We are talking labor rights today with the organizers of Coffee Worker’s of The South United (CWOTS for short)- the first unionized coffee shop in Nashville (second in the state of TN)! Since 2020 there has been a massive uprising of working class folks calling out and disrupting the exploitation they receive by employers and the overall brutality capitalism inflicts to all that fall under this intersectional struggle. In discussion with organizers Paige McCay and Charley James, we touched on topics such as; how the structures of the service industry lends its hand to exploitation, the importance of seeing your constituents, the importance of intersectional uplift, and much more!

Those of us who have worked through this pandemic (important to note many have lost their lives because of this) we have taken on an immense amount of emotional and physical burdens. However, through folks like CWOTS and other labor rights organizations, solidarity and the revelation that capitalism does not define or quantify our human rights or rights to safety we can stand up, speak out, and organize against these systems of burden.

Connect with CWOTS here !
Stay tuned into my work here !

Contribute to the show through PayPal or Venmo (@ Safara _ Parrott )

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I have the joy and honor of being joined for episode 27 by yoga practitioner, author, and activist Jessamyn Stanley. Jessamyn is the author of 'Yoke' + 'Every Body Yoga' and is also the co-founder of The Underbelly. Raised in Durham, NC and brought up in the Baha'i faith , Jessamyn was no stranger to spiritual practices, but it wasn't until her introduction and dedication to yoga that she was able to come back into spirituality in ways she had never experienced before. Using the philosophies of these respective practices and her own deconstruction of her lived experience of being a Queer, Black, Fat person Jessamyn has been able to shed a radical light into the Western Wellness Industrial Complex and create and avenue of advocacy, validation, and self love for the folks who often fall forgotten and underserved in this industry.

We speak today about her relationship to challenging topics like imposter syndrome, shame, and self trust, and how yoga as a space of meeting yourself exactly where you are creates the space in which any and all things may be explored- leading you to new discoveries of what is sacred and what brings breathe to your life.

Find more about Jessamyn's work HERE
Follow The Underbelly + Jessamyn HERE
Support The Liberation Podcast HERE

Intro: 0:00-7:55
Convo: 7:55-63:00

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Today I am joined by Ethnobotanist & Documentarian, Anthony B Rodriguez. Anthony is unique in his ancestral lineage of folks who admired and used plants- partnering that with Anthony's creative eye (and ears) for storytelling and digital media has resulted in Anthony's exploration into 50+ countries in search of rare species of banana, medicinal plants, and different permaculture practices. In our discussion we speak about his methods of documentations, accessibility to ethnobotany, its role as historian v. discovery, and the future of the study in relation to climate disruption.

Support Anthony's work : Anthony B Rodriguez Website

Podcast Website + Submission Flyer

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Happy New Year !
For the first episode of the 2022 I am joined with community healer and educator, Ms. Pearl. Ms. Pearl is Montessori trained through Belmont University, a certified Permaculturalist received from Earth Activist Training, Life Coach, Cosmetologist and Reflexologist who has dedicated their passion for community work by finding and orchestrating Brooklyn Heights Community / Urban Garden.

Brooklyn Heights Community Garden (BHCG) is a .56 acre urban farm located on formerly vacant lots in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee, a historically Black and low-income neighborhood that experiences food apartheid. Many of the residents in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood are elderly and on fixed incomes.

Ms. Pearl leads the garden to be a space of inclusive and intergenerational learning that not only services the folks who's hands are in the dirt, but also serves as a land steward that uses sustainable practices.
INTRO: 0:00-15:00

MORE INFO ON BHCG : https://www.brooklynheightscommunitygarden.org/who-we-are
DONATE TO BHCG:https://donorbox.org/healingintheheights-healing-hut

LIBERATION PODCAST SUPPORT: https://linktr.ee/liberationpodcast

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For this episode I am joined by author and podcast host Patrick Farnsworth. Patrick's work on his show Last Born In The Wilderness serves as a long form interview based podcast that centers ecological collapse as the bases for investigating and providing diversified voices of the systems of oppression that pervades much of our day to day living. As a long time listener and observer of his work, I wanted to bring Patrick onto the show to give all of you a better introduction to who he is, and glimpses into his personal story and trajectory of his show of deep healing and finding deep connection to those around him. To support Patrick or I's work follow the links bellow!

Patricks work:
lastborninthewilderness.com

Liberation Podcast website + Patreon:
theliberationpodcast.com

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After a long and much needed hiatus - we are back ! It has been a 8-10 week stretch of rest (due to an urgent and fairly traumatizing medical emergency with my dog) and necessary personal reorientation of which I give a good shed of light to in this episode. I practice some long term rest that allowed my the particular experience of being between vanishing and reappearing, and even more so the particular space in which I can ask my self where are the parts of me that have been left behind and how may we nourish them back?

Patreon & One Time Donations : https://linktr.ee/liberationpodcast
Intro: 0:00- 4:00

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I am joined today by Nashville musician, producer, and writer, Thad Kopec.
In his own words, Thad is a man who is “endlessly tinkering”. Thad, by all definitions (even though there aren’t any) is a space- maker. Inspired by magical realism + religious imagery and then partnered with his observational writing style and expansive production-any listener of his music is left feeling both drawn to themselves and the greater environment they inhabit.

In this conversation Thad and I discuss his beginnings of creating music, how music is a tool to expand our understandings of reality, the role of observation, and much more!

To learn more about or even book Thad’s work follow these links-
website: https://www.thadkopec.com
instagram: @thadkopec

Patreon + single donation linked here:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=56469925&fan_landing=true

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Lagnajita Mukhopahdyay has joined me to kick off Season 3 of the podcast!

First and foremost, it is my and Lagnajita's desire that this conversation holds a safe space and a space of connection to any and all BIPOC who have found themselves within the duality of their lived experiences-our liberation is bound in each other, always.

If this name rings a bell, it's because she was the very first writer to be featured on The Liberation Podcast website. Today, however, she joins me in conversation to give us a closer glimpse into her story as a person of a diasporic history and how it has informed and continues to evolve her writing and poetic efforts. Paramount to her work is the exploration of what it means to be in a constant state of change and rebirth- how does one reorient while also leaving space for yourself and others to change.

**Correction: Lagnajita's poetry album "I don't know anyone here" **
Intro: 0:00-10:00
Interview: 10:00-61:00
Support the show on Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/user?u=56469925&fan_landing=true

Read Lagnajita's work : theliberationpodcast.com & lagnajitam.com

One- time Donations to the show :
https://www.theliberationpodcast.com/donate

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