“The KKK put me on their website. They called me Porch Monkey.”

Naonka was…amazing. She ran a doggie care business with her husband, drove for Lyft, and when she picked me up, I was energized just by sitting next to her. She talked about her husband as we pulled away. “He’s so calm, which is great! I’m way too aggressive! Need to tone it down!” Naonka was born and raised in South Central LA, self-described as “I’m not ghetto but I’m really hood.” She also had the most amazing dreads (as she mentioned several times.)

Naonka had been on Season 16 of Survivor.

“Wow…” (I had never watched an episode.)

“Yeah! It was Young vs. Old. Of course Young won.”

“So what was it like?”

“They told me I had to go there and just be super aggressive and that if I wanted “air time” I needed to step it way up even from how I am normally. Man, I said things on that show I would never say. I mean, I threatened to burn a woman’s prosthetic leg!”

“What?”

“She took it off every night and just dumped it anywhere she liked. It was just sitting next to some logs. I could’ve thrown it in by mistake into the fire. Fuck, for a million dollars I would do it.”

“Where was it filmed?”

“Nicaragua! They stuck me on a fucking island. Not even a different time zone. You know, they really wanted me to stay. People were eating up what I was saying. But I quit.”

“Why?”

“Fuck, I lost 25 pounds! I was cold every night. I tried out 6 times for America’s Next Top Model and did different looks each time, and nothing! What did I get? Survivor on an ISLAND. I didn’t even try out for it …they recruited me.”

“So then what happened after?”

She got serious. “I mean, you know I still get hate mail.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s been six years. And the KKK put me on their website, and called me “Porch Monkey.”

“What!”

“It’s crazy. I don’t know if it’s still up. You know what’s worse? Yeah, they put it up. Yeah, they hate me and black people. But the worst thing is, I tried really hard when I saw it, and no one could make them take it down.”

“I’m so sorry.”

She shrugged. “Hey, I met Jimmy Johnson there. That’s life, right? Good things with the bad!”

About the artist

Jessica Eastburn is an artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally from Oregon, Jessica’s fascination with cartoons and comics devloped at an early age. Her work now encompasses drawing, painting, illustration and murals. Jessica’s interests lie in capturing the mundane and the absurd in her work. One of her favorite mediums is gouache, for its ability to shift from precise to loose with a few drops of water. You can view examples of Jessica’s work on her website: www.jessicaeastburn.com.

Paula Vrinceanu: “I am a Romanian visual artist working in this field for about 10 years now. Before this, I was a pianist: my life has always been an interesting and creative journey. I still play the piano when I have time, but now I’m focusing on visual art. I work in an advertising agency in Cluj, and at night- for few hours ( because, unfortunately, I need to sleep), I freelance and work on my own art business which I’ve started this year.