Speaker 1: It's an amazing place to hang out. Aero dot net
a r r oe dot net because it's all about
having a podcasting choice. It's not just one, it's twenty
different podcasts. All Level Sports is one of them. In fact,
just the other day I spend time with the writers
and producers of professional wrestling. That is a story because
we can all relate every generation. Where is it All
Level Sports on Aero dot net a r r oe
dot net. Enjoy your exploration missed Opportunity. I love sharing conversations.
Hosting them, though requires a lot of show prep. My
podcasting platform features thousands of guests. What you don't have
access to are my missed opportunities. The show prep was
one hundred percent done. The conversation it didn't happen. I
keep all of my notes because I believe paths will
one day cross again. Let me explain missed opportunity. It's
my questions and statements without their answers. I'm leaving open
enough space at the end of every single question, hoping
they'll download the talk and insert their answers. Missed opportunity
is seen as a lost piece of history. It is
a message in a bottle that's been tossed out to see.
I hope to locate a destination. This week, we're putting
focus on my missed opportunity with Michelle Stevenson. Okay, so,
who is Michelle Stevenson? A filmmaker, artist, author who openly
admits to pulling their vision from within their Haitian and
Panamanian roots. Her experiences include being nominated for three Emmys
and winning the Jury Prize at Sundance. So we're talking
big stuff here. ESPN was backing up the short film
Black Girls Play, which by the way, won Best of
the Show at Tribeca. The short film puts focus on
all the handgames that young girls play with their hands.
It's influence music and dance across America and around the world,
and the goal is to trace the entire story of
those handgames dating back to the slave era. Wow. The
invitation to share a conversation with Michelle Stevenson came on
January eighteenth, twenty twenty four. They needed a reserve date,
which was going to be the twenty fifth Thursday, which,
according to everything that I've ever experienced in all my
years of podcasting, that is the most sought after day
for conversations. My reply, as always, was yeah, let's do this,
and they said, okay, how about nine to twenty Eastern time?
And I gave them my answer, which is always in fact,
it's an aroism. It's perfect, nothing else, just perfect. Two
days before the nine to twenty arrival of that conversation,
I received an email that said, Hey, look, don't want
to inconvenience you, but we need to move Michelle's conversation.
Can you please do February second, twenty twenty four? And
I said absolutely, and we'll still do nine twenty correct, correct, Well,
the conversation didn't happen. Coming up next, my questions my
statements with Michelle Stevenson without her answers. Hey, welcome back
to Missed Opportunity. This week, our focus is on filmmaker
Michelle Stevenson. ESPN gave her the opportunity to create this
unbelievable documentary called Black Girls Play. This is such a
true connection to history in the modern world. It's like,
we know what we're doing with dance moves, we just
don't know the story. And you dove into that. What
was that experience? Like how important is TikTok in keeping
this journey growing forward. I gotta ask you, do hand
games change between the different regions of this country and
around the world. So how many people are featured in
this story? I mean you went all out, I mean
you went everywhere with this. We've got to learn how
to preserve these amazing connections. Does this inspire you to
want to grow in other areas so that we can
really get to the root of who we are today. Hey,
I live in the South. I have fallen witness to
a lot of these games. I know this story all
too well. Handgames. Generations have played these handgames, not only
here in the States, but around the world. What is
the actual reaction as you travel and just listen to
their stories. I think one of the things that inspires
me the most about handgames is the style of individualism.
Could it be that this was a connection to outreach
in the way of saying, this is us, this is
how we do it. Let's grow together, bring your style
and our style, and let's have some sort of big
connection here with fighting. Why don't we know this story
and exploration? Why has it taken a documentary to kind
of remind us? But then again, I'm not knocking you.
I'm just saying why aren't we speaking it on the
everyday street. This has helped shape so many genres of music.
Can you imagine if we didn't have these handgames? And
there you have it, another missed opportunity. It is a
lost piece of history. You now know the questions, so
let's locate the answers. The door is always going to
be open. If you know Michelle Stevenson, please reach out
to me at ARROWC at gmail dot com. That's a R.
R Oe C at gmail dot com. As always, be brilliant,