Politics — Dream Nation Love Podcast amplifies diversity, women empowerment, social impact, and creativity.

Episode 1. The History, Trauma, and Tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womxn.

The idea for the MMIWR (R standing for relatives) series originated from a conversation I had six years ago with my sister-in-law. I first noticed airport signs in Washington asking people to keep an eye out for human trafficking victims. Our conversation quickly went from human trafficking to the MMIW crisis. I’ve never heard of either back East. It was astounding to learn that this was happening in the US (and Canada) and that the mainstream media was barely covering the issue.

The more I spoke who families and read articles, the bigger the MMIW story would become. The systemic struggles created an environment for many Indigenous Womxn, Boys, Girls, and Two-Spirits to be susceptible to murder and/or disappearances. Most are not aware that there are 5,712 cases of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls in the US.

When a blond Youtuber by the name of Gabby Petito went missing in Wyoming, it made national news. In the same state, between 2010 and 2020 there were 710 Indigenous people missing. Not one of them has ever received national media attention. The goal of the series is to amplify Indigenous Voices and create a broader MMIWR awareness in the mainstream media.

This MMIW series features the voices of Indigenous survivors, relatives, state patrol, tribal law enforcement, sexual assault coalition directors, senators, lawyers advocating for tribal sovereignty, environmentalists, and many more voices impacted by the MMIW crisis.

Jordan Marie Daniel: Professional runner and Activist bringing attention to the Missing Murdered Indigenous Womxn crisis.

Jordan Marie Daniel is a Lakota professional runner and Activist raising awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womxn, girls, two-spirits, and relatives. Through her running, Jordan is representing Indigenous athletes and relatives, and the BIPOC community. She is an advocate for diversity, inclusivity, and justice for Indigenous, Black, Brown folx within these spaces.

She is the Founder of Rising Hearts which was born out of Standing Rock and the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. She is also a producer on the film The Sacred And The Snake. Following three Water Protectors – Lauren, Cheryl, and Olive – through their transformative experiences at Standing Rock and beyond.

On the show, we talk about her experience of moving to DC to be an advocate for Indigenous people. We also talk running, running through pregnancy, and MMIW. Jordan is holding a run to honor MMIW on May 5 which is the day honoring MMIW. You can learn more about it by following her insta. I’ll run it and I hope you’ll join us as well.

community, diversity, podcast, Politics, Running, MMIW, women, ProducerJulia LarichevaNovember 3, 2021native, running, MMIW, Producer, Film, Activist, Activism, Runner, diversity

Meg Anderson: Comedian, Writer, Improver.

Meg Anderson is a comedian/writer/improver living in nyc. She studied improv at The People’s Improv Theatre and the Upright Citizens Brigade. She is the fourth woman to ever team improv at The Pit and was one of the founding members of The Baldwin’s, the theatres headlining house team.

Meg has performed nearly 1,000 improv shows (of varying funniness) and has appeared in numerous commercials, web series, indie films and television shows. She creates comedic content daily posted to her Instagram and is starring in a (homemade) sitcom with her husband Happy Anderson about their life during Quarantine. She wrote and starred in the web series, "SCOTUS and the City" where she portrays Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hitting the dating scene with her fellow female Justices.

Rafael Espinal: New York City Councilman from Brooklyn. Fighter for socioeconomic & climate issues.

Rafael is a Brooklynite who works really hard to make the borough a great place to live, work, and grow for all. If you’ve recently been dancing in an NYC bar, it’s all thanks to Rafael’s work. He is responsible for writing a bill repealing the notorious NYC Cabaret Law from 1926 that prohibited dancing in bars. We caught up to talk about his recent bill to ban plastic straws in NYC. On the show Espinal talks plastic pollution and how it affects our waterways, the environment, nutrition in Brooklyn's food deserts, high Asthma rates in many Brooklyn neighborhoods that correlate with high vehicle traffic areas, the L Train Shutdown and how it relates to climate change, and also a new bill that he's working on that gives New Yorkers the right to disconnect after work.