Justice Rajee joins us on the podcasts for a conversation about his own podcast, Ask Your Old Head Podcast, and how he is dealing with the COVID-19 lockdown. He started podcasting in 2015. He was a fan of podcasts prior and loved listening to sports and tech shows. He jokes about being a retired rapper. So he is familiar with audio production. He focused on having conversations surrounding about Black Men’s health, wellness, and life experiences.
He had to teach himself all the tools and techniques of podcasting, but they were not hinderances. The easy part was finding people to talk to, but he didn’t anticipate people’s apprehension to being interviewed and talk about themselves.
His intent was not to be radio, but have a show where people feel comfortable talking about stuff in the Black Community that is not often explored. He started when the killing of Black people by the police was at a height, and wanted to provide a positive voice to the black community that could combat the horrible videos being circulated.
He doesn’t do this for fame because he sees that there are up and down moments during the process. He just enjoys the process of creating more than anything. More importantly, he wants to encourage black people to do more alternative media. He likes video, he likes audio, and he like photography. This project allows him to try both and build that skillset. He records the podcast, mixes and masters it, sometimes records the video of the podcast, and takes photos of the guests. This is a labor of love for him.
Outside of podcasting, Justice works at Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center as a Program Manager. POIC reconnects alienated at-risk youth affected by poverty, family instability, and homelessness with high school education through Rosemary Anderson High School (RAHS), and with career training through POIC Work Opportunity Training programs (WOT). Prior to that he worked in crisis intervention and direct to family care services. He also does some Black Male Achievement initiative work to encourage positive outcomes in Black men. He is originally from Pittsburg, but came to Oregon after a combination of opportunities came about that he decided to pursue. Much like many Black transplants, Portland has become a Hub for opportunities that would be difficult for Black people in other areas to find in their respective industries.
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