SL: I think the biggest problem now is the whole Black on Brown issue that we’re having in the country and especially places like L.A where the violence between Black and brown people has escalated to a point where its going to be difficult for him to win [both sides] over. Plus, his healthcare policy is not a universal healthcare policy the way that Kerry and Clinton are pitching. He was the first to admit that his policy does not include illegal immigrants. None of their policies do when it comes to universal healthcare, but the fact that he doesn’t support [universal healthcare] either…he’s gonna have to have a very liberal stance on immigration policy in order to [win the Latino vote]. It’s gonna be hard.
P: I agree…I [also] think this country is much more sexist than it is racist. In my opinion.

SL: For sure. Hilary is not gonna be able to make that move. Do you think she would actually be able to lead?
P: I don’t know. Hilary to me just comes across as a textbook politician. When I see her talk, when I watch her, I don’t hear anything. I don’t get [her platform]. At least with Obama...I know one of the things I admire about him is that he’s like, “I don’t want you to have your faith in the government or the president to save you, I want to empower people to believe they can save themselves.” To me, that’s a much more powerful message.

SL: Right, [not someone who says] “I’m gonna change everything for you,”...
P: Right, not “I’m gonna be the magical nigga that just cures all your problems.” He wants to empower people. That’s one of the biggest problems in the country. People just don’t give a shit. They either don’t give a shit, or shit is just too far gone and they are like “fuck it.” People are so apathetic. If people don’t value their own lives, they aint gonna value no one else’s either.

SL: So do you think ‘the hustle’ has its place in our community? When there are so many people who are disenfranchised and yet they still have to provide for themselves or their families?
P: well I mean, drugs is always gonna sell. Pussy is always gonna sell. That shit ain't never going outta business…but speaking of stripping... [Laughs]

SL: [laughs]
P: So the sex industry...this is what the people really wanna hear, this is what they wanna know [laughs] …I’ve written about porn in my blog before. I’m a porn fan; I’m familiar with your work. I’m a fan. You put it down. [Laughs]

SL: And I’m a fan of Little Brother! [Laughs]

P: Yeah, that’s what’s up! I appreciate that…but yeah…I’ve written about porn, and my theory on it is that a lot of the women who do porn are damaged. Whether it’s mental damage or drug addiction or some type of issue…You don’t see too many well-adjusted porn stars. So I’m saying [we shouldn’t] take advantage of a person who was physically handicapped so [we technically shouldn’t] take advantage of someone with [an emotional handicap]. But I guess my question is, what percentage of women that you know in porn are well-adjusted and not dealing with some type of abuse?
SL: to be perfectly honest with you, it changes. I’ve been in the business for 15 years now. I’ve been through three generations of porn stars. When I first started, there were probably a lot more women who were coming from some sort of a damaged background. But some women back then, like Champagne, and Janet Jacme, they were a different mold of women back then. They were women who really and truly enjoyed sex. A lot of women, especially with women of color, they got into porn because they were strippers and they realized if they got into porn they could make more money on the road [stripping] as a feature performer, as opposed to stripping in a club for $150 a night, so it was a little more strategic. Some use it as an escape: when you have a girl who grew up in a small town in Iowa and her everyone in her family works at Wal-Mart, and there’s no real opportunity for her to do anything with her life and she sees Jenna Jameson or Tera Patrick or someone come to her town and do a feature tour [stripping] and she sees how much money they make; she’s gonna see it as a way out. Particularly with women of color who have kids or no education…doing porn and making $1,000 a day is a lot better than going on welfare.

P: I feel you on that.
SL: For me personally, I got into porn because I was getting divorced, I was 19 and in my second year of school, and I was working at Bloomingdale's and at Fred Siegel at the same time. I had to choose between studying and going to work. I was basically spending two hours a day with my kids. And at that time, I had no problem with porn. I didn’t know anything about it so there was no taboo. And If I were to go on welfare, they pay for school and childcare, but then they’re like “You have to give up your $775 a month rent controlled apartment in the nice little Santa Monica neighborhood so I can give you $480 in welfare every month.” And I’m like, “I’m not moving outta my crib so you can give me a handout and limit the amount of money I can make on my own by reducing your aid to me”…and I'm increasingly finding more women in the industry that came in because of similar situations. My situation was a little different because I did have that education and that background, but I made a financial choice to aid in my ability to do something for my family. And I find a lot of women doing the same. And it’s not just women in the industry. I find a lot of guys who were living in Bed-Stuy or Brooklyn and went from hustling on the corner to banging some of the hottest chicks in the country and being paid to do it! [Laughs] So there’s something to be said about the people like Jenna Jameson who [now] have entities behind them that are worth millions of dollars. But that’s not to say that there aren’t people in the industry who come from damaged backgrounds, but it’s sad that when you see porn stars in [the media] talking about exploitation, they usually only show the ones with the damage and the drug problems and they have regrets. What you don’t see is the [people like] Diana DeVoe, or Lexington Steele who have educations. Diana graduated from the University of Hawaii. Lexington Steele worked on Wall Street. So people don’t understand that there are those of us that are normal. [Laughs] Continued on page 3 »