When i lived in brooklyn, a friend of mine taught me how to play guitar. She and i started playing country music together. We told we wen we went to merlfast. And then when i came to oakland in two thousand one, i wanted to keep playing music. It's where i met my husband, cause her husband's musician. Yet i have an abiding love for, like, old timy country music and blue grass. I love that. So it's my entry point to activism,. But also, the the invitation to imagine the world that we want was through abolition.
What do you think of when you hear the word “family?” For some, it’s feelings of love, belonging, support. For others, its estrangement, friction, and angst. Especially over these last few years. Which is why the notion of chosen family has become an increasing part of the conversation about who we surround ourselves with, how they make us feel, and how, together, we can expand the idea of family to create a bigger impact ripple in society.
This is one of the topics we dive into in today’s powerful Best Of conversation with Mia Birdsong. As the founding Co-Director of Family Story, Mia lifted up a new national story about what makes a good family, and as Vice President of the Family Independence Initiative, she leveraged the power of data and stories to illuminate and accelerate the initiative low-income families take to improve their lives. Mia is a Senior Fellow of the Economic Security Project, was an inaugural Ascend Fellow and faculty member with The Aspen Institute, a New American California Fellow, and Advocate-in-Residence with the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. In her book How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community, she examines community life, reimagines family and chosen family, and points us toward the promise of our collective vitality.
You can find Mia Birdsong at: Website | Instagram
If you LOVED this episode:
- You’ll also love the earlier conversation we had with Kat Vellos about her sense of identity, creativity, and expression.
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