38 min listen
Strange Fruit #123: Mother Tongue Techniques Takes Queer Southern Culture to California
FromStrange Fruit
Strange Fruit #123: Mother Tongue Techniques Takes Queer Southern Culture to California
FromStrange Fruit
ratings:
Length:
30 minutes
Released:
Jun 12, 2015
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Happy Pride Month, Fruitcakes! This week we speak with mixed media artists Rahel and SCZ, who are part of a collective called Mother Tongue Techniques. Their group is in San Francisco this weekend presenting "Y’all Come Back: Stories of Queer Southern Migration." They talk about their work, and why it's important to lift up the stories of queer folks and people of color in the south. The actions of (former) Officer Eric Casebolt at a pool party in McKinney, Texas have raised conversations all over the country about who is presumed to be a criminal. Casebolt has since resigned, but questions remain about why the police were called in the first place, why he reacted the way he did to teenagers who weren't resisting, and the long legacy of segregation in swimming pools. Also this week, we talk about a new show Jaison loves called The Prancing Elites. The Oxygen Network's docu-series follows an African-American, gay and non-gender conforming dance team. They perform within the tradition of J-Setting - a style that originated at southern HBCUs in the 1970s. Oxygen's website says the Elites are "challenging societal norms while overcoming several obstacles with passion and humor on their journey to be their authentic selves." We also talk a bit about the troubled relationship of WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson. Griner announced she would file to annul their marriage just a day after Johnson announced they were expecting a baby. Their arrest for domestic violence shortly before their wedding raised questions about how violence is viewed within queer relationships. You count on Strange Fruit to bring you musings on politics, pop culture and black gay life. Every week we do our best to make you laugh, and make you think. Our show is a labor of love for Jai and Doc, so please consider becoming a supporter through our crowdfunding page on Patreon! You can make a monthly pledge (as little as a dollar a month) towards the work we do by visiting www.patreon.com/StrangeFruit Big thanks to Jessica Musselwhite and Erin Fitzgerald (host of Crescent Hill Radio's Keep Hearing Voices) for being our first official patrons! We'll see you on the airwaves next week, and at Louisville's Pride Parade on Friday, June 19th. Look for #TeamStrangeFruit in a red convertible, and be sure to wave and blow us a kiss!
Released:
Jun 12, 2015
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Strange Fruit #56: 'Furious Cool' Co-Author David Henry on the Life of Richard Pryor: This week we spoke with David Henry, co-author of [Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him](http://www.amazon.com/Furious-Cool-Richard-Pryor-World-ebook/dp/B00CL08LNK), about Pryor's work, and why it was so groundbreaking. "He had this sort of vulnerability about himself that just made him irresistible," David says. "He didn't pull any punches." Throughout their research for the book, David and his co-author (and brother) Joe Henry, learned about how Richard honed his craft, sometimes working the same comedy club every night for a week, each night with an improved version of the previous night's material. We talked about Pryor's surprising comments on his sexual experiences with other men, his openness about his drug use, and why audiences of all races found him so relatable. "When he was on stage by himself with just a microphone, he seemed to understand everything about being a human by Strange Fruit