In this interview, I sat down with filmmaker and former human rights attorney Michèle Stephenson. She tells us about her migration journey as a Haitian-Panamanian woman and the family dynamics she experienced growing up. Michèle shares her unconventional path toward filmmaking and co-founding the Brooklyn based Rada Film Group with her husband Joe Brewster. Michèle emphasizes the need to complicate narratives as a filmmaker of color and to question those who consider themselves allies. As she says, “Practicing the art form is a statement of resistance itself." And that, “I want the stories that I tell to be disruptive.” Adding, “The statement at the end of the story has got to somehow disrupt the system.” Michèle also acknowledges that “I want the process to be as important as the end product, as the end of the story itself.” And that, “I think by taking a critical look at ourselves and our subjects… we are complicating our humanity.” She mentions how “Transformation and impact happens in process.” Adding that “The world works in a circular way, not in a linear fashion.” Please enjoy Part 1 and Part 2 will be released later this month. For more on Rada Film Group: www.radafilm.com Michèle's IMDb: www.imdb.com/name/nm0827295 Many thanks to the Hatch Lab Project for their network. Big shoutout to Francisco Lopez for editing support.

Uncle Nacho

Michèle Stephenson Podcast -- Part 1

In this episode I interviewed Vashti DuBois, Executive Director and Founder of The Colored Girls Museum in Germantown, Philadelphia, PA. Vashti speaks on her background as a leader for numerous non-profit organizations and her path that led to opening the museum. She talks about the concept of the "ordinary-extraordinary" colored girl. As Vashti puts it, “The Colored Girls Museum really does exist […] to remind all of us, to remind myself that my ordinary is really good enough, it really is.” And that, “There’s almost a disdain for the ordinary anything, just like basic is not good enough.” Adding, “We do have this burden of always feeling as though we have to be fierce, we have to be fabulous, we have to be magical, we have to be strong, we have to be powerful.” The Colored Girls Museum opened in 2015 and has a new exhibit opening in September titled, "Urgent Care: A social Care Experiment." For more information on the museum visit: www.thecoloredgirlsmuseum.com www.facebook.com/TCGMuseum www.instagram.com/thecoloredgirlsmuseum twitter.com/ColoredGirlsMus

The Colored Girls Museum

In this episode I sat down with Kai Williams and Emma Morgan-Bennet, Co-Founders and Co-Executive Directors of Eat At The Table Theatre Company (E.A.T.T.) based in New York City. We discuss the mission of E.A.T.T. which is "To provide a space to generate, re-invent and celebrate theater influenced by and inclusive of young people of color." Kai and Emma shed light on the origin story of the company and their friendship and also elaborate on the goals of the project. As Emma put it, “Where were the girls that looked like us? […] Not only were they absent from a larger stage but they also spoke louder about what it meant to live our lives.” They talk about this year's production, "The Brothers Size" and the next steps they'll be taking as the company grows. As Kai said, “I think that young people of color and women of color are just the future.” For more on the company please visit: www.eatatthetable.net

E.A.T.T. Podcast

Official Page for #NachoPodcasts featuring archived episodes of "The Uncle Nacho Show" and "Nacho Average Sportscast" hosted by #Nacho. Email: uncle.nacho.tres@gmail.com

About

Michèle Stephenson Podcast -- Part 1

The Colored Girls Museum

E.A.T.T. Podcast