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What happens when Black Americans leave the U.S. and build a life abroad? What does it mean to integrate into a new culture while still finding community and belonging?
Hereās a preview of a live conversation with three Black creatives living in Mexico City: multidisciplinary artist and healer Iyeyinde, chef and entrepreneur Ron Dutes, and artist and educator Vivianne Njoku.
Come back for more in the next full length episode of TSLOTKD, where our guests break down "expat" life, migration, gentrification, cultural integration, language, and building cross-cultural community - and what Black life in Mexico City can teach us about the difference between forced integration and actually belonging.
Ā”Nos vemos la prĆ³xima vez para Ā«La vida secreta de TK DutesĀ»!
Credits: Hosted and produced by Keisha āTKā Dutes. Live audio recorded by Mike Brown. Post-production support by C.
*****Love the show? Vote for us before October 15th, 2026 to win a Listener's Choice Signal Award for Best Experimental Podcast and Best Art Work!******
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Creators and Guests
What is The Secret Life of TK Dutes?
The Secret Life of TK Dutes is the story of what it means to become when the system wonāt let you be. One woman sets out into the world, looking for ways to get ahead as an Artist. Producer. Daughter, Sister. Partner.
Together with those who bear witness, TK throws away the scripts and looks for answers, in airports, dentists offices, across borders.
Each episode is a new world, pioneering the art of loose autobiography to build the picture of a life in a community of voices.
What happens when you stop doing what is expected of you and start doing YOU?
A better life can be a hustle. It doesnāt have to be a secret.
Hey, guys. On our last side quest, I started a conversation with our guest Tiara about the possibility of this time period being one of great migration for black folks away from The US and into places like Mexico City. As y'all know, this is an unorthodox show with an unorthodox approach to production. And I didn't wanna leave y'all hanging as we put finishing touches on the next full length episode of The Secret Life of TK Dutes. So I have a preview of our next episode that we recorded live in Mexico City.
TK Dutes:We had an event and everything. We had charcuterie and drinks. It was real cute. And let me tell you, my biggest accomplishment outside of this recording was being able to order the chairs in Espanol on WhatsApp. Okay.
TK Dutes:Look at me. I spoke to three black creatives living full time in Mexico City. Allende, a multidisciplinary artist and healer, Ron, a chef and entrepreneur, and Vivian, an artist and educator. And you'll hear them in that order. In this clip, we move from migration to integration, and what it looks like to be part of a society that isn't familiar to us and build a life in community with folks that are already there.
TK Dutes:Is this is this the beginning of another great migration? Is this are we are we in something right now? Are we at a turning point?
Iyeyinde:No. I wouldn't wouldn't say I great, but I feel like
TK Dutes:it was good It's a good
Ron Dutes:migration, nigga. Good migration. Curated. It's curated.
Iyeyinde:It's the right people that's coming. It ain't just everybody. You know what mean? It's the right people. Nah, seriously, but
TK Dutes:Okay. So, And if we go back to that, you know the thing that black people were leaving before in the in that time, you know, we're clearly We are leaving something. Right? We are leaving some I'm tired every day of of what our country puts us through, right? The United States Of America and I know there's folks that have done the big move.
TK Dutes:They got their residency peep My friends in the audience right here. Hey, y'all. You know? So there's something, you know? Like, we are leaving something to come to something else.
TK Dutes:So that's kinda like where my mind was going. Okay. Cool. You know, y'all talked about integrating here. It's not just about being around black people.
TK Dutes:Right? It's not just about being around American people or people that speak your language. How are you all integrating in Mexican society?
Iyeyinde:My son is Mexican.
TK Dutes:Period. So you integrate. You integrate. My
Iyeyinde:oldest son, his mom is from Mexico City. His great it's her great grandfather so his great great grandfather was African. Beautiful. But yeah, I got a community. I got a black community, I got a Mexican community.
TK Dutes:Cause Yeah. I think a lot of people say, know, oh you go to another country, you all stay in and go to your own parties, you all do this that and the third. But what I'm seeing in the community that I've been around is that there's a lot of cross cultural
Iyeyinde:We in the mix. Mix.
TK Dutes:We in the We
Iyeyinde:in the mix.
TK Dutes:And for those of there are people from our land that don't know how to be in the mix. So how so for those people, how do we what are we telling them? You know what I'm saying? How do you be in the mix if you don't know how you know, if you if you're fronting, if you just stay in Roma all day?
Iyeyinde:You know what I'm saying?
TK Dutes:What? Oh, my bad. I did too much. I did too much. It wasn't the great migration, it was that. Okay.
Ron Dutes:I don't wanna just come here like I love a glass of wine in a fancy restaurant and you know a nice a nice atmosphere so that's my you know that's how I I can't help but contribute to gentrification that way. I'm going to all these Roma restaurants I gotta tell you.
Ron Dutes:But at the same time, I'm just trying to be responsible. I'm paying my taxes, making sure that I'm doing what I have to do.
Vivianne Njoku:I was gonna say similarly, I feel like the three of us, I feel like anytime I'm in spaces where we are curating or creating, it's multilingual, at the very least bilingual and it's intentionally so. It's not like, Oh, a few Mexicans showed up. But it's really critical that we also don't come to a place Let me also back up a second. I don't fundamentally believe in nationalism. I think it's a very dangerous concept.
Vivianne Njoku:I do respect that we come from cultures that are ancient and I think that no matter where you go, you gotta recognize that culture and pay respect to that culture. But I don't inherently believe that we're we need to ask permission. Right? I don't inherently believe in that. I think migration is a human right.
Vivianne Njoku:We have a right to be where our body tells us we need to be. And so I say that because black folks, let's come. If it feels good, if it's moving your spirit, come and also recognize that yeah folks have been here for a minute and there is a culture that's here and people have invested and people's families have invested and recognize that, recognize the language. So I feel like there's a reason why we flock together, there's a reason why we nod at each other on the street, those of us who do. Those of us who do.
TK Dutes:If you don't nod, I don't know you.
Vivianne Njoku:Because what I always say to that, I'm like I nod and recognize another black person on the street because globally we are still in a state of fighting annihilation. We're not supposed to be here. A few of us for labor. A few of us to extract from us but as a whole we are still being actively annihilated. And so when I see a black person just walking with their faculties, I nod, I recognize you because nigga we still here.
Vivianne Njoku:We are still here. So we flock to each other for safety in a lot of senses. We wanna be in those spaces and at the same time I recognize those spaces don't always signify that we're in safety. So it's a balance, it's tapping into your energy and it's tapping into yeah, who are your who are the people that are in this space, Mexicans specifically, Latin Americans, this is a hub for Latin Americans from all over the diaspora of Latin America. Like who are those people who also like hold the same values, who also see you as a human being, who also want you to thrive?
Vivianne Njoku:And that I feel like where is that's where the most beautiful coalition lies.
TK Dutes:Now let's bring it back to The US real quick. Imagine a life where desegregation wasn't just forced integration in disguise, that you could go to and thrive in places that felt natural to you. On our next full length episode of The Secret Life of TK Dutes produced by Mike Brown of The Art of Letting Go podcast, we talk about how they left The US, what's sustaining these creatives, and why they don't have a return ticket booked anytime soon. If you want more Secret Life while you wait, join our Patreon. There are behind the scenes convos with the producers where we spill the tea on our inside thoughts and share how we make each episode.
TK Dutes:Membership is free and support starts at $5. Patreon.com/secretlifeoftk. This little taste of my secret life was produced by me, Keisha t k Dutes, Live audio recorded by Mike Brown with post production support by C. A. K.
TK Dutes:A. G. Trap House. Let's