• Blog Post

Listen to Our Grantee Partner’s Podcast!

Published on May 10, 2023

 Under the Sycamore Tree: Archiving Caribbean Feminist Movements is a new podcast from The Astraea Foundation’s grantee-partner, Rebel Women Lit. It is supported by the Equality Fund and Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, produced by Rebel Women Lit and Queerlystated, and made possible by funding from Global Affairs Canada.

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice supports transformative leadership and capacity building in the Caribbean region to advance feminist LGTBQI movements. Under the Sycamore Tree: Archiving Caribbean Feminist Movements is a new podcast from The Astraea Foundation’s grantee-partner, Rebel Women Lit. It is supported by the Equality Fund and Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, produced by Rebel Women Lit and Queerlystated, and made possible by funding from Global Affairs Canada. The podcast documents the work of trailblazing Caribbean feminist organizations in ecological justice, trans and queer rights, leadership, and discusses combatting rape culture. Astraea interviewed Jacqui Brown of RWL, and Carla Moore of Moore Talk JA, about their experiences making the innovative podcast.

Why is it important for your podcast to center on the voices of LGBTQI leaders in the Caribbean?
For a long time, the Caribbean, and in particular Jamaica, has been labeled as anti-queer. While we do have issues in the region, queer people continue to survive, resist, and shape Caribbean history. But too often, their stories are overlooked. We need the podcast to celebrate the work that’s been happening for decades, and to recognize the people and communities that refuse to back down. Jamaica has had LGBT advocacy organizations as far back as the 1970s when Larry Chang started the Gay Freedom Movement. We also need to highlight trans leaders as Caribbean leaders, and homegrown revolutionaries.

What role does feminism play in the podcast’s storytelling?
Feminism is frequently depicted as white and North American, but Caribbean feminism has a long history dating back, and beyond, rebellious enslaved women on the plantation. Our feminism looks very different from common understandings of feminist activity. For instance, as citizens of primarily Small Island Developing States, our lives are very intertwined with the environment. We’re eco-feminists by default because our countries could disappear entirely due to climate change.

Every episode, you ask participants to contribute to a “virtual altar.” Why was this tradition important to include?
Under the Sycamore Tree is about connection and continuity. The podcast is like a time capsule of this moment in Queeribbean organizing. It archives just a bit of what we have done so far, offers organizers a space to meet and share with each other, and gives us a place to project our wildest hopes for the future. The virtual altar/safe space is the digital embodiment of this idea. We ask people to place an object, a thought, a quote, or an energy that they would like to share with their colleagues and those who will be coming to the work in the future. Guests have contributed everything from a teddy bear to the energy of love.

What has surprised you about making this podcast?
We ask all of our guests one question: “What would you do if you had access to unlimited funding?” Overwhelmingly they said they would purchase land. They felt that land would allow them to grow their own food, and provide enough space to safely house their community members. This would be a significant step forward – a step that would make them self-sufficient and eventually remove the need for external funding. They spoke about making pepper sauce to sell and having the ease and security of knowing they could feed their community and keep them off the streets. I never expected that answer. But I was reminded that, at the end of the day, social justice work is really about keeping people safe and alive.

Who are you hoping the podcast reaches, and what will they learn?
I hope the podcast reaches everybody. But most of all, I hope it reaches that tired social justice worker in their office at 9 PM, still pushing for their community. I hope they find community and comfort in the fact that their work is recognized. I also hope it reaches those people who are stuck in the idea that our region has a homogeneous colonial story. I hope it reaches young people who are full of energy and passion and need to see change.

The podcast is significant because sometimes when we’re doing the work in our communities – when we’re really locked in – it can feel like we’re alone. Sometimes, it feels like we have to start everything from scratch; when in reality the solution we need has been innovated and perfected by another organization two islands across. Similarly, our younger activists and our older activists sometimes feel disconnected from each other – even though they’re doing the same work. The altar is a space for us to come back to, and to remember that we’re not alone and we have the same wishes and goals for each other and our communities.

New episodes of the podcast are released periodically. Episodes 0-1 are available for streaming now.