I Want You To Meet Jasmin Faulk-Dickerson

My appearance on KPTZ Radio’s show Cats in Our Laps with host Phil Andrus. We discuss my memoir, The Last Sandstorm, which includes a reading and conversation.

This season's finale is a follow-up episode of season 3’s finale “Confronting the Culture of Shame”, the most listened to episode of my podcast to date. In this episode, Crystal takes us through the aftermath of that first episode, and what has happened since. We are also joined by a special guest who shares insights from a powerful perspective.
Crystal McDonald grew up in Hawthorne, CA a suburb of Los Angeles. Attending Catholic School in Elementary and Middle School, she converted to the Catholic faith practice when she was 10 years old. Crystal found the support and love in her Catholic School that she didn’t feel in her childhood home. After moving to Olympia in the Summer of 2000 she met and Married her husband and together are raising three beautiful children. The recent COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest of our nation has Crystal facing conflict between her personal faith in Jesus and the teachings of the Catholic Church. This conflict paired with old cultural beliefs, brought Crystal to a reckoning, and today she faces these traumas and dysfunctions by shedding light on a system of shame and taboo that has failed and continues to fail so many on all sides of the conversation.

Mary Boissel Corcoran is an educator and more! She grew up in Ireland in a liberal family and her college education in Dublin led to a BA in Psychology /English and a BA in French Language, completing her academic goals with a with a Masters in Pastoral Care. Throughout her educational and professional career, Mary received diplomas in Community Development, Marketing, and Setting up Businesses. Mary’s international life led her to live and work in many places, including Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, Cote D’Ivoire, Gabon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Russia and Croatia. She returned to Ireland in 1996 and worked as a French/Latin teacher for almost 20 years teaching bright 13 year old boys.

Mary has also worked as a chambermaid, bar maid, apple tree pruner, cashier, English language teacher, in Sales, marketing , as a sales manager and as head of PR for a 5 star Intercontinental hotel in Gabon. Mary’s incredible accomplishments continue with work as an Account executive for L’Union newspaper in Gabon and a volunteer at a children’s hospital in Zagreb as well as President of International Women’s Association in Zagreb. Mary has loved all of her many jobs and careers, and everywhere she worked she was an inspiration, a teacher, and a learner. Mary is a mother of 3 and in post-retirement has founded “Getting There” in 2016, an organization which assists retirees look for part time, temporary jobs., a gratifying service that she is passionate about.

Mary is a powerful character featured in “The Last Sandstorm: A Memoir” by Jasmin Faulk-Dickerson. In this podcast episode, discuss the book, the relationship between student and teacher, and the challenges of teaching and learning in the midst of cultural differences.

Website: www.gettingthere.ie

Book: The Last Sandstorm

Hailing from Norway, Kent Olaf is one of the top Michael Jackson impersonators around today. He became a fan of Michael Jackson in 1987, practicing the dance moves and mastering the art since 1994. Studying and observing the choreography of the King of Pop, Kent Olaf transformed himself into a top level dancer. In 2005 fans of Michael Jackson got a first glimpse of Kent Olaf when he performed at the 2005 European Jackson Event. Soon after, he became known in the fan community for his perfected dancing skills.

Kent Olaf has performed on national TV, toured Norway with big production tribute shows, and thrilled thousands of people with his MJ tribute show.
Kent Olaf continues to perform as MJ and teaches children the art and magic of the legendary Michael Jackson dances.

Follow Kent Olaf on:
Instagram
YouTube

Cade Russo-Young is a second generation dyke and native New Yorker. She was born in 1980 to lesbian moms and has a sister born in 1981. Her moms used known donors to conceive. In 1991 her sister’s donor sued her family for paternity and visitation and in 1993 her family became the first lesbians in history to win a court case against a donor. Their family’s story is now the subject of the mini-series documentary “Nuclear Family” by Cade’s sister, filmmaker and producer Ry Russo-Young.
Cade is a graduate of Smith College where she studied Women’s Studies and designed her owned concentration in women’s health. For years she worked in the HIV prevention and education field before transitioning into real estate, which she has been working in for the past 13 years. She met her now husband in 2015 when he still identified as female. He transitioned late in the summer of 2015 and they were married at the LGBTQ center in 2016. They live in Greenwich Village with their incredible daughter who just turned 2. She is looking forward to the holidays and to hopefully getting surprised with a dog for Christmas.
Instagram: @Cadelade

Chenoa Murphy was born and raised in Memphis, TN. At the age of two, Chenoa attended her first classical music concert given by the Japanese violin students of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. This sparked her interest in music and she was enrolled in the Suzuki Violin Method a year later.

Demonstrating her love and enthusiasm for music, Chenoa continued to develop her natural ability and trained gift in violin and vocal studies throughout her childhood and teenage years. She attended the Overton High School of Performing Arts, summer music camps such as Aspen Music Festival, Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, Sewanee Music Center, and the Governor’s School of Performing Arts and the Colour of Music Festival. She has achieved both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as well as 4 years of Doctoral studies at the University of Iowa. Her principal teachers during these earlier and formal years of study were Yuko Honda, Pak-Chung Cheng, Katherine Wolfe, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Dorothy Delay, and Dr. Won-Bin Yim.

Besides being a former violin and viola private teacher, Chenoa is also a highly sought-after educator, guest lecturer and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion facilitator for various music organizations and college campuses. Her online courses: Introduction to Black Classical Composers and Musicians and Black Classical Musicians: The Journey Onward highlight the contributions and achievements of classical music composers of African descent. Her article “Black Representation in Classical Music Matters” was featured in the Summer 2020 edition of the American Suzuki Journal.

Currently, Chenoa Murphy resides in Springfield, IL where she is a member of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and is a mother of two beautiful children, Victoria, and Jonathan. Chenoa is married to the love of her life, Victor who resides in Glasgow, Scotland. Chenoa has been interviewed by CNN, NPR Illinois, and Huffington Post. Her podcast, “Black, White & In Color,” can be heard on all platforms.

Website: www.blackclassicalmusicians.com
Instagram: @blackclassicalmusicians2