How do we become better allies?
I know three people in my life well-poised to answer that question: Nkeiruka Medani, PJ Bastiany and Curtis Graves. They shared their stories with me and Honest Fiction subscribers, addressing different personal matters — from sexual tokenization of Black women to a multi-year saga on politicized hair.
Congressman John Lewis, a standard bearer of the civil rights movement in U.S. politics, once said: “The movement without storytelling, is like birds without wings.” So, hear their unique personal accounts growing up in “Amerikkka” and your questions addressed directly in a safe space, and we can kick off the learning and awareness process as allies.
Guest Bios
Nkeiruka Medani, or “NK” for short, is a 25-year old Seattle native with family roots in Nigeria. She’s a lifestyle and beauty blogger and works in finance in the heart of San Francisco.
Curtis Graves is a 26-year old hip hop artist and poet residing in Pilsen, Chi city. The New Jersey native works full-time in the banking industry and is working on his next album and poetry book.
Pj Bastiany is a 25-year old black belt martial artist from San Jose, whose family has roots in both Latino and Black communities. He’s currently a project manager at the Village Project and travel ambassador at WorldVentures.
Show Notes and Highlights
0:00 - Introduction
1:40: Introducing Nkeiruka Medani
3:24 - What happens when close or best friends respond inappropriately to Black Lives Matter on social media?
5:29 - Medani speaks on her experience as a black woman: seeing dolls that never looked like her growing up, workplace experiences and why she’s lived in a world of “double jeopardy”.
9:21 - Introduction to Curtis Graves
10:00 - Growing up in South Jersey as a Black man versus Chicago
11:10 - Graves speaks on the importance of Black music and why his Instagram bio is “The Langston Hughes of rap”, and runs explores the question of “why isn’t rap being studied as traditional poetry?”
12:30 - How should we, as music listeners, show more allyship towards Black music?
14:32 - Graves explores: is it harder for a Black artist to climb the rungs of the music industry?
17:24 - Introduction to PJ Bastiany
17:40 - Bastiany talks about how it was like to grow up within the overlap of the Black and Mexican community and the “Black Sheep dilemma”
20:42 - Bastiany speaks on how he grew closer to his blackness
21:54 - Why is black hair political?
25:43 - Bastiany speaks on what it’s like to be a project manager at the Village Project
27:30 - Q&A Panel: Addressing all your questions that you asked about becoming an ally, about the Black Lives Matter movement, and more in a safe space
Credits:
Erik Bersamina - Music Producer
Tessa Hall - Edits, Mix and Master
Fauzirhmn - Podcast Illustration
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This is an Honest Fiction spinoff titled “Too Close For Discomfort”. Why “Too Close for Discomfort” and what does that mean?
Even though we may like to assume that we are wokekings and wokequeens, let’s not get it twisted: our assumption-laden society is inescapable. Too Close for Discomfort highlights the things that irk us and highlights primarily Asian American topics but also others from around the world.
[Too Close for Discomfort] Ep. 1: Stories of Growing Up Black in White America and Lessons on True Allyship, feat. NK Medani, Curtis Graves and PJ Bastiany