Discovery+ and Redefining Solidarity in Hard Times
I was not paid to promote anything in this article (but I should have been). Honestly, the show is just very timely and exactly what my soul needed.
This week has been another heavy one. Anti Asian violence is rampant. The George Floyd murder trial is happening right now. Anti-trans legislature is coming for the health and wellbeing of children. Yea. I’ve been feeling the weight of it all and I’m going to strongly assume that you have been, too.
I am a firm believer that pain can only cause so much change. We have seen the images of dead, dying, and brutalized Black people at the hands of a violent police state for hundreds of years; nothing has changed. The only difference is that now we are, at best, numb to the images and, at worst, indifferent. The shock of the tragedy that was Emmett Till’s open casket is a feeling that is hard to come by (or, at least, that’s my experience of a post-Trumpian Amrrr’ka). I talk more about the dangers of overexposure to “trauma porn” in this article, so check it out if you haven’t already!
All this to say: marketing pain isn’t working. It’s not working on an institutional level, an educational level, and definitely not on a personal level. I don’t like feeling horrible all the time.
So I’m going to encourage us to focus on joy (and the hope for more joy) as the continuous force that moves us towards change. I don’t really know how to segway this so I’m just going to jump in and say I SAW THE MOST PRECIOUS TV SHOW THIS WEEK and it helped me to remember the joy of what could be. This show is called Homegrown and it’s on Discovery+. Check out my 60 second rant about it below!
This is a show about Jamila Norman, a GORGEOUS Black woman (points) of Jamaican descent (more points) who went from being an engineer (she a smarty, thus, points) to becoming a full time farmer in the city of Atlanta, Georgia! How she was able to get 120 acres of farmland in that city is so far beyond my understanding, but she did it and she has created a hub for healthy living within her community! Now she is using all of the knowledge she gained regarding sustainable living and teaching families how to do the same. Truly. The most heartwarming thing.
The first episode is about the Hartman family; a culturally mixed family who want to teach their PRECIOUS children how to grow their own food and the value of working hard for something that’s important. Now, I’m not going to give you every detail of this show, but I will point out one moment that grabbed me by the heart and just swaddled me.
Weng Hartman (the mama in the family) is a Filipina and she hasn’t been home to the Philippines in a while. Jamila was able to link her up with a Filipina fruit tree farmer in Atlanta and they were able to get some banana trees for their backyard. I will give you a moment to be amazed by the fact that you can grow bananas in Georgia. And we are moving on. There was a silent solidarity in that recognition that Jamila knew that Weng needed to see someone like her in this farming community. Jamila incorporated as much of Weng’s home into her backyard as possible, but also incorporated Filipina sisterhood into the experience.
Aside from their HGTV level backyard that I am shamelessly jealous of and the fact that their kids fortunately (and unfortunately) do not have mommy run IG accounts, this single show gave me a lot to think about. Solidarity does not have to look like one thing. Marching, making calls to senators, protecting POCs in day-to-day life, all of those things are necessary and should be done and they are not the only options. Respecting someone’s culture and creating a sense of home is another way that we can support each other. What that looks like to you is not for me to dictate.
All I can say is that, with all the unhappy feels I felt throughout the week, this show made me smile so hard I started squirming into my lumpy couch. This show gets a 10 out of 10 for softness and good vibes. Also I learned more about agriculture in this show than my pride will let me admit. Strongly recommend.
Imma be real with you all
I know that it has been a few weeks since my last Black-owned business interview and discount release (and I apologize for that). I was pretty burnt out and in a slump for a while. I think I’m on my way out of it now so I’ll start collabing with business owners again.
SO
If you know any Black business owners that might be interested in being a part of the HTA family, definitely message me!
Don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment and share!!