Episode 01: The Descendant’s Identity

Featured Guest: Fanshen Cox

What makes us who we are? Who makes us who we are? The what. The when. The how.

More and more people are questioning their identity and looking to discover their heritage. We're asking, "Who am I?" and we chase that question with, "Where do I belong and to whom?"

With the increase of platforms like Ancestery.com, answers no longer die with the dead.

Tonight, we live in the space that questions existing truths about definitions of identity and creates new.

In this episode, we sit down with award-winning actor, producer, podcast host and educator, Fanshen Cox.

This week we:

Enjoy a White Negroni and share the drink's history and the proper way to mix one.
Yvonne’s experience on the set of Lucky, Harry Dean Stanton’s last film.
The history of Lagralane.
Jason and Yvonne discuss how they identify and the complexities of holding multiple identities.
Jason and Yvonne dive into what prompted them to start their separate journeys to learn more about their individual cultural identity and the ways they presusuded their history.
Yvonne reflects on the American perception of ethnicity and the limitations of the structure.
Fanshen answers the question, “If we are all an equation, how do we solve for identity?”
Fanshen talks about the idea of race and how that plays out in the world.
Jason reflects on his experience of representing the enslaved and the slave owners as a biracial male.
Fanshen shares her experience with other people wanting her to “pass” as white.
Fanshen talks about racial pride and how that internal struggle plays out when you identify as more than one.
Fanshen, Yvonne, and Jason discuss the important concept of white people digging into their own history to be true allies.
Fanshen explains that black is a culture and how it encompasses so many things besides race.

“Most importantly, what I have learned is that my blackness does not need to be performed.”

- Fanshen (minute 01:04:45)

Cocktail: White Negroni

Recipe

1.5oz Gin
1 ounce Dolin Blanc Vermouth
3/4 oz Suze or Cocchi Americano
Served on the rocks

History & Meaning

The Negroni was invented by an Italian, Count Negroni, but in 2001 it got a little British put on it, by bartender Wayne Collins, while in France. Collins created the White Negroni. It’s half Italian, half Brit! Thus it is multiethnic, like Jason and Yvonne.