This summer, racial issues were undoubtedly brought into the forefront of several niche communities, and rightfully so. One particular video became a focal point of my personal journey in understanding the intersectionality among race and the LGBTQIA+ community. This was content creator Jade Fox’s YouTube video entitled “We Need to Talk: the Race Issue Between Lesbian Creators.” In this video, Jade called out several famous Lesbian content creators, including Cammie Scott, for perpetuating the racial divide among their community while performatively attempting to advocate for racial equality.
This video was a wake up call for me, making me question my own role as a LGBTQIA+ person of color. However, from the side of a YouTube content consumer I wondered how white lesbian YouTubers I had been following and loving for years would react to Jade calling them out. As the weeks went by, I noticed that several white lesbian YouTubers had made videos reacting to Jade’s talk, some of these YouTubers included Rose and Rosie and Breanne Williamson. While these videos were a start and at least recognized the racial division among the lesbian community, I still thought white content creators could be doing more to educate their followers. This is where Cammie Scott’s “Uneducated” came in.
While I obviously don’t personally know Cammie’s intentions behind making this podcast, I suspect that part of her reasoning was to educate her followers on her journey of personal ignorance. A realization that was perhaps even sparked by Jade’s YouTube video. Whatever the case may be, I was automatically intrigued by Cammie’s new project, especially when she announced Jade as her fourth guest on the show.
If I’m being honest, my intention with this podcast was just to listen to the episode that dealt with the racial divide of the lesbian community and move on with my life. I didn’t consider myself an avid podcast listener (I still generally don’t) and thought I would get bored listening to a whole hour of two people having a conversation. That being said, Cammie and Jade’s conversation did not disappoint.
I found it refreshing to listen to two content creators trying to put shame and bias aside in order to have a productive conversation about a truly under discussed topic. The entire premise of “Uneducated” is exactly that, to educate people in a society where people fear looking dumb or asking stupid questions. As the podcast’s intro goes, “the show where we feel dumb so you don’t have to.”
After listening to this episode I found myself going back and listening to conversations Cammie had with other guests. One of my favorites is “When Coming Out Doesn’t Go to Plan with Kate Austin,” where Kate discusses what it’s like to come out in a Christian household, an all too relatable situation for me. Without this podcast I likely would have never come across Kate Austin’s testimony, or gotten obsessed with her and her fiancée’s instagram accounts. I have “Uneducated” to thank for that. Another one of my favorite episodes is “Dealing with Mental Health During a Pandemic with Joanna Simon,” because well, I think we all need a little bit of advice on that at the moment.
In the last few months this podcast has become my go to for finding other influencers that I can learn from and relate to in one way or another. It has been a great way of encountering topics I would have never been interested in otherwise. During summer quarantine I looked forward to each new episode and getting to cyber-stalk each new guest influencer after I finished listening. Truly a highlight of my summer. As someone who has been consuming queer Youtube content ever since “my beautiful girlfriend Cammie” was a thing, I have to say, “Uneducated” is my favorite project Cammie has ever been a part of. Although I love her skincare tips and cute relationship blogs, “Uneducated” goes beyond casual YouTube entertainment. Not only is it an enjoyable hour of my week, it’s a call for social change, because staying ignorant is definitely not cute!