While it’s seems to have been boiled down to bubble baths and affirmations in the mainstream, self-care has always held a deeper and more political meaning with many BIPOC, particularly activists and civic media makers, who call out white supremacist, capitalist and patriarchial institutions and systems that
For civic media makers, many of whom are holding together the realities of what it means to manage one’s multiple selves (i.e., as an artist-activist-educator-etc.), navigate being a public and highly visible brand, and survive in hustle, grind and burnout cultures, self-care is acutely necessary to ensure that individual care trickles down to a larger community of care.
In this podcast, we talk critically with transgender actor and comedian D’Lo and deisgner and cultural architect Daniel Leon-Davis about where civic media, self-care and the pandemic intersect and how the practice of nurturing your creative spark improves mental health.
GUEST PROFILES
DANIEL ALEJANDRO LEON-DAVIS
Daniel Alejandro Leon-Davis is a designer, entrepreneur and cultural architect focused on using the power of art, media and entertainment for social good. He is a proud Co-Founder and former Partner at The Soze Agency, a trailblazing social impact agency dedicated to creating values-driven, innovative campaigns for social causes. A Venezuelan native, Daniel continues to use his experiences as a formerly undocumented immigrant and gay Latino as fuel to amplify the narratives of the underserved communities he’s a part of. Influenced by his artistic roots, Daniel has helped curate art exhibits for the Smithsonian and United Nations headquarters alongside his team. Daniel currently leads creative design and strategy for the #IStandWithImmigrants Initiative. View his work here.
D’LO
D’Lo is a queer/transgender Tamil-Sri Lankan-American actor/writer/comic. His work ranges solo theater and stand up, tv/film, plays, essays and poetry. His acting credits include: LOOKING, TRANSPARENT, SENSE 8, and MR.ROBOT, and web series EASTSIDERS, DYKE CENTRAL, including a leading role in a ColorCreative & Project Greenlight produced MINIMUM WAGE, and finally his very own web series PRIVATE DICK. He also plays the role of Gio in upcoming feature film DEATH & BOWLING and is in post-production for a buddy comedy short film he wrote featuring D’Lo and Shakina Nayfack called RO & SHIRELLE. He also is working on a scripted series based on his life with Sameer Gardezi’s Break the Room Media (BTR) that is set up at Paul Feig’s Powderkeg Media. View his work here.
OTHER RESOURCES
