Unbossed, Unbothered, and Unfiltered Lauren Zehyoue

After this most recent Supreme Court session, there were two buzz words that seemed to be on the lips of everyone: Christian theocracy. If you have been listening to my show for a while, then you know that issues of faith are often something we discuss and I wanted to bring in someone who has experienced this personally and professionally. 

Fresh from Denver, raised in Oklahoma, Ben Mann (they/them) "Pastor Ben" has spent a career-long obsession with growing dynamic campaigns and ministries. From a humble beginning of raising funds for a small adoption agency to recently filming the international smash Coming Out Colton (available on Netflix), Pastor Ben considers their top value a commitment to excellence.

Presently, they serve as Senior Pastor at the Metropolitan Community Church of the Rockies, part of the MCC network, an international gathering of churches founded within the LGBTQ+ community. Here, they share the joy of Christ's vision with an intergenerational, diverse congregation that seeks to serve the marginalized. In addition to this work, they serve as a Chaplain at the University of Colorado Hospital, where they counsel and support families in the Transgender Clinic and beyond.

Beyond the persistent pursuit of learning and justice, Pastor Ben is a pet parent to Aster (their rescue dog) and an avid fan of karaoke. When not working they enjoy spending time with friends and family, as well as cooking and hosting dinner parties.

If they could share one mantra, they would reiterate something that a former boss used to emphasize, "Bloom where you're planted."



IG: https://www.instagram.com/queerpastorben

Twitter: https://twitter.com/queerpastorben 

Church Website: https://www.mccrockies.org/

This summer the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival held the largest gathering of poor and low wealth people in the nation’s history at the Mass Poor People and Low Wage Worker’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls. While gearing up for this major event we got a chance to talk to Zillah Wesley about organizing in DC.

Zillah F. Wesley, II is a native Washingtonian. She loves working in the DC community and working towards the beloved community. Zillah had earned her bachelor’s in political science from the University of the District of Columbia. At the time of this interview she was working Kairos Center as a policy organizer. She’s worked with the DC Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and other collectives in the DC Community.  She was raised in Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, DC. Growing up in the UCC helped her become the person she is today and gave her the fire for social justice.  She loves DC and would like to see all people enjoy it. Zillah is about the liberation of people by transformative and healing organizing.

During the summer of 2020, people across the country and world were captured by footage of George Floyd pleading for his life at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, MN. Here we sit in the aftermath of countless rallies, protests, and even attempts at legislation asking what is next. For so many, George Floyd is a symbol about much needed change in this country, but he is also a man who left behind a family picking up the pieces and trying to move forward.

The George Floyd foundation put together the Gentle Giant, a short film about George Floyd the man and it is available now on Hulu. I got a chance to sit down with one of the actors from the movie, Tsalta Baptiste to talk about what it means to be Black in Hollywood in the time since and how it feels to tell a story this important. Tsalta Baptiste (pronounced 'tuh-salt-tuh') was born in Berkeley, CA . Growing up, Tsalta's neighbors often referred to his home as 'The Movie House' for being the place to find VHS tapes of popular movies if Blockbuster were ever out of stock. He began his career in acting on the Texas Southern University Speech and Debate Team.

He later ventured overseas and became recognized by international audiences due to his portrayal of Tupac Shakur in 'Until the End of Time.' 

Since the 2016 presidential election revealed some stark differences along racial lines in voting, the rallying cry of listening to Black women has become prevalent in many different areas of work. Today we are in conversation with Gabrielle Wyatt founder of The Highland Project, an organization focused on building and sustaining a pipeline of Black women leading communities, institutions, and systems, resulting in the creation of multi-generational wealth and change in their communities.

Prior to founding The Highland Project, Gabrielle led major change initiatives in our nation’s largest and most complex school systems and shaped the investment strategy of leading national philanthropic initiatives. Most recently, she was a Partner at The City Fund, founded by leading national philanthropists to support local education leaders to build local movements for systemic change in education. Gabrielle supported local education leaders across the nation to expand opportunities for students in public schools through strategic advising, board service, and philanthropic investments. During her tenure, Wyatt launched the City Leadership Fellowship, an executive leadership development program focused on empowering Black and Latinx leaders pursuing bold education visions. Before joining The City Fund, Gabrielle was the Chief Strategy Officer at Civic Builders. A non-profit focused on solving the facilities challenge for high quality charter schools. Gabrielle led partnerships with the Walton Family Foundation and Laura and John Arnold Foundation to launch three national facilities funds to support growing high performing public schools.

As a Baltimore native, Gabrielle began her career as a Baltimore County Public Schools Board of Education member. Gabrielle is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the Harvard Kennedy School. Gabrielle Wyatt is the proud daughter of two Baltimore educators, Mary Alice Thomas and Quentin Wyatt.



Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LeadHighland/

Website: https://www.thehighlandproject.org/index.html

Last month, the Commonwealth of Virginia held its first statewide election under the Biden administration. The night did not go well for the Virginia Democratic Party as they lost the seats for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general along with some prominent delegates. I worked for 3 years in Virginia politics and brought in former colleague of mine Matt Rogers to discuss what happened in Virginia on election night. 
This conversation also happened on the day of the Rittenhouse verdict so we talk about that some as well. 
In addition to being a new dad and Chief Strategist of Politidope, Inc. Matt is a passionate professional with close to a decade of experience working with local, state, and federal elected officials, as well as, caucuses, campaigns, and nonprofit organizations.

Dr. King said that the core triple evils of America are racism, capitalism and militarism. While we have discussed racism and capitalism some, we have not discussed militarism and I am excited to be having that conversation today with Khury Petersen Smith. 
Khury Petersen-Smith is the Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow at IPS. He researches U.S. empire, borders, and migration. Khury graduated from the Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Massachusetts, after completing a dissertation that focused on militarization and sovereignty. He is one of the co-authors and organizers of the 2015 Black Solidarity with Palestine statement, which was signed by over 1,100 Black activists, artists, and scholars. I’m excited to welcome to Unbossed, Unbothered and Unfiltered Khury Petersen Smith.