An Interview with Tiffany Fant on health over hustle.

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This week our hosts Erniko Brown and Kimala Luna from Dogwood Alliance and Elizabeth Lashay from SlayTheMic talk with Tiffany Fant about Black leadership, health over hustle, and showing up authentically. 

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Tiffany Fant developed the Ubuntu Community Development Project, is the Visionary Architect of Sol Nation, is a board member of For the Struggle, Inc, co-founder and board member of University East Little League. Tiffany splits her time between Dogwood Alliance and North Carolina Black-led Organizations and Collectives (NC BLOC), serves on the advisory council for Charlotte’s Strategic Energy Action Plan and is Data and Impact Coordinator for My Brother’s Keeper. Her ultimate goal is to take the information on why injustices and disparities exist to build necessary infrastructures and systems that facilitate sustainable solutions.

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Check out the full transcript of our interview with Tiffany Fant!

Full Transcript of Health Over Hustle with Tiffany Fant:

Elizabeth Lashay:
Welcome back to another episode of Woods & Wilds podcast. I’m Elizabeth Lashay from SlayTheMic, I’m joined by my wonderful cohost…

Kimala Luna:
I’m Kimala Luna from Dogwood Alliance. And we’re also here with…

Erniko Brown:
Erniko Brown from Dogwood Alliance and we have with us today the amazing Tiffany Fant. So Tiffany has been recently named one of the Great 28 of Charlotte, one of the individuals who is [organizing in] Charlotte and outside of that, she has her own nonprofit Qwantum Consulting. She spearheads in Sol Nation, she works with NC BLOC. She’s a visionary architect, one of the main organizers for Black liberation as it relates to Charlotte and down in the South. She is one who is actively disrupting and dismantling the injustices throughout her community. So without further ado, Tiffany Fant.

Tiffany:
Wow.

Elizabeth Lashay:
Welcome, Tiffany.

Tiffany:
Thank you. I need to hire you all for any kind of introduction because clearly-

Elizabeth Lashay:
I definitely want to start this conversation off by asking you about the work that you do and actually backing up and saying, when did you fall in love with nature?

Tiffany:
When I was a little girl, my grandparents, we had a lot of green space here in Charlotte, we have front yards and backyards and my grandfather used to garden so he had a huge garden. But I would say then because I used to take naps in the front yard. I would put my blanket out in the front yard and go to sleep like four or five years old and walking barefoot, but it was just a country thing to do and help my grandpa compost and be in the garden and help plant. So when I was a little girl, we used to go to the farms to pick fresh vegetables. So I’ve always grew up loving being outside and stuff. And then I think getting into advocacy didn’t happen until college when I went to Appalachian State University and so we talked a lot about treetop removal and green space because our school was expanding. So yeah, so I’ve always had a nice relationship with nature.

Kimala Luna:
I want to know because Tiffany, you always come into rooms and you bring such amazing energy and you really hold down the self-care. And I know you’re always doing a million things and I just want to know, what moves you? What drives you? What keeps you going? What gives you life?

Tiffany:
Man, well, I think I tell people, I said I want people to be okay because I know what it’s like not to be okay. And I know what it’s like not to be okay and not have anyone help you. So that’s really what moves me is that, that’s the overarching philosophy. And then I particularly work with Black folk and Black community. And I do what my people need. And there are just so many disparities that exist that it keeps me busy, whether it’s learning about economic development, environmental injustice, housing, mental health, mental wellness is like it’s just so much that because I want my people to be okay, my job right now is not going to be done. And self-care, and then throwing in self-care because my philosophy this year is health over hustle, I hustle a lot. But because I spent a week in the hospital last year being septic and then my mental health suffered the last quarter, it was like, yo, I can’t keep going like this. And I saw so many people in my position so this year is health over hustle, but that’s what moves me is I want my people to be okay. And I’m not even talking about pursuing the American dream. I’m just saying being able to have a house that you can afford to pay and have all your needs met and some of the wants, that’s at least bottom line okay and once we get everybody okay, then you don’t go out, go forth and be merry and prosper but right now I just want everybody to be okay. So that’s what moves me, that’s what keeps me going, because it’s always something.

Erniko Brown:
That is real. And I definitely understand, especially being in South Carolina and doing the very same work. For me, I would like to know, I know that you’re talking about all the different aspects of the community work that you do, but what definitively made you decide to get into the environmental justice space.

Tiffany:
Okay. So that’s a little story because I just show up in my hood being a volunteer, just doing what needed to be done. We know we got issues, we talking about them. So initially here, we have a issue with a rock quarry that’s down the street on Basefield Rd. We have some pollution going on in the creek. We knew these were issues and we were screaming about them. But it really, honestly it’s a friend who introduced me to environmental justice work, Nakisa Glover. That was my introduction into environmental justice work. So she was like, hey, there’s this thing over here because we kept meeting in community. I’m doing the social justice, she over here working, trying to figure out life with this thing and so we kind of collided.

And so I learned, I’m like, oh, you dealing with the same  people I’m dealing with over here, same community, same things. And so that was my introduction. And so I learned, and then from there I made it my own because I was already doing social justice work and then here’s this other piece of information that I can now add to the work.  I would say that happened about 2017, I would say right after Alton Sterling happened in 2016 so that’s when I started building relationships and then she and I kind of started working about 2017. And when I started really learning and then a little less, I would say two years, I really integrated into what I was originally doing. So that was my introduction. So being able to travel and learn at these big greens, like Greenpeace, did some conferences at the Kaleidoscope, there’s a conference in DC and then some Environmental Justice Network in North Carolina.

So one of my approaches is I always build and learn before action, that’s one of Fred Hampton’s… He said, you got to have political education before you had an action. So one of the things I do is I always learn. So I learned for about a year and then I was able to put this stuff into action to say, now I can say EJ work is my work. I can own it. And it’s not just in relationship to how I was introduced, she brought me to the water, you lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. So led it to the water, I was like, okay, well let me sip all of this. Let me get this. So yeah, so that’s how is by way of introduction. And then with that, we formulated Sol Nation to do some of the EJ work directly in communities, prioritizing Black communities around EJ work. So that was my little pathway in. Thank you for asking that.

Elizabeth Lashay:
I’m really excited to learn more about Sol Nation, but before we do that, building and learning, I think going back onto the importance of it, what is something that has really surprised you that you learned over the years? Something that’s really, really shocking.

Tiffany:
I think really how some of the conditions of Black folk are tied to EJ issues. How we think sometimes diseases like diabetes or that somehow cancer runs in our family or diabetes when sometimes it’s literally the air and things that are killing us or the water source or the pollution of water. And it just amazed me the frequency of it, the vastness. It’s not this small thing because I just was not aware. And then how industries, I think it’s the industries because I’m a bacon lover. I love bacon. It’s oh, this whole industry is killing my people. And it’s just how sometimes… Though it’s systemic, be clear. I understand that it’s a systemic issue and not a personal responsibility situation, but there’s sometimes our consumer behavior that can drive industry can contribute and it’s… So I think learning that dichotomy is, which do we break?

Do we break the consumer habit or do we break the system because they both feed off each other and where ultimately is there I think that’s the biggest issue, problem I’m trying to solve is like where do you because it’s not all personal responsibility like everybody stopped eating bacon, does that solve the problem or not? So yeah, so I think really just how pervasive the issues are in EJ across communities is. I just didn’t really realize it and then just how we play a part in being able to be a part of the solution and what does that look like.

Elizabeth Lashay:
Okay, quotables. I’ve already collected about five quotes from you that are going to go on a t-shirt and all-

Tiffany:
Let’s go.

Kimala Luna:
Health over hustle for sure.

Tiffany:
The truth! Fly true!

Kimala Luna:
I want to hear about Sol Nation and maybe a meaningful moment that stands out to you since its formation and then your involvement in it, how it started.

Tiffany:
It really started with a conversation around Nakisa trying to figure out how to find a place for her work, consistently, because in organizing, she talks a lot about in organizing where how you’re going from contract to contract. So I was like, why don’t you create a nonprofit so that way you have your own space and build it out to really cover some of the issues that you’re talking about. So this is me early on learning, and this is how one of my titles came about being the visionary architect because I build visions. That’s what I do, like I build a vision. And so from the formation, from my filing paperwork, to building infrastructure, to programmatic development, to really building it to become as we see it today. And that’s where a lot of my learning came from because that’s where I learned a lot about the nonprofit industry complex and the disparities that exist in that and how a Black woman-led environmental organization is the diamond in a haystack or a pen in a haystack or a mite in a haystack, you’re just not finding it.

So that was an eye-opener. It’s like, well, this should be a thing, this isn’t a thing. So just the whole journey around it of building it to be impactful and going past Charlotte, Nakisa always had a national platform, but to be able to grow Sol Nation that it has a national platform is pretty monumental to me know that the work that I done to create the program and impact and talk to funders because the growth that we’ve had in four years, a lot of organizations don’t get to see.

So to be able to say that we could potentially be putting sales on a full-time salary after four years as a woman-led organization, you know what I mean, Black woman-led environmental organizations is huge. A two-person organization to be exact. A lot of people think is… People like, oh, your staff, what staff honey? It’s two of us. What are you talking about right now? And so just the image people think is larger than what it is because of the work, the amount of work, and how we show up in different spaces. And a lot of that probably has to do with my public relations background, creating a story and narrative. And what image do you put out to people, but with that came a lot of responsibility because it’s like, oh, you all can do it. Oh, we can.

So, but yeah, so that’s been Sol Nation’s journey, is really about building and now I’m shifting to more strategic in my personal work through Sol Nation. So now that I’ve learned and built this vehicle, now it’s about integrating the work through Sol Nation that I’ve done to expand and so that’s where Qwantum Consulting is. And then I have a community project that I do here in Charlotte around community development. And then I’m on a board for another nonprofit that does community work. So I can use this vehicle now to really move some of the other work that I have going on. So yeah, the whole journey has been a thing. It’s been a journey. It’s been a whole journey.

Erniko Brown:
All of that is super deep. I don’t know about Kimala and Slay, but I can definitely tell you that that was something that we needed to hear. That was something definitely beautiful to enlighten the masses of how to create, to motivate individuals, to just move individuals into action just from your story alone, which brings me to my next question. You talked about a Black-led organization, a Black woman-led organization. Why do you feel it’s important for you to be in the environmental justice space?

Tiffany:
Me personally, me personally, Okay, me personally, well, one because I think I bring a boldness that doesn’t exist sometimes. I’m very clear about I work for Black folk. That’s just who I work for and I don’t shy away from that. And it’s not at the exclusion of other people, but at a priority of Black people. So there’s a boldness, I’ll say, well, people like to dance around the issue, I’m not going to dance around. I’m going to cut to the chase. Let’s get uncomfortable. Let me put it in a room, let you all know it’s okay, now we can deal with it because we can’t really get to solutions if people are uncomfortable and holding back. If you don’t agree with it, I need to know you don’t agree with it so we can chop it up and move to some alignment and consensus.

But if you’re holding on to something, then there’s always going to be that barrier. And then also I tell people I think I navigate both worlds well. I grew up in the hoods of Charlotte, if anybody’s familiar with Charlotte, the Westside, and Double Oaks, that’s all the predominantly Black neighborhoods, but I went to all predominantly white schools. So I really know how to navigate both worlds. I still have the trust of my community that if I go into city, county, government, or white spaces that I’m not selling out, or I’m not going to sell out the hood for my benefit. And I can present the information necessary, like I said, Sol Nation, we’re translators, so I can translate to my people and what they want to city-county in a way, in a language, that they’re going to understand that they can move and vice versa. In making the connections that what they’re doing on city or county or state level, it directly affects you even you don’t see it right now, but let me break it down and show you how it affects you. And then also because I think I’m very principled, integrity and being principled matters to me. I tell people, I say people that pursue the American dream of having all this finances and wealth and all, I’m like, no, that’s not my ultimate goal. Money is not my ultimate goal here, if I got enough… Right now, I tell people I’m rich. They like, you rich? I’m like, yeah, I’m rich because a year ago I didn’t have a place to stay and I didn’t have a full-time job. Now I got stable housing and a job and some contract, yo, I’m out here living the life.

So bringing me money right now, that ain’t it. So I’m principled in, you’re not going to be able to buy me. You’re not going to be able to have me sell out my people for my personal gain because I’m a collective. And I think we need to have more of that shifting to what collective responsibility really means and what it looks like. So very principle in how we move. And I’m not here to cause harm to anyone. And the work that I do, I’m not going to allow you to cause harm to anyone, I won’t be part of any of that. And even it’s to my detriment, but to somebody else’s benefit, detriment meaning that, all right, so I might not get $20, I’m going to get $10, all right, I’m good on that. But they got $10 too, okay then, cool. So those are I think the three biggest reasons, my boldness and being principal and then being able to navigate both worlds to be able to stitch something together that looks like a solution. And I’m me though, I’m cool. I tell jokes and stuff, I laugh. I make people feel comfortable and things. And I mean, don’t worry. I got you.

Elizabeth Lashay:
Go to joke, is there a go-to joke?

Tiffany:
It don’t even need to be jokes. People be like, I’m like, these are not even jokes, this is just life, you know what I mean? I don’t know. I don’t have a set joke because they be cheesy. You know what I mean? Speaking of cheese… See, my jokes be corny. After they give me medicine at the hospital, I had to go hospital and they gave me some Dilaudid, which is like morphine. And so my friend was like, you want something to eat? I was yeah, I’m hungry, I’m hungry. They gave me Dilaudid and some Hydrocodone within two hours so I’m in Mars. And so I was like, I want some Taco Bell. She was like, what do you want? I was like, I want some nacho fries because they mine. She said, shut up. I’m not talking to you. I’m not talking to you. I’m like, I want nacho fries because they’re mine. So my jokes be corny. But you hang around me, I get you laughing though. I thought it was funny. I like it.

Kimala Luna:
I’m blown away that Sol Nation is a two-person crew. I am still… I’m shook because I’ve seen you all and I’ve checked out your website and I mean it’s packing so much heat and I had no idea. So-

Tiffany:
Yeah. I’m going to toot my horn, I do our website counting the programmatic because my degree is in public relations and marketing and then my minor is in accounting. So I come with a lot of the skillset that can run an organization. But I think we’ve reached capacity of what a two-person looks like now. And I’m also burned out. But yeah, I was like, yeah, we good. I’m getting a whole new stamp. So thank you for that shout out.

Kimala Luna:
I mean I think it speaks to the testament of the power of Black women, because I mean, even Liz is founding this radio station and it’s a Black-led media group and Black women-led media group and it’s incredible the work that’s getting done. And I wanted to talk about some of the work you’re doing to develop leadership pathways in environmental justice organizations and I just want to know what’s one thing that you want to tell environmental justice organizations about establishing those leadership pathways and any advice you might have for people interested in pursuing that.

Tiffany:
We’re bottom lining two networks, one is a statewide network, which is the Black and green network through NC Black and then we also bottom line a national network called the Black Climate Alignment Network, which are both designated or geared towards Black climate, environmental justice individuals and organizations. And so what we’re doing is bringing the information to people to be able to experience and share, but just creating these networks are necessary because far and few between are Black and environmental justice organizers are leaders. So that’s far and few between so you can go into a space and think you’re the only one, because you’re in a space full of white folk and you’re like, oh, ain’t nobody else doing this work. So the fact that we’re pulling people together and saying, no, we’re out here, we exist. We may be spread out, but we’re here.

So that’s the first thing, getting rid what they call brain drain, we’re infusing putting all the brainpower together. What it looks like is sharing resources, sharing power, and sharing information. Because the organization we built over four years, I tell people, I say, first thing you need to do is get your infrastructure together, in your budget. We want to put that last but let’s have our spending plan together. Let’s have our budget together and what our funding strategy looks like because otherwise, you’re going to be volunteering for your organization and not getting paid. And I could promise you, these volunteer hours are massive so you got to figure that out. So just sharing the experience to be able to say, this is what it takes, unless you have a passion, but then you also have to… In public relations, one of the things we talk about, your message isn’t for everybody. Well, who you want to target? Everybody. That’s not a target.

So helping people understand, what is your niche, who you’re trying to reach? And then giving opportunities like in Sol Nation, we just develop a fellow program where people can come in and learn about EJ work, help us do some of the programming work, take on responsibility, getting messaging out and it’s a paid position. So now you can get come learn and get a couple of dollars to learn about what’s happening. So it’s creating pathways that make sense, that engages people. When you start talking about this EJ work, a lot of these community people are working for free because they were like me. I live here, so I need it to be safe, but what does it look like to elevate them by giving them access to trainings, paid trainings, to help them learn how to advocate, how to lobby, how to understand who makes decisions in their communities so they can be more effective with their work. So I want people to know it’s about sometimes you got to go to versus waiting on somebody to come and say, hey, let me find about EJ organizing.

We didn’t know organizing exists growing up. I didn’t know that was a thing. I didn’t know you could get paid to be organizing. They not sharing it in the hood saying that this is a pathway where you can become an advocate or lobbyists or a organizer for some of the issues that you’re passionate about. So sometimes organizations have to go to community members and make the pitch about why this is important. And then once they get the buy-in, then you still provide a pathway. So sometimes it’s about hand-holding, just because it hasn’t been your experience doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be done and handholding because everything’s on the internet, you can damn near find there all information on the internet, but still, people don’t know stuff. So what that tell you? So they have to be other avenues in getting people into this work. My little 2 cents, I’m going to keep the three for myself.

Erniko Brown:
That was more like 20, 25 cents. So, let’s make sure that the people know that that was definitely information for the masses that hopefully somebody hearing this that’s going to be something to help somebody. And as we talk about leaders and leadership, I know your backstory and I know your grandmother had a great deal of guidance dealing in your life. So aside from your grandmother, and if you care to share a little bit about her, please, by all means, feel free to do so, but outside of your grandmother, who are some of the leaders that inspire you to continue to do the work?

Tiffany:
Okay. Okay. Who inspires me? So yeah, Nico Nomi. So my grandma was like 5’2″ spitfire, My grandma was hell. And so my grandmother gave me a lot of the spunk and stuff that I have in boldness and love and energy. So she always inspires me and in her last days, I was able to really take care of her and give her all the love that she had given for so many years. And so my grandma is always a reason why I keep going so hard, so always that. And then also you see I got Marcus Garvey and Tubman and Pan Africans flag on the back that’s some of our leaders of old, like Marcus Garvey just talking around Black liberation and what sovereignty means in the economics and what it means to collectiveness, why he designed that flag where Black Americans need something to organize under and then talk about  being a conductor and a leader, some people you just got leave behind.

But as many that want to come, I’m going to get my shoulders right and my back right and we’re going to ride out. And I don’t mind being the lead on that. So some of the traditional civil rights leaders and from history and then another one probably like a historical figure would be Einstein, I’m a huge fan of Albert Einstein, I’m very cerebral and into quantum physics and things and what that means and how that correlates to our real world really into numbers and facts and figures. But then also he was a humanitarian, how some things just didn’t add up. But I think a lot of people don’t understand that, how things didn’t add up in his world about how racism and the lack of humanity that existed. So and then current leaders, anybody on the ground that’s doing work. Any of the young people showing up to protest, that put their bodies on the line. When you look at the collective of a movement for Black lives that’s trying to organize people.

I’m really inspired by the people, the people that show up people like Erniko, because Erniko and I are friends. But someone like Erniko who’s consuming the knowledge and taking up space in traditional government areas that say, hey, let me hold this page right quick and do what I need to do. So those are the people that inspire me to keep going. It’s people around me. I can appreciate figure heads and people that make the news, but what really inspires me are the people who take responsibility for their issues and try to figure it out even if they don’t have the right words, all the information, but it’s like, I’m here, I’m trying to learn. And you’re going to see me. So all of them, all of them. That’s that who, yeah. That’s who.

Elizabeth Lashay:
Well, I know we’re not even close to the end of this conversation, but thank you because you are inspiring me at this moment and I am just truly inspired by the work that you do and continue to do and how you show up. Today, I’m always privileged to be in a room full of young adults, youth leaders, those who are trying to figure out how to hold space and how do they do that. And our topic today was age-ism. And so to talk about when people discredit you based upon your age, and I just want to hold space and ask you, what is your advice, or what would have been your advice to your younger self when showing up in spaces that you’re trying to create a better place.

Tiffany:
Oh, my younger self. Girl, chill! Chill out for a minute, kid. I think for me because I believe in the collective and I believe everyone has space and a purpose. I believe that young people need to have the wisdom of our elders and those in the middle are to serve as the connectors of translating that message for both that there is no leaving out, that we cannot have a world where there are no young people. We can’t have a world where there are no elders because it’s a privilege to get old. Everybody doesn’t get to do it. And like the past two weeks, we had a community elder that was 59 that passed, and then we had a young man who ran for mayor that was 22 that passed. So it’s like we both are needed and both are being taken out. So it’s a privilege to be able to become an elder and have lived experience that I haven’t had and it’s a privilege to have the energy and spunk and sometimes the lack of fear because there is an unknowing about what lies on the other side that comes with youth that can lead to innovation and push the envelope and disrupt systems that exist.

And I think for us that fall kind of in the middle, it’s like you still have some left in your youth and your swag but your knees and your shoulders telling you on your way to an elder. So you’re going to be like, you’re not going to be able to do that all day. But I’m not quite need to sit down just yet so we can serve as that bridge to be able to bring them together. So everybody needs to be in a room, everybody needs to be in the room and make it personal. Hopefully most people got good relationships with somebody from youth to elder, think about your grandma. So you want your grandma not included in this or you want your niece not included in this or your kids not included? When you make it personal, I think you can have a different outlook, but my advice is definitely to understand that we need the youth, the vigor of the youth and wisdom of our elders and the patience of the bridge. I call them gap dwellers to make solution happened because I say solutions happen at the intersection. Solution dwells at the intersection. So at the intersection of youth elder and our middle age, that’s where we’re going to find solution to all issues that may have and this is just one thing that we have to be very clear on.

Kimala Luna:
That’s beautiful. I appreciate that you brought in that you bring boldness to the movement because I really view you as a bold leader, but I know that that’s an evolution. You didn’t just show up like that. And I just want to know about your journey stepping into your own leadership and talking to that same group of kids, what advice do you have to them? Because leadership looks different for everyone. But what advice do you have to those young kids about finding their own sense of leadership.

Tiffany:
Get to know yourself because you can lead from in front, you can lead from behind, but your leadership is going to come from knowing who you are and being confident in it. Whether you’re the extroverted outspoken athlete, or if you’re the quiet mathematician or whether you’re the eccentric artist musician, be confident in who you are and don’t align it to what societal norms are, align it to what your principles are and that takes work. Because there are so many things that are trying to shape who we are whether it’s through commercial or messaging, advertising, parents, religion. There’s so many things that are saying who we are that you kind of have to throw your bowls up to say, hold please, I like that piece. I like that piece. I’ll take this. I’ll take that. Let me kick that off and let me tweak that to be who you are. And that’s where once you get that confidence in who you are, then you can naturally show up as yourself because showing up as yourself is leadership enough. To be authentically who you are, to walk into a room and share who you are from your perspective is leadership.

It’s not about occupying a position. It’s not about being the most popular one, but it’s about holding what we call holding your square. Hold your square on who you are and whenever you go in, take that square with you and say, here I am and so people can authentically engage and that’s leadership. I think people too often associate it with a position or influence, and those are necessary to amplify your message. But it’s not necessarily to be called a leader. So once we expand what we consider to be a leader from the student in the classroom, to the person in community who is sharing information about what’s happening to executive directors or elected officials, those are all leaders. And you need to authentically show up as yourself. So that’s what I would’ve told my younger self because I was from the hood and I went to these predominantly white schools that I sometimes conflicted on who I needed to appear to be because… I’ll never forget, seventh grade, I wear glasses and I forgot what the conversation was and I was like yeah, I’m getting new glasses, but they putting the medicine in it and I don’t know if you’re old school, old school Black folk used to say medicine in the glasses. So I grew up around my grandma so I was like, medicine.

This little white kid was like, medicine? What’s medicine? And he bust out laughing. And I felt so embarrassed. And he was like, oh, you mean the prescription? No, I mean medicine. But being comfortable with the fact that, that was a colloquialism that’s used in the Black community and being okay with that. Yeah, medicine, we say medicine in the hood, but prescription if that makes you feel better. Right now, I’m good. Code-switching is not a thing for me. I had to do a lot of code-switching growing up. So it made me feel a little inauthentic. And so now I say, yo, be you. I have a good grasp on the King’s English. They gave me degrees. So clearly I can do it. But now I’m trying to give credibility to all my people in the hood that you don’t think [about].

So I’m not getting ready to come in here and clean up and straighten my tie anymore because I need you to hear the people on the street when they speak as well. And if I’m going to be the one to give them credence or credibility, then let me do that because I will actually do it now. I can throw bows now, you can test me if you want to, do it at your convenience though. So that’s what I would tell myself, authentically be yourself and learn who that is on your own terms and at your own principles and then show up in the world as that person and hold your square. Hold your square.

Erniko Brown:
So you have been dropping gems this entire podcast. Kimala and Slay have been over here shaking their heads, going this, snapping fingers like you really, you really, you really have laid it all on the line for us today. And I definitely appreciate you for being here. And I have one last question and maybe they have one as well. You were just speaking to leadership and how it can be tiresome and showing up as your authentic self and holding that square and now all of the code switching and everything. So with those things, I want to know with being tiresome in the work, how does being outside in nature center you back into the work that you do?

Tiffany:
I get energy from the sun. I’ve had a rough week. And today in Charlotte, the sky is blue, the sun was out, light breeze. I was like, I have to get outside because it gives me energy. The sun I feel it activates this melanin in a different way to live my experience. I know scientifically that when you’re walking out barefoot in the grass and grounding on negative ions so literally it changes my energy to be in nature and especially the sun in clear skies. And then also just to look at the wonder that exists, when I’m tired and trying to figure it all out to realize that literally this grass knows how to grow and be green and it does it naturally.

And just looking at some of how nature adapts to what’s thrown at it. I have a lemon tree in here that wasn’t thriving. And so I had to get a grow light because it was leaning there. It was on its last leg leaning and I got the grow light and it straightened up starting to spread out and grow. Nature can teach us. So that when we’re trying to figure it out, we can go in nature and find a solution. And I think that’s why I love the book Emergent Strategy, Adrienne Maree Brown because it talks about the correlation of nature in the movement talking about how the oak trees in New Orleans about how they create this underground root system that connects them, which is why those are the trees still standing.

So learning so okay, what does it look like to connect movements with environmental movement, the social movement with the incarceration movement. So we create this network underground. So now we have a solid movement that is like, if I’m talking about environment, I’m talking about the incarceration. I’m also talking about housing because the movements are now and we understand the intersections so it helps give me solution. It helps physically make me better the more I learn and it teaches me to nurture. So I got this lemon tree that’s struggling so I’m buying the little neem oil and I bought the grow light and I’m watering it and turning it around. I put another little plant beside it just in case it needed a buddy, it’s just teaching me to nurture these difficult situations that we find in movement work.

So I was like let me get this green space and nurture these plants. And some doesn’t take as much as the other. Like, I got an aloe, out here winning in life. My aloe out here winning and growing. Lemon tree needs a little bit more energy and my time. So it gives me so much, just personally and just how my mind works and learning from nature and how to apply it too, because one thing about mother nature, it’s going to course correct. It’s going to course correct, period. If that means wiping out humanity, taking a rest, and replenishing herself, mother nature is going to course correct. Period. We in the movement trying to preserve ourselves, be clear, that’s a whole another perspective. We in this movement, I always try to say to earth, no earth is going to be all right. Earth going to be like, look, you know what? I got something for all of y’all, Earth is going to be all right. We trying to preserve ourselves. So we can be around here for the next 20, 30 years, 40 years let’s be clear. So I love that the fact that mother nature always course correct and teaches. Always is teaching us, if we’re willing to go out and listen and look and learn.

Elizabeth Lashay:
Ooh, I don’t know… Look, I’m just a little tad bit overwhelmed. This is just amazing. Again, I think we’re up to maybe 102 t-shirt quotes or so but-

Tiffany:
Let’s go, let’s go, Slay, I’m with it, let’s go.

Elizabeth Lashay:
I have a question just because this is a partnership with Dogwood Alliance and Slay the Mic, and Slay the Mic is a hip-hop and R&B radio show. What music do you listen to that really nourishes your soul? What do you listen to?

Tiffany:
You didn’t tell me about the music component, kid. I love music. So it really depends on my mood to be clear. And it also is to the point that how I listen to it. So I had to buy a record player because sometimes I want to hear the style. Right now I got literally, so just to be clear, this is the history of oldest reading. So I got a bunch of LPs because sometimes I want to hear the static and go through the motion of putting the arm down and really have an immersive experience with the music. So I listen to hip-hop, old school. I listen to R&B. I love jazz, gospel, I like funk. I like country.Like… I love music. Growing up, I was really into heavy, heavy metal because I love a lead guitar. And I like a Neo-soul bass a lot. I love music. We can talk about this all day. Music saved my life. So I’m the point where sometimes I have to have a fully immersive experience. In my office, I have the speaker system plus the soundbar. Then I have a soundbar in my living room with the record player, and this is only 700 square feet you all.

So I don’t need this much sound, but it’s look, it’s going to take up everything. So depending on my mood and what I need is the music that I choose. But you’ll find me listening mostly to R&B, Neo-soul on any given day, trap music… Last week I was like, [inaudible 00:45:56] it all depends, but I needed to get some work done. So I was like, let’s turn up. So yeah, music is life. That universal language that we can really talk to everybody, yeah, let’s go.

Kimala Luna:
Oh my gosh. This has been incredible, Tiffany. I don’t think any of us expected all of this amazing stuff to happen today. I mean, we had an idea, but you really…We’re going to be thinking about it for a while. We’ve got a t-shirt business going. So I’m going to ask you to take us on Tiffany, I know you’re all about love. You definitely bring it to the table every time I see you. So what’s something you want to send our listeners home with.

Tiffany:
What I want to send you all home with? Man, just vibrate higher, vibrate higher, be your best self. Wake up every day trying to be better than who you were the day before. Not in comparison to the next person, not in comparison to standards, but who you can be, whether it’s learn a little bit more about someone else’s… I think once we bring our best selves to the table then that’s where we can begin movement. And then also understanding that bringing your best self is also being honest that you might just be tired. Showing up authentically might be saying, I’m tired and I need a break or I’m tired and I need some support. I’m tired and I need you. So that’s another part of authenticity that as bold and strong as anyone can be, there’s always the other side, must show up and vibrate as a high itself to always consider others more than ourself. And if we all do that, then we’ll never be without, there’d always be someone there. If we always consider others more than ourselves, we’ll always have someone there for us. That’s all I got. That’s all I got.

Kimala Luna:
Oh, that’s all. That was incredible.

Tiffany:
I appreciate it. Thank you. Just me, y’all little old Black girl from Charlotte trying to do the right thing.

Elizabeth Lashay:
We want to continue to watch you on your journey and find out more about what you’re doing. Could you share where we can find you?

Tiffany:
Sure. Well, I’m on Facebook. So there is that, go to community development project. You can follow any of Sol Nation’s handles, Sol Nation Inc on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. I also do work with, For The Struggle inc.com same thing on social media. So those are the major ways to follow the work, me personally, oh my personal Instagram is like Tee Fant30, T-E-E Fant three zero on Instagram. I don’t do nothing on Twitter. I got an account, you all can follow if you want to, ain’t nothing on there. And then on Facebook Tiffany Tfant fan. I mean okay, I’m pretty bad at that, you know what I mean? But so follow me on Facebook or Instagram. Holla at me, holla at me. I’m going to get better. Oh, I’m on LinkedIn as well. It’s a trashy profile, but I’m on LinkedIn under Tiffany Fant. It’s trashy, I’m working on it. It ain’t that great.

Erniko Brown:
So let me be the first to just let you know that we have appreciated you today, your presence as a Black woman, your presence in giving Black love Black excellence, Black exuberating knowledge for individuals across the waves. We just appreciate everything that you’ve given, how you move, how you continue to move and how you bring community into the work that you’re doing. So Tiffany, hey, we love you over here where it’s free and we appreciate you.

Tiffany:
Hey free 99, I appreciate you all. Thank you for having me. This was great energy. I appreciate you all.

Kimala Luna:
Thank you.

Elizabeth Lashay:
Thank you.