Hello Podfriend!

Winter is upon us in the north and it’s Thanksgiving weekend in the USA.

How is life treating you these days?

Things are topsy turvy in the aftermath of VP Kamala Harris’s loss to president-elect Donald Trump. Trying to digest this reality comes on the back of an important family visit to Johannesburg, one which had me thinking that I may want to return to South Africa. I mean, we have our problems too, but there’s no denying how my soul comes alive as soon as I land. In between being a responsible daughter and sister, I also had a chance to run like a wild woman in the streets. Do I look joyous or what? 👇🏾

Alright my lovelies, time to get into the newsletter. If this edition was shared with you, you can receive your own future editions by subscribing.

Here’s what we’re doing in this edition:

-Studio Update

-US Election Aftermath

-Giving me Joy and Pause

Alright pod friends, let’s get to business!

STUDIO UPDATE

SERENA WILLIAMS MADE ME TACOS

Barbara Clark Ruiz is a multifaceted solopreneur known for her activewear designs and dog treat brand Lick You Silly. During the pandemic, her dog treat business rose in rankings on the Amazon platform and this opened opportunities for growth and naturally, challenges that come with a sudden need to scale.

Barbara shares her journey from childhood in Portsmouth, Virginia, to designing for global brands like Adidas and Fila, and collaborating with Venus Williams on her activewear brand Eleven by Venus – which is currently on a break. It was in fact during a conversation with Venus Williams that she decided to go for it and pursue the Lick You Silly venture.

Barbara works hard and plays hard. She also networks like a boss and takes care of her professional relationships. In our conversation, she also talks about personal experiences like meeting the Obamas, sharing a blanket with Star Wars creator, George Lucas in Oprah Winfrey’s backyard and eating tacos with the Williams sisters.

ALSO THIS MONTH

HAIR IS ART

Naeemah LaFond is a celebrated editorial hairstylist who believes that her job is not just about styling hair but shaping the future of the beauty industry. Her journey from a court clerk to being a hand-picked collaborator for icons like Beyoncé and Amapiano singer Tyla, is a testament to her passion and dedication. She also talks about her Masterclass Texture on Set which is a game changer for newbies and veterans of the industry alike.

Naeemah recently became Global Ambassador of the global hair giant Olaplex. She says this partnership is aligned with her belief in the importance of science-backed products, particularly for textured hair, and her insights into the ongoing push for inclusivity in the industry. She shares compelling stories about overcoming challenges and underestimations, turning them into opportunities to mentor aspiring Black women hairstylists and create a supportive community in beauty and fashion campaigns. Join us for a conversation that promises not just inspiration but a vision for an inclusive and innovative future in hair care.

Are you ready to be inspired?

ON MY MIND THIS MONTH

U.S. ELECTION AFTERMATH

It’s not an outright surprise that U.S. Vice President Kamal Harris lost her presidential run. And so, when a friend who lives in another country asked me why there’s so much grief and mourning in the aftermath of the elections, I simply told her that president-elect Donald Trump’s decisive win is the shocker.

Kamala Harris not only lost, but performed dismally in the areas where she should have done well as a Democratic Party candidate. Black women, especially, are gutted, and with good reason. There was, after all, record-breaking fundraising and ground mobilizing to get Kamala Harris elected to the White House. There is no need for a blow by blow analysis of where the Democratic Party faltered in the run-up and during this campaign. There were obviously countless missteps. The same is true for the other campaign. What is important to point out is the gaslighting that is happening in refusing to say that Kamala Harris’s racial identity – which she was careful not to highlight during her campaign – had a lot to do with the final outcome.

The same is true for Donald Trump. White supremacy was mobilized and properly affirmed, and neatly packaged as “competence, discipline, and being in touch with the electorate” in the aftermath. Note the Madison Square Garden rally that was compared to a 1939 Nazi rally at the same location. Shortly before that at a rally in Michigan, Trump swapped his normal blue, red and white uniform for black and gold like the neo-Nazi Proud Boys, who had turned up in droves to support him.

The sting of Kamala Harris’s loss cuts deep because the racists and fascists are now so emboldened by Trump’s win that they had no qualms sending hateful, personalized text messages telling Black students at HBCU’s to report for cotton picking at plantations. In California, Latino high school students received texts telling them to be ready for deportation. Of course the president-elect’s campaign was quick to deny and distance itself from association with the anonymous senders of these messages, but they did not denounce them either. And so, the tone is set and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is only the beginning of what’s to come.

One more thing: In Trump’s cabinet picks, there are only two people who are not white: Vivek Ramaswamy in a new portfolio called Department of Government Efficiency, and controversial anti-lockdown doctor Jay Battacharya , as head of the National Institutes for Health. The profile of Trump’s cabinet is not a surprise, but do the Black and Latino voters who chose Trump to be in charge for the next four years expect that their voices will matter in this cabinet? Let’s wait and see.

Anyway, the author of the very excellent look at the systemic racism that’s at the core of the very foundation of the USA, Stamped from the Beginning, Ibram X Kendi has an Insta account that is worth following for an anti-racist and truthful take on all things American society and culture. It’s always good to look at things in context and he provides very good contexts.

Watch Childish Gambino’s This is America and see how it hits differently right now.

GIVING ME JOY AND PAUSE

It’s Native American Heritage Month. I’m paging through Indigenous Ingenuity by Deidre Havrelock and Edward Kay, a wonderful celebration of indigenous knowledge of the Native Americans of North America. It looks at every aspect of pre-colonial/pre-genocide – life, including land management, hygiene, architecture, transportation and even chocolate. Hygiene gets a special mention because the ‘no bathing movement’ keeps entering my radar. I’m pretty sure that our diets and lifestyles alone require daily contact with water, but the anti-bathing advocates are still gaining converts and the narrative goes that it’s not necessary to shower daily 😩. I just can’t.

Speaking of Native Americans. The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us this week and I was happy to stumble on this NPR report about Native American communities reclaiming their ancestral food systems. This ranges from returning bison to ‘reservations’ and planting ancient indigenous seeds for sustainable community gardens. Since it is Thanksgiving this week, it’s great to find out what food the ancient people of this land had access to before the advent of food apartheid, a term coined by farmer and food justice activist Karen Washington – who herself has an interesting back story to her current relationship with land, food and farming. Here’s a great explanation of Native American – or any indigenous group – food sovereignty. Speaking of which, you can also revisit the Shades And Layers conversation with South African chef Mokgadi Itsweng where we speak about food sovereignty, restorative farming and climate change.

Anyway, a Happy Thanksgiving to you if you’re celebrating! 🦃

CELEBRATING 🥳

Loving that Whoopi Goldberg has an all women’s sport network! AWSN (All Women Sports Network) is available in India and the Middle East, and I was able to stream some content on their website recently. You can watch live sports ranging from hockey, to tennis. Hopefully it will be available on the African continent too in future? Nevertheless, it definitely is about time that Women’s sports were taken seriously. It was great to catch a women’s tennis documentary featuring Chris Evert and Billie Jean King; a live tennis match, on clay, between women ranked lower than 100 – even with the many ads in between. Well, if high school football and other amateur (male) sports can get airtime. I mean, come on… Let’s Go!

LISTENING 🎧🎧

Vibe Check is an awesome podcast. Three Black (and queer) men in conversation. I’m here for that. It’s also the only place I’ve heard ads for living with HIV. 👍🏾. They’ve been around since the tail end of the pandemic and these three real life friends basically check in with each other weekly and we get to hear it. Their Vibe Check with singer and talkshow host Jennifer Hudson is fun. They are the perfect no-holds-barred reflection on this post-election processing. It’s also a reminder of how divisive this American election has been. One of the co-hosts had a hard stance about how to move forward and he put his perspective forward plainly: “If you are not Black, you are on probation until further notice.” Yikes. That is a dangerous place to be … it can only push us further and further towards cynicism and play right into the hands of white supremacy. But can you blame him?

READING 📚📚

There are too many books on my bedside table. I’ve already mentioned one that I’m paging through. I’ve also got bell hooks’s All About Love, which is much needed right now. Makers by TEDx Curator Chris Anderson has been worth a revisit now with the accelerated capabilities and advancements of Artificial Intelligence. I picked up Open Water by British-Ghanaian author Caleb Azumah Nelson on my recent travels, hoping for an easy read, but instead found a very deep contemplation and celebration of Black artistry and love. It’s beautiful. These are just a few, there’s a whole stack underneath these. LOL.

That’s all from me pod friends. Let me know what’s in your heart and what you’re thinking these days.

Until next time, please do take good care.

Cheers,

Kutloano

(your host with the most)