Episode 2 | Queer, Gifted & Black
“This spit gon pull the trigger
body politic thick-thicker than a snicker
where you goin’
where you been at
what’s his name?
first of all
I’m gay as fuck
her name’s
the Game.”
This episode follows the dark, beautiful, incomprehensible spectrum of queerness among Black sound makers. Celebrating Black, queer femmes in particular—our sound, adornment, celebration, and resistance. By unpacking how Black femininity, in particular, has been demonized historically, particularly at the intersection of queerness and spirituality—prayers and meditations will elevate the legacy of the Black queer cosmology. We explore the spectrum of bad bitchery and shy/awkwardness all while celebrating our expansive gifts, talents, and how we use them to celebrate and adorn each other.
Featuring NASRA, Nicole Shawan Junior, with special appearances by Yvvana Yeboah Duku, Onyka Gairey, and Dianah Smith
About NASRA:
NASRA is a queer Oromo/Somali multidisciplinary artist based in Amiskwaciywaskahikan (Edmonton). Everything NASRA creates stems from the Black Indigenous belief that art is nature expressing itself; a language of languages that has and will continue to sustain (Black) life.
The embodiment of this belief named them Youth Poet Laureate of Edmonton in 2016 and birthed their festival turned platform Black Arts Matter. BAM celebrates the inherent worth of Black creatives in Alberta through performance, education and paaaaaarties.
NASRA’s currently exploring their creative languages through DNAPLAY; a veneration of Black queer routine as ritual. Channeled through poetry, film, dance, and the genre-bending, bass-driven sounds of their ep “Salve”. No matter the form it takes NASRA’s heartwork honours the spectrum of freedom for Black/Indigenous Peoples everywhere.
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Unconditional Love Myselves Ancestors/The Quran/The Bible
Dreams/Poets&Poetry/Romance Water/Blood/Memory Fire/Sun/Stars
Wind/Breath/Smoke Earth/Body/Home Birds/Messengers/Prophets
Friendship Missy Elliot Janelle Monáe
Anderson Paak Noname Kendrick Lamar
Mumu fresh Tank and the bangaz Carvens Lissain
Lin Manuel Miranda Beyoncé Octavia Butler
Bell hooks Koffee Bob Marley & the Wailers
Ari Lennox Joshua Bennett Camoghne Felix
Mahogany L. Browne Summer Walker Ella's Fitzgerald
Etta James Sammy Davis Jr. Erykah Badu
Jill Scott Aminé Solange
Jillian Christmas d'bi young anitafrika Kaz Mega
Afaq Mahmoud Kai Davis Lupe fiasco
Kimmortal Tribe Called Quest Carvens Lissaint
Angel Edwards Imani Khalifa
About Nicole Shawan Junior
Nicole Shawan Junior is a counter-storyteller who was bred in the bass-heavy beat and scratch of Brooklyn, where the cool of inner-city life barely survived crack cocaine’s burn. Their work appears in The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison (Haymarket 2022), Guernica, The Rumpus, Gay Mag, and elsewhere. Nicole has received residencies and fellowships from Hedgebrook, Tin House, PERIPLUS, NYFA, and more. Nicole is the founder of Roots. Wounds. Words., a literary arts revolution that serves BIPOC storytellers, and deputy director of Prison and Justice Writing at PEN America.
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"Remix The Plan, Return To Purpose: How To Center Participant Storytelling In Writing Workshops," Teachers & Writers Magazine
"How to Apply Makeup," Guernica
"Exorcising Whiteness: Khalisa Rae's Ghost In A Black Girl's Throat," The Rumpus
"Granada," Kweli Journal
"A List of Violations," CURA Magazine
"How Queen Latifah's Debut Album Sparked Joy At A Time When Everything Burned," ZORA
"The Buttah-Fly Effect: How Sex Work Taught Me Swag," Color Bloq
"No One Survives The Smoke," Gay Mag
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The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Beloved, Toni Morison
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler
The Vampire Huntress Legend Series, LA Banks
Jay-Z's entire discography
Notorious BIG's entire discography
Nas, Illmatic
Art that Influenced this Episode:
“on the ill na na tattoo on my thigh”
Poem by Shaina Phenix
“STONEWALL”
Song by BackxWash
“BLU in You”
Film by Michelle Mohabeer (2008)
“Paula’s House”
Episode by AfroQueer Podcast
“Succulent”
Song by Be Steadwell
About the Writers
Episode 2 Queer Gifted and Black was collaboratively written by Whitney French and Lue Palmer with research support from Jedidiah Mugarura and Kianna Mkhonza.
About the Audio Series:
Speech Sounds is a 5-part audio-series showcasing sound artists, griots, and poets working while engaging in a conversation around memory and culture for those within the African diaspora.
Speech Sounds is funded by the Canada Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council. Speech Sound has received financial and in-kind support from OCAD University, Writing While Black collective, ROOM Magazine as well as our donors. Thank you to everyone who believes in our project.
Bonus Material:
Special thanks to ArQuives for granting us access to their library and database to help shape this episode.