Episode 2 - Black Enough ✊🏾✊🏿✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻

3 G’s Podcast Episode 2

Show Notes

Get informed, get entertained, get engaged, and get inspired.

We are your hosts: Ahkiba, Ellyn, and Pamalar.

Why we started this podcast?

This podcast was born during our family book club reading of A book called “Becoming Heroines” by Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin. It was the catalyst for figuring out how we could use our unique voices, personalities, interests, passions, and experiences; to inform, entertain, engage, and hopefully inspire others to get involved in their communities, politics, self-care, and emotional well-being, and engaged spirituality.

Each week we will bring you culture, Blackness from a working-class perspective, a political candidate that we support and how you can get involved, a book to read that will help you grow, learn, or understand something in a new way. We hope you’ll also enjoy our segment “What’s Good” something good is always going on in Detroit, and we want to share it with you. 

Possible topics

• Colorism: Exclusion of biracial folx during black history mo.
• Recently on social media, it’s come to my attention lots of people jokingly telling their Biracial counterparts that they’re only allowed to celebrate half of this BHM. It’s come to my attention that we exclude our own people but let those words come from a white person. We’d be in an uproar, so I need clarification on why we think it’s ok for us to do it? Biden can’t do anything right. There are complaints that free COVID-19 tests were not distributed equitably in the black community and intergenerational homes. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/12/free-covid-test-policy-disparity/

• I get an argument to be made there, but there’s also this other side. There are free rides to testing; depending on where you live, they will come to your home to test. There are small neighborhood pharmacies that I’ve seen throughout Detroit and Hamtramck that have daily on-site testing. There are many ways in different communities where access was expanded. Whether residents have that information is something else. I’ve seen them work very hard to ensure that testing was accessible. There are even drive-up pharmacy testing sites. Again I can only speak for my neck of the woods in the Hood.  This is why it is essential to focus on local elections. If your city and state government have the right leaders, you will have access to testing and updated information like I’ve seen throughout the pandemic in the City of Detroit. This is not just a federal issue; it shouldn’t be all on the federal government’s shoulders.  This is why Democrats should work on their messaging so that in the Midterms, people know why it’s vital to vote BLUE.  Here’s my slogan, Vote Blue, we care about. Vote Red; they don’t care if you’re dead! It’s imperative to vote during every election. Lives have been and continue to be on the line. 
• What to do with the left’s White Male Patriarchy Joe Rogan- Bill Maher?  [IDK how left Rogan is. I’ve seen him referred to as Libertarian, which is code for friendly racists. Also, he’s been called centrist democrat, i.e., fiscally conservative and mostly socially progressive. i.e., “I have money, don’t take it,” but let’s cut regulations and let businesses have free rein to innovate and create jobs. This is nicely dressed up white male racist patriarchy. (Google him smoking weed with Elon Musk on his show. The racism at Tesla is as widespread as fossil fuels.) Free markets always screw over marginalized folx without regulation, it happens without fail, and if you’re down with that, you are not in line with my values of equity and justice.] 
• Good Humor: How do people in your generation: use... technology? Mom cussed SIRI out until she finally figured out how to use her.
• All politics is local: The White Power Rally at the northern border between Detroit and Canada.

Our book of the week

- Ma, tell us about “Mother Hunger,” who should read it, why, what have you learned.

What’s Good?

Dream Detroit Skating Academy is the newest figure skating option for youth in the city - owned by  Angela Blocker-Loyd and Candice Tamakloe 

https://dreamdetroitskate.com/

It is the only black- and woman-owned figure skating club in the City of Detroit that offers group and private figure skating lessons to youth ages four and up with skill-building opportunities, from Learn to Skate classes to competitive and ice show performances.

This sounds really dope. I love that it gives us a chance to learn something in our community that is very uncommon. ***BLACK HISTORY ALERT***

 It reminds me of growing up watching Black French Olympian Surya Bonaly ice skating.

She was unlike anyone I’d ever seen on the ice. She was the first black figure skater.  Surya Bonaly is also the first and only Olympic figure skater to land a backflip on one blade. The backflip is now banned, BTW. She faced so much racism on and off the ice. I never saw her on ads or get big contracts. She never won a gold medal, and it sure wasn’t because of her talent or skills. She won 1st place in the French figure skating Championships 8 out of 10 years, eight years consecutively.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/dream-detroit-skating-academy-is-first-figure-skating-option-for-youth-in-the-city

Our Candidate of the week - Val Demings

Val is currently serving as US representative of Flordia’s 10th District; She’s running for US Senate to unseat Lil’ Marco Rubio.

 

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Inspiration for the week

Ellyn

What inspired me was a church workshop where we focused on our positive qualities. It was nice because I am my worst critic; I can see many things about myself that I need to change, and I always see them before the good stuff.  

The positive qualities that I shared were my intuitive ability to sense when something is wrong with people and reach out or act in supportive ways, nurturing or reminding them to be gentle with themselves. It’s something that people sense in me.  I have gotten friends and strangers sharing their concerns with me all my life. I always try to express empathy and listen, understanding if there is some way that I can help or if actively listening is the best way to help.

What positive quality do you want to share about yourselves, Mom and Kiba?