S1: It's time for KPBS Midday Edition. Today we are talking about the arts , culture and events happening now. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. Bestselling author S.R. Cosby joins us to talk about his new book , King of Ashes.
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S1: That's ahead on Midday Edition. This Saturday. Bestselling author. Say Cosby or Sean Cosby is coming to the University of San Diego to discuss his new book , King of Ashes. When an eldest son is called home after his father's car accident , he finds his family in shambles and his youngest brother in dangerous debt. Cosby is also the author of All the Sinners Bleed , Razorblade Tears , and Blacktop Wasteland. He joins me now to discuss his latest work. Shaun , welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Thank you for having me.
S1: So glad to have you here.
S2: I've had a lot of different influences , from literature to movies. Uh , I'm a huge Shakespeare fan. So the the sort of , uh , cliche Shakespeare tragic hero is a big influence on me. But also I love modern cinema. So The Godfather was a huge influence. And I wanted to sort of tell a story that tackled the issues of both of those , uh , works , basically. Uh , the tragic hero , the the flawed protagonist. And also , I kind of wanted to answer the question , like , what does it feel like when you find your purpose in life , but your purpose is intrinsically tied to something awful ? So those are some of the issues and things that inspired the book.
S1: Well , give me the backdrop of this story.
S2: Almost all my books takes place in Virginia. So it tells the story of the Carruthers family eldest son Roman , middle sister Nevaeh and baby brother Dante. And as the book opens , Roman is living in Atlanta. He's a financial advisor , investment banker. He gets a phone call one day that his father's been in a car accident , and when he returns home , he finds out that the accident is not an accident , that his brother is in debt to a dangerous gang. And so Roman goes about trying to extricate his family from this unfortunate predicament that his brother has put them in. Also , the family has a trauma that's been hanging over their head for the past 20 years. Their mother , Benita , disappeared when they were teenagers and was never seen again. People in town think that their father had something to do with it , because she was having an affair and their father runs a crematory. And so these two disparate storylines intersect. As the family tries to escape this unfortunate set of circumstances they find themselves in.
S1: You know , you also , like , occasionally switch into the perspectives of Roman siblings and other townsfolk in this novel. Talk about your approach there and how you wanted to bring this community to life.
S2: Yeah , so compassion is mainly about the Carothers family , but it's also about Jefferson Run. Justin Run is an imaginary place that I created , but it's based on several cities in the South in Virginia , North Carolina , South Carolina , Alabama , Mississippi , so on and so forth. Um , places where industry , manufacturing , textile manufacturing has moved away or left. And so unfortunately , that creates a vacuum. And when manufacturing , when legitimate businesses move out. Crime tends to move in. And so while the story again is centered around that family , I also am trying to talk about gentrification and the effects of poverty in small southern towns , small rural areas , and how that it can affect the entire community. And so , again , while it's a lot about the Carruthers , it's also about the people in the citizens of the city and what it looks like when the city , the place , your home that you love is destroyed by external forces. And then gentrification comes in and the city that you love is taken from you , and you're sort of priced out of being able to live and experience that city in a , in a meaningful way. And so for me , while the crime story is the central story , um , some of those ancillary issues are really important to me and things I wanted to bring about in a way that was both interesting and also informative.
S1: You're really great at weaving these issues into your storylines and and also at writing complicated characters. In Roman's Romans case we really see the good , the bad , the ugly.
S2: For me , the secret to writing of those kind of characters is making the reader really identify with them and like them , so that when they cross that Rubicon , when they start to sort of fall from grace , it hurts that much more because you see the potential of what they could be. And then unfortunately , you see the choices they make that take them down a darker path. For me , I'm very empathetic to tragic heroes. I think most of us have a sense of tragic hero , or a sense of a sense of hubris in ourselves. Of course not. Of all of us. Take the path that Roman does , and that all of us have access to a crematory to get rid of our problems. But , um , but I do think that for me , there's a strong sense of empathy with all my characters , even the villains. Um , and so I find a joy in creating this sort of complexity and sort of examining the human condition to a certain extent , through my characters and through their actions or inaction. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , as you mentioned , you're from Matthews County , Virginia , which is a small southern town.
S2: I grew up in a family of readers. Um , my grandmother , my mother and my uncles , my aunts were all big readers. Um , but also , I grew up in a very sort of gregarious environment. My my family are all natural born storytellers. So I grew up around a lot of , uh , backyard orators and barbecue raconteurs. And so that sort of really influenced the way I look at story as not just a literary endeavor , but a way to pass on tradition , to pass on information , to sort of create a sense of , um , as Stephen King would say , telepathy with the reader. And so when you read my books , you're reading about my aunts , my uncles , my family , my friends , the town that I grew up in , all the things that sort of came together to create me. I try to replicate and try to articulate in my books. And for me , it's it's an honor to talk about the place where I'm from. I love where I come from , I love Virginia , I love the South. But to paraphrase , uh , James Baldwin , because I love the South , I reserve the right to critique it. You know , the South is both a place of great beauty and a place of great grotesqueness. And I try to sort of give readers a window into that world , and so that you can understand that while , you know the South is a very specific region , the things that we endure are things that we go through are universal.
S1: Well , you know , you said there's four pillars of southern fiction. There's class , religion , sex and policing. How do those themes show up in King of Ashes ? Yeah.
S2: So for me , those , you know , 4 or 5 pillars , you know , I talk about race and class and sex and religion and policing and sort of that thing. For me , all of those are part of King of Action. I think it's the first book I've written where I've really have leaned into all of those. Um , you know , of course , the Carruthers family is an African American family , um , and experiencing what it feels like to be an African American family in the South to move from poverty to an upper middle class , uh , station. But also religion plays a part in the book. There's a lot of what I like to call lapsed Baptist guilt that the Carruthers family's experiences and the moral choices that that they make are a big part of , uh , who they are. Um , and as far as class goes , I like I touched on a little bit , but they did come from a Roman talks about growing up in a , in a very poverty stricken part of town , and then his father , using the crematory , building it from the ground up , literally pulled them out of that sort of experience. And so Roman is someone who has gone on to even higher heights as far as , uh , in the economic hierarchy. He lives in Atlanta , he drives a Porsche. He has a $12,000 watch , but he's never far away from that poor kid that he was throwing up. There's a scene in the book where he talks about , you know , dealing with really rich people and how they look at you almost like a show horse. And that's based on a conversation I had with someone who is a financial advisor , who came from a very poverty stricken background , as I did. And as far as sexuality goes , I think it is , you know , there is sort of the cliche of Southern Gothic literature that sex and passion play a strong role in how the characters interact. You know , there is a sort of connectivity in small towns that's different from the anonymity that I present to you in a city. So everybody in small towns and a small town know who you're dating. They know who you dated. They know who you want to date. They know who you have a crush on. There's sort of this , uh , this connection that is very. It can be claustrophobic in many ways , but also can be comforting. So I try to like , as you said , we've all those different disparate issues into one cohesive narrative.
S1: And nothing's private in a small town , that's for sure.
S2: Not at all.
S1: Well , your last book , All the Sinners Bleed , was inspired by the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and that short lived racial reckoning that followed.
S2: Roman talks about how , you know , he says at one point , and this is not an original quote , but he's quoting someone that , you know , behind every great empire is a great crime. And I think there is this idea that in America there is sort of this wink , wink , nudge nudge when you talk about , say , for instance , you know , the Kennedy empire or you talk about Henry Ford or or Rockefeller or any of these great , like , maybe robber barons from the past. There's this idea that , well , they pull themselves up by their own bootstraps , and in many cases , they use crime and illicit techniques and brutal practices to create their empire. And there seems to be in many ways this idea that , well , that is the providence of , you know , the straight white man ideal in America. And Roman does talk about that , that , you know , gathering wealth , trying to get power is something that has been cut off from to marginalized communities for , you know , since America's inception. And so there's a more relevant relativism that he sort of engages in when he does the thing that he does because he feels like , well , all these other great men and I use air quotes as have done it , so why can't I ? And so that is something that is tied into the idea of the post-racial America fantasy that we lived in , which is not a reality. And so for me , using crime as a prism to talk about that issue , I think is a really , really prescient thing. You know , I said this in an interview before , but I think , you know , crime is America's great secret industry. And I think that , you know , there's this sort of hypocrisy that exists in many cases where we will , as I said again , will wink at the great empires of the past. But then we will admonish a person of color using the same techniques. And so again , it was sort of for me , it was sort of an expansion of that idea of that , you know , racial reckoning. And what does it really look like in a sort of real pragmatic way ? Mhm.
S1:
S2: I think for me , craft fiction is the great tool that we can use to talk about every aspect of the human condition. You know , like you , for me , every novel is in many ways a crime fiction novel. You know , some of my favorite novels , like A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley , or Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky as crime in the in the title. Um , and I say that because I think crime is sort of the great equalizer in many ways. Like you can read a novel by Philip Roth , like American Stain , you may not relate to an Upper Northeast professor who's best. Who's passing for white. But everyone has been lied to. Everyone has been hurt. Everyone's felt afraid. And those things are so prevalent in crime fiction novels. And for me , as a writer and a reader , it is a really interesting way to get an entry point into what makes human beings tick and what makes us the people we are , and how that's reflected in our society.
S1: I've been speaking with , say , Cosby , bestselling crime novelist. His latest book is called King of Ashes , and he'll be bringing it to the University of San Diego this Saturday. More details on our website , KPBS. Shawn , thank you so much for your time.
S2: Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure speaking with you.
S1: Up next , we hear about a choreographer's journey to a later in life autism diagnosis.
S3: Dance classes are a social experience without having to talk. So I love that.
S1: Stay with us. KPBS Midday Edition is back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. Dancer and choreographer Jeane Freeman was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when she was 33 years old. A couple of years later , in 2023 , she created the performance piece for the La Jolla Playhouse called Is It Thursday ? Yet ? It really allowed Freeman a creative way to explore her neurodivergent brain. The evolution of that show , and Freeman's navigation of her diagnosis , is the basis of the documentary Room to Move that just screened at Tribeca Film Festival in New York. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando spoke with Freedman about the film and living with autism. Here's that conversation , starting with the trailer for Room to Move.
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S4: You know , people need to understand that some people experience the world in a different way.
S3: That's why this changes everything. There's a change when you're actually able to acknowledge and name experiences and feelings that you've been having forever. Just makes it a lot more real. People said that I was dancing. That language really protected me because I never felt out of place.
S4: It's become your career. It's become your passion is become your whole world. You do meet the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder.
S3: It feels like a gift. The diagnosis feels like a gift.
S5: That was the trailer for the documentary Room to Move , which had its world premiere last night at the Tribeca Film Festival. I'm here with the subject of that film , Jen Freeman and Jen. This film started as one thing and evolved into something else.
S3: So much was uncovered during the five years we were working on the piece. It started on the actual day that I received my autism diagnosis. Alex Hammer , the director , happened to contact me that day without knowing that I was going through any of that. So our journey started there. And I think something that maybe a lot of people don't know about a late in life autism diagnosis. It's such a gift to receive the diagnosis , because I'm able to learn so much about myself and have context for so many moments in my life and so many struggles. But it does , at least in my experience. It gets harder before it gets better. There's just a lot to unpack and reframe , and the film was happening during all of that for me , so it's not pretty when I watch it. And Alex and I always joke , you know , that I wish there could be a part two because I'm doing a little bit better now. But it is. It's real. It's the real uncovering of of what it's like to to sort of reprocess your whole life experience. and at the same time I was making a show and with my best friend Sonia. It's a solo piece about my diagnosis that we performed at La Jolla Playhouse. It premiered at La Jolla Playhouse two summers ago , which was one of the best experiences of my life , and the film covers the creation and the premiere and all of that. And along the way also Alex Hammer , the director , through watching and learning about my experience in a really intimate way , he realized that he too , is autistic. That's what happened , and it became a really important part of the story. And Alex and I developed a really beautiful friendship over the five years. And you'll see a lot of that in the film as well.
S5: Now , part of what we see in the film is you going through some therapy.
S3: I think it gave me this alternative perspective at the same time that I was also gaining my own new perspective. It didn't change anything as far as like the authenticity of the moment , I. I honestly didn't really have the capacity to consider that all of that was going to be seen because it was already so overwhelming just going through it. But it gave me another outlet to voice things and to talk about things. And I think especially in my friendship with Alex , having that support and another human going through similar experiences was was really , really beautiful. And definitely the process of making is It Thursday , which is my solo show. That was very , very therapeutic. Going through all of my recorded therapy sessions , going through childhood footage , which a lot of that is in the documentary as well. It opened up the doors for a lot of conversations that had never been had before. So. Definitely. Definitely.
S5: Well , I really want to commend Alex on how he put this together , because this had so much visual flair and an ability to kind of capture who you are without anybody talking with , just showing things.
S3: I've never seen someone put ideas and footage together the way that he does. The film just feels very alive and it feels very real and in real time and chaotic in a way. And that's that's the way that it was making it. Alex has this really beautiful way of guiding his team loosely in a way that it leaves space for these really organic moments to happen. And also my partner Ian , who you will see in the film , he's my husband and my creative partner. He has a beautiful eye and he captured a lot of the the footage that you'll see in the doc as well. So yeah , I tell Alex all the time , every time he sends me a new cut or a new version , I'm like , how did you do this ? How ? Because it just started. We had no no narrative when we started. We were like , let's just see what happens. And it's years of footage and ideas. And I remember at points just thinking it was going to be impossible for him to capture this whole story in one film. I really thought. I mean , I never doubted him , but I just didn't. I couldn't wrap my mind around how he would do it. And he did it. And also the the folding in of his own journey , which he wasn't expecting to have to do. And I know how hard it is from creating. Is it Thursday yet to make something personal that's about you and to decipher through , you know , his own therapy sessions and like , what to share and how personal to get. And that was really challenging for him. I know it was , and I thought he did it so beautifully.
S5: I don't know if it's correct to call it archival footage , but like your home movies and home videos and things as you're , like processing this diagnosis , going back and seeing some of that video like makes you see those images in different ways and kind of helps clarify kind of what you must have been going through over all these years before the documentary even started. You know. Absolutely.
S3: Absolutely. That was a gift in itself. Also , moments that were hard to see. My father. He filmed everything. It's almost like this was like in the stars. Like a long time ago. It feels that way because there's footage of of all of these moments that I'm learning about and just describing and talking about. It's there when I when I was a child. And that's something with getting a later in life diagnosis when you're going through that process. They want to know that these traits were there from the beginning. My dad filmed so much like I had seen a lot of things prior , but that's before my diagnosis , so I was looking at it through a different lens. That's actually one of the moments I was watching a home video that I before I , I had the epiphany that I was autistic. There was a moment where I was teaching a dance class in the living room , and I put up the camera myself. I was a little probably like eight years old , fully teaching a dance class , scripting , playing the character of the teacher. And it's awkward. And it's actually it's kind of hard to watch. I look uncomfortable , and we were watching it as a family at one point and everyone was like , laughing. Not at me , but just like it , because it's kind of awkward. And I just remember looking at that and being like , something is like , not quite right with that little girl. She looks tense and uncomfortable and it's hard to see , but I just felt it. I remember feeling in that moment. So yeah , it's really , really powerful and and a gift to be able to see , see those things and kind of memories that are lodged like deep , deep in there that you might not be able to fully remember and talk about. But the feelings that I had seeing this footage has helped me , like , articulate a lot of that as well.
S5: You address the fact that dance and movement helped you a lot as a child and through your life. And you're using this also as a teacher dealing with your students. So describe a little bit about what dance and movement does for someone with autism that can help them and kind of be part of the healing.
S3: Dance is such a beautiful art form on so many levels. There's like the physical aspect of it , just if we're talking like purely the athletic side of dance , moving , getting your energy out , sweating skill like organizing your body , learning how to do new things with your body. There's like a confidence that comes along with that. A lot of autistic people struggle with like motor capabilities. So through repetitive movements and , you know , practicing choreography , if you will , or dance steps , it can be useful also just yeah that that energetic expression like letting it out and you know , and some type of like improv dance class or where you can just freely , freely move because stillness is , is a really hard place to be for autistic people. So being in motion is helpful. And then there's like the emotional , expressive part of dance that I think is also useful. Finding language to express emotions is can be hard for autistic people. I know it was for me and still still is. So a lot of times I can express those feelings through movement , you know ? So just processing kind of your life through movement is really useful. And then there's also I think what is one of the most important aspects is dance classes are so social experience without having to talk. So I love that. Like going to a dance class you're sharing space with other people. There's an energetic exchange. There's a relationship between you and the teacher. That's non-verbal , but it's affirming and it's happening. And I think being able to share that sort of like community energy without having to be singled out or express yourself verbally is it's beyond useful for autistic people. So the whole world should take dance classes. It's healing in so many ways.
S5: And one of the things I'm really grateful for in the documentary is I did not get to see your play here at the La Jolla Playhouse , but it really captures a lot of that show. And the creativity in that was just amazing. And it's beautiful how it's interwoven through the film to kind of illuminate what you're going through. Mhm.
S3: Mhm. Yeah. We just the documentary actually started before. Is it Thursday. It existed. So the doc came first , and then it ended up following the the creation of of that show , which I created with my best friend Sonia. She's she's an incredible creative mind , director , choreographer in the creation of that show , did a lot of the fleshing out of like , my past and this footage of my childhood and my therapy sessions and a lot of that. So ultimately , that process really informed the process of of laying out the doc because a lot of the story is is similar. So the show footage really does fit so beautifully. And and that's also a testament to Alex , the way that he wove it all together. I mean , it's just incredible. He he's every time I see him , I'm like , I don't know how you did that. It's just all all meant to be. The timing of everything has been so cosmic and and beautiful , and it's just it just melded together in this really beautiful way.
S5: Well , thank you for talking about room to move and sharing your experience.
S3: Those are really beautiful questions. I appreciate it.
S1: That was dancer and choreographer Jen Freeman speaking with Beth Accomando. The documentary Room to Move just had its world premiere at Tribeca , where Freeman hopes it picks up distribution. It's a celebration of Juneteenth and a way to build community. Up next will tell you about Kinfolk Fest. KPBS Midday Edition is back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman in celebration of Juneteenth. Ken , folk Kinfolk Fest is happening this Saturday at Waterfront Park. The festival will feature live music , DJs , food , drinks and black owned businesses. It's organized by SD melanin , a group that builds community among black professionals in San Diego. This is their eighth annual Kinfolk Fest and the founder of SD melanin , Lauren Cobbs joins me now. Lauren , welcome. Hello.
S6: Hello. Thank you so much for having me.
S1: So glad to have you here. Also here with us is Jojo Jones. She curated the art and artist for the festival , and she's also founder of the Black Liberated Artist Collective. Jojo , welcome. Hi.
S7: Hi. Thank you for having me.
S1: So glad to have you both here. Uh , Lauren , San Diego Melanin is really the driving force behind Kinfolk Fest. You started the organization in 2017.
S8: Um , so I would say our first Juneteenth was at fair 44 Before the end to the height and it was a mini. It was like a little micro festival. Um , I think we had like 150 , 200 people max and I'm a huge festival goer. I enjoy festivals , and so I've always had this vision to grow out our Juneteenth celebration into a flagship festival , especially here in San Diego , I think. Right. LA is just there and LA gets a lot of really cool things and I'm like , ah , San Diego deserves we can do something very cool in San Diego. Um , so yeah , that's I started off as a festival goer , as a , um , someone who really enjoys celebrating Juneteenth , just having the desire and vision to grow it. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Some people who may not be familiar with the culture may want to know where the name Kinfolk Fest came from.
S8: Ah , so kinfolk is rooted in kin. Uh , and it's the I guess the root is family. Like your kin , your family , and the kinfolk is an expansion of that. So , I mean , I don't know if there's , like , a , an official Merriam-Webster definition , but I've always thought of it and I've heard it used in the sense of your chosen family , like your kinfolk , um , your people , your community. And so kinfolk Fest , is this , this idea of , um , we get to be in community with our chosen family and friends here in the region and those who come in to celebrate Juneteenth.
S1: Oh that's great. Now , Jojo , what's been your role with Kin Folk Fest this year ? I mean , what goes into sourcing artists and coordinating with them ? Yeah.
S7: So I've been working with Lauren on a few projects. So kinfolk and also we have a Blanket Sounds event going on this summer. So with this festival in particular , we are sourcing a same artist. Her name is Jennifer Swindell. She created this Juneteenth flag out of a glass and it's designed so beautifully. We use it as a backdrop. So it's the continued partnership with her for the festival , but also just making sure that we are filtering through my network , other artists to engage with us during the folk Fest as well.
S8: And I do also want to shout out Jacqueline. Jacqueline is a partner with Jen and they've been working on this Juneteenth flag every year. We've nicknamed her June. Very nice. Um , so Jacqueline and Jen , uh , they're two architects with a heart and soul for community and for bringing beautiful pieces and structures , um , to our experience. So we work with them also on blankets.
S7: Sounds correct. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Very nice. And you mentioned this artist that's got that created a flag out of glass. So what's , you know , is there a message that this artist is trying to convey with this flag.
S7: I think it's more so like seeing yourself reflected right when you think about the Juneteenth flag and what it represents for certain cultures , like specifically the Black Americans , it means something to us. But I think something about looking at it and seeing yourself reflected back with whatever nationality you are or whatever culture you represent , really kind of amplifies the meaning of community. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , Lauren , there will be live performances , DJs , art. It's really curated around the culture.
S8: We have Aaliyah Sheffield coming from L.A. she's a nationally signed artist. We have TJ , Nikki Giovanni , uh , DJ B , deejay Bertie Bird. We have Romel Wallace who's hosting with Speaker Box. Uh , we have Angel , who's doing a live performance. Um , so there's something there for everyone , along with Swifty Banger. Uh , what I'm most excited about , honestly , is the people. I'm really excited about being able to create a space where people can come and experience joy. Like that's been my driving force around producing. I'm a full time producer , and there's a lot of things I could produce , and there's a lot of things I could produce that probably would make a lot more money. Um , but I'm really , really committed and intrigued about what does it look like when you get to create a little safe space , a moment in time to experience joy , to experience community , um , to experience the ability to just be able to be , I think as we walk and navigate lives through our lens. Right. There's a lot of spaces and places we go where we're expected to perform. We're expected to show up in a certain way , And that's exhausting. And whether we know it or not. Sometimes we're just like , okay , we know we. We know we're about to go. We know what ? Okay. Let's. Okay. Okay. Okay. Right. Um. So to be able to create a space where people don't have to prepare to be there , they can just be like , oh , no , I'm gonna go and be whoever I am. I don't care what your sexual orientation is. I don't care what your vibe is. You went to goth. You are an athlete. Like I don't care. I want to create a space for you to be able to come and just be and feel safe in that and feel welcomed. It's also not just like , oh , I've created this space for y'all , but now I've created this space that I'm intentionally and we intentionally are creating to be safe. And the community is a part of that , right ? Like the people who come out , they also believe in the the need and the sanctity of safe spaces for us. And so you see , people treat each other in a way that's safe and that's kind. Um , and that's what I'm excited about , to see that.
S1: It's so important to have those spaces. Um , and speaking of community. Jojo talked to me about your experience as a black creative living and working here in San Diego.
S7: Um , when I first came to San Diego a few years ago , um , I was kind of a little bit lost trying to find my tribe , if you will. And I will say , SD melanin was actually kind of how I got introduced to a tribe and a community. And just like she mentioned , I walked in alone and I left with maybe like 3 or 4 friends. Um , but my background has always been in art and , um , you know , I wanted to be able to. Specifically for San Diego , uh , create a space where people could understand , especially if they're artists , like , where their genius comes from , where their liberation , how to tell their story , how important storytelling is here. Um , so , you know , I collaborate with a lot of other , um , companies or individuals and entrepreneurs to gather , uh , artists around the initiative of storytelling. Um , so it's it's been great so far. I've been doing it for a few years now. I've worked in spaces with other colleges and other galleries , and it has been a little slow , but I definitely think it's been intentional doing it this way.
S1: Well , it's good that you've been able to carve out your , um , your community , right ? And find find your community here. Um , I imagine it's hard to , to make a living , though , um , from art. And so talk about how you're supporting black creatives in San Diego and why that's so important. Lauren. Yeah.
S8: Yeah. Um , so I've had the incredible , you know , blessing to be able to make a living doing this. I've been doing this over two years , full time. And one of the things that I've seen is just lack of a lack of opportunity , a lack of paid opportunities as well. So for us , we're committed to paying for our artistic talent across the board. So there projects that we do that we don't get paid for at all , because we're donating our time and any funding that comes in , it goes to be able to fund and support the creatives who we showcase through those projects. Um , I would say for me , it's about creating the platform for opportunity and creating a strategy that amplifies artists. Uh , and then also looking to roll out more. I come from a corporate background , so I was going to say products. Um , but really looking to roll out more resources to help artists , I guess , professionalize their creativity so that they can , um , earn a living from it , if that's what they so choose to do. Right.
S1: Right. And also , again , creating spaces where people can can do that.
S7: Um , I think with and I can speak to , you know , my experiences personally , but I think what the system kind of meant to interrupt and divide , um , these safe spaces. Um , coming together with a purpose and with an intention , whether that is through art , whether that is through a mental health retreat , Whether it's just through dancing. I think that it has a powerful message of not only destruction , but building a community organically , naturally , not forcing something. But , um , you know , really being intentional with how we show up , where we show up because it's not always safe to do so.
S1: Given the challenges that we are that that we're facing now. And , um , this constant fight for justice and true liberation. What does Juneteenth mean to you all ? Uh , in 2025 ? Jojo , I'll start with you on that one.
S7: Oh , in 2025 , that means a time to cut up. You know , I think that again , growing up from the South and my roots , it was always organic for us to cut up. We didn't need a reason to come together , to meet people , to have community , to share food , to share resources. I think more now than ever is the time to really honor that and be intentional. So this Juneteenth and every Juneteenth after this , I hope that it gets increasingly more of a necessity for people to come out.
S1: And now when you say cut up , oh.
S7: Have a good time , right ? Like if you want to use like , you know , let your hair down and , you know , really just , uh , find your peace and your joy through community and being yourself. Um , I think for a lot of people , it really is hard to be yourself. Um , especially as a black woman. Um , you know , we're all black women here. Um , and I myself have different intersectionality. Um , there's a lot that I can show. There's a lot that I can conceal. Um , but in certain spaces , I wanted to let it all go. And I want to feel that pure joy and excitement to honor myself and my ancestors.
S1:
S8: I think one of the things that we do as a disservice is look at Juneteenth as a black American holiday. Juneteenth is an American holiday. It is American history , and everyone needs to know their history. And we all need to honor and celebrate it. So Juneteenth , for me is about similar to what Jojo said , like a moment in time to celebrate and honor American history that was driven and created by our ancestors and our forefathers. But that history continues to be like we are living history. We , I mean , know for real , for real. We really are living history right now. Um , and one of the the center pieces for me is that joy is liberation. Um , I , I have to walk every single day of my life as a black woman , and that brings me so much joy. But it also comes with a lot of strife externally , right ? And so I know no matter what , I am going to have to deal with something , no matter what , and I'm going to have to program and organize because that's what we're going to do. Period. Like , we are going to fight for democracy. We are going to fight for community. We are going to fight to for our voices to be heard. And so I have been intentional about curating joy for us because if we don't do it , who's gonna. Mhm.
S7: Mhm.
S8: And literally these moments where we're together and it is joyful and it is peaceful. That literally is the fuel that allows us to go back into this world day after day and deal with what we have to deal with day after day. I think that Joy has a place in liberation. Joy is meaningful. And so Juneteenth is a day where I am blessed and honored to curate and organize joy for the community.
S1: Kinfolk Fest is this Saturday , June 14th from 1230 to 9 p.m. at Waterfront Park. Details on our website kpbs.org. I've been speaking with Lauren Cobbs , founder of SD melanin. Lauren , thank you.
S8: Thank you.
S1: And also Jojo Jones , art curator , seller and founder of the Black Liberated Artists Collective. Jojo. Thank you.
S7: Thank you.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
