Us with Dr. Crystallee Crain - Critical Conversations On The Challenges & Opportunities Of Our Time

Sign his petition linked here.

Episode was co-produced by 448 Productions.

Dr. Liza J. Rankow is an interfaith minister, educator, activist, and writer. Her lifework centers the deep healing that is essential to personal and social transformation. Liza is the founder and former executive director of OneLife Institute, a pioneering organization that served for 17 years to support the well-being of frontline activists, caregivers, and others working to lift up the community.

Liza has been a spiritual counselor and teacher for more than three decades. She works with individual clients, facilitates healing retreats, and offers classes and workshops in a variety of community and academic settings. Her topics include: Mysticism & Social Change, Sustaining the Soul of Activism, Deepening the Well (multifaith spiritual formation), and several courses on the life and work of Dr. Howard Thurman. She is the producer and co-editor of the six-CD audio collection, The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman (Sounds True, 2010), and created Inner Oasis, a CD of her original guided meditations, in 2011.

Previously, Liza practiced as a clinical PA in pediatric hematology-oncology at Duke Hospital. From there she moved into public health research and education, particularly related to LGBTQ+ issues. Liza was the project director on one of the first three federal pilot grants awarded under the Women’s Health Initiative to study the health of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women. Her professional publications and resource materials contributed to defining this then-emerging field.

One of Liza’s most profound influences has been her decades-long journey with chronic life-threatening illness. It cultivated a spiritual wisdom within her that informs her work with others, and gave her life a deeper sense of meaning and purpose. Her intimacy with suffering allows her to engage the suffering of the world with a sacred tenderness.

Her publications include anthologized essays, creative nonfiction, and poetry, and academic articles in both theological and medical journals. She is currently completing her first full-length book.

Liza holds a B.A. in Human Development from Hampshire College, Bachelors and Masters degrees in Health Sciences from Duke University School of Medicine, and a Ph.D. in Religion and Social Transformation from Union Institute & University.

She lives in Oakland, CA, where she enjoys deep and wide community relationships, and spends as much time as possible in her wildly magical garden.

Website - www.lizarankow.org     

Blog: Healing Conversations from the Front Lines of Activism - https://lizarankow.substack.com/

Guided Meditations on InsightTimer -  https://insighttimer.com/lizarankow

LinkTree - https://linktr.ee/lizarankow

COLAGE on US with Dr Crystallee Crain

Founded in 1990 under the name “Just For Us,” COLAGE (originally Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) began with a group of six young people with lesbian and gay parents. The experience at their first meeting was revolutionary, and they wanted to share similar experiences with other COLAGErs. In 1996, the organization explicitly added work with children of bisexual and transgender parents to its mission, and queerspawn, a term of self-identification lovingly adopted by some members of our community, became widely used.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, COLAGE leadership became increasingly aware of the needs of a new generation of COLAGErs. These were children of the “gayby boom,” whose parents had chosen to form families after coming out – often through adoption or reproductive technology – creating new forms of families with intention. As so many of these youth were people of color, COLAGE adopted a new strategic plan that specifically included an anti-racist, social justice platform.

Amidst intensifying debates on marriage equality, LGBTQ+ parents – and their children – were increasingly thrust into the public eye, dramatically increasing awareness of LGBTQ+ families. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, COLAGE expanded programming to meet the needs of these increasingly visible families as COLAGErs supported marriage equality fights state-by-state and in the Supreme Court.

Today, COLAGE stands as the only national organization dedicated to the empowerment of youth in LGBTQ+ families, and celebrates thirty years of this work. 

Today's Guest

Angel Martin (they/them) is the National Program Director at COLAGE. They are a second generation queerspawn with a lesbian mom. Angel started COLAGE programming at the age of 7 and has been an active member of the COLAGE community ever since. When they were in high school, they participated in the Youth Leadership Track as a Facilitator in Training during Family Week. They became a facilitator and, eventually, a coordinator for the Waffles age group. 

In 2019, Angel was a Program Intern for Family Week. Angel played an instrumental role in establishing COLAGE’s Transformative Justice Committee in 2020. Angel is excited to work towards a world where all queerspawn have community. Previously, Angel lived in Los Angeles where they did social work at a homeless services agency. They now live in Manhattan with their partner and is a singer-songwriter in their free time.

Click here to learn how to Join COLAGE: https://colage.org/join-us/

COLAGE Upcoming Events: https://colage.org/?post_type=tribe_events

Sound:

ES Do You Believe - Rambutan

ES Life's Good - Hank Lotion

ES Koffee in the Forest - HATAMITSUNAMI

Today we have a very special guest a fellow Flint native Leon Benson who has been recently exonerated for a crime he didn’t commit. 

Benson was convicted for the murder of Kasey Schoen, who was shot five times while sitting in his truck near downtown Indianapolis in the early morning hours of Aug. 8, 1998. He was tried twice. The first ended in a mistrial after six of 12 jurors voted not guilty. Benson was convicted after he was retried in July 1999 and was sentenced to 61 years in prison. After 25 years of his life was taken for a wrongful conviction Leon is out as a free man, putting the pieces of his life and leadership together. 

Cornel west writes, that “Empathy is not simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through, but having the will to muster enough courage to do something about it. In a way, empathy is predicated upon hope.”

I encourage our listeners to consider this idea, not just for the story you will hear from Leon Benson but for yourself and others you encounter in your life.

Through a mutual connection, I was lucky enough to meet Leon on day 9 after being released. We were able to welcome Leon home to Flint, in our home town at the headquarters of The Everly Collective. 

To complete the welcome, we’re bringing Leon on the show today to share with us his wisdom and vision for a better world.

Die Jim Crow Records: https://www.diejimcrow.com/el-bently-448

CashApp: $InnocentBornGuilty23

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-leon-reenter-the-world-with-necessities 

Facebook: Freeleonbenson

IG: elbently448 

Learn more at www.jonathonmelrod.com.

What others are saying about Fighting Times?

“Indeed, if one were to explain to a working person interested in organizing a union why they should read this book, the key word would be instructive. The tactics so vividly written down in this text remain useful and appropriate.”

Counterpunch | Ron Jacobs

“…Melrod is not a theoretician. But his book is now an indispensable chapter in the literature on the history of the American working class movement.”

Bulatlat  |  Prof. Roland Simbulan

“Under the capitalist system, we’re always at the disadvantage because we don’t control the means of production and we don’t control the market. That’s the ultimate contradiction of capitalism. It’s not in business to guarantee employment.”

Against The Current | Dianne Feeley

Chant read from the book

“When the unions inspiration through the workers blood shall run

There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun

Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one

For the Union makes us strong

In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold

Greater than the might of armies magnified a thousandfold

We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old

For the Union makes us strong”

According to the Office on Women's Health - Endometriosis, often referred to as “endo,” is a condition that happens when tissue similar to the lining of a woman’s uterus (womb) grows outside of the uterus.

The Endometriosis Association began Endo Awareness Month in 1993. ENDO is common. Nearly 15% of American women are impacted, with over 200 million worldwide. In the U.S., research suggests that race plays a significant role in misdiagnosis. Historically, many doctors once believed that White and Asian women got endometriosis and Black women did not. For decades, endometriosis has been thought of as "a White woman’s disease". However, doctors now know that race and ethnicity play a large role in whether a woman develops endometriosis, and how long it takes to get a correct diagnosis, and treatment. For example:

• Black women are less likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis than White women
• Asian women are most likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis than any other racial group
• Hispanic women were less likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis than White women

Many healthcare providers were educated based on the idea that an endometriosis diagnosis is less likely in Black women. For example, a 1951 study suggested that Black women rarely got endometriosis due to genetic factors. As a result, racial bias has influenced both diagnosis and endometriosis care in the African American community.

Endometriosis uniquely affects African-American women. Traditional thinking was that endometriosis was a condition of white women but that conventional thinking is rapidly changing. Unfortunately, when Black women have chronic pelvic pain it is presumed to be due to other conditions like PID (pelvic inflammatory disease, a pelvic infection) or uterine fibroid tumors (very common in Black women). However, endometriosis is real and common in many African-American women.

Sandhya Jha (they/them) is an anti-oppression consultant who particularly loves helping organizations get Diversity/Equity/Inclusion teams off the ground. Sandhya is the founder and former executive director of the Oakland Peace Center, a collective of 40 organizations working to create equity, access, and dignity as the means of creating peace in Oakland and the Bay Area. An ordained pastor with a master’s in public policy, Sandhya is comfortable in the pulpit, on the picket line, or hanging out with friends and friends-to-be over a good cup of tea and a good story. Sandhya’s fifth book with Chalice Press, Rebels, Despots, and Saints, will release on MLK Day 2023.

What others have said about them?

“They dealt with issues of differences, tolerance, and respect in a gentle and inspiring way. She helped us to tell our stories and listen to the stories of our sisters.”

“I greatly value her contributions and activism among the South Asian diaspora communities on social justice issues, particularly as it relates to cross-cultural communication, racial, gender, and sexual rights.”

https://sandhyajha.com/

Kim is the Creative Director and Stylist for Elizabeth in Pearls, which is named after her grandmothers Elizabeth - also known as grandmommy - and Pearl - also known as Ma Pearl. 

As the Founder of Elizabeth In Pearls, she creates uncommon jewelry and art that speak uplifting stories and messages.  I’m hoping today we can talk about some of those uplifting messages and the roots of her creative process. I brought Kim on the show to talk about her creative process, and interest in helping people find their own style throughout their journey and how they reflect themselves back to the world.

Learn more at www.elizabethinpearls.com.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Elisha Hall, the African American Engagement Director with Compassion and Choices, and Joel Simone Maldanado, who is a recent addition to the Board of Directors and a licensed funeral director, insurance agent, and sacred grief practitioner.

Compassion and Choices is an organization dedicated to improving care, expanding options, and empowering everyone to chart their end-of-life journey. The tricky part for people is that we can’t predict or know when our journey and our life will end. I’ve always felt that we should not only have full autonomy over our lives but also the final chapters of our journeys. To me, it's an issue of importance for people of any age and background. We will all face these concerns in our lifetime, more than once, for others and eventually for ourselves.

Learn more about Compassion & Choices at www.compassionandchoices.org. Learn more about Joel's works at www.thegravewoman.com. 

What does Compassion & Choices do?

Dementia End-of-Life Care
We're working to transform how people die with dementia to ensure people are aware, empowered and supported in getting the care they want – or do not want – should dementia take hold.

Healthcare Equity at the End of Life
Compassion & Choices is working in partnership with 
our Leadership Councils and partner organizations to address inequities in end-of-life care and planning.

Medical Aid in Dying
Compassion & Choices is leading efforts to authorize, implement and defend medical aid in dying so all terminally ill people who are eligible will have access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Voluntarily Stop Eating and Drinking
Compassion & Choices is working to raise awareness about the option of voluntarily stopping eating and drinking.