A racist encounter in a restaurant bathroom pushes Kimberlli Joy to stop hiding her anger.

Last August, storyteller Kimberlli Joy performed on our show with the theme, “Bullies.” Kim and her sister Karla grew up in Boston, and one night, feeling fine and looking good, they headed out for an evening at Wally’s, a famous jazz club, and stopped at a fancy restaurant along the way. There, after a delicious meal and some strategic conversation to get other patrons wondering, are these two young ladies famous?, they excused themselves to use the bathroom, and that’s when a self-important businessman decided to spew some racist s**t.

This wasn’t Kim’s first experience dealing with white people resorting to racial epithets at the drop of a hat; she had grown up in Boston, after all, and she had been schooled her whole life on how to deal with such things. And being a young Black woman, the pressure to at all times make sure no one—no one!—would ever perceive her as angry was ingrained in her like a second skin. Kim was well-versed in turning the other cheek.

But not this night. Cheeks were no longer being turned. Kim was going to stand up for herself and her sister, perceptions be damned. Weren’t those perceptions built to keep her down, anyway? No more.

It’s an experience that she and her sister now look back on fondly. And when we interviewed Kim about the story, she told us, “I like that person,” referring to herself. We all do!

Kimberlli can be seen and heard across multiple stages and is here on Substack. She is currently working on a solo show. Let’s all go support her!

The Nutshell True Story Hour is presented by In a Nutshell Storytelling

The Nutshell Three:

Amy Bee

Keith Lowell Jensen

Aaron Carnes

Sound Engineer: Chris Reeves

Thank you to:

DJ Yuma Tripp for allowing us to use his song “Lazy Skank” for our episodes and our live show.

Hyperpixel for audio and video services.

Sofia Theatre for a beautiful stage to gather around.

Babalou and Suzon Lucore for watching over our event table and engaging with people in the best way possible.

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