"What are you?" That’s a very tricky question journalist and cartoonist Malaka Gharib is super familiar with as a first generation Filipino-Egyptian-American. Malaka grew up navigating three different cultures and two religions...something Chris can relate to as a Dominican-Colombian-American who grew up in the vibrant city of Queens, New York. Listen to learn more about how Malaka’s thinking about the question "What are you?" evolved and inspired her to write her first graphic memoir I Was Their American Dream. Her latest book It Won't Always Be Like This is out now.

Listen to this episode to find out exactly who in your life is a donkey and how to pay them no mind. Chris chats with actress and friend of show, Kyla Pratt, about growing up inside the entertainment industry and her long career on groundbreaking shows for Black and Brown folks.

Last time, we started to unpack the complicated history of how Dominicans think about race. Today, we keep that conversation going with Dr. Saudi Garcia, a writer born in the DR who identifies not as white, or latina, or afro-caribbean... but Black. She tells me about the bent towards whiteness she's been trying to fight for most of her life.

Did you grow up in Haiti or the DR? Or maybe in another place with a similar history of antiblackness? What have you learned and unlearned? Send your thoughts in an email or voice message to [email protected].

How can people from two countries in conflict come together? Well that's exactly what today's guest, France Francois, helps facilitate between Haitian- and Dominican-Americans.  France's organization runs workshops called Decolonizing Hispaniola, where they deconstruct historical myth and help everyone reimagine a conflict-free future.  Today, she chats with Chris about how she got into this work and what Haiti and DR have in common. Plus, producer Baudelaire reports back from one of France's workshops!

Did you grow up in Haiti or the DR? Or maybe in another place with a similar history of violence and antiblackness? What have you learned and unlearned? Send your thoughts in an email or voice message to [email protected]"

This episode is going to make you hungry. Because it's all about tacos! Chris chats with taco expert and professor Steve Alvarez about how cultures mix through their food by looking at one of Chris' favorite cross-cultural tacos: Tacos Arabes. Plus, the best tacos from LA to Queens!

Scoring all the right points in Hollywood ain't easy -- especially as a Brown person. Claudia Forestieri learned that first hand when creating her hit TV series Gordita Chronicles for HBO. The show was widely acclaimed and popular... but got cancelled after just one season. Chris chats with Claudia about the lessons she learned from pitching and creating Gordita Chronicles, and what Hollywood is failing to do for Brown communities.

Row House is on a mission to reshape the book publishing world. And its founder, Rebekah Borucki, has made it her business to welcome new authors of various backgrounds into it. Today, she talks to Christopher Rivas about stealing a book that changed her life, and how she infiltrated a white industry with her progressive agenda. Plus, we hear the backstory of how that led her to Chris, who has a new book out October 11th called Brown Enough. 

Comete ese miedo -- or eat your fear -- is what Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa's husband told her to do when imposter syndrome sneaks up on her. But across her decades long career, she's learned to embrace the pressure. Today, she talks to Christopher Rivas about how her parents' experience in the US shaped how she thinks about this country. Plus, what she hopes for the next generation of Brown journalists. Her new young adult book Once I Was You: Finding My Voice and Passing the Mic is out now. 

Sad that Rubirosa is over? Well, guess what: Chris isn't going anywhere! Stay tuned for a new conversation every week about what it means to be BROWN ENOUGH. 

In this last episode of the series, I visit the Dominican Republic for the first time ever. A trip I think will be about finding closure with Rubi ends up becoming a family reunion I’ll never forget.