Carmella Glenn: The thin line between love and hate
Black Oxygen
Content note: police violence, domestic violence, incarceration, and substance use. In the days after Corey Ruiz was killed by Madison police on Williamson Street, Angela sits down with Carmella Glenn, Alder for District 18. Carmella traces her path into criminal justice reform — a family cycled through the correctional system, years spent working inside the walls herself — and makes the case for civilian oversight as the thing our city can't afford to get wrong. She breaks down what the Office of the Independent Police Monitor actually does, why Madison's has struggled to gain traction,...
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Kierston Ghaznavi: AI & Art
Black Oxygen
This episode of Black Oxygen is a recording of Black Oxygen Live featuring Milwaukee-based artist Kierston Ghaznavi. Born in Arkansas raised in Milwaukee, Kierston has been doing art most of her life. In conversation with Angela, Kierston talks about her history of making paper dolls, going to school for graphic design but realizing she doesn’t want to design for other people, and AI and art. Of AI and art Kierston states, “AI focuses on the outcome of the piece as opposed to the process itself.” #BlackOxygenPodcast #BlackPodcasters #WisconsinArtists...
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Keena Atkinson and Gaylene Barber-Sirmons: Community care starts at home
Black Oxygen
Content note: This episode includes discussion of domestic violence and abuse. Please listen with care. If you or someone you know needs support, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233 or . When Keena Atkinson joined Black Oxygen last year, she knew the conversation wasn't finished — and she knew exactly who needed to be part of what came next: her mother. In this episode, Keena returns alongside Gaylene Barber-Sirmons, making her podcast debut at nearly 70 years old, and together they open up a conversation about survival, faith, healing, and the...
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Mandela Barnes: Dream Bigger
Black Oxygen
Mandela Barnes returns to Black Oxygen for a wide-ranging conversation about his Wisconsin roots, his run for governor, and what it actually takes to rebuild trust across a divided state. Angela and Mandela talk about the Milwaukee factory jobs that built his family's foundation, the corporate greed driving both the opioid crisis and the urban-rural divide, why social media profits from division, and what it means to lead from a place of doubt instead of certainty. They close out with Wisconsin hidden gems and Mandela's current playlist. Topics Covered Mandela's family story: his grandfather,...
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T.R. Williams: On having a perspective beyond your own
Black Oxygen
T.R. Williams, Wisconsin Women's Network Policy Institute lead facilitator, Senior Director of Development at United Way, business owner, and newly initiated member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated — returns to Black Oxygen for an in-depth conversation about the importance of community. TR traces her family's Great Migration story from Mississippi to Milwaukee, and her own winding path from New York City to Madison, where she's been longer than she planned. She and Angela reflect on the particular texture of Black life in Madison — the hidden neighborhoods, east side vs west...
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What's coming from Black Oxygen
Black Oxygen
A quick update from Black Oxygen host Angela Russell about what's coming up next on Black Oxygen.
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Tyrone Creech: Chosen Family, Consent Culture, and the Fight for LGBTQ Youth in Wisconsin
Black Oxygen
In this episode of Black Oxygen, Angela sits down with Tyrone Creech, Executive Director of GSafe Wisconsin for a wide-ranging, deeply honest conversation about what it means to serve LGBTQ+ youth in this political moment. Tyrone shares the realities on the ground: the stripping of trans healthcare, the collapse of corporate and philanthropic support, the impossible moral calculus nonprofits face when funding comes with compromises, and the extraordinary courage of young people who are doing activism when they should just be kids. But this episode isn't just about what's...
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Pastor Marcus Allen: Recovery from Rejection
Black Oxygen
Marcus Allen of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Madison, Wisconsin sits down with Angela for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, service, combat, and community. What unfolds is a portrait of a man shaped by rejection, forged in war, and called to build something lasting. Marcus traces his journey from Clarksdale, Mississippi through Milwaukee's Great Migration chapter, three combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a divine detour that landed him in Madison in 2016. Now celebrating 10 years at Mount Zion — which itself turns 115 this year — he talks candidly about what it takes to...
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Shalicia Johnson: You’re a part of something bigger
Black Oxygen
Shalicia Johnson is a Madison-born photographer and the owner of ArrowStar Photography, where she specializes in community photography, business portraits, and family portraiture. Before picking up a professional camera, she spent 28 years in early childhood education, primarily with infants and toddlers in a continuity of care model. That work, and the deep observational practice it required, shapes everything about how she photographs people today. In this episode, Angela and Shalicia cover a wide range of topics including: Growing up in Madison and the forces that nearly redirected...
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Opal Tomashevska: Welcoming vs Belonging
Black Oxygen
Angela welcomes back the very first Black Oxygen guest, Opal Tomashevska — a Madison native, credit union leader, poet, and newly elected board president of the Lussier Community Education Center — for a rich conversation on community care as resistance. Rooted in Opal's story of growing up in Wexford Ridge and coming of age through community institutions, they explore how the cooperative model of credit unions, Black professional affinity spaces, and tight-knit circles of accountability have sustained Black women through systems that were never designed with them in mind. The conversation...
info_outlineIn this Beyond Wisconsin episode, Angela sits down with Ayris Scales, a tri-sector executive who has navigated government, nonprofit, and corporate worlds with intention and wisdom. Ayris currently serves as SVP of Social Responsibility and Global Initiatives at NAREIT, where she works to expand access to real estate investment opportunities, and runs Able Vision Enterprises, her highly selective consulting practice.
This conversation tackles the urgent realities facing Black women professionals in 2025—particularly the 300,000+ who have been pushed out of the workforce in recent months. Ayris doesn't hold back as she discusses the erosion (not just attrition) of Black women in DEI and social impact roles, the importance of knowing when to stop caring, and why our survival has taught us to see the "mud puddles" others refuse to acknowledge.
Key themes include:
Understanding REITs as an accessible wealth-building tool
The truth about "high-performance work" and organizational politics
Why balance is a myth, but harmony is achievable
The difference between a coach who tries to change you and one who helps you get clear
Transitioning with purpose, plan, and priorities
Recalibrating your specialty and knowing your value
Ayris also shares the origin story of her viral Tipsy Tuesday series (tips, not drinks!), her journey through unemployment and burnout, and why this moment requires Black professionals to invest in themselves differently.
Connect with Ayris on LinkedIn and Instagram @AyrisScales, and learn more about Able Vision at ayrisscales.com.
Featured songs: "Millionaire" by Kelis ft. André 3000, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Nina Simone, "The Man I Need" by Olivia Dean