Brown Enough

This is part 2 of me sitting down with the People of The West team of filmmakers and Pechanga tribal members. It is one of our more important episodes to date. Enjoy. 

This week I got to hang with the creators of the beautiful and important documentary People of The West. But before we got into the studio they gave me a tour of their lands, reservation, and I got the honor of meeting wi'áaşal mukát - The 1500 year old Great Oak. 

This week we chat with Emma Orfield as I head out to Minneapolis to visit the the anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories. It is Guinness World Record-holding room that absorbs 99.99% of sound and measures down to –24.9 decibels. As an avid meditator, I have always wanted to visit this place and today I share that journey with you.  

This week is a sampling of something going on in the Substack universe, where I host and write for the page, Engaged Liberation. I wrote and explore all things liberation, and I'd say we are in serious need of it right now. On my page, I interview other substackers doing incredible things, so this is a sampling of that. Enjoy. 

This week we chat with Carlos Guzman, the founder, CEO & Creative director of Brown N Proud. A dope clothing brand or as he likes to say, "this is a movement for our people, a movement that will endure for ages to come." Enjoy the beautiful Brown genius and pride in this episode. 

Rafael is all heart and genius. He's a prolific writer and thinker, and on the front lines fighting to bring justice to so many injustices. Enjoy this honest, fun and candid convo. 

Jade is hilarious, wise and beautiful - yes - but also courageous. I love this chat because it inspired me and still inspires me to take risks and listen to my hearts calling. This is a powerful conversation on trusting oneself and putting one foot in front of the other. 

I am not kidding, this is the most power of power couples! It's inspiring and motivating and beautiful to see. They are also my first couple on the show. We get into art making, but mainly, community building - which is what these two are all about. Enjoy! 

“People can envision the end of the world, before they can envision the end of capitalism, why do you think that is!?” This was too short of a conversation. You are going to love every bit of this. This is originally from my Substack - Engaged Liberation. You will be lit up by it. Make sure to check out How To Cure a ghost and all of Fariha’s beautiful work. And let mr know what you think.

Andrea Londo is an actress among many things, but I brought her into the studio to chat Two Lands Films! Two Lands, which is what so many of us listening embody. This is the body of culture expereince, many lands and speaking many tongues. I loved this convo. Enjoy. 

Vicky Nguyen is the author of Boat Baby, a memoir about the NBC News anchor's journey from being a refugee from communist Vietnam to becoming a successful journalist in America, detailing her family's perilous escape by boat, their struggles to adapt, and her unique upbringing with unconventional Vietnamese parents. It's a special one. Enjoy

Welcome back to season 4! On this episode of Brown Enough, I have the pleasure of sitting down with the one and only Julio Macias. A incredible actor, activist, and change maker, who wears his Brownness proudly and powerfully. Enjoy. 

This is a Bonus Episode from a talk I gave at a UNIDOS conference. I shared a story that starts with a misname - “Big Bunny” - and opens into something much deeper: what it means to be seen, unseen, and still essential in America. This talk explores how Latino communities have long powered this country while being misunderstood, reduced, or erased—and why that has to change. Through personal story...

CHIRLA — the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights — is an organization that has been at the forefront of immigrant justice, advocacy, and community empowerment for decades. This isn’t just about policy, it’s about people. About families, futures, and the fundamental right to belong. We talk about organizing, resilience, and what it means to fight for dignity in a system that too often denies it....

Today we're sitting with Maritza Contreras — community organizer, storyteller, and force of nature. Her work centers joy, justice, and belonging, reminding us that healing is a collective act. This one’s about home, building your very own board of directors and so much more!

Today on Brown Enough we're with Johnny Sibilly — actor, advocate, and full-spectrum joy dealer. You might know him from Pose, Hacks, or Queer as Folk, but Johnny’s real superpower is how boldly he shows up as himself. We talk about confidence, vulnerability, speaking God in public, chosen family, and what it means to take up space without apology.

Today we're joined by Saadia Khan — founder and CEO of Immigrantly Media. Saadia is building one of the most vital media platforms for immigrant voices today, creating space for stories that are often ignored, flattened, or misunderstood. We talk all about narrative power, nuance, representation, and what it takes to build independent media rooted in truth, dignity, and belonging. This conversatio...

We’re sharing a special crossover episode with Odalys Jasmine, journalist, host, and the voice behind Hella Latina. This conversation comes from a live panel where we gathered in real time to talk culture, identity, visibility, and what it means to claim space unapologetically as Latinas in media. Odalys has built Hella Latina into a bold, honest platform that centers our stories with humor, care,...

Today we're hanging with Marielle Segarra — journalist, editor, and the host of NPR’s Life Kit. Marielle has a gift for asking the questions we all carry quietly: how do we take care of ourselves, make better decisions, and live with a little more clarity in an overwhelming world. We talk about curiosity as a practice, about translating information into care, and about what it means to meet people...

Today we're joined by Yanely Espinal - also known as Ms. Be Helpful - financial educator, advocate, and author of Mind Your Money. Yanely is on a mission to make financial literacy clear, compassionate, and actually useful, especially for communities that were never taught the rules of the game. We talk about money as a tool, not a measure of worth. About debt, credit, generational wealth, and unl...

Today we are sharing 3 short terrific and spooky tales I had the pleasure of voicing from a horror fiction podcast called, Long Winter Nights. Ps. This story is a work of horror fiction and may be triggering for some viewers. For a full list of content warnings, please visit longwinternights.com Long Winter Nights was co-created and produced by Matt Hill, Chelsea Sutton, and Lisa Sanaye Dring. Lis...

Today we're with Jorge R. Gutiérrez - the visionary animator, filmmaker, and storyteller behind The Book of Life, Maya and the Three, and some of the most vibrant, soulful worlds in contemporary animation. Jorge doesn’t just make art, he makes myth. He takes our stories, our ancestors, our jokes, our heartbreaks, our colors, and he turns them into epic universes where brown kids get to be heroes,...

For all my mental health advocates, therapists and those bing therapized! This is a bonus episode from a podcast called, Books That Shape Us: Stories, Science, & Healing  - I had the pleasure of chatting with the host about Brown Enough as a theraputic model. 

Today we're joined by the incomparable Gina Torres - an icon of stage and screen whose presence has shaped entire worlds. From Firefly to Suits, to 9-1-1 , Gina has made a career of playing roles with strength, grace, and depth, roles she often had to fight for long before the industry knew what to do with a woman like her. We talk about craft, confidence, longevity, and the audacity it takes to b...

Today on Brown Enough, we’re at Lopez Urban Farms with Bianca Ustrell-Friend - better known as Farmer Bianca, and community organizer Nathaly Moreno. Together, and with many others, they are building a refuge. A place where mutual aid isn’t theory - it’s tomatoes, shade, compost, care, and a free-giving economy rooted in love. Go check them out https://www.lopezurbanfarm.com/