The Power of Representation with Crystal Roman

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 3 (02:18):
Today ONLA Welcome back to Cavampam, the bilingual podcast Sintansura
on Needed.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Conversation with Crystal Roman Roman. Crystal is a founder, CEO,
head writer and producer of the Black Latina Movement. The
Black Latina Movement is a vibrant, grassroots theater and film
production company based in New York City. Crystal started the

(02:56):
movement after having been in the entertainment industry for seven
years and once she noticed that there weren't a lot
of roles that showed the multi dynamics of women. Black
Latina Movement established in two thousand and eight, and it
provides a place for women that are multicultural, multiracial, and

(03:19):
all of the intersectionalities that most women of color represent
but don't receive the imagery in the media. It is
a platform of entertainment that strives to break norms, ideologies,
and stereotypes the media is so often comfortable with. Crystal
is a proud Black Latina who continues to advocate for

(03:41):
the complexities of womanhood in an identity driven society as
a content creator and director of the Black Latina Movement.
Her critically acclaimed catalog consists of the nationally towards stage
play Black Latina, The Play and fest all premiered web
series The Colors of Love, and international award winning script Blended.

(04:07):
Crystal wrote, co produced, directed, and co starred in her
latest film project, award winning turned web series Cecilia This Celibate,
a romantic comedy about a Black Latina New York City
trying to find love minus the sex. Crystal has been
featured on Picks eleven, Huffington Post, Latina Magazine, a Rise TV,

(04:30):
Madam Nore and more and more and more. What a
Crystal Listeners is a lot of fun. We truly had
a capac the conversation. It felt really natural and super fun,
and I hope you enjoy it as much as I
did and check it out. I sometimes I interview so

(04:51):
many people from New York City, and I'm always like,
why am I not there to go support and watch
the plays and like do all the things New York City?
But here we are in the West Coast, so at
least we can enjoy it from afar when I've seen mess.
Here's my conversation with Crystal. Crystal, Welcome to Govicumbum.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Thank you, thank you for having me. I'm excited.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, I'm excited to check videos. So the question we
always ask in the beginning is what is your heritage?

Speaker 4 (05:22):
I am a native New Yorker and my background is
Jamaican and Puerto Rican.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Very Caribbean Caribbean. And you were born and raised in New.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
York, born and raised in New York.

Speaker 4 (05:33):
Yeah, I'm like, I'm third generation on my mom's side,
second generation on my dad's Yeah, that we have been
here for.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
A long time.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
So they met in New York.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yes, my parents.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Wow, yeah, yeah. How was it for you to grow
by cultural.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
You know, it was in New York.

Speaker 4 (05:54):
One of the things that I've learned about, you know,
from traveling with my shows is I'm very spoiled living
in New York because in New York we're such a
MELTI pot. Everyone says that, but you don't really realize
it until you leave New York. And so you can
go down the block and get Panamanian food, you can
go over on the corner and get a poopoosa from
a Salvador.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
I mean, it's just everywhere. Yes, and so it wasn't
a thing.

Speaker 4 (06:18):
It wasn't as difficult navigating being, you know, a black
life you're not in in New York.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
I think with my career.

Speaker 4 (06:28):
As an actress and as a producer as a director,
as I started to go into different spaces, then I realized, oh,
you know, New York kind of gave me this false
security because you know, we're.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
Just everything goes here in New York.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
When you think about all the different flights of people,
whether it was like women's suffrage or you know, gay
rights or even civil rights.

Speaker 5 (06:52):
You know, a lot of these movements had hubs or
homes here in New York.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
And so even in my personal career, you know, been
in finance for twenty years, even in that it was.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Like, oh, I'm the only brown girls. I get a
little bit high.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
You know.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
So, whether it was in the entertainment industry and finance
or whatever, New York has really given me a security.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Blanket that I didn't know.

Speaker 4 (07:16):
So I go to Cali or I go and don't
get me wrong, there's black Latinos and there's you know,
Latinos of all different shapes and sizes and colors and
black people, but not as in tune as New York.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, yes, New York is very special. Yeah for sure.
I I've interviewed Sony people, and I've traveled throughout the
US and there's no place like no.

Speaker 4 (07:42):
So, you know, growing up was you know, everyone looked
like me. All my cousins looked like me. We you know,
we sound the same. You know, we have the plathora
of different colors and shapes and sizes, and we're all Latino.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
You know.

Speaker 4 (07:54):
It just it never felt like there was a weirdness
until then you become the other right airport?

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yeah, when did that happen.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
Well, New York is New.

Speaker 4 (08:05):
York City, I should say it's considered consistent of five boroughs,
and so one of them being Staten Island, is like
primarily white. And so when I was growing up, I
grew up in Harlem and Washington Heights, and Washington Heights
is still my home because my dad still lives there.
But when my parents broke up, my mom we moved
my siblings and my stepdad, we moved to Staten Island,

(08:25):
which was really an interesting place to live in amazing
place because it was the most as a kid.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
The most white people I had ever been around.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
You know, you're living in Harlem, I mean the old Harlem,
not the gentlephic godsentified Harlem. But it was the most
I had been around that culture. Met amazing people, wonderful people.
But at the same time, the other definitely came up.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
So like, is that your mom? Oh? Were you ten?
I was ten?

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Wow?

Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, So it's like, is that really your mom? Is
she the babysitter?

Speaker 4 (08:57):
We got on a bus and the bus driver was like, well,
just like, you know, this bus doesn't go to Harlem,
and we knew it didn't.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
It was a regular buss going to like the supermarket.

Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yeah, it was just weird stuff like in school, like
friends or teachers were not friends, but teachers would say stuff.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
It was weird.

Speaker 4 (09:14):
I mean, and then you know to see like the
ever gardener, Like I can't breathe.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
That whole situation happened there. So you know, I don't
want to down it because it was a great place.
I lived there for many years. I have children. Both
my children, I you know, birthed them there. But it
has and still has its.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Race relations, so you stay there for a while.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
I stayed there for a while. I stayed there for
like almost twenty years.

Speaker 4 (09:37):
Yeah, they're like wow, yeah, yeah yeah, because again, like
there's you're gonna find bad people everywhere, right, Like it's
not gonna be just you know, you're gonna find the
like people who just are ignorant and stupid. So you
can't put everyone into the boxes say all white people
are bad.

Speaker 1 (09:53):
No, we know that's not true. But I did have.

Speaker 4 (09:55):
Really unique and interesting situations that happened there that I
didn't experience back.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
When I was in Washington. Iood in Harlem. Yeah that's undeniable.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah, and I think it just shows I mean you
were ten, you know, the first time you were right
there and her resilient kids are yes, because yes, you
were probably hearing things or experiencing things. And as a
ten year old, you're little, and Narnia was probably like

(10:28):
was I don't know, Like maybe they're just mean people.
Do you remember?

Speaker 4 (10:32):
I think they just I don't want to say they
didn't know, because then that's giving them a pass.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
But I remember in one of my plays, it's this scene.

Speaker 4 (10:41):
We actually show it in the play I'm a parent
teacher conference and it's a it's a reenactment of it,
and I'm waiting for my mom and like she finally
comes and she's next to me, and the teacher's like,
where's your mom?

Speaker 1 (10:56):
And I'm like it wasn't like she was far away.
She was like a few feet. And I was just like,
do you not have you not experienced people that like,
in their.

Speaker 4 (11:07):
Minds, right, they have this idea of what Latinos look
like and what black people look like, and you know,
the colorisms and things, and so those are moments that
define me as a person because it took away my
innocence of like, oh, I'm oh right, Like I'm not
what I think I am, and those things change for

(11:29):
you as a person.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, totally. Is your mom Jamaican, is your mom Puerto Rican?

Speaker 1 (11:34):
My mom is both. My mom is both.

Speaker 4 (11:36):
So my mom, my mom is like what I would
consider like a black Latino twice over. So her her
mother is an Afro Puerto Rican, and they and her
mother and her father, her mother and her my grandmother,
my maternal grandmother. Both her parents are from Puerto Rico
and they're both Afro Puerto Ricans. So my grandmother is
an Africquerto Rican. My grandfather is Jamaican and also has

(11:58):
like Moroccan heritage, So she would be like a black
Latina in the sense that her father is a black person.
But also her mother is Afro descendant. Right, She's an
afrobody quest So my mom is ark skin. She's about
like Oprah's complexion. And you know, we all have family
members that are lighter or darker or whatever.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
We know that in the Latino community, but I don't
at that.

Speaker 4 (12:22):
Time, and maybe even still now, a lot of people
don't know the beauty of Latinos and that we're not
just one look, and we also are an ethnicity, not
a race, And so there's those complexities and being there
definitely set that tone for me at a very young age.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, what did your mom say?

Speaker 4 (12:43):
She's like the typical black and Latino mother who's like stoic,
and it's just like almostly not like come on, let's go,
come on, Crystal, like, and I'm like, did you not
just really did you not experience what I experienced?

Speaker 1 (12:58):
You know, It's the same thing with the bus driver.

Speaker 5 (12:59):
I'm like, I looked at the bus, like, I know
this bus doesn't go like we don't have there's no
buses in.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Stepna and I go to Harlem.

Speaker 4 (13:05):
But she's just like, come on, come on, like and
I guess it's just this thing, which you know, is
like a gift and a curse for our women. It's
like having to internalize and repress everything and suck it
all in because they know that this has been going
on for eons and they have to be this strong person.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yes, yes, there's a lot to unpack there.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Did you ever have conversations with as you were living
in that space like why are people saying this thing?

Speaker 4 (13:38):
So I would just I mean I would say to
her like you know what happened or what you know,
and she would just say, like people are stupid and
people just don't understand who we are, or like the
world will eventually change and maybe it'll change with you,
or you know, your brother and your sister or more
people are gonna look like you, you know, as there's
more mixing. She would say little to as I was

(14:00):
a kid, because also you're a kid, so you can't really,
you know, internalize so much, you know.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
And then as I got older, I got it, but
she would say certain.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
Things, Yeah, so how did you get into finance?

Speaker 4 (14:12):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (14:12):
Finance? It was so weird. It wasn't like something I
wanted to do.

Speaker 4 (14:16):
I had just had a baby, and I just graduated
from college and my degree was in business. And I
had a girlfriend who back in the day, there were
like these news articles about job offers, and there was
like this round robin to go take a test to
work at a bank. And the girlfriend was like, I
gotta go. I gotta get a job. You should just

(14:36):
come with me. And I'm like, she's like, you're not
doing nothing, like just come. So I go and we
take the test and I passed and she.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
She did it.

Speaker 4 (14:47):
And so I started working at a bank and I
was a teller, and then went up the ranks and
then was old, you know, was a branch manager, did
the whole thing, and then went to the was in retail,
the retail side, which that's what's called retail banking, and
then left to go to the corporate side and went
into administration.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah yeah, wait, but you just had a baby.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
I had just had he was like six months old.
So I was like on a lead from work.

Speaker 4 (15:18):
You know, I you know, I was doing little like
whatever jobs because I was in college still, and then
I didn't know if I wanted to go back to work.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
And then she was like just go And my mom
was like, just check it out. Try it?

Speaker 2 (15:32):
Why not? How funny? Yeah? Yeah, did you love it?

Speaker 1 (15:39):
I must have me because I've.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
Been doing it for stay.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
I did. I did. I. I enjoyed it. In the beginning.
It was challenging with something new. It was something you know,
sometimes when you jump into something that you've never thought about,
you actually love it more because it's not like something
you are preconceived thing. Sometimes if you overthink something, it
just dies out the fund. So for me, I was like, yeah,
let me try this. I enjoyed it so much. You know,

(16:07):
I was part of the market crash.

Speaker 4 (16:09):
So the bank originally was Washington Mutual and then Chase
let them over.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, and it was a whole thing. And then after
a while.

Speaker 4 (16:17):
I was like, I don't know if I want to
do this anymore. But then, you know, and then I
had another child, I left, came back. I must have
liked it, and then I didn't want to do the
you know, I didn't want to be in office and
do like the retail part of it, which.

Speaker 1 (16:29):
Is like customers and all of that, because it could
get really I mean.

Speaker 4 (16:32):
I could we could have a whole nother episode about
customers and people historians. And then I was like, you
know what, there was there was an opening to be
an administrative assistant, and so I got into that side
of things in HR and that, and so that was
a little bit that was easier for me.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
With two kids and you know, being a mom, and
it's like it's easier to kind of have the typical
nine to five go into the office. They call it
like a cushy position. It's not cushy, but it's a
little bit more.

Speaker 4 (16:58):
You're able to maintain a little bit more like and
also for like your mental health, because you really have
to have thick skin to be in any kind of
career that.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Deals with the public. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
And money and money, yeah.

Speaker 4 (17:10):
Money and food is like I don't know, I don't
know how people in hospitality do it.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
But no kidding, yeah, hospitality. Yeah, I have a client
that we love talking about hospitality because it's such it's
such an industry in so many ways.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yeah, how did you get into acting?

Speaker 1 (17:29):
So?

Speaker 4 (17:30):
Acting was like a hobby between like high school, before
I started college, before I had even started banking and
being in finance. It was a hobby after high school,
something to do while I was in college, and then.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
It just snowballed into a whole.

Speaker 4 (17:50):
I mean, I've been in it for seventeen years now,
so it's just it was just something I was doing.
I went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. They
had a summer intensive. I went to Summer's in a
row and then just started all the auditioning and it
was great. Like I was with different companies and I
was touring and I was, you know, doing films.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
It was really nice.

Speaker 4 (18:12):
Had did it for like a good seven years, and
then there was just a moment where I was like,
I need to just get my own thing going on.

Speaker 5 (18:18):
I have a degree in business, I need to just
create my own Yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
So you kept both. I kept boing the bang and.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
I funded my business. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (18:27):
When people say, oh, get like, you know, entrepreneurs, let
go off the nine to five.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
No, don't let go with the nine to five.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
It is your income.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
It supports and it finances your dreams until your dreams
can completely become separate and you can live.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
Off of that.

Speaker 4 (18:43):
Because even when I've made great money in you know,
my business. You you know, it's entrepreneurship. So there's highs
and loads. You can go six months with nothing coming in.
So I never say let it go. I've had moments
where I've taken you know, little breaks or taken a
leave for like three to six months, and and you know, blessed.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
Enough to do that.

Speaker 4 (19:02):
But I'm always back to that because it's just it's
it's more secure until you can do it on your own.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
It's not a failure. People say, oh, it's a failure,
but it's not.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
I agree. Yeah, And I think that we've romanticized like
leaving the nine to five to start a business so
much that people get so like, I've met so many
people that are they go have to go back to
work to a job they hate, Yeah, because they they
were like, I'm gonna just start the business and there's

(19:32):
no infrastructure, there's no foundation, there's no capital, especially for Latina's. Yeah,
you know, it's like we can go. And so all
the things, how did your experience in the bank support
if it did building your business, not just the funding
of it, but also like having dealt with humans and

(19:53):
all the various positions that you held.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
So one like learning business structure.

Speaker 4 (19:59):
You know when you once I became like a supervisor
and a manager, you learn business structure.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
You learn the way that how businesses are supposed to
operate because we were also you know, they open business
accounts there, so you get to see how different businesses operate,
and you get to meet different business people, you get
gems for free, or you'll say to them like I'm
trying to open a business.

Speaker 4 (20:19):
You know, you'd be surprised how open people are to
just hearing what you want to do.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
So that was really important.

Speaker 4 (20:25):
Learning the difference of anes corp or an LLC or
C corp. All those things being in finance put me
in a position to you know, work with my business
in that and then watching people with their own money management.
You know, I would see people, you know, I remember
there was a young girl who came into money. She
had an accident in New York City and came into

(20:47):
like half a million dollars and blew it in like
two weeks.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
In two weeks, Yeah, in like two weeks.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
Oh my god.

Speaker 4 (20:55):
Right, But then you see people learning about investments because
you know, at you know, at in any financial you
know institution, they have investments. So you learn how investments,
mutual funds, stocks and bonds, how that works.

Speaker 1 (21:07):
And so it's all.

Speaker 4 (21:08):
Little like like a little lackom people like you're taking
little pieces of everything and you're eating it up and
you're taking it into say when it's my turn, I
kind of have the foundation of what I need to do.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
And so that was always great. It was always great.

Speaker 4 (21:24):
I mean, people wise, you meet all types of characters,
like I probably write a play on all the different
sure characters. But you meet so many different people. But
you also have to learn that, you know, people are human.
Everyone is going through something, and so it teaches you
humility for even just a life skill, just humility, and
then just understanding that, like everyone has something going on,

(21:48):
we have to just work living this or earth together,
and you know, so yeah, there was so many things
that I was able to pull from it.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
I'm sure being able to see the back end, Like
I'm always curious when I go to the Like I
don't often go to the bank anymore because everything can
be done online, but when I do, I'm always like,
I wonder what the people on the other side of
the window. They get to see everything, like all my transactions,
and like how much do they judge me? How was

(22:20):
it to be able to see even like that the
money man management, because I think something we don't often
talk about. One as Latin, i's gonna talk about money
because it's like, oh, it just exists and it's this
like obscure thing, and you know, and two we also

(22:43):
don't talk about growing it, saving it. I remember I
when I was in college, I had a neighbor upstairs.
I live by myself in a little, tiny, one bedroom apartment,
and the guy upstairs had lived there for like his
whole life, and he didn't believe he was a Mexican
man immigrant. He didn't believe in banks because he thought,

(23:04):
you know, they were like the devil.

Speaker 1 (23:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
So he would all his his paychecks, he would roll them,
you know how like they show them in the movies,
roll and he would stick them in the mattress. By
the time he wanted to he opened the mattress, all
the money was rotted. Wow, he had no money, I know,

(23:27):
and everyone was like, oh mg, he was so sad,
like his life savings. M So, do you have any
stories like that about wild things?

Speaker 1 (23:38):
I mean, I'm sure I have a bunch. I think.

Speaker 4 (23:40):
For for like, money is very cultural and it's very generational,
so you know, you will see a lot of Unfortunately,
you do see white people who understand money on a
different level from black and brown people. But I think
a lot of that is also because of like some
of the shady practices that find that financial institutions have

(24:01):
used against.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
Latinos and black people.

Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (24:03):
So, like when you think about redlining for our homes,
that's the banks who are doing that.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
When you think about.

Speaker 4 (24:11):
Stealing money, right, Like, there were a lot of times
that you know, during like after slavery and all of that,
that blacks and Latinos would have money in the bank
and all of a sudden, the money wasn't there anymore.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
There are a lot of stories of institutions.

Speaker 4 (24:23):
Who did things like that, so I think people get
very nervous, which is understandable. Similar to the healthcare industry, right,
no one wanted to get you know, vaccines or different
things like that because of historically what the medical industry
has done to Blacks and Latinos and using that you know,
youth disinfecting, you know, Mexicans were really putting stuff on them,

(24:44):
giving black men syphilists, you know, to try to find that.
So it's the same thing in the in the financial industry.
One thing that I've learned is that just also like
who gets your money at the end, So like there
was there was also a thing where you have to
have a beneficial beneficiary.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
On your account.

Speaker 4 (25:02):
People think, oh, because I have a husband, and it's like, no,
your husband is not your beneficiary.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
And so there was one time where there was a.

Speaker 4 (25:09):
Man who he passed away and his wife came in
and she was like, you know, I have the death certificate.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
And I looked at the death certificate and when I
went to the bank account, the beneficiary was not her, and.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
I couldn't tell her that it was another woman, No,
was another woman.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yeah, he had like a a lot of my family.
It was a very nice amount of money. He had
like a whole other family. Girl. It was crazy. And
so that was something that I'm like, oh wow.

Speaker 4 (25:39):
Also too, like you can put the percentages of who
gets what, so like there's also a lot of sibling rivalry.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
It's like he got forty percent, she got I got twenty.
You know a lot of that. And so Latinos blacks
don't really not to say, we don't know.

Speaker 4 (25:53):
That we do, but not you know, it's not something
that's learned the way that I feel like the white
community has learned it. And because of it just being
generationally they've had more wealth than we have, and you know,
there's an equity gap, but you know, we are getting
better with those things.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
But even myself, like my parents didn't know any of that.

Speaker 4 (26:13):
So I'm at the bank like on NOVELA, like oh
my god, and certain people are like, oh, yeah, this
is how this goes, and I'm like what, yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
Wow, as you're sharing does and made me think of
my partner's the white man from the Midwest, like the
whitest of the white you can find he's called the Lumberjack,
and but he's with me, so he's a white man.
And but his family, like every time we go visit
his family, it's fascinating how white people deal with situations.

(26:46):
He has. His grandparents are much like they're in their nineties.
And we went less like over the holidays, and there
we noticed that, like the house is kind of packed,
you know, there's like less things on the on the walls,
and there's like some boxes. And I was talking to

(27:07):
the grandma and she's like, you know, we're getting older,
we're gonna die soon, so I'm just packing my house
up so when that happens, I don't leave like much
to my kid. And I'm like, what, Like, you're talking
about death, You're not like what's happening, you know. And
she's like, yeah, so we're taking care of everything right now.
Well we are still like saying, and our brains are

(27:29):
still And I'm like, I'm like, David, your grandma's talking
about death, like and he's like, yeah, it's normal.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
On the other hand, my family is like, yes, we're
already talking about who's going to clean the white room,
you know.

Speaker 4 (27:42):
Yeah, or they're gonna hoard like they hold all these
different things and it's like, yes, you know your whaleives
Sabana from like nineteen seventy three. It's like, can we
just throw this out because this is never gonna be
used because she's.

Speaker 2 (27:53):
Like, oh, like it's like, no, girl is the one
that she came with you?

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, you see it. You definitely
see the disparity.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
It's fascinating how the money conversation bleeds into lifestyle and
how we navigate the world.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
Right, and how we see money right.

Speaker 4 (28:14):
We see money as something like you hold on to
or like you just we have a really weird relationship
with money where they don't see money in that kind
of way.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
It's just a thing right where us it's like everything, yeah, yeah,
yeah for sure.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
And so when you have been working in finance, you've
been seeing all of these like behind the scenes stories,
which is great. I do think we could have a
whole episode just all of the things you saw in
banking and you start your company because you're like, you also,
let's now bring it to the other side. As you

(28:52):
are an actor, actress and you're facing all of the
things that you're facing, you also see a disparity.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
So I was feeling like it was just weird.

Speaker 4 (29:05):
Like I would read these casting calls and you know,
the Latina.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
Would be like, I bopy blah blah blah.

Speaker 4 (29:11):
Blah blah, right, Like she would just like like the
Sofia regard character, which is nothing wrong with that, right,
Like I want to be clear that some of these
stereotypes are real people in our lives and our families
that we know of. However, it just feels weird that
these are the only ones that are there when it's like,
we also have friends that are lawyers and doctors and
so on. And so I didn't want it to come

(29:34):
off as if I didn't appreciate what was out there.
But it was almost like I'm not just gonna take
what you give me just because you're giving it to me.
And so I wanted to write characters and stories that
I felt like we could appreciate, we could see ourselves in,
and things that are not already out there that should
be that are normal to us and not normal to them.

(29:55):
And so I wanted to kind of break some of
these gender roles, some of these stereotypes that are out there.
We could keep them, they're fine, but let's add on
to the catalog of what who Latinas are and what
we look like.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
We're not always the dishwasher or.

Speaker 4 (30:10):
The maid or the drug cartel queen pin like those
are real. I'm never gonna take that away, but let's
add on, let's create more of a catalog. And so
that was what I wanted to do, is to give
depth to.

Speaker 1 (30:24):
Some of these voices.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
And what was the first step you took?

Speaker 5 (30:28):
So I started to write the first play, which is
like our signature play.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
We to all over the country with it.

Speaker 4 (30:33):
It's called Black Latino the Play, and that is about
representation that visually, you're seeing what black Latinas look like,
You're hearing our stories.

Speaker 1 (30:42):
You're hearing our plight.

Speaker 4 (30:43):
It's about three women who are going through this journey
going to their school reunion. You know how reunions are,
and it kind of judges up all of these feelings
that they've been having and how there is the idea
of like external and internal racism, and we think about
we talk a lot of about like black, I'm black.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
On white and that whole flight, but it's really like
black on black.

Speaker 4 (31:05):
Black on brown, brown on brown, and some of the
little secrets that we have in the nuances that we
don't really talk about as black Latinos. What Latinos are
going through, you know, what black people are going through.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
And so it's so interesting because.

Speaker 4 (31:18):
Now that you know everything that happened with the election,
I wasn't surprised because I'm like, but this isn't new,
Like Latinos have had.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Some issues with anti blackness and have had some issues
with you know very much. He's more too like you know,
you know, some are gonna.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
Pick the man just because he's here, yeah, right.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
As opposed to a woman.

Speaker 4 (31:41):
So like talking and addressing about these things for me
was very cathartic, and so I wrote the play. It
started out as like a one woman's show. Then it
was a five person ensemble. Now we have three women.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
But it's a full like kind of off Broadway production music,
dancing this and that and trying to get everyone and
everyone's culture in. So you do see how we are
African descendants.

Speaker 4 (32:05):
Most of the slave trade didn't come to America, came
to North America, came to South Central and the Caribbean,
and how there's undeniable like trades there and things that
I felt like I always knew but I realized the
world didn't know.

Speaker 1 (32:21):
And so, you know, we've toured with it. We've been
to USC, we've been to LSU, we've been to Penn.

Speaker 4 (32:26):
State, We've been We've It's been a really beautiful experience
because then I get to meet so many la nas
all over the country and they're just like, oh my god,
I feel the same, you know. So it's just nice
to know that it's not just me. But at first
it was very scary to do a play about us
because it's.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
Just like, oh, is she airing out our laundry?

Speaker 2 (32:47):
You know?

Speaker 4 (32:48):
But it was fun and then from there, you know,
all my other projects came from there.

Speaker 2 (32:52):
Yeah, how was it for you to from idea like
I need to do this because it's necessary to you,
Like you get the curtains close and you're like, oh
my gosh, this happened.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
It's always like that.

Speaker 4 (33:07):
We went off Broadway last year with a with one
of my other shows called of Mothers and Men, and
it's not monologues about women, And it's always like I'm
always sitting in the you know, the theater, like the
night before we go off, and.

Speaker 1 (33:21):
It's just like I just wrote words on a page right.

Speaker 4 (33:25):
And then to see it come to life, you know,
but it's so beautiful, like the manifestation of that, Like
you can take something as simple as a piece of
paper and write words on it and it grows into
this life that you no longer.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
It's kind of like children. You don't own your children.

Speaker 4 (33:40):
I mean, you can't tell any lay not mom that,
but you don't own your children like they You cultivate
them as much as you can, and then you send
them off to the world and you pray that they
make the best of life. And so for me, it's
kind of like that. Like when I wrote the play
and the first time it felt like a surreal experience.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
This is really happening, you know.

Speaker 4 (34:01):
I'm watching people laugh and cry and have these other
thoughts that I didn't even think about when I wrote
the piece. And that's rewarding because people are receiving it
and it's becoming like a thought piece where they're thinking
farther than even what I had imagined.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
I love that. That's why I think art needs to be,
like everyone needs to create, keep creating art even as
we are dealing with such hard times.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
Yeah, yeah, because.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
It's so necessary.

Speaker 4 (34:30):
But art can be anything, right, Like this is art,
Like getting on a conversation and just speaking to each other,
feeling more and feeling comfortable.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
That's art, like it can be.

Speaker 4 (34:40):
It doesn't have to be money, right, Like you can
eventually monetize it in some way, but I think we
have to get to like the place, like almost like
our ancestors, they were telling stories around a fire, and
some of our you know, generational stories weren't written down,
they were told.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
I think that's important.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Yeah, so important. And you're like doing that. Okay, let's
take a quick coffee break. Okay, So, so Crystal, do
you drink coffee?

Speaker 1 (35:18):
I do? I have my coffee this morning.

Speaker 2 (35:22):
We're past the time of coffee. How do you drink
your coffee?

Speaker 4 (35:26):
So I have I'm like onto this whole life oat
milk kick from They have like oat milk creamers. So
I have booster al obviously with an oat milk creamer,
but it's flavored, so it's brown sugar and I froth it.
It is amazing.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
Now I'm just doing one and then if I need
something else, I will do tea because I originally was
like a tea girl, and then I got into coffee
and so like.

Speaker 4 (35:51):
Yeah, but I'll do tea in the afternoon, or I'll
ic my tea, a good spearmint tea, a good with lets.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
I'm in a black tea. Hibiscus is a good tea.

Speaker 4 (36:04):
So like, I'll have my coffee in the morning, and
then if i need a little something actual with caffeine,
I'll do some tea.

Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yeah, you'll do team. So you drink your coffee, how
do you so, you said, Bustello, how do you brew it?
What's your your brewing method?

Speaker 4 (36:19):
You know what I've been doing because I've been on
the run, I've been just doing instant and not really wondering.

Speaker 1 (36:26):
Yeah, I've been doing instant. Like it's horrible. But I'll
put the you know, the oat milk in the frother
and then I'll just get the instant and keep the
water and just run around like a chicken. That's horrible.

Speaker 4 (36:39):
I should be using I have an espresso, but it's
just been hectic.

Speaker 2 (36:44):
It takes a while. It's very Yeah, doing the whole
thing is very ritualistic, and you do need to make
the time for it. Yeah, yes, how do you drink
your coffee? Earlier before we started recording, I told you.
I'm in this cacao journey. When building a relationship with
me mother cocao and I was reflecting back on it actually,
and I've been Cacao has been in my life since

(37:08):
like twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, and it arrived from a client.
And so I had a client who lives in Peru
and they, I guess, they discovered this like rare form
of cocau, and so I started working with them and

(37:32):
then it kept calling me. So right now I'm drinking cocao,
and of course I have to be extra so I
brew it with some So instead of just using plain
hot water, I made tea and then that tea is
what made the cocao.

Speaker 1 (37:51):
Oh my god, So you got like three levels in there. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (37:59):
Then I added so local honey. My mom is a beekeeper,
so we have local We have little ferrol bees in
the back and it's it's local honey, which helps with
allergies and things like that.

Speaker 1 (38:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
So what I tell people is find your local honey,
your local beekeeper, and get you some honey starting in December.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (38:26):
Honey has like so many medicinal qualities you would never know,
like to heal wounds, to help if you have like
soriatis on your scal I was going, I went down
the rabbit hole the other day and I'm like, honey.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
Yeah, honey is the best thing. It's like, And I mean,
of course, my mom said beekeeper, so she gets very
much into it. She calls her bees lesli yess so funny.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
So I'm drinking cocao, but I have coffee that I
just poured into my cocaws, like, like, come when my
cocow is halfway through, then I start pouring coffee on it.
And this is just regular, regular drip coffee.

Speaker 1 (39:06):
Okay, got it.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
I also have an expressing machine. But my ritual right
now is is cacao because I you know, I brew
the tea and I like infuse the.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
Water and as you're committed, girl.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
I'm committed. Cacao actually healed my womb really mm.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
Hmmm, wow, you'd be surprised. I feel like we got
to go back to.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
I mean the only way.

Speaker 1 (39:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
I was taking medicine for fibroids, and I had a
fiber that was decided like basically, the doctor was like, so,
your uterus is the size of an eighteen week pregnancy
because it fiberates. Yeah, And I was like, that's large,
and he was like, yeah, no, it's pretty large. And
so I was taking medicine. Didn't work. I was like, yeah,

(39:51):
I was anemic, Like it made me bleed so much.
It was it was not And so I was like,
you know what, let's go back to the plant. And
so I started building the relationship with Cacao. And now
my tummy's flat, there's no more. That's like they shrunk.

Speaker 4 (40:05):
So when you went back to get another sonogram, it
was gone or was just significantly smaller.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
I haven't gone back, but you can't see it. Yeah, wow,
you could physically I looked pregnant, insane.

Speaker 4 (40:18):
Isn't it crazy how we already had everything we have
here and we just got so pulled away from it
and now we got to get back to Yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Yeah, for sure, for sure, it's it's an end. What
I was gonna say about coffee, I think what I've
learned as I've been building my relationship with Cacao is
that we can also build a relationship with coffee. Yeah,
because I talked about this study. I don't know if

(40:47):
you've ever seen the study on water No so a
Japanese scientist, he microscopically saw the molecule of water and
the what he realizes that water connects with energy. So
if he talked beautiful things to water, then the molecule
of water would like just flourish. If he talked hate

(41:09):
to water and he at a microscopic level would see it,
then it would fall apart. And so what he realized
is that, I mean, one, humans were over fifty percent water.
So if we talked mean to ourselves, what happens to ourselves?
And so with that, like every time like you I

(41:31):
bless my water, like.

Speaker 1 (41:32):
It's very like it's true.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
Or my clients is like you really are extra when
you say you're extra.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
True, No, but it's true.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
We have me do it.

Speaker 4 (41:39):
Even people, I mean they've they've had those same studies
with cancer where people were like super depressed and they
were and it just to cancer metastasized, where like where
people were just living their lives, who were happy, they
were taking the medications the same thing it was dissipating.
Your mind will never be able to unlock with our
brains can really do.

Speaker 5 (42:00):
But your mind has such capacity to really heal itself.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
It knows what it needs to do on its own.

Speaker 4 (42:06):
So a lot of these medications mimic what the brain
is supposed to already do. Like even you know, I'm
not gonna I don't shame anyone who takes ozempic or
any of that. But it's a synthetic gop one with
your brain already create created goop one.

Speaker 2 (42:22):
Yes, yes for sure. Yeah, no, the but like the
body's meant to self heal. You know, you get a
paper cut and what happens tomorrow is gone.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
I put turmeric on a heel.

Speaker 4 (42:35):
I had a very thick cut and I was like,
I can't make it to the hospital to get you know, stitches.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
And I had a girlfriend. Her husband said, just put.

Speaker 4 (42:44):
Tumeric on it, and I'm like, really, I doubsed it
with turmeric.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
It's like it and it was a it was such
a deep cut. Gone.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
Wow, see the plans man. Yeah, all right, let's get
back to the show. Super long, Puffy. So so Crystal,
the Black Latino Movement tell us about it.

Speaker 4 (43:13):
It is a theater film web production company that talks,
you know, it displays shows and whether again theater film,
what have you, media that displays us in it, So
whether it's in front of the camera on the stage
or behind the camera in the stage.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
Because a lot of times when.

Speaker 4 (43:33):
We talk about equity, you talk about wanting to see
things that look like you. Right, you want to see
the actress of the movie, you want to see the
woman on the commercial. But also when we talk about
the seat at the table in equity, we have to
talk about the people behind those things too, the gaffers,
the sound engineers, the stage managers.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
The producers, the writers.

Speaker 4 (43:53):
You also want it to be people who look and
sound like you. So that's been my mission is to
get you the black and brown community fully up and
running to be in film and theater. And there's so
many of us that are doing it, but they just
don't get enough, you know, space to do that because
it's you know, no one, I don't want to say
no one knows they exist, but they're just not given

(44:13):
the opportunities. And so it's for me it's a dual
functionality of writing pieces that look and sound like us,
but also hiring the people that can make that happen.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
I love that and I think about how fun would
it be to like come to a play that's fully
black and brown.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
Yeah, there's no code switching. We could say whatever we want.

Speaker 4 (44:37):
It's like you can speak half in Spanish half and
everyone knows what's going on.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
You know.

Speaker 4 (44:43):
We made a joke because when we had our last
show off Broadway in May, we had one.

Speaker 1 (44:48):
Guy, one white guy, and I was like, you should
be privileged to be here. I love him. His name
is Vincent.

Speaker 4 (44:52):
We worked together for like twenty years, and he's like,
it's always a privilege to be the one the toe.

Speaker 1 (44:58):
I can now be the token person.

Speaker 4 (45:00):
But yeah, but it's not like we don't hire you know,
you know, white people. It's just I want to also
enrich our community. There's so many of us that could
do the work as well, and so it's just it's
always a fun time because you walk in a room
that's just black and brown, and it's just such a
stark contrast to like some of the other spaces we've
been in.

Speaker 2 (45:20):
What are the contrast besides like the good switching or
the type of stories, or what things do you notice?

Speaker 4 (45:29):
You feel well, you feel like home, you feel more comfortable.
I don't know what their experience is, but I know
that there's always a little bit of like you know
that there's a line we can't cross, and there's always
going to be a little you know, if something happens
in the world right like, let's say everything that's going

(45:50):
on lice.

Speaker 1 (45:50):
If you're in a space that's not your own, it's
going to be like, so, how's the weather right like?

Speaker 4 (45:56):
But if you're in a black and brown space, it's like, girl,
can we talk real quick?

Speaker 1 (46:00):
Can we just decompress real quick? And then we could
go onto whatever cheese man, we have.

Speaker 4 (46:05):
Those those nuances make a difference because you're not bottling
it up.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
You know, if I'm at a place at nine to
five and I know these things are going on, I'm like,
I don't.

Speaker 4 (46:12):
Know if he's if he feels comfortable or she feels
comfortable with me talking about it, she mation or not.
I don't want to be an HR issue. I don't
want them, you know. But if you're in a black
and brown space, not that black and brown people didn't
vote for him, but there's more you have more capacity
to kind of play and talk and be serious about
things that are.

Speaker 2 (46:30):
More meaningful for sure, because you're directly connected, yeah to
what's happening, Yes, yes, yes, And I think also, I
think of the times when I've been in spaces that
are not as diverse in howest, like you don't even
want to bring it up because then they're like, I'm
gonna have to explain, right, and so let's not even

(46:53):
talk about it.

Speaker 4 (46:54):
Right, right, because then it's like you got to give
so much backstory. It's like, oh, you know, I forget.
It's okay, Like let's just to me.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
I'll just call my friend.

Speaker 1 (47:05):
Exactly, exactly exactly. And it's that way in theater and film.

Speaker 4 (47:09):
It's the same way because there's certain things that you
would say as a character, or there's certain movements that
you would make that they you know, they can't make right.
Like in ballet, it's all about the lines and it's
all about just the structure. In African based dances, whether
you're doing Planta Bombay, you're doing you know.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
Kombia, it's not about perfection.

Speaker 4 (47:34):
It's about the music, it's about your family, it's about
your soul. If you look at Native American those beautiful
circle dances, the same thing. So even in the arts,
it's not as structured and it's not supposed to be right,
like when people get a recipe even even food right
like what's the recipe. It's like, bro, there is no recipe.

(47:54):
You eyeballet like how many? How you know how much
that song am I supposed to put?

Speaker 1 (48:00):
I don't know? How did you taste it? Right?

Speaker 2 (48:02):
It feels good? Yeah, you can't ask.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Your grandmother for the rest of people, She's gonna be
like miha. Right. So there's so many things that.

Speaker 4 (48:09):
Are culturally you can't you can't define and in certain
spaces you have to and it just doesn't.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
It doesn't work that way.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
Yeah, it's it's how like one culture is very linear
and ours is very like long and twisted, and.

Speaker 1 (48:25):
It flows like water back to your water.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
Back to the water. It just flows. I love that
it made me as you're sharing. It also made me
think about like the good switching aspect and even the
I recently went to an event where two women worked
on translating a book by Octavia Butler. I think it
was Octavia. Oh, I might be messing that up. It

(48:54):
might be Octavia Butler or a black scholar. And one
of the women is she's an Afro Mexican and the
other one is but like Latina. I think she has
an African American dad and a Latino Mom, I think.

(49:16):
But the point of the story is that what they
realized is that translated books into like Black scholar books
translated into Spanish would not be like they did not
work because of the nuance of the language. So even
there's like little tiny things in language and sharing and

(49:41):
storytelling and the things that we say. And I that's
something that I with my privilege of speaking both languages
and never thought about that. And how someone who didn't
speak English, if they picked up a book by Octavia
Butler in Spanish, there's going to be something that are
just not going to make sense because the translation is

(50:03):
not correct. And so it's very fascinating.

Speaker 1 (50:06):
How beautiful is that?

Speaker 4 (50:07):
Right, It's just so it's like learning and like you said,
being able to be in both worlds like learning that because.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
Every single thing is so different. It's just so nuanced,
and how do you explain that or express that.

Speaker 5 (50:23):
But it's such a beautiful complexity to have totally.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
And I think, like I couldn't tell a story that
you have because I don't have your experience, you know,
like there's no way, but I can build the space
so you can come and tell us about it. And
that's the important thing to allowing all the stories to
be shared. And this is why I'm so passionate while
sharing all of our stories, because we need to learn

(50:47):
those things. Like even I think about your play where
you talk about the various women and the experiences, I
wouldn't have been able to understand it unless I saw
it because it's so far from my I mean probably
ass far than a white woman, but it's far from

(51:08):
my experience. That This is why art is not necessary.

Speaker 4 (51:11):
Going back to art, there's a beautiful picture we performed
the Smithsonian. There's a beautiful painting at the Smithsonian. I
don't know if it's I mean, I didn't ask it.
It may be real, but it's a beautiful picture. And
it shows central South America, the Caribbean, and it shows Africa,
and it shows the Arawak Indians and the Maroon people, and.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
It shows all the boats like little boats.

Speaker 4 (51:37):
And how they had their own trade system and how
why there's such similarities in some of the things. So
you see the Dianos and you see the Incas and
the aspects from you know, South and Central America, and
they're on their boats and they're all like handing each
other different it's just such a beautiful picture.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
And it's like even so to your point of life.

Speaker 4 (52:00):
Like the language, right, they all spoke different languages. They
probably had an inter translingual kind of thing, but to
all know each other and appreciate each other, and then
you get That's how you get some of these mixtures
that we have that are just incredible.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
You can't even explain it. You can go to.

Speaker 4 (52:17):
Peru and then be like this Chinese food here, but
then you can go to like dr and have montfongo
and it's like wait, but this is like food food
in Africa, and like how did these things?

Speaker 1 (52:29):
You know?

Speaker 4 (52:30):
And it's just this this mixture that I love because
we don't just have this one thing.

Speaker 2 (52:37):
Mm hmmm, yeah, we need we need all of it.

Speaker 4 (52:39):
It's tamalas in Mexico and tamales in Belize. Right, what
there's black people that make tamalas absolutely.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
Yes, yeah, and even like I think of that goes
we have and which is on the like the like
the rolling, it's very Middle Eastern. Yeah, like it literally
came from the Middle East. Yeah yeah, and so we're
all connected yeah yeah yeah. So what's next for black

(53:11):
Dada movement?

Speaker 4 (53:13):
So we have an event that we it's called Talks
in Tequila, and we travel the country with it and
it's a girls meet up. It's like a happy hour.
We get together, we talk, we have a good time.
There's like a you know, we have like a list
of things that we discussed, but it could be anything
as far you know, it could be from ice to
you hate your boyfriend, to your kids are going to

(53:36):
college to it's just really just a mixture of just
all the different things that we want to address and talk.

Speaker 1 (53:41):
We play games. So it's nice.

Speaker 4 (53:44):
So we're going We're going to be in Chicago in September,
then we're going to Orlando in October, and so it's great,
like I get to meet again, Like some people are
not into shows and plays, so this is another way
of me meeting our you know, our audience, our community
and just touching base with them.

Speaker 1 (54:03):
And women love it. I mean, we had one in
Jersey not too long ago and we were like we
just needed this. This was crazy. It's just been crazy.

Speaker 4 (54:11):
We've only been in the year for two months and
it's already been crazy. So it's just nice when you
have community. Because again back to like the code switching,
and not having to feel like you have to be
a certain kind of way. It's a hub for women
to kind of get out and feel good about themselves
and not have to feel so stuck in the mud
of everything.

Speaker 1 (54:27):
So we have those two.

Speaker 4 (54:28):
Events coming up, and then Black Latina is gonna be
in Chicago to play for about three from like a
Friday to a Sunday in April.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
So all of this is on the website. People can
go to the website.

Speaker 4 (54:40):
And see it or follow us on Instagram and see
that there and yeah, we're gonna and then we have
a little couple other things that we're working on, but
all exciting stuff.

Speaker 2 (54:49):
Always how fun, Yeah, so fun. I often hear black Latinas.
Ever Latinas talk about how like the Latina movement does
it include them? Yeah, what's your message for that?

Speaker 4 (55:06):
I think that some of the issues that Latinos are
facing or like on colorism, are like issues that I
feel like the black community has faced as well with
the whole light and dark. You know, they were like
the paperbag test in like the sixties, where like if
you wanted to get into a party, you had to
be lighter than a paperbag.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
Like blacks have went through a lot of that. I
feel like Latinos are just starting to kind of open
up and be honest about that because we've had it
for a long time too. When you're watching novela and
the maid is the black person or the babysit, you know,
but I don't see. I feel like we have a lot.

Speaker 4 (55:40):
Of pride, and Latinos are like really sensitive about like
telling your business, like you can't tell people what goes
on in our home. And I feel like the tides
are changing because we have solidarity in our brothers and
our sisters. Whether you're a white Latina, whether you're Asian Latina,
whatever Latina.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
You are are.

Speaker 4 (56:01):
There are a lot of Latinos that are supporting the
black and Afro experience because either.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
They know us, they love us, they have family.

Speaker 4 (56:10):
I think these stories are just it's always easier to
say the bad stuff, right, like back to customer service,
you only know the bad stuff that happens.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
You don't know if somebody had great service.

Speaker 4 (56:20):
So like, yes, I haven't had a lot of Latinos
who are non black that made me feel like they
weren't supporting the movement.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
And maybe because I've just been so loud about it.
They know. The ones who don't kind of stay away.

Speaker 4 (56:34):
But and I know there are a lot of Latinos
that just are like, this is crazy, this is too much.

Speaker 1 (56:39):
You're creating more division. I've been told that. Ah yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah.

Speaker 4 (56:45):
However, I always lead into the positives, so it's like, yeah,
I know that exists, but I'm not paying attention to
those people.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
I'm paying attention to the ones. I go where I'm celebrated.

Speaker 4 (56:54):
I go where the love is there, where the support
is there, and the allyship is there.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
And to me, that's what I lean more into.

Speaker 2 (57:01):
How would you be creating more divisions?

Speaker 4 (57:05):
Well, because the idea was like people like to think
that Latinos are all one thing, and it's like you
can have different types of Latinos in the Latino umbrella.

Speaker 1 (57:15):
But I think in creating a subset air quotes, it's like, well,
then you're making us be something that we're not. And
it's like, do you not know your history? Do you not?

Speaker 5 (57:27):
So I think it's it's the whitewashing. It's a lot
of the governments.

Speaker 4 (57:31):
You know that a lot of the governments in a
lot of our home countries had a lot of anti
black propaganda and it's to meholasa, right, like we have
to elevate our race, and it's like there's no elevating it.
You're not white, Like there's nothing you can do that's
gonna make you white. And you can't even if you
have no African in you, You're still not white. You

(57:54):
are of indigenous heritage, right, Like you're an indigenous person
from Cuba or Mexico or Panama or Paragua.

Speaker 1 (58:04):
Yeah. Like that's the thing about Latinos.

Speaker 4 (58:06):
It's like wait, what so for me, I think even
then we have an identity crisis. Why are we leaning
into our indigenous backgrounds that are beautiful, that have these
amazing stories.

Speaker 1 (58:18):
I loved when they had when they had the Latinos
in Black Panther and you got to see.

Speaker 2 (58:25):
Ah, I know, right, was really fun.

Speaker 1 (58:28):
It was amazing.

Speaker 4 (58:29):
I mean, Mexico is rich, rich with stories, and it's like,
why are we just leaning into this? But again it's
it's whitewashing and white supremacies. Feeling like the closer I
get to this, this is this is the goal. If
I get there, I'm at the epitome of life and beauty.

Speaker 1 (58:46):
Not realizing that No, that's not.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
Life and Beauty is here.

Speaker 1 (58:51):
Yeah, it's always been here.

Speaker 2 (58:53):
Yeah, it's oh, it's been here. I love that. Tell
us all the places and spaces where we can find you.

Speaker 1 (58:59):
So our website Www.

Speaker 4 (59:01):
Black In, our Movement dot com, the whole thing spelled out, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,
all black like in our Movements spelled out.

Speaker 2 (59:09):
Do you ever come to the West Coast at times?

Speaker 1 (59:13):
Yeah, like if I have we have a show, I
will come out to the West Coast.

Speaker 4 (59:16):
I'm trying to get out there more like with the shows,
Like not just from a university or a school having
us come out because that's really how we tour, but
more like on our own.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
With the shows or with with the talks and secular.

Speaker 4 (59:28):
So just don't put that out in the universe to
say that hopefully we get there.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
Let me know. Let me know when you bring a
play to the West Coast. It would be so fun.
I think it's necessary. I don't know if there's Like
you said at the beginning, New York is very unique
and I don't know if we have that on this
side of the country.

Speaker 1 (59:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (59:51):
Last two questions, do you have a remedy you want
to share with us? Share the tumorics. So that was
real good.

Speaker 1 (59:57):
Oh yeah, that was good. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (59:59):
With my my grant, with my family, everything is like
tea or ginger Real. You got a stomach ache, you
drink some ginger Real or tea.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
If you have a headache, you drink ginger Real or something.
It's just always that. It's like why that doesn't change everything?
But yeah, that's one of the view.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
It's like, yeah, every family has like their thing and
and people are like, I don't know why, but it works.

Speaker 6 (01:00:24):
Yeah, yeah they did you hear that they studied Sanasnna No,
so Sanatanna was studied, and what they realized it's it's
back to the water.

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
So it's such a we can call it ritual. It's
such a ritual of love and grace and affection and
nurturing that when kids like actually their body like they
did fall, let's say, and then the mom is like Sanas,
then the kid actually believes that and then they do

(01:01:02):
feel better.

Speaker 1 (01:01:03):
Yeah, it's all I'm telling you, it's all mental.

Speaker 4 (01:01:06):
Like I'm like into this whole neural science thing now,
and how like neural science and spirituality are so interconnected.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
I'm like I've been.

Speaker 4 (01:01:15):
Going down this rabbit hole for like two three weeks already,
So believe me, Town, I believe it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's all in you. That's why
I infuse my water and I like, yeah, my partners
like you're making your potions and I'm like, yes, sir,
yes they're all they're all potioning, okay. And do you
have a quote or mantra that you live by right now?

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
I think I have two from my grandmother.

Speaker 4 (01:01:44):
And my grandmother used to always say if somebody was
like doing something and you were trying to get them
to not do it, you know, the saying that's like
if you keep repeating the same thing, it's considered insanity,
like I would think Einstein.

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
She would say, like, they're stuck on stupid if you
can't do anything.

Speaker 4 (01:02:02):
If they're gonna be stuck on that, if they're gonna
keep saying this over and over, if they're gonna keep
behaving this way, then they're stuck on stupid. You can't
remove them from the stupid if they want to be
so she's to always say that, And then she would
always say, like, you know, if something serious was going on,
she would always say, like leave it up.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
To God.

Speaker 4 (01:02:22):
Whatever whatever is his will is his will. Like you
can't force it, you can't make it be what it
needs to be. He's gonna then come in and through
his intervention and through spirituality, it'll change and you'll see
whatever you need to see.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
Yeah, faith trends deep. Yeah in our communities. Yes, yes,
it's a big one.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
She used to just say, just let it go, leave
it up. I'm like, it's like, let it go, and
it's like letting it go is the hardest thing. But
walking on faith and saying I know he got me.
I might not see the change now, it might be
two years from now.

Speaker 4 (01:02:55):
Whatever it's like, whatever it was, whether it was a
new job, whether it was like a a heartache of
a boyfriend who cheated and she's.

Speaker 1 (01:03:02):
Like theah hah, leave it and to God, he's gonna
get hit. You know, it would be things like that. Yeah, wow,
so stuck on stupid and leave it off to God.

Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
I love that. It's very grounding, you know, because it's
it's an invitation to trust. Yeah, trust what is?

Speaker 1 (01:03:18):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:03:19):
Have fun well, Chris Soll, thank you so much for
coming to Covakambam.

Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
Thank you for having me. I'm excited. Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
Yeah, thank you for your work. We so need it.
Keep doing art.

Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
Thank you, thank you, and you keep doing this. This
is so important. This is very important. It feels so
many people's cops.

Speaker 4 (01:03:38):
These conversations are important for others to take and get
gems and feel like they're not alone. This brings more
solidarity and more community mm hmm.

Speaker 2 (01:03:47):
And like even if one person, because I do have
a lot of white people listen to me actually, and
I've received messages when they're like, oh, I didn't know
that was a thing. Oh yes, ma'am, it is things.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
Yeah, it's important for them to know totally.

Speaker 2 (01:04:04):
And going back to people wouldn't saying what you're sharing
your place, for example, It wouldn't see it unless they
saw it right. We wouldn't see things unless we saw.

Speaker 1 (01:04:12):
It right right.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
So here we are. I thank you are still so much.

Speaker 1 (01:04:17):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
Pam All right, listeners. So that was my conversation with Crystal.
I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you got some inspiration.
That's something that I've been hearing from you lately when
I receive your messages. And I love how people have recently,

(01:04:40):
I feel like people took a break from Kvakambam and
people are returning to Kava Combab, so welcome back, because
I've been getting a couple of messages and people are like,
you know what, I took a break and I went
on to read books or listen to other people. I
want to cheat on you. It's fine. I still love you.
And now I'm back and I'm hearing all these stories

(01:05:01):
and they're amazing, and thank you for being here, thank
you for returning. I welcome you back with open arms,
and I'm glad the stories are inspiring to you. And
since we are in the middle of beer uncle and
self love, I also want to know how do you

(01:05:22):
feel about those stories, but especially this one with Crystal
screenshot tag us Send me a DM, send us messages,
tell us how you feel with the episode, Tell me
what else? Who else would you like me to interview?
Because why not? Your suggestions are always great And if

(01:05:42):
you feel called to support my work and the work
of not just mine, but the team behind Gefa Gumpam,
which is small but mighty, you can also check out
leave us. Of course, the easiest thing subscribe ring the bell,
leave a comment, share with people that you love and
care about because it helps. It does help a ton

(01:06:05):
when you share the episode, when you leave ratings and
reviews in your podcast listening platforms, it does help because
everything has an algorithm, and the more you engage with it,
the more people know and learn about us. And so
I appreciate so much when you take the time to
do all of the things, and even when you take

(01:06:25):
the time out of your day to listen, it's it's
highly appreciated. I don't take you for granted for doing it.
If you feel called to support in an additional way,
then you can check out the Supporters Club, which is
a five dollars a month contribution. You buy us coffee
and you get access to Kava Bombum episodes ad free.

(01:06:49):
That's the most important thing because as a small team
without capital and with very a small amount of annual sponsors,
have to open it up for revenue for ad revenue,
and so the public facing podcast does get AD revenue.
The Supporters Club you only get the very tiny annual

(01:07:14):
ad sponsors and you also get access to additional episodes.
So people in the Supporters Club actually got the banana
concept love early, so you know, there are some benefits
to being a Supporters Club member and buying. It's five bucks, y'all.

(01:07:36):
You know, I feel like you spend five dollars just breathing.
So if you feel called, I don't, I so do
appreciate it. Also, if you want to check out my
work not only as a coach, as a speaker dot com,
there are that's where you can find all the things.
You can also go to my personal website which is

(01:07:57):
currently kind of like being Update but under kavacompum dot com.
That's where you can find us and find all the
things that we do at Kava compam podcast on all
the socials. I love to stay connected and respond to
your messages. It's one of my favorite things. If for
some reason I don't get to your message and you
sent me a DM, it's probably hidden, it's happened, but

(01:08:21):
when I find it, I'll respond to you. So thank
you again, thank you for being here. We'll see you
next week. Sa

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