Truth Be Told Presents: She Has A Name

Do you have “a type?” What if you’re a person of color, and you only have crushes on white folks? There’s a lot of mystery about what gets our hearts pumping, but one thing is for sure, our attractions aren’t simply just our own.From romantic movies to commercials, we are inundated with messages about what sex and love should look like. As people of color, we rarely get to see ourselves in those narratives and this can have some real consequences.In this episode of Truth Be Told, we talk with Dr. Amy Sueyoshi about love, interracial dating, and how an interrogation of our desires can lead to healthier relationships with ourselves and each other.Why The Lovers Tarot Card?The Lovers card in tarot signifies the possibilities of soul-connecting love. It can also suggest our attempts to figure out personal values, beliefs and attractions. For this episode all about colonized desire and how we can all interrogate the complexities of who we love and desire – The Lovers card just makes sense.

Have you ever been made to feel like you aren’t enough? Not black enough, not queer enough, not Asian enough, not enough? In this episode of Truth Be Told, we explore how we can move beyond the question of “enough” and ask ourselves if we are doing enough, for our communities with Locatora Radio hosts Mala Muñoz and Diosa Femme.Tonya also talks with author Jeff Chang, co-founder of CultureStr/ke and ColorLines,  about the complicated history behind the term “people of color” and how we need to reclaim intersectionality to strengthen our solidarities.Why the Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card?When you pull the Wheel of Fortune card, it’s the universe telling you to get ready because big changes are coming. Just like life, our identities and how we identify are very much in flux, more of a journey than a destination. For this episode about what it means to be Latina, or a person of color, there’s no tarot card more apt than the Wheel of Fortune.

Allies are necessary to our collective pursuit of racial equity and antiracism, but sometimes talking across and through differences can be messy, hurtful, and downright exhausting. As people of color we ALL have had our fair share of those “unintentionally” painful encounters.In this episode of Truth be Told, Tonya and Code Switch host Gene Demby tackle two questions from people struggling with how to deal with well-meaning white folks, at home and at work.Why the The Tower Tarot Card? The Tower card is rarely a welcome sight because it signifies chaos, destruction and turmoil. However, the Tower can also signify transformation and the building of new systems and modes of being. The Tower card represents this episode of Truth Be Told because it speaks to both the systemic pain “well-meaning” white folks can inflict on people of color as well as our power to overcome the limiting structures that make that possible.

Before we even know who we are and what we want out of life, women are expected to mother, to ultimately be mothers. And for women of color? There are added financial and cultural pressures as well as legacies of historical trauma and present-day racism that we are often up against.How do all these forces impact the choice to be a mother? And how might we reimagine what it even means to be a mother? In this episode of Truth Be Told, we talk with Audrey Galo, founder of AG Voiced, Tanya Menendez, entrepreneur, and Jennifer Devere Brody, scholar– all women at various stages of life– about the choice to have children.Why The World tarot card?The World card signifies the feeling of success and achievement after working hard to create something. This sense of celebratory completion can manifest in the birth of a child, a major career achievement or creative project– it isn’t prescriptive, it’s just joyous. Since this episode on motherhood explores the different ways we can choose to nurture and create, we couldn’t think of a more fitting card to represent “Motherhood” than The World.

We’ve all had that one big question in our lives that looms over us and keeps us up at night.Maybe you are making a life altering decision about a relationship; whether to get into one, get out of one — or stay in one. Maybe you’re one step away from leaving a job, or taking a new one. Or maybe, like our host Tonya Mosley, you are trying to figure out if you should start a relationship with your estranged father’s family.What should you do when faced with a big “what do I do” moment?In this final episode of Truth Be Told, we get personal with author Casey Gerald who teaches us that no matter the question, the answer can be found by asking yourself: “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?”Why the Death tarot Card?If you are new to tarot the Death card can seem really scary, but fear not – it’s actually not a bad omen. The Death card signifies rebirth, transformation, and the ability to leave behind that which is not serving you. These changes won’t be easy or painless, but as we learn in the final episode of Truth Be Told, the decisions we make and the dreams we chose to follow have a cost, but if we forge on, that costs are worth it. 

Truth be Told is all about building community and connecting people of color to find collective wisdom and joy in these dangerous and difficult times. We are also a podcast proudly made in the Bay Area, so we knew from the start that we HAD to do a live show and get our people together. On June 13th in downtown Oakland, over a hundred people gathered to share the love and seek advice from wise ones Ashara Ekundayo and Bari Williams, in conversation with TBT’s Tonya Mosley. (Slight problem? It was the same night as the Warriors final game. But people still came out y’all — to laugh, cry, and listen). Take a listen to our live, bonus episode. It’s what community sounds like! Why the Three of Cups tarot Card? The Three of Cups tarot card signifies the joy of community, sisterhood, and collaboration. We couldn’t think of a better card to represent our live show, which brought so many people from all over the Bay Area to heal, talk, and connect with one another.

We all experience life in our unique bodies and skin. And yet, we’re alone in surviving, growing, and thriving. The world we live in gaslights us into thinking anything to do with identity is in our imagination. Well, Truth Be Told is here to tell you it’s not. You are not the only one, you are not alone, and guess what? There’s a podcast for that. Us. We're that podcast.

"How are Black Americans expected to overcome and thrive in this country without the necessary mechanisms of healing?" Tonya called on the help of two Wise Ones for this question. Ibram X. Kendi gives helpful framing on how to even start thinking about this and Kiese Laymon offers a dive deep into Black healing in America.Episode transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zf9nr4xXdA1BpIVXY7ZaK7Wh13Qlx309/view

Public health emergencies hit differently for people of color. Historical trauma and lack of systemic trust all contribute to deep angst. As both a medical doctor and journalist, Dr. Seema Yasmin answers your questions about living in the time of COVID-19 as a person of color, and offers some validation - “We have the right to feel whatever we feel.”Episode transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ustlU9tFXWl2bzoItEJoYhbb8kkM4mud/view

Wise Ones Virgie Tovar and Chloe Hilliard move in this world as big women. They’ve faced covert fatphobia from doctors and co-workers and even experienced it on dates. Being a fat person of color means confronting the intersection of being unseen and taking up too much space. You don’t have to stand there.Episode transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/114T70aCd17yvEMxL8mMSABwWcrb6uIV7/view

Before physical distancing, seeing loved ones through a screen was already “normal” for our producer Isabeth Mendoza. Her dad was deported 11 years ago. Since then, her family was doing their best to cope , but they have not healed. Now, Isabeth wants to work towards a future that she’s always imagined — one where her family is thriving regardless of borders. Wise One and Latinx Therapy founder Adriana Alejandre, LMFT offers some advice.Episode Transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F8Y99rx0vbRap7CrZom_SZyv7Tk13lBM/view

This Mother’s Day we tackle the complicated relationship some women of color have with their mothers. This episode’s Wise One is Kulap Vilaysack who shares lessons from her experience in mending her relationship with her Lao refugee mother. Episode transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ub7UippPt6uu1BMTKZGu1Y6hdesnjrDR/view

We’re making space for something we don’t talk a lot about - the mental health burdens of black men. In this week’s episode, we have three Wise Ones - Bakari Sellers, author and CNN commentator, Karamo Brown from “Queer Eye” and Ron Finley, the Gangsta Gardener. They offer wisdom on meeting the needs of their heart and minds as black men in white America.Episode Transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qlnHaSaoseLFFtcn2Afxkv-fuzxnVmd0/view

Millions have taken to the streets to protest the police killing of George Floyd and systemic racism that black people are subjected to everyday. Wise One Dr. Eddie Glaude says we are seeing the accumulation of grief, disregard and contempt for black lives. He is the chair of Princeton's African American Studies Department and joins Tonya this week to parse out nationwide actions and to recenter black joy and resilience.Episode transcript here: shorturl.at/lpEF6

How do you maintain a relationship with your homophobic family when you're financially dependent on them? How do you manage these relationships while sheltering-in-place? We talk to a queer college student who's out at school but feels unaccepted at home. Wise One Steven Canals, co-creator of FX's Pose joins us to discuss growing up gay in the Bronx, what character in the show is most like his mother and ways to find community apart from your family.Episode transcript here: https://rb.gy/lmtyrg