“I strongly believe that what is true for me doesn’t necessarily mean that the opposite is false for another person.” Enzi Tanner is a Community Safety Organizer at Jewish Community Action( JCA ). He's also a licensed social worker who has spent the past two decades focused on police brutality & police violence. In this episode, Enzi talks about the ways being a Black, trans, disabled, Jew impacts the way he thinks about public safety & how he shows up in community. You can listen to Enz...
Dec 28, 2021•47 min•Season 4Ep. 2
“Why are you Korean-American and from Minnesota?” Naomi Ko is a Filmmaker, Writer, Actor, Comedy Maker, a Sundance Fellow & Bush Fellow. She is a co-founder of APIA MN Film Collective + Funny Asian Women Kollective ( FAWK ). She gets on a Zoom call with Levi to talk about perceptions inside and outside of Asian-American communities. They talk comedy, creativity, dating, H-Mart, and being an asshole. Naomi would love it if you supported Red Canary Song...
Nov 17, 2021•52 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Resmaa Menakem released a racialized trauma e-course in 2019 to work in concert with 'My Grandmother's Hands.' This is a reissue of his appearance in 2018 with a brief new opening about the e-course. “ For 400 years you have not had to address this. ” - Resmaa Menakem Resmaa Menakem talks about his work and the goals of his book 'My Grandmother's Hands,' including the healing needed around racialized trauma, the different approaches needed for different bodies, and whose responsibility it is to ...
Apr 18, 2019•1 hr 4 min
“When white people make roses, they’re just f***ing roses!” On this episode, TK Dutes talks about code switching, producing radio, what it means to be professional and the realities of living your dream. Keisha TK Dutes is a graduate of CUNY Brooklyn College with a degree in TV/Radio. Throughout her college career, she found her niche in college radio stations and began honing her personality as an energetic, opinionated, funny programmer and thorough interviewer. Listen to TK's radio show 'TK i...
Dec 19, 2018•49 min
“There’s a big difference between lived equality and legal equality.” Nancy has been locally and nationally recognized for her role as owner and CEO of Clockwork . She is co-author of “Interactive Project Management: Pixels, People, and Process” (New Riders, 2012) and author of the upcoming book, “How to Win at Business by Being Nice to Humans.” She serves as the Chair Emeritus of the National Board of Directors of the Family Equality Council, is on the Board of Trustees at Minnesota Public Radi...
Nov 20, 2018•47 min
“Health is not a moral imperative.” On this episode, fat feminist Cat Polivoda delves into body positivity, fat advocacy and what it takes to run her own business. She also talks about being a joyous person and explains what happens when we conflate thinness with health. Cat Polivoda owns Cake Plus-Size Resale - a body positive, plus-size thrift shop in Minneapolis, MN. Focused on fostering a shop space and local community centered on radical self love and size-acceptance, she is dedicated to ma...
Oct 10, 2018•52 min
“Just because it’s journalism doesn’t mean it has to be unattractive. It can feel good, too.” Filiberto Nolasco Gomez grew up in a working-class Mexican community in Eastern Los Angeles. On this episode of the podcast, he talks about how much his name means to him and how challenging it seems to be for folks to pronounce it correctly. He also talks about citizenship, the real work of being a journalist, what music means to him and how masculinity operates as a means of survival and sometimes a b...
Sep 05, 2018•55 min
This is a 3 minute sample with clips from a few episodes of Not About You. Check it out, share it, and then subscribe and listen to all of the episodes!
May 21, 2018•3 min
“ For 400 years you have not had to address this. ” - Resmaa Menakem Resmaa Menakem talks about his work and the goals of his book 'My Grandmother's Hands,' including the healing needed around racialized trauma, the different approaches needed for different bodies, and whose responsibility it is to engage with the work of racial and social justice. Resmaa Menakem MSW, LICSW, S.E.P. has appeared on both The Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil as an expert on conflict and violence. He has served as di...
Apr 19, 2018•1 hr
“My Thai-ness or sense of Thai identity is not up for anyone else to quantify based on how white I seem.” Tricia Heuring talks about being "racially ambiguous" and "automatically American." She shares her culture shock from arriving in the US at 18 having learned about her own American culture largely through television and American cultural items she had access to growing up in Egypt, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia. And Tricia shares how her lived experiences have given her a unique perspective as ...
Mar 30, 2018•56 min
This episode features Ashley Fairbanks talking about growing up poor, being Anishinaabe and whether or not there’s a right way to be native. Ashley talks about the relationship between art and activism and she shares where her confidence comes from. Ashley Fairbanks is an Anishinaabe artist, organizer, and digital strategist. As an interdisciplinary designer, Ashley works with a cohort of artists that do racial justice popular education and organizing, seeking ways to creatively innovate social-...
Mar 12, 2018•58 min
Carin Mrotz presented this Yom Kippur sermon in Minneapolis at the Shir Tikvah Synagogue in 2017 The text as prepared for delivery: In preparing, I asked my self: What do I want to say to you. What do I need you to know, today, on Yom Kippur. And who am I to tell you? I think about that a lot – who am I in relation to this congregation, this community. I’m the director of an organization that serves this community, and also asks a lot of you. And I’m a member of this congregation. It can be hard...
Oct 02, 2017•18 min
This episode features three conversations about how white folks can engage with themselves and the world in response to racism and anti-semitism. This is a response to the events in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017, as well as so many other things happening in the United States. These conversations were recorded in September of 2017. The guests featured on this episode are: Emily Krumberger Brendan Kelly Laney McKee This episode concludes with a performance of "How to explain white supremacy t...
Sep 26, 2017•1 hr 7 min
“No one is obligated to be an educator about their identity.” Artist Rebecca Kling talks about issues surrounding gender, bathroom use and anti trans activism. She talks about being a transgender activist and educator. Rebecca unpacks the idea of reciprocity and whether someone is or isn't obligated to teach about their identity. She shares personal stories of traveling as a performer and advocate and how that's influenced her understanding of how progress is made. Rebecca also talks about ways ...
Jun 15, 2017•50 min
“It is difficult to dismantle a system that is invisible to you.” Bharti Wahi talks about frequently dealing with the question, "what are you?" and where that question comes from. She talks about growing up in rural Minnesota with immigrant parents from Canada and Southeast Asia. Bharti talks about systemic oppression and the challenges in the way of changing systems. She talks about the myth that brown people don't live in the middle of the country and about being angry but staying hopeful and ...
Jun 08, 2017•55 min
"People are trying to figure out how to categorize you and I think that's just a human thing." 'Pogi' talks about being an actor of color and how that makes him wonder about parts he does or doesn't get. He talks about people assume he speaks Spanish because of how he looks even though he's a Filipino-American. He talks about identifying outside of the typical "racial binary" and about being a part of a family that has ongoing immigration into the US. Eric 'Pogi' Sumangil is a two-time recipient...
May 30, 2017•57 min
PH Copeland shares her experience as a Pan-African woman from North Minneapolis building power through community organizing. She shares about the way larger women are treated and talked to, the way people attempt to complement and connect that can lead to unintended harm. And she talks about the large and small ways people can dismantle oppressive systems.
May 22, 2017•48 min
"I have decided I don't care enough to be normal." On this episode, Jess Banks talks about tracing her inability to ignore injustice back to childhood and how that set her apart from her family. She shares openly her struggles with chronic pain and what it's like to being a parent with autism raising a child with autism. Jess also talks about why she shows up to her activism work, what she gets from being a part of movements and what it means to her to be a part of a community. Jess Banks is a w...
May 14, 2017•1 hr 11 min
“If it has to get aggressive in a way of defending myself or others, I’m absolutely okay with that.” Why does representation matter on film, in art and in life? Documentary filmmaker, film programmer and arts advocate Kareem Tabsch answers this question and so many others. Kareem talks about being a first generation American to Lebanese and Latino parents, growing up in Miami and getting his first exposure to film and movies via PBS. K areem Tabsch is the co-founder and co-director of Miami's la...
May 02, 2017•47 min
"I took the word 'cripple' and I've been swinging it around sort of like a bull in a china shop." Timothy Iverson talks about his early life with Cerebral Palsy that required many surgeries and now means he walks with crutches. He talks about the process of going to a special school and then being "mainstreamed" in a way that was meant to be positive but didn't necessarily have positive results. He also talks about the way people treat folks with physical disabilities, how he's come to own hurtf...
Apr 24, 2017•55 min
“Often times an assumption of most people is that I am white.” Taj Ruler talks about being bi-racial but mostly being perceived as white. She talks about the differences between time in her mother's house where Sri Lankan culture was prominent and in her father's house SpaghettiOs where more common and explains the feeling of not quite fitting in either space. Taj talks about her own, ongoing quest to understand her identity. And she explains the challenges of being a person of color who doesn't...
Apr 15, 2017•49 min
“I think that spending time with only people exactly like you is sad and boring.” On this episode, Carin Mrotz talks about growing up with social justice through the lens of teacher parents who engaged with the union. She talks about what American’s think of when we think of the American Jewish community and how that isn’t necessarily representative of the diversity of Jewish experiences and voices. Can unpacks how whiteness hurts literally everyone, talks about the relationship between Judaism ...
Apr 07, 2017•59 min
Here are short clips from each of the 10 episodes that make up season one of Not About You. Subscribe on iTunes Ep 1 - Jun-Li Wang Ep 2 - Javier Morillo Ep 3 - Kathy Mouacheupao Ep 4 - Peggy Flanagan Ep 5 - Noel Nix Ep 6 - Heid Erdrich Ep 7 - Hannah Ep 8 - Regina Mustafa Ep 9 - Alfonso Wenker Ep 10 - Sarah White
Dec 29, 2016•8 min
“This world is going to get dull without the creatives and communities of color getting fed. And we can’t have to beg for it.” Songwriter, photographer, mother and culture creator Sarah White talks about all the ways the various aspects of her identity demand time and energy without always giving back what she needs to survive. She deals with basic daily burdens like folks trying to touch her just because and needing to get paid to do her work without wanting to always ask. Work, life, balance a...
Dec 21, 2016•52 min
“When have I assumed shared experience, and when have I discovered shared experience?” On this episode, Alfonso Wenker talks about using his own practice to be able to do the work of helping others and not making it about him. He explains the minimization mindset, re-centering experiences to preserve comfort and how folks can't get really clear about their own experiences. Check out the Colorlines blog Alfonso suggests. Here's where you can download the Reading List for White Folks - Alfonso Wen...
Dec 18, 2016•58 min
“You have to be uncomfortable if you want to make change.” Regina Mustafa, founder of CIDI (Community Interfaith Dialogue on Islam), talks about her experiences as a Muslim-American. She speaks honestly about misconceptions about Islam, talks about the word terrorism and explains the financial and emotional incentives that work to perpetuate ideas that keep a divide between Muslims and non-Muslims. The premise of Not About You is simple. I wanted to ask marginalized folks to tell a white, straig...
Dec 14, 2016•55 min
Hannah talks about being a non-gender conforming person, the huge stress relief that comes with knowing people will see you as you see yourself and why adjusting to non-gendered pronouns is so difficult. The premise of this show is simple. I wanted to ask marginalized folks to tell a white guy what question or questions they wish they never had to hear again. They did just that and I had them answer those question, hopefully for the last time. Also, I've been a comedy writer and performer my ent...
Dec 09, 2016•58 min
“I definitely knew there was going to be a life time of switching this way and moving that way.” On this episode, Heid Erdrich talks about being a person of color in rooms when everyone assumes there are no people of color present. She talks about how cultural appropriation, how her native cultural traditions were illegal when she was a child and what “passing” means to her. Heid E. Erdrich ’s writing has won awards and honors from the Loft Literary Center, Bush Foundation, Minnesota State Arts ...
Dec 07, 2016•40 min
On this episode, Noel Nix talks about what it's like to regularly be told he's a credit to his race because he defies expectations. Not About You is a podcast about identity and social justice. I’m the producer and host of the show and I wanted to make a show where a white, straight, cis-gendered man (that’s me) connected with folks with different lived experiences from my own about the ways parts of their identities bump up against injustices. We’ll be talking about race, gender, religion, repr...
Nov 30, 2016•1 hr
On this episode, Peggy Flanagan talks about being a Native American in modern society. Not About You is a podcast about identity and social justice. I’m the producer and host of the show and I wanted to make a show where a white, straight, cis-gendered man (that’s me) connected with folks with different lived experiences from my own about the ways parts of their identities bump up against injustices. We’ll be talking about race, gender, religion, representation, protests, politics, relationships...
Nov 30, 2016•56 min
