Getting to the Root of it with Venus Roots: Recent Episodes
niki franco
join niki franco (venus roots), a community organizer, writer, and facilitator of spaces for collective study, as she leans into conversations of radical truth-telling with artists, theorists, and organizers living in a world of rigid binaries and multiple truths. she navigates the urgency of solidarity, ancestral preservation, and dismantling systems of oppression that inform and deform our lives.
@venusroots www.venusroots.com
In this episode, Niki is interviewed by their best friend and comrade, Sabrina Beydoun. Niki reflects intimately on what themes have been anchoring her this past year of sabbatical and hiatus - the challenges of what it means to leave home and build anew, being in a place of transition and uncertainty, and unprecedented personal challenges, while reckoning that the only path forward is collective care and interdependence.
Sabrina Beydoun is a Lebanese-American chef, writer, and cultural worker. You can read their substack, Nourished here.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Fariha Róisín, author of Who Is Wellness For?In the conversation, the two discuss the role of dignity in affirming one’s healing in the face of trauma, colonialism, capitalism, and other systems of oppression. They also unpack the relationship between spiritual warfare, commodification of wellness, and the corporate industries that intentionally invisibilize the violence behind popular wellness trends and practices.
Audio disclaimer: I encourage you to listen on your laptop or car, as there is a bit of background noise coming from Fariha's audio. Otherwise, enjoy this tender conversation.
Music by Magic City Hippies
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In this episode, Niki interviews Elea Chang, disability justice advocate, community organizer, and artist. The two discuss the capitalist notion of the "pandemic being over," and the ways in which disability justice offers a pathway of care, solidarity, and safety in these uncertain times. In this, they also discuss the limitations of representation and identity politics in an economy that commodifies it all.
Elea is the creator of Disabled and Here, an interview and stock images celebrating disabled BIPOC.
This episode is in partnership with Open Collective Foundation.
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This episode was originally published in May 2021
In this episode, Niki interviews Annika Hansteen-Izora, an art director, poet, and designer. The two reckon with the interests (profit, militarism, white supremacy, ableism - to name a few) that dictate social media platforms, algorithms, and the digital world at large, in a time where we are all spending hours on end on apps. Drawing from Afro-Futurism, Afro-Nowism, and speculative fiction, the two envision what communities centered in care and safety may look and feel like.
Annika is currently the Creative Director of Design and UI at Somewhere Good, a new social media platform that centers people of color.
Annika’s references and suggestions for folks to learn more from:Safiya Umoja Noble: Algorithms of Oppression
Digital Doulas Take Restorative Justice to Cyberspace by. Yaa Addae
Data healing concept by Neema Githere
Data trauma concept by Olivia McKayla Ross
Glitch Feminism by Legacy Russell
Joy Buolamwini and Algorithmic Justice
Mandy Harris Williams and #brownupyourfeed
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In this episode, Niki interviews musician and political educator, MELLY. The two discuss the political characteristics of creating art and cultural production, as well as navigating vulnerable life changes imposed by immigration, heartbreak, and pandemic isolation.
Melissa Denizard is a political educator, writer, documentarian, and burgeoning pop star. She uses an interdisciplinary approach to teach political education rooted in pop culture, history, and contemporary politics. Melissa's work has been recognized by Natalie Portman, Odley Jean, Refinery29, XoNecole, and Brut Media.
Watch Melly's debut music video, EXODUS here. Support Melly's upcoming film project here.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Nick Estes, Indigenous scholar, writer, and co-founder of The Red Nation. The two reflect on 2021's Jan 6th insurrection and some notable political differences between the political economy of the US vs socialist economies in the Global South. They also offer some critiques on the new Netflix sensation, Don't Look Up, while centering the need for Indigenous resistance as an antidote to the climate crisis.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Manolo De Los Santos, a Caribbean popular educator and the two discuss the November 15th protests in Cuba, what narratives we should be mindful of in hopes of supporting the lives of Cuban people on the island, and the dangers of advocating for US intervention.
Manolo is the co-executive director of The People's Forum in NYC.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Claudia De La Cruz, Co-Executive Director of The People's Forum. The two discuss the recent events in Haiti, Cuba, and other political crises in the region and what this means for oppressed people globally. They also discuss the continuous historical patterns of what happens in moments like this, and the ways in which US media works in insidious ways to confuse and distract everyday people and ultimately serve elite interests.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Clarissa Brooks, an abolitionist movement journalist and organizer. The two discuss the dangers of status quo "objectivity" in journalism and media, and look alternatively, to grassroots examples of Black investigative journalists who hold political commitments and relationships with the communities they write about. They also discuss the attention economy and its impact on which stories are prioritized and centered.
Clarissa's writing has been featured in Rolling Stone, THEM, NPR, Harper's Bazaar, Teen Vogue, Complex, among others.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this celebratory episode, Niki rings in the second anniversary of the podcast by getting into conversation with fellow gemini Mimi Zhu, writer and author of the forthcoming Book, Be Not Afraid of Love. The two discuss the realities that become more possible through storytelling for communities of color, the co-opting necessitated by corporate campaigns such as Stop Asian Hate and Pride, and the ways in which grief, loss, and migrant narratives all create openings for transformation and abolitionist values.
Mimi's work explores themes of survival, queerness, alternate worlds rooted in interdependence/kinship/solidarity. Their work has been featured in the New York Times, PAPER Magazine, Guardian, SLATE, Artnet, NME, Bustle, JacobinMag, them., The Fader, INSIDER, VICE. They also write a monthly newsletter called WRITE, TO HEAL that includes essays, prompts, and curated playlists.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Sarah Jaffe, labor journalist and author. The two discuss Sarah's new book,Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone, which offers historical context on the gendered, racialized, and capitalist history impacting workers, families, and what kind of labor society deems as valuable or not. In this conversation, the two also discuss recent examples of workers resisting, organizing, and shifting the terrain for labor in response to COVID-19 and they challenge the notion that: if you love what you do, you won't work a day in your life.
Sarah's work has been featured in The New York Times, The Nation, the Guardian, the Washington Post, The New Republic, the Atlantic, and elsewhere. She is the co-host, with Michelle Chen, of Dissent magazine’s Belabored podcast, as well as a columnist at The Progressive and New Labor Forum.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Fresco Steez, a cultural engineer and organizer who has designed countless slogans, visuals, and communications that center the notion of being Unapologetically Black. In this conversation, the two discuss the role of artists and cultural workers in revolutionary struggles, the potential and necessity behind popularizing radical ideas, and the two get vulnerable around commitments to agitate and organize whenever possible.
You can learn more about Fresco's latest project with Levi's here.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Derecka Purnell, an abolitionist writer, organizer, lawyer. Derecka works to end police and prison violence by providing legal assistance, research, and trainings to community based organizations through an abolitionist framework. In this conversation, the two discuss the limits of identity politics, why anti-capitalism and abolition go together, lessons from the 2020 uprising and what's ahead under a new administration.
Derecka's writings have been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Teen Vogue, The Appeal, Truthout, Slate, Boston Review, Huffington Post, Vox, and In These Times. She’s been featured on NPR, the Boston Globe, Slate’s What Next, and MSNBC, and is the former Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this episode, Niki interviews adrienne maree brown, the author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good and Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. In this conversation, the two discuss what it means to embody abolitionist values, strategies for discerning differences in movement work, boundaries on and offline, moving towards generative conflict more effectively, adrienne's new book, We Will Not Cancel Us, and dreamy longings for 2021.
adrienne maree brown is a longtime movement facilitator, supporting the work of organizations and collectives. Her new book, We Will Not Cancel Us is an invitation for abolitionist organizers and movement workers.
Episode transcript available here.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Jenny Odell, author of NYT bestselling book, How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. The two discuss divesting from the act of personal branding on social media, bioregionalism and re-connecting to the living ecosystems that surround us, the danger behind privatization of public and outdoor spaces, and the racial and class dynamics of leisure and who has access to it.
Jenny is a multidisciplinary artist and author based in Oakland, CA. Her work generally involves acts of close observation, whether it's birdwatching, collecting screen shots, or trying to parse bizarre forms of e-commerce. Her writing has appeared on New York Times, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, The Believer, The Paris Review, McSweeney's, SFMOMA's Open Space, The Creative Independent, and Sierra Magazine.
Episode transcript available here.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this bilingual interview, Niki interviews Liz of Belly of the Beast. The two discuss the US blockade on Cuba and its profound and lasting effect, what the US elections mean for Cubans in Cuba, and they invite nuance into the conversation regarding Cuban politics. They also unpack the emotional and relational challenges that imperialist policies have on family dynamics, friendships, and a strategically divided Cuban community.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this episode, Niki talks to Phil Agnew, former Senior Advisor for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and co-founder of Dream Defenders. As 'content' takes precedence over 'context' for the sake of social media likes and mass re-tweets, the two discuss the nuances of building political power, the necessity to prioritize slow and steady work over urgency, mental health, and which seeds of optimism they're sowing these days.
You can learn more about Phil's latest project, Black Men Build here.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Fariha Róisín, a Bangladeshi multidisciplinary artist, writer, podcaster, and poet. In light of Fariha's debut novel launch, Like a Bird, the two discuss the commodification of trauma, queerness and Islam, and the ongoing work of healing familial and ancestral wounds.
Fariha's work has been featured in Vogue, PAPER, Nylon, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. Her new novel, Like a Bird is out September 15th. Order here.
Transcript available here.
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In this episode, Niki interviews James Lopez, Executive Director at Power U Center for Social Change. Grounded in an organizing tradition and a leftist framework, the two discuss what it means for "defund the police" to go mainstream, the benefits and limitations of social media politickin, and what is needed to win meaningful material social change.
James began organizing through the Western New York Law Center working with members of their consumer debt clinic, which helped change New York state policy around predatory lending, payday loans, and Community Reinvestment issues. Prior to Power U, James was an organizer for VOICE-Buffalo, where he organized with residents and those formerly incarcerated in order to push policy on policing reform and alternatives to mass incarceration. He was also part of Black Love Resists in the Rust (BLRR), which is a collective of organizers of color in the city of Buffalo committed to developing transformational organizing in the city of Buffalo. James is an alum of Black Organizing for Leader and Dignity (BOLD) Directors Training.
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Episode transcript available here.
Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
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In this episode, Niki interviews Francisco Perez aka Platanomics, a Black solidarity economy activist, educator, and researcher currently pursuing a PhD in economics. In this interview, the two unpack Black capitalism, how buying Black unfortunately won't free us, and how this crisis offers us some openings for transformation. The conversation attempts to answer "whose concerns does Black capitalism actually speak to?"
Francisco is the Director of the Center for Popular Economics, a nonprofit collective of political economists whose programs and publications demystify the economy and put useful economic tools in the hands of people fighting for social and economic justice. Francisco has worked on social and economic development projects in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone, the US and Venezuela. He also worked for the Museum for African Art in NYC and was a member of a collective of artists fighting to free political prisoners called the “Scientific Soul Sessions.”
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies
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In this episode, Niki interviews Kari Faux, a multidisciplinary artist, rapper, and producer. The two get vulnerable and real about the impact of social media, the conflation of visibility with fame and financial security, and the power that having supportive friends and family has on our mental health. Through this candid conversation, Kari talks about the pressures of living in LA, the creative process behind producing and writing music, and how artists are more than 'aesthetic packages' up for consumption.
Kari's music has garnered her millions of streams and a soundtrack feature on the critically acclaimed HBO show, Insecure. Her latest project, Lowkey Superstar is available everywhere. Her work has been featured on PAPER Mag, Pitchfork, Hypebeast, The Fader, NPR, and elsewhere.
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Featured music: Kari Faux's "Stick Up"
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In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey, a multidisciplinary cannabis entrepreneur, artist, and writer. Gushing in their shared gemini curiosity, Niki and Mennlay discuss the politics of weed, the hype moment of CBD, ancestral wisdom present in food, and how the African Diaspora is expansive and in every corner of the world.
Mennlay is the author of The Art of Weed Butter: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Cannabutter Master. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Healthyish, VICE, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere.
@venusroots
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies
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In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Gem Nwanne (@urdoingreat), who in six months has become a viral social media TikTok star, producing leftist cultural propaganda and popular education that is accessible and highly relatable. In this conversation, the two talk about the mental health toll of social media visibility, the journey of political development and radicalization, and what are the anchors of joy and hope in this moment. In addition to the digital cultural work, Gem discusses their work with Homme Food and using food as an avenue of healing, connection, community, and politickin for QTPOC.
In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Cynthia Cervantes Gumbs, creative director and co-founder of Maroon World. As COVID-19 begins to shift perspectives around the indispensable value of childcare labor and reproductive work, Niki brings in Cynthia for a fresh perspective on what it means to be an artist, a mother, and an emerging voice in the creative world - with all identities coexisting in harmony. They discuss the myths and hangups around pregnancy and motherhood in an era of white-washed feminism and all-time-high capitalist pursuit. Most importantly, they talk through their shared understanding of how much trauma our generation has internalized from their familial unit and how motherhood/parenting may offer us a new opportunity to heal ancestral wounds.
Cynthia's work has been featured in New York Times, ID, Teen Vogue, PAPER, Vogue, The Cut, and more.
@venusroots
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies
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In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Doris Muñoz, founder of Mija Mgmt, representing some of the top emerging Latinx artists. At 23, she took indie artist Cuco from backyard shows to Coachella in just one year. Understanding that representation is not enough for improving the material conditions for immigrants, she started Solidarity for Sanctuary, a concert series that connects undocumented families to grassroots organizations. Through this candid and vulnerable conversation, they discuss the criminalization of communities, the burden of high expectations of success placed on the children of immigrants, and where the music industry must do better.
Doris’ work has been featured in New York Times, Remezcla, Billboard, Redbull, MTV, and more.
@venusroots
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies
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In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Marz and Amin of Decolonize This Place, a collective of organizers, artists, and cultural workers in NYC who have led actions of solidarity with Palestine, Black Liberation, and decolonizing the land NYC landlords profit off of. Some of their most notable actions have been against museums across NYC in hopes of holding them accountable. As COVID19 heightens the crisis of disaster capitalism, they discuss some sobering assessments of the moment, the role of artists in this struggle, and truths for all of us to consider as we strive for a taste of freedom.
Decolonize This Place and their work has been featured in the New York Times, Teen Vogue, The Atlantic, Hyperallergic, ARTnews, and more.
@venusroots
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies
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In this episode, Niki interviews Maya Ragsdale, a Harvard Law graduate and abolitionist movement lawyer in Miami who works to abolish jails, prisons, and police and create alternatives to exploitative and harmful institutions. Reckoning with their shared goal of envisioning a world free of cages, walls, and chains, they discuss the current state of the carceral state, the ins and outs of legal proceedings hidden from the public, and the possibilities we have for a new world that centers healing and fulfilling people's needs.
Maya is a Law 4 Black Lives fellow and spends her time providing legal and strategic support to radical community organizations. Prior to her work as a public defender in Miami, she worked on campaigns to address police brutality and economic injustice in Los Angeles.
In the episode, we reference the following article:
The Criminal Justice System is Not Broken. It's Doing What it's Designed to Do.
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Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies
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In this episode, Niki interviews Kia Damon (@kiacooks), an emerging multifaceted Chef and the Culinary Director for Cherry Bombe. They discuss what it means to be self-taught, young, gifted, queer, and Black in an industry with harsh labor expectations and a culture that particularly de-prioritizes self care and mental health. Tracing ancestral wisdom through food, Kia offers a unique perspective into the culinary world and what is possible when we step out of the rigid eurocentric and capitalist box of "success" and "validation".
Kia's groundbreaking work was recently featured in a New York Times article, 16 Black Chefs Changing Food in America. Her work has also been featured in Vogue, Refinery29, Milky Mag, and elsewhere.
Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies
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In this episode, Niki interviews Becca McCharen-Tran, queer fashion designer and founder of Chromat (a swim and bodywear brand known for its powerful garments that fit all bodies). Recognizing the impact of cultural institutions, they discuss the inherent white supremacist nature of the fashion industry, pick apart the contradictions of the new trends of "body positivity" and "inclusivity", and highlight different designers who are centering conversations of race, police brutality, and the carceral state.
Becca's work has been featured in Vogue, Teen Vogue, Them, Nylon, Glamour, Business of Fashion, Marie Claire, Opening Ceremony, Elle, Glamour, The Huffington Post, and elsewhere.
Chromat has designed pieces for Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Tyra Banks, FKA Twigs, and many other artists.
Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies
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In this episode, Niki interviews Zaina Alsous, a Palestinian, abolitionist poet, and movement worker in Miami. Processing the urgency of the current carceral and climate crisis, they discuss potential interventions to resist and disrupt fascism, within an analysis of settler colonialism, and the power of new language as a means to world-making and envisioning social and political possibilities.
Zaina's work has been published in the Boston Review, Bitch Magazine, the New Inquiry, Mask Magazine, Adroit, and elsewhere. She edits for Scalawag Magazine, a publication dedicated to unsettling dominant narratives of the U.S. South. Her first full-length collection A Theory of Birds won the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize, and will be published by the University of Arkansas Press in fall of 2019. Pre-order it here.
Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies.
www.venusroots.com
@venusroots
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In this episode, Niki interviews Mars, founder of Art Hoe Collective, a globally-renowned QTPOC collective of young artists that helped catalyze the movement of online creative collectives back in 2015. Navigating the nuances of commodification of bodies of color; they discuss exploitation of trauma, the precarity of the gig economy, the invisibility of creative labor by femmes of color, and the effects of radical rhetoric becoming mainstream.
Art Hoe Collective has been featured in PAPER Magazine, Dazed, Teen Vogue, ESSENCE, i-D, Nylon.
Music courtesy of Magic City Hippies
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