and part of the leadership of the Movement 4 Black Lives. Mary joined SONG as a member in 2009 and began organizing with SONG in 2010. Mary’s commitment to Black liberation, which encompasses the liberation of LGBTQ folks, is rooted in her experiences growing up under the impacts of the War on Drugs. Her people are migrants of the Great Migration, factory workers, church folks, Black women, hustlers and addicts, dykes, studs, femmes, queens and all people fighting for the liberation of oppressed people. Mary Hooks believes that in order to reach a world that is free from fear and the safety and dignity of all people can be honored, Black people, oppressed people, and all those who are impacted by white supremacy must vision a new world, build our collective power, both locally and globally and take action. She has been passionate about transformative organizing work that changes hearts and minds and has been at the forefront of combating racism, by taking on fights that impact the lives of Black and brown queer and trans people in the South, such as the work to abolish money bail, defunding police, re-imagining public safety and developing new organizers. When she is not ripping the eyebrows off of white supremacy and injustice, you can find Hooks plotting, scheming, and dreaming, but most of all loving on her people. “The mandate; to avenge the suffering of our ancestors, to earn the respect of future generations, and to be transformed in the service of the work. Let’s get free ya’ll!” - Mary Hooks

The ZAMI NOBLA North Carolina State Chapter holds a monthly potluck. I took a road trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, to experience one of these gatherings and had the pleasure of interviewing one of their members, Marilyn McClain. Marilyn McClain’s Bio: I Am a body Alchemist. One who is patient, grounded, wise, modest and who enjoys learning and teaching. My mind and soul are open. Love is my greatest tool. I use my inner strength and spirit to transform the lives of others through movement and visioning. I am a licensed physical therapist in the state of North Carolina. I have been practicing for 20 years. I am certified as an instructor for Tai Chi for Immunity and Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention. There are many forms of exercise and I assist clients in discovering what resonates with their whole being. ZAMI NOBLA North Carolina Chapter info: https://www.zaminobla.org/chapters ZAMI NOBLA North Carolina Chapter Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1157415168054367 Janyce Jackson Jones (President- ZAMI NOBLA North Carolina State Chapter) interview: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/zaminobla/id/17779127

Stephanie Anne Johnson is a second-generation theater practitioner. Her mother Virginia Johnson (Green) worked with The American Negro Theatre In N.Y. ​Johnson has been a lighting designer for over forty years. Nationally she has done designs for La Mama Theatre (N.Y.), Telluride Repertory Theatre (Colorado), The Arizona Repertory Theatre, The National Black Theater, and The Apollo (N.Y.). Locally, she has worked with Cultural Odyssey, Rhodessa Jones, Afro Solo, Ubuntu Theatre, African American Shakespeare Company, The Aurora Theater, Shotgun Players, The Marin Theatre Company, and many other groups. Her design work has also been seen in India, The Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Canada and France. She was awarded a Gerbode Design Fellowship in partnership with Cultural Odyssey of San Francisco in 1998. Photographs of Ms. Johnson's designs were included in the show Onstage: A Century of African American Stage Design which was presented at The N.Y. Public Library For The Performing Arts in 1995. Stephanie also has written, directed and performed in theater presentations. Stephanie’s One-Woman Show: "Every 21 Days Cancer & Yoga & Me " July 21, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTEprQN0sRE Stephanie’s Website: Light Essence Design https://www.lightessencedesign.com/?fbclid=IwAR1PRWIoov_uuprv1a3L-zGK7xARGG_yAGb3QbNs43-G1ay16pJoOjmLOxA

M Shelly Conner, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Central Arkansas. Her multi-genre writings examine culture through a dapperqueer womanist lens and include publications in Crisis Magazine, the A.V. Club, NBC News, and the Grio. Her debut novel "everyman", is currently available in hard cover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. Shelly is repped by Beth Marshea at Ladderbird Agency. Her website: http://mshellyconner.com/m Buy the book: https://www.blackstonepublishing.com/everyman-dat0.html#541=94

The ZAMI NOBLA Podcast celebrated four years of serving as a sound source for Black lesbian herstory in August 2022. This episodes celebrates that achievement with excerpts from various episodes. Links to each episode can be found below. Kamilah Aisha Moon Talks about the Human Business of Poetry https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/kamilah-aisha-moon-talks-about-the-human-business-of-poetry Cynthia Mckinney Takes on Heart Atttack Hill & Loses 52 Pounds https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/cynthia-mckinney-takes-on-heart-atttack-hill-loses-52-pounds Cheryl Clarke Takes us to School https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/cheryl-clarke-takes-us-to-school Deidre McCalla is no 9 to 5 Singer Songwriter https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/deidre-mccalla-is-no-9-to-5-singer-songwriter Jillian Ford Talks Shop on Education, Innovation, and DeColonized Classrooms https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/jillian-ford-talks-shop-on-education-innovation-and-decolonized-classrooms Joi and Jane Mitchell Talk about Work and Residency Abroad https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/joi-and-jane-mitchell-talk-about-work-and-residency-abroad Jowanna Tillman and Edonna Koon Talk about Living the RV Life https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/jowanna-tillman-and-edonna-koon-talk-about-living-the-rv-life Rev. Maressa Pendermon Speaks on Normalizing Grief and Creating a Toolbox for Emotional Well-being https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/rev-maressa-pendermon-speaks-on-normalizing-grief-and-creating-a-toolbox-for-emotional-well-being Black Lesbian Comic Karen Williams Gets Serious About the Business of Being Funny https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/black-lesbian-comic-karen-williams-gets-serious-about-the-business-of-being-funny Ericka Huggins on Mothers, Mindfulness, and Meditation https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/ericka-huggins-on-mothers-mindfulness-and-meditation Trey Anthony Shines her Limelight on Love, Living Out Loud, and Vulnerability https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/ep-002-trey-anthony-shines-her-limelight-on-love-living-out-loud-and-vulnerability Dr. Tonia Poteat on, "Deserving Research that Reflects Your Real Life Lived Experience https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/dr-tonia-poteat-on-deserving-research-that-reflects-your-real-life-lived-experience Michelle Elizabeth Brown Talks about Podcasting, Poetry, and Pride https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/michelle-elizabeth-brown-talks-about-podcasting-poetry-and-pride Dr. Lourdes Dolores Follins On Black LGBT Health, Yoruba Spirituality, and Therapy https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/dr-lourdes-dolores-follins-on-black-lbgbt-health-yoruba-spirituality-and-therapy

Dr. Moya Bailey is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Northwestern University. Her work focuses on marginalized groups' use of digital media to promote social justice and she is interested in how race, gender, and sexuality are represented in media and medicine. She is the digital alchemist for the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network and the Board President of Allied Media Projects, a Detroit-based movement media organization that supports an ever growing network of activists and organizers. She is a co-author of #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice (MIT Press, 2020) and is the author of Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance (New York University Press, 2021). Visit her website: https://www.moyabailey.com/

This interview was recorded via video conference on October 29, 2021 by Angela Denise Davis. Gaye Adegbalola talked about her early years in Virginia, college life in Boston, and her career as a Blues musician, griot, and activist. Gaye Adegbalola’s website: https://adegbalola.com/ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GayeAdegbalolaMusician/ Gaye Todd Adegbalola, a Blues Music Award winner, is best known musically as a founding member of Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women (1984 – 2009). The group recorded exclusively with Alligator Records. Additionally, she has 6 recordings on her own label, Hot Toddy Music (Todd is her family name). Gaye was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia where she sat-in, picketed and protested its racism. She graduated as valedictorian of the then-segregated Walker-Grant High School, went “ up North” to Boston University to finish with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. Prior to becoming a teacher, she worked as a technical writer for TRW Systems, a biochemical researcher at Rockefeller University, and a bacteriologist at Harlem Hospital. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Media (with a concentration in photography) from Virginia State University.

Angela interviewed Dr. Emilie M. Townes on October 12, 2021, via video conference. Townes talked about growing up in Durham, North Carolina, her formative years in theological education and parachurch work, and the necessity of having a robust hope. Emilie M. Townes, an American Baptist clergywoman, is a native of Durham, NC. She holds a DMin from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a PhD in Religion in Society and Personality from Northwestern University. Townes is the Dean and Distinguished Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, becoming the first African American to serve as its dean in 2013. She is the former Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale University Divinity School where she was the first African American and first woman to serve as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In 2008, she was the first African American woman to serve as president of the American Academy of Religion and recently served as President of the Society for the Study of Black Religion from 2012-2016. She taught on the faculties of Union Theological Seminary, NY and Saint Paul School of Theology. She is the editor of two collection of essays, author of four books including her groundbreaking book, Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil. She is a co-editor of two books. Townes was elected a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

Angela sat down with Sharon Bridgforth on October 8, 2021, to record this interview via video conference. Bridgforth talked about her formative years, her pathway to healing, intergenerational mentoring, and her life as a touring artist in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharon Bridgforth's website https://www.sharonbridgforth.com/ Twin Cities PBS did a special on Pillsbury House Theatre - who GRACIOUSLY chose to feature "dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/The Show!!!" The special premiered on 7/10/21. https://www.datblackmermaidmanlady.com/the-show A Doris Duke Performing Artist, Sharon Bridgforth is a writer that creates ritual/jazz theatre. A 2020-2023 Playwrights’ Center Core Member, Sharon has received support from Creative Capital, MAP Fund, the National Performance Network and is a New Dramatists alumnae. Sharon served as a dramaturg for the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative’s Choreographic Fellowship program and has been in residence with: Brown University’s MFA Playwriting Program; University of Iowa’s MFA Playwrights Program; The Theatre School at DePaul University; allgo, A Texas Statewide QPOC Organization; and The Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Widely published, Sharon author of the Lambda Literary award winning, the bull-jean stories, and her performance piece, delta dandi, is published in solo/black/woman: scripts, interviews and essays. Sharon is grateful to say that she has been supported by the Zami community since 1998 - when she and RedBone Press Founder and Editor, Lisa C. Moore were first out on the road with the bull-jean stories.

This interview was recorded by Angela Denise Davis on October 14, 2021, via video conference. Deidre McCalla sat down with Angela to talk about McCalla’s early life in New York, her start in music, the herstory of her place in the women’s music movement, and the way the COVID-19 pandemic changed her life. The music heard in the interview was used courtesy of Deidre McCalla. You can enjoy the full tracks on YouTube at the following links: Walk Me Down to the River https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZEY7idOCAc I Do Not Walk This Path Alone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhNnJx6Cd58 Deidre’s website: https://deidremccalla.com/ Photo used in episode art: Irene Young Playing For Keeps is an apt title for the latest cd from singer/songwriter Deidre McCalla. From the moment Deidre takes the stage, her engaging presence and irresistible blend of folk, country, rock, and pop seize the listeners by the heart and won't let go. Deidre McCalla came of age in the fiery blaze of NYC's folk heyday - a time when Greenwich Village clubs were filled with the likes of Dylan, Baez, and Ochs; a time when Motown ruled the top of the charts and the streets of America screamed with anger and civil unrest. Her first album, Fur Coats and Blue Jeans, was released when Deidre was 19 and a student at Vassar College. With a theater degree tucked under her belt and an acoustic guitar tossed in the back of a battered Buick station wagon, Deidre McCalla hit the proverbial road and never looked back. Deidre later majored in jazz guitar at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and released three albums with the pioneering women's music label Olivia Records. The Miami Herald affectionately dubs her a "dreadlocked troubadour." From Maui to Maine, college coffeehouses to Carnegie Hall, Deidre McCalla is a much beloved performer in both folk and women's music circles and has shared the stage with a long list of notables that includes Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, Holly Near, Odetta, Cris Williamson, and Sweet Honey in the Rock. With five critically acclaimed albums to her credit, Deidre McCalla remains the ever seeking road warrior, her words and music chronicling our strengths and weaknesses and celebrating the power and diversity of the human spirit. A single parent residing in Georgia with her son, Deidre has taught Performance at Warren Wilson College's Swannanoa Gathering. Deidre's work has been published in Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology, The Original Coming Out Stories, and Chrysalis: A Feminist Quarterly, and she is featured in The Power of Words: A Transformative Language Arts Reader. Deidre is a proud member of AFM Local 1000 and the North American Folk Alliance.

On August 19, 2021, Angela sat down with Sherri Jackson to record her story about living in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic as a healthcare professional. Jackson is a healthcare provider,minister and activist. She has a wide range of LBGTQ.and AIDS organizational involvement. She has been a volunteer with the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club-Health Committee,and the Chicago Department of Public Health.She has been a board member of Horizon Community Services (1996-2000) was a Human Rights Campaign Congressional Action Coordinator (1997-1998) was with Chicago Black Lesbian and Gays(1996-2000} as Corresponding Secretary and program chair. Was on the board of the Lesbian Community Cancer Project, among many group involvements. Jackson also volunteered as a Chaplain for the Night Ministry in Chicago. As well help organize various events at places of worship centered around women and LBGTQ individuals.

Melodie J. Rodgers is the Founding Editor of SOREN LIT. Her creative writing and photography has appeared in Johns Hopkins University's Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review, G.R.I.T.S. - Girls Raised In the South: An Anthology of Southern Queer Womyns' Voices and Their Allies, Future is Fiction, Underground, CIEE Brazil Poetry OnFilm project, and many others. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte. Melodie is a Black and Southern writer who lives with her hubby and warrior child beneath the sleepy magnolia trees of Stone Mountain, Georgia. Check out: SOREN LIT website: www.sorenlit.com Follow Melodie J. Rodgers on Clubhouse, Twitter: MelodieJRodgers, and Instagram: themelodiouslife

Our guest today is the Black lesbian feminist writer, Cheryl Clarke. She is the author of Narratives: Poems in the Tradition of Black Women (1982), Living as a Lesbian (1986, reprinted in 2015), Humid Pitch (1989), Experimental Love (1993), and By My Precise Haircut (2016). Since 1979, she has written for and edited numerous publications, including the iconic feminist anthologies, This Bridge Called My Back: Writings By Radical Women of Color (Moraga and Anzaldua, eds., 1980), and Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology (Smith, ed., 1982). Most recently her work appears in Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought (Jones, ed., 2021) Since 2013, she has been a co-organizer of the annual Hobart N. Y. Festival of Women Writers. She received her Ph.D. in English from Rutgers University. And after 41 years of service there, on the New Brunswick (N.J.) campus, she retired in 2013. This interview was recorded by Angela Denise Davis via a ZOOM online video on June 23, 2021. You can view a short clip of Dr. Clarke reading the poem she recited at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbgJhSTbR9E Visit ZAMI NOBLA online at https://www.zaminobla.org/.

Joyce Penalver is a retired therapist in Vallejo, California. She was instrumental in forming social clubs and newsletters serving Black lesbians in the Greater Bay Area. We recorded this interview with her in February 2020 before the nationwide lockdowns prompted by COVID-19.

In August 2020, Verlena L. Johnson was featured in ZAMI NOBLA’s virtual art show, Cocktails, Tea, and Art. This interview was recorded remotely a few days before the show. Verlena L. Johnson was born and raised in the Midwest (Wisconsin and Illinois), but also briefly lived in New York City, Ealing England, Oakland, Long Beach and most recently Los Angeles. She earned a Master's Degree in Afro-American Studies (emphasis: Art History, 1996) from the University of Wisconsin — Madison and a Master’s of Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Sculpture, 2001). She has also studied wood carving with master Ghanaian woodcarvers and at both Penland School of Craft and Haystack Mountain School of Craft. Her M.A. thesis, “The Image Text Composite in the Art of Faith Ringgold: Form and Narrative” explores Ringgold's art using WJT Mitchell's Picture Theory to examine the meaning created by Ringgold combining images and text. It also examines Ringgold's "Picasso's Studio," as a meta-picture or a picture about pictures, specifically focusing on Black female subjectivity. Thesis Advisor: Freida High Tesfagiorgis. She has exhibited her work in Chicago (IL), Madison (WI), New York (NY), Oakland and Los Angeles (CA), amongst other places.

Reverend Elder Janyce Jackson Jones was one of the artists showcased in August 2020 at ZAMI NOBLA’s visual art exhibit, Cocktails, Tea, and Art. She discovered her passion for art upon retiring to coastal North Carolina after 21 years of dedicated service to her church and social justice causes in Newark, New Jersey. She since has experimented with and been inspired by several techniques and styles, finding what she calls “Creative Happiness” in the process of pouring paint onto canvas to create abstract, vibrantly colored, soul-stirring works of Fluid Art. Online galleries of her art can be found at the following links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janycejacksonjones/?ref=page_internal Instagram https://www.instagram.com/artbyjanyce/ Prior to retirement, Reverend Janyce served as the Co-Pastor of Newark’s Unity Fellowship Church (UFC), an inclusive, nondenominational, social justice-oriented ministry. Prior to that, she helped to found Liberation in Truth UFC, also in Newark, serving for eight years as its Pastor and Executive Director of that church’s Liberation in Truth Social Justice Center. Under her leadership, that Center provided spiritual, social, and mental health programs and services, classes, support groups, meals, and HIV/AIDS education and prevention services to the greater Newark area including the LGBTIQ community. Reverend Janyce currently lives in the Wilmington, North Carolina, area with her spouse, Valerie Jones, and their dog Buster. Ever the activist, she continues to volunteer and support her intersecting communities of affiliation, working at the local senior center and serving on the boards of the Frank Harr Foundation, SAGE Wilmington, and the local branch of the NAACP.