Everyday Conversations on Race for Everyday People

Teri Yuan and Carole Copeland Thomas join me for this conversation on race to talk about race, racism and the COVID 19 pandemic. Teri talks about her experience as a Chinese-American and her perspective on the escalation of racist attacks against Asians who are being blamed by some for Covid-19. Carole shares her history, information and her perspective on the high death rate of African Americans

Key Topics in this Episode

•  The lack of race consciousness of many Asian people
• What it means to be white adjacent
• What Asian-Americans can do to be more aware of race and the history of racism in the United States
• How people from targeted groups can be allies and support each other against racist attack
•  Racial health disparities that result in the high infection and death rate of African-Americans
• The lack of PPE for essential workers, many of whom are people of color
• How gender issues have resulted in women bearing the brunt of the pandemic
• How white supremacy fuels the escalation of racism and blame of specific groups

Guest Bios:

Teri Yuan is a survivor, a feminist business consultant, and founder of the Engendered Collective, a platform for survivors, practitioners, and allies to connect in community, learning, and advocacy through the radical inquiry of patriarchy.  As part of the Collective’s work, Teri manages the Kanduit QNA social service community and hosts the weekly podcast, en(gender)ed, which explores the systems, practices and policies that enable gender-based violence and oppression and offers solutions to end it.  En(gender)ed uses gender as a lens to better understand power and oppression and its impact in the private realm, so as to better recognize and confront it in the public sphere. Teri believes that by developing a cultural literacy around power and abuse of power, we can reclaim how we define liberty in relationships and in civic life and solve many of our most urgent social (justice) challenges.

Carole Copeland Thomas  As an award-winning TEDx speaker, trainer, and global thought leader, since 1987, Carole Copeland Thomas moderates the discussions of critical issues affecting the marketplace, including global diversity, inclusion, and multiculturalism. She has her pulse on the issues affecting working professionals and regularly consults with industry leaders. She has spent 33 years of cultivating relationships and partnerships with local, national, and international clients and sponsors, including Walmart, Amtrak, and Emirates Airlines. Carole served as an adjunct faculty member at Bentley University for ten years. She has spoken in nearly every state in the US and seven other countries. Carole is the past president of The National Speakers Association-New England Chapter and served on the leadership team of Black NSA. She has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Black Enterprise, ABC Radio, and CBS News. Carole is a blogger and social media enthusiast using various technology platforms to enhance her business development activities.

Racist ZoomBombing has brought fear, disruption and even trauma to people who need the Zoom  platform for community, connection and their work.

Zoom has been a sanity saver for many of us during this Covid-19 pandemic. But there is an underside to the Zoom platform, one  of racism, sexism and white supremacy. In this episode of Everyday Conversations on Race for Everyday People, Laura Cathcart Robbins joins me to talk about her experience with racist ZoomBombing. While attending a Zoom meeting for women who are recovering alcoholics, her meeting was taking over by white supremacists yelling racist slogans and exposing themselves. Everyone was angry and upset, but as the only Black woman in the meeting, this attack had a deeper impact. She thought this was a place where she could feel safe and share part of herself. Despite what some people say ZoomBombing is not a childish prank. It is an assault and constitutes terrorism.

Laura Cathcart Robbins experienced ZoomBombing more than once while attending meetings that were meant to support her recovery from alcohol and the recovery or millions of other people from alcoholism, drug addiction and other issues. During the first incident the person had a picture of a lynching, started shouting KKK, slogans against Black and LGBT people. This happened again and again when she attended other 12 Step meetings.

As a result, Zoom had to start requiring a password to get into a meeting. This is really difficult for new people looking for help to get clean and sober or recover from other issues. If they are just seeking help they  have no access to the password unless they know someone.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Trying to get sober during a quarantine but not being able to get the password.
• The challenge for a person of color, particularly a Black person to get sober, who attends a meeting where racists attack the platform. It’s terrifying and could stop someone from coming back.
• What it’s like to be the only Black woman in certain places.
• People claiming that racist Zoombombing is just a prank by young kids.
• Racist Zoombombing is not a prank. It’s an assault and not “kids being kids.” It’s terrorism.
• Do not tell someone who has been victimized by these racist, sexist, antisemitic attacks to not take it personally or that they are overly sensitive.
• This is racist terrorism and has left her and other people attending recovery 12 Step meetings scared and afraid to participate.
• This is a time when people with alcohol, drug or any other kind of addiction issues needs these meetings.
• Zoom has responded and added security which helps deal with the attacks but also is an obstacle to people trying to get sober and clean from drugs.
• It’s not up to someone who is not from a targeted group to tell people from any of those groups how to feel. It’s extremely offensive.
• If you care and say you are against racism, homophobia, antisemitism then you need to demonstrate it by speaking up when you see it happen. Don’t expect that the person from the targeted group should be able to handle it or be the one to speak up.

Bio of Laura Cathcart Robbins

Laura Cathcart Robbins is a freelance writer, podcast host, and storyteller, living in Studio City, California with her son, Justin and her boyfriend, Scott Slaughter.  She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Her recent articles in the Huffington Post on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a 2018 LA Moth StorySlam winner and host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room, which is available on all podcast platforms.  Laura currently sits on the advisory board for the San Diego Writer’s Festival and is also a founding member of Moving Forewords, the first national memoirist collective of its kind.

You can find her on Facebook @lauracathcartrobbins, on Instagram @official_cathcartrobbins and follow her on Twitter @LauraCRobbins.

Laura Cathcart Robbins

https://theonlyonepod.com

Michell Meow, well known radio and TV host on LGBTQ+ and other issues, joins me on Everyday Conversations on Race, to talk about this important topic of racism against Asians during Covid-19. Michelle shares her background as the daughter of Laotian immigrants in Stockton, California. She offers her perspective on the increase of physical and verbal attacks against Asians, as well as how to stop them.

Key points from Michelle Meow:

• In order to understand the recent racist attacks against Asian people we have to talk about race as a historical and systemic issue

Her Background

• We have to talk about race and racism on a systemic level and how it impacts all of us
• Everyone has bias and those biases are more acute during crises. Michelle is always checking her own biases.
• She grew up very poor in Stockton, California around mostly southeast Asians. The median income for families is $35,000. When her father died and her mother was left with five kids to raise, they moved into the projects and she became friends with more Black and Latino people.

Views on the Covid-19 pandemic and racism

• This pandemic is scary and people need to stay healthy
• People are looking for other people to blame. The president has empowered people who are in extreme fear to blame Asian people for Coved- 19. As a result, elderly Asian people have gotten beaten up, yelled at, spit on and stabbed.
• Asian people are scared about the virus and also scared about being targeted by racists and people who have bought into what Trump has been saying in the media. It’s very painful for her to know that now Asian people have to be scared of getting beaten up by people who are also scared.
• If people did their homework, they would understand more about Covid-19, how it all began, the fact that the US was warned about Covid-19 and did not prepare. Instead of taking responsibility many people in the US government who should have been preparing us are blaming China and Chinese people.
• Scientists and doctors have talked about it for a long time and begged the world

to pay attention

• With all the messages and racist beliefs being spouted from the White House and allies, there are concerns amongst Asians about bias and getting the right care if they do get sick.
• Even in other Asian countries there is discrimination and stereotyping of Chinese people. There have been incidents in Thailand of restaurants refusing to serve Chinese people.
• There are also incidents of Chinese restaurants in China refusing to serve Black people

What we need to do

• We should focus on how to keep humans healthy
• Understand racism and how racism is being used as a distraction to not look at government responsibility
• Covid-19 is a global pandemic and will take a global solution
• We are the wealthiest country with the most resources and are the most impacted. Most of us never thought this could happen in the US. Even that was racist, thinking it could happen in China or countries of people of color but not here.
• We have to pay attention to who is dying and that it is mostly Black and Brown people who are losing their lives. They are the essential workers in the frontlines of the public.
• Racism creates a barrier from people coming up with solutions.
• There are more good people who don’t want to give power to racists and haters.
• There are African-American and Asian leaders who have been reaching out to work together and stop racist attacks against any group.

What we can do as individuals

• We can speak up and intervene if we see or hear racism against Asians
• Offer to help shop for older Asian people who are afraid to get what they need
• Educate ourselves about historical and structural racism. Educate other people and speak out against hate and fear of differences.

Contact information

www.MichelleMeow.com

https://www.commonwealthclub.org/michelle-meow-show

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ABOUT MICHELLE MEOW, Radio & TV talk show host - in her own words

I've always dreamed big. As a little peculiar kid who grew up in Stockton, CA, I had an imagination that was too big for my little brain. I fantasized about a lot of things but as young as I can remember, I fantasized about being loved and accepted. The first time I tried to make friends with kids around my neighborhood, I was told to go "back to my country." Born here in California, I didn't know what they meant until the fights in the neighborhood became violent. The hatred you face from childhood to adulthood is dangerous and damaging. I hope one day we can change this for all of us. Why can't we learn to love and accept one another for our differences and our similarities? That is the journey or quest I am on and the reason behind the "Michelle Meow Show." 

Conversations on Race and Racism in the Covid 19 Pandemic

How do we continue to address racism in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic while we practice physically distancing, shelter at home and become extreme hand-washers?

Juan Lopez, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion thought leader, joins me to talk about racism in the time of COVID 19, and why conversations on race are so crucial right now.

Listen to this episode of Everyday Conversations on Race to find creative ways to build community, connection and increase real communication in the virtual world of this global crisis,

Juan was one of the first leaders in the movement to create organizations that support diversity, equity and inclusion. He shares his story about growing up a Chicano in California, as well as his past experience, present observations and future predictions for eliminating racism and division today.

Key points from our discussion:

• We are seeing an increase in racist attacks against Asians who are being scapegoated and blamed for the virus. These racist verbal and physical attacks are a result of some people feeling powerless and looking for a target, direct messages from the white house, extreme right-wing media and some government officials.
• Those of us who are anti-racist, pro-unity and pro-love can take actions to stop people from harm and to help them be safe.
• We can let people who are potential targets of racist attacks know that they can come to us if they are afraid. If possible, we will accompany them on essential errands or find ways to help them get groceries, gas and what they need for survival.
• We can speak up on social media against racism and racist stereotypes, particularly against Asians.
• If we hear people, we know make racist or hateful statements, we can’t just excuse those comments but must intervene.
• We can continue to create community, increase connection and effective communication across differences by calling people to check in, set up Zoom calls or use other remote platforms.
• At this time, it’s important to let people know they matter.
• People who are targets of white supremacy need to know they are not alone and that we can be connected across those differences and go beyond just supporting those that look like us.

On the playlist this week, is old school R&B with artists like the Eisley Brothers and I’m listening to “Wake Up Everybody,” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.

As we get closer to the Jewish holiday of Passover, I’m listening to Jewish songs of resistance during the holocaust and thinking about how we all need each other right now.  This is a scary time, but we can’t let our fear turn to panic or exclusion. This is the time for love, inclusion and unity for those of those that want to eliminate fear of difference and bring people together.

Bio for Juan Lopez

Juan Lopez is the President of Amistad Associates, a consulting firm that provides Strategic Planning, Organizational Development, Team Building, Leadership, Customer Service, and Managing Diversity. In addition, Juan was a founder and principal with the Center for Reinventing Government.  

Juan has worked in the public and private sectors for the last 28 years.  Since 1986, fifty percent of his work has focused on organizational development with local government and educational institutions. 

Under Juan's guidance, Amistad Associates has contributed to the organizational and leadership development of Port of Oakland, Port of Long Beach, Los Angeles Community Development Commission, Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Sonoma State University, Contra Costa County, Napa County, Peralta Community College District, and several California Cities and non-profits.

As a consultant with Sentient Systems, he provided training to cities and counties on changing organizational norms and taught the Continuing Education for Public Officials (CEPO) project, sponsored by the League of California Cities.

Among Juan’s clients are corporations, government, and non-profit organizations.  He has provided leadership and diversity consulting services to AT&T, Bell Laboratories, NASA Johnston Space Center, Digital Equipment Corporation, Levi Straus and Co., Frito, Pepsi, Wells Fargo Banks, Avon Products International, Dupont, Fannie Mae, the U.S. Postal Service, public health centers, school districts, the Anti-Defamation League, Alameda Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, National Hispanic Corporate Council, University of California at Berkeley, and Sonoma State University.

He is a member of the Diversity Collegium, professionals dedicated to advancing the field of Diversity through research and learning, and a co-founder of Diversity 2020

Damona Hoffman is a dating coach & media personality who starred in two A+E Networks' TV series: #BlackLove and A Question of Love. She’s a contributor for The Washington Post, CNN Headline News (HLN), Match.com, BET.com, and more. Previously, Damona held creative executive & diversity positions at CBS, Paramount, and NBC Universal. Now, she hosts and produces two podcasts, I Make a Living (by FreshBooks) and Dates & Mates with Damona Hoffman.

Damona talks with me about what it was like growing up  Black and Jewish with an African-American mother and white Jewish father.

Her first awareness and experience with direct racism and hate. was when she was 16 years old. “My friend took me to a party  where I was the only Black person. A white guy holding a hockey stick kept pointing at people and asking them their name. When he pointed the stick at me she said, “N……, Bitch that what we call all of you.”

She felt threatened- scared, and shocked. When she jumped up and told her friend they had to go, the friend said she was over reacting.

For Damona Hoffman, this was the moment for her that every  person of experiences when they know that things will never be the same.  And this is another reason why conversations on race are so crucial because too often, people who are not Black or not people of color do  not understand how serious racism is.

Key learning

Those of us who are white need to understand that racism doesn’t go away on its own. If you’re in a situation where you hear a racist statement, see a racist action or witness a person of color being targeted, we have to speak up. We have to intervene. If we claim to be against racism or anti-racist we need to back up our words with action. If we don’t we are colluding, and if we say nothing, we are colluding. Silence equals consent. Do not leave it up to the person of color to have to be a lone voice. In those cases you are either part of the solution you are the problem.

It might be dangerous for a person of color to say something. Damona was lucky she got out but she wanted the friend to speak out and instead her friend made her feel more unsafe.

Being Black, Jewish, and bi-racial helps her connect with people on many levels. There are also times when she gets excluded.

Listen to the rest of the podcast to hear

• When Damona  feels included and when she thinks people look at her like she’s an enemy
• Issues of colorism in the Black community and how she worked through it
• Thoughts on internalized racism and oppression
• How she  launched talent diversity programs at NBC and CBS
• Experience and speaking out against microaggressions in Hollywood
• Starring role In “Black Love” on A&E

In this conversation on race, I talk with "Julian on the Radio" about his experiences and thoughts on race, diversity and being the child of Chinese immigrants. We talk Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the need to continuously build a diverse community.

He grew up in the Washington DC  area  amongst people from different cultures, races and ethnicities. His parents were originally from Shanghai and came to the US when they were young. Julian says that most people want to spend time with people who are most like them, but he has thrived by being around diversity of people from different races and cultures.

Although he wasn’t focused on race growing up there were times when he felt different from the other kids in high school. He wanted to be accepted but there times when he was left  out, and felt “less than.” There were times when he just wanted to “fit in,” and asks “doesn’t everyone.” As we go deeper, he talks about the seemingly subtle racism he dealt with, and maybe he was even mad at his family for being from China.  He’s gotten more comfortable with himself, and no longer feels that way. Racism is all around us and Julian talks about how he lives his life.

We continue to talk and the conversation on race gets more introspective.

Julian barely graduated from high school and struggled through college, but then went on to have a successful career in radio.

Key takeaways:

•Traveling outside the US opens perspectives

•Julian appreciates being raised in a multi-cultural environment and can’t imagine only being around one culture.

• No group is a monolith and we all have more than one culture

• Julian on the Radio offers some advice for young people who are having a hard time accepting who they are, who may be different and feel excluded, and who hear negative messages about their groups

• Befriend, pick people who will be your real friends

• Look for people who will support you

• Listen and absorb podcasts that talk about self-acceptance

• Have good people around you

 We want to show that not everyone from the same culture is the same. We all have multiple identities, that make up our co-cultures. Diversity helps us understand the world around us.

If you like the show and want to hear more conversations on race, go to www.raceconvo.com .  And if you want help us grow, please share it with at least one other person.

To join the race conversation and support Everyday Conversations on Race, go to www.patreon.com/raceconvo

It would be hard to have a conversation on race and not address the contradiction that many successful Black people continue to face; having to deal with racism no matter how much money they have or how much they’ve accomplished.

What would it feel like to be a Black man at the highest levels of corporate America, and still feel like you have to leave a large part of yourself at home. How much would racism impact your life during and after work as you rise to the top? How do you talk about race and racism with your family while still encouraging them to reach for their dreams?

In this episode of “Everyday Conversations on Race for Everyday People,”  I’m joined by David Casey, Executive Vice-President of  one of the largest global pharmaceutical companies. In this very deep personal conversation, David shares how it feels to be a Black man in a position of power, influence and prestige in the executive suite while being seen as “just another Black man” in the street who can be stopped, and targeted because of his race.

In our cross-race conversation on race, David Casey recounts his arrest at the age of eleven, handcuffed and thrown into the back of the police car for bringing a gun to school after he was bullied. The arresting officer was Black but as he was  being taken down to the police station, a white officer pulls up next to him and says, “if I was there, I would have just shot you.”

Don’t miss this opportunity to listen in and learn about race, racism and what it takes to get people to talk to each other.

Key Topics Include:

• How to talk about race, racism and ending racism at work
• Lessons that young people of color in general and Black people in particular can learn about maintaining their integrity, bringing their whole selves to work today and feeling good about who they are
• Lessons that white people who care about equality, equity and inclusion can learn by listening and hearing experiences about race, discrimination and working across race no matter how uncomfortable it might feel

Resources in this show

www.DavidCaseydiversity.com

DavidCaseyDiversity@gmail.com

David Casey bio:

David Casey is  Vice President, Workforce Strategies and Chief Diversity Officer for the national leader in retail pharmacy, pharmacy benefits management and retail health clinics. He has  responsibility for developing and driving strategic diversity management, equal employment opportunity/affirmative action and workforce development strategies across a Fortune 7 company with over $153 billion in sales and about 240,000 employees throughout the United States, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and Brazil with over 9600 retail stores in 49 states.

He alsos serve as the president of a public charity designed to help company employees during unanticipated and unavoidable financial hardships and emergencies. This fund provides short-term, immediate financial relief to employees who’ve suffered significant hardship as a result of a natural disaster, military deployment, family death, medical emergency or other unforeseen designated events.

In his previous role at a Fortune 33 company, he led the development and execution of corporate wide strategies to leverage the impact of diversity management and workplace culture for the nation’s largest health benefits company with annual revenues of $61.1B with 42,000 associates and 36M members.

Maurice joined on RaceConvo to talk about race, racism and health care. We talk about helping people recovery from addiction and live whole lives with HIV.

Ben Stokes joins me on “Everyday Conversations on Race,” to talk about his experience being a person of color adopted by a white family in Australia. He didn’t become aware of racism until his family moved from a small town to a larger city. That was when he would frequently encounter white people who would keep asking him where he was from and look at him in disbelief when the told them he was Australian. Despite having a strong Australian accent, he was often discounted as an Australian because of his brown skin.

After coming to the US, with so many people of color, the questions still persisted from white Americans who couldn’t believe that someone with brown skin could be from Australia.

Ben has lived and worked in the US for over four years. You’ll want to hear his story of how he was harassed by security agents as he re-entered the US from a trip abroad.

His story is unique and not uncommon. Despite his experiences, Ben is the founder of the start-up SocialTable.

SocialTable  brings people together across differences over great food, great conversation and the desire to connect and build community.

Biography

Ben is the CEO and Founder of SocialTable. His personal, academic and professional journey to date is impressive and colourful – to say the least! View Ben’s LinkedIn profile.

Born in Sri Lanka, Ben spent his early years in a rural orphanage before he was adopted by Australian parents who raised him in Tasmania. Ben started his Uni years as a Med student, studying Medicine and then a Masters of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. Along the way, he recalls encountering great mentorship by the then CEO of St Vincent’s Hospital. Funnily enough, Ben’s mentorship with the St Vincent’s Hospital CEO actually prompted his realisation that Med was not where he would be most happy. So Ben took some fairly drastic turns and completed a Law degree. The skilled communicator and leader’s story of becoming a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist (having worked on the success of several med-tech products in the US market, as well his own enterprise SocialTable, along with his building projects for his very own orphanage in Sri Lanka) is too long for me to document here but it is full of insights, intelligence and authenticity.

Ben can be contacted through email: ben@socialtable.co or through his LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bpstokes/

Mass Incarceration of Black and Brown men and women is a long-time problem that reflects historical and systemic racism in the criminal justice system.  In this Conversation on Race, guests Shelly Hughes and Garrow Vincent share their experiences as African-Americans who spent time in the California prison system and what their lives are like today.

Mass Incarceration of Black and Brown men and women is a long-time problem that reflects historical and systemic racism in the criminal justice system.  In this Conversation on Race, guests Shelly Hughes and Garrow Vincent share their experiences as African-Americans who spent time in the California prison system and what their lives are like today.

You’ll hear how mass incarceration was set up as a deliberate system right after slavery in order to continue white ownership of Black labor, and how that racist system continues to perpetuate.  We go beyond books and theory and talk to individuals about their lives before, during and after incarceration.

Topics in this conversation on race and the criminal justice system include:

• How Black and Brown people are targeted for incarceration
• Racial and economic inequities in sentencing
• Racial segregation in women and men’s prisons
• How two former felons turned their lives around with the help of a larger community
• From living the drug life to living clean, staying clean and making a difference in other people’s lives
• The personal side of systemic racism, mass incarceration and economic inequities

Listen now to hear another enlightening, real conversation on race and the criminal justice system.

Gerald Chambers, Marriage and Family Therapist, and Dr. Ronnie Siddique, Psychologist, address issues of mental health in different communities of color and race-related trauma.

Ronnie and Gerald talk about stigmas attached to getting treatment for mental health issues.

There are trust issues of the mental health and medical profession because of historical racist treatment by mental health professions.

Ronnie as a member of the South Asian community and Gerald from the African-American community say that too often they hear people say, “Suck it up. Deal with it yourself.”

Gerald says that in drug treatment research shows that the darker someone’s skin the more severe the diagnosis and the less likely to get effective treatment.

There has been a denial of racism as a factor in trauma and other mental health issues related to race and culture. Intake questionnaires need to include questions about race and cultural experiences.

Therapists need to be trained in cultural intelligent therapy and be able to understand how racism impacts people from early ages physically, mentally and emotionally.

While it’s crucial for therapists and the whole mental health profession to understand historical issues of race, oppression and trauma, the need for help is real. At the same time every mental health issue of a person of color is not necessarily due to racism.

Diversity and inclusion have to be part of the conversation and education of people in the mental health field.

Listen to this episode to hear Dr. Ronnie Siddique and Gerald Chambers break down  the challenges, issues and solutions to provide access to  mental health treatment for low income and people of color.

Bios:

Gerald Chambers
Gerald Chambers is a licensed marriage and family therapist who focuses on interpersonal conflict, domestic violence, substance abuse, and 12-Step recovery. He leads a 52-week domestic violence psycho-education group for court-mandated spousal batterers. and frequently speaks to lawyers, psychologists, social workers, as well as middle and elementary school children. Well known for his innovative strategies to reduce domestic violence, Gerald has been a guest speaker at the Boalt Hall School of Law, Golden Gate University, and various community-based organizations.

Contact info: Gerald B. Chambers, LMFT

510-761-6554

www.geraldchambers.com

View my blog

Dr. Ronnie Siddique

Dr. Siddique is a licensed clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist who works with clients of

all ages representing a broad range of concerns, from ADHD and learning difficulties to depression and anxiety. She is the founders and owner of Embolden Psychology, her practice, with three locations in the Washington DC area. She specializes in community mental health and advocacy, clinical work and assessment, and writing and blogging about mental health.

For the past 18 years, she has run a weekly community mental health clinic in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. She is a consultant for Doctors Without Borders, the Suhki Project, and the Pro Bono Counseling Project, in Washington, DC.

In the summer of 2020, her book about anxiety and young people, Fight/Flight/Flow, will be released.

Contact info: Ronnie Siddique, PhD
Embolden Psychology
Licensed Clinical Psychologist/Neuropsychologist
Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC

https://embolden.world

703-973-6534

https://www.facebook.com/Emboldenpsych/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embolden_psych/

In this episode of Everyday Conversations on Race, Selena Wilson and LeRon Barton talk with me about “backhanded compliments,” or compulsions to describe, that are actually racist.

To hear more, download this episode of Everyday Conversations on Race for Everyday People

With social media buzzing about Gina Rodriguez, Cardi B, and what it means to be Black, African American and Latina this episode of Everyday Conversation on Race is timely.

If you’re interested in the topic, have an opinion or want to know more, you’ll love this conversation on race with Cessie and Mercedes.

Cessie Alfonso and Mercedes Martin join me to talk about cultural intersectionality and their own Afro-Latina identities. Spanning generations, geography and sexual orientation, they find that diversity, equity and inclusion are more relevant than ever today as more people identify become aware of their own intersections beyond race and ethnicity.

Topics in this episode include:

• What it means to be Afro-Latina in the United States and accept their own cultural intersectionality
• Afro-Latina identity is complicated and often misunderstood
• Experiences of feeling not being accepted by either culture because it’s impossible to only “choose one” identity
• Response to racism and rejection
• Addressing the claims that someone can’t be Black if they speak Spanish
• Why they can’t separate and only claim one culture since they are mixtures of all of their cultures
• More Afro-Latinas, Afro-LatinX are speaking out about their experiences
• Cessie’s response when people question whether she is Black or Latina, and why she’s speaking Spanish
• How African slaves were brought to the Caribbean Islands even before slavery in the United States
• The difference between race and ethnicity
• Why conversations on race are important and how they are different today than in the 1950’s and 1960’s
• Growing up in New York vs in the California suburbs as Afro-Latinas
• The browning of America in US culture and how that will be reflected as more than Black and White but the multitude of identifications
• How we create space for the multiplicity of backgrounds in our population now and in the future
• Stereotypes and assumptions about Afro-Latina and Afro-LatinX
• How to learn more and engage in conversations on race and ethnicity

Bios:

Mercedes Martin is a Cultural Accessory Designer, Entrepreneur, and Educator. She runs a successful African-Diaspora inspired brand called Tres Mercedes- designing embellished sunglasses, hats with African Fabrics, Ancestor candles, and statement piece earrings & rings. She self- identifies as a natural curl hair spiritual Black Woman, but if she gotta be more specific about ethnicity: Black and Afro-Cuban American. Born in California and raised in Oakland.

Part of the Millennial generation she has had her own small business, Tres Mercedes since 2010.

link: www.tresmercedes.com

Instagram: @TresMercedes

Cecilia "Cessie" Alfonso, MSW, ACSW, LCSW, is a nationally recognized expert in forensic social work, domestic violence and organizational development in the area of cultural competence and valuing diversity.  She is the founder and president of Alfonso Consultants, Inc. For the past 20 years, Alfonso Consultants, Inc. has provided social work and psychosocial assessments to the clients of civil and criminal attorneys throughout the United States, as well as internationally. As a mitigation specialist, she and her associates have conducted over 700 mitigation investigations since she began providing services.

Ms. Alfonso is a bilingual (Spanish speaking), bicultural (Afro-Puerto Rican-Cuban) social worker who has trained attorneys and professionals to appreciate and integrate into their practices and organizations the ethnic diversity and cultural aspects of their clients' lives. She is also a nationally recognized domestic violence/battered woman's expert who has appeared on national television and British Broadcasting Company (BBC) radio and is one of the few African Americans qualified as an expert in domestic violence in the State of New Jersey.  She has conducted training in domestic violence to professionals in the criminal justice system.

Ms. Alfonso has received the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association's (NLADA) Life in the Balance Achievement Award for her pioneering work as a forensic social worker/mitigation specialist. In 2008 she was recognized by Governor Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey as a leading mitigation specialist who significantly contributed to the ultimate abolition of the Death Penalty in the State of New Jersey.

In 1987, Ms. Alfonso, along with her associate, Kathryn Bauer, wrote one of the first articles ever written that details how the social worker skill set can assist criminal attorneys in preparing and presenting the life history of their defendants facing the death penalty.  Ms. Alfonso has been qualified as an expert social worker and has testified in the penalty phase of capital cases in states such as Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Her expertise has contributed to criminal defense attorneys obtaining life sentences for their clients.

Ms. Alfonso's ability to educate attorneys on how to engage and defend individuals who are different from themselves in terms of race, class, gender and/or sexual orientation has enabled attorneys to communicate to the jurors why they should give their clients life as opposed to death.

Cecilia " Cessie" Alfonso has received the following awards:

Recognition Award, First President of National Association of Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists (NASAMS), NASAMS 20th Anniversary Conference, March 2013

Life in the Balance Achievement Award - National Legal Aid and Defenders Association, March 2008

Recognition Award, presented by Governor Corzine of New Jersey - Leading mitigation specialist who significantly contributed to the ultimate abolition of the Death Penalty in the State of New Jersey, 2008

Mim George Award - National Association of Sentencing Advocates (founding member 1995), 2005

Outstanding Faculty Member in the Defender Institute Basic Trial Skills Program - New York State Defenders Association, June 2000

Contact info: cessiealf@aol.com

(518) 928-8199

This week on  Everyday Conversations on Race, Simma is joined by Barbara Williams Hardy, former head of Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging for a large tech firm, and LeRon Barton a well respected journalist and speaker on the experiences of being a Black man in America. The main theme is Culture Fit Hiring and it’s impact on diversity, equity and inclusion. 

They offer their perspectives and answer the questions:

• Does hiring for “culture fit” promote racism and discrimination?
• Is it only the responsibility of white people to promote diversity, equity and inclusion?
• What is the role of Black people and other people of color in culture change and inclusion?

Topics covered include:

• Culture Fit hiring- friend or foe of diversity, equity and inclusion
• How we’re all capable or making wrong assumptions
• Breaking up status-quo hiring and with inclusion
• Where to find Black computer engineers
• Asking the right questions to determine whether a statement has racist intent or meaning, and opportunities to educate
• What recruiters and leaders need to do ensure inclusive hiring, making people feel welcome across difference and supporting their success
• LeRon, Barb and Simma share songs that represent thoughts about race, racism and bringing people together

Barb Williams Hardy and LeRon Barton

Barbara Williams Hardy is a visionary, innovator, connector, catalyst for change and global citizen of the world. She is an award-winning thought leader with a global mindset and is known as a “Go To” leader who develops high-level relationship alliances that foster inclusion, belonging, collaboration and commitment to align diversity strategies with business objectives to accelerate employee engagement, experience, innovation and organizational success.  

Barb grows leaders. She is the former Global Head of Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at NetApp, Leadership speaker and the creator of the Barb List, Principles for Achieving Success and Living an Amazing Life. 

Barb’s mission is to unlock the untapped brilliance in all of us.

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LeRon L. Barton is a writer from Kansas City, Mo that currently resides in San Francisco, Ca. He has been writing poetry, screenplays, and short stories since he was way young. LeRon’s essays have appeared in Salon, The Good Men Project, Eastbay Express, Those People, AlterNet, SF Bay view, Buzzfeed, Gorilla Convict, and Elephant Journal. His first book, “Straight Dope: A 360 degree look into American drug culture” was released in Feb 2013. LeRon’s new book, “All We Really Need Is Love

Vincent Garrett joins Simma on Everyday Conversations on Race to talk about race, mass incarceration and creating a “prison to school pipeline.”

A former addict and incarcerated felon, Vince has been clean from drugs for over twenty years.  He shares his experience of being released from prison, finding a mentor, getting his BA from UC Berkeley and being part of Underground Scholars, a program for the formerly incarcerated.

 We talk about race, racism and mass incarceration and the unequal way Black and Brown people and White people are sentenced for the same crimes.

 Vincent and his whole family were caught up in the crack epidemic in Oakland. He saw people around him being arrested and sent to prison for a few rocks of crack, while white people and upper income people in the Oakland Hills using powdered cocaine were ignored by law enforcement.

He is now working towards a master’s degree and is the program outreach and retention specialist for Restoring Our Communities (ROC), at Laney College.

Vincent and ROC are working to advance the “Prison to School Pipeline,” to ensure that formerly incarcerated people get what they need excel in college and in life.

Additional topics are:

• Racial disparities and inequality in our society today
• Images of Black and other people of color in the media and how that contributes to mass incarceration
• Internalizing racism from outside messages
• Repairing the damage of mass incarceration and race

Zachariah Moreno

Co-Founder & CEO of SquadCast

Zachariah Moreno is a technologist, author, and co-founder of SquadCast. He and his team are on a mission to amplify collaboration, seeking to empower creatives to engage in meaningful conversations without barriers.

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All privilege is not the same, nor does all privilege provide equitable access to luxury. There is the economic privilege that comes from having financial resources, wealth and position, and then there is the privilege that comes from being white in America. Racism can negate every other privilege when you’re a person of color in the US. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, what you own or how many employees work for you.

 Luis Martin, a brown-skinned Mexican American man and his Dominican husband have enjoyed a lifestyle of economic privilege that few can afford. Luis is a well-known artist in New York whose work has been displayed in galleries across the world. 

However, when you’re a person of color, economic privilege has its limits to where you can go. When you’re out in the world, you can still be targeted for your race and experience the inhumanity and hate of racism.

When Luis and his husband bought first-class airline tickets on Delta airlines, they assumed they could access all the benefits that came with those first-class tickets. However, when they tried to enter the first-class lounge like every other first-class passenger, they were barred from entering, and told that people going to Mexico were not allowed.

In this episode, Luis Martin shares his experiences as an artist, a brown skinned Mexican-American and the role that art and culture plays in building consciousness around conversations on race, racism, and justice and equality for everyone

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Are Millennials less racist than other generations?

What do people from Africa have in common with African-Americans?

What generation is most in denial about racism?

What’s it like to be the only Black person in your class?

These questions and more are answered on Every Day Conversations on Race. My guests are Mary-Lou Milabu, a millennial black Christian woman, whose family is from Congo, and Sara Bierman a millennial white Jewish woman from California who is also a lesbian.  Both women share their experience and views on race, racism and perspectives on white privilege. 

Mary-Lou shares what it was like to be one of the few Black people in her school and constantly being asked to be the spokesperson for African-Americans. While learning about Black history, a white teacher kept asking her about her family’s history going back to slavery. When Mary-Lou said that was not her family’s history since she was second generation Congolese the teacher kept insisting. She had to school the teacher.

Sara shares what it was like for her growing up on a street where she was the only white kid and learning about racism towards people of color. She shares stories of talking to other white people about race and racism.

This exciting conversation on race with two millennial women, one white and one black will open your eyes to stereotypes, white privilege and racism.