Kimiya Factory — queer Indigenous Afro-Latina activist, founder of Black Freedom Factory, and one of the loudest, sharpest voices coming out of San Antonio — sits down with Jess for a conversation that is heavy and full of joy at the same time.

They get into sacred rage as inheritance, what it means to be a vessel for ancestors, and the cost of doing this work in a city that doesn't want you doing it. Kimiya talks about being on CNN at 20, how the deepest cuts come from your own people, and what it actually looks like to change rape culture. She also talks about being a whole human being — she needs an oil change, she wants rest and softness and a better skincare routine — because Black women organizers are not mascots.

The story of the night they met (with a white woman at the bar) may become one of your favorites.

Chapters:

0:00 Meet Kimiya Factory (intro + opener)

1:48 The conversation begins

7:18 VIMBASI practice with Kimiya

13:30 Imagining rest, softness, better skincare

14:59 A word from Purple Couch Therapy

15:43 Back to the conversation

20:39 The white-woman-at-the-bar story

25:03 Sacred rage as ancestral inheritance

29:32 Being a vessel — ancestors speaking through her

34:32 CNN at 20 — the cost of national visibility

42:32 Black Freedom Factory — from a protest to a movement

49:32 Being a whole human being (needing an oil change)

54:32 The deepest cuts come from your own people

1:00:32 What it takes to change rape culture

Get connected:

• Learn about Purple Couch Therapy: purplecouchcounseling.org