Strange Fruit Louisville Public Media

Educator and writer Rodney Fierce thought that performing a type of muted Blackness would shield him from the usual pitfall and roadblocks of discrimination, microaggressions and racism.
He was wrong.
Fierce joins us this week to discuss his essay "The Price of Being Pleasing," and explains why performing Black harmlessness isn't worth the cost.

This week we're joined by Chad Anderson, co-director of the new documentary “Dog Valley,” which details the largely unknown story of the brutal kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of gay college student Gordon Church in Utah in 1988.

Later, we're joined by Michelle Silverton, author of ”Mom, Why Don’t You Have Any Black Friends,” and TEDx Talk, “We Are Not A Melting Pot: How to Stop Talking About Implicit Bias and Start Talking About Race." She discusses her work as a diversity educator and trainer and why she tells her white clients that in order to constructively talk about race in America, they must start by discussing and examining their own whiteness.

This week Jarvis Houston, the US spokesperson of tech startup I Love Black People joins us to discuss how the app helps Black people find businesses, accommodations and other services that are Black owned and the safest and most welcoming of Black people throughout the world.

And in this week’s feature interview, Jermaine Fowler, creator, producer and host of "The Humanity Archive" podcast joins us to discuss his mission to expose listeners to history's unsung heroes and hidden figures, while emphasizing that Black people have been an integral part of world history.

This week we return to coverage of the protests and uprisings that are still happening in Louisville in response to the police killings of Breonna Taylor, David McAtee and others.

We're joined by independent journalist Chea K. Woolfolk, who tells us about the recent arrests of live streamers covering the protests. We question why her charges varied so severely from a white live streamer who was arrested alongside her, and she talks about how she doesn’t plan on letting her upcoming court case stop her from bringing truth to the people of Louisville.

Recent uprisings around the country have made it clear to many citizens the importance of new media and amateur journalists in ensuring that folks to know what is happening on the ground, and keeping people updated in real time, without a corporate bias.

This week former meteorologist and independent journalist Tara Bassett joins us to discuss her legendary career in journalism, how animal rights activists can better engage with intersectional movements, and how it’s never to late to come out and live your truth in the world.

With Pride festivals across the country being rescheduled or cancelled because of the Coronavirus outbreak, LGBTQ folks are finding inventive ways to celebrate Pride Month virtually.

This week we speak with model, social media influencer, and Pop/R&B singer Teraj about his career, how he celebrated Pride virtually this year with the South Florida Pride Collective, and how queer and trans folks can celebrate Pride while amplifying the freedom calls of #BLM.