When entering Radio Milwaukee an immediate sense of coziness, warmth, and curiosity emanate through the crowd. The large presence of QTBIPOC greatly assisted in creating an inclusive and affirming environment for poets, writers, lovers, and fugitives to bravely share and cultivate a new space together. The HYFIN host, Kim Shine, blessed the stage as a sacrificial poet and her gift of emphasizing growth and bravery, set the tone for other storytellers who covered issues of displacement, self-love, generational trauma, unrequited love, and colorism. The first storyteller to take the stage was Mikey Cody Apollo, with a piece from their newly released poetry book, Opposite of a Suicide Note. Mikey wittily used grocery items as metaphors for the things, people, and places we may indulge in life. The “Shopping lists of random truths” lingered with the audience, reminding us of the importance of choosing carefully but fully indulging our needs (and sometimes wants). 

Dr. Stephanie Rivera Berruz is a badass Boricua philosophy professor at Marquette University. Stephanie beautifully captured the connections between history, identity, and the environment to share how the pain of displacement lives within her. Alongside a Spanish-to-English interpreter, she recounted how her embracing of philosophy gave her autonomy, as all the other choices in her life were made by other people. At the age of 14, Stephanie’s family made the move from Puerto Rico to Florida. Her struggle to adjust to mainland U.S. life was compounded by the external expectations placed on her from a young age. Despite her grandmother recognizing her gift for philosophy, many of her family members did not see the value of the discipline. However, in using philosophy to understand her families’ suffering, she gained greater understanding of herself. Her story shows the power going against the grain and honoring how “the sadness is passed on and stayed on that plane to Florida.” 

The next storyteller, Jonah Denae gave some powerful bars on generational violence and complacency within the Black community. The tendency of everyday people and leaders to “tap dance around the solution” touched the crowd deeply. She ties together the historical and contemporary behaviors of people within and outside of the Black community to highlight how racism and other structural violences impede the growth of individuals and communities. 

Lightening the mood was humorous storyteller Tim Cole. Tim recounted a story where his grandmother sent him to the store to collect a few items. In reading the shopping list he saw the item Norforms and was immediately confused. A woman in the store rescues him, and directs him to the feminine hygiene section, a feeling he describes as “raisins in potato salad, you’re just not supposed to be there.”  After learning the real reason behind his grandmother’s request for norforms he became greatly uncomfortable, but created a deeper empathy for his grandmother through the process. 

In between sets the amazing co-hosts, Kim Shine and Ex Fabula’s Alea McHatten, collected short stories from audience members, all related to the theme for the culture. These quip stories kept the audience engaged and created a great dialogue between the presenters and audience members. In one reading, the host mistakenly referred to an NYC lesbian bar as Cubby Hair, and half of the crowd immediately corrects her yelling “Cubby Hole!”. That small moment created a stronger bonding moment around recognizing queer spaces outside of Milwaukee, and growing comfort in our shared identities. 

The energy in the room remained elevated, even as more difficult stories around heartbreak, shared by Jemai Fisher, and colorism shared by Lisa Williams. Despite the heavy emotions, their lessons of embracing blackness and self-love shined through. The second to last speaker, Zhane Gowie shared the most exciting news! She announced her coming out party, and recounted the need for more Black/Brown queer space in Milwaukee. This event was one of few experiences where I felt fully welcome and seen as a Black queer person in Milwaukee. 

The feature storyteller, Jasmine Sims, was a picture of Black joy and ingenuity. She recently published a book Done Being Strong to share her faith and authenticity with others. Jasmine opened with a poem entitled Widow, emphasizing the fear of love leaving when a person leaves this earth. One line that still hits me is “When I ask to be loved, I ask to be grieved. For my absence to take up more space than my presence.” 

Jasmine followed that powerful piece with a freestyle poetry activity. She cues the audience to give her words and she molds them into moving poems and lessons. She reminds the audience to give words that are less abstract like “food trucks” as opposed to hope. We threw her words around food, body, drinks, etc. the unsuspecting aspects of culture that bring us closer. Jasmine beautifully used making pancakes as a metaphor for exploring practices of resilience amongst Black people. Her fun and adaptive approach takes the audience on a ride filled with the joy, sorrows, struggles, and power inherent in embracing our cultures and Black and Brown storytellers. 

By Yolanda Odufuwa