HUMANE RIGHTS w/ Dr. Akilah Cadet
Season 1
Episode 9: Dev Heyrana
DR. AKILAH CADET: I'm Dr. Akilah Cadet and this is Humane Rights, a show that flips the traditional talk show on its head. This isn't about debate. It's about dialogue. Each episode, I invite guests from different walks of life to unpack the messy, beautiful realities of being human. Welcome to Humane Rights, where being human is the ultimate act of resistance.
Hi.
DEV HEYRANA: Hi.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Welcome to Humane Rights. So excited to have you here today. We have to get to the stuff that's really important. Well one, your name is Dev Heyrana.
DEV HEYRANA: Yes. Hello.
DR. AKILAH CADET: But you need to describe your outfit to the listeners because you look fucking fantastic. You do. And I'm judgmental. I'm a Virgo, so. But you do look great.
DEV HEYRANA: [laughs] Coming from you, I am so honored. I'm so honored. Cause no one asked me—
DR. AKILAH CADET:: I took a little sneaky picture of your outfit before.
DEV HEYRANA You did?
DR. AKILAH CADET:: Yeah, just like as a mental note, I was like, uh-hm well done.
DEV HEYRANA: Do you know it like my dream like somebody just sneakily like, taking photos of me.
DR. AKILAH CADET:: Congratulations. Today's the day.
DEV HEYRANA As if I'm important.
DR. AKILAH CADET: I can show you the photo later to prove it to you.
DR. AKILAH CADET: I was like, and the shirt? So let people know what you're wearing.
DEV HEYRANA: Oh my God. It just describe how beautiful you are, your pronouns and what you're wearing.
She/her. "Siya."
[laughter]
And those are my pronouns.
I am, I am a big, second hand shopper. So this is all second hand.
Honestly, I think the shorts, actually, I've had for like, 15 years. Levi's like 15 years.
Okay. Shoes are Schutz? Oh, and hat, obviously. Pixar. Yeah. And Pixar hat.
DR. AKILAH CADET: So you have on this red crimson Pixar hat. You have on a bright electric blue blazer with a lace top with a prairie collar —
DEV HEYRANA: Oh my God! Black bow.
DR. AKILAH CADET: You're much better at this than me.
DEV HEYRANA: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: But then you have on jorts, you have on like, the typical Levi's jean jorts, and then the boots are like a snakeskin, crocodile what are they? with a croco-snake, whatever. But like a light blue.
DEV HEYRANA: What people don't understand is that. They're like. They're afraid of color.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah. And you obviously are a multidisciplinary artist. You're a painter. So color is not anything that you're afraid of.
On the same vein, just for listeners, I have golden long braids right now. I am also a vintage bitch head to toe baddie. Pronouns: she/her. But I have on a 100% silk track suit jacket with a funnel collar zipped all the way up. It is a loud print of floral polka dots, red, Black and yellows and then embroidered on it. It says Keep Being Amazing. And this is actually from my new line that I'm dropping tomorrow.
DEV HEYRANA: I heard it's sold already, though.
DR. AKILAH CADET: It is actually already sold. Yeah.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Sorry. Not sorry for me. Yeah. Yeah. Happy for everyone when it comes down to it. I'm wearing some Proenza Schouler, thrifted, little kitten heels. And then I'm wearing.
DEV HEYRANA: Yes. Rocawear jorts in a dark jean print.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Now, for those who don't know. What is a jort?
DEV HEYRANA: Thank you for not asking.
DR. AKILAH CADET: A short is a jean short that comes just right above or below the knee. And it says, I mean, business. Now, there was a time in the 90s where you dated someone that had them on, and you may have hated them. Or maybe there's a time, the 2000 where it was like your friend's dad who had them on, but they're very in style right now, and you look great.
DR. AKILAH CADET: It's like the thing.
DEV HEYRANA: It is a thing.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah, it is the thing. You are a proud Filipina.
DEV HEYRANA: Yes.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Very proud.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Which is great. Yeah. We love to, remind everyone about the different places in the world where colonization has happened. But also is important to who you are as an artist. But before we get into that, what does Humane Rights mean to you?
DEV HEYRANA: Oh my gosh. Yeah. Oh, this is a casual question. Yeah. You know, out the gate. Out the gate.
Humane Rights.
Seeing one another in all the layers and loving all of them, whether it is broken, ripped. All the layers. All the pigments. and then appreciating with empathy and love. That is where I'm at.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Empathy and love are the things that are missing when we're thinking about humanity.
And you have done so many beautiful pieces. I've been a fan of you for a while. I have all your pieces, which I'm happy about because you gifted it only to certain people. I have jewelry from you. I have your artwork. I have your bottle of wine. Oh my god. I have all of these things.
DEV HEYRANA: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I can't open the bottle. I mean, yeah. I should I? Is the wine good?
DR. AKILAH CADET: I, you know. Yeah. I don't think I'm going to open it though.
DEV HEYRANA: Oh my god. Yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Because it's just it's beautiful. I'm so honored I didn't know you had the bottle of wine.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah. No. I pay attention. I do.
DR. AKILAH CADET: But you also do something with my former employer, the San Francisco, San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. And you have designed a few Hearts.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: And for those of you who may not know, I would love for you to share all about this beautiful Heart that you have out. That was just, debuted last week.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah, yeah. That's Wednesday. Yeah. October 1st. Yeah, yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Oh, happy one week there.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah. Thank you, thank you. It's it's been a busy week.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah it is. Yeah. So tell us about the Hearts.
DEV HEYRANA: Oh my. So it's my third year with San Francisco General Hospital. It's been one of my favorite partnerships I've had.
And and honestly, it came from just really innocently. We were walking around Union Square just one of those days with my family. And my kids were like, mama, you should try for this. And so that night, I just searched and then realized that the due date was the next day.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Stop it.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah, yeah. Stayed up all night. Really drove me to do it because there were just so much magic in their eyes. And just, like, wonder when they were seeing these Hearts. And I just wanted to try for it, right? Because you never know what's going to happen.
And so I had the concept. The concept was basically I wanted to celebrate San Francisco. I want to celebrate the Bay Area. And then my kids at that time were really talking about at their school especially, about how the poppies used to blanket our this Ohlone land that we live on. And I wanted to honor San Francisco, the Bay Area, in a way that was I wanted to honor what was indigenous and what was native. And I thought the poppies was something that was innocent, but also just showed a lot of resilience for me once they were telling me all the history about it.
And so I drew these little kids holding poppies and then that was my first Heart. It was the mini one. It was for their 150th anniversary. And then the second year I tried for it again. And then I got the tabletop size one. And then this year, 2025, I'm one of two of the large Heart artists and then got the —
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah. And let everyone know where the Heart is.
DEV HEYRANA: It is on Geary and Powell in Union square.
DR. AKILAH CADET: In Union Square! Union square. And it's absolutely beautiful. Thank you. I love your use of poppies and a lot of your art, including the collaboration that you have for your gold jewelry, which I absolutely love. It naturally is a way to kind of get back to humanity.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: And in addition to being a multidisciplinary artist, you're also an educator.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: And you put together this incredible kit. So tell folks about that.
DEV HEYRANA: It's our kit with Majo Ideas, with me and Kehinde Wiley.
DR. AKILAH CADET: And who is that?
DEV HEYRANA: Oh, incredibly famous artist. And everyone really started knowing who he was because of the Obama portrait.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah. So the thing we both have in common, as we both have worked with Kehinde Wiley, which is so cool. And we always have to say, he painted Barack Obama. Oh, yeah. And you're like —
DEV HEYRANA: Oh! But like the real art folks are like Kehinde Wiley? Yeah. Yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: How did that happen? So tell us how that came about.
DEV HEYRANA: The kits started really out of, out of frustration and anger, honestly, but in a way that the whole situation and anger was just the world.
DR. AKILAH CADET: George Floyd —
DEV HEYRANA: oh yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. Yes.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Okay. Yes. You didn't want to be passive.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah. Well I also had little kids.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah.
DEV HEYRANA: And then I knew, you know, I wanted to be out there with everyone. I wanted to do my part as well. But I also had small children, like, at the time they were going to school and, you know, at home. But I how I speak, how I connect, I realized was this is my language. This is the way I am able to do my part in a way. So I just kind of put it out there on my Instagram. Hey, I'm going to host these self-portrait classes.
I did not realize. I thought maybe like 20 kids will sign up. First class online, 200 people signed up.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Wow.
DEV HEYRANA: To just do this self-portrait class. And the parents were the adults were really, really kind of, wondering, are they really going to stay there for an hour and a half? And these kids stayed. Now in the heart of these classes. It's really simple, right? It's very simple. I wanted them — This is in response of how I was feeling, especially when George Floyd died, especially the rise of Asian hate. It was this reaction that I wanted to do when able to so we could connect with one another. In the heart of these classes was at home. All these kids had. Most of the kids had crayons, right? Most of us have crayons, especially when you have little ones at home.
And I wanted to use materials that was easy for them to access. So just regular white paper and crayons. That was it. And as long as you have, pink, yellow, brown and black crayons, that's all we needed to create these, self-portraits.
Now, I taught them a little bit of color theory. Each, which you know so well. Each which I, which I, and then each class actually is inspired by a sunset in different part of the world. And how you layered. I taught cross-hatching as well, how you layered the pinks and the yellows and the browns and the blacks came close to our skin tone.
So in the end of these classes, there was this deep connection within the kids that all of us had these pigments within us and without me even explaining it to them. It was a realization throughout these classes that, no matter where everyone was, because we were all at home in different parts of the world, there was a deeper connection, and I wanted them to celebrate who they are.
And so those classes started, and I thought it was just going to be a three class series. It turned into like a two year thing. And then I started doing like, workshops. And I was actually doing it for teachers. So anyone would ask, I would lead these classes for free and I... Oh wow! Yeah, I Oakland Unified, Berkeley Unified, Albany. And after we started, you know, doing that. I was learning also. It was great for me because I'm not a you know, I didn't train as a teacher.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah.
DEV HEYRANA: So I would learn from these teachers to how I could lead these classes better. And parents started wanting to pay it forward. And so they would ask me, how can I donate for this? Because everything was free.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah.
DEV HEYRANA: And I said, well, if you want to donate like $5 to $20, you can, and then I could put that towards an art kit for a family who asked for it.
So actually, by last year, we had counted how many art kits we had given out. It was close to 250 art kits.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Wow! And then... You're just, like, solving the problem and these public school systems by giving them art. And we all know that if you don't have access to art, then you can't create. And you can't imagine. You can't dream.
DEV HEYRANA: Right.
DR. AKILAH CADET: That's why art is so, so important.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah. There's such joy in it. I mean, I think that every time we would say like, oh, this class is going to be an hour and a half, the adults in their lives were like, I don't know if they're going to see an hour and a half. They would hang out with me for two hours. We had like dance breaks. I would put dance breaks in there and usually it's Beyoncé. It's like Rihanna. Pretty much.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Those are both. I mean, approved. Right?
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah.
DR. AKILAH CADET: And then they would stay after because everyone wanted to show their art. Yeah. Everyone wanted to share their art. If you think about it, like even just thinking about the current state of where we are today and just like in this place of humanity, you're providing a space for people to be human, to be celebrated, and to be seen. Because you're not at work. You're like, look at this email I sent.
DEV HEYRANA: Right.
DR. AKILAH CADET: This email's fire!
DEV HEYRANA: I said.
DR. AKILAH CADET: It's so good. Right? Like, you don't have a lot of times to celebrate because in America, as adults, celebration is the big thing.
DEV HEYRANA: Right.
DR. AKILAH CADET: It's the wedding, the graduation, the promotion. It's not that I took time to draw today.
DEV HEYRANA: Right.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Right. Here's my picture. I was able to doodle in this meeting and actually help me focus better. Or, you know, I was able to have art time with my kid, or I made dinner.
DEV HEYRANA: Right.
DR. AKILAH CADET: You know, there's so many things that we can celebrate. Right? And I think art provides a foundation for that. And it was so beautiful because then Majo Ideas, you know, reached out and was like, do you want to collaborate on an art kit? And it was everything that I wanted.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah. And then the idea behind it was basically these kids get to create their own museum, and it's celebrating them in the museum. Yeah. It was really I felt. I had no idea that from a place of hurt and sadness, you know, that it would span for the next five years now.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah.
DEV HEYRANA: Now to an art kit that is, that was sold — with SFMOMA.
DR. AKILAH CADET: With Kehinde Wiley.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah. That was sold at SFMOMA, you know. And that is I've only been sold at the de Young Museum.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah. No.
DEV HEYRANA: [pause]
DR. AKILAH CADET: Which are things to celebrate!
DEV HEYRANA: No, it is. It's great to have that. Because being women of color in art space, I am not an, artist? I don't maybe I'm. I struggle with that. I'm for sure creative.
DR. AKILAH CADET: You are. For sure creative. And I know like I express myself through fashion. Express myself through like my San Francisco Giants collection. And I express myself through, being able to work with other creatives and, like Taylor Smalls, you know, with her painting here and, so good. and connecting the dots, because I think when we think about being an artist, we're expecting an artist to also be their business person. But that takes away from creativity.
So it's really important. I don't know. I just love that I have a brain to, you know, be both, and be tired.
DEV HEYRANA: Right.
DR. AKILAH CADET: At the same time, I'm putting that together. I'm curious to know that, like, since the murder of George Floyd, which is also the pandemic, which is also the increase in Stop AAPI Hate. I had to deal with a lot of folks who were like, yeah, but I'm supposed to be Black Lives Matter. And if I do Black Lives Matter, I can't do Stop AAPI Hate. Or if I only do — Do I only do Stop AAPI Hate? Because. Because like, the Black guy harmed an AAPI Elders. Yeah. So it is Black Lives Matter? But like, you know, people didn't understand the intersectionality that was happening in the space and how white Supremacy 101 is, you know, if we can get everyone else who aren't white people to just go at each other, then it'll make our job easier because we don't want to do it.
But have you seen things change since that time period? Because there was more interest and you, there was more interest in doing things at home?
DEV HEYRANA: I mean, Yes, there's you mean between like Black and Asian?
DR. AKILAH CADET: I mean, because you're saying a lot of, you know, you didn't think 20, like 20 people sign up for class during a pandemic. And it was great. And, you know, you have this collaboration with Kehinde Wiley and, you know, you and and how are you now today as an artist? We're in this place where Donald and Co is attacking a lot of people, a lot of your intersectionality, a lot of those things. Has art changed for you? Or more things happening? Or do you feel it's easier? Harder? Do you feel like?
DEV HEYRANA: I'm definitely more fearless. I've gotten even more fearless.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Okay.
DEV HEYRANA: Speaking about it, being unapologetic about it, I have been.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Hence the Beyoncé you're playing.
DEV HEYRANA: Oh. Yeah. And the Rihanna.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, all of that. And you.
DEV HEYRANA: Well, I don't have no music, yet.
DR. AKILAH CADET: No, I mean, just working on it.
DEV HEYRANA: No, I'm kidding. As an icon. Because I'm in the studio right now.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah. Freestyle.
DEV HEYRANA: We're actually going to sing after.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Alright, this is just a little ditty —
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah. we just came up with. We don't say Diddy anymore.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah. Oh, sorry. Diddy. I mean, oh shit!
DEV HEYRANA: I'm kidding. [laughs]
DR. AKILAH CADET: but I mean, I love that you're, you're more fearless in stepping into.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah. Being, you know, unapologetic and authentic because, we have to be.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah. We really have to be in these times. And I really feel like folks who are just like, oh, we sit this one out, we've done this before. We know what we're doing the second time around. It's like, all right, so you just want to be a follower?
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah. I mean, what you were saying about, you know, people were like, where should I go? Either because you know, there was like a rise in Asian hate and Black Lives Matter. What I, actually also started working with Oakland Asian Cultural Center,
DR. AKILAH CADET: Oh, wonderful.
DEV HEYRANA: and they did a lot of events that was celebrating both, you know, Black Lives Matter and, and they were actually, talking more about the partnership between the Asian communities and the Black communities, especially during the Black Panther Movement. So that to me, I feel like those are really important. I feel like these are conversations that need to be told and discussed. Because we were pinned next to each other. I mean, we were like, look at these Asians doing great. Like almost like separating them from the Black community. And then but then we are all really going against the same thing, you know, dealing with similar issues.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Right.
DEV HEYRANA: These are conversations that need to be had. And I think that still needs to be talked about so that it can not repeat ever again.
DR. AKILAH CADET: It is necessary. Yeah. Yeah.
The other thing that is necessary is, Joy.
DEV HEYRANA: Yes.
DR. AKILAH CADET: So how are you finding pockets of joy?
DEV HEYRANA: Oh my gosh. I mean, I get to play with art! How cool is that?
DR. AKILAH CADET: That's very cool.
DEV HEYRANA: That's what I get to do. I was just talking about this about play. And it is just a five minutes of creativity every day. No. No expectation. No. It could be the worst thing I've ever created. And that five minutes always helps me because it makes me feel like, oh, it's doable.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah.
DEV HEYRANA: And it always turns out more than five minutes. Always. And so that's my joy.
And I get to, you know, and not necessarily like a necessity in life to have children. But then my kids, they kind of they remind me that there's like wonder in it. So it's nice to, it's nice to be reminded that because I forget that sometimes because I'm on, like, I'm in like tunnel vision. Sometimes I'm on, like, I got to make this happen. Or if I get denied or not get something that I get a major proposal for, I'm always like, okay, what's the next step?
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah.
DEV HEYRANA: And I'm reminded to kind of pause and then somebody just remind me this week actually to like, enjoy having the Heart at Union Square. Enjoy it. It's big deal. Like take a moment because I was like, oh, I just got I didn't get this one pitch that I worked so hard on. It was between me and another artist, you know? And he was like, just stop, like slow down a little bit. And I didn't realize, like, I just... You have to you have to be present and be in the moment.
I left San Francisco General Hospital 13 years ago, and anytime I see a Heart, that's the thing that brings me joy. They're incredibly problematic. But the Heart brings me like so much joy.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Let folks know how they can find you.
DEV HEYRANA: Yeah, they can find me on Geary and Powell —
[laughter]
I mean, not at the corner, not me. Okay. The Heart. I'm at Instagram. Dev Heyrana. And yeah, I'm around. Hanging out. Supporting my friends.
DR. AKILAH CADET: I love it. Well all you have to do is just remember to — Oh, my god! Keep Being Amazing. You know that —
DEV HEYRANA: You know that I just did this just so I can get a free shirt?
DR. AKILAH CADET: It's what?
DEV HEYRANA: Oh, gosh. Well, you know that. Boom.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yes! There you go. Thanks for being on Humane Rights.
DEV HEYRANA: I got. At least I got my free shirt! Yes!
DR. AKILAH CADET: Every time. Do you know when you like post that on Instagram. We're like when do you like respond.
DEV HEYRANA: Keep Being Amazing. Even in our DMs.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yeah. I like get giddy.
DEV HEYRANA: Really?
DR. AKILAH CADET: Yes. When I'm like yay.
DEV HEYRANA: Oh my gosh. You know, like if I cheer you on on Instagram —
DR. AKILAH CADET: Oh I mean it.
DEV HEYRANA: — and you say, "Keep Being Amazing." I don't tell everyone that. then I do this.
DR. AKILAH CADET: Oh no, I know. I love it. That's why I get giddy.
DEV HEYRANA: Which is why it's trademarked. Yeah.
[laughter]
DR. AKILAH CADET: Big love and gratitude to our guests for showing up with truth, humor, and of course, humanity. If this conversation moved you, you got to like it. You got to share it. You have to talk about it, bring it into your circle, spaces and places because that's how change multiplies. You can catch more episodes wherever you get your podcasts and watch the full series produced by Ciel Media and me on the Ciel Media YouTube channel. Now what is that YouTube channel? What you need to subscribe to so you can get more of this. But until next time, stay curious. Find your joy and Keep Being Amazing.