Getting to the Root of it with Venus Roots

In this celebratory episode, Niki rings in the second anniversary of the podcast by getting into conversation with fellow gemini Mimi Zhu, writer and author of the forthcoming Book, Be Not Afraid of Love. The two discuss the realities that become more possible through storytelling for communities of color, the co-opting necessitated by corporate campaigns such as Stop Asian Hate and Pride, and the ways in which grief, loss, and migrant narratives all create openings for transformation and abolitionist values.

Show Notes

In this celebratory episode, Niki rings in the second anniversary of the podcast by getting into conversation with fellow gemini Mimi Zhu, writer and author of the forthcoming Book, Be Not Afraid of Love. The two discuss the realities that become more possible through storytelling for communities of color, the co-opting necessitated by corporate campaigns such as Stop Asian Hate and Pride, and the ways in which grief, loss, and migrant narratives all create openings for transformation and abolitionist values. 


Mimi's work explores themes of survival, queerness, alternate worlds rooted in interdependence/kinship/solidarity. Their work has been featured in the New York Times, PAPER Magazine, Guardian, SLATE, Artnet, NME, Bustle, JacobinMag, them., The Fader, INSIDER, VICE. They also write a monthly newsletter called WRITE, TO HEAL that includes essays, prompts, and curated playlists.
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What is Getting to the Root of it with Venus Roots?

join niki franco (venus roots), a community organizer, writer, and facilitator of spaces for collective study, as she leans into conversations of radical truth-telling with artists, theorists, and organizers living in a world of rigid binaries and multiple truths. she navigates the urgency of solidarity, ancestral preservation, and dismantling systems of oppression that inform and deform our lives.

@venusroots
www.venusroots.com