- [Announcer] This program was made possible by... [solemn piano music] By a Grant from Anne Ray Foundation.

And by contributions to your PBS station by viewers like you.

Thank you.

[upbeat music] - I took a risk when... - I took a risk when I decided, to begin my own business called Evolution Healing Arts.

- Time that I took a risk was when I organized a local protest.

Right now, of course tensions are very high when it comes to police.

And as a black person I realized that I need to do something about that.

Despite knowing how scary it could be.

- I took a risk plan.

I decided to continue working during the coronavirus pandemic.

- I took a risk when I became actively involved in the LGBTQ community living in the Bible belt.

I was able to connect with people who taught me a lot about the world outside of my own little privileged bubble.

And I will never regret taking that risk.

- I took a risk when I decided to go to a UNCSA drama summer intensive.

[upbeat music] It just felt like a rite of passage.

It didn't necessarily feel like something I wanted to do but more so was required to do.

Immersing myself in the world of theater just completely changed my world view on everything.

[upbeat music] And I remember like the second and third day coming home from it, I was sobbing, crying in the car.

And my mom, she asked me what was wrong.

And I told her, like, I had never felt that good in my life.

I had never felt that supported and comfortable to be who I was until that moment.

And to this day I still feel like that is the reason I found my passion which is acting and entertaining.

And I'm very grateful for that.

[upbeat music] Thank you for your time.

- I took a risk when I quit my job as an executive sous chef for Katie Button restaurants to start my own business.

Welcome to J Chong Eats.

Then the goodness.

There friends!

Egg drop soup, homies!

That was in February of this year.

Then the global pandemic happened.

And here I am determined to start my own business.

And it just so happened to be when the whole world was shut down.

Hi Jensen, this is Jensen.

Oh my sweet little puppy.

So pretty much J Chong Eats are frozen dumplings, farmer's markets, cooking classes, virtually and live.

Private dinners and pop-ups.

[hip hop music] Hi friends.

Happy Wednesday.

Welcome to J Chong Eats Insta Live.

I'm so happy you're here...

So, you know, being born and raised in Toronto, moving to South Mississippi on a soccer scholarship at 19.

Coming out when I was in college was probably the best decision I've ever made in my life.

Growing up, I always knew I was different.

I knew that there was something within me that was a little different from the rest of my friends and until going to college and being my own, I came to terms with my sexuality.

And, I don't think if I stayed in Toronto to go to school and continue education and live there, that I would be able to live my best life.

Well, the day is here.

And we have our dim sum trio pop-up reunion.

Myself, pun intended.

And pastry chef Beth Kellerhals.

This is Beth, pastry chef Beth right here.

[cheers] This is Shawna!

Hey!

[cheers] This all the good food that we got going on.

I think I've always cooked even as a teenager growing up.

I changed careers at 35.

I'm currently 43.

But when I chose to shift and cook professionally, I just got to the point where I love cooking.

And I was always cooking at home.

And I always found that I was in my happy place when I was in the kitchen.

I felt safe and I felt I was in my element.

That's when I just decided to go to culinary school.

We're still current day, you know, quite unsure of what the future holds.

But I still took that risk.

And we're about to close out the year and I am my own business owner.

And I'm so grateful.

I've learned to accept these challenges in my life.

I wouldn't change who...

I will never, ever change who I am because you know, being queer is such a big part of who I am.

That is, it's, it's what I stand for.

It's what I advocate for.

It's how I live my life.

I walk through this life being queer Asian woman.

And I think all of the challenges that I've had in my life, being rejected.

I am who I am because of that.

And I'm so proud and I'm happy and I'm grateful for the challenges because of what I can offer in this lifetime.

What I can offer to the world.

- [Lady] I was raised to believe... - So I was raised to believe by my parents that the most important thing that you can do in the world is put your family and your kids first.

- I think I was raised to believe that I can be successful at anything that I put my heart and mind to.

Didn't have to fit any specific gender roles to be successful.

- I was raised to believe if I put my mind to it, I can achieve anything.

My parents raised me and my brother to always believe in ourselves and to have the willingness and the drive to accomplish what we want.

- I was raised to believe that you treat others with kindness and compassion.

We don't know the struggle that someone else is going through.

So we should probably just be kind.

Lead with love, lead with your heart and share that compassion and kindness with others, because it goes such a long way.

Again, we don't know what people are going through.

[snuffles] I'm like crying so I have a runny nose.

[giggles] [sighs] January, 2021 will be six years that I've been paralyzed.

I was a passenger on a motorcycle and a woman was looking at her GPS and made a U-turn in front of us.

So the driver of the bike went through her back window, breaking his leg.

I went over her SUV, breaking my back in two places.

[upbeat music] Had you asked me six years ago if I would be where I am right now, I wouldn't be able to answer the question.

I just, I was so scared.

I went 22 years walking, using the restroom on my own, I worked for an orthodontist, had great job, I was happy.

I thought...

I was a party animal, but who isn't at 22, right?

And this injury just stopped me and saved me really.

It saved me from continuing down that road, continuing that cycle.

And it taught me the importance of self-love.

It taught me the importance of gratitude.

It has conditioned and empowered my faith.

When I think about being paralyzed for six years I get emotional.

But not because I'm sad just because I'm proud of the woman that I've become because of the spinal cord injury.

Okay so, these little wheels, get hair in them and then they stopped rolling.

And so I had to clean them out every few days.

And I haven't a few weeks.

I've been really bad about it recently.

Oh, there's money in there.

I had no idea.

Hold that.

Oh so much hair.

My routine is key.

I wake up every morning.

I have a moment to myself.

I spend every single night [chuckles] looking at my vision board really feeling where I wanna be in my future.

I work out every day.

I have a diet.

I stick to it.

I wake up every morning around five.

So I have certain aspects of my day that definitely are consistent.

And I just have to stick to that to keep my mental health where it needs to be and to really just stay in my zone.

[rope slapping] I once took a risk and letting go of every idea that I thought I knew about life.

[giggling] And just allowed myself to be.

Something I learned way too late in life is that others judgment of us really has no power over us unless we let it.

So don't let other run, others run your life.

Don't allow others determine the way that you live your life.

I would like to run for government one day and really truly be the change that I wanna see.

And I really just, I wanna help people see what's truly available to them before tragedy happens in their life.

It's took my spinal cord injury for me to really open my eyes and realize how much is available to me and how powerful I am as an individual.

Which brings me back to gratitude and why I'm so grateful that, that this injury has happened to me.

Because it truly has opened my eyes to so much.

And if we are willing to open our mind to what's available to us, that's the good life.

And that's what my spinal cord injury did for me.

[upbeat music] - [Woman] My Saturday night looks like... - My Saturday night usually is cooking with my mom in the kitchen, playing Legos with my brother.

And usually at night, I love to play, practice my piano with my family altogether.

[Soft piano music] - This is what my Saturday night looks like.

Helen and I, we get creative.

- My Saturday night looks like sermon prep.

And when I say sermon prep I have a 17 minute lesson that I give every Sunday.

And for some reason I don't get inspired until Saturday.

Opening up a book and just really, truly finding that inspiration and what's alive in me.

'Cause if I can pick at what's alive in me then I know I'm gonna touch somebody's heart because it's alive in them too.

- Saturday nights look a little bit more laid back unless there's something going on for Sunday.

Usually rehearsal or a workshop and I'll do some prep work for that.

Otherwise it's a lot of cooking or frozen pizza if I get lazy.

And usually Netflix to catch up on TV that I've missed.

[Upbeat music] Being a theater artist we rely so much on, on the in-person human contact.

And all of a sudden this pandemic hit and we're denied of all of that.

One thing about theater artists is that we're, we're very resilient and so we make something out of nothing.

We make everything out of nothing.

And so that's one thing that COVID has done is that we turn our bedrooms into a black box theater.

We turn our closets into a magical space where we can create work and be imaginative.

[door knocking] [door closing] I have seen two such sites by sea and by land.

but I am not to say it is a sea, for it is now the sky: Betwixt the firmament and it, you cannot thrus a bodkin's point.

I was born and raised in the Philippines and I came to the States with my family when I was about 11 years old.

[upbeat music] I feel like I'm an amalgamation of all these cultures coming together.

I feel like that's what growing up in the United States is like and I feel like that's what really makes me unique and all the intersectionalities coming together and meeting and jelling well together.

I feel like growing up as an undocumented immigrant has really defined the person who I've become.

And because we need to be patient, and resilient, and we needed to have hope.

More than anything in that life was gonna get better for us.

Being an artist of color in this industry is crucial at this point because we are the voices now and the future of American theater.

And I love us.

I'm always advocating for us.

Not just in the people that I work with, but I also, the pieces that I choose when I'm auditioning.

How can I put all of myself into my work.

And that includes all of my queerness, all of my New York cityness.

All of my immigrantness.

Whatever that thing that makes me special is is always at the forefront of my work.

And that's why it's so important.

- [Girl] My American story started When... - My American story started in 1997, when I had the honor of becoming a naturalized citizen of this country.

Memorial day was not a part of my yearly calendar and the country that I come from has never been involved in a war.

So it is an honor to think about them on Memorial Day and the sacrifices that they have all made to give us this free country.

- [Man] My American story started when the battle of Britain was fought in world war two and the housing stock in Britain was so devastated, that mom and dad moved by getting on the RMS Franconia.

- My American story started when me and my family moved here back in 2015.

Even though we had to start from scratch and build ourselves up again, we did not stop.

And we believe in the process of the American dream that if you do work hard, then everything will pay off eventually.

- My American story started when I was born, cliche.

But I am half Navajo and I'm half Bangladeshi.

I am both indigenous to this land and daughter of an immigrant.

So my perspective and upbringing I feel gives me a well-rounded understanding of what it means to be an American.

What it means to pre-exist the term American.

My ancestors are from these lands into be a first generation American on my dad's side I grew up in Kernersville, North Carolina.

Growing up in a household with two different, beautiful cultures, two different languages, different religions, and then growing up in a predominantly white community was pretty tough for me.

it's like in grade, there was a standardized test and you had to fill in the boxes for your race.

And I didn't know what to fill in or which box I was and honestly that carried throughout most of my life feeling pretty isolated.

This is where we live.

[chuckles] So me and my husband, we're van lifers.

We've lived in this Ford transit van for about a year and a half, almost two years.

So this is where I live.

Welcome to my home.

[upbeat music] About four years ago, my husband and I lived in Raleigh in an apartment but we noticed that we just weren't using a lot of the space and at the time we were traveling a lot.

That's when we moved into a jeep camper full time.

And now we're in the van full time for about two years.

National parks is our thing.

As you see here, we have the places that we've been, the places we wanna go.

A lot of our life is based around the national parks and it's something that I really love and enjoy.

I know for me, when I visit them I love to learn about the history and the land.

And I think it is our duty to share the full narrative of the national parks and share which indigenous lands that it is on.

So on my mission with my business You, Me and The Parks, is to share more of the indigenous narrative of the national parks.

Hardest thing that life has thrown at me is losing my brother.

He was 17, I was 20.

And so often growing up being the only Brown kid in class and stuff, it was isolating but it was okay because I had my brother.

It wasn't, it wasn't just me.

As his big sister I hope that my brother is proud and that I will carry his name in everything I do.

My brother's name is Eric Ahmed.

This is for you.

I love you little brother.

[upbeat music] Year ahead I hope that we see representation and more stories told among all cultures.

Native Americans to be on screen, to be in media, and to be writing.

Not as a stereotype.

People have different beliefs, and different thoughts, and different cultures.

And it's really important to listen to better understand someone.

Listening and having someone's voice heard is the greatest gift.

To be seen.

- [Girl 2] Now is the time... - Now is the time to create.

More than ever before.

- Now is the time, to say the minimum wage needs to be a standard of $15 an hour for all workers across the nation.

- The time is right now for us to take stock of what it means to be personally accountable.

We mustn't continue to divide based on demographics.

And we must look to the content of one's character.

And understand what right and wrong are.

And treat them accordingly.

- Now is the time to take action.

Some ways to take action are to, go to a peaceful protest and talk with others.

Or you can educate yourself on what's really going on in our world day to day.

- Now is the time to heal the world and make it a better place.

- Now is the time for healing.

Now is the time for healing.

Whether that's your own individual healing, investing in that, investing in the healing that is necessary for you to move in the world, as a happy, fully realized person.

Whether that is healing in your community or healing in this country.

Now as a time for healing.

I stand for storytelling and the healing that is available to you.

To use tools, to help us heal from past hurts and harm, racism, and violence is critical for our future.

So I am a seventh generation North Carolinian.

I was born in 1967.

My sister was born in 1968.

We are considered Gen X and we are the beneficiaries of the civil rights movement.

So a lot of the ways we moved growing up in the seventies and the eighties was to take full advantage of what our parents went through.

And so our parents encouraged us and pushed us to be very active.

I started working at an organization called Public Allies.

And it was a fantastic way to work for social change.

When you bear witness to the harsh realities of how people who look like you, are being treated in this country.

It lands on you differently when those people look like you, Look like your children, look like your siblings.

I was encouraged by a group of friends to take a break.

And I needed to figure out whether or not I was gonna continue to do social justice work.

I knew I wanted to have conversations with other black women who look like me, who are older, who have navigated menopause and aging and family and career.

I wanted to talk to them.

I wanted to understand their stories.

Ultimately it ended up that I decided that I'd do a podcast.

Somewhere in those 40 billion Earth-sized planets of the Milky Way and infinite possibilities, exist the Omis.

The Omis that reside on these planets, multiverses and dimensions are sentient beings.

The Omis look out for each other.

They're sisters, The black girl's guide to surviving menopause.

'Cause it's a real thing.

Menopause has been problematized as has aging in this country.

There are truths and realities to getting older.

There are.

But it is not an illness.

And I wanted to hear people's cultural, family, societal thoughts, musings, truths, narratives around aging.

I wanted to know who people were when they were younger.

I wanted to know what stories were shared with them from people in their families.

And I wanted to know who they are now and how they see themselves changing and growing and evolving.

A real sacred space for all of us to share our truths and have that truth respected and held.

We live in a world that's really, really complex right?

We know that there are folk who move in the world with more privilege than other people.

We also know that there are people who move in the world who have been generationally and systemically marginalized.

We have lived through and we're still living through one of the most challenging years we've ever experienced I know in my lifetime.

I think that being able to extend each other care and respect for our personhood, however it shows up, that's the thing that's going to keep us together.

Moving forward as a people, as a culture, as a country.

- You should be a part of PBS American portrait... - Because we can't keep this portrait without you.

- And everyone's story deserves to be heard.

- And I am interested in your story.

- I'm sure you got something to share.

- Whatever's on your mind, whatever your message is.

- Your thoughts.

- your family's stories.

- We need to see each other's faces and we need to hear each other's stories.

- Your hopes, your triumphs.

- And let us know what's going on with you in your life.

- Look at the prompts and it's pretty easy.

- Don't be afraid I was nervous.

I was nervous, but I'm glad that I did it.

- It's a ripple effect.

Once you've share your story, others are encouraged to share their story.

- Plus this is something that you might be able to show your kids or your grandkids someday and say, "look what I was a part of."

- You can be an important part of this project.

- To join in - Go to - PBS - Dot org - slash - americanpotraits.

- Go to the website.

- That's PBS - Dot org - /americanportrait.

- Go to that, check it out, join.

And then, you know, we, we all can feel like we're all one.

[upbeat music] - [Announcer] This Program was made possible by, [solemn piano music] By a grant from Anne Ray Foundation.

And by contributions to your PBS station by viewers like you.

Thank you.