Ep. 217: Audio Engineer Cato Zane
Self Care Sundays
On our last episode of Season 2, we’re joined by a very special guest: our very own audio engineer, Cato Zane! As Cato has had the pleasure of listening to all our episodes, she’s the perfect candidate to help us reflect and sign off on another great season. Cato gives us some insight on her life as a female audio engineer and dealing with sexism in a male-dominated career. She also tells us about her work with Playing for Change and Music for Peace San Diego. For her, choosing gigs that align with her personal/political interests, like working with inner-city kids, is her own form of...
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Ep. 216, Part 2 on Gun Violence: Mike Martin of RAWTools
Self Care Sundays
On Part II of our two-part episode on gun violence, we’re talking to Mike Martin, the founder and executive director of RAWTools. RAWTools is an organization based in Colorado that focuses on restorative justice and conflict mediation. Mike uses non-violence education and community development to combat gun violence and keep communities safe. A former youth pastor turned blacksmith, Mike is on a mission to turn destruction into creation with Swords to Plows. Through this program, you can send your guns to RAWTools and they will turn it into gardening tools or art pieces. Mike shares his...
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Ep. 216, Part 1 on Gun Violence: Maj Toure of Black Guns Matter
Self Care Sundays
On Part I of our two-part episode on gun violence, we’re speaking to Maj Toure, Chicago youth educator and founder of Black Guns Matter. Maj believes that communities of color should bear arms as a form of self-defense against oppressive forces. He also informs us on the racist history of gun control, mass incarceration, and bias within law enforcement. He uses his organization to give young people an understanding and responsibility for the tool so they know how to safely resolve conflicts and protect themselves. Black Guns Matter provides gun safety education and resources to students in...
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Ep. 215: STEM Educator Canissa Grant
Self Care Sundays
On this episode, we’re talking to Canissa Grant, a science educator based in Avon, Connecticut. With experience as both a private and public school teacher, she shed a light on some of the disparities in curriculum and expectations. She also calls for a heightened sense of transparency and inclusivity in STEM classes, especially for students with disabilities. Teaching through a social justice lens, she aims to give her students a well-rounded and transformative learning experience. Canissa also tells us some of her struggles as a black woman in an all-boys high school and why that makes...
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Ep. 214: Founder of Reboot America and Director of Community at Lesbians Who Tech Angie Coleman
Self Care Sundays
Angie Coleman joins us on the show to tell us how to put the self back in self-care! The tech aficionado is the founder of Reboot America and the Director of Community at Lesbians Who Tech. She joins us on the show to talk about reaching health goals, disconnecting once in a while, and relying on your team to pick up extra work while you’re away on vacation. Angie also unpacks how she approaches self-care, particularly by way of creating challenges for herself. She argues that our fast-paced culture makes us feel bad for taking care of ourselves. Self-care then becomes a competition, not...
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Ep. 213: Progressive Political Analyst Jehmu Greene
Self Care Sundays
On this episode, we’re talking with Jehmu Greene, a Democratic strategist, Fox News contributor, Board Chair of Vote Run Lead, and former candidate for DNC Chair. Jehmu shares how she came about cultivating self-care habits while battling exhaustion on the road with Rock The Vote. For her, the decision to make space for things outside of work was life or death. We talk to Jehmu about her civic engagement with VoteRunLead, keeping her cool during heated discussions on Fox News, and taking charge of your media consumption. She also unpacks the “angry black woman” stereotype as a black...
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Ep. 212: Artist, Activist, and Youth Mentor Maxwell Emcays
Self Care Sundays
On this episode, we’re talking to Chicago-based artist and activist, Maxwell Emcays. Maxwell got his start with t-shirt design and eventually made a name for himself with , a project that aims to memorialize the lost lives of young Chicago residents who are often forgotten in the world of fast-paced media consumption. We talk to Maxwell about his work as a youth mentor and his goals to teach kids in underserved areas to value themselves and overcome the hardships they face. In this way, Maxwell strikes a balance between his own self-care regimen and his passion for community care. Maxwell...
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Ep. 211: Editorial Director at Girlboss Jerico Mandybur
Self Care Sundays
Jerico Mandybur is a culture writer and editorial director at GirlBoss. She’s also the host of Self Service, a weekly podcast on a mission to empower women through tarot and astrology. On this episode, we talk to Jerico about some of her favorite cosmic forms of self-care, astrology’s newfound trendiness, and finding a sense of community in spirituality. She also sheds a light on her struggles as a woman in media and taking pride in her beliefs in the workplace. As a native Australian, Jerico also provides some perspective on the differences between American and Australian work culture,...
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Ep. 210: Founder of Rooted Bodywork Massage Services Carla Gaskins-Nathan
Self Care Sundays
Carla Gaskins-Nathan (she/they) is a licensed massage therapist and owner of Rooted Bodywork based in New York. As a queer person of color, Carla’s work places an emphasis on self-care for people of all backgrounds, body types, and gender identities. As this is Carla’s second time on the show, we touch on some topics we weren’t able to address back in 2017 and expand upon some of their views on Eastern medicine, spirituality, and religious self-care practices. This time, Carla unpacks their ideas on self-soothing, cultural alienation, and the difficulty of setting boundaries with others...
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Ep. 209: Bitch Media Editor-In-Chief Evette Dionne
Self Care Sundays
On this episode, we’re talking to the editor-in-chief of Bitch Media, Evette Dionne. Evette offers some insight on a topic even we struggle with: preserving your mental health while navigating news media and pop culture. As a black feminist and writer, Evette helps us define black and intersectional feminism and how it differs from feminism through the white lens. She also sheds a light on her experience as a former HBCU student, the good, the not so good, and how attending an HBCU be a form of community care. She also offers some guidance on how to manage that relationship with your...
info_outlineToday we speak with travel journalist Nneka Okona, joining us from Colombia! We begin with a look at the life of a travel blogger. Nneka describes the “white gaze” she encounters in travel in her pursuit of documenting the global iterations of blackness through her work. We then discuss her identity as a Nigerian-American and how food offers a lens through which we can understand identity. Though her roots are in travel writing, she notes she has considered writing about grief as a form of self-care to cope with loss. Nneka concludes attesting to the power of one’s “internal voice” and how productivity levels change when its tone shifts from aggressive to gentle.
Find Nneka on Twitter and Instagram @afrosypaella.
Find us on Twitter @SelfCareSundays and on Facebook as Self Care Sundays Podcast.
The transcription for this episode is available here.