\❤️ 2: From Refugee to Owner of the Best New Restaurant in Detroit

\❤️ 5: Pink Flowers on Living as a Trans Woman

“I got into the car as a gender-nonconforming person, and I got out of that car a goddess.” – Pink Flowers, Black trans artist, pleasure activist and educator . . . . . . . . What’s it like to live as a trans woman? I wanted to ask my friend, Pink Flowers, about her experience finally finding a sense of belonging inside her own body. But I was also a little afraid to ask. Would I be intrusive? Offensive? Clumsy? Probably. But she agreed to talk with me anyway. We have an intimate conversation, woman to woman about her journey through bra fittings, cat calls and our human experiences living inside the female form. That's this week on Bar\Heart. Read the transcript, plus photos and bonus content, in the newsletter published on April 26, 2022 ↠ https://belonging.bulletin.com/life-as-a-trans-woman-notorious-pink-flowers [https://belonging.bulletin.com/life-as-a-trans-woman-notorious-pink-flowers] . . . . . . . . Read more about Pink and her work here ↠ https://www.notoriouspink.org/ [https://www.notoriouspink.org/] . . . . . . . . Credits: Music and audio production by Silas Hite. Reporting and editing by Amy Haimerl. . . . . . . . . What is Bar\Heart? It is a weekly newsletter and podcast about belonging in America. We tell stories, with heart, about the places that define us. Plus, cocktails! Cheers 🍸 Subscribe ↠ https://barheart.us [https://barheart.us]. . . . . . . . . Follow Amy Haimerl: ↠ Instagram: https://instagram.com/haimerlad [https://instagram.com/haimerlad] ↠ Twitter: https://twitter.com/haimerlad [https://twitter.com/haimerlad] ↠ Facebook: https://facebook.com/BelonginginAmerica [https://facebook.com/BelonginginAmerica] ↠ Newsletter: https://belonging.bulletin.com [https://belonging.bulletin.com] Amy Haimerl is a veteran journalist who is interested in the intersections of class, culture and economics. She writes Bar\Heart, a weekly newsletter that features intimate conversations from the heart. Plus cocktails! She learned to read in the cab of an 18-wheeler and now teaches journalism and entrepreneurship at Michigan State University. Her memoir, Detroit Hustle, is a love story to her new home, where she lives with her husband and two cats, The Overlord and June Carter Cat.

\❤️ 4: A Fight for Home and A Community in Cancer Alley

“By me living in my community, I am increasing my risk of getting cancer.” – Dr. Joy Banner, co-founder The Descendants Project . . . . . . . . What would you do if your home was located in Cancer Alley, an 85-mile strip between New Orleans and Baton Rouge that is one of the most polluted areas of the country. Would you stay when more industry is slated for your backyard? Or would you pack your bags and go? Dr. Joy Banner and her twin sister, Jo, have chosen to stay and fight for the place their family has lived for 300 years -- since their ancestors were enslaved on the nearby Whitney Plantation. She and twin sister, Jo, are the co-founders of the Descendants Project, which is uplifting and fighting for people like their family, the descendants of enslaved peoples in the river parishes of Louisiana. They've sued to prevent an industrial grain terminal from coming to their home of Wallace, Louisiana, and bringing more pollution to an area already overburdened by industry. That's this week on Bar\Heart. Read the transcript, plus photos and bonus content ↠ https://www.belonging.bulletin.com/joy-banner-descendants-project [https://www.belonging.bulletin.com/joy-banner-descendants-project] . . . . . . . . Read more about Whitney Plantation here ↠ https://www.whitneyplantation.org/ [https://www.whitneyplantation.org/] Read more about The Descendants Project here ↠ https://www.thedescendantsproject.com/ [https://www.thedescendantsproject.com/] . . . . . . . . Credits: Music and audio production by Silas Hite. Reporting and editing by Amy Haimerl. . . . . . . . . What is Bar\Heart? It is a weekly newsletter and podcast about belonging in America. We tell stories, with heart, about the places that define us. Plus, cocktails! Cheers 🍸 Subscribe ↠ https://barheart.us [https://barheart.us]. . . . . . . . . Follow Amy Haimerl: ↠ Instagram: https://instagram.com/haimerlad [https://instagram.com/haimerlad] ↠ Twitter: https://twitter.com/haimerlad [https://twitter.com/haimerlad] ↠ Facebook: https://facebook.com/BelonginginAmerica [https://facebook.com/BelonginginAmerica] ↠ Newsletter: https://belonging.bulletin.com [https://belonging.bulletin.com] Amy Haimerl is a veteran journalist who is interested in the intersections of class, culture and economics. She writes Bar\Heart, a weekly newsletter that features intimate conversations from the heart. Plus cocktails! She learned to read in the cab of an 18-wheeler and now teaches journalism and entrepreneurship at Michigan State University. Her memoir, Detroit Hustle, is a love story to her new home, where she lives with her husband and two cats, The Overlord and June Carter Cat.

\❤️ 3: Writing the Midwest with Lyz Lenz

This week on Bar\Heart, host Amy Haimerl interviews Lyz Lenz, who writes the newsletter "Men Yell At Me" about the intersection of the personal and political. They talk about being an outspoken progressive writer in Iowa, what it means to belong in the Midwest, finding your voice as a writer and even gas station breakfast tacos! This week's music and audio production was by Silas Hite. Reporting and editing by me, Amy Haimerl. Subscribe to Bar\Heart to read the companion newsletter that features BONUS content and photos plus a full transcript. You can do that at ==> barheart.us. And be sure to subscribe to Men Yell At Me to stay current with Lyz's writing. Do that at ==> lyz.substack.com. ----- What is Bar\Heart? It is a weekly newsletter and podcast about belonging in America. We tell stories with heart about the places that define us. Plus, cocktails! Cheers 🍸

\❤️ 2: From Refugee to Owner of the Best New Restaurant in Detroit

This week on Bar\Heart, we talk to Mamba Hamissi about his journey to becoming an American. He and his wife, Nadia, are refugees from Burundi who have opened a restaurant and made a life in Detroit. But belonging isn't always easy. What is Bar\Heart? It's the weekly newsletter and podcast that features conversations from the heart. Plus cocktails!

\❤️ 1: My Parents' Pandemic Love Story

This week on Bar\Heart, Amy interviews her mom about her pandemic love story. Find out how Laurelle fell back in love with her ex-husband, Amy's dad, and moved to Montana to make a new life with an old flame. Music and audio production by Silas Hite. Read the companion newsletter for more backstory and photos of my parents, their life and sheep. So many 🐑! You can find that at: https://belonging.bulletin.com/my-parents-pandemic-love-story [https://belonging.bulletin.com/my-parents-pandemic-love-story] What is Bar\Heart? It's the weekly newsletter and podcast that features conversations from the heart. Plus cocktails!