February 20, 2024 • 55 mins
Hey Friends & Kin!
FYI: THIS, JUST LIKE ALL EPISODES OF HAND ME MY PURSE, CONTAINS PROFANITY. THIS PODCAST IS FOR ADULTS AND CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT. Now that we've gotten that out of the way...
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Friends and Kin in this episode I was blessed enough to be in conversation with a Black unicorn, Jonathan McCrory of the National Black Theatre! His story is one of overcoming, perseverance and understanding WHO you are. What an amazing way to close out Black History Month!
In this two part conversation we learn all about my guest. We learn where he comes from, the obstacles and blessings that he navigated during his journey and what he is up to currently. It was a spiritually uplifting conversation that I am truly excited to share with you. Here’s a little bit about Jonathan:
Jonathan McCrory is a Tony Award and Emmy Award nominated producer, 2x Obie Award-winning, Harlem-based artist who has served as Executive Artistic Director at National Black Theatre since 2012 under the leadership of CEO, Sade Lythcott. He has directed numerous professional productions and concerts. He has been acknowledged as an exceptional leader additionally through Craine’s New York Business 2020 Notable LGBTQ Leaders and Executives. In 2013, he was awarded the Emerging Producer Award by the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and the Torch Bearer Award by theatrical legend Woodie King Jr. He is a founding member of the collaborative producing organizations Harlem9, Black Theatre Commons, The Jubilee, Next Generation National Network and The Movement Theatre Company. McCrory sits on the National Advisory Committee for Howlround.com and was a member of the original cohort for ArtEquity. A Washington, DC native, McCrory attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and New York University’s TISCH School of the Arts.
Enjoy this conversation, as I had such a wonderful time speaking with Jonathan about his life and his work. His story, the work he is doing as well as the work of the National Black Theatre should be something that we know about & THAT, friends & kin is exactly why I am sharing his story with you.
"GO WHERE YOU ARE LOVED. NOT WHERE YOU ARE TOLERATED..."
- MeMe's Jam No. 82
- Jonathan McCrory's Website
- National Black Theatre
- SUBMIT A QUESTION FOR “STRAIGHT FACTS”!
- PRACTICE LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION
- FIND A THERAPIST.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hand Me My Purse is a production of iHeart Podcasts.
So I was searching on the internet and to be
very clear, it was Miriam mckayba's internet and I stumbled
upon something and it is a poem and I'm going
to read it to you. It is called the Way
(00:21):
Forward and it says it is only heavy because you
are deciding over and over again to carry it. Embrace change,
loosen up your sense of identity, let yourself walk a
new path. You do not have to ignore or erase
(00:41):
the past. You just have to wholeheartedly embrace the present
and move on. That is a message in a word
for somebody who was listening to this today, and whoever
you are, I say, listen, soak it in and do
(01:03):
what you need to do. I can't see the path
(01:25):
that have it. Okay, what's up, y'all? Welcome to Hand
Me My Purse the podcast. I am Mimi Walker, and
I will be your forever host each and every single
time that you tune into this podcast. So go ahead
and get comfortable. Get yourself a glass of your favorite beverage,
whether that is some sweet Southern sun tea. Say that
(01:45):
four times water, just water, just plain on water. However
you like it. If you like a room temperature, if
you like an ice cold, if you like it a
little bit hot, if you like it with lemon, if
you like it with salt, just water, however you like it.
Or a shot of Reprisodo tequila chilled with a lime
(02:07):
rubbed around the rim of the glass, just for a
little balance on your palate. Whatever it is you like,
get that, Go light yourself a candle, some incense, or
burn some sage and just get ready to chill out
and have a good time. What's up, friends and ken,
(02:36):
It's me Mimi resident Auntie Supreme. Here it hand me
my purse. And today I am sipping on a Coke
zero and I just opened it. Hear that drinking a
coke zero? That should be a right for coke zero?
(03:02):
And why am I drinking it? Because I want to,
because I choose to. Okay, this' coke zero? Like the
way coke zero makes me belch. I have ass a reflux.
And sometimes they say you shouldn't drink carbonated beverages when
you have ass a reflux. But it does me good
because I get to belch. So that's why I drink it.
(03:24):
And you know, what. I don't drink soda a lot.
I do drink seltzer a lot. I drink water a
lot more than I drink anything else. I really just
drink Seltzer and uh water, oh and Celsius and protein shakes. Okay,
so maybe I don't just drink water in seltzer. Don't
judge me though, But today I'm sipping on an ice cold,
(03:46):
fresh out of the freezer Coke zero with some of
those ice chips in it. You know it's good for
my soul. Anyway, That's what I'm sipping on. What y'all
drinking on today? What y'all got on tap? Which y'all
got going out over here? Why in the world is that? So?
(04:10):
Friends and can For today's jam, I chose a song
I feel some Belgian coming on. I apologize on the
front end for this. This is what I get for
drinking a Coke zero while I'm recording this podcast. Pardon
so for the jam. I chose a song that is
(04:31):
probably one of my favorite songs by Oh excuse me.
That wasn't a Belchi I don't really know what that was,
but it was a sound.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Why in the world is that?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Don't worry about it anyway, so by one of my
favorite rappers, and that is h Ya seen By formerly
known as Most Deaf, and this song it's called Climb.
I'm gonna get right into it because I want you
to really hear it, and I really really pray that
(05:01):
you go and listen to the song outside of just
the clip or the snippet that's played in the episode.
I want to read some of the lyrics to you.
And it starts off. People climbed into the night like spacesuits.
People stepped into the night like moon boots, marching like
moon troops in their soot colored zoot suits. People climbed
(05:26):
into the night like cool wells, shiny bottles in their hands,
drinking their new selves. They say it's their true selves.
People climbed up in the night like green trees. They
were hanging from the night like green leaves, buzzing like
queen bees. People climbed into the night like spacesuits. People
(05:48):
stomped inside the night, stomping and stomping and stomping and
stomping and stomping. Where are they going? What's the rush?
Everybody's embraced but so out of touch. Now go ahead
and listen to the snippet. The snippet is here for
you and it's gonna set you up. And then after
(06:08):
you listen to the snippet, pause the show. Then go
listen to the song. Those are your instructions. Okay, people,
(06:38):
we're gonna get right into this show because it's a
very interesting show. Today I interviewed a really cool guy
and I want you just to get into it. So
I ain't gonna take up a lot of time, but
make sure you pause right after this, go listen to
the song, and then come back. Let's see if you
can follow simple instructions or if you are a sixth
(07:01):
grader and you can't. Either way, just come back and
listen to the episode. But please make sure you listen
to the song. Kay, all right, Friends in Ken, today
(07:32):
we are here in conversation with mister Jonathan McCrory and
Jonathan before, I don't want to introduce you. I want
you to introduce yourself. I call my listeners friends and
Ken love it because if you're not my friend, then
we related. I'm here for it, right, So go ahead
(07:52):
and introduce yourself and tell them who you are.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Hey, friends and Ken folk, I am My name is
John McCory. I hail from Washington, d C. I'm a
Washingtonian born and bred and raised. Uh. I come from
really a space of what does of black folks who
were resilient in spite of black folks who found found
(08:19):
their way to to really create a generous space for
us to celebrate culture. I love to say I lived
in DC when it was black, when it was shot
the city, and that kind of melting pot actually generated
a really affluent impact on me of me loving my culture,
loving my people, and also wanting to always be a
(08:42):
space of benefit for the for for the Both of
them went to do Gallon School of the Arts, where
that's where actually the arts actually came a part of
my central part of my life. At Gallington, I studied
musical theater and Gallington's one of the oldest black arts
high schools in the country. It was founded by Peggy
Cooper Kaferts and Mike Malone. A big shout out to
them amongst of other other founding founding members Founding Circle,
(09:05):
but those are the two leading voices that helped to
shape that space, helped to launch a musical I was
one of their. Like we like to say lab Rats.
We started their musical theater department. We were their first
and last to graduate. Come in and graduate because they
were able to sustain and past past our class. Then
I went to n y U. From n YU, I
(09:27):
studied musical theater yet again, but also transitioned into theater.
Started two theater companies with a group of friends, the
Movement Theater Company, and then I started at Harlem nine
a couple of years later. The Movement is still running
right now. Harlem nine is still running right now. I
directed a show called Black in the Bubble, A beautiful,
angelic human that's in my life, Michelle say. She she's
(09:51):
one of the first black artists to appear in a
soap opera, but also known as a with a with
Sonian artist, which means she is well versed in August
Wilson's texts. She saw my show that I directed, and
she said, do you know the National Black Theater And
do you know Shaddy Lyftcott. Shaddi Liftcott is the daughter
of doctor Barbara and Tier And I said, I know
(10:15):
of MBT, but I never had a meeting with or
got to know who Shada is. And so then she
actually helped to make this introduction between me and Shade
almost maybe fourteen years ago, and we haven't left each
other's side since those fourteen years. I came on first
as really a production manager, helping to help to produce
and show up and okay infrastructure for the organization, and
(10:37):
then soon very shortly jumped from production manager to artistic
being the lead artistic curator for the organization, ultimately turning
into becoming the artistic director, first the director of theater
arts Programming, then the artistic director, and now the executive
artistic director of the National Black Theater, where I've been
for thirteen years. I'm really helping to shape and build
(10:57):
with Shade. And who am I outside of that? Outside
of the labor. I am a person who I love plants.
I have lots of plants. I have like seventy two
plants that I take and take care of. I am
a lover of creativity, of art, of making I make.
I like to call myself a creative doula, which means
(11:17):
that I love to think of the idea, of the
idea of the work that I do is to manifest
the uh the unrealized ideas inside of people, myself's world
and psyche and making it manifestos turn into something real.
So what does that mean? How do you steward that
I love Viking? I love I love making puzzles and
in quisite like puzzles, and also like legos. You we're
(11:41):
in my house, you see a bunch of legos in
very different places. Because it's the meditative act of actually
building constructing is actually really really important for me. Who
else am I outside of the space. I'm a I
am a I'm an uncle, I am a nephew, I
am a son, I am a brother. These are all
(12:01):
attributes in which I come into my work. I also
come into this work really identifying as he him with
a spirit that is a she, so a multi a
multi fascined nature of who of how I show up.
So there are multiple different connections of how of how
of how I come to this space right now doing
this kind of work, the trajectory of how I came
(12:22):
from Washington, d C. All the way to New York
and finding a space to be my home, and also
how I find myself to be in this current nexus
of being a cultural leader for my community and also
hopefully for future generations to dream differently. And I hope
that difference is bigger. I hope that difference is more abundant.
(12:42):
I hope that difference is more profound so the world
can actually be shaped in a more liberated space.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
That is awesome. That's probably one of the best introductions
that I've had on this show. And I'm coming up
in four years of doing that.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
That that laid it all out. Man, WHOA, that was invigorating.
I don't even know where to start. You just did
half of my interview, Hey, sues Christo. Okay, well, the
one thing I want to say is shout out to DC.
I live in Baltimoreay, I live in Baltimore.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
The whole You're from Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yes, I'm here as I live and breathe.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Right now, I'll come on now, crabcakes, I need yes, yes, right?
Are you in New York? Now? I am in New York. Okay, Okay,
I live twenty four seven in Harlem, New York. I
find my way in DC, like I was in DC
for two days for Christmas. But I'll be in DC
for our upcoming and upcoming major show that we will
talk about. I'll call the gathering a sonic green shout.
(13:46):
But I and I also find myself primarily in New York.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Okay, yes, I am from Baltimore born. I lived for
a while Doring Berry and fourt and years in Compton, California.
So okay, yeah, I'm a bicoastal hood chick. I guess
you could say you.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Said, you said, I want to know where black people were.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Res Yes, I want to know what it's like. I
want to know what it's like on the East and
the West. I spent time in New York as well.
And when you mentioned Duke Ellington, a few of my
friends went to Duke Ellington. Yeah, and a lot of major, major,
major talent comes out of Duke Ellington. So that is like,
(14:30):
that is like the heartbeat to me of d C.
And it's so funny when you said I lived in
DC when d C was black. I remember when d
C was black.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Gone now I do.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
I used to club in d C when d C
now a dream and Republic Gardens, d C was still
black back then. Now I don't know how black it
is now. It's a different its and.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
It's more so the outskirts. So like what happened, what
happened when way? And like why a lot of people
when I say I'm from DC. They're like, oh, so
you're from pre Pg County or something like that. No, no, no, no,
it was born and raised inside the diamond is because
a lot of things that have occurred is that land
got way more expensive. Gentrification is actually real economic economic
(15:17):
deappreciation of land to have it actually now skyrocket overnight.
And also and and and and also we have to
we have to understand that GIF gentrification is a long
term game. It's not a short term game. It is
a long term game that is about that is about
reappropriating land and reappropriating acquisition of land and actually shifting
(15:37):
culture to becoming a brand versus being a community. And
so like, how do we sell the brand of something
versus how do we instill the community of something? And
I think that you know, there there is there is
nothing I think sometimes and I know I just did
it in this in this one moment, I think we
turned gentification becoming a dirty word. And gentrification is the
movement and migration of people. It's the economics of capitalism,
(16:00):
Western capitalism that actually does become the dirty word, because
Western capitalism is about appropriation, and that appropriation of land,
of idea, of culture, of space is actually what forces
people to have to make a different, different reality and
different choices. Especially when I love what you said at
the beginning of this. I think even before we started recording,
(16:21):
talking about the American dream, right, especially when you fed
a certain American dream narrative, that that puts you in
a place where you're always feeling like you need to
catch up to a race that was never designed for
you to win, right when you when you start you
start to understand that like that there are families who
have generational wealth that surpasses the ability of your family
even to be able to know what a dollar looks like,
(16:43):
right or to feel the ownership of what a dollar
is so like, So like when we start to talk
about this rat race of capitalism, this rat race of
American and Western capitalism, and black folks in particular, and
black Americans in particular seeking to be a part of
that game, we have to do it differ friendly. There
has to be indigenous practice allows for us to own
our wealth, own our opportunity, own our autonomy, and still
(17:07):
be able to have the things that we want, right
like the how if if you actually want that house,
should be able to have it. But not be, but
I have to sell it element of your culture or
to be able to achieve it, or your soul or
your soul or your dreams or your dreams come on
your joy. And so I think it's funny.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
He said that my best friend works for an organization
that handles a lot of money and a lot of
money here in Baltimore City, and she was talking to
someone else, and I was just sitting there ear hustling,
not really ear hustling, because I was a part of
the conversation, but like, this is not my monkey or
my circus. So I'm gonna just sit here and tell
y'all start talking about something that I know about. Until
(17:49):
then I'm going to listen. They were talking about the families,
the really wealthy families in Baltimore and talking about somebody
donating ten million dollars to something. I said, excuse me,
what do you mean donating timllion dollars to something? You know,
just like Willy nilly. And I just think that people
don't really understand, particularly people that look like you and
(18:11):
I don't really understand how heavy the burden or how
heavy of a lift it is that we.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Will never.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
This country is not was not created for us to
even be able to dream that far, you know what
I mean. The American dream is sold to us as
you know, you go to college. If you can, you
get out of school. You go to college. If you
can go to college. If you can't, then you get
a good job that has a union or you know
that is a hard working either blue collar or government job.
(18:47):
You work that job, you stay there till you retire,
and you live a happy retirement going on cruises for
the rest of your life.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Or you go to college, you get a degree, and
then you may make a little bit more money. You
join up one of the Divine nine organizations, or you
become a Mason, you become a links, you become an
usive star, whatever it is. And these are the things,
you know, this is what's packaged to us, who I
(19:15):
couldn't even fathom. So my grandmother's going to donate ten
million dollars.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
And so I think what you said is so important
that certain things here, like we it was created just
so that we couldn't even dream that far. Yeah yeah, yeah.
And if we were to dream that far, we had
to sell something, Yeah, usually your soul and and like
and like that.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
That is a powerful that's a powerfualization someone has to
have and they actually want to achieve that kind of
generational wealth. That kind of generational wealth to achieve is
filled with blood, money that is scarred with many many
people's teams years. Yes, and you don't acquire that much
(20:03):
wealth without without creating some kind of chaos, and that
chaos actually being and I'm using that in a in
a kind of a hurtful way, that kind of chaos
that actually harms humanity, harms life, cultures, culture, like you
have to you to obtain that kind of generation Like
(20:25):
like you can have money, and but there's differently having
money and being wealthy. Wealthy absolutely, and the wealth is
something that like i can lose maybe forty million, and
I'm still going good for another twelve generations.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I'm gonna be fine.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
And sometimes you know, if I lose forty dollars, I'm mad,
God damn it. I needed that forty dollars because that's
the two ways worth of gas.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, And I think I think that is
and I think that that that that that economics of technology,
that that language or that ideality is when black and
brown folks always have to figure out how to live
not within the scope of but exceed past right, how
to live outside of the scope of like understanding really
(21:13):
the current, how currency and money as just energy and
how if like they're there, how we have to rise
our vibration to meet the life we want to actually
have and how do we do that? And how do
we do that on a day to day basis when
we are surrounded in by news by X, Y and
Z with different kind of different kind of things that
(21:34):
inundate us, that ground that that sometimes feel like they're
chugging us down instead of lifting us up, and.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Also constantly telling us that we are not worthy of
having these things. Yeah, but enough about capitalism and the
(22:00):
wonderful country we call America. I want to know about you.
Tell me about what it was like when tell me
tell me when you knew and when you told your
family that I want to pursue a career in theater.
What was that like for you as a young black
(22:21):
boy in DC. Yeah, and then when you decided, no,
I'm really gonna pursue a career in theater and I'm
going to New York to do so, how did they react?
Your friends, your family, your family's friends.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
What was that Like, Yeah, I mean it's actually quite interesting.
I think this is gonna intersect with like a couple
of maybe it's gonna it's an interesting story. I actually
found the arts. The arts didn't find me, right, I
mean the arts found me. I didn't actually find the arts,
and we rephrase that and the fact that like, I
wasn't actually ever projected to see myself in the arts
(22:54):
as a career. I was looking to be an engineer,
and then you talk to my mom, and mom thought
I would be a pre right, So these are like two,
These are two. These are two totally different trajectories and
like me now doing what I do, what I get
to do now, But there are elements of it. When
I start to talk about it, you're like, oh, there's
some similarities. I grew up. I grew up in a
I grew up in an education system where where I
(23:18):
grew up with dyslexia ad D in another form like
many different kind of like learning disabilities. And I was
told and there was a lot there's a lot of
there was a lot of like, uh, credit stacked against
me to be able to actually succeed in the in
the American education system. I'd get all the whole nine
(23:39):
and I and and there's a lot of things to
my family for really investing in my ability to like
be to be educated. I e uh, because my mom
and my dad put me, took me out of public
school after I got tested and put me into a
private school so I could have that kind of specialized attention.
Also got me a tutor. And what all really happened
(24:00):
is that when I was going to go to high school,
many of my friends, because I was in a private,
private middle school, all went to public, private high schools.
Maybe they applied, they got in. Some of them got
in because of legacy, something got in because of Mariti
had X, Y and Z. But they all they got
into all of these schools. And I have this number
in my head that I applied like thirteen schools and
I got rejected from all thirteen because I wasn't able
(24:23):
to live up to the aptitude of what they were
expecting me to actually be able to do. And so
and so at the ninth hour, like when everyone when
like almost everything was gonna all all places were basically
kind of set for the next year, someone said he
sings any dances I was singing, and I was, and
I was doing some play musicals in my middle school
(24:45):
as a hobby really as something like I was just
doing to be able to be social and be able
to be around folks. They said I should applied for
jicalt the School of the Arts. So then as a
last ditch effort, so I wouldn't be a number, a part,
a part of a major, like if I went to
Coolidge or Wilson, I would have been one of five
hundred in my freshman class. So instead of so because
(25:06):
because that was the destination my family did not want
for me, I applied to be to go to Duke
Ellington and I was a last to actually audition for
the voice department. So I applied for the voice department,
and doctor Ayres set my life in this trajectory. She
accepted me in as the last male to be accepted
into the voice department. And then they were this musical theater,
(25:28):
this musical theater, musical theater track, and I applied for
that too, and I made it into that. So the
arts actually was was a byproduct of not wanting to
count myself out of the race of being part of society,
being part of the future that I wanted being part
of the life that I ultimately want to have access to,
and so and so and so, like I kind of
(25:48):
just stuck with it. That's why I kind of just
happened like when college had when college, when college came around,
it was either go to Morehouse or go to n YU.
Those are my two choices that I was actually kind
of sitting with. I I got I got in this
presidential scholarship to go to Morehouse, but I had to
keep like a three point four GPA. And then I
got into n YU for the musical theater department. And
(26:10):
because I had done such a great job in high school,
I really give it up again to my parents saying
saying that because you because of what you've been able
to do scholastically during this time, and also because you
went to a public a public high school, because my
sister had gone to a private, private high school, they
(26:31):
kind of equated that the balance was you get to
make a choice in this moment of which path do
you want to go? And I ultimately and I ultimately
I had the power to choose which which road I
wanted to take. Do I want to take this road
where I go to morehouse where I didn't I didn't
know the theater program per se, and I probably would
have been that engineer, would have gone to architecture school,
(26:53):
would have been that other human. Or do I go
on this track and I would have to keep a
three point four gpa? So like that was also straining
on me because I worked really hard to get to
where I was in high school. Or do I go
to a place where NYU, where there is not a GPA,
there's not a stipulation on the GPA that I actually
have to keep up. I just have to stay in
the stay in the creative race, which I enjoy, and
(27:17):
I get to be in New York where I fell
at home, right and so and so there that's really
kind of kind of steered me into New York and
steered me into NYU and steered me into the deeper
into the arts. And I will ultimately say that my
infatuation with the arts is really about creating a cultural home.
And what does it mean to create a cultural home?
(27:37):
What does it mean to create a home that allows
for someone like me? Who? Who? Who?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Who? Who?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
That's all I was looking for. Even when I was
at n YU, couldn't find a space that looked like me,
felt like me, was attracted the same kind of creative
taste or kind of aptitude that I was. So so
my whole journey has been about how to I carve
out space to create that creative home. And I will
even say that in my junior year of high school,
(28:06):
I told the chair of my theater department what I
wanted to be. He said, what do you want to
be when you grow up? I said, I want to
I want to work out a theater that owns their
own space in Harlem doing black, like a black theater
that owns it own space in Harlem, and I want
to be there. To the director of that location, and
he was like, that's very specific, and I said, yes,
(28:27):
but we don't. I don't have that right now. If
I was to look at the landscape, I don't have
a space that like resonates with me, right that like
that like it's owned, that has all the aptitude that
like would make a young artist like me a spy
or higher that I had known of I had. Like
I've been able to witness many of my dance friends
(28:47):
who are in the dance department see how something like
Alvin Ailey was a north star for them in some
form or fashion, right the north star they wanted to
run away from, or north star they were deeply attracted to.
But it had something that was of a national attention,
that had global appreciation, that was able to rally this
kind of this kind of like pride inside of them,
(29:10):
so that when Aily came to d C at the
Candy Center, they have this pride of wanting to see it,
or the Ali dancers would come to do Gellington and
teach classes, like all of these things really created this
kind of unique space that was kind of profound. But
I didn't necessarily feel that in the theatrical world. I
didn't necessarily feel like there was that kind of north
star for me to either work up against or work
(29:32):
in concert with, because I think both of those are important.
It's important for someone to have something to work up
against so they can create their own diamond or work
toward so they can help to build up the actual
institution that it is that is currently existing. So that's
where that's where my love and my commitment to MBT
really comes from. It really comes from that space of
like there it's a manifesting the thing that I called
(29:54):
out into the universe. And then also it is helping
to hopefully create that north star for the next generation
to either work up work, work, work in concert with
or say oh I'm gonna do something different, but at
least have something to ask, something that says this is
this is maybe the standard.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
And also for the next generation, like like you said,
this is the standard. But it's just something for me
to see because when you don't have it.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Yeah, I can see it.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
It's tangible, it's touched, I can touch it. It exists.
It doesn't only exist in my dreams. For you only
existed in your dreams, but look how your dreams have
manifest I want to say a few things about what
you said. First and foremost, because of my roots in
Pentecostal church. UH, I just want to say, come on
(30:43):
Jesus for or come on God, come on whatever for you.
You speaking about any type of UH limitations that you
may have had, or that you may have been diagnosed with,
or they may have said that you had limitations. And
at the end of middle school, you didn't really have
(31:03):
a lot of options, right, and so you were like,
at a last ditch effort, let me just try my
hand and it worked out for you, but at the
end of high school you had an option to go
to two very prestigious universities with scholarships. Shout out to
you for that, and look at God turning around for you.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I love a good story. I love a good resilience
overcoming story because it's rooted in the history of who
we are over of course, overcoming as a people. Everything
about our black ass existence in this country is all
rooted in resilience. And so when I hear stories like that,
(31:47):
like it makes the hair on my skin stand up,
because I become very filled with pride. Like I don't
know you, I just met you today, but I become
very filled with pride because I love to hear it.
You know, you know on the internet, we love to
see it. I love to see it. And another thing
that you said, excuse me, I have undiagnosed ADHD. But
(32:10):
you know, just like I wake up and I can
tell that I'm black, I don't need anybody tell me
that I have aviation now and very clearly of that.
That's what I'm dealing with. You said something else about
I'm curious what do your parents do or what did
your parents do for a living.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
You So both my parents were worked with numbers, accounting accounts. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah,
I worked out budget numbers and did taxes for folks
and uh I remember taxis in the house was a
particular yes with folks with other people's your room, Yes,
(32:45):
go to your room.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
We're working. Mister Johnson has come over, coming over, mister Johnson,
Miss Smith and miss Brown are coming over and doing
those taxes going there were crushing numbers. Actually, they're bringing
their kids. So when they come in here, go outside
and take them outside and play with them.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
And also and and and and also like I think,
I think the blessing of being able to witness that
was the understanding, the appreciation of numbers, of money economics,
being able to understand. You know, my mother had a
conversation with me very early about debt and about what
debt is and healthy debt and also credit card and
(33:20):
and helping to create a language around that. And that
was that I think has well, I know for sure,
has served me so like so, so there was there was,
there was always a spirit. And then like my grandmother
was a social worker. My other my grand one of
my grandfathers worked in was did service but also helped
(33:41):
with the Board of Elections nationally. And then my aunt
also works on the Board of Elections currently right now. Uh.
And then my grand my grandfather on my father's side
was a dentist, but also he did he dabbled in
the arts. He was in he was in The Heart
They Come the Jamaican, the Jamaican film. He was he
was actually in that.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
That was going to be my next question, is anybody
in our family the arts.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
I'm the only one. I'm the only one to be
fully invested in the arts. Okay, but I'm not the
only one who has done the arts. But I'm the
only one really fully invested in the arts, like from
what I can tell, from what.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
You know, right, because who knows? Generations and generations before
you could have had an uncle who's come on out,
bill come on as a Loveville singer with a come on,
come on the stairs click back, dancing and singing conkering stuff. Okay,
So tell me about the National Black Theater because I
had never heard of it before. Then before Welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Welcome, Welcome, you baptized.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
I love that. So.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
National was founded in nineteen sixty eight by doctor Barbara
and Tier and we are one of the continues, one
of the longest conternally run black theaters in the country.
We are a founder bought a city block and uh
in the thirties, nineteen, I think nineteen thirty eight. The
circuit of kind of around there, and it really help
to position our permanence, and that permanence really helped to
(35:04):
make sure that we could do what we're doing right now.
Having land owning land really helped us to not be
a circumbed to the many different cultural rasures that have
happened in Harlem and also what's happened in our society.
I mean, just to point this out, it might be
an urban legend, but as an urban legend that I love.
(35:26):
In nineteen sixty eight, when National Black Theater was founded,
during the Black Arts Movement, there was reportedly two hundred
black theaters in New York City alone. In twenty thirteen,
when I did a study, there was only eighty six
black theaters in the country.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
So that kind of that kind of a rasure is
something that NBT has been able to work up against
and stay resilient inside of because of this black woman
who bought a city block parliam in the thirties was
a force, full force. In two thousand and eight, she transitioned,
she passed away. Her daughter, Shaddy Liftcott came on as
CEO of the National Black Theater and ever since then
(36:07):
Shade has been really eyes on the prize, looking at
generating a sustainable cultural institution destination for the twenty fourth century.
She brought me on three years after her appointment, and
with her, with her, her brother Michael Lifcott, and myself,
we have been really spearheading this reimagining of that city
(36:30):
block and we're building a brand new building. We have
partnered with folks at Ray Ray. Ray is the place Ellmen,
d X, and NBT have all come together to build
a new twenty one twenty two story building that will
be a mixed use building. They'll have a residential new
(36:53):
cultural home for MBT that will be twenty five thousand
square feet and then some some retail at the bottom
with also some kind of restaurant kind of FMB So
we're building, we're reimagining what that cultural destination can be
for the twenty first century. We are activating some of
doctor Robert and Tier's initial premise of buying that property
(37:14):
was to create a place for artists to live, serve,
and work. And we are creating a twenty first century
destination in that twenty five thousand square feet that will
help black artists in the future have a destination to
go to, as we talked about tangibly, that is able
to give them a state of dr facility, as able
to help them to imagine, as also able to pour
(37:35):
into them the kind of resources that they need to
be able to be present in their body and to
help be a reflection of the community and the life
and the legacy that we as black and brown folks
have always had.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Oh and one other little bit about NBT, just really quickly,
is that I didn't say this part, is that we
made our Broadway debut this year for congratulations, thank you.
We had a Broadway debut this year with fat Ham,
and then we came up with our sophomore project, which
is proly Victorious, which is running right now until February third.
(38:11):
What's significant about making that Broadway debut is not just
that NBT I was also breaking that glass ceiling for
us institutionally. Is that also culturally, a black theater or
a BIPOC theater in general had not produced on Broadway
for fifty two years. The last time that it had
ever happened was for Color Girls, the original for Colored
Girls with Witty King Junior in the new Federal Theater.
(38:33):
So this was a watershed moment of reintroducing the peep
of the actually the institutions that house that cultural frame
that have been have we produced a lot of black
work or BIPOC work on Broadway, but yet the producers
of it are not of that community. And so that
means the money is not necessarily going into that community,
(38:53):
It's going into someone else's pocket. So what does it
mean for us to create new pathways for iPod theaters
to be able to see themselves in this commercial frame
if they want to, knowing that it does create amplification,
it does create some economic resilience, It can create that
and and it can help and help to create a
(39:14):
vital new arm for the organization.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
That's so awesome. Tell me a little bit. I'm gonna
veer off a little bit because she said fat Ham
And it's interesting. I have a cousin named Haim. His
nickname is Sam and he's fat. So tell me what
fat Ham is about I absolutely have a cousin whose
nickname is Ham and so fat Ham.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Shout out to James, i'ms and also to the director
of the Broadway the original the production that we did
at the Public Theater to Broadway, Sahim Ali. So Fat
Ham is a Politzer winning play written by James James I. James,
who is a Philly, a native Philadelphian Philly Boyne and
raised the playground he spent most of his days. He
(39:57):
It's a It's a story that basically takes a spin
off of Hamlet and centers it in It's a funny
kind of spin on Hamlet that positions it in the
South to look at a black family who does barbecue
and looking at how looking and looking at the the
the fun slash heart wrenching. It's a black queer story
(40:20):
dealing with barbecue, utilizing this narrative of Hamlet as a
tool to actually re reposition and give and give autonomy
to to that narrative. James James I James, who is
the playwright, was told what was told as a young
after that Shakespeare wasn't for him and wasn't for his people,
(40:41):
and so therefore he wanted to shift that by writing
narratives that were for him and for his people, and
that really uplifted the culture that he loved so dearly.
So he reappropriated that that that that text and that
storyline and placed it inside of his community.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
All right, friends and ken, it is time for straight facts.
And today today straight facts starts out me Me. I
want to shout you out and thank you for the
amazing work and energy you put out into the world. Well,
first of all, thank you. That is very kind of you.
(41:41):
I'm very grateful and to you, good friend. Essay, shout
out to you. Okay, let me carry on. It says,
I really don't know what to do. I work at
a job that has great benefits, flexibility, and pay. Those
are the things I love about my job. But there
are some things that do not make it so great.
(42:03):
My supervisor constantly takes credit for projects that I plan
and practically complete and meetings. She stands up proudly and
takes credit for my work. And as a result, I
just found out the company is going to promote her
and give her more paid due to how amazing she
has Bunny Ears supposedly been at completing projects. How do
(42:28):
I let her know respectfully that she needs to do
her fair share, and then I feel a way about
her taking credit for my work. Anonymous professional from Portland, Oregon. Well, well, well, well,
first of all, she out of control. Okay, she's out
of control. I think that you start out by having
(42:52):
a conversation with her about it, because it seems like
you haven't had an initial conversation about her about it
with her. I think that you should have an initial
conversation about it with her. Pull her up and say,
I just wanted to talk to you about you know,
(43:15):
some of the ideas that I've shared with you, and
it seems like you don't give me credit for the
work that I do, and you just need to let
her know that. You know, we all come to work,
we work hard, we give our best, and we do
our best, and we all want to feel valued and
appreciated and respected. And I don't feel valued, appreciated or
(43:41):
respected because you stand up in meetings and take full
credit for the work that I do it and tell
her how it makes you feel. Okay, We're going to
start off with feelings, right, and that is just to say,
see and to gauge what kind of human she is.
(44:02):
So if you tell her how you feel and she
continues to do it, then we got to talk about fact.
So let's say you go to her and don't be bitter,
don't be defensive, just say, hey, Marjorie, I noticed that
in the past couple of meetings a lot of the
ideas that I've shared with you blah blah blah blah blah,
(44:24):
you stand up and take the credit blah blah blah,
and it just kind of makes me feel unvalued and unappreciate,
unappreciated and overlooked blah blah blah. I don't feel like
you respect you know what I bring to the table
because you take it and you state that it's your own.
If she dismisses you or negge your feelings, that's fine.
(44:48):
We'll see what happens and if she does it again
after that initial conversation, then we head to the good
old email. Okay, Then you write an email to Margie
and make sure you use these words per our initial
conversation on Make sure you have the date Wednesday, February fourteenth,
(45:11):
twenty twenty four, when I shared with you that I
felt like you didn't respect me and value my input
and what I brought to the table as an employee
at insert the name of the company. We talked about
(45:34):
blah blah, blah blah, and you stated and then state
what she says, then state when she did it again,
the date, the time at the meeting. You can state
who's at the meeting if you like, but you don't
have to do that. Just state the date and time
of the meeting.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
And.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
Mentioned to her that how you feel after she did
it again. If she does this again after that, you're
going to reply to that email because she's going to
email you. You're going to reply to that email, and
then you're going to cee ce not blind copy. You're
going to see see her boss. Now. Also you have
(46:23):
to take that into account, like how it goes. You know,
if her her and her boss are a spoon coons
or a spoon booms and whatever it is, what this is,
and I would just think about going to higher ups
(46:44):
and or if you don't want to do that, just
stop sharing your ideas with her, find somebody else to
share your ideas with, or when you share ideas, share
your ideas via email and copy other people like her
boss or other people on your team. I think that
(47:07):
might be a good way to go after you instead
of going to like HR because you know that's not
really a violation. But what you do is you just
when it's time to share an idea, you share via email,
or you share in front of someone else in those meetings.
That's where you share the Stop giving this lady your information.
(47:29):
I've had people take my creative intellectual property and utilize
it for their own and make money off of it too,
and it's not a good feeling, and it actually feels
like shit. It makes you feel really bad and it
makes you want to hurt somebody. So just be careful
(47:51):
about how you share your creative property and your intellectual property,
because it is your creative intellectual property. Be mindful how
you share, and I hope it works out for you.
Anonymous professional from Portland, Oregon. Be well. And if you
do feel unvalued and unrespected, and I don't even think
(48:14):
unrespected as a word. If you don't feel valued and
you don't feel respected, you just need to move a
little different I hope you don't feel that way, but
if you do, you definitely just need to move a
little different way. All right, it's time for we got
(48:34):
to do better and today's we got to do better.
Quote comes from I don't know if it's Tommy or Tommy.
I'm gonna go with Tommy Tommy idea, Yemmy. And it's
from the book Children of Blood and Bone, and the
quote says, courage does not always roar. Get into that
(48:57):
for a second. Okay, let's get in to it. Let
me say it one more time for you. Courage does
not always roar. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. That's a word, and
it's a word because sometimes people with the biggest mouths,
(49:17):
the people who have the loudest things to say, uh,
they ain't really talking about shit. They ain't really boutshit,
they ain't really own shit. Sometimes they just talk to
hear themselves talk. But courage does not always roar. And
listening to this quote makes me think about a few
(49:39):
people that I work with who do a lot of
uh roaring, but don't have the courage that God gave
David or the courage that God gave a stingray. Okay,
(50:02):
sit with that. Courage does not always roar. I love that.
I absolutely love that quote. The first thing that I
want to do is say thank you to God. Because
God is supreme, and I recognize and appreciate the grace
(50:26):
that God extends to me every single day of my
black ass life. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I want to say
thank you to my folk. I want to say thank
you to each and every one of you that have
been rocking with me since day one, since March the
first of twenty twenty. I want to say thank you,
thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I truly
(50:47):
appreciate you for being here with me and going on
this journey with me. And even if you just started
listening today episode eighty two, you're eighty two and today
is the first time you listened, say thank you for
that as well. Either way, I'm grateful. I'm thankful for
my family. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for
(51:08):
my friends and Ken, all of my supporters, and of course,
most importantly, every single one of you guys out there listening.
I love you so much, and it is nothing short
of an honor, privilege, and a blessing to share my
time and my energy with you, especially if you choose,
because it's a choice, if you choose to keep coming
back to spend time with me, and I look forward
(51:29):
to the next time that we get to do this
one another. Now, before you exit out of whatever streaming
service you're using to listen to this, stop what you're doing,
and if you haven't already done so, please look for
the subscribe or follow button. Click that if that's an
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go over to Instagram and follow me at Handy my
Purse Underscore podcast. Also follow me on threads and you
(51:54):
can find that on my Instagram profile. And follow me
on Facebook. Just search hand Me my Purse pott and
you will find me there. I recently started a LinkedIn
don't know what I'm doing, don't know why I started it,
but I did, and you can find me on there.
I think under Mimi Walker. Just look for the girl
in the knee on yellow sweatshirt that says unapologetic. If
(52:19):
you listen on a streaming service or a medium that
allows you to do so, please take two to three
minutes to go and rate and review the show or
give it a thumbs up. If you can. Let me
tell you. I'm going to read one of the reviews
now or one of the messages that I got on
Spotify and this is from be Justice and B Justice said,
(52:41):
I found this podcast through my sister. This is my
favorite episode, laughing my ass off. I think you have
a great voice for this and I'm happy to support
your progress. Keep up the good work, you know what,
Be Justice, thank you so much, And here's a shout
(53:08):
out to you be just a straight up shout out
for you friends and kN Be sure to share hand
Me my Purse with your friends, your loved ones, and
your enemies. Because the best way for people to find
out about this show is by you guys telling them
all about it. So tell a friend, to tell a
friend to what tell a friend? Please submit your questions
(53:29):
for the straight Fact segment by clicking on the link
in the show notes that says submit a question for
stray Facts, or click the link in my Instagram profile
and look for the button that directs you to submit
a question. And who knows, your question may be featured
on an upcoming show. Also remember that show notes are
always available in the episode description. Wherever you are listening
(53:52):
to the show, be sure to take a look at
the show notes because that is where I put all
of the links and other information that I mentioned during
the show that you may want to check out, in
addition to some stuff that I just want to always
share with you guys. Also, just so you know, the
music for Handing My Purse is provided by none other
than West Baltimore's own Gloomy Tunes. Last, but not least,
(54:17):
I want to give a big old shout out to
my producers. Together we make up Rando Banjo and the
Dirty Throops And I look forward to you looking forward
to listening to me. Mimi Walker here at Handy My
Purse the podcast, each and every single Tuesday, and I'm
(54:40):
out this bitch peace. Hand Me My Purse is a
(55:11):
production of iHeart Podcasts. For more shows from iHeart Podcasts,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Hand Me My Purse is a production of iHeart Podcasts.
So I was searching on the internet and to be
very clear, it was Miriam mckayba's internet and I stumbled
upon something and it is a poem and I'm going
to read it to you. It is called the Way
(00:21):
Forward and it says it is only heavy because you
are deciding over and over again to carry it. Embrace change,
loosen up your sense of identity, let yourself walk a
new path. You do not have to ignore or erase
(00:41):
the past. You just have to wholeheartedly embrace the present
and move on. That is a message in a word
for somebody who was listening to this today, and whoever
you are, I say, listen, soak it in and do
(01:03):
what you need to do. I can't see the path
(01:25):
that have it. Okay, what's up, y'all? Welcome to Hand
Me My Purse the podcast. I am Mimi Walker, and
I will be your forever host each and every single
time that you tune into this podcast. So go ahead
and get comfortable. Get yourself a glass of your favorite beverage,
whether that is some sweet Southern sun tea. Say that
(01:45):
four times water, just water, just plain on water. However
you like it. If you like a room temperature, if
you like an ice cold, if you like it a
little bit hot, if you like it with lemon, if
you like it with salt, just water, however you like it.
Or a shot of Reprisodo tequila chilled with a lime
(02:07):
rubbed around the rim of the glass, just for a
little balance on your palate. Whatever it is you like,
get that, Go light yourself a candle, some incense, or
burn some sage and just get ready to chill out
and have a good time. What's up, friends and ken,
(02:36):
It's me Mimi resident Auntie Supreme. Here it hand me
my purse. And today I am sipping on a Coke
zero and I just opened it. Hear that drinking a
coke zero? That should be a right for coke zero?
(03:02):
And why am I drinking it? Because I want to,
because I choose to. Okay, this' coke zero? Like the
way coke zero makes me belch. I have ass a reflux.
And sometimes they say you shouldn't drink carbonated beverages when
you have ass a reflux. But it does me good
because I get to belch. So that's why I drink it.
(03:24):
And you know, what. I don't drink soda a lot.
I do drink seltzer a lot. I drink water a
lot more than I drink anything else. I really just
drink Seltzer and uh water, oh and Celsius and protein shakes. Okay,
so maybe I don't just drink water in seltzer. Don't
judge me though, But today I'm sipping on an ice cold,
(03:46):
fresh out of the freezer Coke zero with some of
those ice chips in it. You know it's good for
my soul. Anyway, That's what I'm sipping on. What y'all
drinking on today? What y'all got on tap? Which y'all
got going out over here? Why in the world is that? So?
(04:10):
Friends and can For today's jam, I chose a song
I feel some Belgian coming on. I apologize on the
front end for this. This is what I get for
drinking a Coke zero while I'm recording this podcast. Pardon
so for the jam. I chose a song that is
(04:31):
probably one of my favorite songs by Oh excuse me.
That wasn't a Belchi I don't really know what that was,
but it was a sound.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Why in the world is that?
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Don't worry about it anyway, so by one of my
favorite rappers, and that is h Ya seen By formerly
known as Most Deaf, and this song it's called Climb.
I'm gonna get right into it because I want you
to really hear it, and I really really pray that
(05:01):
you go and listen to the song outside of just
the clip or the snippet that's played in the episode.
I want to read some of the lyrics to you.
And it starts off. People climbed into the night like spacesuits.
People stepped into the night like moon boots, marching like
moon troops in their soot colored zoot suits. People climbed
(05:26):
into the night like cool wells, shiny bottles in their hands,
drinking their new selves. They say it's their true selves.
People climbed up in the night like green trees. They
were hanging from the night like green leaves, buzzing like
queen bees. People climbed into the night like spacesuits. People
(05:48):
stomped inside the night, stomping and stomping and stomping and
stomping and stomping. Where are they going? What's the rush?
Everybody's embraced but so out of touch. Now go ahead
and listen to the snippet. The snippet is here for
you and it's gonna set you up. And then after
(06:08):
you listen to the snippet, pause the show. Then go
listen to the song. Those are your instructions. Okay, people,
(06:38):
we're gonna get right into this show because it's a
very interesting show. Today I interviewed a really cool guy
and I want you just to get into it. So
I ain't gonna take up a lot of time, but
make sure you pause right after this, go listen to
the song, and then come back. Let's see if you
can follow simple instructions or if you are a sixth
(07:01):
grader and you can't. Either way, just come back and
listen to the episode. But please make sure you listen
to the song. Kay, all right, Friends in Ken, today
(07:32):
we are here in conversation with mister Jonathan McCrory and
Jonathan before, I don't want to introduce you. I want
you to introduce yourself. I call my listeners friends and
Ken love it because if you're not my friend, then
we related. I'm here for it, right, So go ahead
(07:52):
and introduce yourself and tell them who you are.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Hey, friends and Ken folk, I am My name is
John McCory. I hail from Washington, d C. I'm a
Washingtonian born and bred and raised. Uh. I come from
really a space of what does of black folks who
were resilient in spite of black folks who found found
(08:19):
their way to to really create a generous space for
us to celebrate culture. I love to say I lived
in DC when it was black, when it was shot
the city, and that kind of melting pot actually generated
a really affluent impact on me of me loving my culture,
loving my people, and also wanting to always be a
(08:42):
space of benefit for the for for the Both of
them went to do Gallon School of the Arts, where
that's where actually the arts actually came a part of
my central part of my life. At Gallington, I studied
musical theater and Gallington's one of the oldest black arts
high schools in the country. It was founded by Peggy
Cooper Kaferts and Mike Malone. A big shout out to
them amongst of other other founding founding members Founding Circle,
(09:05):
but those are the two leading voices that helped to
shape that space, helped to launch a musical I was
one of their. Like we like to say lab Rats.
We started their musical theater department. We were their first
and last to graduate. Come in and graduate because they
were able to sustain and past past our class. Then
I went to n y U. From n YU, I
(09:27):
studied musical theater yet again, but also transitioned into theater.
Started two theater companies with a group of friends, the
Movement Theater Company, and then I started at Harlem nine
a couple of years later. The Movement is still running
right now. Harlem nine is still running right now. I
directed a show called Black in the Bubble, A beautiful,
angelic human that's in my life, Michelle say. She she's
(09:51):
one of the first black artists to appear in a
soap opera, but also known as a with a with
Sonian artist, which means she is well versed in August
Wilson's texts. She saw my show that I directed, and
she said, do you know the National Black Theater And
do you know Shaddy Lyftcott. Shaddi Liftcott is the daughter
of doctor Barbara and Tier And I said, I know
(10:15):
of MBT, but I never had a meeting with or
got to know who Shada is. And so then she
actually helped to make this introduction between me and Shade
almost maybe fourteen years ago, and we haven't left each
other's side since those fourteen years. I came on first
as really a production manager, helping to help to produce
and show up and okay infrastructure for the organization, and
(10:37):
then soon very shortly jumped from production manager to artistic
being the lead artistic curator for the organization, ultimately turning
into becoming the artistic director, first the director of theater
arts Programming, then the artistic director, and now the executive
artistic director of the National Black Theater, where I've been
for thirteen years. I'm really helping to shape and build
(10:57):
with Shade. And who am I outside of that? Outside
of the labor. I am a person who I love plants.
I have lots of plants. I have like seventy two
plants that I take and take care of. I am
a lover of creativity, of art, of making I make.
I like to call myself a creative doula, which means
(11:17):
that I love to think of the idea, of the
idea of the work that I do is to manifest
the uh the unrealized ideas inside of people, myself's world
and psyche and making it manifestos turn into something real.
So what does that mean? How do you steward that
I love Viking? I love I love making puzzles and
in quisite like puzzles, and also like legos. You we're
(11:41):
in my house, you see a bunch of legos in
very different places. Because it's the meditative act of actually
building constructing is actually really really important for me. Who
else am I outside of the space. I'm a I
am a I'm an uncle, I am a nephew, I
am a son, I am a brother. These are all
(12:01):
attributes in which I come into my work. I also
come into this work really identifying as he him with
a spirit that is a she, so a multi a
multi fascined nature of who of how I show up.
So there are multiple different connections of how of how
of how I come to this space right now doing
this kind of work, the trajectory of how I came
(12:22):
from Washington, d C. All the way to New York
and finding a space to be my home, and also
how I find myself to be in this current nexus
of being a cultural leader for my community and also
hopefully for future generations to dream differently. And I hope
that difference is bigger. I hope that difference is more abundant.
(12:42):
I hope that difference is more profound so the world
can actually be shaped in a more liberated space.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
That is awesome. That's probably one of the best introductions
that I've had on this show. And I'm coming up
in four years of doing that.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
That that laid it all out. Man, WHOA, that was invigorating.
I don't even know where to start. You just did
half of my interview, Hey, sues Christo. Okay, well, the
one thing I want to say is shout out to DC.
I live in Baltimoreay, I live in Baltimore.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
The whole You're from Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yes, I'm here as I live and breathe.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Right now, I'll come on now, crabcakes, I need yes, yes, right?
Are you in New York? Now? I am in New York. Okay, Okay,
I live twenty four seven in Harlem, New York. I
find my way in DC, like I was in DC
for two days for Christmas. But I'll be in DC
for our upcoming and upcoming major show that we will
talk about. I'll call the gathering a sonic green shout.
(13:46):
But I and I also find myself primarily in New York.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Okay, yes, I am from Baltimore born. I lived for
a while Doring Berry and fourt and years in Compton, California.
So okay, yeah, I'm a bicoastal hood chick. I guess
you could say you.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Said, you said, I want to know where black people were.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Res Yes, I want to know what it's like. I
want to know what it's like on the East and
the West. I spent time in New York as well.
And when you mentioned Duke Ellington, a few of my
friends went to Duke Ellington. Yeah, and a lot of major, major,
major talent comes out of Duke Ellington. So that is like,
(14:30):
that is like the heartbeat to me of d C.
And it's so funny when you said I lived in
DC when d C was black. I remember when d
C was black.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Gone now I do.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
I used to club in d C when d C
now a dream and Republic Gardens, d C was still
black back then. Now I don't know how black it
is now. It's a different its and.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
It's more so the outskirts. So like what happened, what
happened when way? And like why a lot of people
when I say I'm from DC. They're like, oh, so
you're from pre Pg County or something like that. No, no, no, no,
it was born and raised inside the diamond is because
a lot of things that have occurred is that land
got way more expensive. Gentrification is actually real economic economic
(15:17):
deappreciation of land to have it actually now skyrocket overnight.
And also and and and and also we have to
we have to understand that GIF gentrification is a long
term game. It's not a short term game. It is
a long term game that is about that is about
reappropriating land and reappropriating acquisition of land and actually shifting
(15:37):
culture to becoming a brand versus being a community. And
so like, how do we sell the brand of something
versus how do we instill the community of something? And
I think that you know, there there is there is
nothing I think sometimes and I know I just did
it in this in this one moment, I think we
turned gentification becoming a dirty word. And gentrification is the
movement and migration of people. It's the economics of capitalism,
(16:00):
Western capitalism that actually does become the dirty word, because
Western capitalism is about appropriation, and that appropriation of land,
of idea, of culture, of space is actually what forces
people to have to make a different, different reality and
different choices. Especially when I love what you said at
the beginning of this. I think even before we started recording,
(16:21):
talking about the American dream, right, especially when you fed
a certain American dream narrative, that that puts you in
a place where you're always feeling like you need to
catch up to a race that was never designed for
you to win, right when you when you start you
start to understand that like that there are families who
have generational wealth that surpasses the ability of your family
even to be able to know what a dollar looks like,
(16:43):
right or to feel the ownership of what a dollar
is so like, So like when we start to talk
about this rat race of capitalism, this rat race of
American and Western capitalism, and black folks in particular, and
black Americans in particular seeking to be a part of
that game, we have to do it differ friendly. There
has to be indigenous practice allows for us to own
our wealth, own our opportunity, own our autonomy, and still
(17:07):
be able to have the things that we want, right
like the how if if you actually want that house,
should be able to have it. But not be, but
I have to sell it element of your culture or
to be able to achieve it, or your soul or
your soul or your dreams or your dreams come on
your joy. And so I think it's funny.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
He said that my best friend works for an organization
that handles a lot of money and a lot of
money here in Baltimore City, and she was talking to
someone else, and I was just sitting there ear hustling,
not really ear hustling, because I was a part of
the conversation, but like, this is not my monkey or
my circus. So I'm gonna just sit here and tell
y'all start talking about something that I know about. Until
(17:49):
then I'm going to listen. They were talking about the families,
the really wealthy families in Baltimore and talking about somebody
donating ten million dollars to something. I said, excuse me,
what do you mean donating timllion dollars to something? You know,
just like Willy nilly. And I just think that people
don't really understand, particularly people that look like you and
(18:11):
I don't really understand how heavy the burden or how
heavy of a lift it is that we.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Will never.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
This country is not was not created for us to
even be able to dream that far, you know what
I mean. The American dream is sold to us as
you know, you go to college. If you can, you
get out of school. You go to college. If you
can go to college. If you can't, then you get
a good job that has a union or you know
that is a hard working either blue collar or government job.
(18:47):
You work that job, you stay there till you retire,
and you live a happy retirement going on cruises for
the rest of your life.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Or you go to college, you get a degree, and
then you may make a little bit more money. You
join up one of the Divine nine organizations, or you
become a Mason, you become a links, you become an
usive star, whatever it is. And these are the things,
you know, this is what's packaged to us, who I
(19:15):
couldn't even fathom. So my grandmother's going to donate ten
million dollars.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
And so I think what you said is so important
that certain things here, like we it was created just
so that we couldn't even dream that far. Yeah yeah, yeah.
And if we were to dream that far, we had
to sell something, Yeah, usually your soul and and like
and like that.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
That is a powerful that's a powerfualization someone has to
have and they actually want to achieve that kind of
generational wealth. That kind of generational wealth to achieve is
filled with blood, money that is scarred with many many
people's teams years. Yes, and you don't acquire that much
(20:03):
wealth without without creating some kind of chaos, and that
chaos actually being and I'm using that in a in
a kind of a hurtful way, that kind of chaos
that actually harms humanity, harms life, cultures, culture, like you
have to you to obtain that kind of generation Like
(20:25):
like you can have money, and but there's differently having
money and being wealthy. Wealthy absolutely, and the wealth is
something that like i can lose maybe forty million, and
I'm still going good for another twelve generations.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I'm gonna be fine.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
And sometimes you know, if I lose forty dollars, I'm mad,
God damn it. I needed that forty dollars because that's
the two ways worth of gas.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, And I think I think that is
and I think that that that that that economics of technology,
that that language or that ideality is when black and
brown folks always have to figure out how to live
not within the scope of but exceed past right, how
to live outside of the scope of like understanding really
(21:13):
the current, how currency and money as just energy and
how if like they're there, how we have to rise
our vibration to meet the life we want to actually
have and how do we do that? And how do
we do that on a day to day basis when
we are surrounded in by news by X, Y and
Z with different kind of different kind of things that
(21:34):
inundate us, that ground that that sometimes feel like they're
chugging us down instead of lifting us up, and.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Also constantly telling us that we are not worthy of
having these things. Yeah, but enough about capitalism and the
(22:00):
wonderful country we call America. I want to know about you.
Tell me about what it was like when tell me
tell me when you knew and when you told your
family that I want to pursue a career in theater.
What was that like for you as a young black
(22:21):
boy in DC. Yeah, and then when you decided, no,
I'm really gonna pursue a career in theater and I'm
going to New York to do so, how did they react?
Your friends, your family, your family's friends.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
What was that Like, Yeah, I mean it's actually quite interesting.
I think this is gonna intersect with like a couple
of maybe it's gonna it's an interesting story. I actually
found the arts. The arts didn't find me, right, I
mean the arts found me. I didn't actually find the arts,
and we rephrase that and the fact that like, I
wasn't actually ever projected to see myself in the arts
(22:54):
as a career. I was looking to be an engineer,
and then you talk to my mom, and mom thought
I would be a pre right, So these are like two,
These are two. These are two totally different trajectories and
like me now doing what I do, what I get
to do now, But there are elements of it. When
I start to talk about it, you're like, oh, there's
some similarities. I grew up. I grew up in a
I grew up in an education system where where I
(23:18):
grew up with dyslexia ad D in another form like
many different kind of like learning disabilities. And I was
told and there was a lot there's a lot of
there was a lot of like, uh, credit stacked against
me to be able to actually succeed in the in
the American education system. I'd get all the whole nine
(23:39):
and I and and there's a lot of things to
my family for really investing in my ability to like
be to be educated. I e uh, because my mom
and my dad put me, took me out of public
school after I got tested and put me into a
private school so I could have that kind of specialized attention.
Also got me a tutor. And what all really happened
(24:00):
is that when I was going to go to high school,
many of my friends, because I was in a private,
private middle school, all went to public, private high schools.
Maybe they applied, they got in. Some of them got
in because of legacy, something got in because of Mariti
had X, Y and Z. But they all they got
into all of these schools. And I have this number
in my head that I applied like thirteen schools and
I got rejected from all thirteen because I wasn't able
(24:23):
to live up to the aptitude of what they were
expecting me to actually be able to do. And so
and so at the ninth hour, like when everyone when
like almost everything was gonna all all places were basically
kind of set for the next year, someone said he
sings any dances I was singing, and I was, and
I was doing some play musicals in my middle school
(24:45):
as a hobby really as something like I was just
doing to be able to be social and be able
to be around folks. They said I should applied for
jicalt the School of the Arts. So then as a
last ditch effort, so I wouldn't be a number, a part,
a part of a major, like if I went to
Coolidge or Wilson, I would have been one of five
hundred in my freshman class. So instead of so because
(25:06):
because that was the destination my family did not want
for me, I applied to be to go to Duke
Ellington and I was a last to actually audition for
the voice department. So I applied for the voice department,
and doctor Ayres set my life in this trajectory. She
accepted me in as the last male to be accepted
into the voice department. And then they were this musical theater,
(25:28):
this musical theater, musical theater track, and I applied for
that too, and I made it into that. So the
arts actually was was a byproduct of not wanting to
count myself out of the race of being part of society,
being part of the future that I wanted being part
of the life that I ultimately want to have access to,
and so and so and so, like I kind of
(25:48):
just stuck with it. That's why I kind of just
happened like when college had when college, when college came around,
it was either go to Morehouse or go to n YU.
Those are my two choices that I was actually kind
of sitting with. I I got I got in this
presidential scholarship to go to Morehouse, but I had to
keep like a three point four GPA. And then I
got into n YU for the musical theater department. And
(26:10):
because I had done such a great job in high school,
I really give it up again to my parents saying
saying that because you because of what you've been able
to do scholastically during this time, and also because you
went to a public a public high school, because my
sister had gone to a private, private high school, they
(26:31):
kind of equated that the balance was you get to
make a choice in this moment of which path do
you want to go? And I ultimately and I ultimately
I had the power to choose which which road I
wanted to take. Do I want to take this road
where I go to morehouse where I didn't I didn't
know the theater program per se, and I probably would
have been that engineer, would have gone to architecture school,
(26:53):
would have been that other human. Or do I go
on this track and I would have to keep a
three point four gpa? So like that was also straining
on me because I worked really hard to get to
where I was in high school. Or do I go
to a place where NYU, where there is not a GPA,
there's not a stipulation on the GPA that I actually
have to keep up. I just have to stay in
the stay in the creative race, which I enjoy, and
(27:17):
I get to be in New York where I fell
at home, right and so and so there that's really
kind of kind of steered me into New York and
steered me into NYU and steered me into the deeper
into the arts. And I will ultimately say that my
infatuation with the arts is really about creating a cultural home.
And what does it mean to create a cultural home?
(27:37):
What does it mean to create a home that allows
for someone like me? Who? Who? Who?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Who? Who?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
That's all I was looking for. Even when I was
at n YU, couldn't find a space that looked like me,
felt like me, was attracted the same kind of creative
taste or kind of aptitude that I was. So so
my whole journey has been about how to I carve
out space to create that creative home. And I will
even say that in my junior year of high school,
(28:06):
I told the chair of my theater department what I
wanted to be. He said, what do you want to
be when you grow up? I said, I want to
I want to work out a theater that owns their
own space in Harlem doing black, like a black theater
that owns it own space in Harlem, and I want
to be there. To the director of that location, and
he was like, that's very specific, and I said, yes,
(28:27):
but we don't. I don't have that right now. If
I was to look at the landscape, I don't have
a space that like resonates with me, right that like
that like it's owned, that has all the aptitude that
like would make a young artist like me a spy
or higher that I had known of I had. Like
I've been able to witness many of my dance friends
(28:47):
who are in the dance department see how something like
Alvin Ailey was a north star for them in some
form or fashion, right the north star they wanted to
run away from, or north star they were deeply attracted to.
But it had something that was of a national attention,
that had global appreciation, that was able to rally this
kind of this kind of like pride inside of them,
(29:10):
so that when Aily came to d C at the
Candy Center, they have this pride of wanting to see it,
or the Ali dancers would come to do Gellington and
teach classes, like all of these things really created this
kind of unique space that was kind of profound. But
I didn't necessarily feel that in the theatrical world. I
didn't necessarily feel like there was that kind of north
star for me to either work up against or work
(29:32):
in concert with, because I think both of those are important.
It's important for someone to have something to work up
against so they can create their own diamond or work
toward so they can help to build up the actual
institution that it is that is currently existing. So that's
where that's where my love and my commitment to MBT
really comes from. It really comes from that space of
like there it's a manifesting the thing that I called
(29:54):
out into the universe. And then also it is helping
to hopefully create that north star for the next generation
to either work up work, work, work in concert with
or say oh I'm gonna do something different, but at
least have something to ask, something that says this is
this is maybe the standard.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
And also for the next generation, like like you said,
this is the standard. But it's just something for me
to see because when you don't have it.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Yeah, I can see it.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
It's tangible, it's touched, I can touch it. It exists.
It doesn't only exist in my dreams. For you only
existed in your dreams, but look how your dreams have
manifest I want to say a few things about what
you said. First and foremost, because of my roots in
Pentecostal church. UH, I just want to say, come on
(30:43):
Jesus for or come on God, come on whatever for you.
You speaking about any type of UH limitations that you
may have had, or that you may have been diagnosed with,
or they may have said that you had limitations. And
at the end of middle school, you didn't really have
(31:03):
a lot of options, right, and so you were like,
at a last ditch effort, let me just try my
hand and it worked out for you, but at the
end of high school you had an option to go
to two very prestigious universities with scholarships. Shout out to
you for that, and look at God turning around for you.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I love a good story. I love a good resilience
overcoming story because it's rooted in the history of who
we are over of course, overcoming as a people. Everything
about our black ass existence in this country is all
rooted in resilience. And so when I hear stories like that,
(31:47):
like it makes the hair on my skin stand up,
because I become very filled with pride. Like I don't
know you, I just met you today, but I become
very filled with pride because I love to hear it.
You know, you know on the internet, we love to
see it. I love to see it. And another thing
that you said, excuse me, I have undiagnosed ADHD. But
(32:10):
you know, just like I wake up and I can
tell that I'm black, I don't need anybody tell me
that I have aviation now and very clearly of that.
That's what I'm dealing with. You said something else about
I'm curious what do your parents do or what did
your parents do for a living.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
You So both my parents were worked with numbers, accounting accounts. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah,
I worked out budget numbers and did taxes for folks
and uh I remember taxis in the house was a
particular yes with folks with other people's your room, Yes,
(32:45):
go to your room.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
We're working. Mister Johnson has come over, coming over, mister Johnson,
Miss Smith and miss Brown are coming over and doing
those taxes going there were crushing numbers. Actually, they're bringing
their kids. So when they come in here, go outside
and take them outside and play with them.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
And also and and and and also like I think,
I think the blessing of being able to witness that
was the understanding, the appreciation of numbers, of money economics,
being able to understand. You know, my mother had a
conversation with me very early about debt and about what
debt is and healthy debt and also credit card and
(33:20):
and helping to create a language around that. And that
was that I think has well, I know for sure,
has served me so like so, so there was there was,
there was always a spirit. And then like my grandmother
was a social worker. My other my grand one of
my grandfathers worked in was did service but also helped
(33:41):
with the Board of Elections nationally. And then my aunt
also works on the Board of Elections currently right now. Uh.
And then my grand my grandfather on my father's side
was a dentist, but also he did he dabbled in
the arts. He was in he was in The Heart
They Come the Jamaican, the Jamaican film. He was he
was actually in that.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
That was going to be my next question, is anybody
in our family the arts.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
I'm the only one. I'm the only one to be
fully invested in the arts. Okay, but I'm not the
only one who has done the arts. But I'm the
only one really fully invested in the arts, like from
what I can tell, from what.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
You know, right, because who knows? Generations and generations before
you could have had an uncle who's come on out,
bill come on as a Loveville singer with a come on,
come on the stairs click back, dancing and singing conkering stuff. Okay,
So tell me about the National Black Theater because I
had never heard of it before. Then before Welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Welcome, Welcome, you baptized.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
I love that. So.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
National was founded in nineteen sixty eight by doctor Barbara
and Tier and we are one of the continues, one
of the longest conternally run black theaters in the country.
We are a founder bought a city block and uh
in the thirties, nineteen, I think nineteen thirty eight. The
circuit of kind of around there, and it really help
to position our permanence, and that permanence really helped to
(35:04):
make sure that we could do what we're doing right now.
Having land owning land really helped us to not be
a circumbed to the many different cultural rasures that have
happened in Harlem and also what's happened in our society.
I mean, just to point this out, it might be
an urban legend, but as an urban legend that I love.
(35:26):
In nineteen sixty eight, when National Black Theater was founded,
during the Black Arts Movement, there was reportedly two hundred
black theaters in New York City alone. In twenty thirteen,
when I did a study, there was only eighty six
black theaters in the country.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
So that kind of that kind of a rasure is
something that NBT has been able to work up against
and stay resilient inside of because of this black woman
who bought a city block parliam in the thirties was
a force, full force. In two thousand and eight, she transitioned,
she passed away. Her daughter, Shaddy Liftcott came on as
CEO of the National Black Theater and ever since then
(36:07):
Shade has been really eyes on the prize, looking at
generating a sustainable cultural institution destination for the twenty fourth century.
She brought me on three years after her appointment, and
with her, with her, her brother Michael Lifcott, and myself,
we have been really spearheading this reimagining of that city
(36:30):
block and we're building a brand new building. We have
partnered with folks at Ray Ray. Ray is the place Ellmen,
d X, and NBT have all come together to build
a new twenty one twenty two story building that will
be a mixed use building. They'll have a residential new
(36:53):
cultural home for MBT that will be twenty five thousand
square feet and then some some retail at the bottom
with also some kind of restaurant kind of FMB So
we're building, we're reimagining what that cultural destination can be
for the twenty first century. We are activating some of
doctor Robert and Tier's initial premise of buying that property
(37:14):
was to create a place for artists to live, serve,
and work. And we are creating a twenty first century
destination in that twenty five thousand square feet that will
help black artists in the future have a destination to
go to, as we talked about tangibly, that is able
to give them a state of dr facility, as able
to help them to imagine, as also able to pour
(37:35):
into them the kind of resources that they need to
be able to be present in their body and to
help be a reflection of the community and the life
and the legacy that we as black and brown folks
have always had.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Oh and one other little bit about NBT, just really quickly,
is that I didn't say this part, is that we
made our Broadway debut this year for congratulations, thank you.
We had a Broadway debut this year with fat Ham,
and then we came up with our sophomore project, which
is proly Victorious, which is running right now until February third.
(38:11):
What's significant about making that Broadway debut is not just
that NBT I was also breaking that glass ceiling for
us institutionally. Is that also culturally, a black theater or
a BIPOC theater in general had not produced on Broadway
for fifty two years. The last time that it had
ever happened was for Color Girls, the original for Colored
Girls with Witty King Junior in the new Federal Theater.
(38:33):
So this was a watershed moment of reintroducing the peep
of the actually the institutions that house that cultural frame
that have been have we produced a lot of black
work or BIPOC work on Broadway, but yet the producers
of it are not of that community. And so that
means the money is not necessarily going into that community,
(38:53):
It's going into someone else's pocket. So what does it
mean for us to create new pathways for iPod theaters
to be able to see themselves in this commercial frame
if they want to, knowing that it does create amplification,
it does create some economic resilience, It can create that
and and it can help and help to create a
(39:14):
vital new arm for the organization.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
That's so awesome. Tell me a little bit. I'm gonna
veer off a little bit because she said fat Ham
And it's interesting. I have a cousin named Haim. His
nickname is Sam and he's fat. So tell me what
fat Ham is about I absolutely have a cousin whose
nickname is Ham and so fat Ham.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Shout out to James, i'ms and also to the director
of the Broadway the original the production that we did
at the Public Theater to Broadway, Sahim Ali. So Fat
Ham is a Politzer winning play written by James James I. James,
who is a Philly, a native Philadelphian Philly Boyne and
raised the playground he spent most of his days. He
(39:57):
It's a It's a story that basically takes a spin
off of Hamlet and centers it in It's a funny
kind of spin on Hamlet that positions it in the
South to look at a black family who does barbecue
and looking at how looking and looking at the the
the fun slash heart wrenching. It's a black queer story
(40:20):
dealing with barbecue, utilizing this narrative of Hamlet as a
tool to actually re reposition and give and give autonomy
to to that narrative. James James I James, who is
the playwright, was told what was told as a young
after that Shakespeare wasn't for him and wasn't for his people,
(40:41):
and so therefore he wanted to shift that by writing
narratives that were for him and for his people, and
that really uplifted the culture that he loved so dearly.
So he reappropriated that that that that text and that
storyline and placed it inside of his community.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
All right, friends and ken, it is time for straight facts.
And today today straight facts starts out me Me. I
want to shout you out and thank you for the
amazing work and energy you put out into the world. Well,
first of all, thank you. That is very kind of you.
(41:41):
I'm very grateful and to you, good friend. Essay, shout
out to you. Okay, let me carry on. It says,
I really don't know what to do. I work at
a job that has great benefits, flexibility, and pay. Those
are the things I love about my job. But there
are some things that do not make it so great.
(42:03):
My supervisor constantly takes credit for projects that I plan
and practically complete and meetings. She stands up proudly and
takes credit for my work. And as a result, I
just found out the company is going to promote her
and give her more paid due to how amazing she
has Bunny Ears supposedly been at completing projects. How do
(42:28):
I let her know respectfully that she needs to do
her fair share, and then I feel a way about
her taking credit for my work. Anonymous professional from Portland, Oregon. Well, well, well, well,
first of all, she out of control. Okay, she's out
of control. I think that you start out by having
(42:52):
a conversation with her about it, because it seems like
you haven't had an initial conversation about her about it
with her. I think that you should have an initial
conversation about it with her. Pull her up and say,
I just wanted to talk to you about you know,
(43:15):
some of the ideas that I've shared with you, and
it seems like you don't give me credit for the
work that I do, and you just need to let
her know that. You know, we all come to work,
we work hard, we give our best, and we do
our best, and we all want to feel valued and
appreciated and respected. And I don't feel valued, appreciated or
(43:41):
respected because you stand up in meetings and take full
credit for the work that I do it and tell
her how it makes you feel. Okay, We're going to
start off with feelings, right, and that is just to say,
see and to gauge what kind of human she is.
(44:02):
So if you tell her how you feel and she
continues to do it, then we got to talk about fact.
So let's say you go to her and don't be bitter,
don't be defensive, just say, hey, Marjorie, I noticed that
in the past couple of meetings a lot of the
ideas that I've shared with you blah blah blah blah blah,
(44:24):
you stand up and take the credit blah blah blah,
and it just kind of makes me feel unvalued and unappreciate,
unappreciated and overlooked blah blah blah. I don't feel like
you respect you know what I bring to the table
because you take it and you state that it's your own.
If she dismisses you or negge your feelings, that's fine.
(44:48):
We'll see what happens and if she does it again
after that initial conversation, then we head to the good
old email. Okay, Then you write an email to Margie
and make sure you use these words per our initial
conversation on Make sure you have the date Wednesday, February fourteenth,
(45:11):
twenty twenty four, when I shared with you that I
felt like you didn't respect me and value my input
and what I brought to the table as an employee
at insert the name of the company. We talked about
(45:34):
blah blah, blah blah, and you stated and then state
what she says, then state when she did it again,
the date, the time at the meeting. You can state
who's at the meeting if you like, but you don't
have to do that. Just state the date and time
of the meeting.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
And.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
Mentioned to her that how you feel after she did
it again. If she does this again after that, you're
going to reply to that email because she's going to
email you. You're going to reply to that email, and
then you're going to cee ce not blind copy. You're
going to see see her boss. Now. Also you have
(46:23):
to take that into account, like how it goes. You know,
if her her and her boss are a spoon coons
or a spoon booms and whatever it is, what this is,
and I would just think about going to higher ups
(46:44):
and or if you don't want to do that, just
stop sharing your ideas with her, find somebody else to
share your ideas with, or when you share ideas, share
your ideas via email and copy other people like her
boss or other people on your team. I think that
(47:07):
might be a good way to go after you instead
of going to like HR because you know that's not
really a violation. But what you do is you just
when it's time to share an idea, you share via email,
or you share in front of someone else in those meetings.
That's where you share the Stop giving this lady your information.
(47:29):
I've had people take my creative intellectual property and utilize
it for their own and make money off of it too,
and it's not a good feeling, and it actually feels
like shit. It makes you feel really bad and it
makes you want to hurt somebody. So just be careful
(47:51):
about how you share your creative property and your intellectual property,
because it is your creative intellectual property. Be mindful how
you share, and I hope it works out for you.
Anonymous professional from Portland, Oregon. Be well. And if you
do feel unvalued and unrespected, and I don't even think
(48:14):
unrespected as a word. If you don't feel valued and
you don't feel respected, you just need to move a
little different I hope you don't feel that way, but
if you do, you definitely just need to move a
little different way. All right, it's time for we got
(48:34):
to do better and today's we got to do better.
Quote comes from I don't know if it's Tommy or Tommy.
I'm gonna go with Tommy Tommy idea, Yemmy. And it's
from the book Children of Blood and Bone, and the
quote says, courage does not always roar. Get into that
(48:57):
for a second. Okay, let's get in to it. Let
me say it one more time for you. Courage does
not always roar. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. That's a word, and
it's a word because sometimes people with the biggest mouths,
(49:17):
the people who have the loudest things to say, uh,
they ain't really talking about shit. They ain't really boutshit,
they ain't really own shit. Sometimes they just talk to
hear themselves talk. But courage does not always roar. And
listening to this quote makes me think about a few
(49:39):
people that I work with who do a lot of
uh roaring, but don't have the courage that God gave
David or the courage that God gave a stingray. Okay,
(50:02):
sit with that. Courage does not always roar. I love that.
I absolutely love that quote. The first thing that I
want to do is say thank you to God. Because
God is supreme, and I recognize and appreciate the grace
(50:26):
that God extends to me every single day of my
black ass life. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I want to say
thank you to my folk. I want to say thank
you to each and every one of you that have
been rocking with me since day one, since March the
first of twenty twenty. I want to say thank you,
thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I truly
(50:47):
appreciate you for being here with me and going on
this journey with me. And even if you just started
listening today episode eighty two, you're eighty two and today
is the first time you listened, say thank you for
that as well. Either way, I'm grateful. I'm thankful for
my family. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for
(51:08):
my friends and Ken, all of my supporters, and of course,
most importantly, every single one of you guys out there listening.
I love you so much, and it is nothing short
of an honor, privilege, and a blessing to share my
time and my energy with you, especially if you choose,
because it's a choice, if you choose to keep coming
back to spend time with me, and I look forward
(51:29):
to the next time that we get to do this
one another. Now, before you exit out of whatever streaming
service you're using to listen to this, stop what you're doing,
and if you haven't already done so, please look for
the subscribe or follow button. Click that if that's an
option where you're listening. And next, I want you to
go over to Instagram and follow me at Handy my
Purse Underscore podcast. Also follow me on threads and you
(51:54):
can find that on my Instagram profile. And follow me
on Facebook. Just search hand Me my Purse pott and
you will find me there. I recently started a LinkedIn
don't know what I'm doing, don't know why I started it,
but I did, and you can find me on there.
I think under Mimi Walker. Just look for the girl
in the knee on yellow sweatshirt that says unapologetic. If
(52:19):
you listen on a streaming service or a medium that
allows you to do so, please take two to three
minutes to go and rate and review the show or
give it a thumbs up. If you can. Let me
tell you. I'm going to read one of the reviews
now or one of the messages that I got on
Spotify and this is from be Justice and B Justice said,
(52:41):
I found this podcast through my sister. This is my
favorite episode, laughing my ass off. I think you have
a great voice for this and I'm happy to support
your progress. Keep up the good work, you know what,
Be Justice, thank you so much, And here's a shout
(53:08):
out to you be just a straight up shout out
for you friends and kN Be sure to share hand
Me my Purse with your friends, your loved ones, and
your enemies. Because the best way for people to find
out about this show is by you guys telling them
all about it. So tell a friend, to tell a
friend to what tell a friend? Please submit your questions
(53:29):
for the straight Fact segment by clicking on the link
in the show notes that says submit a question for
stray Facts, or click the link in my Instagram profile
and look for the button that directs you to submit
a question. And who knows, your question may be featured
on an upcoming show. Also remember that show notes are
always available in the episode description. Wherever you are listening
(53:52):
to the show, be sure to take a look at
the show notes because that is where I put all
of the links and other information that I mentioned during
the show that you may want to check out, in
addition to some stuff that I just want to always
share with you guys. Also, just so you know, the
music for Handing My Purse is provided by none other
than West Baltimore's own Gloomy Tunes. Last, but not least,
(54:17):
I want to give a big old shout out to
my producers. Together we make up Rando Banjo and the
Dirty Throops And I look forward to you looking forward
to listening to me. Mimi Walker here at Handy My
Purse the podcast, each and every single Tuesday, and I'm
(54:40):
out this bitch peace. Hand Me My Purse is a
(55:11):
production of iHeart Podcasts. For more shows from iHeart Podcasts,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
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