In this episode, Niki interviews Claudia De La Cruz, Co-Executive Director of The People's Forum. The two discuss the recent events in Haiti, Cuba, and other political crises in the region and what this means for oppressed people globally. They also discuss the continuous historical patterns of what happens in moments like this, and the ways in which US media works in insidious ways to confuse and distract everyday people and ultimately serve elite interests.  Support the podcast and become a patreon here.Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Getting to the Root of it with Venus Roots

Haiti, Cuba, and Lessons of Caribbean Resistance, with Claudia De La Cruz

In this episode, Niki interviews Clarissa Brooks, an abolitionist movement journalist and organizer. The two discuss the dangers of status quo "objectivity" in journalism and media, and look alternatively, to grassroots examples of Black investigative journalists who hold political commitments and relationships with the communities they write about. They also discuss the attention economy and its impact on which stories are prioritized and centered.Clarissa's writing has been featured in Rolling Stone, THEM, NPR, Harper's Bazaar, Teen Vogue, Complex, among others.Support the podcast and become a patreon here.Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Politicizing Journalism, with Clarissa Brooks

In this celebratory episode, Niki rings in the second anniversary of the podcast by getting into conversation with fellow gemini Mimi Zhu, writer and author of the forthcoming Book, Be Not Afraid of Love. The two discuss the realities that become more possible through storytelling for communities of color, the co-opting necessitated by corporate campaigns such as Stop Asian Hate and Pride, and the ways in which grief, loss, and migrant narratives all create openings for transformation and abolitionist values. Mimi's work explores themes of survival, queerness, alternate worlds rooted in interdependence/kinship/solidarity. Their work has been featured in the New York Times, PAPER Magazine, Guardian, SLATE, Artnet, NME, Bustle, JacobinMag, them., The Fader, INSIDER, VICE. They also write a monthly newsletter called WRITE, TO HEAL that includes essays, prompts, and curated playlists.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

2nd Year Anniversary Special, with Mimi Zhu

In this episode, Niki interviews Annika Hansteen-Izora, an art director, poet, and designer. The two reckon with the interests (profit, militarism, white supremacy, ableism - to name a few) that dictate social media platforms, algorithms, and the digital world at large, in a time where we are all spending hours on end on apps. Drawing from Afro-Futurism, Afro-Nowism, and speculative fiction, the two envision what communities centered in care and safety may look and feel like. Annika is currently the Creative Director of Design and UI at Somewhere Good, a new social media platform that centers people of color. Annika’s references and suggestions for folks to learn more from:Safiya Umoja Noble: Algorithms of OppressionDigital Doulas Take Restorative Justice to Cyberspace by. Yaa AddaeData healing concept by Neema GithereData trauma concept by Olivia McKayla Ross  Glitch Feminism by Legacy RussellJoy Buolamwini and Algorithmic JusticeMandy Harris Williams and #brownupyourfeed  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Connection in a Digital World, with Annika Hansteen-Izora

In this episode, Niki interviews Sarah Jaffe, labor journalist and author. The two discuss Sarah's new book, Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone, which offers historical context on the gendered, racialized, and capitalist history impacting workers, families, and what kind of labor society deems as valuable or not. In this conversation, the two also discuss recent examples of workers resisting, organizing, and shifting the terrain for labor in response to COVID-19 and they challenge the notion that: if you love what you do, you won't work a day in your life.

Work Won't Love You Back, with Sarah Jaffe

In this episode, Niki interviews Fresco Steez, a cultural engineer and organizer who has designed countless slogans, visuals, and communications that center the notion of being Unapologetically Black. In this conversation, the two discuss the role of artists and cultural workers in revolutionary struggles, the potential and necessity behind popularizing radical ideas, and the two get vulnerable around commitments to agitate and organize whenever possible.

The Role of An Artist and Cultural Worker, with Fresco Steez

In this episode, Niki interviews Derecka Purnell, an abolitionist writer, organizer, lawyer. Derecka works to end police and prison violence by providing legal assistance, research, and trainings to community based organizations through an abolitionist framework. In this conversation, the two discuss the limits of identity politics, why anti-capitalism and abolition go together, lessons from the 2020 uprising and what's ahead under a new administration.

Abolition and A New Administration, with Derecka Purnell

In this episode, Niki interviews adrienne maree brown, the author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good and Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. In this conversation, the two discuss what it means to embody abolitionist values, strategies for discerning differences in movement work, boundaries on and offline, moving towards generative conflict more effectively, adrienne's new book, We Will Not Cancel Us, and dreamy longings for 2021.

Embodying Our Abolitionist Dreams, with adrienne maree brown

In this episode, Niki interviews Jenny Odell, author of NYT bestselling book, How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. The two discuss divesting from the act of personal branding on social media, bioregionalism and re-connecting to the living ecosystems that surround us, the danger behind privatization of public and outdoor spaces, and the racial and class dynamics of leisure and who has access to it.

How To Do Nothing, with Jenny Odell

In this bilingual interview, Niki interviews Liz of Belly of the Beast. The two discuss the US blockade on Cuba and its profound and lasting effect, what the US elections mean for Cubans in Cuba, and they invite nuance into the conversation regarding Cuban politics. They also unpack the emotional and relational challenges that imperialist policies have on family dynamics, friendships, and a strategically divided Cuban community.

Let's Talk Cuba, with Liz of Belly of The Beast

In this episode, Niki talks to Phil Agnew, former Senior Advisor for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and co-founder of Dream Defenders. As 'content' takes precedence over 'context' for the sake of social media likes and mass re-tweets, the two discuss the nuances of building political power, the necessity to prioritize slow and steady work over urgency, mental health, and which seeds of optimism they're sowing these days.

Context > Content, with Phil Agnew

In this episode, Niki interviews Fariha Róisín, a Bangladeshi multidisciplinary artist, writer, podcaster, and poet. In light of Fariha's debut novel launch, Like a Bird, the two discuss the commodification of trauma, queerness and Islam, and the ongoing work of healing familial and ancestral wounds. Fariha's work has been featured in Vogue, PAPER, Nylon, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. Her new novel, Like a Bird is out September 15th. Order here.Transcript available here.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Like a Bird, with Fariha Róisín

In this episode, Niki interviews James Lopez, Executive Director at Power U Center for Social Change. Grounded in an organizing tradition and a leftist framework, the two discuss what it means for "defund the police" to go mainstream, the benefits and limitations of social media politickin, and what is needed to win meaningful material social change. James began organizing through the Western New York Law Center working with members of their consumer debt clinic, which helped change New York state policy around predatory lending, payday loans, and Community Reinvestment issues. Prior to Power U, James was an organizer for VOICE-Buffalo, where he organized with residents and those formerly incarcerated in order to push policy on policing reform and alternatives to mass incarceration. He was also part of Black Love Resists in the Rust (BLRR), which is a collective of organizers of color in the city of Buffalo committed to developing transformational organizing in the city of Buffalo. James is an alum of Black Organizing for Leader and Dignity (BOLD) Directors Training.Support the podcast and become a patreon here.Episode transcript available here.Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We Can't Win Unless We're Organized, with James Lopez

In this episode, Niki interviews Francisco Perez aka Platanomics, a Black solidarity economy activist, educator, and researcher currently pursuing a PhD in economics. In this interview, the two unpack Black capitalism, how buying Black unfortunately won't free us, and how this crisis offers us some openings for transformation. The conversation attempts to answer "whose concerns does Black capitalism actually speak to?"Francisco is the Director of the Center for Popular Economics, a nonprofit collective of political economists whose programs and publications demystify the economy and put useful economic tools in the hands of people fighting for social and economic justice. Francisco has worked on social and economic development projects in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone, the US and Venezuela. He also worked for the Museum for African Art in NYC and was a member of a collective of artists fighting to free political prisoners called the “Scientific Soul Sessions.”To support the podcast, become a Patreon today.Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Unpacking Black Capitalism, with Francisco Perez

In this episode, Niki interviews Kari Faux, a multidisciplinary artist, rapper, and producer. The two get vulnerable and real about the impact of social media, the conflation of visibility with fame and financial security, and the power that having supportive friends and family has on our mental health. Through this candid conversation, Kari talks about the pressures of living in LA, the creative process behind producing and writing music, and how artists are more than 'aesthetic packages' up for consumption.Kari's music has garnered her millions of streams and a soundtrack feature on the critically acclaimed HBO show, Insecure. Her latest project, Lowkey Superstar is available everywhere. Her work has been featured on PAPER Mag, Pitchfork, Hypebeast, The Fader, NPR, and elsewhere.To support the podcast, become a Patreon today!Featured music: Kari Faux's "Stick Up"★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Being a Lowkey Superstar, with Kari Faux

join niki franco (venus roots), a community organizer, writer, and facilitator of spaces for collective study, as she leans into conversations of radical truth-telling with artists, theorists, and organizers living in a world of rigid binaries and multiple truths. she navigates the urgency of solidarity, ancestral preservation, and dismantling systems of oppression that inform and deform our lives. @venusroots www.venusroots.com

hubhopper

Getting to the Root of it with Venus Roots

hubhopper