The Culture Report | Women Create Safe Spaces on Stage To Tell Their Stories
Don’t think you know anything at Harry Styles. Our communities dt talk about it again. So tell y’. I told y’all. So our culture. I am a Sam Smith, that I will be Sam’s representative, our story. It’s also not a requirement for you to agree our opinions. This is a culture report. Welcome to the Culture report. Today we are joined by race and culture contributors. Shay Johnson hey Co hosting with us today. Super excited to be here. Thank. Excited you’re here. It’ll be fun. Yeah. So this week we’re looking at te backlash brands are receiving for
their partnerships with LGBTQ plus influencers. And we’re talking about women in entertainment using the stage to tell their stories and create safe spaces. But first we dive into the mess that is Tennessee legislation. Last week, Tennessee Republicans voted to expel 2 Black Democratic lawmakers after protesting gun violence on the chamber floor. Our third representative, who is White and who also participated in the protest alongside her colleagues, survived the vote. No surprise there. The peaceful protest followed te deadly school shooting in Nashv. So Tennessee State representatie Gloria Johnson had this to say on the expulsion of
her black colleagu. So take a look. I think it’s pretty clear I’m a six year old white woman and they are two young black
been tempory reinstated into the Tennessee legislature by a unanimous vote. According to State rules, special elections still must tae place for each of their seats. Both lawmakers plan to seek reelection. So I we see a lot of censorship. I guess how I viewed it was like black censorship, like that’s what stood out to me the most. But what are y’all thoughts? I mean, you’re right on the mon. It’s black censorship. I feel like it’s a form of bigo. I feel like it’s really performative, right? Let me show you what space you belong in and let
you not get out of that space. Even though you’ve made it to this position of power, we still hold the power, right? Yeah. One. OK, I have questions. But first, I was just thinking how we got into this situation. So I’m lik, everyone should be on the same accord. Like, they’re arguing, like trying to save kids lives, you know? Like. If you can’t get behind t, what can you get behind? That’s why I’m like, OK, like, if they did it in the best way, who knows? But I mean, at least they didn’t get violen. I
mean, because, I mean, that’s what you want to do when you think about kids getting hu. So I’m like, they just wanted to bring an issue to their peers. And I don’t know if that was the appropriate course of action. And it’s something that happened so recently as that Nashville school shooting, which I think happened the week prior to that. So it’s just like they’re they’e advocating for issues that are directly impacting their community absolutely. But only the two black legislators and yeah were the ones I had a cens. I had a question I was
reading real close, I was really trying was did theo men did they do something diffet from what she like? Is there something extra? They did something diffe. It was while being black, while being black. And my thing is we vote these people in these positions, the people vote them in because they represent our voices, righ? So we don’t censor the people that represent our voices and then tap them on the hand and put them out of office because we decided we don’t like the way they’re representing the people. How does that work? It the very
few things surprisee when it comes to racism becauseI think we’re just so used to it d we see it in our everyday lives. But this was one of those examps that a blatant racism that surpd me and shocked me because it was like, how do you sidestep in, sideline the two black voices in the lone voice who’s also a wom? Like you slap on the hand. It’s like be quiet, I believe. Yeah I believe I saie was saved by like 1 vote or something. She was on the. I mean but still like for that one
person I’m like re. I would love to sit them down. Another reason I’d love to hear me too. So we’re going to be falling there really closely and give an update. Absolutely. I hope they get their position back officially. Yeah. Yeah. You know not this interim stuff. The Tennessee we watching you we watching we’re watching people are also watching build-a-bear they just dropped a new. Collab that has a lot of people up in arms. It’s a bear modeled after the mt famous drag queen in the world, Ru Paul. So critics believe this is yet another
queer effort to groom children. And it is important to mention that this collab can be found in the Bear cave, which is a section of build a Bs website that’s target targeted specifically towards adults. So Oh yeah, we’ll get into that in just a second. So. And from bears to beer. Social media influencer and tras activist Dylan Mulvaney is on te receiving end of some growing criticism after partnering with Bud Light. Sadly, with her being a trans w, some backlash was expected, but things got a bit more heated when a notable trans figure like Caitlyn
Jenner also spoke out against companies partnering with trans women. So I. I can’t. I mean Caitlyn is a mess on a we other level that we can’t. So nothing she says can be heldh any like weight. Never understand as like being a part of a marginalized community and having a platform like she has to blocr to discredit people from your on community that are trying to sue and make a way from themselves. So I just, I can’t understand like her mentality with. Anything. It’s stemmed because somebody was talking about how cuz Dylano had a partnership
with Nike andy were like she was responding toa tweet of someone saying how in , a Nike brand ambassador. A Nike brand ambassador. Got like a percentage of, yeah, it was 70%. Like, received 70% of her pay after she got pregnant. And that was back in 2018. But they’re saying that they trt a trans woman like Dylan better because she’s getting paid mored I have a question. So we should be paying the samee from 2018 to 2023 because pleas, my pay, I’m not today’s price, right? That doesn’t sit for me. I don’t care whose position.
It doesn’t make sense. I was like, that was five or six years ago and if anything. Shouldn’t we be celebrating that Nike is growing? Hello. Expanding their mindsets growing. And my thing is, I have a quest. So who doesn’t drink beer? Who’s not allowed to drink beer? I mean, I don’t, and I’m a I’m a woman that doesn’t drink beer. But I think that plenty of women would be in a commercial to advertise the beer because plenty of wome. So what? Trans women don’t drink beer, or I don’t understand the issue, but no. Hate to
Bud light because they’ve always been allies. They’ve always been down for th. The bride which we appreciate. We also have to talk about the build-a-bear real quick. I don’t understand the the argument of grooming children because things like this and drag Queens of like. I’ve never seen it from that tht lens like how like for anything I think back of like when I was taken to like Hooters like thats grooming years. They love to. It’s selective outrage. It’s selective outrage and I don’t understand that I think I think there’s a point to a representation matters
right and then. And there’s a difference of you going and choosing what your kid gets because now I’m going to choose something that’s like fits my child versus you saying here, take this and shoving it down someone’s throat. And I and I feel like this is jt a case of representation. It’s just like when we see the Harley Winnie Harlow doll now. So there are girls with all typf skin pigmentations. They want to see that they are represented. So what’s the issue? And also I mean, and also that build-a-bear does not have genitalia. So we’re
not y’all are the weirs making this like a sexual thing. It’s just a a bear in a dress. Please relax. I don’t know why everyone sexualizes drag. There are sexy drag queen that push sex, but there’s also sexy like singers that you you bring your kids to their performances. I went to formation World Tour d Beyoncé was all up on the chair, so I don’t, you know, busting it down. And yeah, the kids was happy and nobody said anything. So I’m going to need you to keep the same energy. Keep that all the same energy.
And I don’t think I ever gave my bear a gender. So my bears were just living. They were just bears. So it’s like. Let let the kids have bears and let them play. Get yourselves together, kids it together. Now we’re going to talk a little bit about sharing space. She shared space with black and brown voices during COVID, and now she’s creating space for women. TV actress Tony Award winner Laa Benetti is detailing a painful experience which she had on sta. She goes to Instagram and she states on Monday, April 3rd. I performed on stage
for 2000 people while having a miscarria. Unfortunately, I am not a stranger to the paind emptiness of losing a pregnancy. It is the path I have walked be, hand in hand with my husband. You know, this was this is a hard one, right? I think so many times when we, we talk about regular things that are happening with women, but we don’t think about these times that are so crucial. And I think far too many women feel like they’re alone in situations like this. And for me, this was a simple reminder of. Someone else went
through it to. I went through a very similar experience on stage and I’ve ner heard anyone ever speak about t. So I just appreciate having a woman of her magnitude coming out and saying you’re not alone, simply you’re not alone. What I yes, thank you for sharing that. And I just wanted, I mean, men will never understand what it’s like to go through. Sure. Like of course some men are impacted by miscarriages, but like actively going throughd I’m just curious what made her or just. Anyone you like, go through that on stage, feel like you
still have to push through and do the job instead f taking that time for yourself. , well, let’s be honest, we’re getting paid less most of the time, right? And we have to do more. And so as a woman’s perspective, I had to the the Bills would still need to be paid and I had to keep go. And so I had one of the largest conferences of my life at that , and it wasn’t an option. It was like push through, pull through, stand up and deli. And so it’s unfortunate, but sometimes you know your
car, the way the careers that we choose are very demanding of us and as wome are going through secret battleo many times and no one even knows what. What does it look like for men to be allies to women in in those kind of situations? That is beautiful. I think really beg a space where we can share these things like right now with you , having these type of conversations that don’t normally happen in our community. And then men when you know women experiencing this, just making sure that she can always talk to you during
that time because it’s a lot and it’s things that you’re going to be unpacking for the rest of your . It’s not a one day thing right. I’ve had family that siss and cousins that have miscarria, so like walking through them and just being a sounding board for when they want to talk and haves emotional release though, absolutely. I’m glad that Laura was in the space to like publicly share tht because I know it like touched u and will touch other women. So absolutely. I think just the power of knowing we’re not by o. Ourselves
out here and not knowg who you’re not by yourself. She fought for women. The battle especially for black women to really say that, hey, this unpaid censorship, this unpaid thing that’s going , on Netflix is not going to work. And now she is actually winning from this. She has a Netflix special out right now, Monique. She addresses her personal lifen stage and I’m proud to say aftea year after her discrimination lawsuit. She is up here with a multi $1,000,000 deal with Netflix and I love to see this because she put her car at jeopardy when
she did this. When she got up there and fought that battle and said yeah no more underpaying us and spoke ot against the number one streaming platform whoa and see this now. I was scared for her when that t like you’re going against the biggest giant there right flicks Netfli. But she stayed consistent no matter what anybody said and ths is another beautiful example of women using their platform usin. Their stages to share their stories and share their pain, which I think is beautiful. So, I mean, you’re hitting the nail on the head. It’s beautiful
to see this. And not only do you see her now coming to an agreement, because I think sometimes we hao understand we can share our tru. It might be a little tumultuous along the way, but then there might be glory on the other side of this, righ? So Netflix still came to a deal with her in order for her to share her next experience. And with this, I don’t know if you guys have watched, but this Netflix special, oh, she keeps it real. She is very personal. She talks about how she. Had some desires to
be with a woman is how she had to talk to her husband about this. And this was her third husband, so she needed him to stay. But she gets real. And she’s like, yo, I had to tell him, like, I’m desiring women, you know? She talked about some family hiy and how her family really demond being a part of the LGBTQIA community. So she was afraid to even have this conversation. I feel like this particular special had lika depth to it that you don’t see n a lot of comedy specials. To me, it was like
more like a a drame, OK, I’m with you on that. I’m l. Could you have told me maybe it was going to be a documentary? Slash dramedy slash? It’s not really. I’m not laughing too much, but this is good, girl. This is good because there were some heavy parts to . There were some really heavy pa. I was going to laugh after this. Yes. I mean Netflix. I mean smart on them. People have been against Monique for years, even people within the culture. And she’s always been an apolog, can’t speak unapologetically herself. Like she’s never
folded. And consistent. Consistent. And she is so funny even during. Like some of those dark, like serious moments, she still was able to pull out a laugh, put on a laugh with tears streaming from her face. Right. And when you have a woman, that’s when it gets Netflix. Oprah Winfrey Lee Daniels, like I salute any woman that can stand in her truth, like Moniqu, and then still get up there and deliver on the next season of her life. Like, kudos to her. I’m a stay tuned in. Stay tuned in, check out the special if y’all
having. There’s a lot to unpack, so good luck with that. All rig, we know 420 is just around the corner, so joining us we have Denver Wrt and former NFL playmaker who is now breaking barriers and creatg opportunities for others in cannabis. Without further ado, please join me in welcoming our special guest, Oliver, better known as both case. Thank you so much for joining the coast, guys. God hit me with the government name. OK, we’re super excited to have you here. There’s a lot going on. We know we’re in the mount High City, a lot
going on around the holid, but besides the. Holiday, you’ve literally been breaking barriers and creating opportunities where we know for blacks, a lot of us were locked away for this, right, locked away because of cannabis. And to see you now out here takg initiative to really create, create opportunities, just tell me what it feels like to be a part of making history. This is definitely a generationl opportunity. So it’s something that I don’t take lightly at al. You know, my parents, my grandparents, you know, all our family members really didn’t have this opportunity. S. You
know, this is a tourist tha, you know, I carry with pride an, you know, I think for us, you k, just throughout the history all we’ve ever wanted was opportuni. Just, you know, when when industry started up, we just wanted an opportunity to be a part of it and, you know, no handouts, no anything. So for me just having the opportunity in my background of, you know, professional sports, you know, I’m going to do, I’m going to make a do what to do for everybody. So I’m excited about it. What was that transition like coming
from the NFL into startig becoming an entrepreneur at a black entrepreneur and then cho. In cannabis, that’s the industry you wanted to enter. It was tough. I mean, transition in general for anybody when you’ve been doing something for a long time, the the climb is is tough, the fall is even tougher. So, you know, I struggled a whole lot with, you know, with my mental health, just like most people do. So, you know, a lot of my motivation behind getting in this space was mental health. You know, cannabis is been a pat of my life
throughout my career. You know, I suffered a lot of injuries and, you know, I was on drugs, I was on alcohol, and all that stuff was making me sick. And I literally, my dreams almost went up in fla. And cannabis really was there and help me navigate and really just figure out my situation where I could conte to move forward and pursue the thing. So for me this is really about turning you know, all the pain and things that I suffered from into my passion nw and providing stuff for other people so they could do
the sam. Yeah. And there’s a lot of medical benefits this, but I know a lot of people, especially black people, like we tend to stray away from it cuz like well, I grew. I haven’t tried it because liken I grew up. I know when I grew u, like my parents, it was like really stigmatizing my hou. It was like they were scared was going to be a gateway drug because I know like drugs have like have ruined black lives. It has a strong hold on. So what would you say for someone that could benefit from
this but mige scared too because all the stig, well, you know, the first thing, you know, everything that provis pleasure people can get addicte, right. So I mean, coffee. And let’s not and that’s what cannabis is you know cannabis provides pleasure for people that makes u it provides relief you know it helps with some of the medicinal things the sleep anxiety, stres. It’s a mood enhancer. So you know for people to say it’s a gateway it is a gateway, it’s a gateway to feeling bette. That’s what I like to say but you know for people
who are trying to you know just do your research you know e the studies are is definitely progressed and. There’s a lot more information out there and things are available for people who you know, just want to take small baby st. And, you know, when it comes to using it, I like that. I think you’re, you’re absolutely doing what we need to see. You’re changing the stigma and n you’re also showing us that thee is life after the NFL because so many players go through, you kn, that mental health of after the, what do I
do? Is there something for me to do? So thank you both for joining u, thanking you for sharing your story and let them know where ty can reach you at if they want to learn more about your mission. Well I’m on Instagram Twitter, all the all the social networks, all pro farms. under score we’re having a cool event on 4/21. It’s called chief and eats at the number 38. So it’s a Wellness event where they’ll be different vendors and other people showcasing their cannabis products and just. The benefits and those type of things. So I
love throwing these cool little events. I wish you guys were at my part. So it’s fun to be able to create a narrative, a new narrative th, you know, we weren’t exposed to. We were younger and just be able to show people the true and and the things that are going on in cannabis in this space. I appreciate it cuz I feel like you taught me some things. Right, right. We all learned a little bit, a little bit from you today. So thank you. Thank you so much. Take it a break. Barriers. Yeah. All right.
Have you guys almost 420? So we’re going to hop into the good news of the week Hulu is diving into black culture. In its latest original document, variety reports that the streamr is set to produce freaknik, the wildest party never told. Now the documentary is set to capture the rise in the fall of HBCU student spring Break picnic that later turned into annual S. Party. That kind of event rose to provenance in the 80s and 90s in Atlanta and garnered a sort of reputation for being raunchy before its final event in 1999. So I already
see lots of talks on this on social media, and some of our parents are goig to have some explaining to do. I love somebody? All right. Going into some more good news? Well, political leader and votig rights activist Stacey Abrams has been appointed as an inaugural chair for race and Black politics at Howard University. Her role will be focused on inspiring the black community and she is o committed to making sure she has guests that come in and really e the needle forward and how theyn be a part of opportunities. Tod. I’m excited because this
is not going to stop her from running again, but this is going to pack a lot of young people at Hu, better known as Howard Universi, and it may not be good news for some, but it’s good news for the cult. LSU’s women’s basketball team is going to the White House. Last week we discussed Angel. This decision to decline First y Jill Biden’s invitation to DC ar both LSU and the losing team Ioa were extended in an invitation. She has since changed her mind. She says she’s doing it for her team. And I want to
say for the people that are mad, all the people that are coming out saying like, oh, she folded, please relax. She is a leader. She’s being a good leader. If your team worked really hard for something and you know they want to go, don’t stand in their way, that’s ridiculous. I love that. That’s called growth, right? That’s called. Leadership that’s called. I don’t have to agree with everyone that’s saying things but I’m a leader of a team so I’m going to show up for my team and also check in like those powers that be like
OK like that you breaking precedent. So when right right. I mean fixed didn’t now we’ve got a little apologies so OK here I come and you can’t win. Oh my bad real and you can’t win just know you can’t win because if she would have said Oh no we’re not going everybody would like how dare she right. Oh my God so selfish. So. Yeah, don’t worry about what everybody else is doing. We pay attention this week. We want you to join the conversn and let us know what good things you’re seeing in the culture. So
e-mail us at Culture report t 9news.com with your good news. k you for joining us for this episode of the Culture Report. We’ll be back next Thursday to continue the conversation right here on our Free 9 News Plus app and nine news.c.
