political

Drag THINGING!, Belonging, and Honoring Your Anger With CYRO

Original Air Date: November 9, 2020

Honor your anger. Honor your pain.

CYRO’s words resonated deeply with me – like a bell used to awaken your spirit.

This isn’t just an interview.

It’s an awakening. It’s a residence. It’s a healing.

I am so grateful that CYRO took the time to sit down and share their passionate and powerful wisdom with all of us.

Leah Kirby, also known as CYRO, creates theatre that incites change and incorporates non-western techniques in order to explore social, economic, and political issues through a non-traditional format. 

They are an activist, theatre maker, actor, writer, and drag thing named CYRO. 

CYRO is a Queer, Non-Binary, DRAG THING! 

They bring strength, beauty, and awareness to the stage with acts like 'Run Rabbit', exploring the struggles of gang induction and violence within black communities, and 'I am not your', a piece that delves into black masculinity within a non-binary body and shows the beauty it can exude by stripping back the facade. 

They use spoken word, movement, composition, Lip syncing, and storytelling within their work to incite change through artistic calls to action.

I am telling you: this interview is everything you have been looking for in a THE Celebration episode.

Do yourself a favor. 

Hit play.

You can learn more about Cyro through their website, or you can follow them on Instagram.

tomearl.me/cy

Personal Growth, Comedy, and Religion with Ameerah Sanders

Original Air Date: May 4, 2019

We’re joined today by the talented Ameerah Sanders, who spoke with me about her own struggle with depression, self-acceptance, and her journey to becoming a professional comedian. 

I appreciate how Ameerah spoke openly and from the heart. While we did share a lot of laughs (especially since Ameerah is a hilarious comedian), we also took the conversation to some very deep and very real places. You’ll appreciate the insights and truths that Ameerah shares. 

Ameerah Sanders is a standup comic, writer, and filmmaker based in Kansas City, MO. Her comedy comes from her post-9/11 Black Muslim background and her current post-college life. She hopes to connect with other people of color and serve as an example that the life of a Black woman is not inherently political.

She's performed at the Hollywood and Kansas City Improv. She'll be at the Cream City comedy fest in Milwaukee, WI May 9-12th, and Art of Female Comedy Fest June 12th-13th.

tomearl.me/pgcr

Drag THINGING!, Belonging, and Honoring Your Anger With CYRO

Honor your anger. Honor your pain.

CYRO’s words resonated deeply with me – like a bell used to awaken your spirit.

This isn’t just an interview.

It’s an awakening. It’s a residence. It’s a healing.

I am so grateful that CYRO took the time to sit down and share their passionate and powerful wisdom with all of us.

Leah Kirby, also known as CYRO, creates theatre that incites change and incorporates non-western techniques in order to explore social, economic, and political issues through a non-traditional format. 

They are an activist, theatre maker, actor, writer and drag thing named CYRO. 

CYRO is a Queer, Non-Binary, DRAG THING! 

They bring strength, beauty and awareness to the stage with acts like 'Run Rabbit', exploring the struggles of gang induction and violence within black communities, and 'I am not your', a piece that delves into black masculinity within a non-binary body and shows the beauty it can exude by stripping back the facade. 

They use spoken word, movement, composition, Lip syncing and storytelling within their work to incite change through artistic calls to action.

I am telling you: this interview is everything you have been looking for in a THE Celebration episode.

Do yourself a favor. 

Hit play.

You can learn more about Cyro through their website, or you can follow them on Instagram @cyrodragthing

Cyro podcast.jpg

If you'd like to learn more about T.H.E. Celebration Academy.  Here's 30 days of Free Membership.

Working With Intention With Melissa Denizard

On this week's episode, I talk to Melissa Denizard, a native of Haiti, who is a 20-year-old activist, documentarian, and senior at Babson College.    She shares the challenges of being an activist and an organizer and we talk about vulnerability and feeling comfort in discomfort as well as the loneliness epidemic that is facing so many young people.

As an activist, Melissa uses her many talents, including public speaking, film, and the written word, to bring attention to the intersections of race, gender, and social class in the United States’ political framework. 

Melissa runs a blog that focuses on the intersection of race, gender, and social class in pop culture and politics. In 2018, her YouTube video, Unbraid with Me: Is Hair Political? was featured on Brut Media and Refinery29. Later that year, her blog post, "Don't Tell Me to Smile: A Commentary on Harassment in the Service Industry" was adapted into a TEDx talk for TEDxTarrytown.

As an alumna of the Young People For Fellowship, Melissa had the opportunity to expand upon her technological social venture Voice, which is an online platform for contemporary activists that aims to make digital organizing more accessible and efficient.. Partnered with Babson College, Melissa is also currently creating an initiative that will aim to help Flint, MI's entrepreneurs cultivate entrepreneurial skills to build wealth that will accumulate to help the city eventually emerge out of both the Flint Water Crisis and decades of poverty.

You won't want to miss her honest self-reflection on growth and self-care and her insights on the ways we can use pop culture to analyze race, gender and cultural clashes.

Melissa podcast.jpg

If you'd like to learn more about T.H.E. Celebration Academy.  Here's 30 days of Free Membership.