KFAI radio’s ‘Fresh Fruit’ airs queer news, culture and ‘absolute joy’ for 46 years

CATHY WURZER: This Saturday marks the 46th anniversary of the longest running queer radio show in the country, Minnesota's own Fresh Fruit on KFAI.

GARY PETERSON: You're tuned to Fresh Fruit on KFAI Good Gay Radio every Thursday night from 6:30 to 7:30 right here. I'm Gary Peterson. Thank you for joining us. We'll have the Fresh Fruit news for you at 7 o'clock, community announcements and music in the second half hour. Steve Levine is here, Fresh Fruit Culture Vulture to share some thoughts with you. But first, in this half hour, here's Claude Peck and our guest this week.

CATHY WURZER: That's some of the decades-old archive of the show, which has been on the air since 1978, talking about everything queer in our state. Alfred Walking Bull is one of the hosts. He's with us ahead of the anniversary. Alfred, welcome.

ALFRED WALKING BULL: Hello. [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] It's good to be here with you.

CATHY WURZER: Thank you so much for taking the time, Alfred. We appreciate it. You've been a host for a few years. I know that. But you're not one of the original hosts. Is that right?

ALFRED WALKING BULL: No. I think to have been one of the original hosts, I probably would have to be just a few years older, just a few.

CATHY WURZER: Just wanted to ask. I'm sure you've heard some of the origin stories of the show. Have you ever heard of why its creators think it was important to have a show like yours on the air?

ALFRED WALKING BULL: Yeah, I think celebrating 46 years, from 1978, I think during the time in the United States, as we saw gay liberation happening in the '70s and the gay rights movement coming about, I think it was just a natural extension for community radio to have that queer voice for people here, especially in Minneapolis and in Minnesota, because there was a lot of activism that was happening. HRC was started here. We had a lot of activism going on, especially around Loring Park and parts of Minneapolis that were kind of really foundational for a lot of the stuff that was happening in the country.

CATHY WURZER: I wonder what the reaction was back in the day to the show. Since it started in '78, there's clearly been more acceptance in our society of queer people. And I wonder, is it easier now to talk about all the issues on the air, versus the way it might have been in '78?

ALFRED WALKING BULL: Oh yeah, absolutely. Definitely, we talk about how we stand on the shoulders of giants. And that's really because of the organizing that's been happening over these past 46 years. So we've been able to-- the last big push we had was marriage equality, over 10 years ago, now that I think about it. It's like, oh my god.

And so now, being able to talk about trans, non-binary, two-spirit, intersex communities, gender fluid communities, it's just kind of opening up. I had my hair cut the other day. And my stylist was telling me about how she was educating her dad on non-binary issues. And so I was like, right, OK, all right. So it is kind of part of the fabric of Minnesota right now.

CATHY WURZER: So you mentioned two-spirit. I understand one of the many identities you hold is two-spirit. For folks who are not familiar with that term, might not have heard it before, how do you explain that?

ALFRED WALKING BULL: Yeah, I always talk about how gender identity on Turtle Island before colonization was really expansive. So we talk about two-spirit in terms of the gender binary that we think about, male, female, masculine, feminine. And so for Indigenous people, there are many expressions, right.

So the Dene in the Southwest have five genders, whereas tribal nations like mine have two gender identities. But we also have a third gender that kind of incorporates both. So when we talk about two-spirit, it's about gender. It's about sexuality. It's about gender expression, all of these aspects of where the intersections meet. So two-spirit is the broad blanket term that was brought about in 1990 to talk about LGBTQ Indigenous people here on Turtle Island.

CATHY WURZER: Are there any other intersections between your Native American identity and your queer identity?

ALFRED WALKING BULL: Oh my goodness, so many. There's a lot of-- the way that I talk about it is that I was kind of raised by parents who gave me the understanding that being a citizen of a sovereign tribal nation really helped me to understand the different intersections of where we push for justice. So when I think about gender identity, when I think about sexuality, when I think about classism, when I think about racism, when I think about all of the isms, we all have those experiences.

And for me, in particular, being able to draw upon the deep well of strength, being a queer person and an Indigenous person, we're highly politicized communities, whether we want to be or not. But the family that I grew up in and the people that helped me come of age really taught me how to draw on those strengths and to be able to be a good ally and a good relative for others in their struggles.

CATHY WURZER: I appreciate talking about you. Let's talk about the show. Now, I the hosts rotate every week with different themes and topics and guests. How would you describe your hour on Fresh Fruit?

ALFRED WALKING BULL: It is absolute joy. I co-host the fourth Thursdays with my friend, who goes by Comrade Tom-- shout out to Comrade Tom and our friend, Malcolm Lee. And we do a lot of humor, health, recovery, and pop culture and political topics.

So I like to think that we really enjoy where those intersections meet. So one week we'll be talking about the Oscars. And then the next time we host, we'll be talking about the trans refuge bill here in Minnesota and what that means for LGBTQ Minnesotans as well. So it's a really good hodgepodge and mish mash. But we really try to bring a fuller experience of what it means to be queer in Minnesota.

CATHY WURZER: I've noticed there's a lot of humor. There's a lot of laughter when you're listening to Fresh Fruit. And I really love that. Why do you think that is?

ALFRED WALKING BULL: I think there's just-- so for queer people, for people of color, there's all of these isms that we have to deal with in our day-to-day life. And I think we lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, the thing that brings us together, that bonds us with people who might not share our differences is humor, is the ability to laugh, is the ability to relax, is the ability to be human.

And so I think humor helps us to, A, cope with the struggles that we have to deal with every day, but also provides us with this place to hold each other in, like, did you see what happened today? I saw what happened today. Did you-- OK, all right, let's laugh about it. Let's tease about it, all of that fun stuff where we just are able to bond in those moments.

CATHY WURZER: And any big celebration on the air to mark the anniversary?

ALFRED WALKING BULL: That's a very good question. I know Rox Anderson and Quinn Villagomez have the show tonight. It is Thursday at 7:00, so I know they have something special cooked up. And Dixie has the next Thursday. And then we have the fourth Thursday. So we'll definitely be continuing to bring a lot of the-- I don't want to call it like the meta look, where we just kind of do a self-examination, but we get to bring in all of that fun stuff that makes Fresh Fruit amazing.

CATHY WURZER: It's been really a delight talking to you, Alfred, and happy anniversary. Thanks. Continue to do the good work.

ALFRED WALKING BULL: Thank you so much.

CATHY WURZER: Alfred Walking Bull's been with us, one of the hosts of Fresh Fruit, the longest running queer radio show in the country. You can listen to his program Thursdays at 7:00. That would be 90.3 KFAI Radio in the Twin Cities.