I spoke with Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah to the students at UCSC about politics, identity and the media. It allowed for an insightful dialogue about issues such as social media campaigns, underrepresentation of minority groups in the classroom, and intersectionality.

A few key discussions that came up:

One student brought up the “Free the Nipple” Campaign and we spoke about how there was extreme gender bias in social media and that the work that Madame Gandhi and Rachel Ghansah were doing is trying to fix that bias and fight against it.

Another student asked about what there is to do concerning underrepresentation in the classroom, minority wise and Rachel told the student that they should try to fight and stand up for equal representation if they feel thats what they really need.

We all spoke about intersectionality in the US and using one minority groups social platform to further your own and how that may not be such a bad thing, if you recognize the minority group’s actions that you’re building upon.

Finally, I gave advice for people who want to go into music and activism but are weighed down by other problems, whether it be financially or time-wise. There are a lot of residency programs out there and a lot of other musicians who want to help, so just by exploring your options and seeing shows and then speaking to musicians, a whole world of opportunities will open up.

 

As well I spoke for the UC Radio Network Conference at UCSC a few weeks later and you can see the video here: