Bourbon 'n BrownTown

BrownTown decolonizes the ivory tower approach to research with Dr. Glenance Green & Shari Runner, Co-Founders of the Black Researchers Collective (BRC). The Chicago-based capacity-building collective takes research to the streets, designing, activating, and mobilizing communities to use research and data to create and sustain change across Chicago communities and beyond. Dr. G and Shari discuss their journeys as researchers, organizers, and leaders from before the 2020 uprisings to now, comparing the two political moments while doubling down on their work in the face of both anti-Black and anti-science rhetoric and policies from the Trump Administration. As the team unpacks the relationship between research and the grassroots, it becomes clear that participatory and solution-based approaches to self-determination hold constant in all avenues of liberation work. After all, "we do this 'til we free us" (Mariame Kaba). Originally recorded June 11, 2025, days after the large scale anti-ICE demonstrations began in Los Angeles. GUESTS Dr. Glenance Green (affectionately known as Dr. G) is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Black Researchers Collective. Recognized by WVON and Ariel Investments in 2024 as one of Chicago’s 40 Gamechangers Under 40, Dr. G is a dynamic scholar, author, and community organizer dedicated to racial equity, Black liberation, and policy reform. A multi-talented leader, she holds a Ph.D. in Policy Studies in Urban Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago, with research focusing on Black women-led organizations leading resistance efforts against oppression through community-driven educational models, which not only advance their organizations' missions but also have potential implications for shaping state and local education policy. Follow her on Instagram and her creative work on her Linktree! Shari Runner is Co-Founder and Director of the Black Researchers Collective. A native Chicagoan whose national reputation has been cemented due to her outspoken voice on inclusion, race, and equity. With more than 40 years of experience in public and private operations and financial management and after a career as an international banker in foreign exchange, Runner used her knowledge of finance and business operations as an entrepreneur. The Black Researchers Collective (BRC) aims to advance racial equity by training and equipping communities with research tools to be more civically engaged and policy-informed through four key pillars: Community Education & Action; Research Evaluation, & Technical Assistance; Grassroots Strategies for Policy Engagement & Advocacy; and Black Researchers Pipeline. Follow BRC on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Mentioned in the episode: Data 4 Black Lives Research in the Streets Podcast Black Researcher App LA Anti-ICE protest highlights #NoCopAcademy Report -- CREDITS: Intro song Hella Black by Tobe Nwigwe. Audio engineered by Kiera Battles. Production assistance by Jamie Price. -- Bourbon ’n BrownTown Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | Patreon SoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3 Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | Support

BrownTown shares space with Chicago Palestinian Film Festival (CPFF) Executive Director Nina Shoman-Dajani, filmmaker Justin Mashouf, & protagonist of the short film $17.74, Hamzah Furqani. The team discusses the inner-workings and impact of the longest running Palestinian film festival in the world, centering the responsibility creators and storytellers have in sharing their to amplify resistance, solidarity, and joy. Originally recorded April 26, 2025. Founded in 2001, the CPFF is an annual cultural event that serves as a vibrant platform for showcasing the rich and diverse narratives of Palestinian cinema. The festival provides a unique space for filmmakers, artists, and audience members to engage with compelling stories that explore the multifaceted aspects of Palestinian life. Through a carefully curated selection of feature films, documentaries, and shorts, the festival seeks to foster a deeper understanding of the Palestinian experience. Follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! GUESTS Nina Shoman-Dajani currently serves as the Executive Director for the Chicago Palestine Film Festival. She is also a community college administrator and teaches Middle Eastern Studies at Saint Xavier University and has served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC). She is a contributor to the recently published book Teaching Palestine: Lessons, Stories, Voices and one of the authors of Beyond Erasure and Profiling: Cultivating Strong and Vibrant Arab American Communities in Chicagoland. Nina is a co-chair for the MENA/SWANA Caucus and the Transnational/International Committee of the National Advisory Council for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE), a former board member for the Arab American Studies Association and a board member for the Syrian Community Network, a refugee resettlement agency in Chicago. Follow Nina on Instagram! Justin Mashouf is an award-winning filmmaker and artist based in Los Angeles. He is the co-founder and Executive Producer of Stay Focused Pictures, a production company specializing in documentary development and production. A finalist for the Pillars Fund x Riz Ahmed inaugural Artist Fellowship, Justin’s career spans over 10 countries and includes feature films, commercials, TV specials and documentaries including his CPFF-accepted short film $17.74. Follow Justin on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and IMDB! Hamzah Furqani is the protagonist of $17.74. Raised in Los Angeles, Hamzah is a former gang member who spent 39 years incarcerated. In 1989, while serving his sentence, he began his journey of personal transformation by converting to Islam. Later, while incarcerated and before his release, he donated a month-long paycheck to support relief efforts in Gaza.  -- Mentioned Topics & More Info:  Original GoFundMe from $17.74 Related episodes: Ep. 113 - Palestinian Liberation: Divestment, Encampments, & Institutions ft. Amoona Ep. 112 - DNC: Pt. 2 ft. Nesreen Hasan & Nadiah Alyafai Ep. 111 - Palestinian Liberation: Anti-Zionism & Jewish Solidarity ft. Rabbi Brant Rosen & Lesley Williams Ep. 102 - Palestinian Liberation: In This Moment ft. Muhammad Sankari Professor Refaat Alareer (video, 1, 2) Jackson Market, Palestinian-owned cultural market Inner-City Muslim Action Network Tom Callahan's Remembering Water Kneecap pro-Palestine projections at Cochella Epistemicide according to BnB Alum Ricardo Gamboa 2025 CPFF on Block Club Chi, Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reporter Nina on WBEZ Chicago Podcast about 2024 CPFF -- CREDITS: Intro song from Leve Palestina (Hijazi Remix ) 2023 | تحيا فلسطين ; outro soundbite from Refaat Alareer. Audio engineered by Kassandra Borah. -- Bourbon ’n BrownTown Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | Patreon SoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3 Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | Support

BrownTown brings back Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger of Respair Production & Media, a movement journalism and media hub creating and supporting the media needed to reshape culture toward liberation. The double duos discuss the creation, process, and impact of their half hour experimental documentary One Million Experiments (2023). Stewarded by Interrupting Criminalization and built out of AirGo's podcast series of the same name, the film showcases a collection of community-based safety projects that explore how we define and create wellness and reduce harm in a world without police and prisons. This is the inaugural episode of a new BnB series entitled “The Wrap Up” which invites collaborators and community partners to take a behind the scenes look at SoapBox films, unpacking the nuts and bolts while thinking more deeply about power, struggle, and storytelling. Once again, let’s get meta! Originally recorded April 2025. Watch One Million Experiments on Apple TV, YouTube Movies & TV, and Google Play! GUESTS Damon and Daniel are the Founders of Respair Production & Media, and the Creators of AirGo. Respair Production and Media is a movement journalism and media hub creating and supporting the media needed to reshape culture toward liberation. AirGo is the flagship show of Respair, the podcast features over 300 episodes of conversations reshaping the culture of Chicago and beyond for the more liberatory and creative. Damon A. Williams is a movement builder, organizer, hip-hop performing artist, educator and media maker from the South Side of Chicago. He is the Co-Founder of the #LetUsBreathe Collective, an artistic activist organization birthed out of supply trips to support the Ferguson uprising in resistance to the murder of Mike Brown. The Collective operates The #BreathingRoom Space, a Black-led liberation space for arts, organizing, and healing on Chicago's South Side. In honor of his leadership, Damon been named a TIME Magazine’s 2020 Guardian of the Year, a Field Foundation 2021 Leader for a New Chicago, a Margaret Burroughs Fellow by the UIC Social Justice Initiative’s Portal Project, and a Power of Cash Narrative Change Fellow by Economic Security of Illinois. Follow Damon on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Daniel Kisslinger is a Chicago-based host and producer who creates dialogue-based media showcasing the stories, voices, and artworks of communities challenging power, reconfiguring public life, and reimagining our world. An Anthem Award-winning filmmaker, Lisagor Award-winning journalist, and twice Webby-nominated podcast producer, Daniel has also been named an Artist Fellow as part of the UIC Social Justice Initiative’s Portal Project, as well as a Power of Cash Narrative Change Fellow by Economic Security of Illinois. His words have been featured in NY Times bestseller We Do This ‘Til We Free Us and The New Normal, a salon journal published by The Hoodoisie. Daniel has been the Executive Producer of the Poetry Foundation’s acclaimed VS podcast, and editor of CTU Speaks!, a podcast produced by the Chicago Teachers Union. He also works as a consultant helping organizations, individuals, and companies build humanizing, subject-to-subject podcasts from scratch. Follow Daniel on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Mentioned in episode: Ep. 34 - Movement Media ft. Damon Williams & Daniel Kisslinger of AirGo Submit your experiment! Tom Callahan's film Remembering Water Malik Alim & The Breathing Room (1, 2, 3) Freedom Square #NoCopAcademy campaign and film Remembering RonnieMan People’s Grab ‘n’ Go (1, 2, 3) which is now Market Box Follow Respair on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. Follow AirGo on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and listen to them on Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts! -- CREDITS: Intro music Family Still by Matt Muse and outro music Messy Moments by Damon A. Williams. Episode photo by Qurissy Lopez. Audio engineered by Kiera Battles and Kassandra Borah. Production assistance by Jamie Price. -- Bourbon ’n BrownTown Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Patreon SoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3 Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Support

BrownTown takes on  "La Plataforma 2" (2024) with Alderhomies Rossana Rodriguez (33rd) and Jessie Fuentes (26th) about a vertical prison where those inside are fed off of a descending platform, leaving only the diminishing leftovers for those below. BrownTown and the alderhomies breakdown the second installment noting the commentary on governance systems, resistance factions and social movements, relational ethics, and abolition. Full Transcriptions Here! -- GUESTS Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez (33rd), now in her second term, is the Chair of the Committee on Health and Human Relations for the Chicago City Council. Rossana was born and raised in Puerto Rico and started organizing at six years old when her community had to fight for access to running water. Organizing soon became a fundamental part of her life and remains her main tool within her work in government. Rossana came to Chicago after austerity and budget cuts forced her to leave her job as a drama teacher in Puerto Rico. She originally moved to Albany Park to work as a theatre director with a youth theatre company 14 years ago and chose to stay and organize around housing, education, immigrant rights, and mental health. She is the chief sponsor for the Treatment Not Trauma legislation and continues to organize with grassroots organizations to transform Chicago. Follow Rossana on Facebook, Instagram, (personal, political) and Twitter (personal, political). Stay up to date with her City Council work and 33rd ward services at Rossanafor33.org. Alderperson Jessie Fuentes (26th) is a queer Latina grassroots organizer, educator, and public policy advocate with over a decade of experience in education, criminal justice reform, affordable housing, community development and sustainability. A lifelong Chicagoan and resident of the Northwest side, Jessie spent most of her formative years growing up and working in Humboldt Park. Through personal resilience, community support and restorative justice, Jessie turned her most traumatic life experiences into tools to uplift others facing similar circumstances. In her previous roles as an educator and Dean of Students at Roberto Clemente Community Academy and as an organizer around issues of violence prevention, housing affordability, and re-entry for returning citizens, she convened and connected community stakeholders to create community-driven solutions to the biggest problems facing Humboldt Park. Jessie recently served as the Director of Policy and Youth Advocacy at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. She Co-chaired the Violence Prevention program of the Illinois Latino Agenda and is also a Founding Member of the Illinois Latino Agenda 2.0, focusing on community development and Latine equity. Follow Jessie on Facebook (personal, political), Instagram (personal, political), and Twitter (personal, political). Stay up to date with her City Council work and 26th ward at Jessiefor26thward.com.   Opinions on this episode only reflect David, Caullen, Rossana, and Jessie as individuals, not their organizations or places of work.   CREDITS: Intro music Revolución and outro music End Credits by Aitor Etxebarria from the film's soundtrack. Episode photo from La Plataforma 2. Audio engineered by Kiera Battles and Kassandra Borah. Production assistance by Jamie Price. -- Bourbon ’n BrownTown Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | Patreon SoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3 Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Linktree | Support