Storytelling, reflections, educational resources, and conversations on what moves us to work for equity, social justice, and collective liberation. A growing community. Through truth-telling: the honest sharing of their experiences, storytellers teach us about themselves, enabling us to learn about ourselves and our world through their stories. By reconnecting with pivotal moments of activation in their lives, they invite us to do the same.
At Social Justice Origin Stories, we believe that there's power in storytelling and that lived experience is experience. There's room enough for all of us to do this work. There are many ways to contribute, and our contributions don't need to be the same. We can enter and remain engaged in the work using the gifts that are special to us while supporting others and using theirs. We have the capacity to grow and change for the better when exposed to new information and experiences. We believe in our inherent worth and capabilities, and we possess the power to inspire and create change in ourselves and others. We can transcend the confines of the status quo to imagine and design more equitable and humanizing systems.
Every journey has a beginning. What's yours?
Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones
Living A Life Of Truth, Justice, and Love with Fanshen Cox
Fanshen Cox connects her commitment to social justice to the example her parents set and the intention they put into naming her. Drawing inspiration from the documentary book "Fanshen" about Long Bow Village and the Mao revolution, they chose a name tied to overturning power structures. Fanshen’s journey of meaning-making and living into her name continues to guide her work today.
As a founder, Fanshen has poured a similar depth of intention into naming TruJuLo Productions, a media company dedicated to promoting stories that speak truth in pursuit of justice in service of love. Fanshen tells the origin story of TruJuLo, and the creation of Sista Brunch, a podcast and growing community that is building the largest archive of Black women and Black gender-expansive people’s stories who are thriving in entertainment and media.
Fanshen’s storytelling reminds us to share our resources, to keep telling our origin stories, and to live a life guided by truth, justice, and love.
Connect with Fanshen on Instagram @fanshencox (@https://www.instagram.com/fanshencox)
Follow Sista Brunch on Instagram @sistabrunchpodcast (https://www.instagram.com/sistabrunchpodcast )
Follow TruJuLo Media on Instagram @trujulomedia (https://www.instagram.com/trujulomedia)
🔔 If you haven't already...SUBSCRIBE to Social Justice Origin Stories on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@socialjusticeoriginstories?sub_confirmation=1)!
❤️ SUPPORT THE PROJECT
Support this work by becoming a patron ( https://www.patreon.com/SocialJusticeOriginStories).
💬 SHARE YOUR STORY OR FEEDBACK
Your voice helps shape this community and may be featured in a future episode.
Email: stories@socialjusticeoriginstories.com
Leave a Voice Note on our contact page (https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com/contact/) or speakpipe page (https://www.speakpipe.com/socialjusticeoriginstories).
Or leave a comment below
🎧 LISTEN & FOLLOW
Website: socialjusticeoriginstories.com (https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com)
Follow The Podcast on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/social-justice-origin-stories/id1771268991).
Listen wherever You Get Your Podcasts (https://pod.link/1771268991).
Instagram @socialjusticeoriginstories (https://www.instagram.com/socialjusticeoriginstories/)
Facebook @socialjusticeoriginstories ( https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567841874653)
Follow on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sjoriginstories.bsky.social)
Follow Social Justice Origin Stories on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/social-justice-origin-stories/)
Connect with Relando on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/relandothompkinsjones/).
Visit these additional links (https://linktr.ee/SocialJusticeOriginStories?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZzPfl3gCm5NY9C_Y-glRzwDu-8BvHfkCJaQlDihfrQxbYWC1dnxgRL2kU_aem_kmgEcokBmDt8WaAtlWQMQQ) for more information.
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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.
00:00 Sista Brunch Origins
00:41 Resistance Versus Uplift
02:18 Share The Stories
03:01 Show Mission Explained
04:17 Why Origins Matter
06:19 Staying In The Work
08:33 Backlash And Erasure
09:45 Representation By The Numbers
12:51 Community And Archives
15:31 Name And Family Roots
20:04 Sharing And Free Labor
22:22 Early Storytelling Spark
24:44 Hollywood Limits And Racism
28:04 One Woman Show Breakthrough
31:23 TruJuLo Framework
35:24 Platform And Responsibility
39:23 Ongoing Inner Work
41:00 Ego And Letting Go
41:58 Threads Debate On Whiteness
48:05 Race As A Construct
50:42 Truth Telling And Liberation
55:40 Backlash And Being Heard
59:39 Film Money And Tax Incentives
01:04:32 Black Girls Film Camp Impact
01:06:45 TruJuLo Listener Takeaways
01:08:49 Origin Story Prompts
01:14:25 Share The Gift Forward
01:16:07 Outro And Community Call
9 Oct 2026
Introducing What Resonated: Where Your Responses Become Part of The Story | Social Justice Origin Stories
This is What Resonated, a series from Social Justice Origin Stories where your responses become part of the story. What Resonated explores what comes up for you after the stories are shared. By replying to your comments, your questions, reflections, voice notes, and responses across the Social Justice Origin Stories community, this series highlights the ideas, the moments, and stories that stay with you, and it keeps the conversation going between us. Share your thoughts in the comments, across social media, or through the contact page at https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com/contact. (https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com/contact.) Your voice helps shape this community and your response may be featured in a future episode.
Featured Stories from this Episode:
For Those Who'll Come After Vol. 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30EmmK4I90g&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=13)
Moving From Anger To Action: Why My Teaching Philosophy Centers Social Justice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lADF3Rt9HP8&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=3)
Stop Believing In Things That Don't Believe In You: Asymmetrical Vulnerability with Kwesi Robertson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvSWbcbBlxM&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=9)
From Isolation to Advocacy: Confronting Color Evasiveness in Transracial Adoption with JaeRan Kim (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXDTCJ9weSk&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=57)
Do The Hard Thing: Confronting Our Privilege as a Path to Justice with ajay freeman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM6z2xtJYxM&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=38)
Thinking Beyond Direct Practice and The Clinical Office: Macro Pathways with Patrick Taylor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKszNLk5HVo&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=16)
Humanizing Our Neurodivergence: Lessons of Love From The People's Platypus with Sheldon Gay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkHY28SjQ74&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=28)
Using My Oar, My Voice, to Design Equitable Futures: Ubuntu and Social Justice with monique liston (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofpvpTHcuxg&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=8)
Black In The Stacks: Sharing Stories of Black librarians, Authors, and advocates with Marquita Gooch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX3sgsR6SG0&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=23)
Sankofa Bird: Affirming Blackness From The Start of Early Childhood Education with Anissa L. Eddie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WCtVfmqBDM&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=21)
The Power of Relationships and Lived Experiences with Sharman Spieser (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS2LkRtuTYk&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=15)
🔔 If you haven't already...SUBSCRIBE to Social Justice Origin Stories on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@socialjusticeoriginstories?sub_confirmation=1)!
❤️ SUPPORT THE PROJECT
Support this work by becoming a patron ( https://www.patreon.com/SocialJusticeOriginStories).
💬 SHARE YOUR STORY OR FEEDBACK
Your voice helps shape this community and may be featured in a future episode.
Email: stories@socialjusticeoriginstories.com
Leave a Voice Note on our contact page (https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com/contact/) or speakpipe page (https://www.speakpipe.com/socialjusticeoriginstories).
Or leave a comment below
🎧 LISTEN & FOLLOW
Website: socialjusticeoriginstories.com (https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com)
Follow The Podcast on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/social-justice-origin-stories/id1771268991).
Listen wherever You Get Your Podcasts (https://pod.link/1771268991).
Instagram @socialjusticeoriginstories (https://www.instagram.com/socialjusticeoriginstories/)
Facebook @socialjusticeoriginstories ( https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567841874653)
Follow on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sjoriginstories.bsky.social)
Follow Social Justice Origin Stories on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/social-justice-origin-stories/)
Connect with Relando on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/relandothompkinsjones/).
Visit these additional links (https://linktr.ee/SocialJusticeOriginStories?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZzPfl3gCm5NY9C_Y-glRzwDu-8BvHfkCJaQlDihfrQxbYWC1dnxgRL2kU_aem_kmgEcokBmDt8WaAtlWQMQQ) for more information.
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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.
00:00 Welcome to the Series
01:06 How to Share Feedback
01:41 Fanshen Cox Shoutout
03:50 Teaching and Naming Injustice
09:42 Transracial Adoption Reflections
13:14 Color Evasiveness Clip
16:07 Ubuntu and Community Support
17:16 Privilege Epiphany Story
22:09 Prevention and Solidarity
26:49 Neurodivergence and Voice
31:16 Affirming Black Childhood
33:35 Systems and Interdependence
44:36 Closing and Next Steps
45:26 Subscribe and Support
16 Sept 2026
Shaped By Community: Navigating Identity and Breaking The Mold with Demetrius T. Gary
Demetrius T. Gary describes the impact moving from a multilingual, multiracial middle school experience to a rural, mostly white high school where he was the only Black person had on his racial identity development. He shares his experiences with assimilation, what led him to view code-switching as an asset, and how that unforgettable transition helped him realize there isn’t any one way to be Black.
Demetrius also tells the story of how disorienting it was to be the only Black student in his grad school cohort, and how having affirming supervision helped convert experiences of alienation into agency, including a supervisor whose attentive inquiry validated his experiences with racist dynamics at work; experiences that continue to inform his “why” for working in university housing, his approach to coaching, the ethics of supervision, and the value of deliberate, affirming leadership that deliberately chooses to face race instead of ignoring it.
🔔 If you haven't already...SUBSCRIBE to Social Justice Origin Stories on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@socialjusticeoriginstories?sub_confirmation=1)!
❤️ SUPPORT THE PROJECT
Support this work by becoming a patron ( https://www.patreon.com/SocialJusticeOriginStories).
💬 SHARE YOUR STORY OR FEEDBACK
Your voice helps shape this community and may be featured in a future episode.
Email: stories@socialjusticeoriginstories.com
Leave a Voice Note on our contact page (https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com/contact/) or speakpipe page (https://www.speakpipe.com/socialjusticeoriginstories).
Or leave a comment below
🎧 LISTEN & FOLLOW
Website: socialjusticeoriginstories.com (https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com)
Follow The Podcast on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/social-justice-origin-stories/id1771268991).
Listen wherever You Get Your Podcasts (https://pod.link/1771268991).
Instagram @socialjusticeoriginstories (https://www.instagram.com/socialjusticeoriginstories/)
Facebook @socialjusticeoriginstories ( https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567841874653)
Follow on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/sjoriginstories.bsky.social)
Follow Social Justice Origin Stories on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/social-justice-origin-stories/)
Connect with Relando on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/relandothompkinsjones/).
Visit these additional links (https://linktr.ee/SocialJusticeOriginStories?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZzPfl3gCm5NY9C_Y-glRzwDu-8BvHfkCJaQlDihfrQxbYWC1dnxgRL2kU_aem_kmgEcokBmDt8WaAtlWQMQQ) for more information.
-----
Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.
00:00 Why Stay In Housing
02:19 Coaching Future Leaders
04:19 Seeing Students Up Close
05:16 Series Introduction
06:32 Meet Demetrius Gary
09:30 Education And Blackness
12:00 Assimilation And Identity
15:30 Code Switching Debate
19:35 Black People Are Not A Monolith
23:06 Representation In Media
28:33 Grad School Culture Shock
31:16 Finding Community And Being Seen
36:31 Learning by Observation
37:37 Socialization and Suspicion
39:04 Supervisors Who Grow
42:12 Equity in Supervision
45:25 Moments That Motivate
48:07 Why Housing Matters
51:11 Coaching Future Leaders
55:51 Checking Privilege at Work
01:02:03 What Keeps Me Up
01:06:56 Gratitude and Takeaways
01:09:07 Rapid Fire Reflections
01:12:18 Closing and Call to Action
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
26,002
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 53 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
63
Social presence
0
YouTube
76
Engagement
32
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