At The Table with Alaa Murabit

Sahaj Kohli is the founder of Brown Girl Therapy, a mental health and wellness organization for children of immigrants. In this work, she creates resources that promote bicultural identity exploration and the de-stigmatization of therapy in immigrant communities.  Sahaj joins Alaa at the table today to discuss her passion for being a mental health advocate, the unique immigrant experience when it comes to mental health and wellness, and how western mental health may not necessarily understand cultural differences and expectations.

Being At The Table means:

“Doing the work in these spaces and creating our own tables, or creating the whole house and the whole neighborhood, for people because even the idea of a table, for me, feels limiting.” – Sahaj Kohli

Highlights from the Conversation:

• Sahaj’s inspiration for creating Brown Girl Therapy and why it is so important
• Finding her own personal identity
• Mental health is very Eurocentric and other cultures are not taught how to care for their own emotional wellness to the same extent
• Sahaj’s experience as a senior editor of identity driven stories
• “Holding Space” for people to show up as they are, no matter where they are in their journey
• The practice of gratitude to boost mental health
• The gender norms for men and how that impacts their own mental health
• Therapists don’t necessarily understand the culturally appropriate and responsive techniques and interventions
• Self-care can look differently for a child of immigrants
• Finding the courage to build this community
• And more

About the Guest:

The daughter of immigrants, Sahaj Kohli is the founder of Brown Girl Therapy (@browngirltherapy), the first and largest mental health and wellness community organization for children of immigrants. A writer and speaker, Sahaj is on a mission to provide decolonized and inclusive mental health care to underserved populations.

https://sahajkohli.com/

https://www.facebook.com/browngirltherapy/

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate, and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

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Latham Thomas calls herself a maternity lifestyle maven. Alaa calls her a revolutionary for women.  Together they are going to explore Latham’s inspirations, her views on the inherent discrimination in the health care system and exploring what it means to be a black mother in America.

Being At The Table means:

“Throw the table out, let somebody repurpose the wood, turn it into something else, and see what the space looks like when there's nothing else in the room. Now we're all in this room together, and now how do we design a future together?” – Latham Thomas

Highlights from the Conversation:

• Latham’s inspiration and driving force for the work she does
• How body literacy from a young age shaped her path to later becoming a doula
• The inherent mistrust that people of color have with the medical system
• The watershed moment that led to her to train other doulas and the success behind it
• Facing the reality of black maternal mortality
• Empowering people to make choices and navigate the system
• Finding the wisdom many have lost through reflection and tradition
• The Survival Programs created by the Black Panther movement
• And more

About the Guest:

Latham Thomas is a maternity lifestyle maven, world renown wellness leader, master birth doula, and bestselling author on the vanguard of transforming the wellness movement. Named one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100, Latham’s journey began after giving birth to her son Fulano in 2003 and founding MamaGlow.

https://mamaglow.com/

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

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Rabia Anwar Chaudry truly believes that understanding and acceptance can come through the power of storytelling. In fact she has used it in her podcasts to help individuals that have been falsely accused of crimes. Rabia joins Alaa today to talk about the influence story telling has not just in learning life’s lessons but also the path to social change.

Being At The Table means:

“To listen to everybody else's perspective is; to learn to just be still and listen to people and understand why are their priorities the way they are” - Rabia Chaudry

Highlights from the Conversation:

• Her involvement in the creation of Serial Podcast that investigated the claims that Adnan Syed was innocent of murder, one of Rabia’s clients
• The transition from Serial to Undisclosed, which investigates wrongful convictions and the U.S. criminal justice system, which has helped exonerate 9 defendants
• The power of District Attorneys and finding the right candidates to run for this office
• Learning that facts don’t necessarily matter as they can be interpreted differently however changing people’s minds begins with telling stories
• Getting over the shame of living in domestic violence and divorce
• A look into her book Fatty Fatty Boom Boom, her memoir around food and family
• Delving into raising our girls differently to live the life they want
• And more.

About the Guest:

Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, advocate, and Executive Producer of four-part HBO documentary “The Case Against Adnan Syed.” A NYT bestselling author and co-host of two podcasts Rabia will be publishing her next book “Fatty Fatty Boom Boom”, a memoir on food, fat, and family this year.

http://www.rabiachaudry.com/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/undisclosed/id984987791

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

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Founder and CEO of Affectiva, Dr. Rana el Kaliouby joins Alaa on this week’s episode to discuss bringing emotional intelligence to technology, creating her company, Affectiva, and leading with conviction and empathy.

Being At The Table means:

“It's not just being at the table; it has to be exercising that voice… You can't be in a position of influence or power and decide to be silent.” - Dr. Rana el Kaliouby

Highlights from the Conversation:

• Advocating for humanizing technology before it dehumanizes us
• Her inspiration to start this journey into emotional AI
• Collaborating with the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge and being offered a position at MIT Media Lab with Rosalind Picard
• Starting her company Affectiva with Rosalind and taking of the role of CEO
• Being a role model as an Egyptian woman in a field dominated by white and male.
• Cultivating the self-confidence and self-compassion to believe in ourselves and those life changing moments
• The power of empathy in leading and making changes
• And more.

About the Guest:

AI Thought Leader Dr. Rana el Kaliouby is the Co-founder and CEO of Affectiva and the author of Girl Decoded, a memoir that explores her quest to reclaim our humanity by bringing emotional intelligence to technology. She has been recognized as one of Fortune’s 40 under 40 and by Forbes as one of America’s top 50 women in tech.

https://ranaelkaliouby.com/

https://www.affectiva.com/

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

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Writing poetry from a young age, Emi Mahmoud started her journey to inspire hope and peace in others. She has done incredible things in her life from co-founding sickle cell research, been name one of BBCs 100 inspirational women, and has worked with President Obama and the Dalai Lama.  In this episode, Emi shares her experiences that has made her the person that she is today.

Being At The Table means:

“Being comfortable enough to say wait a second, if I'm being brought here in a predefined role, and a predetermined space that I'm only allowed to stretch out as far as you're comfortable with, then I'm going to create a new route for change. One where if you want to act in the spaces that are comfortable to me, you need to meet us where We are at.” – Emi Mahmoud

Highlights from the Conversation:

• Emi’s desire to change the way people talk about peace
• Sharing her first poem about peace in front of a crowd at the age of 10
• How the regime in Sudan targeted her family but inspired her to write for change
• Inspiring others to participate in a 1000km peace walk in Sudan and having to leave the country afterwards for her own safety
• Emi shares some of her writings including one of Alaa’s favorites, Mama
• Redefining what we see as powerful
• The hypocrisy of identity politics

About the Guest:

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and World Champion Poet, Emi Mahmoud advocates for refugees and disadvantaged communities worldwide. Named one of BBC’s 100 Most Inspirational Women, Emi co-founded a Sickle Cell research initiative at age 19. She’s since worked with President Obama, the Dalai Lama, and the World Bank, and she has moved audiences at the UN General Assembly, The World Economic Forum, Forbes 30 Under 30, and countless high-level events. The Sudanese-American author of Sisters’ Entrance she walked 1000km for peace in Sudan in 2018, mobilizing thousands of people across the way.

http://emi-mahmoud.com/

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

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Lebanese Canadian activist, author, and speaker, Najwa Zebian, joins Alaa on this week’s episode. Najwa discusses what it feels like to belong and not belong at the same time, using her love of poetry to fuel her advocacy and what it means to be our real self.  

Being At The Table means:

“Showing up as the real me and showing up with compassion for both myself, as a human being, and for the person sitting across from me” – Najwa Zebian

Highlights from the Conversation:

• Living a simple life in Lebanon and the culture shock of coming to Canada at the age of 16
• Finding her calling as a teacher in university and doing her practicum as Muslim in a Catholic school
• Growing up with poetry and how it shaped how she looked and interacted with the world
• Using poetry as a mode for advocacy for change in a system that was not set up for the success of those who did not learn English at a young age
• Publishing her book during a dark period of her life
• Choosing our real self
• And more!

About the Guest:

Najwa Zebian is a Lebanese-Canadian activist, author, speaker, and educator. Through her three books, her podcast (Stories of the Soul) and her own digital school (Soul Academy), she continues to give a voice to countless souls out there aching to be heard.

https://najwazebian.com/

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

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If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

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Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. 

Named one of the United Nations Secretary General 17 sustainable development advocates, Eddie Ndopu is pursuing a billion-dollar global access fund to benefit the billion people living with disabilities worldwide. Eddie shares his story on what it means to overcome the challenges put on him from being black, queer and disabled and pursuing his dreams.

Being At The Table means:

“I think we need to embrace the complexity and the magnificence of who we are in all of our kaleidoscopic glory.” – Eddie Ndopu

Highlights from the Conversation:

• Creating the space to be heard and the methodology of intersectionality
• Living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and how that influenced how he lives life
• Returning to South Africa after undergraduate studies and facing the belief by others that he has reached his ‘ceiling’
• Moving beyond zero, going beyond the compliance logic in public policy and social justice
• Defying gravity as a person with disabilities
• The misnomer definition of minority
• Activism that centers the emotional liberation of communities
• Making his dream of going to space come true
• And More!

About the Guest:

Described by the media as "Black, queer, disabled and brilliant," fearless activist and humanitarian Eddie Ndopu was given a life expectancy of five years. Now almost 30, Eddie has made every minute count: he has a masters from Oxford, is one of the UN Secretary General's seventeen Sustainable Development Goals Advocates and is ambitiously pursuing both a campaign to be the first person with a physical disability to travel into outer space, and a billion-dollar Global Access Fund to benefit the billion people living with disabilities globally. Do not tell this man something is impossible.

https://www.facebook.com/edward.ndopu

https://www.instagram.com/eddiendopu/

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

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Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. 

In this episode, Alaa is joined by Layla Saad, a best-selling author, speaker, and teacher on the topics of race, identity, leadership, personal transformation, and social change. Layla shares her inspirational story that is sure to inspire and educate you. Discover the power of being fully human.

Being At The Table means:

“I want each of us to have our own tables and for them to be tables where we get to define who we are for ourselves, but also be in community with people who also have their own tables, and all tables get access to all resources.” – Layla Saad

Highlights from the Conversation:

·        The story behind writing Me and White Supremacy and its success

·        The emotional and physical toll writing the book had on her

·        The impact of facing oppression from people that look like you

·        Facing the lack of compassion in yourself for yourself

·        Finding the courage to ‘do better’

·        Steps to unlock the better person within ourselves

·        And more

About the Guest:

Layla F. Saad is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, anti-racism educator, international speaker, and podcast host on the topics of race, identity, leadership, personal transformation and social change. She is the author of the ground-breaking Me and White Supremacy (2020), an anti-racism education workbook that was initially offered for free in an Instagram challenge.

http://laylafsaad.com/

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

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Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. 

Cristina Jiménez, the Cofounder and Senior Advisor of United We Dream, joins Alaa on this week’s episode. Together they will discuss the power of rage, collective mobilization, and how we must do the work to understand the issues to build inclusive and diverse movements.

Being At The Table means:

“I always say that nothing about us should happen without us and that means creating our own tables sometimes. That means coming to the table, even if there is no chair for you and forcing yourself in.” - Cristina Jiménez

Highlights from the Conversation:

• Becoming an organizer and activist lead to her understanding the true power of her voice
• Channeling injustice and rage into action
• Organic Transformation
• Centering on the voices, experiences and lives of people directly impacted by injustice is a core value of United We Dream
• Success will be the day where a boy or girl who has an immigrant experience does not have to feel ashamed for it
• Harnessing moments to create massive awakenings in people
• The simple act of storytelling is healing and transformational
• And More…

About the Guest:

A Co-Founder and Senior Advisor of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country, Cristina Jiménez is a community organizer, strategist, and freedom fighter. After emigrating to New York from Ecuador with her family at the age of 13, Cristina lived undocumented for 12 years. Today, Cristina has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine and was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 2017.

United We Dream | The Largest Immigrant Youth-Led Network

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

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Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

Elizabeth Plank started her journey in journalism after being outraged with a women’s boxing controversy in the 2012 Olympics. From there she realized that she could make the biggest impact through this medium.  John Liz and Alaa as they discuss objectivity, her foray into writing a book on the current view of masculinity, not being complicit but remembering how much power you have as a citizen of the world, and much more.

Being At The Table means:

“Active listening. Really listening to someone, not just waiting for them to be done so that you can say what you want to say. I feel such a privilege to get to listen to so many different people in my fields of work, and it is a real honor for me to get to do that” – Elizabeth Plank

Highlights from the Conversation:

• The white male perspective has become the standard for objectivity however there is no such thing as objectivity. 
• Why she felt the need to write a book about mindful masculinity and gender perspective
• The power of language in the media and how it changes the focus of what is important
• The varying definitions of what a feminist is
• How microaggressions are not truly micro
• Viewing success in journalism through the metric of mental health
• And More…

About the Guest:

Liz Plank is an award-winning journalist and was the executive producer and host of several critically acclaimed digital series at Vox Media and NBC News. She is a columnist for MSNBC and has been listed as one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Marie Claire’s Most Powerful Women, and one of the World’s Most Influential People in Gender Policy by Apolitical. She’s built a loyal following on numerous social media platforms, but her proudest accomplishment by far remains being blocked by the 45th president of the United States.

http://www.elizabethplank.com/

About the Host:

Alaa Murabit is an award-winning medical doctor, global security strategist, women’s rights advocate and United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment & Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocate.

https://alaamurabit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alaamurabit/

https://twitter.com/almmura

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaamurabit/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

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Leave us an Apple Podcasts review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.