Dem Bois Podcast

Breaking Cycles of Trauma through Art and Love with Sunny

Shawn Aaron Season 4 Episode 119

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0:00 | 1:13:50

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I didn’t have the best relationship with my mother growing up, so when I became a father, I leveled up on my healing so I could break that cycle. And, healing is a huge part of this conversation with Sunny, a nonbinary trans artist, photographer, and advertising creative. In this episode of Dem Bois Podcast, Sunny and I discuss the impact of their upbringing, the complexities of maternal relationships, and the significance of therapy in their life. Sunny also explains the concepts of Afrofuturism and surrealism, highlighting how these artistic movements influence their work.


We talk:

08:55 - Navigating gender identity and expression

14:56 - Cultural expectations and parenting

27:13 - Defining nonbinary identity

36:21 - Navigating family dynamics

48:04 - The power of art and community

59:29 - Building confidence through photography


Episode References:

The Brown Boi Project

Dem Bois Highlight Series Part 5; with Joël Simeu

A video of an adopted person speaking to their birth parent 

Dem Bois Episode 12 - Healing Generational Trauma Through Transformative Parenting


Read more about Sunny in their bio below:

Sunny (They/He) is a nonbinary, transmasc artist, photographer and advertising creative with a background in Black feminist theory, gender studies and pedagogy. Through “poetry in motion,” their art centers afrofuturism, surrealism and the radical beauty of joy.



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