Lupita Nyong’o’s podcast, Mind Your Own, is all about belonging. Whether that’s belonging in a family, relationships, or self-love, it’s about sharing stories around the globe. Lupita shares a mix of her own stories and in conversation with others, giving agency to personal growth through storytelling.

Lupita is an actress known for her roles in movies like Black Panther, 12 Years a Slave, A Quiet Place: Day One, and more. Lupita was born in Mexico City, Mexico, but was raised in Kenya. She eventually came to the United States to attend college. Lupita found success in acting and was even awarded an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 12 Years a Slave.

Mind Your Own is a production of KQED’s Snap Studios, with sales and distribution by Lemonada Media, and is hosted and produced by Lupita Nyong’o. You can listen to Mind Your Own on Lemonada’s website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music.

The first episode of the podcast, “The Sound of Home,” was released on September 19th. Lupita starts out the episode by describing what she means by “mind your own.” It’s about dealing with whatever you are dealing with as well as taking care of your own people. Lupita says her business is “African stories,” which is where her podcast leads off.

Lupita shares what being from Kenya means to her, and the challenges she has overcome. When she decided pursue acting at the Yale School of Drama in the U.S., she knew she was ‘supposed’ to get rid of her Kenyan accent, and hide that part of her identity for conformity’s sake. She explains the dichotomy of what it’s like to try to fit a mold of what being an American should look like and stay in tune with the version of herself that lived in Kenya.

When Lupita met with an American casting director, she noted the conversation they had related to her heritage:

My very first meeting with a casting director, and her saying, asking me about where I was from, and I said, “Kenya.” And she said, “Oh, my goodness, you don’t have an accent.” I was, at once, so elated and also so crushed. I had rid myself of myself, kind of.

Lupita was scared of losing her authenticity that came from her cultural background. She went on to say that the advice from her mom saying that “your accent is representative of your life experience” gave her some closure knowing that she has agency in how she manifests her culture in her life.

In her lastest episode, “For You, Anything,” Lupita has a conversation with her sister, Fiona, and her cousins Kitt, Tawi, and Mitch. They tell a story about a medical malady that occurs in their family, a story of confusion riddled with laughter and nostalgia.

If you want to hear the full story, listen to Lupita’s full podcast episode here. It’s certainly great storytelling and that sense of community is present between Lupita and her family.

 

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Photo from Wikipedia by @Gage_Skidmore_4