13. Beginning At The End

HOST AND CURATOR
Sara Ortiz

HOST
Erica Vital-Lazare

SENIOR PRODUCER
Nicole Kelly

PRODUCERS
Vera Blossom, Layla Muhammad

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
Sylvia Fox, Soni Brown

MIXING & MASTERING
Andy Bosnak, Ariel Mejia

ENGINEER
Kevin Krall

CONTRIBUTORS
Soni Brown, Natasha Tarpley

MUSIC BY
Jeremy Klewicki

ILLUSTRATION
Niege Borges

LEAVING LAS VEGAS

Writer Soni Brown chronicles her journey from Jamaica to New York to Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Now, she wonders if she feels like Las Vegas is really her home and reflects on the tradition of Black people who sought liberation through migration.

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IMAGINE SOMETHING BETTER

BMI Shearing Fellow Natasha Tarpley grapples with the idea that violence and armed self defense are a necessity to create a safe community for Black People. In this piece, she speaks to her neighbor Bernadette in the South side of Chicago, an older Black woman who happens to be an avid gun owner, reflects on the Black towns of the past, and imagines a future where Black people are safe.