The Art & Politics of Storytelling with Heidi Williamson: Founder
Episode Description:
Heidi Williamson, principal of Hummingbird Black Creative, is an experienced strategist, organizer and creative who believes in the power of storytelling and inspired advocacy to change the world. Fueled by a passion for empowering Black women and girls, Heidi has spent nearly two decades working at the intersection of politics, policy and activism to center the experiences of women of color — and others who have been forced to society’s margins.
A respected leader in the progressive and feminist movements, Heidi is widely regarded as a critical voice on issues regarding women’s rights, reproductive justice and racial equity, and has established a national reputation as an innovative and strategic problem-solver for progressive causes and organizations.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Fanshen: Hey, beautiful listeners, Sistas and siblings, this is Fanshen Cox and you are tuned into Sista Brunch, the podcast bringing you the stories of resilience, success and empowerment within the entertainment and media industries brought to you by the Black women and gender expansive people who are too frequently behind the scenes. We are here to share their stories, uplift them and their work, and to build an archive of the true movers and shakers in Hollywood and beyond.
Fanshen: So let's dive right into this conversation with our guest today, and I thought I'd start by sharing this quote that I just love, from today's guest as a way of introducing her. And I found this in Voyage Atlanta Magazine, and she says, "My approach to art is partially rooted in my political experience as a strategist, critical thinker and eternal optimist. I am resourceful and I like good art." I [00:01:00] love this. Welcome to Sista Brunch to the founder of Hummingbird Black Creative, respected leader in progressive and feminist politics, Heidi Williamson.
Heidi: Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here.
Fanshen: Very glad to have you. So Heidi, I've been stalking your Instagram. I think that's how I first found out about it. Yeah. I love Hummingbird Black Creative and it just got me so curious about you and your background. So we always start with our first question, which is to tell us your journey of how you ended up sitting here today on Sista Brunch, you can go as far back as you'd like to, but tell us your journey for how you ended up here today.
Heidi: Oh, God. I mean, if I had to pick a, a point in history where, I felt like My life took a fated turn. It was when I applied to film school. I had just gotten my bachelor's in English and African American studies at Georgia [00:02:00] State. And I sent applications to three film schools. I really wanted to go to NYU. I got wait listed and, and while I was wait listed, I decided to take a summertime job with the labor union. Well, I'm from Atlanta, and the labor union, for the most part, is where all the civil rights leaders that you have heard of, and some you've not heard of. That's actually that's their day job. So I actually ended up accepting a position with SEIU. And my life really did take a fated turn because, it never occurred to me, number one, that people actually organize for a living, right? Like you always hear people talk about fight the power. But they're really. Well paid jobs, great benefits for people working in the labor union. And that just really set my life, in motion in a way that I never anticipated, seeing [00:03:00] how the work got done, the thought. that went into many of the famous moments that we now romanticize in our head as the post civil rights generation, right? Whether we're talking about the Rosa Park incident or You know how the marches were organized, like sitting at the feet of the men that organized with King and recognizing, understanding the strategy, the hard battles that were fought inside the civil rights movement, you know, how women were often silenced by Black men. And then when you go to the women's movement, Black women are often silenced by White women. So
Fanshen: intersectionality
Heidi: the intersectionality piece, yes,
Fanshen: can I take you back and will you tell us what the acronym SEIU stands for?
Heidi: The Service Employees International Union. aNd for people [00:04:00] who are wondering, you worked for a labor union in the South. Cause I'm about that life, you know, like don't, you know, for those of you, California, Chicago New York union folk, y'all, yeah, we bought that life in the South. So it didn't always, we didn't always get what we want as Dr. C. T. Vivian always reminded me. We didn't always get what we want, but we made progress step by step. And so that, that is how I have moved through my career. I, I can't say that at 22, I envisioned myself working in politics I worked at Center for American Progress, which is a progressive think tank in DC. I was there during the Obama administration. I would never have guessed that I went that route. But I have always been a quick learner. And I felt like if there were opportunities that presented themselves. [00:05:00] But when I was in DC, I got to see how the sausage was made. You can never unsee it. And while I think I did a lot of good work, I worked with a lot of really great people. It is not where I'm supposed to be. And I had to make a hard decision after a sabbatical where my mental health was in jeopardy. I was at this crossroads around do I chase the thing that is inside of me that I am most compelled to do, or do I chase the dreams and the legacy that my parents envisioned for me? You know, cause middle class Black folks put a lot of pressure on their kids, right. To have the, the resume, the title, the job, the benefits, the look right, of success. But it's a lot of empty souls walking around trying to be the best version of their parents dreams.
Fanshen: Mm.
Heidi: [00:06:00] And they have done that at the expense of their dreams. But you can't be around People who have this very visceral experience around what it means to survive and thrive despite all odds and not have a moment of clarity about what it is that is right for you. And so I, I did.
Fanshen: for the people that you want to serve. Right. Like, yeah. Right.
Heidi: And I think, you know, I spent a lot of time in policy. In D.C. Self taught, right? So I'm often with lawyers. I'm often with PhDs in these sort of elite spaces. Like, that was my bona fides. Like, it was sort of like, fuck around and find out. But, you know, like, people knew, like, I had my niche and you could, you know, poke the bear if you wanted to. Like I spent a lot of time trying to make [00:07:00] myself fit as best I could, like my authentic self fit into this space. And it was killing me inside, but at the same time, like I did a lot of good work.
Yeah,
Fanshen: and that niche was, was reproductive justice. I know you, that's some of what you did,
Heidi: economic justice,
Fanshen: an economic justice, yeah, yeah
Heidi: My portfolio at Center for American Progress was always about centering the most marginalized, which were women who look like me, some that don't look like me, but it was the people who you know, the Planned Parenthoods and the NARALS of the world often wanted to act as if they weren't there, so my portfolio really was about taking economic justice reproductive health policy and pushing back on eugenical policy because the people who we call progressive and who we think are sort of fighting for us have their own set of challenges. And, you know, some [00:08:00] of the things that I had to do in order to push them to be more inclusive, right? And, they want to be in alignment with the administration in power, so for many of them, I was too far out there. And so I think a lot about that. Like, what is power? What does it look like to get people to move in a direction that they might not want to go, but it's the right direction? That is best for humanity and society and this thing that we call the human race. I think in my twenties and most of my thirties, that looked like policy and advocacy. Now that I'm in my forties, it very much is leaning into the storytelling that I came of age listening to, right? I have a long legacy of sci fi aficionados in the family, comic book aficionados in the [00:09:00] family. And there's something about it, right? Sometimes the, the radical thing is to show up. That's, that's literally 90 percent of the work to be that brown face, to ask that one question, to be bold enough to simply say, how about we try it, try it this way. Then there are other instances where, yeah, you got to fight tooth and nail. We might make it look good, but it is a fight. anD so, yeah, I had to choose.
Fanshen: Yeah I hadn't realized that you had actually started off planning to tell stories through film TV media by applying to film schools. And then you went into politics and now you've come full circle. And obviously there are so many, well, it's all connected, right? Like politics is storytelling, lots of lies. And some of the stories we get told, but then you,
Heidi: Most of the stories.
Fanshen: Right, right, right, and so you're building the [00:10:00] ability to reach people through stories towards good towards liberation for us, right. Toward towards us being able to make choices around our bodily autonomy.
This is Heidi Williamson and you're listening to Sista Brunch.
Fanshen: Thank you so much for tuning in to Sista Brunch. Stay tuned for more of our conversation with our guest Heidi Williamson. And we just want to thank you truly, truly, truly, I want to say thank you for all of the ways that you support Sista Brunch by leaving us. Amazing reviews. We love reading them, following and interacting with us on Instagram at Sista Brunch Podcast, watching the full videos on TruJuLo Media YouTube channel. That's youtube. com slash TruJuLo Media. T R U J U L O. Thank you so much. Truly.
We're back in and very ready to [00:11:00] dive right back into this conversation with today's guest, Heidi Williamson.
And so then when did that shift happen where you created Hummingbird Black Creative?
Heidi: So I went to film school in, in DC and it was a particular program for people who had already had a career. So it, in many ways,
Fanshen: that's at American
Heidi: American. It was, it was a program really about training middle managers to transition careers. And I had no idea at the time how useful it would be because I had the bright idea. Let me just get this degree, get out of D. C. I'll go spend the summer with my family in Georgia and then move to L. A. And I did that, but I happened to move the month before COVID shut the world down.
Fanshen: Oh,
Heidi: And so here's, here's the takeaway. Like if you hear, if no, if your listeners take away nothing from this interview, sometimes the blessing is in the pivot. That, that has been [00:12:00] the story of my life, right? It's not about, you can't fix all the thing you can't, there's some things you just can't change. There's nothing you can do about it. The reality is what can you do in the pivot? And what I found was there were a lot of people in the world. So California shut down, New York shut down. The South? You would have thought it was about to be, you know, another hot girl summer, like from five years ago, people were working.
Fanshen: just, yeah,
Heidi: were working. You had a lot of organizations who were trying to do the right thing. They did, you know, hybrid policies and, you know, went virtual. But at the end of the day, the South acted as if nothing was happening.
Fanshen: Right.
Heidi: And so you had a lot of people who wanted to do things like produce short films or they had Comms strategies that had been rooted in physical art installations and physical [00:13:00] convenings and physical things that they now had to figure out how to do virtually.
Fanshen: Mm.
Heidi: so I just, I began producing you know, cause my, my, my, my mind, let me do something to pay the bills until I can get in a writer's room. And that turned into me producing everything from national conferences, podcasts supporting creatives trying to bootstrap their own projects. I, I leveraged former clients and all of the relationships I had garnered over the last 30 years and said, let me help you do your culture shift work. Let me help you with your Comms strategy, or let me help you think about what it means now to do certain kinds of work that ordinarily would fall under advocacy or communications, but you've got to do it in a COVID world. And it, it morphed, One of my attorneys was like I know you're trying [00:14:00] to get in with someone, but you realize you're doing
Fanshen: Yeah, right. Well, don't do that cause they'll just stifle you. So just go ahead and keep doing
Heidi: like, like, I know, like, I know you're looking at it as this is kind of the hustle I got to do to get by, but the thing you said you wanted to do, you're doing it and like I think it really, for me, was just about giving myself permission to do it on my own terms. because we want that, that cosigner or that,
Fanshen: And we're told, we're
Heidi: and we're told we need
Fanshen: a way to do this. This is the hierarchy. This is the. format. And I mean, that goes from the actual writing, right? If it's a feature, it needs to look like this, but here you are being like, no, that actually, this is what this looks like. And this is Yeah, yeah.
Heidi: And I focused on because I had gone to school and the degree technically is in producing. I knew [00:15:00] that and one of my mentors is an anthropologist who was always in my ear. Like, you know, when the world is going through all this kinds of chaos, that's when the great artists of the world are like creating their best works, because it's like this combination of like misery and beauty and pain and family. And, so I focused on developing IP, but what was paying the bills was producing independent productions for other people. And so I gave it a name. I gave it a name. I'm, you know, from the South. And how we do in the South is you know, everything is a metaphor. Everything is an allegory. And, and I had a, my, my inner group of friends was like, it needs to be Southern, it needs to be Black, but it needs to be like magical kind of like you, and I've always had a fascination with hummingbirds because It is really one of the most mythical, magical birds, right? It can fly backwards. It can [00:16:00] fly upside down. It can hover. It can carry trice it's body weight. It does the wholly impossible,
Fanshen: Hmm.
Heidi: like Black women. And the, the people, our communities who do, do so much in spite of. So there are two, you know, there were two projects that I'm still raising money for them, but the creative is still moving forward. And in the meantime, It's all about building symbiotic and accountable relationships.
Right? So some of this is about leaning into the intuition that I have been able to cultivate and curate over the last 20 years. And I think that that makes me seem a bit more like I know what I'm doing that people realize. Like that's like what there's, I think what people see when they are looking at either social or they [00:17:00] talk to me is that I have some sort of secret sauce and part of what this is part of what they're seeing is simply a woman in her 40s who I have sort of been through enough fire to be very clear about what I will and won't do. That works for some people, and it does not work for some people. At the end of the day, though, that's their feeling.
Fanshen: Hmm hmm.
Heidi: feelings are their responsibility, and in the words of Nicki Minaj, like, have your feelings, but watch your mouth. And just leave me to do my thing, right?
Fanshen: I, and I'm gonna keep doing my thing.
Heidi: exactly. And I think People are approaching me to do a lot of things. But the best way that I enter the space is the same way that I have entered every space that I come into. I don't have all the answers. I'm not anyone's [00:18:00] guru or expert. I'm learning like everyone else. So really it's about kindness wrapped in some boundaries. Like that, that's really all I can, that's all I can offer
Fanshen: that's
Heidi: boundaries, boundaries and kindness.
Fanshen: Yes. Yes.
Heidi: things that I refuse to concede. Everything else is sort of malleable, but those two things, I will not concede. I know who I am. I know what I want. The boundaries that I set around that are immovable. And so I have paid a price for that in the previous career. I survived, right? I think I'll be okay. But there's some people who I've met in the last year. It's clear. They're waking up, trying to figure out where is the closest puppy I can go kick to feel powerful and to feel in control and to show people like. I [00:19:00] have dominance and I'm going to like, that is, that power is connected somehow with success and greatness. I don't, I don't walk through the world that way.
What I have found is that being my authentic self has inspired other people to be their authentic self. And that is revolutionary in a lot of ways, especially when we're talking about Black women specifically Black women of a certain age. Right. The Gen X I've been looking at Tik TOKs over the last week about, you know, people talking about like, what is the deal with the Gen Xers?
And, you know, I'm a proud latchkey kid and I'm a proud do it yourself, or I respect things that take work from the ground up. But at the same time, you know, we had to learn to prioritize, we had to learn to prioritize and get shit done in a way that no other generation has had to do it. And so to do that, you know, it can require doing hard things, but I try to still do it [00:20:00] with kindness and humility and the boundary setting.
Really does eliminate a lot of the challenges that we face either as artists as Black women, as the Black community, right? Like it, it, it can, it can, it can be a precursor to a path of, of torment and, and hell, or it can be a precursor to a challenging life, but in some ways a much more fulfilling life because you have steadied yourself. You have, have maintained that internal.
Fanshen: just, you know, in, in, you know, hopefully to educate me and our listeners or, or, or even inspire about some specific boundaries that, that you set?
Heidi: The biggest one is time. Not allowing my calendar to run me.
Fanshen: Mm. Well, we're very lucky we got time on your busy calendar. [00:21:00] We really are, because I know, because it is exactly what you're saying, and it's why we know, even when we're planning out at the beginning of the season, if these are the women and gender expansive people that we're going to have on this podcast, folks going to be busy and we want to contribute to your uplifting and your, and your mental health and, and so I, I appreciate, I feel like we've probably been in touch for about three months and I was like, we gonna get her, we gonna get her, we gonna get her.
But, but we're really glad that you're working and that any of those times that any of us have to reschedule, it is for our own health. And it is our boundary saying, you know what, I need to be aware of my time. So we so appreciate. And on that note, I'm going to ask you our signature Sista Brunch question, which is that you and young Heidi are sitting down to Sista Brunch and we want to know what are [00:22:00] you both eating? What are you both drinking? And what do you tell her?
Heidi: Oh, this is a great question because I love brunch. I actually was hoping that this interview would be over brunch in some way,
Fanshen: listen to your, from your lips because that is the goal. That is the, you've just said it. I'm glad you said it out loud. That is absolutely the goal.
Heidi: so, so for those of us who consider ourselves brunch aficionados I, First of all, if I were having brunch with a younger Heidi, it would be a catered affair. It would not be going to a restaurant. I would invite Heidi to my home and we would have a number of options that include some of our favorites, the favorites that have carried us as staples throughout Heidi's life. So, like, the shrimp and grits lobster mac and cheese you know, real [00:23:00] cornbread, not this sweet cake y'all eat out here on the West Coast. Like, real cornbread.
Fanshen: Okay.
Heidi: it's sacrilege. I don't, I don't understand who stopped loving y'all at what point in the
Fanshen: You got to stop saying y'all I'm from the East coast, but we pretty bad out there too. But yes, understood.
Heidi: somebody stop serving up love at the dinner table in this migration story that took Black people west. I don't know what that's about. But corp Cornbread or corn muffin would be there. And then you know, the shrimp and grits made with authentic hominy is something that our grandmother very much wanted to make sure that we knew was not just a comfort food, but was like a staple, right?
So being the descendants of slaves and sharecroppers what we could grow and eat ourselves was very important. And then like a mixed fruit salad, so like one of those bowls that's mixed with like raspberries, blueberries, [00:24:00] strawberries, grapes, maybe a little bit of pineapple, something fruity like that and probably a waffle. I'm not much of a bread eater, but the younger Heidi was and also the younger Heidi what we would have mimosas for younger Heidi. But the older Heidi has evolved into straight champagne, no reason to even contemplate the mixer that would then be followed up by some kind of bourbon cocktail.
Fanshen: Oof.
Heidi: Because I'm a bourbon girl. Again, they keep offering bourbon that they say it's bourbon, even though it was made in California. Again, sacrilege, I don't even understand how people can fix their mouths to say that. It's like saying it's okay to walk outside the house ashy, like, Who stopped loving us? Who stopped loving us and convinced us this was love? Like, I
Fanshen: not doing it out here for you. We got, we, we are not doing it out here for you. I feel like we got to, I feel like I'm going on a [00:25:00] search to find places where you can eat. Have you been to my two cents in mid city?
Heidi: I have, but it's
Fanshen: but I see from your face. It didn't. Yeah.
Heidi: So, so, I have a friend I have a friend who is a culinary tourist. She primarily, her name is Chima, she primarily schedules tours internationally. So if you ever go to Italy or Spain or Portugal Australia or Argentina, she plans, the travel as well as plan your culinary tour and I asked her for my birthday, would she be willing to just break her rule and do a domestic culinary tour with me to find the soul food places in LA and she has agreed to do that. So the first week of February, I will, I, if you got something to add to the list, I'm open,
Fanshen: oh my goodness. Well no. I
Heidi: no prisoners.
I'm taking no
Fanshen: one. The one that I always
Heidi: It's on the list.
Fanshen: soul food place in [00:26:00] la and now I'm like,
Heidi: It's pretty, it's pretty good. I mean, I, I don't, I didn't dislike it, but people here just really don't want to, it's almost like the whole, the anti pork thing, I don't get it, right? And so I'm glad that there are so many turkey advocates out here and so many jackfruit proponents. However,
Fanshen: I'm vegan, so I'm really messing you all up. Yeah, I hear you. Yeah.
Heidi: has brought Black folks a long way.
Fanshen: Truth,
Heidi: And so while I get it, I understand it. I just like, I just need a rib, right? So we're going to try Fixins.. We're going to try Mel's Fish Shack we're going to try My Two Cents. there are a couple other places, you know, primarily like Inglewood, Crenshaw, but we're going to be recording that. That'll be
Fanshen: Oh, okay. Tag us.
Heidi: that because I just, I need help. I need [00:27:00] help.
Fanshen: I love that. Okay. And what do you tell her at your at your Sista brunch with your younger self? Yes.
Heidi: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Have patience. Your timing is always perfect. You're exactly where you're supposed to be. So trust your timing. And beyond that, it really is like, you know, at 22, all you got is passion and a notebook. Go forth, right? You know, fuck the system any way, any which way you can. Because you have to be willing to experiment and try and fail. And that's part of the process too. And for people who are like overachievers, the firstborn, [00:28:00] Gen X, like we're told that those are bad things and there's such blessing and richness on the other side of all of that, but you got to just sort of let go of the need to control and and trust the process. Trust your process. No one else's just yours.
Fanshen: Just yours. Thank you so much, Heidi Williamson. This has been a pleasure. Thank you for making the time. You have helped change things through your advocacy work and your policy work. And we are so grateful for everything you do.
Heidi: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for thinking of me as well. Right. So I, I don't know what spoke to you or how, you know, what the first sort of intro that, that exact moment, but I'm so thrilled that you reached out and were willing to work with my schedule.
Fanshen: Hmm. I think it was actually, I think I Googled Black women owned production companies. I'm pretty sure [00:29:00] that's how I found you.
Heidi: What? Alright then! Yes!
Fanshen: yeah, you were up there. You, you doing, you doing it right. Your SEO is good. Yes. Yeah.
Heidi: Alright! I received that! I will let the team know
Fanshen: let the team know they're doing
Heidi: might have to reconsider the bonuses that they were getting. Cause,
Fanshen: Yes.
Heidi: I love it. I love it. So yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Fanshen: Hey, have you been listening to Sista Brunch for a while? If you want to kind of take things to the next level of Sista Brunch, we have a community, a family, a membership over on Patreon. That is a place where you can help us make these episodes happen for you. A lot goes into it. It takes months of planning and scheduling our guests and recording our guests and doing all the audio. And we would love for you to be even more involved with us at Sista Brunch. So you can head over. to [00:30:00] patreon.com/SistaBrunch, and you can learn there how to contribute monthly to us for as little as 5 a month. You can be an intern, a co producer and associate producer. You'll see all of those levels and we deeply, deeply appreciate your support.
Season five of Sista Brunch is brought to you by TruJuLo Productions. Our show creators are Anya Adams, Christabel Nsiah-Buadi and Brittany Turner, and me, Fanshen Cox.
Sista Brunch is a Women Make Movies Production Assistance Program Project. And I acknowledge that the land I record the podcast from is the original land of the Tongva and the Chumash people here in Los Angeles. That's a wrap on this episode. We will talk to you soon.
