An Inspired Chat with shady Radical of All over Atlanta

We’re looking forward to introducing you to shady Radical. Check out our conversation below.

Good morning shady, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
I am after my liberation. My liberation is my peace, joy, happiness, and sense of unbridled freedom. If I stopped chasing it, I would never be happy.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a construction, a theory of liberation, an approach to preservation, and a mothering body. I am also the sum of my personal experiences, my communities, my ancestors, and especially the fears and anxieties of my foremothers and forefathers. My memory practice, The Radical Archive of Project (T.R.A.P.) seeks to remember, celebrate, and honor strategies of survival that I have come to know sustains me. I approach performance as a site of inquiry. I activate silences and erasures attributed to forms of subjugation. I also work with organizations to establish their archives. Currently, I am teaching African Diaspora and the World at Spelman College, conducting archival skills workshops, and speaking at universities, conferences, and private institutions about their own preservation practices. They call me Dr. shady Radical.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
My mom currently works as an office manager, my stepfather just retired after almost 25 years as a correction officer in medium and high security prisons, and my father is what most people would call a hustler. I’ve worked in my father’s corner store since I was 3 years old and every summer until he shut its doors in 2018. While very different approaches, they all were very clear about the importance and value of hard work.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
I am still healing. I’ve come to understand events that I’ve mentally classified as painful and unnecessary have often been what I needed for a breakthrough. Re-occurring themes of abuse, subjugation, and neglect have certainly informed how I move through life and different spaces. Still I can become fixated on control and perfection in response to triggers, however now I understand those responses are my ways of dealing, surviving, and when I am lucky thriving.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My closest friends would say I am obsessed with finding ethical issues; determining what is right and wrong based on our collective understandings, desires, and fears; and setting plans in action to correct ethical wrongs. This extends to small group dynamics to large international problems.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What false labels are you still carrying?
“shady” While this the name I was given at birth, many people believe it is sorta a nickname and I am called that for some unsavory reasons or because of my character. I have had to let go of other people’s ideas of who I am and just live in my body and my purpose, instead of trying to convince people of who I am and who I am not.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theradicalarchive.com
• Instagram: dr.shadyradical
• Linkedin: shady radical

Image Credits
shady Radical