As she describes it in an essay for Buzzfeed, for Tea and the queer friends she shared a radical subculture with, “that meant prioritizing freedom, glorifying poverty, experimenting with our bodies in every way possible. The possibility of having children was raised only to highlight how absurd that would be….[we] mostly viewed kids as a potential drag on [our] liberties, or simply an impossibility.”

 Later in the show, Chicago-based rapper and actor Mykele Deville stop by the studio to discuss his role as Verb in the rousing production of Idris Goodwin’s “Hype Man: A Break Beat Play” at Actors Theatre of Louisville, which runs thru October 13^th.

Later in the show we switch gears and turn our attention -- and the conversation -- to last spring’s Met Gala where fashion theme was “Camp: Note on Fashion.” Jackson explores the queer, black and urban roots of camp, and argues that ideas around and performances of camp belonged to Black and queer communities long before it became popular at the annual ball.

In our Juicy Fruit segment, we’re surprised by just how long many Americans will go without changing their underwear.

Now in its third year, OUTLOUD Musical Festival in Nashville features 14 LGBTQ+ artists across two stages, including headliners Greyson Chance, Kim Petras and Gia Woods.

OUTLOUD creator and producer Jack Davis joins us at the start of this week’s show to tell us what to expect at the festival happening on September 14.

We also speak with friend to the show Mike Slaton, Executive Director of the Louisville Pride Foundation, about the Louisville Pride Festival coming up on September 21. The event is free and this year's headliner is performer Todrick Hall.

In our feature interview, we explore the notoriously segregated history of swimming pools and other public spaces dedicated to leisure and enjoyment. Dr. Victoria Wolcott joins us to discuss her insightful piece “The Forgotten History Of Segregated Swimming Pools And Amusement Parks" published by The Conversation, and her book “Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America.” 

Later this month, Louisville plays host to the second annual Midwest Queer Comedy Festival, a showcase designed to expose audiences to comedic voices from the LGBTQ community. Starting August 21st, the MQCFest will be five nights of shows, showcases, podcasts, and after parties. This year's line-up is stacked with nearly 75 acts, including headliner Sampson McCormick.

McCormick is an award-winning Black queer comic who first joined us for a conversion about breaking barriers last December. He’s back this week to talk about his upcoming appearance at MQCFest and about his new movie A Different Direction with Darryl Stephens from TV’s “Noah’s Arc.”

Also joining us to discuss all things queer and comedic is comedian Keith McGill, who is an associate producer of the festival, and MQCFest creator and executive producer Dwayne Duke.

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Later in the show we shift the discussion from regional space to “gayborhoods,” an area of a city or town characterized as being inhabited or frequented by LGBTQ folks. In his feature article “Won’t You Be My Gaybor?” for Richmond, VA’s RVA Mag writer Wyatt Gordon discusses the city’s lack of a gayborhood — the absence of gayborhoods in many southern cities — and examines if it is a sign of social repression or in fact a reflection of progress.

In our Juicy Fruit segment, we honor the legacy of literary giant Toni Morrison who died this week.

McCraney’s newest endeavor is his first television project, an original scripted series for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network called David Makes Man. The compelling lyrical drama will premiere on August 14. 

David Makes Man centers on a 14-year-old prodigy from the projects of South Miami who is haunted by the death of his closest friend, and relied on by his hardworking mother to find a way out of poverty. We discuss the show, its phenomenal ensemble cast, his life since Moonlight, and how important it is for him to create Black art for Black people. 

Later in the show we speak to culture writer Beandrea July about the new documentaryToni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. We discuss the themes of the documentary, Morrison’s legacy as a writer, and the resistance and criticism Morrison encountered from many other writers when it came to celebrating and honoring the brilliance of her work.

In our Juicy Fruit segment this week, the model who cried “trans.” And even the bell can’t save “Saved By the Bell” actor and Extra TV host Mario Lopez from the backlash after his recent commentary that supporting trans children is “dangerous.”

We wondered just how easy or difficult it is for queer folks to commit to sober living when so much of gay social is tied to parties, nightclubs and bars and many of our community’s biggest Pride Festival sponsors are beer and liquor companies. In this week’s episode, we hear from four friends of the show who called to tell us about their individual struggles with substance abuse and their new lives of sobriety free from drugs and alcohol.

In Hot Topics, we discuss why the body-shaming sentiment of “she’s let herself go” is never a good excuse for when a man cheats on his wife.

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In February 2016, 23-year-old Black Lives Matter activist MarShawn McCarrel took his own life on the step of the Columbus, Ohio courthouse steps. This March, the body of another social activist, 29-year-old Amber Evans, was found in a Columbus river, and her death was also ruled a suicide.

JoAnne Viviano, Health Reporter for The Columbus Dispatch joins us this week to discuss the toll that fighting for social justice can take on the mental health of activists like McCarrel and Evans. The activists she interviewed for her piece in the Dispatch cited long workweeks, encountering widespread racism, vicariously transferring traumas, and unrealistic expectations of fellow activists as some of the factors that adversely affect their mental health – and have necessitated a shift in how their community looks after one another in a commitment to a healing process.

Then, we shine the spotlight on a small Texas college named Paul Quinn College that is so committed to the mental well-being of its students that it offers and encourages every incoming student to meet with a counselor to have their needs assessed, at a free on-site mental health clinic. Eva-Marie Ayala, staff reporter for The Dallas News, tells us how this tiny HBCU, which prides itself on recruiting at-risk students, promotes health and wellness throughout its campus.

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They join us to discuss suicide and depression in black boys, how the school system is complicit in creating and fostering poor mental health, and what it will take to turn this trend around.

Later, therapist Brittany Johnson join us to discuss how poverty, race and unresolved childhood traumas are leading more black adults to seek therapy. She credits Millennials with breaking the stigma around mental health and therapy.

Johnson, author of the self-published book "Get Out of Your Own Way: 21 Days to Stop Self Sabotage,” shares tips on recognizing and conquering anxiety.

In Juicy Fruit, we salute chart topping crossover rapper Lil Nas X, who recently publicly confirmed that that he’s a gay man, and we celebrate black and queer mermaids everywhere.

Zeke Thomas is a music producer, deejay and the son of NBA Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas – and he’s a survivor of sexual assault and rape. In 2017, Thomas revealed in a nationally-televised interview that he was sexually assaulted at 12 years old, and then experienced date rape at the age 27, committed by a man he met on a dating app.

Later in the show we’re joined by longtime friend to the show Dr. Frederick Smith, who first joined us in 2015 to discuss his novel "Play It Forward." (He’s also the author of "Right Side of the Wrong Bed," a Lambda Literary Award finalist.)

Smith joins us this week with poet and creative writer Chaz Lamar, to discuss their new novel, In Case You Forgot, which tells the story of two newly-single black queer, men who are packing up and starting again—in love, career, and life—in the West Hollywood neighborhood of LA.

And in Juicy Fruit: A shopper at a Texas Walmart learns the hard way that  you can have your cake but you must pay for it, too!

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Leah Penniman, farmer and educator at Soul Fire Farm in the Albany, New York, area, attributes the virtual disappearance of Black farmers to decades of discrimination against Black farmers by the US government – denying them farm loans, for example – and racist violence targeting land-owing Black farmers in the South.

But after 100 years in decline, Penniman writes for YES Magazine, Black farmers are making a comeback. She joins us this week to say that these farmers aren’t just growing healthy food, but just as importantly they are healing racial traumas, instilling collective values, and changing the way communities of black folks think about the land.

Later in the show we talk with writer Gloria Oladipo about her essay in Teen Vogue describing why her therapist specifically needed to be a woman of color.

And in hot topics, we talk about drivers behaving badly.

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In many Black families, the role of the aunt has fit this function. Sometimes aunts are blood or marriage relatives but many of them are chosen family – mom’s best friend from college or the elderly neighbor down the street who looks after the community’s children. She can serve as a quiet confidant or a gentle authority figure.

This week we spoke writer Brandon T. Harden about his Philadelphia Inquirer article, “They may not get a holiday, but ‘aunts’ are the backbone of the black community.”

Later in the show we talk with freelance journalist Sonia Weiser about the troubling financial realities of New York City’s Legal Aid attorneys – many of who have to moonlight as rideshare drivers or bartenders to make ends meet – as highlighted in her New York Times piece, “Lawyers by Day, Uber Drivers and Bartenders by Night.”

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This weekend in Louisville marks the return of the annual Kentuckiana Pride Festival, our city’s largest and longest-running annual Pride celebration. Our guest this week is the organization’s president and director, Allen Hatchell who joins us to discuss the festival’s headlining entertainment, vendors and what changes folks should expect this year. 

We also have the beginnings of a tough but important public conversation about community gatekeeping, transphobia, and gay racism within LGBTQ pride organizations, and Allen addresses some of our public criticisms of the Kentuckiana Pride Festival.

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We begin this week by speaking with author Dani McClain about the politics of black motherhood, and her TIME essay “I Won’t Let Racism Rob My Black Child of Joy.” In the essay, McClain recounts being pregnant with her first child in the summer of 2016 -- the same summer that Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota were killed by police.

“Reading the news of these men’s deaths brought to mind black children who had died just as senselessly: 17-year-old Jordan Davis, gunned down at a Florida gas station by a white man annoyed by the music Davis and his friends played; 12-year-old Tamir Rice, killed by police in a Cleveland playground as he held a toy gun; 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones, shot and killed by police during a middle-of-the-night raid on her home."

In order to avoid succumbing to her fears, McClain made a plan to interview black mothers, grandmothers and other experts about how she could raise a carefree joyous child while still keeping her safe. The result became her first book, "We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood."

“I understand that simultaneously demanding that our children be allowed to be children and carefully introducing them to the realities of black life in this country are just part of the work," McClain writes. "Dancing, laughing and finding pleasure in the small things may be of value to most families, but for black families, engaging in joyful practices is necessary to our survival, to our ability to fully claim our humanity.”

Later in the show, we speak with Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet, MD, about her work as Executive Director of Merck for Mothers, a global initiative to reduce maternal mortality worldwide.

In her op-ed, “Black Women Dying From Childbirth Is Persistent, But Here’s How We Can Reverse This Unacceptable Trend,” Etiebet notes that more women in the United States die today from complications of pregnancy and childbirth than 20 years ago. Further, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy or childbirth related complication than white women.

We examine the causes of this trend and the work being do to reverse it.

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"Why is this space just for black people?" "Why is this club just for Latinx people?" "Isn’t a black gay pride event divisive and 'reverse racist?'"

Our first guest this week is Berkeley-based writer Kelsey Blackwell, who wrote the essay “Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People.” We discuss with Kelsey the need for POC-only gathering places that are free from white judgement and the stereotypes and marginalization that permeate mainstream society.

Later in the show we get specific in the conversation of race, with Salem State Communications professor Joshua Adams. He recently published a piece on Medium: We Should Stop Saying “People of Color” When We Mean “Black People”

“Saying POC when we mean black people is this concession that there’s a need to describe a marginalized group as 'less' Black for in order for people (specifically, but not only, white people) to have empathy for whatever issue being discussed,” he writes.

And in Juicy Fruit, we talk about two very different kinds of uninvited house guests.

In her essay “'Children do not deserve privacy,' and other abusive myths masked as good parenting," Oakland-based writer and educator Amber Butts examines the complicated feelings she holds for the ex-stepfather who raised and provided for her. “His metric for goodness was stepping up and taking care of a child that wasn’t his,” she writes. “But my ex-stepfather is not a good man.”

It wasn’t until Butts saw a social media post where a mother said she knocks on the door before entering her kids’ rooms that Butt was reminded of the lack of privacy she had as a child and she began to reflect on how refusing children privacy is one of several abusive practices mislabeled as good parenting.

We discuss the need for parents and caregivers to actively work to examine and undo the “misleading metrics” of good parenting that they inherited from previous generations.

Butts says children deserve houses that aren’t prisons. “Anything that mirrors how the state achieves control must be questioned and obliterated, especially when that influences how we care for our babies," she writes. "Children deserve privacy in the homes that they are in. Children deserve love beyond conditions. This is a requirement. They should not have to prove this."

In 2016, American property owners filed at least 2.3 million eviction claims. Princeton’s Eviction Lab, which recently released the nation’s largest eviction database, revealed that the Southern region is the area of the country’s most impacted by evictions and that Black renters are disproportionate the victims of the eviction crisis.

Eviction Lab’s report revealed that nine of the 10 cities with the highest eviction rates are not only located in southern states but are also cities that are at least 30 percent black in population.

This week we chat with Atlanta-based journalist Max Blau about why southern renters are losing their homes at such high rates, and we examine some of the social and political obstacles standing in the way of safe, stable and affordable housing for many African Americans.

Sometimes referred to as reparative therapy or ex-gay therapy, conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of trying to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity through psychological or spiritual methods.

This week we’re joined by Tanner Mobley, Director of Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky, and Mikhail Schulz (also known as award-winning drag entertainer Vanessa Demornay), who is a self-described survivor of conversion therapy. Schulz and Mobley agree that conversion therapy is dangerous, and promotes the idea that LGBTQ people can and should change who they are.

Mobley and his organization are leading efforts to ban conversion therapy in the state, and legislation has been introduced in both the Kentucky Senate and House which aims to make it illegal to practice conversion therapy on minors.

Guests:

• Tanner Mobley, from Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky
• Conversion therapy survivor (and local drag legend!) Mikhail Schulz

Later in the show we talk about the difference between simply fitting in and actually belonging within gay male culture.  Scholar-activist and writer Dr. Jeffry Iovannone reflects on finding his place in mainstream gay culture and finding community and acceptance among his peers.

In Juicy Fruit, we discuss a pack of polar bears that invaded a Russian town and a mother in Maryland who’s going to extremes to find her son a date for Valentine’s Day.

Later in the show, we are joined by co-Directors David Y. Chack and Karen Edwards-Hunter, and actor Tyler Madden from “The Green Book,” which is currently running in Louisville. The play is inspired by Victor Hugo Green’s, “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” which from 1936-1967 helped African Americans traveling in automobiles across the United States find helpful services and places that were friendly to blacks travelers.

Narrated by Laverne Cox, with music by Melissa Etheridge, the documentary chronicles five decades of the fight for LGBT equality, and the magazine that covered it all.

For our feature interview this week, we speak to tech guru, entrepreneur, and star of the Golden Globe-nominated hit TV show "Pose," Angelica Ross. She joins us to discuss her career, her innovative strides within the tech world, and the importance of black trans visibility.

And in Juicy Fruit: Famed restaurateur, model, author, and television host B. Smith has often been dubbed the “Black Martha Stewart.” Now she’s suffering from Alzheimer's and relies on her longtime husband and business partner Dan Gasby to take care of her. Gasby has recently announced that he has a live-in girlfriend who supports him as he cares for his wife. And she’s a white woman. Doc and I discuss our differing views on this arrangement.

This week we chat with loyal Strange Fruit listener Hayden Smith, who describes himself as, “a 28-year-old black, bisexual, writer, poet, and activist, happily immersed in a same-sex interracial marriage to my partner of five years.” Hayden joins us to discuss how bi-erasure and gay racism have affected him and had an impact on his relationship.

For our feature interview, we welcome to the studio Patrese D. McClain and Cecil Blutcher, from the cast of "Pipeline" at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Written by Dominique Morriseau and directed by Steve H. Broadnax III,  "Pipeline" is a heart-wrenching portrayal of a mother and son grappling with the “school-to-prison-pipeline” for young men of color in the U.S. education system.

This week, Chicago Tribune writer Lolly Bowean joins us to discuss her recent piece, “In handing down furs, black women continue a rich tradition."

Later in the show we explore another aspect of African American culture, the sometimes toxic relationship between black mothers and their children. Journalist Arah Iloabugichukwu’s explores this phenomenon in her piece, “The Strained Relationship Between Black Mothers & Their Daughters.”

And in hot topics, we discuss all the places that folks shouldn’t put Vicks VapoRub.

We also chat with South African HIV Activist and writer Krishen Samuel about his essay “Becoming a Real Gay Boy: Gender vs. Sexuality." Samuel joins us to offer a gay man’s perspective on what he describes as the straitjacket that is masculinity when you do not fit neatly into your gendered box.

And, most importantly, some of special friends and family send Kaila a birthday tribute that brings her to tears. Happy Birthday, Kaila!

In the book, she traces the Jezebel trope (the portrayal of black women as naturally lascivious and seductive) from the black church to black pop culture. On today's show, we discuss how the persistence of this trope perpetuates heteronormativity, gender hierarchy and patriarchy within black communities and cultural institutions.

Later in the show we chat with writer Matthew Thompson about his provocative essay, “The messy relationship between f*ggots & the Black American pop diva,” which explores the symbiotic relationship between black women pop stars and black gay men.

An award-winning entertainer, Sampson join us to talk about his decades-long career of breaking barriers, overcoming obstacles, and shattering expectations as a black queer comic. And he weighs in some of his fellow comics who’ve made headlines lately, including Mo’nique, D.L. Hughley, and, of course, Kevin Hart.

In a very special edition of Juicy Fruit, my sister-in-law Steu stops by the studio and we discuss whether it’s time for Santa to get a makeover.

Later in the show we talk with Gabby Ryan from Melbourne, Australia about her journey to coming out as asexual. Gabby is seven years into what she describes as, “a happy straight-passing relationship with a cis-het man.” We had lots of questions, and Gabby was gracious enough to help us and our listeners learn more about what asexuality means to and for her and her partner.

For many years Ola despised being disabled and tried to hide her disability. Now, she is the founder of the global education nonprofit organization, Project ASCEND, which provides college scholarships and and civic engagement opportunities to low-income and disabled youth.

This week we speak with Ola about her disabled black girl magic--her struggles, triumphs, and how she shows the world what it means to live with disabilities, not in spite of them.

And in Juicy Fruit: A Harvard professor says that if you eat more than six french fries at meal time then you've been overeating.

And PETA wants us to start feeding two birds with one scone.

We’ve dedicated this week’s show to discussing where we are now when it comes to HIV/AIDS awareness.

First up, we hear from a wonderful young man named Chad about his journey with HIV, from his recent diagnosis, to the ensuing depression, and his eventual path to resiliency and empowerment. His story is moving, powerful and awe-inspiring.

Later in the show, Rhonda Cowan and Ryan Benningfield from Volunteers of America (VOA) join us to drop some HIV 101 knowledge and talk us through what to expect when going to get an HIV test.

Volunteers of America offers free, anonymous HIV testing at their office at 933 Goss Avenue. More information at (502) 654-8389 or on their website. 

Speaking of flavors, the FDA is moving to ban the sale of all menthol-flavored cigarettes and restrict sales of flavored vapes and e-cigarettes. More than 88 percent of African-American smokers prefer menthol cigarettes. Is this an appropriate attempt to improve public health or simply misguided government overreach?

In music news: It might be NSFW, but if the viral Jill Scott video has you clutching your pearls or shaking your head, well then you’ve got this all wrong.

And by popular request, #TeamStrangeFruit reveals our selections for our Holiday-inspired mixtape.

How much does race matter when it comes to giving a child a loving adoptive home? How important are racial heritage and cultural traditions for a child who is racially and ethnically different from their adoptive parents? And what is it like being adopted by two moms or two dads?

Morgan Rumple is a black woman who was adopted as an infant by a white lesbian couple who lived in a nearly all-white community in Indiana.  She joins us to discuss her experiences as a transracial adoptee and how her parents navigated homophobia, racism, and cultural differences.

Writer and podcaster Olga Marina Segura joins us this week to discuss the complicated relationship between Latinx folks and the N-word. Even though she identifies as Afro-Latina (her father is a black man), Segura says she’ll never feel comfortable using the word as a term of endearment and challenges other Latinx folks to think more critically about using the word.

Terrell was able to make bail: $5 million.

At trial, he was acquitted of the charges, leaving some to wonder how differently Terrell's story might have ended had he been black, poor, and actually from the neighborhood where the shooting happened. Did the jury give him the benefit of the doubt because he was white?

Nicole Santa Cruz covered the story for the L.A. Times. She joins us this week to tell us more about the case.

And in Halloween-related hot topics, a woman and a ghost get on an airplane...stop us if you’ve heard this one.

(Photo by Al Seib, Los Angeles Times)

In Juicy Fruit, NBC News host Megyn Kelly offended just about everybody when she defended blackface and other racist costumes. Commentator Don Lemon weighed in and, of course, so do we!

In 1982, Williams also founded one of the largest LGBTQ+ archives and libraries in the country, the Williams-Nichols Collection, which is now housed at the University of Louisville and contains more than 1,700 books, buttons, bar flyers and other LGBTQ+ memorabilia related to Louisville and the country.

Later in Juicy Fruit, Jai and Doc discuss rapper Remy Ma’s controversial stance on the use of the N-word by white rapper Lil Xan and other non-black people of color, including Robert Ortiz, the gay and Puerto Rican New Yorker who got caught on video using the word to insult his black Lyft driver.

And finally, Jai teases that Doc and her wife Missy have something very interesting planned for their Halloween costumes.

Zoie has over 4 million followers on Instagram, where he's carved out a niche. He edits viral videos (especially videos of kids being funny) to make it look like he's having a conversation with the subject on Facetime.

He also watches outrageous hair and nail tutorial videos and posts his reactions.

Zoie joins us to talk about his work, how he got his start, and his favorite things about internet fame.

In this week's episode of Strange Fruit, we talk to Bailey Loosemore of the Courier Journal about a recent story that looked at the cost of grocery staples at Kroger grocery stores around Louisville.

But Cameron Esposito's stand-up comedy routine promises just that. In fact, that's the title of her latest special. "It's a deliberately incendiary title," Cameron explains.

"Rape jokes are a concept that exists in stand-up comedy, and I wanted the number one Google result, if you put in 'rape jokes,' to be an hour of really funny stand-up about sexual assault from my perspective as a survivor."

(Esposito's special is indeed now the number one Google result for that search.)

She's donating the proceeds from the special, and her tour, to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network). And speaking of her tour, it's bringing her to Louisville on Sunday.

She joins us on this week's show to talk about her work, and how good comics skirt the line between funny and too far.

Aunt Vi's pies became like a character unto themselves. She's in sort of a second act in her life, finding love again after an abusive relationship.

Dr. Tanisha Ford is an associate professor of Black American Studies and History at the University of Delaware -- and a huge Queen Sugar fan. She says Aunt Vi's story line started her thinking about what pie making has meant for black women, and what it means for a woman like Aunt Vi in particular.

She joins us this week to talk about how food is central to how we understand community, and how Queen Sugar uses food as a way to have deeper political conversations about capitalism and appropriation.

He joins us this week to talk about his work on the show, and authentically representing black and queer voice to an audience who is, largely, neither. 

We also chat with author Tiffany Tso about her recent essay, "Nail Salon Brawls & Boycotts: Unpacking The Black-Asian Conflict In America."

She recently described it in a piece on Medium:

• White person/organization/group ****s up royally. Usually by stepping
  out of their lane and commenting on someone or something they
  shouldn’t  or screwing over someone they claim to be in solidarity
  with .

• Public outrage is expressed, coupled with many Black Women giving
  detailed reasons why & how they ****ed up.

• The offending party claims they didn’t “intend to offend” and appears
  unable to hear what anyone is saying to them.

• After receiving push back on their initial response, an “apology
  statement” centered on themselves is issued (“we never meant to harm
  anyone” “I would never do what I’m being accused of” “we are so sad
  about how this was received”) while failing to take actual
  responsibility for their actions.

• When their meek, ineffective apology isn’t accepted with open arms,
  they become the victim of “unfair treatment” & “bullying”.

• They eventually — after a lot more free labor from Black
  Women — “learn” what they did wrong, declare themselves an expert on
  f******g up and recenter themselves as a way to “teach others”

• Do this same s*** all over again the next time they mess up.

Leslie says it's not the fact that people make mistakes--it's the way they react when being called out on those mistakes that's problematic.

She says when someone does something racist, sexist, etc., they shouldn't make their response and apology all about their own feelings. They should center the feelings of the people they harmed.

Leslie joined us to tell us more, and give us her tips for how allies can get it right. 

We also talk to Amber Duke and Soha Saiyeed with the ACLU of Kentucky. Earlier this year, they traveled to Montgomery, Alabama for the opening of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice (more commonly known as the Lynching Memorial).
They share what it was like to visit the memorial, which features Kentucky prominently, because of the number of lynchings that happened here.

Usually someone starts taking a video, which eventually makes its way around the internet.

What we don't get to see is what happens in the 911 dispatch center. What do the people who take those calls think about these frivolous calls? What do they tell the police about the situation?

Rachel Herron was a 911 operator in Oakland, California, and she's written about how she had to respond to racist calls every day. Rachel joins us this week to tell us what happens on the other end of those calls.

A lot of those frivolous calls are based on minor ordinances -- so-called "quality of life laws" that dictate who can use public spaces and how.

History professor Andrew Kahrl studies the history of segregation. He thinks of these laws as the North's version of Jim Crow. On this week's show, we chat with Andrew about how small laws and ordinances are weaponized against certain types of people (the laws often call them "non-residents" but you can probably guess what they most often look like).

It's the big laugh line from a famous scene in "The Cosby Show" pilot, delivered by the show's patriarch just after his teenage son makes a heartfelt plea for acceptance, even if he doesn't follow the life path his dad wants for him.

For writer Kieran Scarlett, it's just another example of the worst kind of black TV dad: Rigid. Impatient. Always policing their sons' performance of masculinity.

Kieran finds more recent examples in "Black-Ish," and recently wrote about the phenomenon for Rewire News, in a piece called ‘Black-ish,’ Cliff Huxtable, and Me: The Problem of TV’s Cruel-to-Be-Kind Black Father.

Kieran joins us this week to talk about how pop culture portrayals affect -- and reflect -- real-world fatherhood.

But it's not just dads who struggle (and sometimes fail) to get parenting right all the time, as illustrated by an Instagram post by Olivyah Bowens. The photo shows 23-year-old Olivyah with her 2-year-old daughter, who's having a meltdown. The caption begins, "No one teaches you how to love a child you didn't plan to have."

The post clearly resonated with other parents; it quickly went viral and has over 14,000 likes. On today's show, we chat with Olivyah about being a young mom, and what caring for babies can teach us about how to be more grown up ourselves.

Dylan started paying attention to the movies and TV shows he consumed. "I noticed there was a representation problem," he said. "Universal stories were being told, but not using bodies that reflected universal stories. Universal stories are told, by default, with white bodies."

He wanted to bring attention to it in a way that wasn't preachy but factual. That's how he came up with his YouTube series, "Every Single Word." It shows popular movies edited down to only include words spoken by characters of color.

In the "Every Single Word" universe, the movie "E.T." is nine seconds long. It consists entirely of a character credited only as "Van Man," saying, "Hey, who are you?" and "Open the door, son."

The Harry Potter series clocks in at just over six minutes. The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy is 47 seconds.

It's absurdly funny. And it gets its point across.

Dylan joins us this week to talk about using humor to shine a light on social justice issues -- and how he does the same thing in his latest project, "Conversations with People Who Hate Me."

Soraya joins us this week to tell us more, along with Lazarus Letcher, whose portrait is included in the work. 
And poet and choreographer Uwazi Zamani joins us with the story behind his phenomenal spoken-word piece, "Parades."

(Content Note: There is strong language in the poem, which is recited at the link, and also played in its entirety about 29 minutes into our show this week.)

The Kentuckiana AIDS Alliance provides help with housing, medical/dental care, co-pay assistance, educational workshops, counseling, and public transportation to and from medical appointments. They also support monthly HIV testing, social retreats and a summer camp for children who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

But all this was a very serious way to get into the fun part of this week's episode: Chocolate Fest! It's an annual fundraiser for the KAA, featuring chocolate desserts from Louisville restaurants. 

Andrew Shayde from the KAA joins us to talk about what we can expect at Chocolate Fest this year.

We also take a trip through this week's headlines in our Juicy Fruit segment, and kick off Leo season by wishing happy birthdays to Jai and Missy.

The setting is 1987 New York City -- specifically the ballroom scene and the trans community. So it's basically like if they made a TV show out of "Paris Is Burning." Needless to say, we love it.

This week we talk to Steven Canals, who co-created the show along with Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk.

The specialty store might have an LGBTQ section... full of smiling white faces.

What's a queer person of color to do?

That's what Otis Richardson wanted to know. So he started his own line of greeting cards, Lavenderpop,
featuring text and artwork on cards specifically for people who look like us.

Otis joins us this week to tell us about his work.

James Baldwin said it in 1963.

Dr. Ricky Jones, from the University of Louisville, reflected on it in a recent column for the Courier-Journal. That got the attention of Fox News, and Jones appeared on Tucker Carlson's show last week.

As you might imagine, it didn't go too well.

Jones says it's all part of his job: teaching. He joins us this week to talk about what Baldwin meant, how it relates to our country today, and what happened after that interview.

And an exhibit at the Carnegie Center for Art and History tells the fascinating story of Lucy Higgs Nichols. She went from enslavement in Tennessee to working as a nurse with the 23rd Indiana Volunteers during the Civil War. Al Gorman with the Carnegie joins us to talk about Nichols' life and local ties, and what you can see in the exhibit.

Now he has a new memoir, "No Ashes In The Fire: Coming Of Age Black And Free In America," that tells his whole story (and more -- he researched his family members going back to 1877).

The book takes its title from one of several life-threatening experiences Darnell recounts. He's on a book tour now and joins us this week to talk about the memoir and why he decided to put it all down on paper.

Check out "No Ashes In The Fire" here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/darnell-l-moore/no-ashes-in-the-fire/9781549168727/

While he served his term, the sentencing guidelines were changed. Matthew had a perfect behavioral record while incarcerated, and was released early in 2016, having spent almost half his life on the inside.

He got steady work, started volunteering at a halfway house every weekend, bought clothing, furniture, a cell phone, rented a room in East Nashville. He re-established relationships with friends and family, and got into a serious romantic relationship. Basically, he built a life outside prison.

But a federal court ruled his term was reduced in error and ordered him back behind bars to finish his sentence. Matthew donated his belongings, said goodbye to his girlfriend and family, and turned himself in.

How and why did this happen? If the point of prison is rehabilitation, why did a judge decide that Matthew needed more?

Julieta Martinelli covered this case for Nashville Public Radio. She joins us this week with the strange, sad story of Matthew Charles.

As he interviewed residents for his original story, something else kept coming up in the conversations: bedbugs. More than half of residents in the 685-unit complex either had them, had recently had them, or were making drastic lifestyle changes to try to avoid them.

Dosker Manor is housing for seniors and people with disabilities. The majority of its residents are black. Whose job is it to make sure this vulnerable slice of the population has housing that is “decent, safe, sanitary and in good repair," as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires public housing to be?

Residents have complained to management and called 311 to report problems. But the investigation found that calls aren't being followed up on. Work orders aren't being generated to send exterminators to the infested units. And the seniors living in Dosker Manor are still going to bed every night, knowing they'll be bitten by bedbugs while they sleep.

Meanwhile, leadership at the Louisville Metro Housing Authority, which oversees public housing, says they're confident their system is working like it should.

Jacob Ryan joins us on this week's show to tell us more.

(You can read the full investigation here: http://kycir.org/2018/06/05/dosker-manor-lmha-bedbugs-louisville/)

Then she got a box in the mail packed with Audre-Lorde-themed swag from a student who appreciated her class. Turns out, it was a Homegirl Box. And she knew we had to interview whoever came up with it.

This week we talk to Brittany Brathwaite, co-creator of the Homegirl Box, a gift box inspired by the life and legacy of bold and visionary women of color. Each box contains 4 or 5 creations from women and non-binary artists, designers and business owners.

We talk to Brittany about her work, and her company's philosophy on doing business ethically.

We also have an update on Michael Rotondo, the 30-year-old man who wouldn't vacate his folks' house in New York. And of course, we say a great big, "Bye, Roseanne!"

Event planner Darien Green has been busy too. He's planning the second annual installment of "A Gay-la Experience," which is scheduled for June 2. Darien joined us this week to tell us more about the party, which is geared toward the LBGTQ community.

"I basically created this event because I have a lot of friends who are transgender and they didn't get to attend their high school prom as their true selves," Darien said. "They don't share their prom pictures, they don't even talk about their prom experience, because it wasn't a happy time for them. I thought about what I could do to help them have that experience."

While Darien was here we also talked about the case of Michael Rotondo, a 30-year-old New Yorker who had to be ordered by a judge to move out of his parents' house. How long is too long for parents to financially support their kids? And would it have made a difference if he'd done the dishes once in a while?

We also listen back to a recent Jimmy Kimmel bit where they asked people on the street to name a book. Not a book they've read, not a book on a certain topic -- just any book at all. Some people seemed almost proud to say they don't read books. What does that say about the skills our culture values? Did your family of origin celebrate your debate team victories as much as they did your cousin's football wins?

So when she sat down for a short flight from Raleigh-Durham to Washington, DC late last month, and her arm was touching a fellow passenger's arm, she was worried.

“I was thinking, I really hope she doesn’t treat me mean,” Phillips would later tell the Washington Post. "She was fidgeting, and finally she looks at me and goes, 'Can you move over?'"

But Phillips was in the window seat, and there was nowhere else to go.

This week on Strange Fruit, she tells the story of what happened over the next 45 minutes while the plane made its way to Reagan National Airport, and after it landed.

Like so many news stories lately, it culminates in a white person calling the police on a black person engaged in an everyday activity. Or as Phillips put it in a later tweet, "The cops were called on me for flying while fat & Black."

Popular (and mainstream) artists like Bey and Drake are quick to use Big Freedia on their songs, but never feature the Queen of Bounce in their videos.

"You know, my voice be on a lot of different stuff and people want to use bounce music as a part of their music, but when it comes to the proper recognition of me being in the video, that's something that we're steady working towards to make it happen," Freedia said in an interview with Fader in April.

Myles Johnson (Janelle Monáe recently called him "one of the greatest writers of this generation," no big deal) recently wrote about it in an essay called "The Ghost of Big Freedia." He joins us this week to talk about the erasure of Big Freedia and the history of pop music taking from more marginalized artists without proper credit.

We cover Shania Twain putting her cowgirl boot in her mouth with fans, the Philadelphia Police Chief's misunderstanding of coffee shop culture, why girls' and women's clothes don't have pockets, and more.

This week, we're re-posting a conversation we had around this time last year, with Dr. Stephanie Budge from UofL, who teaches workshops on coping with the holidays as an LGBTQ person. 

She said while some families do overtly antagonistic things (like using the wrong pronoun for trans folks, yelling, or refusing to let their LGBTQ family member bring a partner to holiday functions), what she hears about the most is simply ignoring. A person might come out as queer to their family, only for the response to be silence, and an unwillingness to acknowledge their identity.

Dr. Budge gave us some coping strategies we can all use during moments of holiday stress and family conflict, how to take full advantage of your chosen family's love when your family of origin doesn't support you, and how to tell when things are so unhealthy or unsafe it might be better to skip going home altogether.

If you find yourself in crisis mode over the holidays (or any time!): Dr. Budge recommends The Trevor Project's hotline. Their marketing is youth-oriented, but they provide support for LGBTQ folks of any age. You can reach them any time at 1-866-488-7386. Stay safe this holiday season, fruitcakes, and we'll see you in 2013!

At age 33, he's already had plays debut at the Royal Court London, New York's Vineyard Theatre, the Young Vic, and Steppenwolf Theatre, where he is an artist in residence. In March, he received the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize.

We spoke to McCraney this week about his career, and how and why he writes about black gay life. He told us the real-life roots of some of his most famous works, and about working as August Wilson's assistant at Yale (including an unforgettable story about buying Wilson an iPod).

In our Juicy Fruit segment this week, we had lots of news to cover: The #solidarityisforwhitewomen and #blackpowerisforblackmen hashtags, "straight" men who sleep with men, Oprah's experience of racism in Sweden, black ESPN colleagues calling each other racial slurs, and more. 

Photo Credit: Playbill

So teaming up with GLSENand with support from NBA Cares, friends to the show Darnell Moore and Wade Davis are spearheading a brand new basketball camp this year—one designed for LGBTQ kids and their allies. The camp is free and features a whole roster of NBA stars dropping by. It's called YOU Belong: LGBTQA Youth Sports and Leadership Initiative, and Darnell took a few minutes on the eve of the camp's opening to tell us how it came about.

While we had him on the phone, we also spoke about his article in this month's issue of The Advocate. They focused their entire July issue on LGBTQ people of color, and Darnell's article related some of his experiences of being 'too gay' in black spaces and 'too black' in gay spaces. 

In our main interview this week, we meet activist and author Chris Crass. His new book is called Toward Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy, and it features an interview with someone whose name is very familiar to Louisville's social justice community: Carla Wallace.

In case you're new to town, Carla is a long-time activist, co-founder of the Fairness Campaign, and founder of Showing Up for Racial Justice. Carla told us of a time when LGBTQ activists in Louisville threatened to stop contributing to the campaign if any of the money was used in anti-racism efforts. We've come a long way since then, but our chat with Carla and Chris shows that we also have a long way to go.

Chris Crass is in town this Sunday to celebrate the book's release. He and Carla had so many eye-opening things to say, we decided to split the interview into two parts; join us next week to hear the rest.

What's juiciest in Louisville this week is the ongoing competition for national Entertainer of the Year. In the spirit of the event, Dr. Story offers etiquette tips for drag shows (hint: tipping=life).

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