June 19, 2024 • 28 mins
Author and poet Tara Stringfellow spent nearly thirty years writing her first collection of poetry which comes out this month. The book is called Magic Enuff, and it’s a celebration of Black womanhood. She joins The Bright Side to talk about her journey to writing this collection of poems and how she chooses to celebrate her culture.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side, best
selling author and poet Tara Stringfellow is here to discuss
her latest poetry book, Magic Enough, which celebrates the vibrancy
and vitality of black womanhood. It's Wednesday, June nineteenth. I'm
Simone Boyce.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Today is a very special day on the bright side, y'all.
We are celebrating Juneteenth.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Happy June teenth to everybody.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Yes, you know, Danielle, this is a holiday that has
long been celebrated in some black communities and black families,
particularly in the South, And even though it became a
national holiday in twenty twenty one, I think some Americans
may still be learning about this holiday, or at least
the meaning behind it for the first time.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, can you tell us the history of it?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
I would love to. I think that's so important to
set the record straight because a lot of us didn't
grow up learning about this holiday. In schools, were taught
that the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in eighteen sixty three,
but in reality, it took two more years for troops
to reach Galveston Bay at Texas, freeing the more than
two hundred and fifty thousand slaved black folks in that state.
(01:15):
So those troops arrived on June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five,
and that is why we celebrate Juneteenth today.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Simon, thank you for sharing the history of the holiday.
I just learned about it a few years ago, and
I think I'm probably not alone in that as a country,
we're learning how to properly celebrate and mark this day.
And I'm curious how you relate to the holiday. Now.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Here's what this holiday means to me, Danielle. I actually
didn't grow up celebrating June teenth. My mom is African
American and her family did not live in the South,
so it wasn't a thing that they grew up celebrating. Now,
I had a peripheral awareness of it, but I'm so
(02:01):
happy that we have it now, especially as a mom.
As a parent, this means that I get to create
new traditions for my children and I get to instill
them with the meaning behind this holiday. And I think
it's also significant because patriotism can be a tricky concept
for a lot of black folks. Having ownership over the
American experience is something that feels very complicated because we've
(02:26):
been in chains for longer than we've been free. So
just receiving this acknowledgment of Juneteenth is caused for celebration.
In my eyes, I love.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
How you said that, Simone, And you know, when this
became a federal holiday in twenty twenty one, I thought
that it was a very small recognition, but at least
some recognition that black history is American history, because a
lot of times black history gets lost in our history
books in schools, and so my hope is that this
spurs at least whether you're celebrating with food and fun
(03:00):
or you're just acknowledging that this date is momentous. I'm
hoping it spurs some sort of like conversation about what
this means. I want to know some of your Juneteenth traditions, though,
like what are you going to be doing with your kids.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I'm going to have a cookout with my family and
some friends. And I'm so glad that you brought up food,
because food is a really accessible way to tell the
story of emancipation. Even if you don't know what food
items belong on the Juneteenth men, you know these foods
because you've grown up eating them and loving them.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Tell me what's on your plate.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I need to know watermelon, of course, beautiful summer fruit,
fried chicken, barbecue, red drink, red velvet cake. And you'll
see red in a lot of Juneteenth foods because the
red carries this really beautiful and painful symbolism. It represents
the blood of our ancestors. So that's why we incorporate
(03:57):
a lot of red into our foods. And there's even
symbolism behind foods like fried chicken. Fried chicken today in
America is something that you can encounter in your everyday life.
You know, you can get it at a drive through,
you can get it at the grocery store. But right
after emancipation, if you were a black person in America
and you had a chicken, it was a symbol of prosperity.
(04:20):
It meant that you could provide for your family. It
meant that you had means, and so it was a
food that was used as a point of celebration and
it continues to be that for us today.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I didn't know some of this, Simone, thank you for this.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
In addition to the incredible history of African American food,
Juneteenth is a wonderful time to acknowledge and honor all
the black artists who help us put all of these
feelings into words. And Tara string Fellow is one of
those artists that comes to mind. She is such a
dynamic and exciting new voice in the poetry and literary space. Danielle,
(04:55):
she was actually a former attorney and high school teacher,
and then she got her first break when she she
sold her book, and she just committed to diving into
writing full time. And that first book, it was called Memphis.
It became a national bestseller and it was longlisted for
the prestigious Women's Prize in Fiction. Tara actually comes from Memphis, Tennessee,
which is a place where I spent several years growing up.
(05:17):
And her new book of poetry is what she calls
a love letter to her culture, her family, and the
city that she calls home.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
But you know, before calling Memphis her home, Tara grew
up all around the world because her father was in
the Marines and was stationed in places like Okinawa, Ghana, Spain,
and Italy. She is miss worldwide and she's keeping the
joy and celebration going with her poetry book, Magic Enough.
The book hits shelves on June twenty fifth this year,
(05:47):
and it's an electrifying collection of poems that tells a
universal tale of survival and revolution through the lens of
black femininity. It's so exciting to see her success and
see her be added to the canon of iconic writers
like this is something that she has wanted to do
since she was a little girl, and she's living it.
(06:09):
I'm so excited to talk with her about her work
and her inspirations and her family. I love how much
we get to celebrate female authors and writers here on
this show. The bright Side loves the written words, Simone
and I love the written word, and there's just so
much power in telling our own stories as a woman,
as a person, and telling them in our own voice.
(06:31):
Tara's work really exemplifies that.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
It sure does, Danielle. After the break, we're talking magic
in Memphis with author and poet Tara Stringfellow.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
That's up next. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
We're back with author and poet Tara Stringfellow. Welcome to
the bright Side, Tara.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
No, thank you so much for having me Tara. Today
we are celebrating Juneteenth. What does this holiday mean to you?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
It's my July fourth.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
It's the freedom of my peoples when we were actually
considered human beings for the first time of this country.
So it means a lot to me. I think it
should mean a lot to everyone that black folk have
a different data freedom in everyone else. And why is that?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
So?
Speaker 5 (07:31):
Yes, Juneteenth is significant for me in terms of just
being a Southern Black woman. But I think it's an
American holiday. It's American history, so we should all celebrate
this holiday.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
We were talking about in our office how we were
wanting to celebrate.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
How are you celebrating.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Oh my goodness, I'm going to eat. I'm going to
eat a lot. Are you eating? I'm going to eat.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
You know, Memphis is very famous, yes, for our music,
but also so for food. So I'll probably go down
a Cozy Corner and pick up half of furnishing or something.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
That's my favorite barbecue place in Memphis. It's called Cozy Corner.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
It's black owned, female owned for generations. Yes, close to downtown.
It's a beautiful little place.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Tara.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I want to congratulate you on magic enough.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Oh thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I was reading that this was a lifelong dream of yours.
How does it feel to have the magic out into
the world.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
It's surreal, you know.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Since I was a little girl, I wanted to see
my name in print underneath a poem. That's always been
the dream. And it's a beautiful little book. I'm really
proud of it. And I just can't believe that I
have a whole book of poetry that's going to be
out there. And like I wish I would have, I
could go back in time and tell three year old me, like,
just go play outside. It's fine, You've got this, Like
(08:53):
it'll be okay, play with your sister more. And like
you said, it is my life's work. I've been working
on some of these poems for fifteen twenty years. Tara.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
You dedicated this book to Black women's I did. But
your dad is actually the one who helped spark your
love of poetry.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Yes, no, you my pops.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
I wouldn't be the poet I am without my father.
He's a poet. He read me my first poem when
I was three, And y'all all know the poem at
Once upon a Midnight Druai. While I ponder, we can
weary over a mini curious and quaint volume of forgotten Lore.
I heard that, I said, wow, it's like Grim's fairy
(09:34):
Tales Once upon a Time. It's like rap because it
ends in rhyme. It tells a story, a love story,
and a scary story, like a ghost story, all at
the same time. As a little kid, I loved Who's
Pumps and ghost stories and Ralstein and.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
All of that.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
I was devastatingly in love, deliciously in love. So I
just knew that I had to do that. And my
father says, okay, you want to do this, then you
have to be better than poet three ways. You're black,
you're a woman, and you were born in a country
built to enslave you. And at the time my father
(10:11):
said this, you know, Maya Angela was a poet, but
she had yet to write the inaugural poem on the
Pulse of the Morning, so she was not a household name.
There were no black female poets my father could think
of in America where he could say, okay, go do
you like her?
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Go make a living.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
And so my parents were rather worried, honestly, about my
life's goal and how I would achieve that in a
country design to ignore black Southern women. I told my dad.
I said, okay, give me some time. So it took
me about thirty five years, but I did it. It
took me a while, but I did it. And my
(10:50):
dad is actually flying in for the book launch for
having a big party in Memphis at Novel Bookstore for
the release, and my dad is flying in from DC
to join. So this is a full circle moment from
him reading me poetry as a little girl to folk
actually reading my poetry.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
I can't believe it.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
As you were telling us that story, I was thinking, oh, wow,
you and your dad did this together. This was a
wee thing. Oh yes, Like what does it mean to
you now? To be able to have him come to
Memphis and to have this moment and share this work
with him.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
It means everything. I think we're creating a strength fellow legacy.
He is my first reader. I trust him completely with
my words. He helps me edit. It's like and it's
softer here, or wouldn't this touch be nice here. He's
a great poet himself. He'll never publish. I'm not sure why.
(11:49):
I guess he's just shah. But he's a far better
poet than I am. And so it's great to make
like a strength fellow legacy of poetry and prose and
get our names out there. I'm not a marine like
my dad, but I hope I'm bringing honor to our names.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
I'm getting this full picture of your dad, and you
speak to his duality so beautifully because he has this
tender side. He loves poetry. But Pops is also a
marine and Marines. Yes, I mean that is the toughest
sect of the military. Like you don't mess with the Marines,
Oh my goodness. And because of him, and because of
(12:27):
his career in the military, You've grown up living all
over the world. What was the place the setting that
had the greatest impact on you and your work?
Speaker 5 (12:37):
Two places so ok Noawa, Japan, where I spent my
childhood in Memphis, growing up on a beautiful tropical island,
growing up with kiwi trees and eating fresh mango and
the best sticky rice and shrimp and oudan you'll ever have.
Surrounded by people, ok now, and people who I hate
(12:59):
to get a motion, but we're so good to me
and my sister. You know, to grow up in a
country as little black children, and no one ever ever
made us feel less bad I can't say that it's
the same in America, you know, I when I came here,
I was made very much made as a black girl,
as a dark skinned black girl to it, made to
(13:23):
feel very much less than. So I owe my happiness
and my joy to the Okinawan people into the Marine
Corps for giving me that chance to live my life
abroad in a beautiful tropical paradise. And then the second
place is Memphis. I grew up here, and I, like
the main character my novel Memphis. When I was ten,
(13:45):
we came here utterly, utterly poor, but the city told
me and taught me to love family, to love my community,
to look music and food, and there's something so joyous
about being in mehas this especially now as an adult,
especially now as a writer. I think everything I write,
(14:05):
this poetry book, my novel will be for the betterment,
for the glory the beauty of black Memphis women. I
think there's something magical about us.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Something in the air.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
I wish that I had came across your work when
my mom and I and my dad, my whole family
were living in Memphis, because it is one of the
most devastatingly segregated cities in the US. My mom and
I found it extremely oppressive and challenging to live there
as black women. And I'm curious to know how did
(14:41):
you find the poetry and the beauty in your city.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
I have to disagree, Memphis, unlike any other place I've lived,
is very diverse. You know, it's a beautiful place if
you want to be an artist. Jamon Bullok is a
beautiful muralist in the city. He took me to prom
you know, yes, we all know each other.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
We all know each other.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
Okay, Craigm, I'm going to shadow of craigmont Oh three
Chiefs right now. Like Jamon Bullock took me a famous mirrorless.
I see his art all over Memphis when I'm driving
and being Hampton Overtak, Like he's everywhere, and I'm like,
that's a Jamon Bullock. Like I've seen those works since
I was a little girl in high school. I think
of Katari Jones, who does Pea Valley. She's the writer
(15:26):
Pea Valley. She was a senior and I was a freshman.
Lorilla is from my neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
She's from Frasier, you know.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
So my city produces great, great artists. I love being
a black woman in the city. I feel myself. I
feel I can no matter where what space I am in,
I feel like I can own that space.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
I feel right at home.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I'm so glad that you have that experience. I had
a totally different experience and maybe I just saw a
different side of the city. But you are bringing beauty
and honor and beautiful art to that city. So that
is so encouraging to see.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Ah, I have an embarrassing thing to tell both of you.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Okay, So I'm such a Katari fan that I flee
to Atlanta to see The Hot Wing King because it
was only playing for three weeks and it's she want
to pulletzer for it.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
But I'm I'm a big fan. I mean, she is.
It's something about Memphis. It's something.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
I don't know what, but in the mid nineties they
were putting something in the water making us all become
great writers or something. But I'm just so proud of
her and so proud to go to the same high
school that she went to. And I'm just so proud
of all the artists we're coming out of this city
right now. They are doing amazing, amazing things. So it's
(16:55):
an honor to be in the same conversation as those folk.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Emphis is bursting with creatives and stories to be told,
and your first novel, titled Memphis, is another exploration of
that of writing about your roots and the matriarchs in
your family. What does it meant to you to be
able to highlight your heritage through your art?
Speaker 4 (17:16):
It means so much.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
As I walk around Memphis or the South, I don't
see monuments to black women. I see monuments to Civil
War Confederate traders, but I don't see monuments to black women.
And I know black women were instrumental and finally getting
Juneteenth or forgetting civil rights, especially here in Memphis. So
(17:39):
the fact that I can walk around the city and
not see memorials and poems and everything written about black
womanhood just boggled my mind. So I said, Fye, I'm
going to sit down and I'm going to write our
own monument. I'm going to write an ode to black
Southern women because I know that we've done everything our
(18:00):
power to make this country great since we arrived here
in chains. So I think my novel Memphis, and this
poetry collection and all of the books I'll ever write,
will always glorify and show a spotlight, shine a light
for just a second on black Southern women. I say,
(18:22):
why not.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Well, speaking of your collection of poetry, magic enough, it's
such a special title. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 5 (18:30):
It's from one of my poems, the last line of
one of my poems. These women in my life, the
women I know as they are, as flawed and complicated
and gorgeous and dark skinned and poor, These women as
they are are magic enough. Men can take a back seat,
(18:51):
God can even take a back seat. If I am
surrounded by these women, I know that there's going to
be magic in my life, that I will lead a beautiful, full,
graceful life. And so that's where the title comes from.
It I guess it's a play on black oral magic.
(19:11):
But why are we magical? What made us this way?
It's because we've been do our centuries of you know, oppression,
and yet look at all the joy that we have
all the time, and look at the art that we
can create. And so that's what magic enough means to me.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
We need to take a quick break, but we'll be
right back. Stay with us and we're back.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Can you tell us about some of the magical black
Southern women in your life? What are the qualities that
make them magical? And how can we incorporate some of
that magic into our own lives.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
My mom wears red lipstick to go the doctor's office.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Like right, red lace. She'll come at the house and
where are you going? You look gorgeous?
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Like, oh, I'm just going the doctor. It was like
the doctor. She's like, listen, I could meet my husband
this day. Like aren't you like pearls? Did you wake
up with them? On?
Speaker 4 (20:12):
Even I'm an on, like who aren't you women? Like
can I come from you?
Speaker 5 (20:16):
So I was taught not to walk out the house
without some red lips on in your business card, because
you just never know. There's something about Southern women just
being utterly graceful in all things. So just the grace
that Southern women seem to have hair and nails done
always just face you can't he never declines, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
We've just been.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
That cultural and that beautiful and elegant and eloquent.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
So it's just it's just a pageantry of the South.
I don't know. We can all cook and cook well.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
I don't know why I need to come to Memphis
to learn.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yeah, Danielle doesn't cook, but we love her anyways.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Right, Okay, so you have past lives.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
You were an attorney, you were a tenth grade English teacher,
I was. You know, writing is a clear through line
in all three of your professions. At what point did
you decide you were going to be doing this full time?
Speaker 4 (21:15):
When I got the book deal and I could financially.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
The only reason I went to law school is because
there was a recession. I'd, you know, come out of college.
I had a book of poetry. No one but my
family bought it, and I was like, okay, well I
need to eat, I need to do something. So I
went to law school so that it could finance me
and pay for an education. And I was an attorney
(21:39):
for years, but I would still sneak out and write poetry.
Like I go to work early, and how early people
thought I was a good worker. No, I'm writing a poem.
I'd go there on Saturdays, I'd stay extra late, and
they're like, oh, she's working.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
No, I'm editing the poem I wrote that morning, like little.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Do you know?
Speaker 5 (21:57):
And then I became a teacher because that's a profession
in which you have summers off, so I'd save up
my pennies and i'd go to Italy or Cuba or
Spain and i'd write Memphis. So I was working full
time as a teacher, and then in the summers, I
work full time writing and then submit that and I
(22:17):
finally got a book deal while I was a teacher.
And that's my journey. But that's the only reason I
did other things, because I would have done poetry full
time had there ever been a job for it.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Well, now that you're an established poet, we'd love if
you would read one of your poems for us.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Oh, I'd love to. I'd love to. I'd be honored.
Thank you. This poem is called poem at thirty.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
Always ferocious, skinny, wild, as some dark thing God never named,
bringing clay turtles, snakes into the house, slipping out from grips,
Laughing at my mother's shrieks. My father insists to this
(23:13):
day that no man contain me. Please cheer with me,
for he is right, he is right.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Will cheer for you. Wooa so beautiful Yoh.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Okay, So as you were reading, I had my own interpretation.
But I'd love to know what that poem means.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
To you.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
It's about the resilience I think of black womanhood. I
was inspired by Sonya Sanchez who Lucille Clifton has a
poem called Please Celebrate with Me, and I said, well,
how can I create a poem in that same line
of celebrating black Southern womanhood, like won't you celebrate with me?
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I am this wild thing and this.
Speaker 5 (24:00):
Dark thing that Audrey Lord talks about in her poems.
I wanted it to be a celebration of blackness and
how Brazilian it is. And so I wanted the last
line to be kind of a twist, like please cheer
with me, for he is right. No man or God
can ever tame me. There's a revolutionary spirit in that
(24:23):
poem that I wanted to get across me. And I
was turning thirty. I always write myself poems on my birthdays.
They're like little love notes to myself.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Did you feel like men were trying to contain you?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Oh Lord. I was thirty. I was going through a divorce,
I think.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
I remember, yes, yes, And I only got divorced because
I felt as if this man did not support my dream,
and my dream was to be a writer. It wasn't
to be an attorney or even his wife or anything
like that. It's to create beautiful, lasting art on this
earth to the day I died. And I need someone
(25:01):
who's going to support me in that. Otherwise what is
the point of it all? And then I made the
decision to leave my law career and go back to
school to get my MFA at thirty years old. So
my parents thought I was safe. They're like, what are
you doing? You just finish law school. You can make money,
now go do that. Why are you going to be
(25:21):
a poet again? There's no career in that tar like,
no one is a poet full time. I felt as
if I was being put in some sort of societal
box that I should just be happy because I'm married
and I have a good man quote unquote and a career.
But I was utterly unhappy. I didn't like this American
(25:41):
dream that I had, and I wanted to fasten and
shape my own life how I saw fit, and that
meant traveling abroad, learning a new language, and putting I guess,
all my chips on red, as my dad would say,
taking a risk and putting my art out there. And
it was scary, but I felt like I had to
(26:01):
do it.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
There's no better bet that I'm bet on you. I've
always felt that.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Well.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I think it's so courageous that you just blew up
the life you didn't want and you pursued the life
you did want. We are all about that here on
the bright side.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
When you think about the women that are going to
be reading your book, magic enough? What magic do you
want women to find in your poetry?
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Now that's hard for me, you know.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
I've loved poetry all my life, and it's so humbling
that so many women are finding connections with something I've written.
I'm still kind of grappling with that that my words
can touch another human being, especially a woman. I'm just
so grateful and honored. So if they pull anything away
(26:47):
from this book, I just want them to know that
everything I write is for them. Us women have so little.
I think in this country. I wanted to just give
us something nice. I think we should all we all
just there's something nice and pretty, and I think this
book is nice and pretty.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
I was reading a review and someone.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Said it's a cross between like a good brunch with
your girlfriends and like a good cry in the shower.
So g this to be like everyone's a brunch and
we're all like we've ordered another mimosa, but we're all
kind of crying over something.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Zach, I think we have the title of the episode.
It's brunch and crying in the shower with Tara Stringfellow. Guys,
that's so perfect.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
That honestly feels like my weekend, every weekend.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Right right, but it does.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
It feels cathartic, like yeah, good cry, like tears of joy,
like we made it, y'all kind of cry complainly.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Thank you so much for spending your June teenth with us.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Oh, thank y'all for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Thank you, Tara. Tara Stringfellow is a best selling author
and poet. Her collection of poems, Magic Enough, is out
on June twenty fifth. You can find it wherever you
get your books.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
That's it for today's show.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Tomorrow, we're talking with Reese's book Club Pick author Ali Condy.
She's sharing her personal inspiration for her latest book, The Unwedding,
and let me tell you it is good. Listen and
follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
I'm Simone Boye. You can find me at Simone Boice
on Instagram and.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Tiktok'm Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
That's ro Ba.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Y see you tomorrow, Folks. Keep looking on the bright side.
Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side, best
selling author and poet Tara Stringfellow is here to discuss
her latest poetry book, Magic Enough, which celebrates the vibrancy
and vitality of black womanhood. It's Wednesday, June nineteenth. I'm
Simone Boyce.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Today is a very special day on the bright side, y'all.
We are celebrating Juneteenth.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Happy June teenth to everybody.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Yes, you know, Danielle, this is a holiday that has
long been celebrated in some black communities and black families,
particularly in the South, And even though it became a
national holiday in twenty twenty one, I think some Americans
may still be learning about this holiday, or at least
the meaning behind it for the first time.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, can you tell us the history of it?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
I would love to. I think that's so important to
set the record straight because a lot of us didn't
grow up learning about this holiday. In schools, were taught
that the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in eighteen sixty three,
but in reality, it took two more years for troops
to reach Galveston Bay at Texas, freeing the more than
two hundred and fifty thousand slaved black folks in that state.
(01:15):
So those troops arrived on June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five,
and that is why we celebrate Juneteenth today.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Simon, thank you for sharing the history of the holiday.
I just learned about it a few years ago, and
I think I'm probably not alone in that as a country,
we're learning how to properly celebrate and mark this day.
And I'm curious how you relate to the holiday. Now.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Here's what this holiday means to me, Danielle. I actually
didn't grow up celebrating June teenth. My mom is African
American and her family did not live in the South,
so it wasn't a thing that they grew up celebrating. Now,
I had a peripheral awareness of it, but I'm so
(02:01):
happy that we have it now, especially as a mom.
As a parent, this means that I get to create
new traditions for my children and I get to instill
them with the meaning behind this holiday. And I think
it's also significant because patriotism can be a tricky concept
for a lot of black folks. Having ownership over the
American experience is something that feels very complicated because we've
(02:26):
been in chains for longer than we've been free. So
just receiving this acknowledgment of Juneteenth is caused for celebration.
In my eyes, I love.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
How you said that, Simone, And you know, when this
became a federal holiday in twenty twenty one, I thought
that it was a very small recognition, but at least
some recognition that black history is American history, because a
lot of times black history gets lost in our history
books in schools, and so my hope is that this
spurs at least whether you're celebrating with food and fun
(03:00):
or you're just acknowledging that this date is momentous. I'm
hoping it spurs some sort of like conversation about what
this means. I want to know some of your Juneteenth traditions, though,
like what are you going to be doing with your kids.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I'm going to have a cookout with my family and
some friends. And I'm so glad that you brought up food,
because food is a really accessible way to tell the
story of emancipation. Even if you don't know what food
items belong on the Juneteenth men, you know these foods
because you've grown up eating them and loving them.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Tell me what's on your plate.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I need to know watermelon, of course, beautiful summer fruit,
fried chicken, barbecue, red drink, red velvet cake. And you'll
see red in a lot of Juneteenth foods because the
red carries this really beautiful and painful symbolism. It represents
the blood of our ancestors. So that's why we incorporate
(03:57):
a lot of red into our foods. And there's even
symbolism behind foods like fried chicken. Fried chicken today in
America is something that you can encounter in your everyday life.
You know, you can get it at a drive through,
you can get it at the grocery store. But right
after emancipation, if you were a black person in America
and you had a chicken, it was a symbol of prosperity.
(04:20):
It meant that you could provide for your family. It
meant that you had means, and so it was a
food that was used as a point of celebration and
it continues to be that for us today.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I didn't know some of this, Simone, thank you for this.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
In addition to the incredible history of African American food,
Juneteenth is a wonderful time to acknowledge and honor all
the black artists who help us put all of these
feelings into words. And Tara string Fellow is one of
those artists that comes to mind. She is such a
dynamic and exciting new voice in the poetry and literary space. Danielle,
(04:55):
she was actually a former attorney and high school teacher,
and then she got her first break when she she
sold her book, and she just committed to diving into
writing full time. And that first book, it was called Memphis.
It became a national bestseller and it was longlisted for
the prestigious Women's Prize in Fiction. Tara actually comes from Memphis, Tennessee,
which is a place where I spent several years growing up.
(05:17):
And her new book of poetry is what she calls
a love letter to her culture, her family, and the
city that she calls home.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
But you know, before calling Memphis her home, Tara grew
up all around the world because her father was in
the Marines and was stationed in places like Okinawa, Ghana, Spain,
and Italy. She is miss worldwide and she's keeping the
joy and celebration going with her poetry book, Magic Enough.
The book hits shelves on June twenty fifth this year,
(05:47):
and it's an electrifying collection of poems that tells a
universal tale of survival and revolution through the lens of
black femininity. It's so exciting to see her success and
see her be added to the canon of iconic writers
like this is something that she has wanted to do
since she was a little girl, and she's living it.
(06:09):
I'm so excited to talk with her about her work
and her inspirations and her family. I love how much
we get to celebrate female authors and writers here on
this show. The bright Side loves the written words, Simone
and I love the written word, and there's just so
much power in telling our own stories as a woman,
as a person, and telling them in our own voice.
(06:31):
Tara's work really exemplifies that.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
It sure does, Danielle. After the break, we're talking magic
in Memphis with author and poet Tara Stringfellow.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
That's up next. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
We're back with author and poet Tara Stringfellow. Welcome to
the bright Side, Tara.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
No, thank you so much for having me Tara. Today
we are celebrating Juneteenth. What does this holiday mean to you?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
It's my July fourth.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
It's the freedom of my peoples when we were actually
considered human beings for the first time of this country.
So it means a lot to me. I think it
should mean a lot to everyone that black folk have
a different data freedom in everyone else. And why is that?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
So?
Speaker 5 (07:31):
Yes, Juneteenth is significant for me in terms of just
being a Southern Black woman. But I think it's an
American holiday. It's American history, so we should all celebrate
this holiday.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
We were talking about in our office how we were
wanting to celebrate.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
How are you celebrating.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Oh my goodness, I'm going to eat. I'm going to
eat a lot. Are you eating? I'm going to eat.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
You know, Memphis is very famous, yes, for our music,
but also so for food. So I'll probably go down
a Cozy Corner and pick up half of furnishing or something.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
That's my favorite barbecue place in Memphis. It's called Cozy Corner.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
It's black owned, female owned for generations. Yes, close to downtown.
It's a beautiful little place.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Tara.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I want to congratulate you on magic enough.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Oh thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I was reading that this was a lifelong dream of yours.
How does it feel to have the magic out into
the world.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
It's surreal, you know.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Since I was a little girl, I wanted to see
my name in print underneath a poem. That's always been
the dream. And it's a beautiful little book. I'm really
proud of it. And I just can't believe that I
have a whole book of poetry that's going to be
out there. And like I wish I would have, I
could go back in time and tell three year old me, like,
just go play outside. It's fine, You've got this, Like
(08:53):
it'll be okay, play with your sister more. And like
you said, it is my life's work. I've been working
on some of these poems for fifteen twenty years. Tara.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
You dedicated this book to Black women's I did. But
your dad is actually the one who helped spark your
love of poetry.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Yes, no, you my pops.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
I wouldn't be the poet I am without my father.
He's a poet. He read me my first poem when
I was three, And y'all all know the poem at
Once upon a Midnight Druai. While I ponder, we can
weary over a mini curious and quaint volume of forgotten Lore.
I heard that, I said, wow, it's like Grim's fairy
(09:34):
Tales Once upon a Time. It's like rap because it
ends in rhyme. It tells a story, a love story,
and a scary story, like a ghost story, all at
the same time. As a little kid, I loved Who's
Pumps and ghost stories and Ralstein and.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
All of that.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
I was devastatingly in love, deliciously in love. So I
just knew that I had to do that. And my
father says, okay, you want to do this, then you
have to be better than poet three ways. You're black,
you're a woman, and you were born in a country
built to enslave you. And at the time my father
(10:11):
said this, you know, Maya Angela was a poet, but
she had yet to write the inaugural poem on the
Pulse of the Morning, so she was not a household name.
There were no black female poets my father could think
of in America where he could say, okay, go do
you like her?
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Go make a living.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
And so my parents were rather worried, honestly, about my
life's goal and how I would achieve that in a
country design to ignore black Southern women. I told my dad.
I said, okay, give me some time. So it took
me about thirty five years, but I did it. It
took me a while, but I did it. And my
(10:50):
dad is actually flying in for the book launch for
having a big party in Memphis at Novel Bookstore for
the release, and my dad is flying in from DC
to join. So this is a full circle moment from
him reading me poetry as a little girl to folk
actually reading my poetry.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
I can't believe it.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
As you were telling us that story, I was thinking, oh, wow,
you and your dad did this together. This was a
wee thing. Oh yes, Like what does it mean to
you now? To be able to have him come to
Memphis and to have this moment and share this work
with him.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
It means everything. I think we're creating a strength fellow legacy.
He is my first reader. I trust him completely with
my words. He helps me edit. It's like and it's
softer here, or wouldn't this touch be nice here. He's
a great poet himself. He'll never publish. I'm not sure why.
(11:49):
I guess he's just shah. But he's a far better
poet than I am. And so it's great to make
like a strength fellow legacy of poetry and prose and
get our names out there. I'm not a marine like
my dad, but I hope I'm bringing honor to our names.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
I'm getting this full picture of your dad, and you
speak to his duality so beautifully because he has this
tender side. He loves poetry. But Pops is also a
marine and Marines. Yes, I mean that is the toughest
sect of the military. Like you don't mess with the Marines,
Oh my goodness. And because of him, and because of
(12:27):
his career in the military, You've grown up living all
over the world. What was the place the setting that
had the greatest impact on you and your work?
Speaker 5 (12:37):
Two places so ok Noawa, Japan, where I spent my
childhood in Memphis, growing up on a beautiful tropical island,
growing up with kiwi trees and eating fresh mango and
the best sticky rice and shrimp and oudan you'll ever have.
Surrounded by people, ok now, and people who I hate
(12:59):
to get a motion, but we're so good to me
and my sister. You know, to grow up in a
country as little black children, and no one ever ever
made us feel less bad I can't say that it's
the same in America, you know, I when I came here,
I was made very much made as a black girl,
as a dark skinned black girl to it, made to
(13:23):
feel very much less than. So I owe my happiness
and my joy to the Okinawan people into the Marine
Corps for giving me that chance to live my life
abroad in a beautiful tropical paradise. And then the second
place is Memphis. I grew up here, and I, like
the main character my novel Memphis. When I was ten,
(13:45):
we came here utterly, utterly poor, but the city told
me and taught me to love family, to love my community,
to look music and food, and there's something so joyous
about being in mehas this especially now as an adult,
especially now as a writer. I think everything I write,
(14:05):
this poetry book, my novel will be for the betterment,
for the glory the beauty of black Memphis women. I
think there's something magical about us.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Something in the air.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
I wish that I had came across your work when
my mom and I and my dad, my whole family
were living in Memphis, because it is one of the
most devastatingly segregated cities in the US. My mom and
I found it extremely oppressive and challenging to live there
as black women. And I'm curious to know how did
(14:41):
you find the poetry and the beauty in your city.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
I have to disagree, Memphis, unlike any other place I've lived,
is very diverse. You know, it's a beautiful place if
you want to be an artist. Jamon Bullok is a
beautiful muralist in the city. He took me to prom
you know, yes, we all know each other.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
We all know each other.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
Okay, Craigm, I'm going to shadow of craigmont Oh three
Chiefs right now. Like Jamon Bullock took me a famous mirrorless.
I see his art all over Memphis when I'm driving
and being Hampton Overtak, Like he's everywhere, and I'm like,
that's a Jamon Bullock. Like I've seen those works since
I was a little girl in high school. I think
of Katari Jones, who does Pea Valley. She's the writer
(15:26):
Pea Valley. She was a senior and I was a freshman.
Lorilla is from my neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
She's from Frasier, you know.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
So my city produces great, great artists. I love being
a black woman in the city. I feel myself. I
feel I can no matter where what space I am in,
I feel like I can own that space.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
I feel right at home.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I'm so glad that you have that experience. I had
a totally different experience and maybe I just saw a
different side of the city. But you are bringing beauty
and honor and beautiful art to that city. So that
is so encouraging to see.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Ah, I have an embarrassing thing to tell both of you.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Okay, So I'm such a Katari fan that I flee
to Atlanta to see The Hot Wing King because it
was only playing for three weeks and it's she want
to pulletzer for it.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
But I'm I'm a big fan. I mean, she is.
It's something about Memphis. It's something.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
I don't know what, but in the mid nineties they
were putting something in the water making us all become
great writers or something. But I'm just so proud of
her and so proud to go to the same high
school that she went to. And I'm just so proud
of all the artists we're coming out of this city
right now. They are doing amazing, amazing things. So it's
(16:55):
an honor to be in the same conversation as those folk.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Emphis is bursting with creatives and stories to be told,
and your first novel, titled Memphis, is another exploration of
that of writing about your roots and the matriarchs in
your family. What does it meant to you to be
able to highlight your heritage through your art?
Speaker 4 (17:16):
It means so much.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
As I walk around Memphis or the South, I don't
see monuments to black women. I see monuments to Civil
War Confederate traders, but I don't see monuments to black women.
And I know black women were instrumental and finally getting
Juneteenth or forgetting civil rights, especially here in Memphis. So
(17:39):
the fact that I can walk around the city and
not see memorials and poems and everything written about black
womanhood just boggled my mind. So I said, Fye, I'm
going to sit down and I'm going to write our
own monument. I'm going to write an ode to black
Southern women because I know that we've done everything our
(18:00):
power to make this country great since we arrived here
in chains. So I think my novel Memphis, and this
poetry collection and all of the books I'll ever write,
will always glorify and show a spotlight, shine a light
for just a second on black Southern women. I say,
(18:22):
why not.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Well, speaking of your collection of poetry, magic enough, it's
such a special title. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 5 (18:30):
It's from one of my poems, the last line of
one of my poems. These women in my life, the
women I know as they are, as flawed and complicated
and gorgeous and dark skinned and poor, These women as
they are are magic enough. Men can take a back seat,
(18:51):
God can even take a back seat. If I am
surrounded by these women, I know that there's going to
be magic in my life, that I will lead a beautiful, full,
graceful life. And so that's where the title comes from.
It I guess it's a play on black oral magic.
(19:11):
But why are we magical? What made us this way?
It's because we've been do our centuries of you know, oppression,
and yet look at all the joy that we have
all the time, and look at the art that we
can create. And so that's what magic enough means to me.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
We need to take a quick break, but we'll be
right back. Stay with us and we're back.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Can you tell us about some of the magical black
Southern women in your life? What are the qualities that
make them magical? And how can we incorporate some of
that magic into our own lives.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
My mom wears red lipstick to go the doctor's office.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Like right, red lace. She'll come at the house and
where are you going? You look gorgeous?
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Like, oh, I'm just going the doctor. It was like
the doctor. She's like, listen, I could meet my husband
this day. Like aren't you like pearls? Did you wake
up with them? On?
Speaker 4 (20:12):
Even I'm an on, like who aren't you women? Like
can I come from you?
Speaker 5 (20:16):
So I was taught not to walk out the house
without some red lips on in your business card, because
you just never know. There's something about Southern women just
being utterly graceful in all things. So just the grace
that Southern women seem to have hair and nails done
always just face you can't he never declines, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
We've just been.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
That cultural and that beautiful and elegant and eloquent.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
So it's just it's just a pageantry of the South.
I don't know. We can all cook and cook well.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
I don't know why I need to come to Memphis
to learn.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yeah, Danielle doesn't cook, but we love her anyways.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Right, Okay, so you have past lives.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
You were an attorney, you were a tenth grade English teacher,
I was. You know, writing is a clear through line
in all three of your professions. At what point did
you decide you were going to be doing this full time?
Speaker 4 (21:15):
When I got the book deal and I could financially.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
The only reason I went to law school is because
there was a recession. I'd, you know, come out of college.
I had a book of poetry. No one but my
family bought it, and I was like, okay, well I
need to eat, I need to do something. So I
went to law school so that it could finance me
and pay for an education. And I was an attorney
(21:39):
for years, but I would still sneak out and write poetry.
Like I go to work early, and how early people
thought I was a good worker. No, I'm writing a poem.
I'd go there on Saturdays, I'd stay extra late, and
they're like, oh, she's working.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
No, I'm editing the poem I wrote that morning, like little.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Do you know?
Speaker 5 (21:57):
And then I became a teacher because that's a profession
in which you have summers off, so I'd save up
my pennies and i'd go to Italy or Cuba or
Spain and i'd write Memphis. So I was working full
time as a teacher, and then in the summers, I
work full time writing and then submit that and I
(22:17):
finally got a book deal while I was a teacher.
And that's my journey. But that's the only reason I
did other things, because I would have done poetry full
time had there ever been a job for it.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Well, now that you're an established poet, we'd love if
you would read one of your poems for us.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Oh, I'd love to. I'd love to. I'd be honored.
Thank you. This poem is called poem at thirty.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
Always ferocious, skinny, wild, as some dark thing God never named,
bringing clay turtles, snakes into the house, slipping out from grips,
Laughing at my mother's shrieks. My father insists to this
(23:13):
day that no man contain me. Please cheer with me,
for he is right, he is right.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Will cheer for you. Wooa so beautiful Yoh.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Okay, So as you were reading, I had my own interpretation.
But I'd love to know what that poem means.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
To you.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
It's about the resilience I think of black womanhood. I
was inspired by Sonya Sanchez who Lucille Clifton has a
poem called Please Celebrate with Me, and I said, well,
how can I create a poem in that same line
of celebrating black Southern womanhood, like won't you celebrate with me?
Speaker 4 (23:58):
I am this wild thing and this.
Speaker 5 (24:00):
Dark thing that Audrey Lord talks about in her poems.
I wanted it to be a celebration of blackness and
how Brazilian it is. And so I wanted the last
line to be kind of a twist, like please cheer
with me, for he is right. No man or God
can ever tame me. There's a revolutionary spirit in that
(24:23):
poem that I wanted to get across me. And I
was turning thirty. I always write myself poems on my birthdays.
They're like little love notes to myself.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Did you feel like men were trying to contain you?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Oh Lord. I was thirty. I was going through a divorce,
I think.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
I remember, yes, yes, And I only got divorced because
I felt as if this man did not support my dream,
and my dream was to be a writer. It wasn't
to be an attorney or even his wife or anything
like that. It's to create beautiful, lasting art on this
earth to the day I died. And I need someone
(25:01):
who's going to support me in that. Otherwise what is
the point of it all? And then I made the
decision to leave my law career and go back to
school to get my MFA at thirty years old. So
my parents thought I was safe. They're like, what are
you doing? You just finish law school. You can make money,
now go do that. Why are you going to be
(25:21):
a poet again? There's no career in that tar like,
no one is a poet full time. I felt as
if I was being put in some sort of societal
box that I should just be happy because I'm married
and I have a good man quote unquote and a career.
But I was utterly unhappy. I didn't like this American
(25:41):
dream that I had, and I wanted to fasten and
shape my own life how I saw fit, and that
meant traveling abroad, learning a new language, and putting I guess,
all my chips on red, as my dad would say,
taking a risk and putting my art out there. And
it was scary, but I felt like I had to
(26:01):
do it.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
There's no better bet that I'm bet on you. I've
always felt that.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Well.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I think it's so courageous that you just blew up
the life you didn't want and you pursued the life
you did want. We are all about that here on
the bright side.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
When you think about the women that are going to
be reading your book, magic enough? What magic do you
want women to find in your poetry?
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Now that's hard for me, you know.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
I've loved poetry all my life, and it's so humbling
that so many women are finding connections with something I've written.
I'm still kind of grappling with that that my words
can touch another human being, especially a woman. I'm just
so grateful and honored. So if they pull anything away
(26:47):
from this book, I just want them to know that
everything I write is for them. Us women have so little.
I think in this country. I wanted to just give
us something nice. I think we should all we all
just there's something nice and pretty, and I think this
book is nice and pretty.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
I was reading a review and someone.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Said it's a cross between like a good brunch with
your girlfriends and like a good cry in the shower.
So g this to be like everyone's a brunch and
we're all like we've ordered another mimosa, but we're all
kind of crying over something.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Zach, I think we have the title of the episode.
It's brunch and crying in the shower with Tara Stringfellow. Guys,
that's so perfect.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
That honestly feels like my weekend, every weekend.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Right right, but it does.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
It feels cathartic, like yeah, good cry, like tears of joy,
like we made it, y'all kind of cry complainly.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Thank you so much for spending your June teenth with us.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Oh, thank y'all for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Thank you, Tara. Tara Stringfellow is a best selling author
and poet. Her collection of poems, Magic Enough, is out
on June twenty fifth. You can find it wherever you
get your books.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
That's it for today's show.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Tomorrow, we're talking with Reese's book Club Pick author Ali Condy.
She's sharing her personal inspiration for her latest book, The Unwedding,
and let me tell you it is good. Listen and
follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
I'm Simone Boye. You can find me at Simone Boice
on Instagram and.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Tiktok'm Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
That's ro Ba.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Y see you tomorrow, Folks. Keep looking on the bright side.
Hosts And Creators
Simone Boyce
Danielle Robay
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