-Hey Homegoings fam.

-I'm Myra Flynn, -creator of Homegoings, -the Vermont Public Podcast, -featuring -candid conversations -about race -with artists of color.

-The artists -I interview are so prolific -and so talented that -for a second year in a row -we've staged -a live performance -with them for a heartfelt -night of music, comedy, -poetry and movement.

-[music] -In the Homegoings tradition, -we topped off the evening -with a Q&A session.

-Vulnerability personified.

-This is Homegoings.

-Welcome home.

-We're about to talk about -Marissa Herrera, -who flew here last night -from Los Angeles, California.

-Marissa is a lot of things.

-She's an actress.

-She runs a nonprofit -organization -for other artists -who are young -so they can figure out -how to be her.

-She's also somebody -who is a Chicana -indigenous woman, -the first on Homegoings.

And -Marissa -lost her mother last year.

-She was part of our episode -called The Relief in Grief.

-And what was -really interesting -about interviewing -Marissa was that her mother -had her at 19 years old.

-And so they kind of had this -interesting exchange -where they couldn't -quite figure out -who the mother really was -in their relationship.

-Art has certainly been -a catalyst for her navigating -that journey.

-And tonight, -Marissa is going -to be grieving for us.

-This is in honor -of her mother, Rosie Herrera.

-Marissa Herrera.

-Grief.

-To the east, -memories rise with the sun.

-The sweet and the bitter.

-I hold space for them all.

-To the west.

-Grief sets in my body.

-A heart that struggles -to find its rhythm.

-Literally and figuratively.

-I haven't -caught my breath -since you last took yours.

-To the north.

-I look up to my spirit guides -and ancestors and realize -that now includes you.

-To the South.

-I dig down -deep into my anger.

-We still had -so much more life to live.

-To the sky.

-I am in gratitude -that we chose each other -in this lifetime to learn to -grow, forgive, and to love.

-To the earth.

-You've returned.

-Ashes to ashes.

-To continue to nourish me.

-As I ground myself -in a life here.

-Without you.

-Continuing to cry, -scream and hurt.

-While simultaneously -finding moments of joy, grace -and resilience.

-I am my mother's daughter.

-I dance in this space -where love and grief coexist.

-Meet me -there for one last dance -together.

-[piano miusic] -Dónde estás, mi amor?

-Y dónde está mi sueño?

-Que brillaron de sus días -como una dulce canción.

-Pido al cielo.

-Cuando miro las nubes -y. Recuerdo nuestros tiempos -con una dulce canción.

-Lejos de ti.

-Lejos de mí.

-No quiero vivir así.

-Lejos de ti.

-Dónde está tu pié?

-Y dónde están tus ojos?

-Tu susurros que suenan -como una dulce canción.

-Pido al cielo.

-Cuando miro a las flores.

-Y recuerdo.

-Nuestros momentos como una.

-Dulce canción.

-Lejos de mi.

-Lejos de ti.

-No quiero vivir así.

-Lejos de ti.

-[organ miusic] -Lejos de mí.

-Lejos de ti.

-No quiero vivir así.

-Lejos de ti.

-Lejos -de mí.

-Lejos de ti.

-No quiero morir así.

-Lejos de ti.

-No quiero vivir así.

-Lejos de ti.

-I don't know.

-How I do -this job I want to cry.

-Okay.

-It's time for the Q&A -portion of the evening.

-[applause] -Your name, where you're from -and what's your question?

-I Colin Duclaux.

-I live in Brookfield -and I know not -all of you -are from Vermont, -but the Bipoc community -is not a monolith -and I think it makes it -challenging.

-Like I love living here, -but one of the things -that I really don't like -and for my kids is -how incredibly white it is.

-And I would love to encourage -more bipoc -people to come here.

-And it's a it's -a big question, I know, but -what can be done -that would would make it -more inviting place?

-I just any -opinions are great.

-I love that -people want to know -that people -want to know anything.

-Thank you so much.

-Thanks for asking.

Yeah.

-So the question is -what could attract more -Black, indigenous, -people of color here?

-And I kind of want to ask -someone who's not from here -because I think we have -our script in a certain way.

-And I'm kind of -just wondering -if you have any thoughts -like you all have not spent -a ton of time in Vermont.

-Maybe -Marissa could start with you.

-This is my first time -visiting Vermont -and it was a very quick trip.

-I will say that I got in at -midnight last night and I -will be gone at 3:00 tomorrow -and I want to come back.

-I think my -experience, although limited, -has been very welcoming -and to fly -3000 miles -and feel safe enough -to share my grief -and my love -and my story on stage.

-I am a dancer first, -but most of my work is as a -director and choreographer -and producer now.

-And I haven't danced -in a long time.

-And my heart is so full -right now with the love -and the care -that was with my fellow -artists and in this room.

-And you don't get that -everywhere.

-So I'm leaving inspired, -you know, with the hope -of this community -that we have audience members -that are asking -what can we do?

-Because you don't get that -in a lot of communities, -even in liberal, -you know, West -Coast communities, -we don't get that.

-So I think continuing -to ask those questions, -continuing to be open, -continuing -to create these safe spaces -for people to be authentic -and share -their authentic stories -and to see themselves in this -community in that way.

-That's -how we move the needle.

-People of color talk.

-Black people -talk to other Black people.

-There's opportunities here.

-There's a community -investing in us here.

-Come like -we can build something here.

-Right?

-And to that end, like -I've talked to Black -people who live here -and that's not really -what I hear.

-Like, I don't hear that -the Black folks who live here -are already being supported.

-Right.

-I don't hear that the folks -who have already been brave -enough to make a life -for themselves here have been -supported, funded, respected -in a way -that makes them want to stay -so why would I move here -if they are -having a hard time here?

-You know what I'm saying?

-Like get money, -give people money -and funding to be here -to build a life -for themselves -and their families.

-And you'll see a flourish -in the community -here.

-Anyone from the fellow -Vermont community -care to answer this question?

-Yeah.

-So I'm -not from Vermont, actually.

-I lived in Burlington -for almost five years -and I think just -kind of double down -on what was just said.

-But in an even -more like tangible way -for like folks -who are in here, -like sentiment is one thing, -but like supporting -with your money, -with your time is another.

-There are a number -of wonderful businesses, -restaurants, performers, -Black businesses, Black -performers, Black businesses -in Burlington, in Vermont, -throughout this entire state, -like sentiment -is deeply important.

-But the next time -you're thinking, -okay, it's Friday night, I'm -going to order -food for my family, -go to Kismayo Kitchen, -go to the Harmonys, -like go to these.

-They're here and we all have -- a lot of us have access -to the Internet, -to our phones.

-Just look one up.

-Instead of getting pizza, -go somewhere that you haven't -eaten before.

-Support a community -that you haven't before.

-When you're going to farmer's -markets don't -shop don't consume -in a comfortable way.

-Get out of your comfort zone.

-Be intentional -about your choices.

-When folks are asking -for financial support, -or asking for that time -support.

-It's not just a generalized -ask like these businesses, -these people, they're -physically here already.

-They need that support -and all that support -looks like -is you making -a different choice day to day -and not being so comfortable -in the way -your life is currently.

-So just make different -choices.

-That's just small choices, -different choices, -but intentional choices.

-So yeah.

I love it.

-All right.

-Anybody -else want to step to the mic -with another question?

-My name is Emily Carley, and -I live in central Vermont.

-I am a public school educator -and it's a big topic.

-And we have so much to do.

-We have so much work to do, -so much good work to do.

-But I want to bring it down -to the scale of being seen -and included -and heard in classrooms.

-And I'd like to just pose -that as a question -for public educators -and those who care -about public education.

-And I'd like to hear -from you, please.

-Yes, thank you.

-Thank you.

Yeah.

-So I think we're -kind of asking.

-Yeah, it's interesting.

-I love Vermonters -because I do love -this curiosity about like -how to do better.

-Like you said, like that's -not always the case.

Right.

-And also, -it's like we don't know.

-Like, I don't know.

-But from a public education -perspective, -that's -a really specific question -I feel like we can answer.

-Is anybody -feeling like taking that?

-Would you like to?

-Go for it.

-Yeah.

-Make sure that the inclusion -feels authentic.

-So I teach -I teach music theory -and that has a very -particular meaning in the -in higher education -about like -who you're going to teach -and who gets included, -what's actually good music -versus what's bad music.

-Like what I did -today would not be considered -good music to theorists -20 years ago.

-You know, but -yeah, -but the, the, -at some point, -the music theory professors -realized -that they were out of touch -and they started -trying to get back in touch.

-And what they would do -is they wouldn't -they wouldn't tailor -the theory.

-They would just try to find -condescending examples of -like Black people -doing something -that fit the theory, right?

-When it's like, -this is something that's -not actually objective.

-This is something -thats subjective.

-And the art that Black -people made should have been -should have been taught -from the on their terms -instead of -the white racial frame -that they're often taught.

-So like, -you'll find that with -talking about the great -empires of, of the world, -we don't -ever learn -about African empires -that are co, like within -the realm, are in contact -with the great empires -that we do talk about.

-Right?

-That are doing commerce -and things like that.

-That's a very organic thing -that can happen.

-That just doesn't happen -when we're talking about -world history, right?

-There are tons of examples -of not even just talking -about Black people, -but just like -calculus, talking about the -innovations that come -from the Indian subcontinent -or from Iran or, -you know, like -these are things -that we just think of -limits and Newton -or something, you know, -like the whitest white man -ever on the earth.

-But there were people -all over the world that were -simultaneously coming up -with these theories.

-Right.

-You know, -a lot of the -things that we kind of take -for granted as being part -of the history of the West, -it's like, well, simultaneous -to a lot of these advances, -other cultures -were doing this, too.

-It wasn't a Western idea.

-So that's -unfortunately how much work -you'll have to do.

But -it needs to be woven in -on the terms of the reality -of what those cultures -were doing.

So.

-Thanks for your question -and thank you all -for being here.

-I think when -I think of that question, -I feel like my immediate -thought is how much -learning I had to do outside -of my formal education -throughout elementary -middle school, -and even by the time -I got to college.

-The immediate example -that popped to my mind -hearing -that question was like, -I remember in high school -I, we had a psychology class -that was like an early, -you know, -just an intro to psychology.

-And it wasn't until really -about a year ago -I started tapping in more -into existential philosophy -and doing some learning -on that myself, -that I even found -that there were Black -existential philosophers.

-Like, they're just not -they're just not part -of the curriculum -and one thing I do -in New York City right now -is I teach stand up classes -and even the curriculum -that was provided to me, -there's like a very -a very small amount of Black -comedians -included in that list.

-And just one thing -that you can start doing -is when you're building -your curriculums, -when you're building -your schooling, -like are there examples -that aren't on this list -like that I can pull in -and that might take -some extra work on your part.

-And far be it -for me to ask a public school -teacher to do more work -than they already do.

-But when it comes to -but when it comes to anything -racial -like that's unfortunate.

-That is that -is more individualized work.

-But I think it's -just asking yourself -that question of like is, -is there any way I can -step out of -what's been given to me -and infuse more Black brown -folks into my learning, -into my teachings -and things like that?

-Yeah, that sounds like -the it sounds like effort -is the is the word.

-Yeah.

-Along those lines, -my mom was an educator -for 40 years and, -you know, it was always -there was never enough time.

-The reason she went into -education was to teach art -and culture and community.

-And there was no time -when everything was about -testing and standards.

-So it's about -breaking the mold, -about what education -should look like, number one.

-Number two, not guessing -as a non bipoc person -what the value in the portant -is of our communities -and engaging in conversations -with people -that are already doing -this work.

-There are lots of lists -of books -and resources and movies -that didn't even exist -ten years ago, -that you can go -and do the research -to find out and engage -in conversations -with other bipoc educators -that are doing this work.

-What I will say -is that it is a very fine -line in putting the labor -on the Bipoc community -to do the teaching.

-It is not our job to come in -and have to educate -about the trauma -of our communities do.

-And when you do engage -in the conversation pay us.

-I don't care -if it's out of your pocket.

-Like I know.

-I mean, -we as -we put money -into into the things -that are important -for our young people.

-But if it means -paying somebody for that -hour of their time -to be able to come and share -their lived experience, then -that is what we have to do.

-And not only that, -and that's not just -about teaching the history -and the trauma -of our communities.

-We got to educate our -communities about the joy.

-Right now, -the theme for my nonprofit, -we have worked -through our trauma.

-We went through George Floyd, -we went through COVID, -all of these -different things.

-We have now focused on joy -being part of our resilience -because if in hard times -our communities come together -and we celebrate through art, -through music, -through food, in -coming together to uplift us.

-So that also has to be -included -in the curriculum as well.

-Well, I can't thank you -all enough for being here.

-I just wanted to ask -one last question -and it's okay -if the answer is -like nothing.

-But, you know, -in the world of Homegoings, -I'm trying to have -the podcast and the events -and the TV part.

-I'm trying to create -a whole ecosystem -of safety, basically, -so that we can all keep -feeling humanized and seen.

-Is there anything -that you got from either -being a part of the episodes -or tonight -that you felt like -you needed to get?

-Ill start.

-Freedom.

-Healing and a new family.

-All of you.

-Visibility and affirmation.

-Thank you.

-I think also just the power -of vulnerability -and connection.

-The huge and often -underestimated power -that comes with sharing your -humanity with someone, -and being listened to -and listening -to other people.

-It's incredibly -healing to be yourself -and to be brave enough -to be yourself.

-Inspiration.

-Please give it up for -the artists from -Homegoings 2024.

-[applause] -Marissa Herrera.

-Kiah Morris.

-Ash Diggs.

-Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. -Matthew Evan Taylor.

-Saidu -needs a moment.

-Thanks so much -for joining us.

-If you want to continue to be -a part of the Homegoings -family, stay in touch -at Homegoings.co -and subscribe -to the Homegoings -podcast wherever you listen.

-Take good care.