This interview was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 18, 2025. Cara Page is a Black Queer Feminist cultural memory worker & organizer. For the past 30+ years, she has organized with LGBTQI+, Black, Indigenous & People of Color liberation movements in the US & Global South at the intersections of racial, gender & economic justice, healing justice and transformative justice. She is founder of Changing Frequencies, an abolitionist organizing project that designs cultural memory ...
Jul 11, 2025•1 hr 15 min
This interview was recorded on May 20, 2025 via online video conferencing. Part 1 is an oral herstory of Deneen’s life in Ohio and part 2 is a detailed look at her family’s journey with dementia along with Deneen’s work in the area. Deneen Day retired after a distinguished 30-year career as a Financial Crimes Investigator for the State of Ohio. Her journey as a dementia caregiver began in the 1990s when she became a long-distance caregiver for her grandmother, taking on the roles of guardian and...
Jun 27, 2025•45 min
This interview was recorded on May 20, 2025 via online video conferencing. Part 1 is an oral herstory of Deneen’s life in Ohio and part 2 is a detailed look at her family’s journey with dementia along with Deneen’s work in the area. Deneen Day retired after a distinguished 30-year career as a Financial Crimes Investigator for the State of Ohio. Her journey as a dementia caregiver began in the 1990s when she became a long-distance caregiver for her grandmother, taking on the roles of guardian and...
Jun 27, 2025•47 min
Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Arlene is a community psychologist who recently retired from the CDC. While there she worked as a behavioral scientist focusing on capacity building as it relates to HIV prevention. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Tampa, MA in Counseling and Human Development from Clark Atlanta University and PhD in Community Psychology from Georgia State University. After beginning her public health work, she realized a need to augment her education ...
Jun 14, 2025•1 hr 32 min
Kaila Adia Story, PhD is an associate professor in the Departments of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Pan-African Studies, as well as the Audre Lorde Endowed Chair at the University of Louisville. She is the author of The Rainbow Ain't Never Been Enuf: On The Myth of LGBTQ+ Solidarity, which comes out this May. She is also the co-creator, co-producer, and cohost of Louisville Public Media’s Strange Fruit: Musings on Politics, Pop Culture, and Black Gay Life, a popular award-winning po...
Jun 05, 2025•58 min
Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde Book Reading Information: https://www.charisbooksandmore.com/event/survival-promise-eternal-life-audre-lorde-homecoming-celebration-alexis-pauline-gumbs-and Book Reading Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/survival-is-a-promise-the-eternal-life-of-audre-lorde-tickets-938622193247?aff=oddtdtcreator A queer black troublemaker, a black feminist love evangelist and a prayer poet priestess, Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs wa...
Aug 12, 2024•1 hr 27 min
This book party was hosted on May 27, 2023, at Charis Books & More in Decatur, Georgia. It featured esteemed writer Sharon Bridgforth in conversation with ZAMI NOBLA creative director Angela Denise Davis in celebration of bull-jean & dem/dey back. You can view the YouTube video of this event at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6EcaVl7dxo The ZNP previous interview of Sharon Bridgforth: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/zaminobla/id/21629876 Bull-jean & dem/dey back is ...
Aug 12, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Together We Heal: COVID-19's Mental Health Effects on Older Black Same Gender Loving Women Thursday, December 14, 2023 (ZOOM webinar) Findings from a COVID-19 Community Research Study led by Dr. Tonia Poteat, and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and Mary Anne Adams, MSW, and ZAMI NOBLA: National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging The panelist discussed the mental health impacts of the pandemic, shared their insights, and provided strategies for healing and wellness. The ...
Aug 12, 2024•1 hr 26 min
This interview was recorded in February 2024. Sangodare (Julia Roxanne Wallace) is a sweet space for transformation. Sangodare comes from a thick legacy of Black Baptist preachers and church leaders and currently activates Black Feminist sermonics at a weekly Sunday Service held by Mobile Homecoming Trust. As co-founder of Black Feminist Film School (2012), Visiting Artist in Film at Lawrence University (2017-18) and Artist in Residence at UMN-Twin Cities in the Art Department (2017-19), Sangoda...
Jun 02, 2024•1 hr
In February 2024, The ZAMI NOBLA Podcast sat down to talk with Kendra Bryant Aya and Cyndi Ixchele Aya about their internet creation, “This is US: Unscripted Sundays with Kindy.” The couple shared the joys and challenges of maintaining a digital presence and the sacredness of storytelling. Kendra N. Bryant (s/hers) is a Black lesbian womanist, a fraternal twin, who enjoys reading, writing, singing, dancing & shucking & jiving to & about all things Black. She spends too much time theo...
May 26, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Lana Williams is the Board Chair of ZAMI NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging). She is a Financial Coach, with over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Her experience includes banking, mergers and acquisitions, investment advising, and bank industry consulting with some of the largest Fortune 500 companies. Positions she’s held include Regional Sales Manager, Senior Sales Consultant, and Project Manager. As a Financial Coach, Lana helps clients develop h...
May 03, 2024•59 min
Lynnette White and Sabrina Francis-White sat down with Angela to share how a Blind date turned into a Fairy Tale Come True. And to discuss what it takes to sustain 32 years of love, understanding and marriage. As they continue to plan their next adventure in life.
Apr 12, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Mary Hooks is a 42yr old, Black, lesbian, feminist, abolitionist, pan-Africanist, mother, wife and a member of Southerners On New Ground and part of the leadership of the Movement 4 Black Lives. Mary joined SONG as a member in 2009 and began organizing with SONG in 2010. Mary’s commitment to Black liberation, which encompasses the liberation of LGBTQ folks, is rooted in her experiences growing up under the impacts of the War on Drugs. Her people are migrants of the Great Migration, factory worke...
Apr 06, 2024•1 hr 11 min
The ZAMI NOBLA North Carolina State Chapter holds a monthly potluck. I took a road trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, to experience one of these gatherings and had the pleasure of interviewing one of their members, Marilyn McClain. Marilyn McClain’s Bio: I Am a body Alchemist. One who is patient, grounded, wise, modest and who enjoys learning and teaching. My mind and soul are open. Love is my greatest tool. I use my inner strength and spirit to transform the lives of others through movement and...
Feb 29, 2024•46 min
Stephanie Anne Johnson is a second-generation theater practitioner. Her mother Virginia Johnson (Green) worked with The American Negro Theatre In N.Y. Johnson has been a lighting designer for over forty years. Nationally she has done designs for La Mama Theatre (N.Y.), Telluride Repertory Theatre (Colorado), The Arizona Repertory Theatre, The National Black Theater, and The Apollo (N.Y.). Locally, she has worked with Cultural Odyssey, Rhodessa Jones, Afro Solo, Ubuntu Theatre, African American ...
Dec 16, 2023•57 min
M Shelly Conner, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Central Arkansas. Her multi-genre writings examine culture through a dapperqueer womanist lens and include publications in Crisis Magazine, the A.V. Club, NBC News, and the Grio. Her debut novel "everyman", is currently available in hard cover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. Shelly is repped by Beth Marshea at Ladderbird Agency. Her website: http://mshellyconner.com/m Buy the book: https://www.blackstone...
Nov 28, 2022•1 hr
The ZAMI NOBLA Podcast celebrated four years of serving as a sound source for Black lesbian herstory in August 2022. This episodes celebrates that achievement with excerpts from various episodes. Links to each episode can be found below. Kamilah Aisha Moon Talks about the Human Business of Poetry https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/kamilah-aisha-moon-talks-about-the-human-business-of-poetry Cynthia Mckinney Takes on Heart Atttack Hill & Loses 52 Pounds https://zaminobla.libsyn.com/cynthia-mckinney-...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Dr. Moya Bailey is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Northwestern University. Her work focuses on marginalized groups' use of digital media to promote social justice and she is interested in how race, gender, and sexuality are represented in media and medicine. She is the digital alchemist for the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network and the Board President of Allied Media Projects, a Detroit-based movement media organization that supports an ever growing network of activists ...
Aug 30, 2022•1 hr 3 min
This interview was recorded via video conference on October 29, 2021 by Angela Denise Davis. Gaye Adegbalola talked about her early years in Virginia, college life in Boston, and her career as a Blues musician, griot, and activist. Gaye Adegbalola’s website: https://adegbalola.com/ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GayeAdegbalolaMusician/ Gaye Todd Adegbalola, a Blues Music Award winner, is best known musically as a founding member of Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women (1984 – 2009). The gro...
Jan 01, 2022•1 hr 19 min
Angela interviewed Dr. Emilie M. Townes on October 12, 2021, via video conference. Townes talked about growing up in Durham, North Carolina, her formative years in theological education and parachurch work, and the necessity of having a robust hope. Emilie M. Townes, an American Baptist clergywoman, is a native of Durham, NC. She holds a DMin from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a PhD in Religion in Society and Personality from Northwestern University. Townes is the Dean and Distin...
Dec 31, 2021•57 min
Angela sat down with Sharon Bridgforth on October 8, 2021, to record this interview via video conference. Bridgforth talked about her formative years, her pathway to healing, intergenerational mentoring, and her life as a touring artist in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharon Bridgforth's website https://www.sharonbridgforth.com/ Twin Cities PBS did a special on Pillsbury House Theatre - who GRACIOUSLY chose to feature "dat Black Mermaid Man Lady/The Show!!!" The special premiered on 7/10/2...
Dec 30, 2021•1 hr 1 min
This interview was recorded by Angela Denise Davis on October 14, 2021, via video conference. Deidre McCalla sat down with Angela to talk about McCalla’s early life in New York, her start in music, the herstory of her place in the women’s music movement, and the way the COVID-19 pandemic changed her life. The music heard in the interview was used courtesy of Deidre McCalla. You can enjoy the full tracks on YouTube at the following links: Walk Me Down to the River https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
Dec 28, 2021•1 hr 7 min
On August 19, 2021, Angela sat down with Sherri Jackson to record her story about living in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic as a healthcare professional. Jackson is a healthcare provider,minister and activist. She has a wide range of LBGTQ.and AIDS organizational involvement. She has been a volunteer with the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club-Health Committee,and the Chicago Department of Public Health.She has been a board member of Horizon Community Services ...
Oct 30, 2021•55 min
Melodie J. Rodgers is the Founding Editor of SOREN LIT. Her creative writing and photography has appeared in Johns Hopkins University's Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review, G.R.I.T.S. - Girls Raised In the South: An Anthology of Southern Queer Womyns' Voices and Their Allies, Future is Fiction, Underground, CIEE Brazil Poetry OnFilm project, and many others. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte. Melodie is a Black and Southern writer who lives with her hubby and...
Sep 27, 2021•51 min
Our guest today is the Black lesbian feminist writer, Cheryl Clarke. She is the author of Narratives: Poems in the Tradition of Black Women (1982), Living as a Lesbian (1986, reprinted in 2015) , Humid Pitch (1989), Experimental Love (1993), and By My Precise Haircut (2016). Since 1979, she has written for and edited numerous publications, including the iconic feminist anthologies, This Bridge Called My Back: Writings By Radical Women of Color (Moraga and Anzaldua, eds., 1980), and Home Girls: A...
Jul 14, 2021•1 hr
Joyce Penalver is a retired therapist in Vallejo, California. She was instrumental in forming social clubs and newsletters serving Black lesbians in the Greater Bay Area. We recorded this interview with her in February 2020 before the nationwide lockdowns prompted by COVID-19.
Mar 13, 2021•57 min
In August 2020, Verlena L. Johnson was featured in ZAMI NOBLA’s virtual art show, Cocktails, Tea, and Art. This interview was recorded remotely a few days before the show. Verlena L. Johnson was born and raised in the Midwest (Wisconsin and Illinois), but also briefly lived in New York City, Ealing England, Oakland, Long Beach and most recently Los Angeles. She earned a Master's Degree in Afro-American Studies (emphasis: Art History, 1996) from the University of Wisconsin — Madison and a Master’...
Mar 03, 2021•46 min
Reverend Elder Janyce Jackson Jones was one of the artists showcased in August 2020 at ZAMI NOBLA’s visual art exhibit, Cocktails, Tea, and Art. She discovered her passion for art upon retiring to coastal North Carolina after 21 years of dedicated service to her church and social justice causes in Newark, New Jersey. She since has experimented with and been inspired by several techniques and styles, finding what she calls “ Creative Happiness ” in the process of pouring paint onto canvas to crea...
Feb 01, 2021•47 min
Lorraine Lane was a guest artist for our virtual art show, “Cocktails, Tea, & Art,” in August 2020. In this episode, she talks about how to make a great cocktail, how she came to love bourbon, and the challenges of operating a restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lorraine came into the Food Industry on the pathway of love for Deborah VanTrece. Lorraine is Deborah’s business partner and wife. She serves as the Bar Director for Twisted Soul. The libations at Twisted Soul have been recogniz...
Jan 25, 2021•46 min
This is a file from our archives. On August 31, 2020, ZAMI NOBLA in Partnership with the Southern Unity Movement sponsored Working Cross Differences: The Black LGBTQIA Health/Wellness Public Forum as part of Atlanta Black Gay Pride. This audio clip is from a conversation with Dr. Lourdes Dolores Follins and Dr. Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, moderated by Dr. Kofi Adoma. The first voice you hear after the musical selection is Dr. Adoma followed by Dr. Follins. For more information on the speakers ple...
Dec 31, 2020•43 min
