Hello Podfriend!

Happy new month! January is over. Hallelujah! Hopefully the kids have settled back into their school routines. Now let’s get to work.

My hope is that you are still on track with your goals for the New Year and that you’ve maintained the big energy that comes with the start of a new year. It’s easy to get distracted and lose hope. So, HIGH FIVE!

Up here in the Northeast of the USA, there’s a big freeze sweeping through in many ways. Temperatures have been below 0*C for what feels like an eternity. Downtown Boston recently got a taste of the White House mandated ICE with the immigration raids, as well as echoes of fear and chaos they have left leave behind. Student protests against the genocide in Gaza have died down. There’s promise of immigration raids extending to schools, churches and hospitals. Things are turning very dark, very quickly.

That brings me to this month’s lead picture which not only serves as a nostalgic throwback to my trip to the Big Apple last January, but also a reminder on the (partial) story of how immigration is central to the foundation of the USA, and the importance of the role of the arts in talking truth to power, so to speak. See more in the ‘On My Mind This Month’ section of the newsletter.

If you’re reading this on the web, the cover pic of Broadway is provided by Sudan Ouyang via Unsplash.

Here’s what else we have in this edition:

-Studio Update – A focus on “Dignify Afro Beauty” in our latest episode

-Companion Listening – “Isangs Hair and Body” is small by design

-On My Mind This Month, and

-Giving me Joy and Pause

Psstt, before we get into it, remember that sharing is caring, so ask your friends to join our squad. If this edition was shared with you, please subscribe.

LET’S GO!

STUDIO UPDATE

DIGNIFY AFRO BEAUTY

Look. At. Those. Curls! They are definitely testimony to the quality of Dignify Afro Beauty Founder Amanda Sebolai’s Johannesburg-born haircare brand, as well as her seriousness as an entrepreneur. Before I sing more of her praises, here’s a quick disclaimer: I went to high school with Amanda and we have very similar experiences when it comes to hair and identity.

Amanda’s journey to founding her brand, is rooted in motherhood. She realized that her growing daughters had never seen her with natural hair, and she wanted to embody the ‘lead by example’ maxim of parenting. In our conversation, find out how her hair journey moved from kitchen recipes to lab manufactured products for sale. And how her brand has a mission that speaks to its customers beyond haircare products and tips.

COMPANION LISTENING

Isangs Hair and Body is a Copenhagen-born and based brand co-founded by Sundra Essien. The shop is definitely worth a visit if you ever find yourself there. It has been an absolute pleasure to watch the brand’s evolution since it was first featured on SAL in the first season of the podcast back in 2020. The brand has stayed true to its ‘small by design’ founding principle and proudly serves a local market of loyal customers with products made by hand on site, and a series of hands-on educational workshops. They remain true to their principles of ‘fair trade’, social justice and sustainability. Do visit their Insta page to see how they walk the talk, to learn a few things about ‘natural’ products and cut through buzzwords like ‘chemical free’. Click below to find out more about the brand and its American-born co-founder, Sundra Essien.

ON MY MIND THIS MONTH

DEI

So …. Trump 2.0 came in like a wrecking ball with its 100 Executive Orders that crashed through every humane policy or law orienting the USA towards a morally just path. As a platform aimed at celebrating Black and other WOC entrepreneurs, we are concerned with the rolling back of DEI programs that have already been swiftly implemented at government agencies, and the resulting echoes that can be felt in large corporates and small businesses. There is no law – yet- saying that it is illegal for companies to have DEI policies, but we have seen large corporations in lock-step with the mood in Washington DC. Retail chains and other big corporations have started rolling back their inclusion initiatives, as seen in this live timeline from Forbes.

Let’s zoom in on one large corporation in particular: Target. Why them? Well, they have been very loud about their DEI initiatives and in fact highlight Black and POC-owned products on their shelves. So it stands to reason that Black shoppers are calling for a boycott after their decision to cut back on DEI partnerships. More importantly, their successful Black-owned brand founders feel blind-sided by this announcement. Although I would argue that their actions towards the LGBTI + community last summer should have been a warning sign, it must still feel like a cold shower. Also, if it’s that easy to reverse such a huge commitment, was it ever an important mission to you in the first place?

Celebrity and entrepreneur, Tabetha Brown, who has a very high profile collaboration/ partnership with Target for her lifestyle brands that include vegan products, home decor design collections and the very yummy self-funded hair brand Donna’s Recipe, encouraged her customers to stay true to their conscience. Tabetha is a huge name – and she’s such a vibe – with multiple initiatives that exist outside the Targetverse, so even if it will still hurt, it may not be as severe as if you are a smaller brand in huge retail for the first time. What will happen to the smaller names at these retailers? Melissa Butler of The Lip Bar made it very clear that people are free to shop wherever they want, but her business will be impacted by a Target boycott. She received backlash from customers who felt that she was telling them to continue supporting Target and other large retailers. It’s worthwhile watching the reels she made on her Insta account to show you just how complex this whole situation is. It’s also worth revisiting the SAL interview with Funlayo Alabi, the founder of the Hair and Skincare brand Shea Radiance, where she breaks down all the ways retail can go wrong from smaller brands. In our hyper-connected world, we have to choose our battles very wisely.

On that note, these responses from Tabetha and Melissa make it very clear that the only language that America is fluent in is, MONEY. These heartfelt appeals should tell you that consumer boycotts are still effective. So, we should all take it seriously when causes ask us to boycott certain institutions and businesses for their support of any kind of injustice in the world.

Costco and Apple get a special shoutout for resisting efforts to undo their DEI commitments. Just as an aside: I love how Rev. Al Sharpton came through at one of the Costco stores to show support and launch his ‘Buy-cott’ campaign. That silk press is still the envy of many an elderly woman. LOL. Let’s see how long these corporations can resist because the government agents tasked with executing the anti-DEI executive order need to make recommendations to the orange guy by April. These companies may find themselves at the receiving end of some newly created funky law which targets them. If you have time, checkout section 4 of the anti-DEI Executive Order.

How are you reacting to this as a Woman or Black or POC-owned small company? Or just as a human being?

FAFO and the Nazis

One of my favorite Americanisms is FAFO. Everywhere you look online, there’s somebody talking about Americans having reached the FO phase of the FAFO in the Trump 2.0 era. I don’t know that we are truly there yet. Things can get worse. Lest we forget, it’s less than a month into this new administration – even though it feels like an eternity.

So, in addition to Executive Orders, there are infuriating comments and announcements coming in at a fast and furious pace. The one that sent chills up my spine was the order to repurpose the notorious Guantanamo Bay detention camp into an immigrant detention center. So, a concentration camp to deal with ‘unwanteds’. Got it. Under Apartheid, Johannesburg had John Vorster Square – now Johannesburg Central Police Station – where unspeakable things took place. As a reporter for Talk Radio 702 in the late 90s, I would go there on assignment for police briefings and you could still feel that no amount of cleansing would get rid of the evil that hung in the air. Bad things will continue to happen in places like that and at “GITMO” because they were created with evil intentions, for evil purposes. So, my pod friends, excuse me while I hurl.

It’s not so much a worry that the orange man will succeed with every executive order he issues. Chances are that some of them will fall flat and others will be be sent back to his desk, as we saw with the chaotic Federal Funding Freeze. It’s the tone that he’s setting which is dangerous. Words matter. Actions matter. The kids are watching and the crazies are on the loose. It’s only a matter of time that as a Person of Color, you will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or worse still, you will be targeted by overzealous disciples of The Church of Trump….

Speaking of disciples, isn’t it interesting that the media didn’t call out Elon Musk for doing a Nazi salute (twice) at the Presidential Inauguration? I’m still laughing at all the excuses being made and mainstream media’s refusal to call a thing a thing. Either way, the Nazis felt seen and they were very happy. But thank goodness for comedy, otherwise we’d be in tears all the time. Check out Josh Johnson’s astute commentary on the incident.

Perhaps we are in the FO phase of the FA, I don’t know. However, I think we haven’t discovered its true breadth and depth…

In the meantime, we shall Rest (a lot) and Reflect on the agency we have both as individuals and communities, and USE IT.

Are the Arts Safe?

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton has been a Broadway hit since it debuted more than a decade ago, and the hype still hasn’t died down. It now has a North American tour and productions in the UK, Ireland and Australia. If you don’t know much about the hip-hop musical, it tells the story of Alexander Hamilton (the face on the $10 note), an immigrant (white) who came from Haiti and settled in New York. He rose in rank to become the righthand man of one of America’s most celebrated founding fathers, George Washington. Hamilton is essentially the architect of America’s economy as we know it. The point here is that Hamilton’s cast is POC’s playing white characters. The musical spans the period between America’s Revolutionary and Civil Wars, during the second half of the 1700s. In 2016, the production had a run-in with Trump 1.0 in New York, when VP-elect at the time, Mike Pence, tried to attend a staging anonymously. He was recognized and audience members booed him. As he was leaving the theatre, the cast addressed him directly and expressed hope that the play will inspire him to work for ALL Americans, in their DIVERSITY. Wanna guess what the POTUS-elect did? He demanded an apology and accused the cast of harassing his VP.

Anyway, since big industry is under threat for promoting or even mentioning the word ‘Diversity’ in their communication, what’s going to happen to the arts?

GIVING ME JOY AND PAUSE 

Listening and Reading

Being a person who takes comfort in music for whatever I’m going through, it’s been twenty four seven of listening in the house. My latest obsession is Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 by Guru and the very excellent Street Soul version that came about a decade later. Another appropriate listen for these infuriating times is Skunk Anansie’s Paranoid and Sunburnt. Skunk Anansie actually on tour right now, so lucky you if you’re in Europe. Copenhagen, you’re on the tour list.

I’m currently reading Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered  by E.F. Schumacher, a gem of a book that summarizes everything that is questionable within modern Economics. So happy to have stumbled upon it because I’ve been questioning what it would mean for humans if the ‘productive’ and ‘economically beneficial’ work we are doing will be done by machines in the near future. His main argument is that ‘bigger is not better’ and we need to know what enough is and develop humane or human-centered technology. Although written in the 70s, the premise is still relevant: ignoring the interconnectedness of everything and focusing solely on efficient management of large-scale business will only lead to our demise… Can developers using open source AI provide the answers and steer us towards a human-centered trajectory?

On the fiction side, I went through Liane Moriarty’s latest, Here One Moment pretty quickly and it was fun. I’m looking forward to the release of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie upcoming novel in March. It’s called Dream Count. In the meantime, I’ll be getting into Tanzanian legend and 2021 Nobel Prize Winner Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Theft.

Shout out to my fave, Nokulinda Mkhize over at Guided Africa. Looking forward to your new book Kitchen Wisdom: What We Hate To Hear But Need To Know About Men and Romance. 

And Finally … On Falling in Love with Boston 

My mission to fall in love with Beantown is on track. I am now part of a co-working group that’s made of some local academics and writers. We get together once a week to power through our most important tasks for the week. If you’re a WFH warrior and haven’t been summoned to return to office life, then you know the challenges. Where’s your favorite co-working or “coffice” in your town?

 And that’s a wrap for this edition.

I’ll be interviewing some prominent fashion designers from South Africa and  Mozambique in the next month. So stay tuned to find out who they are and you can also also let me know what you want to hear from them…

Until next time, please do take good care.

 Cheers,

Kutloano