We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Autumn Adeyan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Autumn below.

Alright, Autumn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Understanding that you must always choose between change to pursue a different outcome and repeating tired cycles, is a lesson that must be understood more than once in this lifetime.

I chose to start my podcast after realizing I wanted to do something different, while not quite knowing what the end result might be. Would it become an organization, remain a passion project that I nurture on the side, or transform into something else entirely? I was (and still am) unsure, but despite not having certainty, I knew I wanted to create, for the purpose of celebrating the truth that brings together the communities that influence me.

At the time, I was knee-deep into my senior year at my university, surrounded by deadlines and a harrowing fear for the future. I didn’t feel like I had anything to call my own that wasn’t assigned to me. I had the opportunity to create and I took it.

With the support of both family and friends, I was able to create my logo, put out my first episode, and present my podcast to the MLC (Mentor and Leadership Conference with the Jackie Robinson Foundation).

A year out from the inception of my budding “organization”, I am able to reflect on what made this such a risk for me at the time; it was choosing to share an idea with the world, with no other purpose but to connect and to learn.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

A lifelong resident of the California, Bay Area region, I have had the opportunity to be in the birthplace of many social movements, international organizations, and beautiful weather!

I would be lying if I said that being in the Bay Area hasn’t had a great effect on me and my life choices. For me, being in the Bay Area meant being STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) focused. So although I perused through high school being the president of social justice groups like She’s The First, and spending most of my time volunteering with the local food bank, my sights were set on the biomedical track.

Although I had an understanding of what I wanted for my career, being in community with others, enacting social change, and enjoying conversations regarding social phenomenons. I wanted to find a way to integrate what I cared about into my future. Once the pandemic hit, and I graduated high school without the routine of an actual graduation, began university online, and later transitioned to in person study, I found myself yearning for something of my own creation.

Nearly 2 years ago, I had just got out of my seminar class and was accompanied by my friend Andrew. We had just completed our partner discussion regarding Franz Fanon’s, Black Skin, White masks, a novel detailing the excruciatingly dissonant experience of being Black in America. As lively as the discussion was, it left me feeling itching to pour my thoughts and speculations out more, past a classroom setting but to speak with more people about these issues plaguing us (anti-blackness, colonization, the commodification of human bodies).

Andrew offhandedly mentioned that I would make for a great politician and a great podcaster, something that I had previously thought about but never really had the idea to start. For some reason, I took it as that time began my journey.

My interest in beginning this podcast was accompanied by my past involvement and interest in subjects pertaining to social justice, community work, and understanding the structures of society from the past to today. Stemming from my Afrocentric Class I took in my junior year of high school, to running arguments in debate in my sophomore year in college regarding embracing and creating safe spaces for existence in a space not made for people like me, I always yearned for the space to share my thoughts and collaborate with others around me. Along with my interest in those topics, I was also drawn to this idea of Aliveness, the energy that lives within each and every one of us, that allows us to connect, that gives each of us our own special brand of uniqueness, that defines our beings.

With my podcast, I wanted to use it as a space where I could combine these two interests and/or beliefs of mine, and so the very next day after my friend Andrew and I spoke, I set on my plan to develop my own podcast. I sent a mass text to a few people I thought would fit the idea I had for the show, sending out a text that read:

“heyy —–, i hope you’re doing well :) i was just thinking about you and thinking about my own passion for advocating for my truth! I wanted to reach out to you because in the near future, I hope to launch some kind of podcast series (or video; I have not decided on the modality) that invites people and me (young people, our generation of activists/political or otherwise) to share our own epistemologies and experiences and ideas and philosophies that guide us through a lot of social issues and daily challenges. And not just focusing on the more difficult aspects but positive/negative/and everything in between!”

So to recap, my overall goals and motivations at this point were:
Build connections and recognize the vivid voices and people that exist around
Bring together people who do so many great things on many different horizons
Chance to explore and appreciate the multi-facetedness of individuals

So then ensued months of planning, curating, and developing a plan around my schedule of school: finals were coming up and I had to figure out when I wanted to launch the podcast in a way that would allow me to give it its deserved attention. I spent lots of time working on my elevator pitches, the topics I would be discussing on the show, the questions I wanted to ask, as well as gathering a list of prospective speakers. Although the work was long, I found myself excited each time I returned back to the Google Doc to further develop my creation.
I was able to write an intro that read:

Yapping For Justice, is a channel centered on exploring the way everyday people, from activists, future politicians, future researchers, parents, and students, interact with many social issues that impact them on a daily basis.
They will also share how they have been able to develop their own ways of teaching, thinking, and behaving in order to both live and survive. I will also explore these individuals outside of their struggles, getting to know how they celebrate their aliveness.

During this time, I realized not only did I want a place to share my thoughts and invite others to do the same, but I wanted to put my time and energy on a task that was outside of the identity I had built for myself outside of my schooling. This was an interest that I had cared about for a long time, and without it being my major, there weren’t many readily available opportunities for me to engage in this passion of mine. I wanted to show myself that what I enjoy is worth pouring time and energy into, without expecting a monetary payoff.

My friend Drew assisted me with acquiring recording equipment, which was a breeze due to the work he does with the Richmond City Council, and I met up with him to get some of his feedback, since he had some experience with creating podcasts before.

So I sent out my promo posts on the Yapping for Justice instagram page, booted up my Spotify podcast account, and got to recording. I launched my passion project last year, on March 6th, 2024

The support I have gotten from friends and family has been overwhelmingly supportive and loving, affirming my decision to kick start something that means so much to me and my personhood.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The best thing society can do to support artists is to offer them respect for their thought and ability to create. One way or another, everyone is a creative and I believe allowing others to venture into self-exploration for the purpose of being and creating is a way we can honor the livelihoods of those surrounding us.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative has to be seeing my growth and progress. The longer you stick with something you feel positively about, even of you may not have the clearest idea about it, might surprise you with the fruits of your labor. Individuals you would have never imagined appreciating you or your work will be able to see parts of you that you might not have even intended to display. And calling attention to appreciate all parts of you can invite such a positive feelings.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: yappingforjustice
• Youtube: Yapping for Justice

Image Credits
Autumn Adeyan Vann Jones