Episode 4: The Responsibility to Author History with Erika Alexander

Featured Guest: Erika Alexander

What is our responsibility as artists to be the authors of history?

In this episode of Lagralane Spirits, Jason and Yvonne sit down with critically acclaimed actress and documentary filmmaker, Erika Alexander. The three discuss taking control of our storytelling destiny, being the narrators of our own history, and the meaning of true power and agency in the filmmaking industry and beyond.

This week:

Enjoy a Boukman Daiquiri and share this recipe’s origins
Erika is the creator of Color Farm Media
Erika talks about the difficulties of being a darker skinned woman in the acting industry. She was often only casted as a sex worker, a slave, and maid
Erika’s husband was a writer and he taught her the discipline that came with writing
Jason talks about how colorism, and being both too white and too dark, affected his chances at his auditions
Yvonne talks about how she felt that she had to choose whether to be Black or Filipina when auditioning
Erika reflects on the irony of Jason and Yvonne being rejected by casting directors for not being Black enough and her own story of being too Black for many casting directors
Jason asks “Who are the authors of history” and how we can restructure the narrative
Erika thinks that to be an artist is the hardest thing in the world, and it’s noble, and it takes more than a pound of flesh
Erika got into documentary making to learn more about strong women because they are often depicted as Wicked Witches
Documentary making is what introduced her to John Lewis. This was the last year before he passed away. Erika and her team released Good Trouble in 2020.
Charlamane tha God and Kevin Hart have reached out to Erika to support her documentary work with their own resources
Yvonne talks about how she wants more representation for Filipinas and Asians as a whole
Jason talks about how you have to be assertive to take control of the narrative
Erika talks about how we cannot see each other as Other
*Reference for quotes read in this episode: Teow, Jeremy. “Black Revolt in the White Mind: Violence, Race, and Slave Agency in the British Reception of the Haitian Revolution, 1791–1805.” Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 37, no. 1, 2018, pp. 87–102. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26532955. Accessed 28 July 2021.

“[Being an artist] is a responsibility to demand some kind of truth from the world and keep pushing truths in front of people, so we move forward.”

- Erika, (minute 40:51)

Cocktail: Boukman Daiquiri

Recipe

1 ½ oz Boukman rum
½ oz Pierre Ferrand cognac
¾ oz lime juice
½ oz cinnamon simple syrup*
Shake and enjoy!

*Make your own simple syrup with equal parts water and sugar to boil, and add cinnamon sticks.

History & Meaning

The Boukman Daiquiri was created by Alex Day, a bartender from Philadelphia. The drink was named after Haitian priest, Dutty Boukman, who helped kickstart the Haitian Revolution.