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It's been said that "there are 8 million stories in the naked city," however, few have haunted me like the story of Rashawn Brazell. It was an honor to meet Desire Brazell-Jones and host this discussion with her about her son's murder case. It's an interview I'll never forget, and a story that I hope to revisit with a more in-depth project in the near future.

For those who are unfamiliar with the details of the case: on February 14, 2005, 19-year old Rashawn Brazell kissed his mother goodbye and left his family's apartment in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, NY for a day that was supposd to consist of a meeting with an accountant, a search for a job and a lunch meeting with his mother. He never showed for the lunch date, and did not return home that night.  Rashawn was never seen alive again.

Three days later, trash bags containing dismembered human body parts were found on a subway tunnel platform at the Nostrand Avenue station on the 'A' line in Brooklyn, and others were found in a recycling plant in Greenpoint. They were determined to belong to Rashawn Brazell.

When I first learned about the story, I searched high and low for in-depth coverage by the mainstream media, and was deeply saddened that I didn't find it. What I DID find was a glut of irresponsible (and, in some cases, downright cynical and biased) stories that seemed to imply that Rashawn's murder was somehow the result of some kind of unseemly lifestyle. What was missing, however, were DETAILS. And the questions abound: how could a person be tortured and dismembered ANYWHERE in a city as densely populated as New York, then have the body disposed of in a public transit station and not have ANYONE see or hear ANYTHING? What in the world would motivate someone to do this? Was it a bias crime? Ritual killing? Robbery gone bad? (Doubtful.)

Then I wondered about Desire, his mother. How could she live day-to-day knowing that the person who did this to her son continued to roam free? What sustained her? Where was her wall-to-wall coverage? Was her pain somehow less valid than that of Beth Holloway Twitty (whose daughter Natalee disappeared - a month and a half after Rashawn - to an avalanche of "poor little missing honor student" coverage by the mainstream media)? Where was Desire's Oprah moment? (There's still time, Oprah.)

It wasn't until I started hosting OPEN YOUR MIND  that I had a venue to meet Desire, discuss this story and ask these questions. And I am much richer for the experience. I think anyone who listens to Desire speak about this in her own voice will be enriched as well.

By all accounts, this young man was an amazing human being. His story will continue to be told.

STORY LINKS:

Larry Lyons' Blog

Rod 2.0 blog - Ongoing Coverage of the Rashawn Brazell Story

Find his killer: Mom of butchered Bushwick man wants answers, New York Daily News 29 August 2008

A Year After A Teenager Was Dismembered, Still No Answers, New York Times; 13 February 2006

SHOW CREDITS

ORIGINAL BROADCAST SITE: WNSR - NEWSCHOOLRADIO.ORG

Announcer
Angela Veliky

Video Archivist
Garret Hurley

Production Assistance
Yakubu Budu-Saka

Show Theme Music:

Open Your Mind
Melissa Etheridge
from the Island Records album The Awakening (2007)
Published by Sons of Ridge Road (ASCAP)

Background Music:

Powder
Sweetback
from the Sony Music album Sweetback (1996)

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CLICK THE IMAGE TO STREAM ONLINE

From strippers to Jesus...that's how you KNOW it's OPEN YOUR MIND!

This was a fascinating conversation with a fascinating woman.

Religion and politics, goes the rule, are the subjects to avoid discussing where possible. What fun would a talk-show be, however, if we adhered to that rule? I actually enjoy discussing those topics with individuals whose ideas and philosophies are outside of the mainstream of what you normally hear. On the talk show I want to have conversations with people of MANY different political and, yes, religious perspectives. So when my good friends Pastor Vanessa Brown and Prohpetess Tanya Maryoung of the Rivers of Living Water Ministry in Harlem gave me a copy of the book written by their Bishop, Yvette Flunder, it seemed as good a place as any to begin that type of exploration.

What makes these types of conversations challenging for so many is that most people have accepted one form of theology or another, and there is ideological conflict when they have conversations with people whose beliefs do not dovetail with (if they don't directly contradict) their own. As I mentioned to Bishop Flunder during this show, as an agnostic I am completely unencumbered by that. I "opt out" of the drama and conflict; considering how much drama and conflict I can't opt out of, it's a wonderful gift to be free of the religious type. I do, however, find religion fascinating on an intellectual level.  And I certainly understand why people need it, even if I personally do not. I worry when religion ceases to be a source of strength, community and hope for people, but instead becomes a site of judgment, or shame, or manipulation, or violent conflict - among a myriad of unfortunate possibilities. We all know how many atrocities and unthinkable acts have been committed by people who believe their behavior to be condoned (or commanded) by "God." That precludes them from remorse. What can be more frightening?

Bishop Flunder's approach of "radical inclusion" is a refreshing counterpoint to all that. If I were in the market for a religion (which I determinedly am not), these concepts would be more in line with what I believe on an instinctive level. I look forward to talking to her again, as well as talking to people who disagree with her "all-is-welcome" approach to try to understand their thinking as well. And I'm also glad that negotiations are underway to do a show with a noted and pretty high-profile ateheist author, whom I look forward to asking what he thinks of an approach like Bishop Flunder's, one that is devoid of all of the unhealthy prosletyzing and finger-pointing that he uses as a basis for his visceral critique and rejection of all religion. I hope I get to talk to this gentleman before we break for the Winter.

No matter what your faith, I would think a rational person would find it difficult to disagree with Yvette Flunder's perspective. If you do, I'd love to hear from you. This won't be the last time that OPEN YOUR MIND ventures into topics of religion, and I really want to explore a variety of viewpoints. Let the sharing begin.

FEATURES MUSIC FROM BISHOP YVETTE FLUNDER'S CD: WE WON'T BE SILENT ANYMORE

SHOW CREDITS

ORIGINAL BROADCAST SITE: WNSR - NEWSCHOOLRADIO.ORG

Announcer
Angela Veliky

Show Theme Music:

Open Your Mind
Melissa Etheridge
from the Island Records album The Awakening (2007)
Published by Sons of Ridge Road (ASCAP)

There was (in the interests of time) a sizable amount of "trimming" from my interview with Craig Seymour, and I thought you might find a couple of them interesting -- I did! So here are two of them.

OUTTAKE 1: "Terik's Rite of Passage" (I probably shouldn't have gone there)

OUTTAKE 2: "Craig & Racial Ambiguity" (Hmmm.....)

I also found this interesting print interview with Craig from last year.

Click HERE to download from iTunes

On this week's show, I talk to Craig Seymour, grad student/stripper-cum-entertainment journalist-cum-college professor about his life as written about in his memoir, All I Could Bare: My Life in the Strip Clubs of Gay Washignton, D.C.

Oh yeah, I went there!

Now before people think this show is a cheap shot at titillation (and yes, the image selected was designed to "grab 'em...did it work?), I should mention that Craig Syemour is a twice-published author (with his first book being Luther: The Life and Longings of Luther Vandross, which remains the only true biography of Luther Vandross), and he holds a PhD. in American Studies and is currently teaching at Northern Illinois University. He is a man of stustabce, who took an interesting path to learning.

This is another of those shows that I had in mind when I came up with the idea for the series: a topic that brings me into direct confrontation with my own "stuff." When I read Craig's book, I knew that talking to him would be one of those conversations. I was not disappointed...at least not in him. As for my own performance, I am not sure I was as "unrestrained" on the topic as I'd like to have been. Phone interviews are their own unique animal. But all things considered, it IS an enlightening conversation.

Craig's views on some things made me feel damn near old and stodgy. He is far more liberal than I am on some of the subjects that we discussed. (Legalized sex work? I understand and even AGREE with the theory, yet I remain queasy.)

I also couldn't help but wonder what to make of my own downright aversion to working as Craig did. Could I have allowed myself to be objectified? Could I have "disassociated" to the degree necessary to allow complete strangers (most of whom are probably gross...this IS America) to carress and stroke and fondle and tug on my...whatever they wanted?

What, if anything, does it say about me if I absolutely could not? Conversely, what might it say about the people who do?

Could YOU?

If you could, as Craig suggests, perform "sexual services" as part of the capitalist free enterprise system, what ISN'T for sale? What happens to our humanity when EVERYTHING is for sale?

I'd love to get into a follow-up discussion on this one. Maybe int he comments section here? Or on a future roundtable?

Anyway - enjoy the show!

ADDITIONAL READING: Craig Seymour's 2005 Doctoral Dissertation: "Searching" for Luther Vandross: The Politics and Performance of Studying an African-American Icon

CREDITS

ORIGINAL BROADCAST SITE: WNSR - NEWSCHOOLRADIO.ORG

Announcer
Angela Veliky

Show Theme Music:

Open Your Mind
Melissa Etheridge
from the Island Records album The Awakening (2007)
Published by Sons of Ridge Road (ASCAP)

Click the Animated Image to Listen Online

Click HERE to download from iTunes

This is one of those interviews that I KNEW I wanted to do the very moment I conceived of doing this show.

J. Randy Taraborrelli is my favorite “celebrity” biographer, hands-down, and when I made the very first draft of my guest “wish list” for the show, he was on it.  This year has been unique for him because, in addition to the book he KNEW would be published this summer (The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe), the unexpected, devastatingly tragic death of Michael Jackson precipitated the re-release of his previous bestseller, which is titled Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story 1958-2009 in this latest incarnation (the THIRD edition of the book).

I knew that I wanted to talk to J. Randy about the MJ book because, quite frankly, it’s the book that got me hooked on him as a writer. I also knew that I wanted to talk to him about his “craft,” because I think the work that a biographer does is fascinating, and that Randy has a way of bringing the reader exceptionally close to the larger-than-life figures that he writes about. Obviously, I had no idea that Michael would die this year and that we’d be talking about the book as a “New Release” on the heels of it.  I told Randy that I could easily have spent 2 hours talking to him about the MJ book alone, but my challenge was to explore his craft, talk about his subjects, as well as promote the new Marilyn Monroe book. And I had him for ONE hour.

I don’t really get nervous in advance of interviews. I do my best to be as thoroughly prepared as possible, sit in front of the microphone, and “let ‘er rip.”  But this one meant a lot to me. I had a few moments the day before the interview that could only be characterized as a mild panic attack. The “inner critic” kicked in and started screaming at me: I can’t blow this! I can’t blow this!

Oprah talks on her DVD collection about getting into the bathtub the night before she interviewed her hero (Diana Ross) for the first time, and “crying [her]self out.” I felt an urge to do something similar the day before. I don’t know why, but I cried. Maybe not the hysterical “ugly cry” that Oprah described, but I definitely wept a little. (Fear of success?) Will this interview be worthy of the guest? Will this interview cover all the bases it needs to? Will this interview be worthy of the SUBJECTS (especially Michael)? So much to be nervous about, and it kicked in big time. That’s usually when something great happens, though.

Funny story about the day of the interview. I was still in the control room with my ace, Chinisha Scott, who was Associate Producer on this session, planning out questions down to the final moments. It was well over 90 degrees in New York on this day, and I knew I wanted to be “fresh” when Randy got there, so I didn’t put on my shirt/tie/vest ensemble only to sweat it out on the ride down. I brought it with me, and wore a basic gray tank top, figuring I would change before he got there. Randy was scheduled to arrive at 3:00, but little did I expect that and he and his publicist would get to the studio about 20 minutes early, whiz by security and head straight up to us – no warning. And there I was, tank top and all. The Emperor had no clothes on.

Mildly embarrassing, but DEFINITELY an icebreaker. J. Randy suggested I do the interview in my tank top. I couldn't go THERE, but I DID decide to forego the tie!

I was no longer nervous, and the interview just FLEW. J. Randy has said that it was a highlight of his week, and I can’t ask for a higher compliment. A wonderful way to wrap up an otherwise dark summer.

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed doing it.

Here are a few photos (Thanks so much to Garret Hurley for his amazing eye and for surprising me with his presence) from the interview session:

Here is the never-before-seen photo from the Marilyn Monroe book that J. Randy referenced in the interview:

As always, your comments are welcome on this site, and please subscribe to the show on iTunes. I’m looking forward to an extraordinary year!

LINKS:

Celebrity Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli shoots for two this month (Examiner.com) 5 Aug 2009

Don't Blame Dr. Murray for MJ's death, says MJ's biographer (ANI/Entertainment Daily) 24 Aug 2009

Michael Jackson's life-long confidante J. Randy taraborrelli: 'I Saw In His Eyes He Was Dying' (London Daily Mail Online) 29 June 2009

ORIGINAL BROADCAST SITE: WNSR - NEWSCHOOLRADIO.ORG

Click the Image Above to Listen Online

Click HERE to download from iTunes

PROGRAM NOTES: Michael Jackson Tribute

• First I must apologize, in advance, for the cringeworthy first 10 minutes of the show (and also a section about 30 minutes into it where I tell the “encounter” story) where every bit of my public speaking training and experience fails me as I pepper my stories with “you know”’s and “you-know-what-I-mean?”s. Very amateurish; I’ve been doing this long enough to know better.
  
  But at the same time, if ever there were a time to cut myself some slack on that sort of thing, it would be now. I was just trying to keep it together. When you have been crying on and off for 24 hours, on top of a night of insomnia and emotional anguish, then rushed to set up a studio to record and then speak coherently – “control” the show – there are bound to be some cracks. That’s the most obvious one. I was speaking like an ungraceful gang member. Oh, the humanity! But I was really on “autopilot.” Thank my lucky stars that YGB was there; I really don’t believe I would have been able to do it either by myself or with anyone else.

• Another thing that struck me coming out of the taping is how the odd numbness I’m experiencing prevented me somewhat from conveying just how ANGRY I am in the aftermath of this. Since there’s no going back and “inserting” it into the show, I’ll address that particular emotion in another (forthcoming) blog entry.

• There was SOOO much music to choose from that a 90-minute (or less) tribute show that fully does justice to the beauty of Michael’s body of work is absolutely impossible. I went for things, instead, that aren’t played to death, and saved the more popular tunes (most likely to be played ad nauseam in the coming days and weeks) for the “bed” we spoke over. A couple of those, however, are songs I wish we could have “spotlighted,” especially “To Make My Father Proud” and “Heaven Can Wait.” God...so many wonderful songs.

• YGB’s observation/quip, “Some people go to Neverland on crack!” really makes me laugh every time I hear it. I think that was the only time I laughed that entire day.

• It was hard to put across, as effectively as I usually do, my belief that Michael may have had some sexual contact with Jordie Chandler, the first accuser (with whom he settled in early 1994). I don’t think I did it very well on the show. On a related note, I found a post by a Huffington Post blogger who shares my observation that Michael was most likely “essentially gay,” which I also couldn’t quite articulate. It's definitely food for thought, and the blogger laid out the idea much more clearly than I ever could. I should be such an effective writer…

• I’ll get the Joh’Vonnie Jackson picture posted as soon as I can scan it.

BOOKS MENTIONED ON THE SHOW

MICHAEL JACKSON: The Magic and the Madness by J. Randy Taraborrelli
Available at Amazon
Author’s website

**THE DEFINITIVE MICHAEL JACKSON BIOGRAPHY**

On Michael Jackson by Margo Jefferson
Available at Amazon

My interview with the fabulous ESPERANZA SPALDING from this spring.

As I mentioned in my chat with her, she was a surprise (and ultimately VERY pleasant) discovery I made last year. Her name (Spanish for 'hope') couldn't be more appropriate - it's a beautiful thing to know that there are still young (she's only 24!) musicians like her coming into their own. It gives me a bit more optimism about the future than I might have had otherwise.

The thing that struck me about her during this interview was that, although her music is incredibly sophisticated, she is still a VERY young girl with a very youthful energy. No prima dona, pretentious nonsense - it was incredibly refreshing. She's the REAL DEAL,a nd it was an honor to sit and talk to her, as well as taking this photo below.

It was taken with a new camera I couldn't use yet in a dark club - we BOTH looked much better than this photo would have you believe!

Check out the OFFICIAL ESPERANZA SPALDING homepage and CLICK HERE to listen to the interview!

The OPEN YOUR MIND roundtable crew is all back ad ready to jump into the spring 2009 semester with a splash!

In the is first show, Davon, Liz, Sonam and myself are joined by special guest Chris Crews, media liaison for The New School in Exile. The topics include (of course) last semester's occupation, the inauguration and first days of President Obama, Michael Phelps & "bong-gate" and the World's Biggest Breasts, to name a few.

So the sad news about this show is that Damien isn't at the table, and as it now stands, looks like he won't be with us this semester. I hold out hope that something will change, but it doesn't look promising. He is the only one among us who is actually holding down a full-time job while doing the Media Studies program (admirable -- I couldn't do it at this point in my life), and so after reviewing everyone's schedule we chose the best time for all of the panelists (and, of course, Joe as the engineer). Turns out Damien was the one who couldn't make that best time. I'm not pleased...but we soldier on.

This show was sort of odd for me. I had been anticipating it and looking forward to doing the roundtable again - the ideas were REALLY flowing while I was on break -- but when the day itself came around I was a bit off my optimal energy because I had been having a number of early mornings working a promotion (for the Quaker Oat company of all things!) on the very cold streets of Times Square. The usual set-up is that I compile and send a topic agenda and brief packet of pre-readings for the panel to receive the day before. didn't get it done this time around -- so we all feel a bit under-informed.

That, PLUS the bottle of wine before we rolled tape. GODO TIMES! Either way, the panel is always fun to listen to. I did some stutterign and stammering as the show went on -- got to work on that for next time. At least the winter break cobwebs have been shaken off...

MUSIC:
"New School Swagger" / "Bailout Money"
by Angel Folgar
www.myspace.com/angelfolgar

SHOW THEME:
OPEN YOUR MIND by Melissa Etheridge, From the Island Records album The Awakening.