Woman & queer-owned indie film company New 32 puts inclusion first

June 26, 2023Leave a comment

By Sophia-Joelle McDowell

New 32 Productions is a small, woman and queer-owned independent film company based in North Carolina. The company bases its decisions on values and is hell-bent on creating better conditions for creators in indie film.

With New 32 Productions, they focus on developing small crews of people who are treated well and are good at what they do. And their team is stacked.

Raven Angeline Whisnant wears a lot of hats. She leads the team, films, produces, directs, edits, writes, and constantly needs to be ready to deal with whatever the day calls for. Co-founder Charlie Monroe is another woman of many talents. Monroe is even starring as the title character in the upcoming comedy Bernard Gets Famous. Additionally, she wrote their new short film debut, Biters & Bleeders.

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Madigan’s Intersectional Feminist Podcast Might Just Be Essential Listening

June 22, 2023June 20, 2023Leave a comment

By Sophia-Joelle McDowell

When Trump campaigned for president in 2016, he rejected feminism. By the end of his presidency, the list of sexist comments he made was lengthy. His views on women fueled the growth of many feminist activists. Madigan and her previous co-host Keegan of the Your Angry Neighborhood Feminist podcast were no exception.

After attending a march the day after Trump was elected, the two wanted to make a more significant statement. Eager to keep the conversation going, Your Angry Neighborhood Feminist was born to create a space for support, education, and growth.

We spoke with Madigan about the podcast and goal to create a community of loving and like-minded intersectional feminists and a place for support.

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Community Accountability in the Wake of Gender-Based Violence

June 19, 2023Leave a comment

By Max Sheffield-Baird

CW: discussion of domestic abuse, sexual assault, incest, victim blaming

Trauma is both a personal journey and a community reckoning. Survivors understand better than most that the abusers lurk amongst the illustrious, the trusted, and those who are seen as leaders in their community circles. This bears out in headline after headline, but even deeper and closer to home for so many of us.

Dr. Judith Herman’s book Truth and Repair gives us a roadmap for truth, accountability, and healing as a community that does more than pay lip service to survivors. How many of us have been made to feel that it was our speaking our truth that was the problem instead of those who would use and abuse their authority against us? I wanted to know how survivors can navigate the personal and political, and Dr. Herman brings a lifetime of insights and experiences to this work.

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The Safe Slut talks herpes awareness and making memes

May 26, 2023June 19, 2023Leave a comment

By Sophia-Joelle McDowell

When Tricia Wise, or Safe Slut, was diagnosed with genital herpes in November of 2019, everything changed. Shut down your unconscious biases here, because things changed in an unpredictably positive way.

Like most of us, Tricia didn’t receive any education about STIs growing up, apart from the common lecture that they’re the worst thing that can happen. After receiving the news of her herpes diagnosis, she spent days in bed and thought her sex life was over.

These days, Tricia believes getting herpes was the best thing to ever happen to her.

That diagnosis forced her to advocate for herself and have vulnerable conversations. It took her on a transformative journey of self-love and reclaiming her sexuality. She was even able to work through previous sexual trauma from past relationships and experiences.

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A Look into Clara Baldwin’s domestic violence non-profit Peace Over Pieces

May 17, 2023June 19, 2023Leave a comment

By Sophia-Joelle Oswald

CW: Brief mentions of abuse

Clara Baldwin, chief executive officer of Peace Over Pieces, is the daughter of an immigrant from Thailand. Her mother raised her and her siblings while facing abuse from Clara’s father. And while Clara was stuck—forced to witness her mother’s abuse for the first 18 years of her life—Her dad also relayed that abuse towards Clara and the rest of her family. Nothing changed until Clara, her mother, and her brother were able to leave, and never go back.

Clara’s past experiences inspired the launch of Peace Over Pieces, a non-profit for domestic abuse survivors.

Through this non-profit, Clara is able to talk one-on-one with survivors and share their stories through the Peace Over Pieces Domestic Abuse Survivor Podcast. The Peace Over Pieces website also provides resources and collects donations, with the option of either selecting a specific individual that they’ve watched or a general donation to the Peace Over Pieces Fund designed to cover a range of needs.

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