April 2, 2025 • 40 mins
This week of Locatora Radio, Diosa and Mala are joined by educator and sexologist, Bianca Laureano. She discusses her platform, Latinegrasexologist and her journey in becoming a sexologist.
Bianca Laureano is an award-wining educator, curriculum writer, facilitator, and sexologist. She is a Foundress of the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN), The LatiNegrxs Project, and ANTE UP! Virtual Freedom Professional Development School for Justice Workers.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/locatora_productions
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Are your ears bored? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Are you looking for a new podcast that will make
you laugh, learn, and say get Yeah.
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Then tune in to Look At Though Our Radio Season
ten Today, Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Look at Our Radio is a radiophonic novella, which is
just an extra way of saying a podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Season ten of Look At Thought Our Radio is totally nostalgic.
We're diving in with a four part series about the
Latinos who shaped pop culture in the early two thousands.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
But that's not all.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Season ten is also launching in the wake of LA
wildfires and a new Trump presidency. As always, we're leaning
into community by conducting critical interviews with people leading the
efforts to rebuild LA and fight back against oppression.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Tune in to Look at Our Radio Season ten. Now
that's what I call a podcast. Love with every listen right.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
At your fingertips.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Loga Ola La Loka Morees. Welcome to season ten of
Loka to a Radio. I'm Theosa and I'm Mala.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Loka to a.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Radio is a podcast dedicated to our chiving our present
and shifting the culture forward. You're tuning in to Capitolo
Docientos Veinti Sinko two twenty five.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Last time on Loca to Our Radio, we talked about
the fire recovery efforts in Altadina and Pasadena. Go back,
listen to that episode and leave us a review. Now
let's move into our check in portion of the episode
Climax or Cry. In this segment we talk about are basically,
it's our highlight of the week, what was the climax
(01:45):
of our week and what made us cry this week.
It's our version of Hill Valley Rose Thorne Climax or Cry.
I'll start my climax literally, And I'm sharing this because
we are going to be in conversation with Latin Negra,
who is a sexologist, so I feel comfortable sharing in
this space. But I was recently gifted a Magic wand
(02:09):
it was a present and the Magic wand like the brand,
like the old school heavy duty vibrator. It looks like
a robot Q tip, like it's big.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Does it connect to an electrical outlet? Like?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Is it that old school?
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Funny? You should ask because this version it is the
top of the line, so it can charge and hold
a charge for up to three hours. But you can
also plug it into the wall if you want to.
All right, So you can be hands free, but if
you want to plug in, you have the option.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
All right, And what was it like, how does it
compare to maybe a smaller, more sleek version.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So you all our og listeners might recall there was
a time where Rebecca at the Blue Mey was sending
us vibrators of different sizes, different kinds. One that I
really loved, A bullet vibrator that you wore is like
a little gold necklace. Fantastic. This is a whole different level.
This is a machine. This is this is like the
(03:11):
AR fifteen A vibrators.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
These don't compare it to an AR fifteen.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
What is wrong with you? Oh, vibrator is really it's
taking no prisoners truly, this thing, truly, this thing. So yeah,
I'm literally climaxing so much all the time. I'm still
and that's my climax of luin. The thing that's making
me cry this week is that season three, this newest
(03:36):
season of White Lotus is simply not as good as
last season. Now, White Lotus as a show due to
the brilliance of Mike White, who writes and directs White Lotus.
It's a slow burn type of a show, you know,
like you're watching, you're waiting, anticipation is building, and the
action happens later. So I'm allowing for that to be
true this season, but it just doesn't have the magic
(04:00):
of last season. And it's because there's no Jennifer Coolidge.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I would also cry if Jennifer Coolidge was no longer
in the show that I wanted to watch.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
You know, she got killed off last season. Oh she did.
I haven't been following. Yeah, that's that quote. These gays
are trying to kill me. Yeah, and then they did.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Damn well, I guess I can't watch now.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
You spoiled it. I mean so sorry. But it's really good.
It's really good. So that's what's making me cry. I really.
It makes me so sad when a show from season
to season can change so drastically in like the quality
and the watch whether that's because of like the casting
or who's writing it or directing it. But you know,
there are those shows like Law and Order that it's
(04:41):
just it's the same every episode, every season. There's a
formula that's a formula. This is not that. So that
made me cry a little bit. That made me cry
a little bit those way. How about you and what's
your climax, what's your cry?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I'm not climaxing at all. I think I need a
magic wand.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
You can borrow mine whenever you want.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I have like, like, figuratively, I'm not climaxing, and that's
making me think literally, I need to climax.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I feel me, You feel me, of course.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And so I have nothing to share. This feels like
a blaw week. So there's no climax to share. There's
lots of cries, lots of tears to share, some serious,
some funny. Let's see, I'm crying because I'm learning a
new technique in tennis. This is super niche, so I'm
not going to get into it. But you know, it's
(05:28):
one of those things where like you're learning something new
and you're like, I got this, I'm getting so good
at this, and then you're taught another way to do
something and you're like, fuck, I'm starting over and it sucks.
And that makes me want to cry because I'm like
I was feeling myself like I was like I knew
what i was doing, and now I'm like, I don't
know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I'm starting over. You like mastery, Yes, that's where you thrive.
That's where you're comfortable. I'm very intense as a person,
and like for our listeners, I need you to know,
she's like wearing a turtleneck and a wetter vest. I'm
very intensewards with my sweater vests.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
I'm trying something new. I'm trying to discover my personal
style this year.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
It's very cute and you were doing. No, you're giving
like office siren.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Mala has named that as my look, as my perpetual
evolving look. I guess is like office Siren.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
It's right now because it's the combination of like gold jewelry,
the beat, the lashes, it's the u of it all.
But then you're throwing on a sweater vest. Yes, you're
wearing an oversized blazer. Yes, you know there might be
a loafer. There's I'm wearing loafers today. Yees currently right now.
But you're making it, you're making it siren, but you
are kind of giving it still like a little nineties
(06:44):
a wee bit. You're also giving like glam. Yeah, so yeah,
I see office Siren. I see that or like eighties
it girl in a rom com. Also that you're dating me. No,
it's just I think that what you're doing though, like
your look, because it's not like it's not like TikTok
(07:06):
shop looks. No, these are classic silhouettes.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yes, yeah, I think that's what I'm learning as we
get older. It's like, actually everything is always in style
if it's your style, Like nothing is actually out of style.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
You feel me, it's impossible.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
It's impossible because it's like, sure, maybe it's not on
trend anymore, but like some things that they're called classic
for a reason.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Exactly, you know, and like a turtleneck sweater vest combo
will never leave us. It will always be classic.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I've never worn a sweater sweater vest before.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
I love it. I think it's so cute.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I've learned also as I get older that it's hard
to be a battie when you're always cold and I
run super cold. And obviously we live in La so
it's not that cold, but it's very.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Cold for me. It's chili. It has been chilly.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It has been chilly, and so when you're trying to
be like a battie, a hot girl, but you're always cold,
well you have to dress like you're always cold. Yeah,
So that kind of like it's just up for interpretation.
Canna Baddy wear a crew neck?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Can she wear a turtleneck?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yes, it's encouraged in fact exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I'm also crying because I have this very terrible habit
of like watching my comfort shows so that I'm late
to like a lot of the things. And I know
that I'm late to a lot of the things like
White Lotus. I didn't know Jennifer Coolidge was killed off,
but I run that risk because I don't keep up
with them because I'm watching Ugly Betty for the millionth time, so.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Real instead of the news stuff, let's rewatch.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I'm rewatching a show from the mid two thousands because
it gives me everything. They don't make them like that anymore.
Like I was watching Ugly Betty and do you remember
this time in TV where like the cameos were everything, Yes,
where it's like it broke the fourth wall without breaking
the fourth wall. So I was watching Ugly Betty and
(09:01):
America Fideta plays Betty Squattez. I've talked about this in
previous episodes, so I'm not going to go that into it,
but there's a cameo where the actress that plays Betty
la Fea comes out in Ugly Betty, the American version,
and that just, like, ugh, was so good. Because the
cameos from the mid two thousands, like, I don't think
(09:23):
that they do them anymore because everything is like for streamer, right,
and we're not having that unique experience unless maybe it's
HBO where you're like watching week by week, and so
there's just something so delicious to me about like watching
a show from that time where there's a cameo and
you know that everyone was freaking out or like laughing
(09:43):
at that moment. I just feel like there's just something
about that that can be recreated now.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
No, like the moment that surprise guest pops up on
the screen, Yes, and that episode is only available at
that exact moment on that day to watch.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Yes, And we can rewatch it now obviously, but unless
you were watching it at that time, you might miss it.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Oh or or back in the day, the Disney Channel
shows used to do it where all of a sudden,
Destiny's Child is on.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
An episode of Yes, right, Yes.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
And everybody's freaking out and then they bust into a musical.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Number exactly that Yes Perfect. They used to really do
something with TV. There was something there, there was a
magic moment there.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, and where it's like I think there was also
like the actors are acting, you know in the TV show,
and now this pop star who we love is just
going to do a drop in, Yes, but we still
know they's a singer pop star. They're not being introduced
as a season regular rights, And it's sort of that, yeah,
breaking the fourth wall without breaking the fourth wall because
(10:48):
this famous person who's famous for us is also famous
in the world.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Of the show.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yes exactly, which made it really fun and like meta.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yes, yes, absolutely, what a time. Yeah, that's my cry
for the week. I don't keep up with enough TV.
But maybe that's okay.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Maybe it's who knows, there's so much TV. There's so much.
There's a lot of television.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yes, what I am watching that's kind of current or
at least like there's a new season and I'm watching
it actively is like Yellow Jackets.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Ooh, now that's an intense show.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That's an intense show. I'm an intenseron I read and
watch a lot of intense things. So I need the
ugly Betty for some levity.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yes, of course, you're well your cerebral you're thinking about
the human condition, right, I can appreciate that somebody else
to do it.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
All right, Well that's our climax and cry for the week.
Don't go anywhere, locomotives.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
We'll be right back, and we're back with more of
our episode. And now now we have the immense pleasure
of bringing to you one of our favorite segments, O
lokas you are now listening to.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
So this question was submitted by our very own producer,
and she asked, how do I balance my creative dreams
with my nine to five? She felt that that was
a question that our listeners would resonate with because a
lot of us have creative dreams, but are maybe balancing
a nine to five at the same time.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yes, that used to be us. I don't really know
what that's like anymore because I haven't had a nine
to five years now. Yeah, just wild to think about.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
I never actually thought that I would be that person
who can say like, oh, like, I'm a creative and
I do this may that, but no, I don't have
a nine to five. But that is our reality. That's
where we are. The podcast is our job. We do
other gigs like we have a lot of other things
going on. We don't have all of our eggs in
one basket. It took working nine to five yeah, to
(12:53):
be able to step away from the nine to fives.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
And only when we had something very secure and writing
and contractual and looked over by our attorney. We didn't like,
throw all caution to the wind and just quit the
jobs and step out on faith. We did not do that. No,
and we never encourage anybody to do that. Keep your
job for as long as possible, as long as possible,
(13:17):
because you do not want to be in a situation
where you leave your job, you leave your stability, and
you don't have something lined up. Yeah, you cannot focus
on your creative work if you are struggling to survive.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I think that it's okay to have a nine to five,
As I've been in this full time creative space for
two years now, officially, I can say that, like, it's
okay to treat your nine to five like your nine
to five yea like let yourself clock in clock out
(13:54):
like And if your aspirations are to have your job,
you be your job, your stable income, where you get
your benefits, where you're paying for like your four o
one K or your retirement what have you. Like, that's cool.
I don't think that like everyone needs to step out
into entrepreneurship because it's really hard and really scary. There's
something to letting your creative projects, your little like side hustles,
(14:18):
be just that. And I think that whenever we feel
like super pressure to monetize, we can kind of lose
the spark the love that we have for something. I
don't think that's always the case, but I do think
that that can happen. And so I think that it's
fine to like do your your hobby, your art, your writing,
(14:39):
your paintings, whatever. This creative endeavor may be like after
your nine to five on the weekends, take time off
to work on it. But it also doesn't have to
be like your creative full time job either. I think
that like we should support both. I feel like in
this age of social media, it's like, you know, there's
(14:59):
like a lot of kind of pressure to make it
be your whole thing.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yes, but it can just be like that, you know, Yeah,
you don't have to be a full time working artist
in order to be an artist. Yes, I think that
some of the most talented people likely have nine to fives,
and they work on their craft and they cultivate their
art when they're not at their jobs, and the art
(15:24):
is just that for them, it's their art and it's
not necessarily what's paying their bills. But that's okay. I
also think that there's maybe I don't know if this
is like a global thing or if this is very American,
but I think there's this emphasis on like your job
being your passion and your calling. Yeah, it also does
not have to be that. No, it's very much okay
(15:46):
if your job is not your passion, you know.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, I think there's so much emphasis in finding fulfillment
through your job. But that's also why I'm saying, like
let your job be your job, like if it's just
there to pay the bills, and like like everyone has
to do something, you know what I mean, Like we
live in a world or in a culture where like
everyone is doing their little their little thing, their contribution,
(16:11):
whether that be art or whether that be like through
their their job, and like every job is crucial. Literally
we need we need someone for everything.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
For everything. I mean, imagine if there were no janitors,
everything would go to shit, literally, you know, I mean,
we would not be able to function. If we had
one day, just one day where people were not you know,
managing the trash, we would be like buried in filth
and garbage, like every single like like you're saying, I
(16:43):
agree completely. Everything that you do has some type of
a positive impact, even if you don't feel that it
is in the moment or at the time. So yeah,
I agree. Take all your vacation days also, and take
your sick days. If you don't use them, they just
get lost. You know, don't be such a team player
that you are shortchanging yourself of your your hard earned
(17:06):
time off. And artists need time off. Artists need to
explore and rest and think and plan and experiment. So
take your weekends for yourself, take your sick days, you know,
use them, they're yours to use. And then you use
that time how you see fit, maybe towards your creative endeavors.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
This has been on ye lookus, don't go anywhere, Loco Motives.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
We'll be right back and we're back with more of
our episode. And now for the interview portion of today's episode.
We are so excited to bring to you all an
interview that we did with Bianca Loriano, also known as
lap Neegra on Instagram and on social media. Bianca is
(17:57):
a sexologist, she's an educator, she's a curriculum writer, she
is a speaker, and we've been following her for years.
So we are thrilled to have Bianca on Look at
Thaar Radio today we talk about sexual health, how she
became a sexologist, and an on anthology that she has
helped put together which centers the voices of queer people
(18:21):
of color in the sexology space.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Hi am Bianca Loriana and I am a sexologist, sex
educator and curriculum writer. And my background is my parents
of Puerto Rican grew up on the East Coast and
now I'm in the Central Valley of California, which I
never imagined I would be at doing a lot of
work around training sexuality professionals. I've been in abortion Dola
(18:48):
for over ten years not it's thirteen years and supporting
people who are pregnant seeking information about all their options,
as well as doing some activism to include more people
of color, disabled people, querenchance people becoming sex educators.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Thank you so much for sharing a little bit about yourself,
and we have been following your platform, your page called
Latin Negra for many years. So can you tell us
about the platform that you created when you created it,
because it's been some time, and just tell us a
little bit about it.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Yeah, you know, I'm gen X, so the Internet is
very new for me in certain ways.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
I've had it as an adult.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
So I'm at Latin Negra sexologist on Instagram and that started,
you know, a while ago, and really me just figuring
out what is this new, you know platform that's using
images and photos. So if people look at how I
started several years ago, it looks very different than what
it looks like today. It was a lot of like
(19:51):
me documenting my life and my everyday things, and what
I was doing is a sexuality professional. And now it's
a little bit more specific on the types of courses
that I'm offering, being transparent about like book publishing and
what it looks like when you get a check after
you published a book, how much does that check include?
How do you figure out what that's going to look like?
(20:12):
As well as just talking about a variety of different topics.
But I'm very much the person who people come to
because they want to get trained to do their work better.
So I'm not one of those people that's always producing
content for a general population to learn a little bit more.
I'm training the people who do that work. So I'm
(20:33):
not surprised if people are like, I have no idea
who you might be in this moment, or oh, I
totally know what you're doing, because I train a lot
of people to do their work better. I know. I
was trained in nineteen ninety six, and it really frustrates
me that people are still being trained the same way
I was thirty years later. So things need to change.
(20:56):
And so I'm really focusing on supporting communities of color,
communities with global majority who want to do this work
and are all over the world. So my page kind
of reflects that kind of activism, reminding people how the
intersection of reproductive justice, disability justice, gender justice impacts all
(21:17):
of our lives, all of the time, in so many,
so many ways.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
So yeah, and you sexology, you're a sexologist. For our
listeners who maybe are not familiar with the field, can
you define it for us and how did you become
trained as a sexologist?
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Yeah, And it's so interesting this is it's kind of
like the term Latino or LATINX or Latine It's a
term that so many people have a different definition of,
and for me, I like to encompass all of us.
So for sexologists, I define it as people who do
sexuality education, who do sexuality research, and they were also
guided by a knowledge of the historical creation of sexuality
(21:58):
as a field, whether it's in the United States or abroad.
So it welcomes in a variety of different forms of
knowledges and also knowing, which I think is really important
to create. And some people will say, oh, no, just
people who can offer a diagnosis or people who write,
you know, research and academic papers can call themselves sexologists.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
I don't think that's true. So I definitely want.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
To expand our understanding of that term. And I went
to my training is very very traditional, so I do
want to say that upfront. I went through the US
academic system. So I went to a state college, which
was University of Maryland College Park, and I then that
(22:42):
was nineteen eighty six that I went to UM and
then there was only one program that was attractive to
me on the East Coast around human sexuality. So when
I graduated in two thousand, there was really only one program,
and I applied to it that was at NYU, New
York University, and they had a master's degree in human
sexuality education.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
So I signed up for.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
That one, and they had early admission, and so I
knew before the end of the year that I was
selected to participate in the program. I get a full
scholarship that I didn't even apply for, and I learned
later why.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
But I was there for.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
Two years, and I like to tell people that it
was It wasn't a hard program, like intellectually hard, but
it was hard because I was the only one. I
was the only Latina in the cohort. Everybody was white
except for me and one other black woman, and all
of our training was focusing on whiteness and white people
(23:41):
and white contributions. And when I look back at my notebooks,
all my notes were the things that we're missing. How
would I bring this in to a conversation with you know,
central American immigrant family is how would I talk about
this topic with people who are translating for their parents, right?
Making things a little bit more accessible. So it's not
(24:02):
that I didn't learn anything. I learned what the white
people wanted us to learn, and I had to fill
in the gaps for supporting our communities. So that's a
little bit of my background there. I then went into
I was heavily recruited into a woman's studies PhD program
at the University of Maryland. So when Bush Junior was
(24:24):
re elected, I very much was like, there's gonna be
no funding for sex education, there's gonna be no funding
for young parents, HIV AIDS stuff. So I was like,
let me look into a PhD program. So I went
into a PhD program for three years, and like many
I think of your listeners, I had no idea what
a PhD program was supposed to be. But I knew
nobody would listen to a bushy hair, light skin Puerto
(24:47):
Rican who talks the way that I do about sex
and sexuality without having letters behind my name. So I
knew I needed the letters, but I had no idea
what that.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Meant after that.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
And so in that phgd P, I was trained to
be a researcher, and I was trained within like an
intersectional framework, which is very popular in women in gender studies,
and I realized I don't want to be a researcher.
I'm better as an educator. And it wasn't a teaching
college so I left that program after three years. I
(25:20):
had full funding also for that, and then I just
started do the work that I really wanted to do,
writing curricula. I was working in the public school system.
I was also working in public charter schools because I
wanted to work specifically with black and brown children. And
as many people are noticing today, the first thing to
get cut when people are tightening up their budget is
(25:43):
sex in so when that started to happen, I started
to look into other ways to do the work that
I wanted to do. So I became trained as an
abortion doula, supporting people who were having in clinic abortions
at the time in New York City, and I started
building of variety of different classes that I wanted to teach,
and I've been teaching at a variety of different universities
(26:05):
in New York City. And I started to build something
on my own that I wanted to see and that
I knew was needed. And so through that and a
lot of activism, and one of the co foundresses of
an organization called the Women of Color Sexual Health Network,
which is a membership organization really to retain and support
us as we do this work and Because of that activism,
(26:27):
I was then awarded an honorary doctorate five years ago
from the California Institute of Integral Studies, which is wild
because when I hear when I think about people who
have received honorary doctors, it's like celebrities, right, It's never
like a community organizer or educator. It's usually like miss Elliott.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Yeah, yes, exactly.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
So you know, when I got that call, I was like, Okay, well,
how are my parents going to understand this? And so
I literally asked them, I said, what are the honorifics
that I can Can I say to my dad I
was awarded a PhD and now you can call me doctor?
And they were like yes, So that's what I've been
doing to make it clear to people. But also I'm like,
(27:11):
it's an honorary doctorate. I did the work, so I
got the degree. But also I was in a PhD program,
so I've been trained to do that work too, It's
just not in a more research based focus. So yeah,
it was a very traditional route. And today when people
ask me do I have to go back to school,
should I go to college? What routes should I do?
(27:32):
I usually first encourage them to use their public library
card and see what books are available and what films
you can watch. Because a lot of my graduate work
was me filling in the gaps of what I wasn't
getting from the classroom when I was supposed to be
get in this training. So yeah, I had to build
it the way that I wanted it to work for myself.
(27:54):
And today there's a lot of different programs focusing on
human sexuality. If people are interested in going of formal
about like I did, or something a little bit less formal,
they're all available. So I'm really excited to support people
and figuring out what is their best path to do
this work within our communities.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Amazing. I want to ask you because you are an educator,
you wrote curriculum and you also authored the People's Book
of Human Sexuality. So in that book, would you say
that that's where you were filling in the gaps of
what you weren't seeing And if yes, can you tell
us what were your findings? What did you write about?
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Yeah, So it's so interesting because this book was something
that when I was invited to consider it, I wasn't
even thinking about writing a book. I got it reached
out to you by the editor at a major publishing house, Rutledge,
and she had said, Bianki, you've written so many chapters
for so many of our books, why don't you have
your own book?
Speaker 5 (28:52):
And I was like, that's such a great question.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
I don't know why not. And so from there she's like, well,
what kind of book would you want to create? I said,
you know, I grew up as a kid who was
exposed to like encyclopedias and like volumes and you know,
and I was like, I just imagine having like volumes
of books that have all of our brilliance as people
of the global majority, people who have often been silenced,
(29:16):
And I wanted to just be there in its fullness
and have this really thick archive that people can no
longer say, well, we didn't know anyone with this background
or this knowledge or who spoke this language, because we're
going to be there, clearly, prominently displayed. And so I
really pitched The People's Book of Human Sexuality as a volume.
(29:38):
So my hope is that this is volume one. And
the goal with that was really to reach out to
people who I knew had been doing this work for
decades and decades, and yet were the people that were
never being reached out to to contribute to a chapter
or to collaborate on some writing, and it was people
that had a lot of important things to say and
(29:58):
a lot of knowledge.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
It often gets excluded or.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Questioned, and so it's not just filling in the gaps,
but it's really creating a whole other space that we've
always been in, but bringing it closer to the center
of what our worlds look like. And it really is
a gift to white people and non you know, people
who are Latino or who aren't black or Indigenous. It's
(30:26):
really a gift for those people because they get to
see what it's like and experience or work from our perspective.
So I know, it really disrupts the way that they
learn and understand.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
And that's the goal. I really wanted to create something
where someone.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
Who didn't want to go to college but wanted to
be a sex educator could just pick up a book
and find some lesson plans, find some ways to help
build their own curricula or workshop. And that's really what
we created with the fourteen contributors.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Is there something, a story, a lesson, something specific from
the book that you feel is really just adding something
to the space that just didn't exist before. That really
stands out to you.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Yeah, you know, I think one of the things that
I think is really wild right now, and it's one
of the reasons why I teach what I do is that,
believe it or not, there's no requirement that if you
want to become a sexuality educator that you need to
know about abortion.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
And it's so wild to me that that is.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
Not a core component, especially after the Dobbs decision several
years ago that led to abortion bands, and even today
you have to seek that out on your own. But
there's a ton of information in classes that talk about
sex and pregnancy, right so we're already seeing even within
spaces that consider themselves quote unquote sex positive, we're still
(31:51):
seeing this very much embrace of building families by pregnancy
versus hearing.
Speaker 5 (31:59):
From community that are building their families because.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
They're choosing an abortion and they're choosing how to create
their families.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
And so I create a class. I created a class
on abortion.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
For sex professionals who really don't know how to ask
answer questions like when can I have sex after my abortion?
Speaker 5 (32:14):
Right?
Speaker 4 (32:14):
Like, those are really common things that people ask. So
there's a chapter about abortion from a good friend who
is at a very high position at a big nonprofit
doing reproductive health care work, and she writes about her
conversation with her ten year old daughter at a time
when they were passing in a car. They were passing
(32:36):
by an anti abortion protest and her daughter was able
to read the signs, and so she was asking questions about,
like what does this mean? And it's just this really
beautiful narrative of how this mom is, like, this is
how we talk about it in our family, this is
how we value people's decisions about their bodies in this
way and our family, And it's really just this beautiful
(32:56):
narrative of how it's not hard to talk about abortion.
It's really about getting comfortable. And then there's a lesson
plan after each chapter. So part of the lesson plan
there is encouraging participants to look into where you find
the information. How are you using media literacy skills to
really determine false information or propaganda that's negative versus actual
(33:20):
useful medical information. So I think that really fills a
huge gap, which to me is still wild.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
It still exists.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
But unfortunately, in the sexuality feel people have to go
into maternal child health or specifically into abortion spaces if
they want to get any training or informational abortion. So
I think that really fills in a huge gap that
still remains that I've been trying to fulfill for like
at least eight years now.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
And so now I want to ask you about the
ante up training that that you facilitate. Can you tell
us more about that and what you hope this provides
for the community.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
Absolutely, you know, ANTIP is really a program for people
who do this work already and want to do it better,
who realize why am I still using these words to
talk about female assigned at birth body parts? And it's
all these old white men's names, right, Like people who
are really coming in with a critical lens and yet
have no place to really have these conversations or be
(34:25):
with other people who also want to grow and be
challenged and pushed to think in a different way. So
it's really a certificate where people leave with not just
more knowledge, but really building skills on how to incorporate
that into the work that they're already doing. So I'm
not trying to change people's minds or like reimagine their niche,
(34:45):
but the classes really fill in the gaps that still
exist in the US sexuality field. So if people are
looking for a training program that's not attached like a university,
those are usually a little bit more affordable. They're following
the exact same outline, and so the classes that I
teach are like, oh, that outline doesn't include this, right, So,
like my theory class is about intersectionality as the black
(35:08):
feminist gift it is and explaining to people this is
how it's used, this is what it means, this is
how people are misusing it. This is how you will
know the person using it doesn't know what they're doing,
because this is how they're always miss using it. My
class on abortion also fills in that gap. And then
I have chile professional development courses that I think are
really really important because I train a lot of therapists
(35:31):
and social workers who work with queer trans communities or
with sexuality problems, and a lot of their training encourages
them to see themselves as a clinical expert versus a
collaborator with their clients, especially when offering like a diagnosis
or plan for care, and so they never think of
(35:52):
themselves as people who could possibly cause harm. And I
noticed that that was a big gap in our field
where a lot of people were causing some harm and
didn't know how to apologize, didn't know how to take accountability.
And so I literally have two classes about accountability for
our communities, which is all about how do we prepare
for when we do mess up because we're all going to,
(36:13):
especially for focusing on justice work. We're going to mess
up because we have to. That's how we learn better
and learn how to move together. And then also having
an intentional apology workshop that really goes into what types
of apologies are useful and what kinds are not, and
how can we make sure that we apologize with the
(36:34):
intention of repair.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
Versus just to get it out of the way and
keep moving.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
So really encouraging people to think through how do you
need to offer an apology to someone that maybe you
have an offer jet and what might that look like
and how can we build that together. So it's definitely
a workshop, but nobody's talking about failure in our field
unless they're trying to say, see this person as horrible.
There's such a failure, and I just think that that's
not a it's not useful. We all feel in so
(37:03):
many ways, and I want us to get really comfortable
talking about it.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
So those are just a handful of some of the
classes that I teach.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
A lot of people who are interested in the program
come from a variety of different fields of work. So yes,
some therapists, but I also have some sex workers. I
also have people who are writers. I have other formal
educators like myself. I have yoga teachers. You know, there's
a range of people who are attracted to the content
(37:32):
that I'm creating because they've never had a class like
that before. All my classes are also live. I think
that's a really important thing to bring in. And it's
weird for me to say that because I grew up
having a go to class in person, but now a
lot of classes are like webinar style where you can
buy the video and just watch it and then you're
(37:53):
you're done. I just don't think that that's a useful
way to learn all the time. So all my classes
are live. They're not record arted intentionally because I want
people to be able to ask their questions. So yeah,
so that's a few ways that our program stands out.
We really are trying to shift the way that people
are learning and the way that we are together as
(38:15):
we do.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
This work.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Fabulous. If there are listeners out there who are interested
in learning more about, for example, the Women of Color
Sexual Health Network or the Latin Negras project, they want
to get involved, they want to learn more. How can they?
Speaker 4 (38:31):
Yeah, so I'm intentionally accessible online, so people can literally
type my name or any of those words that you
put together and literally find us very easily. I have
an open Instagram account. You can find me on Facebook
as well. I have a professional account there, and then
I have my own personal websites, and each of those
(38:52):
projects also have their own websites as well. The Women
of Color sexualf Network also has like a closed Facebook
group just for people of color who are interested in joining,
and they have like a public facing group on Facebook too,
and a website. So we're easily findable, easily able to
be identified, and so encourage people to, you know, go
(39:14):
on the internet find us.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Thank you Bianca for joining us today, and thank you
to all of you for listening to look at Radio.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
We'll catch you next time.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Citos lok A Radio is executive produced by Viosa Fem
and Mala Munios.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
Stephanie Franco is our producer.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Story editing by me diosa.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Creative direction by me Mala.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
Look at Radio is a part of iHeartRadio's Michael Dura
podcast network.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
You can listen to look at Radio on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
Leave us a review and share with your Prima or
share with your homegirl.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
And thank you to our local motives, to our listeners
for tuning in each and every week.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Besitos the
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Te
Are your ears bored? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Are you looking for a new podcast that will make
you laugh, learn, and say get Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Then tune in to Look At Though Our Radio Season
ten Today, Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Look at Our Radio is a radiophonic novella, which is
just an extra way of saying a podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Season ten of Look At Thought Our Radio is totally nostalgic.
We're diving in with a four part series about the
Latinos who shaped pop culture in the early two thousands.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
But that's not all.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Season ten is also launching in the wake of LA
wildfires and a new Trump presidency. As always, we're leaning
into community by conducting critical interviews with people leading the
efforts to rebuild LA and fight back against oppression.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Tune in to Look at Our Radio Season ten. Now
that's what I call a podcast. Love with every listen right.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
At your fingertips.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Loga Ola La Loka Morees. Welcome to season ten of
Loka to a Radio. I'm Theosa and I'm Mala.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Loka to a.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Radio is a podcast dedicated to our chiving our present
and shifting the culture forward. You're tuning in to Capitolo
Docientos Veinti Sinko two twenty five.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Last time on Loca to Our Radio, we talked about
the fire recovery efforts in Altadina and Pasadena. Go back,
listen to that episode and leave us a review. Now
let's move into our check in portion of the episode
Climax or Cry. In this segment we talk about are basically,
it's our highlight of the week, what was the climax
(01:45):
of our week and what made us cry this week.
It's our version of Hill Valley Rose Thorne Climax or Cry.
I'll start my climax literally, And I'm sharing this because
we are going to be in conversation with Latin Negra,
who is a sexologist, so I feel comfortable sharing in
this space. But I was recently gifted a Magic wand
(02:09):
it was a present and the Magic wand like the brand,
like the old school heavy duty vibrator. It looks like
a robot Q tip, like it's big.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Does it connect to an electrical outlet? Like?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Is it that old school?
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Funny? You should ask because this version it is the
top of the line, so it can charge and hold
a charge for up to three hours. But you can
also plug it into the wall if you want to.
All right, So you can be hands free, but if
you want to plug in, you have the option.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
All right, And what was it like, how does it
compare to maybe a smaller, more sleek version.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So you all our og listeners might recall there was
a time where Rebecca at the Blue Mey was sending
us vibrators of different sizes, different kinds. One that I
really loved, A bullet vibrator that you wore is like
a little gold necklace. Fantastic. This is a whole different level.
This is a machine. This is this is like the
(03:11):
AR fifteen A vibrators.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
These don't compare it to an AR fifteen.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
What is wrong with you? Oh, vibrator is really it's
taking no prisoners truly, this thing, truly, this thing. So yeah,
I'm literally climaxing so much all the time. I'm still
and that's my climax of luin. The thing that's making
me cry this week is that season three, this newest
(03:36):
season of White Lotus is simply not as good as
last season. Now, White Lotus as a show due to
the brilliance of Mike White, who writes and directs White Lotus.
It's a slow burn type of a show, you know,
like you're watching, you're waiting, anticipation is building, and the
action happens later. So I'm allowing for that to be
true this season, but it just doesn't have the magic
(04:00):
of last season. And it's because there's no Jennifer Coolidge.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I would also cry if Jennifer Coolidge was no longer
in the show that I wanted to watch.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
You know, she got killed off last season. Oh she did.
I haven't been following. Yeah, that's that quote. These gays
are trying to kill me. Yeah, and then they did.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Damn well, I guess I can't watch now.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
You spoiled it. I mean so sorry. But it's really good.
It's really good. So that's what's making me cry. I really.
It makes me so sad when a show from season
to season can change so drastically in like the quality
and the watch whether that's because of like the casting
or who's writing it or directing it. But you know,
there are those shows like Law and Order that it's
(04:41):
just it's the same every episode, every season. There's a
formula that's a formula. This is not that. So that
made me cry a little bit. That made me cry
a little bit those way. How about you and what's
your climax, what's your cry?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I'm not climaxing at all. I think I need a
magic wand.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
You can borrow mine whenever you want.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I have like, like, figuratively, I'm not climaxing, and that's
making me think literally, I need to climax.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I feel me, You feel me, of course.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And so I have nothing to share. This feels like
a blaw week. So there's no climax to share. There's
lots of cries, lots of tears to share, some serious,
some funny. Let's see, I'm crying because I'm learning a
new technique in tennis. This is super niche, so I'm
not going to get into it. But you know, it's
(05:28):
one of those things where like you're learning something new
and you're like, I got this, I'm getting so good
at this, and then you're taught another way to do
something and you're like, fuck, I'm starting over and it sucks.
And that makes me want to cry because I'm like
I was feeling myself like I was like I knew
what i was doing, and now I'm like, I don't
know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I'm starting over. You like mastery, Yes, that's where you thrive.
That's where you're comfortable. I'm very intense as a person,
and like for our listeners, I need you to know,
she's like wearing a turtleneck and a wetter vest. I'm
very intensewards with my sweater vests.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
I'm trying something new. I'm trying to discover my personal
style this year.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
It's very cute and you were doing. No, you're giving
like office siren.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Mala has named that as my look, as my perpetual
evolving look. I guess is like office Siren.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
It's right now because it's the combination of like gold jewelry,
the beat, the lashes, it's the u of it all.
But then you're throwing on a sweater vest. Yes, you're
wearing an oversized blazer. Yes, you know there might be
a loafer. There's I'm wearing loafers today. Yees currently right now.
But you're making it, you're making it siren, but you
are kind of giving it still like a little nineties
(06:44):
a wee bit. You're also giving like glam. Yeah, so yeah,
I see office Siren. I see that or like eighties
it girl in a rom com. Also that you're dating me. No,
it's just I think that what you're doing though, like
your look, because it's not like it's not like TikTok
(07:06):
shop looks. No, these are classic silhouettes.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yes, yeah, I think that's what I'm learning as we
get older. It's like, actually everything is always in style
if it's your style, Like nothing is actually out of style.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
You feel me, it's impossible.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
It's impossible because it's like, sure, maybe it's not on
trend anymore, but like some things that they're called classic
for a reason.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Exactly, you know, and like a turtleneck sweater vest combo
will never leave us. It will always be classic.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I've never worn a sweater sweater vest before.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
I love it. I think it's so cute.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I've learned also as I get older that it's hard
to be a battie when you're always cold and I
run super cold. And obviously we live in La so
it's not that cold, but it's very.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Cold for me. It's chili. It has been chilly.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It has been chilly, and so when you're trying to
be like a battie, a hot girl, but you're always cold,
well you have to dress like you're always cold. Yeah,
So that kind of like it's just up for interpretation.
Canna Baddy wear a crew neck?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Can she wear a turtleneck?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yes, it's encouraged in fact exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I'm also crying because I have this very terrible habit
of like watching my comfort shows so that I'm late
to like a lot of the things. And I know
that I'm late to a lot of the things like
White Lotus. I didn't know Jennifer Coolidge was killed off,
but I run that risk because I don't keep up
with them because I'm watching Ugly Betty for the millionth time, so.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Real instead of the news stuff, let's rewatch.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I'm rewatching a show from the mid two thousands because
it gives me everything. They don't make them like that anymore.
Like I was watching Ugly Betty and do you remember
this time in TV where like the cameos were everything, Yes,
where it's like it broke the fourth wall without breaking
the fourth wall. So I was watching Ugly Betty and
(09:01):
America Fideta plays Betty Squattez. I've talked about this in
previous episodes, so I'm not going to go that into it,
but there's a cameo where the actress that plays Betty
la Fea comes out in Ugly Betty, the American version,
and that just, like, ugh, was so good. Because the
cameos from the mid two thousands, like, I don't think
(09:23):
that they do them anymore because everything is like for streamer, right,
and we're not having that unique experience unless maybe it's
HBO where you're like watching week by week, and so
there's just something so delicious to me about like watching
a show from that time where there's a cameo and
you know that everyone was freaking out or like laughing
(09:43):
at that moment. I just feel like there's just something
about that that can be recreated now.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
No, like the moment that surprise guest pops up on
the screen, Yes, and that episode is only available at
that exact moment on that day to watch.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Yes, And we can rewatch it now obviously, but unless
you were watching it at that time, you might miss it.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Oh or or back in the day, the Disney Channel
shows used to do it where all of a sudden,
Destiny's Child is on.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
An episode of Yes, right, Yes.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
And everybody's freaking out and then they bust into a musical.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Number exactly that Yes Perfect. They used to really do
something with TV. There was something there, there was a
magic moment there.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, and where it's like I think there was also
like the actors are acting, you know in the TV show,
and now this pop star who we love is just
going to do a drop in, Yes, but we still
know they's a singer pop star. They're not being introduced
as a season regular rights, And it's sort of that, yeah,
breaking the fourth wall without breaking the fourth wall because
(10:48):
this famous person who's famous for us is also famous
in the world.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Of the show.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yes exactly, which made it really fun and like meta.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yes, yes, absolutely, what a time. Yeah, that's my cry
for the week. I don't keep up with enough TV.
But maybe that's okay.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Maybe it's who knows, there's so much TV. There's so much.
There's a lot of television.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yes, what I am watching that's kind of current or
at least like there's a new season and I'm watching
it actively is like Yellow Jackets.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Ooh, now that's an intense show.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That's an intense show. I'm an intenseron I read and
watch a lot of intense things. So I need the
ugly Betty for some levity.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yes, of course, you're well your cerebral you're thinking about
the human condition, right, I can appreciate that somebody else
to do it.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
All right, Well that's our climax and cry for the week.
Don't go anywhere, locomotives.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
We'll be right back, and we're back with more of
our episode. And now now we have the immense pleasure
of bringing to you one of our favorite segments, O
lokas you are now listening to.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
So this question was submitted by our very own producer,
and she asked, how do I balance my creative dreams
with my nine to five? She felt that that was
a question that our listeners would resonate with because a
lot of us have creative dreams, but are maybe balancing
a nine to five at the same time.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yes, that used to be us. I don't really know
what that's like anymore because I haven't had a nine
to five years now. Yeah, just wild to think about.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
I never actually thought that I would be that person
who can say like, oh, like, I'm a creative and
I do this may that, but no, I don't have
a nine to five. But that is our reality. That's
where we are. The podcast is our job. We do
other gigs like we have a lot of other things
going on. We don't have all of our eggs in
one basket. It took working nine to five yeah, to
(12:53):
be able to step away from the nine to fives.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
And only when we had something very secure and writing
and contractual and looked over by our attorney. We didn't like,
throw all caution to the wind and just quit the
jobs and step out on faith. We did not do that. No,
and we never encourage anybody to do that. Keep your
job for as long as possible, as long as possible,
(13:17):
because you do not want to be in a situation
where you leave your job, you leave your stability, and
you don't have something lined up. Yeah, you cannot focus
on your creative work if you are struggling to survive.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I think that it's okay to have a nine to five,
As I've been in this full time creative space for
two years now, officially, I can say that, like, it's
okay to treat your nine to five like your nine
to five yea like let yourself clock in clock out
(13:54):
like And if your aspirations are to have your job,
you be your job, your stable income, where you get
your benefits, where you're paying for like your four o
one K or your retirement what have you. Like, that's cool.
I don't think that like everyone needs to step out
into entrepreneurship because it's really hard and really scary. There's
something to letting your creative projects, your little like side hustles,
(14:18):
be just that. And I think that whenever we feel
like super pressure to monetize, we can kind of lose
the spark the love that we have for something. I
don't think that's always the case, but I do think
that that can happen. And so I think that it's
fine to like do your your hobby, your art, your writing,
(14:39):
your paintings, whatever. This creative endeavor may be like after
your nine to five on the weekends, take time off
to work on it. But it also doesn't have to
be like your creative full time job either. I think
that like we should support both. I feel like in
this age of social media, it's like, you know, there's
(14:59):
like a lot of kind of pressure to make it
be your whole thing.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yes, but it can just be like that, you know, Yeah,
you don't have to be a full time working artist
in order to be an artist. Yes, I think that
some of the most talented people likely have nine to fives,
and they work on their craft and they cultivate their
art when they're not at their jobs, and the art
(15:24):
is just that for them, it's their art and it's
not necessarily what's paying their bills. But that's okay. I
also think that there's maybe I don't know if this
is like a global thing or if this is very American,
but I think there's this emphasis on like your job
being your passion and your calling. Yeah, it also does
not have to be that. No, it's very much okay
(15:46):
if your job is not your passion, you know.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, I think there's so much emphasis in finding fulfillment
through your job. But that's also why I'm saying, like
let your job be your job, like if it's just
there to pay the bills, and like like everyone has
to do something, you know what I mean, Like we
live in a world or in a culture where like
everyone is doing their little their little thing, their contribution,
(16:11):
whether that be art or whether that be like through
their their job, and like every job is crucial. Literally
we need we need someone for everything.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
For everything. I mean, imagine if there were no janitors,
everything would go to shit, literally, you know, I mean,
we would not be able to function. If we had
one day, just one day where people were not you know,
managing the trash, we would be like buried in filth
and garbage, like every single like like you're saying, I
(16:43):
agree completely. Everything that you do has some type of
a positive impact, even if you don't feel that it
is in the moment or at the time. So yeah,
I agree. Take all your vacation days also, and take
your sick days. If you don't use them, they just
get lost. You know, don't be such a team player
that you are shortchanging yourself of your your hard earned
(17:06):
time off. And artists need time off. Artists need to
explore and rest and think and plan and experiment. So
take your weekends for yourself, take your sick days, you know,
use them, they're yours to use. And then you use
that time how you see fit, maybe towards your creative endeavors.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
This has been on ye lookus, don't go anywhere, Loco Motives.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
We'll be right back and we're back with more of
our episode. And now for the interview portion of today's episode.
We are so excited to bring to you all an
interview that we did with Bianca Loriano, also known as
lap Neegra on Instagram and on social media. Bianca is
(17:57):
a sexologist, she's an educator, she's a curriculum writer, she
is a speaker, and we've been following her for years.
So we are thrilled to have Bianca on Look at
Thaar Radio today we talk about sexual health, how she
became a sexologist, and an on anthology that she has
helped put together which centers the voices of queer people
(18:21):
of color in the sexology space.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Hi am Bianca Loriana and I am a sexologist, sex
educator and curriculum writer. And my background is my parents
of Puerto Rican grew up on the East Coast and
now I'm in the Central Valley of California, which I
never imagined I would be at doing a lot of
work around training sexuality professionals. I've been in abortion Dola
(18:48):
for over ten years not it's thirteen years and supporting
people who are pregnant seeking information about all their options,
as well as doing some activism to include more people
of color, disabled people, querenchance people becoming sex educators.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Thank you so much for sharing a little bit about yourself,
and we have been following your platform, your page called
Latin Negra for many years. So can you tell us
about the platform that you created when you created it,
because it's been some time, and just tell us a
little bit about it.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Yeah, you know, I'm gen X, so the Internet is
very new for me in certain ways.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
I've had it as an adult.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
So I'm at Latin Negra sexologist on Instagram and that started,
you know, a while ago, and really me just figuring
out what is this new, you know platform that's using
images and photos. So if people look at how I
started several years ago, it looks very different than what
it looks like today. It was a lot of like
(19:51):
me documenting my life and my everyday things, and what
I was doing is a sexuality professional. And now it's
a little bit more specific on the types of courses
that I'm offering, being transparent about like book publishing and
what it looks like when you get a check after
you published a book, how much does that check include?
How do you figure out what that's going to look like?
(20:12):
As well as just talking about a variety of different topics.
But I'm very much the person who people come to
because they want to get trained to do their work better.
So I'm not one of those people that's always producing
content for a general population to learn a little bit more.
I'm training the people who do that work. So I'm
(20:33):
not surprised if people are like, I have no idea
who you might be in this moment, or oh, I
totally know what you're doing, because I train a lot
of people to do their work better. I know. I
was trained in nineteen ninety six, and it really frustrates
me that people are still being trained the same way
I was thirty years later. So things need to change.
(20:56):
And so I'm really focusing on supporting communities of color,
communities with global majority who want to do this work
and are all over the world. So my page kind
of reflects that kind of activism, reminding people how the
intersection of reproductive justice, disability justice, gender justice impacts all
(21:17):
of our lives, all of the time, in so many,
so many ways.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
So yeah, and you sexology, you're a sexologist. For our
listeners who maybe are not familiar with the field, can
you define it for us and how did you become
trained as a sexologist?
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Yeah, And it's so interesting this is it's kind of
like the term Latino or LATINX or Latine It's a
term that so many people have a different definition of,
and for me, I like to encompass all of us.
So for sexologists, I define it as people who do
sexuality education, who do sexuality research, and they were also
guided by a knowledge of the historical creation of sexuality
(21:58):
as a field, whether it's in the United States or abroad.
So it welcomes in a variety of different forms of
knowledges and also knowing, which I think is really important
to create. And some people will say, oh, no, just
people who can offer a diagnosis or people who write,
you know, research and academic papers can call themselves sexologists.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
I don't think that's true. So I definitely want.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
To expand our understanding of that term. And I went
to my training is very very traditional, so I do
want to say that upfront. I went through the US
academic system. So I went to a state college, which
was University of Maryland College Park, and I then that
(22:42):
was nineteen eighty six that I went to UM and
then there was only one program that was attractive to
me on the East Coast around human sexuality. So when
I graduated in two thousand, there was really only one program,
and I applied to it that was at NYU, New
York University, and they had a master's degree in human
sexuality education.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
So I signed up for.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
That one, and they had early admission, and so I
knew before the end of the year that I was
selected to participate in the program. I get a full
scholarship that I didn't even apply for, and I learned
later why.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
But I was there for.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
Two years, and I like to tell people that it
was It wasn't a hard program, like intellectually hard, but
it was hard because I was the only one. I
was the only Latina in the cohort. Everybody was white
except for me and one other black woman, and all
of our training was focusing on whiteness and white people
(23:41):
and white contributions. And when I look back at my notebooks,
all my notes were the things that we're missing. How
would I bring this in to a conversation with you know,
central American immigrant family is how would I talk about
this topic with people who are translating for their parents, right?
Making things a little bit more accessible. So it's not
(24:02):
that I didn't learn anything. I learned what the white
people wanted us to learn, and I had to fill
in the gaps for supporting our communities. So that's a
little bit of my background there. I then went into
I was heavily recruited into a woman's studies PhD program
at the University of Maryland. So when Bush Junior was
(24:24):
re elected, I very much was like, there's gonna be
no funding for sex education, there's gonna be no funding
for young parents, HIV AIDS stuff. So I was like,
let me look into a PhD program. So I went
into a PhD program for three years, and like many
I think of your listeners, I had no idea what
a PhD program was supposed to be. But I knew
nobody would listen to a bushy hair, light skin Puerto
(24:47):
Rican who talks the way that I do about sex
and sexuality without having letters behind my name. So I
knew I needed the letters, but I had no idea
what that.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Meant after that.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
And so in that phgd P, I was trained to
be a researcher, and I was trained within like an
intersectional framework, which is very popular in women in gender studies,
and I realized I don't want to be a researcher.
I'm better as an educator. And it wasn't a teaching
college so I left that program after three years. I
(25:20):
had full funding also for that, and then I just
started do the work that I really wanted to do,
writing curricula. I was working in the public school system.
I was also working in public charter schools because I
wanted to work specifically with black and brown children. And
as many people are noticing today, the first thing to
get cut when people are tightening up their budget is
(25:43):
sex in so when that started to happen, I started
to look into other ways to do the work that
I wanted to do. So I became trained as an
abortion doula, supporting people who were having in clinic abortions
at the time in New York City, and I started
building of variety of different classes that I wanted to teach,
and I've been teaching at a variety of different universities
(26:05):
in New York City. And I started to build something
on my own that I wanted to see and that
I knew was needed. And so through that and a
lot of activism, and one of the co foundresses of
an organization called the Women of Color Sexual Health Network,
which is a membership organization really to retain and support
us as we do this work and Because of that activism,
(26:27):
I was then awarded an honorary doctorate five years ago
from the California Institute of Integral Studies, which is wild
because when I hear when I think about people who
have received honorary doctors, it's like celebrities, right, It's never
like a community organizer or educator. It's usually like miss Elliott.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Yeah, yes, exactly.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
So you know, when I got that call, I was like, Okay, well,
how are my parents going to understand this? And so
I literally asked them, I said, what are the honorifics
that I can Can I say to my dad I
was awarded a PhD and now you can call me doctor?
And they were like yes, So that's what I've been
doing to make it clear to people. But also I'm like,
(27:11):
it's an honorary doctorate. I did the work, so I
got the degree. But also I was in a PhD program,
so I've been trained to do that work too, It's
just not in a more research based focus. So yeah,
it was a very traditional route. And today when people
ask me do I have to go back to school,
should I go to college? What routes should I do?
(27:32):
I usually first encourage them to use their public library
card and see what books are available and what films
you can watch. Because a lot of my graduate work
was me filling in the gaps of what I wasn't
getting from the classroom when I was supposed to be
get in this training. So yeah, I had to build
it the way that I wanted it to work for myself.
(27:54):
And today there's a lot of different programs focusing on
human sexuality. If people are interested in going of formal
about like I did, or something a little bit less formal,
they're all available. So I'm really excited to support people
and figuring out what is their best path to do
this work within our communities.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Amazing. I want to ask you because you are an educator,
you wrote curriculum and you also authored the People's Book
of Human Sexuality. So in that book, would you say
that that's where you were filling in the gaps of
what you weren't seeing And if yes, can you tell
us what were your findings? What did you write about?
Speaker 4 (28:31):
Yeah, So it's so interesting because this book was something
that when I was invited to consider it, I wasn't
even thinking about writing a book. I got it reached
out to you by the editor at a major publishing house, Rutledge,
and she had said, Bianki, you've written so many chapters
for so many of our books, why don't you have
your own book?
Speaker 5 (28:52):
And I was like, that's such a great question.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
I don't know why not. And so from there she's like, well,
what kind of book would you want to create? I said,
you know, I grew up as a kid who was
exposed to like encyclopedias and like volumes and you know,
and I was like, I just imagine having like volumes
of books that have all of our brilliance as people
of the global majority, people who have often been silenced,
(29:16):
And I wanted to just be there in its fullness
and have this really thick archive that people can no
longer say, well, we didn't know anyone with this background
or this knowledge or who spoke this language, because we're
going to be there, clearly, prominently displayed. And so I
really pitched The People's Book of Human Sexuality as a volume.
(29:38):
So my hope is that this is volume one. And
the goal with that was really to reach out to
people who I knew had been doing this work for
decades and decades, and yet were the people that were
never being reached out to to contribute to a chapter
or to collaborate on some writing, and it was people
that had a lot of important things to say and
(29:58):
a lot of knowledge.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
It often gets excluded or.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Questioned, and so it's not just filling in the gaps,
but it's really creating a whole other space that we've
always been in, but bringing it closer to the center
of what our worlds look like. And it really is
a gift to white people and non you know, people
who are Latino or who aren't black or Indigenous. It's
(30:26):
really a gift for those people because they get to
see what it's like and experience or work from our perspective.
So I know, it really disrupts the way that they
learn and understand.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
And that's the goal. I really wanted to create something
where someone.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
Who didn't want to go to college but wanted to
be a sex educator could just pick up a book
and find some lesson plans, find some ways to help
build their own curricula or workshop. And that's really what
we created with the fourteen contributors.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Is there something, a story, a lesson, something specific from
the book that you feel is really just adding something
to the space that just didn't exist before. That really
stands out to you.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Yeah, you know, I think one of the things that
I think is really wild right now, and it's one
of the reasons why I teach what I do is that,
believe it or not, there's no requirement that if you
want to become a sexuality educator that you need to
know about abortion.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
And it's so wild to me that that is.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
Not a core component, especially after the Dobbs decision several
years ago that led to abortion bands, and even today
you have to seek that out on your own. But
there's a ton of information in classes that talk about
sex and pregnancy, right so we're already seeing even within
spaces that consider themselves quote unquote sex positive, we're still
(31:51):
seeing this very much embrace of building families by pregnancy
versus hearing.
Speaker 5 (31:59):
From community that are building their families because.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
They're choosing an abortion and they're choosing how to create
their families.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
And so I create a class. I created a class
on abortion.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
For sex professionals who really don't know how to ask
answer questions like when can I have sex after my abortion?
Speaker 5 (32:14):
Right?
Speaker 4 (32:14):
Like, those are really common things that people ask. So
there's a chapter about abortion from a good friend who
is at a very high position at a big nonprofit
doing reproductive health care work, and she writes about her
conversation with her ten year old daughter at a time
when they were passing in a car. They were passing
(32:36):
by an anti abortion protest and her daughter was able
to read the signs, and so she was asking questions about,
like what does this mean? And it's just this really
beautiful narrative of how this mom is, like, this is
how we talk about it in our family, this is
how we value people's decisions about their bodies in this
way and our family, And it's really just this beautiful
(32:56):
narrative of how it's not hard to talk about abortion.
It's really about getting comfortable. And then there's a lesson
plan after each chapter. So part of the lesson plan
there is encouraging participants to look into where you find
the information. How are you using media literacy skills to
really determine false information or propaganda that's negative versus actual
(33:20):
useful medical information. So I think that really fills a
huge gap, which to me is still wild.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
It still exists.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
But unfortunately, in the sexuality feel people have to go
into maternal child health or specifically into abortion spaces if
they want to get any training or informational abortion. So
I think that really fills in a huge gap that
still remains that I've been trying to fulfill for like
at least eight years now.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
And so now I want to ask you about the
ante up training that that you facilitate. Can you tell
us more about that and what you hope this provides
for the community.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
Absolutely, you know, ANTIP is really a program for people
who do this work already and want to do it better,
who realize why am I still using these words to
talk about female assigned at birth body parts? And it's
all these old white men's names, right, Like people who
are really coming in with a critical lens and yet
have no place to really have these conversations or be
(34:25):
with other people who also want to grow and be
challenged and pushed to think in a different way. So
it's really a certificate where people leave with not just
more knowledge, but really building skills on how to incorporate
that into the work that they're already doing. So I'm
not trying to change people's minds or like reimagine their niche,
(34:45):
but the classes really fill in the gaps that still
exist in the US sexuality field. So if people are
looking for a training program that's not attached like a university,
those are usually a little bit more affordable. They're following
the exact same outline, and so the classes that I
teach are like, oh, that outline doesn't include this, right, So,
like my theory class is about intersectionality as the black
(35:08):
feminist gift it is and explaining to people this is
how it's used, this is what it means, this is
how people are misusing it. This is how you will
know the person using it doesn't know what they're doing,
because this is how they're always miss using it. My
class on abortion also fills in that gap. And then
I have chile professional development courses that I think are
really really important because I train a lot of therapists
(35:31):
and social workers who work with queer trans communities or
with sexuality problems, and a lot of their training encourages
them to see themselves as a clinical expert versus a
collaborator with their clients, especially when offering like a diagnosis
or plan for care, and so they never think of
(35:52):
themselves as people who could possibly cause harm. And I
noticed that that was a big gap in our field
where a lot of people were causing some harm and
didn't know how to apologize, didn't know how to take accountability.
And so I literally have two classes about accountability for
our communities, which is all about how do we prepare
for when we do mess up because we're all going to,
(36:13):
especially for focusing on justice work. We're going to mess
up because we have to. That's how we learn better
and learn how to move together. And then also having
an intentional apology workshop that really goes into what types
of apologies are useful and what kinds are not, and
how can we make sure that we apologize with the
(36:34):
intention of repair.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
Versus just to get it out of the way and
keep moving.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
So really encouraging people to think through how do you
need to offer an apology to someone that maybe you
have an offer jet and what might that look like
and how can we build that together. So it's definitely
a workshop, but nobody's talking about failure in our field
unless they're trying to say, see this person as horrible.
There's such a failure, and I just think that that's
not a it's not useful. We all feel in so
(37:03):
many ways, and I want us to get really comfortable
talking about it.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
So those are just a handful of some of the
classes that I teach.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
A lot of people who are interested in the program
come from a variety of different fields of work. So yes,
some therapists, but I also have some sex workers. I
also have people who are writers. I have other formal
educators like myself. I have yoga teachers. You know, there's
a range of people who are attracted to the content
(37:32):
that I'm creating because they've never had a class like
that before. All my classes are also live. I think
that's a really important thing to bring in. And it's
weird for me to say that because I grew up
having a go to class in person, but now a
lot of classes are like webinar style where you can
buy the video and just watch it and then you're
(37:53):
you're done. I just don't think that that's a useful
way to learn all the time. So all my classes
are live. They're not record arted intentionally because I want
people to be able to ask their questions. So yeah,
so that's a few ways that our program stands out.
We really are trying to shift the way that people
are learning and the way that we are together as
(38:15):
we do.
Speaker 5 (38:15):
This work.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Fabulous. If there are listeners out there who are interested
in learning more about, for example, the Women of Color
Sexual Health Network or the Latin Negras project, they want
to get involved, they want to learn more. How can they?
Speaker 4 (38:31):
Yeah, so I'm intentionally accessible online, so people can literally
type my name or any of those words that you
put together and literally find us very easily. I have
an open Instagram account. You can find me on Facebook
as well. I have a professional account there, and then
I have my own personal websites, and each of those
(38:52):
projects also have their own websites as well. The Women
of Color sexualf Network also has like a closed Facebook
group just for people of color who are interested in joining,
and they have like a public facing group on Facebook too,
and a website. So we're easily findable, easily able to
be identified, and so encourage people to, you know, go
(39:14):
on the internet find us.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Thank you Bianca for joining us today, and thank you
to all of you for listening to look at Radio.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
We'll catch you next time.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Citos lok A Radio is executive produced by Viosa Fem
and Mala Munios.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
Stephanie Franco is our producer.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Story editing by me diosa.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Creative direction by me Mala.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
Look at Radio is a part of iHeartRadio's Michael Dura
podcast network.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
You can listen to look at Radio on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
Leave us a review and share with your Prima or
share with your homegirl.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
And thank you to our local motives, to our listeners
for tuning in each and every week.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Besitos the
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Te
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