New Podcast Episode: "Episode 18: The Little Mermaid, The 'Live Action' Movie Deep Dive"

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If you need a moment (several moments) of joy right now, you need to listen to the latest episode that just dropped at ALBB's sister podcast, "Wait, What Is That?" podcast: Episode 18: The Little Mermaid, The ‘Live Action’ Movie Analysis.” Invite these friends into your listening space to hear co-hosts Brandon Lillard and Katie Hellmuth and their special guest, Moraya Seeger DeGeare, MA, LMFT, who is a relationship and race specialist (she's a relationship with BFF Therapy, a therapist and sex advice columnist for Refinery29, and the In-House Relationship Expert for Paired.com). Moraya is generationally mixed race, Brandon is Black and married to a white woman, and Katie is super white bread white.

Be sure to listen to the hidden opener that Moraya whispered into the microphone: “Today we talked about The Little Mermaid. We talked about relationships and race. And some random things about how some white people got dizzy.” Nailed it."

Covered In This Episode:

  • Kid Takes

    • ie Brandon's son's "beef with Flounder"

    • ie Moraya’s daughter’s reaction of “That’s ME!!!” when she sees Arial first emerge from the water and flip her hair

    • ie Moraya’s son considering Arial’s shark attack strategy: “if only she would have the shark flip onto it’s back…” Moraya responds: “This isn’t Octonauts”

  • How we feel about "Live Action" Remakes

  • Relationships, Trauma, and Un-Attended To Trauma Presenting Later In Life.

  • Was Ariel’s Dad a misogynist? Or a product of his life trauma and pain. Why is he so strict? Moraya asks: “What does trauma do to our bodies? Is it misogynist, or is it parenting from a trauma that has not been attended to?”

  • Racism

  • Little Mermaid Deep Dive Bits are sprinkled throughout

  • Sometimes we refer to the original book version of The Little Mermaid

You will laugh out loud with and by yourself during this episode. It’s a must-listen. Travel through trauma theory, which can be comforting, and relish in a movie review. Take as long as you need.

The Costellos Release Their 6th Album, "Hold On," And Share Their Love Story On ALBB's Podcast

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Recorded live in the old Citizens Bank on Beacon's Main Street during the inaugural Beacon Bonfire festival, The Costellos sat with Brandon and Katie of the "Wait, What Is That?" podcast to discuss their latest album, "Hold On," which contains a love song heavy with longing written and sung by Lynn Johansen for her husband, Bobby Costello, inspired by 7 weeks of being apart for travel. During this episode, The Costellos previewed two tracks from their new album, and shared the songs' backstories. The Costellos are local and nation-wide performers, but also write love songs for wedding ceremonies of friends and family.

They shared their own love story with the pod. Listen to it here.

Honoring Ziatun And Palestine Land Day

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We are honoring our friends Ziatun by reposting this post they did on March 30. After interviewing the owner, Jamel Kamal at our sister podcast Wait What Is That with co-host Brandon Lillard , we learned how emotionally difficult it is for Jamel and his wife Lena to stay open on heavy days like this one.

"Land Day (Arabic: يوم الأرض, Yawm al-ʾArḍ; Hebrew: יוֹם הַאֲדָמָה, Yom HaAdama), March 30, is a day of commemoration for Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians of the events of that date in 1976 in Israel.

"In 1976, in response to the Israeli government's announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for state purposes, a general strike and marches were organized in Arab towns from the Galilee to the Negev. In the ensuing confrontations with the Israeli army and police, six unarmed[3] Arab citizens were killed, about one hundred were wounded, and hundreds of others arrested.

"Scholarship on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict recognizes Land Day as a pivotal event in the struggle over land and in the relationship of Arab citizens to the Israeli state and body politic. It is significant in that it was the first time since 1948 that Arabs in Israel organized a response to Israeli policies as a Palestinian national collective.[1] An important annual day of commemoration in the Palestinian national political calendar ever since, it is marked not only by Arab citizens of Israel, but also by Palestinians all over the world.”
Source

The Resistance That Won't Go Away :: Palestinian Love Shines From Beacon & Beyond

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Pick a day, any day, and Beacon local Kamel Jamal, owner of more than one restaurant in town (Ziatun, Beacon Bread, WTF, creator of Tito Santana Taqueria, and Végétalien, both he since sold), wears his heart on his sleeve for his home country of Palestine.

Every day for him is a day of love he shows for a free Palestine. From the food he plates, the restaurants he decorates, the merch he makes, most centering back to somehow to empower those still living in Palestine.

In this podcast, Kamel discusses how his parents left Palestine when he was a toddler with some of his family thanks to a family friend who sponsored them.

Co-hosts Brandon Lillard and Katie Hellmuth Martin sat down with Kamel on A Little Beacon Blog's sister podcast, "Wait, What Is That?" for an at times emotional interview about his view of how the people of Palestine are living now. The time was May 2021 during the escalation of protesting by residents in Palestine in the neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah. Their homes were scheduled to be demolished, and Muslim neighbors in the Hudson Valley as well as the world were sounding alarms.

In this podcast, Kamel describes his Palestine. He discusses how his parents left Palestine when he was a toddler with some of his family thanks to a family friend who sponsored them. He describes why he continues advocating from America for Palestine's liberation, so that people can live without fear of their homes and businesses being demolished by occupiers. He discusses the lack to basic rights, like clean water, receiving mail, and having to pass through armed checkpoints to get to a job or part of town.

In 2021, a protest march in Newburgh was organized with Next Step Hudson Valley where the Palestinian community came out, consisting of people young and old, with roots in Palestine, Pakistan, and other communities. Speeches were held on the lawn of Representative Sean Maloney's Newburgh's office.

Beaconites normally quiet about their cultural origins brought pages of prepared speeches, to express to an engaged audience about how their parents, siblings, cousins and/or friends felt about the global response to this little neighborhood protest in Palestine that spring. A Little Beacon Blog covered that march, which you can read about here and listen to some speeches.

Kamel Jamal, speaking at the Free Palestine protest march in Newburgh on the steps of Representative Sean Maloney’s office. Several other speakers participated.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Khitam Jamal Nakhleh’s Starbucks order, where her name is “FreeGaza,” which results in the barista shouting the demand to the room. Khitam is Kamel’s sister.
Photo Credit: Khitam Jamal Nakhleh

Since then, a lot has happened. Kamel's sister, who many know as Kate, champions the Free Palestine movement with every step she takes. Recently, she declared she was going by her birth name: Khitam Jamal Nakhleh. She is known to use subtle tactics like ordering a Starbucks under the name of "Free Gaza" so that the demand has to be called out to the room full of customers.

Every now and then, something pro-Palestinian will make the news in the US, like when Emma Watson (Hermione Granger from Harry Potter), and a UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador, voiced her support for Palestine. Or the feature story in Vanity Fair's February 2022 issue, "Generation Gaza" by veteran war correspondent Janine di Giovanni who revisited Gaza "and found resilience and hope among its 2 million Palestinian residents, two thirds of whom are under the age of 25," according to the lead-in for the article.

Also according to the February Vanity Fair feature: "Gaza's 20 and 30 somethings, it so happens, tend to be highly educated, multilingual - and jobless. 64% of the youth labor force is unemployed, largely due to the occupation. Nonetheless, year after year, they have proved indefatigable." Running a business there is virtually impossible, due to actions taken against business owners. But some continue to try, as this designer does, which was featured in Vogue.

In May 2021, neighbors came out to show their support of Palestine by creating a chalk art message on the sidewalk outside of Beacon Bread, owned by Kamel.

Circling back to the first line of this article - pick a day, any day - in the publishing world, an article usually needs to be published in a timely way. Like, back in May or June 2021 after we recorded this podcast episode and covered protest march. In Palestine, their inability to live free lives is every day, with different demolitions of family homes scheduled, like this one at the end of January 2022 or this one where the family had to self-demolish their own home.

But timing gets tricky. During the "Wait, What Is That?" episode, the silence of friends was discussed, acknowledging that talking openly about this topic can be difficult leading to unexpected responses. There is a moment where Kamel's emotions overcome him. You'll need to listen closely to the interview to hear where.

Peek Inside Ziatun

If you haven't been inside of Ziatun yet, here is a peek. Kamel admits this is one of his favorite places to be, and you can tell in the flavor of the food. The hummus is unlike any you have had, being extra smooth. There are plenty of warm soups to choose from, like the Addas soup. View the merch and buy a bag or two. Don't miss the watermelon t-shirt, designed to show resistance through food.

PODCAST DROP! Beacon Bread Company, Ziatun and Tito's Restaurateur Kamel Jamal On Palestine's Future Liberation

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Way back in warmer times in Beacon (June 2021), we sat down with Kamel Jamal to talk about Palestine on ALBB’s sister podcast station, “Wait, What Is That?”

Even though I have known about Kamel for 10 years, I had not made moments to speak with him. Really speak with him. I knew his politics. I knew he fought back in social media. I knew he answered back to outlandish reviews. I knew he didn’t like the empanada guy at the Beacon Farmers Market. I knew he was a Palestinian refugee. I knew his wife Lena was lovely and quietly fierce, and that his sister Kate (who now goes by her Palestinian name, Khitam) was raw fierce and lovely.

And that’s it.

However. When 2020 happened, I started to come out of my shell. On all of my platforms. In different ways (different platforms have different audiences in different moods). I started reporting on Black Lives Matter protests in Beacon. I started researching questionable employment and disciplinary actions by the City of Beacon that might not be able to prove discrimination on paper, but continuously result in decisions that don’t add up. And who knew that writing about COVID safety and vaccination recommendations during a world-wide pandemic would be so gutsy.

Kamel and I started circling each other. Then residents in a neighborhood in Palestine called Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem protested the scheduled take-over or demolishing of their homes by Israeli forces in May 2021, resulting in a lop-sided exchange of bombs that resulted in dozens of Palestinians being killed (including children), as well as some Israeli citizens. Anyone dead is too many. Especially when defending their home. This, after decades of recently lived histories of horrific murders and attacks on both sides of the Israeli checkpoints, resulting in friends and family members lost from the entire region.

Brandon Lillard and I reached out to Kamel to see if he would be willing to speak to us on our podcast, where we could ask him all of our big and small questions. Kamel said yes. We also reached out to Rabbi Brent of the Beacon Hebrew Alliance to see if we could talk to him as well. He considered it, knowing it is delicate territory, and in the meantime, wrote this blog post. Soon after, Next Step Hudson Valley organized a Free Palestine march in Newburgh, which ALBB covered and wrote about here with videos.

Right around that time, Kamel reached out to me, as he wanted to be a sponsor of A Little Beacon Blog for 3 of his restaurants: Beacon Bread Company, Ziatun, and Tito Santana’s (WTF is the alter-ego of Beacon Bread, and serves as the cool friend next door who you sometimes see when they’re in the mood). This part was a coincidence, but did create the first time for Kamel and I to really talk over coffee. We were very honest with each other, which was as refreshing as the mint he uses in his watermelon salad.

Take a listen of this podcast episode. There was a moment where he was overcome with emotion, but you’ll probably not be able to find it. Both Brandon and I were very grateful to be sitting with Kamel, with him so accepting of our questions, as he earned to speak about his Palestine.

Coming Up! Podcast Interview With Beacon's Subway Franchise Owner, Joy Carden

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So excited to have the owner of Beacon’s Subway franchise, Joy Carden, as a guest on our next episode of A Little Beacon Blog’s sister podcast, “Wait, What Is That?”

Joy has been in Beacon for a while, but as a franchise owner, she nor her business are usually featured or recognized in a support-local movement. We didn’t even know about her until we started A Little Beacon Blog’s Black Owned Business Directory that Izdihar Dabashi edited (official announcement of that to come with logo design from The Hyacinth Group !) . In Tin Shingle land, we know all about the importance of franchises and big box stores in terms of the opportunities they offer to women like Joy who want to take a calculated risk in opening a business, and makers who want their products bought wholesale and sold in big stores. It’s a big world out there, and Joy is part of it.

She’s going to talk to us about how people treat the store, how she feels as a local business (hint: invisible), her last experience on many boards during her corporate life, and other revelations. Tune in!
Co-Hosted by Katie Hellmuth Martin and Brandon Lillard

Episode 4: Lee Kyriacou: About Federal Investigation Of The Beacon Police Department Prior To 2010

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During the second @beacon4blacklives (but largest...they had so much success with the first, they collaborated with other organizations to grow the movement) Beacon’s Mayor Lee Kyriacou tried to speak, and in doing so, alluded to his spearheading the Federal Investigation of the Beacon Police Department. During former Mayor Randy Casale’s podcast, this was mentioned also.

Prior to the Black Lives Movement, we actually forgot about this major detail that ended 10 years ago - the investigation, the ridding of a police chief feared by many, as well as his son, also an officer at the time. The investigation is why the department is accredited today - a rarity in these parts. As Beacon talks about police re-imagining, knowing this bit of history is key, as reference points to it are made often.

Episode 3: Randy Casale: His First Coming Out (On The "Wait, What Is That?" Podcast)

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When the bench dedicated to former Mayor Randy Casale’s stepson was in discussions to be moved, he took to social media for the first time since losing his mayoral election for a third term, and flared up a base.

On the “Wait, What Is That?” podcast, we talked to Randy to learn more about the bench, what the thin blue line means to him and police families, and the American flag. We also talked to him about his experience during the end of the Federal Investigation of the Beacon Police Department, before the department was accredited, and why he wanted body cameras on officers. The original interview is 3hrs long, but has been edited to 39 minutes per his attorney’s request, and his desire to not re-ignite the divisive vibes that happened after the bench discussion and Back the Beacon PD rally.

Announcing New Podcast From A Little Beacon Blog: "Wait, What Is That?"

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Hello!

The inspiration for A Little Beacon Blog came from not knowing about things in Beacon. Could  be the timing of a Spring Egg Hunt, or it could be why the Spirit of Beacon Day started (answer: after youth inspired racial riots decades ago!).

As the City of Beacon began growing with development of apartment buildings, a reader lamented one day: "A Little Beacon Blog isn't going to be so little anymore." And here's the truth: A Little Beacon Blog has the word "little" in it for 2 reasons:

1. The assumption was that there would be a lot of blogs about Beacon. Turns out, that manifested in the form of Instagram accounts, which are awesome.

2. ALBB always focuses on the little details. Could be a rose, could be a tree, could be an honoree, could be a bench, could a wrench.


In The Beginning...

At the beginning of the pandemic, people starting recording more videos. Disconnect people from each other, and we break out of comfort zones into new mediums in order to connect. This happened at A Little Beacon Blog too, in the form of a podcast. We set up a studio in Katie's shed, which is ventilated with 2 doors, a fan and an air conditioner, and we wear masks during interviews. Plexiglass is next.
 

About The Co-Hosts...

Brandon Lillard is the co-host of this podcast, and the recording producer. Raised in the City of Beacon, some of you may remember him from that time he attended Beacon High School and created a character for himself: Mr. Beacon High. This was his way of working with many different people. Brandon went on to become a community organizer, youth mentor and podcast producer with Youth Podcast Program, and is a board member for I Am Beacon. Brandon had nudged ALBB's publisher Katie for a while (ok, 5 years) to start a podcast. When in a pandemic, she said yes.

We are so excited to announce to you today the start of the podcast extension of A Little Beacon Blog, called "Wait, What Is That?" It's a podcast dedicated to finding out the answers behind simple and hard questions. Sometimes during our interviews, we discover more questions, and pursue new topics to dig deeper. This could be about donuts made in Connecticut but named after Brooklyn, or the Federal Investigation of the Beacon Police Department many years ago.

We have 5 episodes to start you out with. Do carve the time out of your day during your commute to nowhere, or your gardening time, or your outdoor fitness time.

Many of these episodes will serve you well in your homework for issues going on right now in Beacon.

EPISODE 1: The Beginning
Brandon and Katie record their first podcast. Not sure what they were going to talk about. And then Brandon brought the Brooklyn Baking Company Donuts. Which are from Connecticut. And go…

EPISODE 2: Let's Do This
Because sometimes you just need a cup of coffee and a Popsicle. In discovering their voices, Brandon and Katie take a deep dive into that house on the corner of Cross Street that is a storefront window. Brandon remembers when it was a deli and he went there daily on his way to and from the old Beacon High School.

EPISODE 3: Former Mayor Randy Casale
Well HELLO. Our first interview is with the former Mayor of Beacon for 2 terms: Randy Casale. A born and bread Beaconite who knows everything about everything Beacon. Everything.

We interviewed Randy when he was fresh out of his political silence, during the debate about his stepson's bench and if it should be removed or moved. The original interview was 3 hours.

At the recommendation of his attorney, the podcast was edited down to 39 minutes. The bench issue has been settled for now, so he did not want to reignite.

We talk to him about his experience with the Beacon Police Department, his insistence on and fight for body cameras, and the Federal Investigation of the Beacon PD years ago.

He also discusses with us about the demotion of a Highway Superintendent, Reuben Simmons, who was demoted back down to a worker position, how a mysterious letter dis-crediting Reuben was hand-delivered to a council person's porch, how Civil Service rules worked to legally let it all happen, and if the City of Beacon had an opportunity to keep Reuben in his job, but did not take that route. Even though Randy voted for the appointment of the current Highway Superintendent, Randy said Reuben having the position be taken from him was one of his biggest regrets.

EPISODE 4: Mayor Lee Kyriacou
BAM. Our next interview was with current Mayor Lee Kyriacou. During Randy’s interview, and during the 1st biggest BLM protest in Beacon, we learned that Lee spearheaded the look-see into Beacon’s Police Department in the early 2000s, which resulted in a Federal Investigation. We wanted to learn more about that.

EPISODE 5: Reuben Simmons
Following up on what we learned earlier, we interviewed Reuben about how and why he no longer has the position of Highway Superintendent, after 1 year of serving in it. Katie worked with Reuben when he created the Rock Out For Mental Health music event last year. Many service agencies came together at one community event, which impacted a lot of people.

When Katie wrote the article about Reuben's inspiration for the event, she went to confirm his job title, which had been Highway Superintendent. Reuben worked for the Highway Department since 2002, and she was proud of his promotion. But LinkedIn showed a job descension: where he once was the Highway Superintendent, he was now Maintenance Worker. What happened?

Reuben couldn't answer at the time, as he was filing a complaint about the experience. One year later, at the first BLM sound stage, Reuben spoke out about it. Reuben walks us through the chess match of Civil Service rules which determine how a city can hire, fire, demote, and discipline employees.

Reuben says he did not know about the mystery letter until much later. A Little Beacon Blog has a copy of it, and published it with this podcast so that you can read it. Additionally, we have published the City Council Meeting from February 2019 where each City Council Member voted to appoint Reuben's co-worker to the job under a technicality. During that meeting, many from the Highway Department were in the audience (except for the 3 Black workers in the Highway Department, including Reuben, who say they were not told about the date of the appointment). The staff from the Highway Department can be heard hooting and hollering during the vote. Many on the Council laughed with them.

Reuben continues his work every day for the City, but has this to say on why he speaks out now: "I have experienced unfair treatment, harassment, and retaliation in the Highway Department that has continued after my efforts to bring a number of issues to the attention of city management and leadership. I share my story as a response to the many narratives and rumors spread by childish individuals and because I don’t want it happening to anyone else."

The letter, the public City Council meeting with the laughter, and a timeline of events have been published with this podcast. A Little Beacon Blog reached out to the City Administrator for confirmation of the timeline, and was responded to with an invitation to talk to the City's labor lawyer. While we don't need a conversation, we are awaiting an email response to our questions.

If you're following Police news with any hiring of positions, you'll want to listen to this podcast to get familiar with Civil Service chess. If you want to learn about how someone gets safely removed from a job without legal ramifications, you'll want to listen to this podcast.

EPISODE 6: Ali T. Muhammad
Ali T. Muhammad was born and raised in Beacon, NY, walking every day down a literal pathway between prison and public school, as his home was on the grounds. He walked the “school to prison pipeline” (and tells us about what that means on this podcast). His father was incarcerated for 12 years, and upon getting released, became the Chaplin for Fishkill Correctional Facility. Ali’s mother was a teacher at Rombout Middle School (and was Brandon’s teacher!).

Ali lived the life of a Black youth in Beacon, and continues to as a Black man in America. As a way to keep himself occupied and on a straight path, he began getting involved with local politics, getting elected as a Council Member for Ward 4 at an early age.

Ali served on Beacon's City Council years ago, and after a period bucking his own Democratic party, wasn't elected back. He was known to stay focused on issues of inequality for Black and poor communities, but was often dismissed. His concerns are coming back to make sense now to more people during this racial revolution. Katie and Brandon talk to Ali about those issues, including how to build a WeePlay Tot Park at Davies Terrace and other low income housing projects that are owned by private, large, wealthy real estate companies. Lots of times kids in the low income housing projects don't have access to transportation to get to city parks, and depend on taxis to get to the Beacon Pool - if they can afford the ride. We discuss this and more.

Next Up: We interview Katie's son, Cole, who wanted to talk about his feelings upon hearing that Paw Patrol might be canceled, and then fact checking the White House who in late July said it was canceled, but was in fact not. Cole tells us what he values about Paw Patrol.

Then: We'll meet our sometimes 3rd co-host, Blake Daniel Leslie, a musician, artist, actor and podcaster. And Brandon's best friend. You might recognize Blake from his days with the cover-band Skin and Bones who used to play around town.

And a few more: We have a few more interviews on deck. We interview on Wednesdays, and will release as they are produced.