Mallury and Rebecca were "color-blind" friends for over three years until a vulnerable admission opened the door to a frank and sometimes shocking dialogue about our races. These conversations became a primary inspiration for All the Forbidden Things, as we found that the more forbidden the dialogue became, the more powerfully we understood each other. We discovered that there were problems that we'd over- or under-estimated and things we never knew we never knew about the inner workings of the other's community. No matter how many personal secrets we had shared, there were significant parts of our lives and selves that we realized had been obscured from each other. In this episode, we offer a taste of our dialogue by talking about the particular dynamic between black men and white women and each group's perceptions about racism. We hope that you can feel the power of our connection and feel brave enough to talk more earnestly and more authentically with friends about race. The cost of never really knowing a loved one is much greater than a momentary awkwardness. We look forward to sharing more from our conversations in the future.

Find Mallury on Instagram: @mallurypatrick