Marcus Allen of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Madison, Wisconsin sits down with Angela for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, service, combat, and community. What unfolds is a portrait of a man shaped by rejection, forged in war, and called to build something lasting.
Marcus traces his journey from Clarksdale, Mississippi through Milwaukee's Great Migration chapter, three combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a divine detour that landed him in Madison in 2016. Now celebrating 10 years at Mount Zion — which itself turns 115 this year — he talks candidly about what it takes to lead a congregation that refuses to be just a church.
They get into the real: PTSD and the military's broken reintegration systems. The Black church's complicated relationship with mental health. The hypocrisy of using Christianity to justify policy that abandons the least of these. The fundraising gauntlet facing faith-based nonprofits. And the sermon Marcus preached just the day before — about Jephthah, the son rejected by his own father — and why it hit so close to home.
Mount Zion runs a free drop-in behavioral health clinic (licensed therapist, crisis stabilizer, substance abuse counselor — no appointment needed), after-school programs, foster care aging-out support, juvenile detention programming, a food pantry, older adult transportation, and is now eyeing housing. They serve 300 unduplicated individuals a year across 15–18 Dane County zip codes. Eighty percent of the people they serve have no church connection.

Shalicia Johnson is a Madison-born photographer and the owner of ArrowStar Photography, where she specializes in community photography, business portraits, and family portraiture. Before picking up a professional camera, she spent 28 years in early childhood education, primarily with infants and toddlers in a continuity of care model. That work, and the deep observational practice it required, shapes everything about how she photographs people today. In this episode, Angela and Shalicia cover a wide range of topics including:

Growing up in Madison and the forces that nearly redirected her path;
What 28 years with babies teaches you about the world; Feeling a photograph versus seeing one; Community photography as documentation and history-keeping and much more.

Connect with Shalicia: ArrowStar Photography is on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, and Google.

#BlackOxygenPodcast #BlackPodcasts #Wisconsin #BlackInWisconsin #BlackPhotographers #ArrowStarPhotography #BlackPodcasters #MadisonWisconsin #WisconsinPhotographer

Angela welcomes back the very first Black Oxygen guest, Opal Tomashevska — a Madison native, credit union leader, poet, and newly elected board president of the Lussier Community Education Center — for a rich conversation on community care as resistance. Rooted in Opal's story of growing up in Wexford Ridge and coming of age through community institutions, they explore how the cooperative model of credit unions, Black professional affinity spaces, and tight-knit circles of accountability have sustained Black women through systems that were never designed with them in mind.

The conversation takes a deeper turn as Angela and Opal examine what it truly means to belong — not just to be welcomed — and the quiet cost of spending years hustling for worthiness in corporate spaces. Against the backdrop of an alarming and underreported wave of Black women's displacement from the workforce, they reflect on codependency, self-abandonment, and what it looks like to finally stop making yourself smaller to stay safe. Opal's closing vision: a Black Women's Renaissance is already underway — and it is being built on belonging to oneself first.

Key Themes Community care as resistance · Welcoming vs. belonging · The cooperative finance model and credit unions · Black professional affinity spaces and ERGs · Hustling for worthiness · Self-abandonment and reclaiming agency · Black women and workforce displacement · Modeling self-care for our children · Intergenerational community impact · The Black Women's Renaissance

#BlackOxygenPodcast #BlackPodcasts #Wisconsin #BlackInWisconsin #UpperMidwest #Diversity #Inclusion #Belonging

What if the story you've been afraid to tell is the exact story someone else needs to hear?
New episode of Black Oxygen is live — and this conversation with Danielle Hairston-Green hit different.
Danielle is a Moth Story Slam winner, host, storyteller, and director at UW-Madison Extension. She came to Wisconsin from Philadelphia by way of Texas. Eight years later, she's still here — and she has things to say.

We talked about community care, shame, healing, and what it means to stop being the subject of someone else's narrative and become the author of your own.

Her mentor told her: tell your stories from your scars, not your wounds.
This one will stay with you.

#BlackOxygen #BlackOxygenPodcasts #Storytelling #CommunityCare #BlackInWisconsin #TheMothMadison

Embracing Arms - https://www.embracingarms.com/our-team

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hairstongreen/

In this episode of Black Oxygen, host Angela Russell is joined by former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle for a wide-ranging conversation about diversity, race, leadership, and democracy.

Governor Doyle reflects on the formative experiences that shaped his values. We dig into the mechanics of building diverse teams without tokenism, the current fragility of American democracy, Wisconsin's outsized role as a swing state, and why the arc of history — while long — still bends toward justice.

This is a conversation about hope, accountability, and the kind of courage it takes to keep showing up for what's right, even when the moment feels discouraging.

I learned so much from Governor Doyle when I worked in his administration, and I think you're about to understand why.

#BlackOxygenPodcast #BlackPodcasts #GovernorJimDoyle #Wisconsin #BlackInWisconsin #Democracy #UpperMidwest #Diversity #Inclusion #WisconsinGovernment

The Hon. Rev. Everett Mitchell opens this Black Oxygen conversation with a sobering analysis of our current constitutional crisis, where unchecked executive power and Christian nationalism intersect to manipulate communities. But the heart of this conversation centers on what it means to truly care for our neighbors.

Drawing from Dr. Howard Thurman's question, "What does the Bible have to say to people whose backs are against the wall?" Judge Mitchell shares powerful stories from Dane County Drug Court's 30-year history. He introduces the concept of "trauma translation"—listening through pain without judgment—and tells the story of Rodney, a participant who began celebrating everyone who showed up, teaching that "showing up is a part of what community care is."

Mitchell challenges us to expand our definition of neighbor and reveals how treating people with dignity transforms lives. This episode offers a masterclass in building neighborhood, finding hope in hard places, and understanding that authentic community care requires difficult work—but the promise is transformative.

#BlackOxygenPodcast #BlackOxygen #DaneCountyDrugCourt #BlackInWisconsin #BlackPodcasts #HowardThurman #BlackInMadison #DrugCourt

Resource:

Justice Point - https://justicepoint.org/

This season is all about community care. And, quite frankly, how community and collective care is a part of the resistance. Community care is not a charity model—it's a model of solidarity. This season will be amplifying people and organizations that are examples of community care. I have a broad definition of community care—my personal definition includes systems work, democracy, policies, mutual aid, neighborhood centers, meal delivery, caregiving, respite care, and more. During this season I will invite guests to share their personal definition of community care, what they think is important in this particular moment in time, and provide thoughts and advice on how to get active in community care.

This week, I'm in conversation with Dr. Courtney Hayward, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association—WISCAP. Courtney, originally from South Florida, shares her journey from being a Head Start kid who grew up using the very programs she now supports, to becoming a registered lobbyist fighting to eradicate poverty across Wisconsin. We dig into some hard truths about covert racism in the Midwest, the shocking reality that 35% of Wisconsinites fall into the ALICE threshold—the working poor who can't meet basic needs despite being employed—and why poverty doesn't have to exist if we actually fund the programs that work. Courtney also breaks down why nonprofits need to stop being afraid of advocacy and her mantra for community care: use your life to make a positive impact on the lives of those who need it most. This is a masterclass in policy, proximity, and the power of showing up for your community.

Key topics in this episode include:

• The reality of poverty in Wisconsin: 11% poverty rate, but 35% of Wisconsinites fall into the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold
• Covert racism in the Midwest versus overt racism in the South
• The critical role of Community Action Agencies in fighting poverty across 68 of Wisconsin's 72 counties
• Why the "benefits cliff" keeps working families trapped in poverty
• Policy threats facing anti-poverty programs: Community Service Block Grant (CSBG), Head Start, and weatherization funding
• The importance of nonprofit advocacy and holding elected officials accountable
• Community care as collective action, not just individual self-care

#BlackOxygenPodcast #BlackOxygen #PovertyinWisconsin #WISCAP #CommunityAction #CollectiveCare #CommunityActionPrograms #BlackInMadison #BlackWomen #Leadership #MadisonWisconsin #DaneCountyWisconsin #NonProfitLeadership

Resources and links:

WISCAP - https://wiscap.org/

Dr. Courtney Hayward - https://madison365.com/courtney-hayward-named-new-executive-director-of-wiscap/

United for ALICE - https://www.unitedforalice.org/home

The State of ALICE in Wisconsin -

https://www.unitedforalice.org/introducing-ALICE/wisconsin

In this Beyond Wisconsin episode, Angela sits down with Ayris Scales, a tri-sector executive who has navigated government, nonprofit, and corporate worlds with intention and wisdom. Ayris currently serves as SVP of Social Responsibility and Global Initiatives at NAREIT, where she works to expand access to real estate investment opportunities, and runs Able Vision Enterprises, her highly selective consulting practice.
This conversation tackles the urgent realities facing Black women professionals in 2025—particularly the 300,000+ who have been pushed out of the workforce in recent months. Ayris doesn't hold back as she discusses the erosion (not just attrition) of Black women in DEI and social impact roles, the importance of knowing when to stop caring, and why our survival has taught us to see the "mud puddles" others refuse to acknowledge.
Key themes include:

Understanding REITs as an accessible wealth-building tool
The truth about "high-performance work" and organizational politics
Why balance is a myth, but harmony is achievable
The difference between a coach who tries to change you and one who helps you get clear
Transitioning with purpose, plan, and priorities
Recalibrating your specialty and knowing your value

Ayris also shares the origin story of her viral Tipsy Tuesday series (tips, not drinks!), her journey through unemployment and burnout, and why this moment requires Black professionals to invest in themselves differently.
Connect with Ayris on LinkedIn and Instagram @AyrisScales, and learn more about Able Vision at ayrisscales.com.
Featured songs: "Millionaire" by Kelis ft. André 3000, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Nina Simone, "The Man I Need" by Olivia Dean