Everyday Conversations on Race

Sonia Lewis joins me on this conversation on race to talk about race, racism, inequity and critical race theory in education. She is a consultant and speaker in diversity, race and education.

Key topics:

• Sonia's decision to not salute American Flag when she was seven
• Sonia's experience growing up in Richmond, California with a father who was one of the founders of the Black police officer's association
• Historical background of the US educational system and the perpetuation of systemic racism
• Why it's essential to be able to talk about race in schools
• What really is Critical Race Theory
• How white supremacists are playing on the ignorance and fears of many white people and distorting the definition of critical race theory
• The history of racism in the US includes racism against, Asians, Latinos, Native Americans and also antisemitism
• Jim Crow laws that stopped Black people from voting, owning property, getting education and keeping segregation
• Could some of the pushback against Critical Race Theory be due to shame that some people feel about how people of color have been treated? Or is it just hate?
• Three ways people can help dismantle racism

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Conversations across race are sometimes hard but always necessary for the health of our organizations. If you understand the importance of creating organizations where everyone feels included and people are creative across differences, contact us now. [email protected]

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Sonia Lewis Bio

She has been described as fearless and unflinching; driven by the integrity of hard work; a dreamer and problem solver; and a bully to the bullies with power and influence. Sonia Lewis co-founded ASCRIBE Educational Consulting on February 13, 2009, while sitting in a booth at Stage Coach Restaurant in Sacramento, CA, while having birthday brunch with a friend. They wrote a mission and vision statement on napkins. Sonia channeled how supported she felt at age 7 when she daringly challenged liberty and justice for all. Core to her dream for ASCRIBE was to lean on equity and resources for the most marginalized in community. A former high school Social Studies teacher and Program Director, Sonia took a leap of faith into the world of entrepreneurship. She is a visionary and isn't willing to accept the norm, as the standard we are forced to accept.

I'm joined in this conversation on race by Katara McCarty. Katara is an emotional well-being advocate for BIWOC (Black, Indigenous, Women of Color) She developed an app called Exhale for BIWOC to support their emotional well-being and manage their particular stress.

Key Topics:

• How Katara was born bi-racial (white mother and Black father) in 1972 and left by her mother in the hospital and then adopted and raised by a Black gay woman and her mother in 1972. Why she identifies as a Black woman instead of bi-racial.

• How systemic racism has resulted in stress, trauma, and life-threatening illnesses for Black, Indigenous Women of Color.

• Why Katara McCarty got involved in wellness after seeing that the wellness industry was primarily white.

• How she came to understand that the needs of BIWOC are different than white women who have not had the same trauma.

• How the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and the resulting trauma to Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and Femmes caused her to develop her app to deal with their stress and anxiety that white people don't have.

• How many coaching programs in organizations are geared towards white people with white coaches who are not conscious about racism and the issues that non-white people have to deal with to navigate the corporate environment?

• What is in the app, meditations, breathwork techniques, coaching talks, and daily affirmations? They are in 45 countries.

• The need for everyone to practice anti-racism. Systemic racism is pervasive. How white people must play a key role in dismantling racist systems that they benefit from. What that will mean.

• Katara McCarty talks about the increase in her anxiety level, how the app helps her. The importance of people unpacking their own biases. She suggests people take the 20-day anti-racist challenge by Layla Saad.

• Suggested resource Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad.

• Her Exhale app empowers Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and Femmes to do self-care and teaches them how to meditate, breathe and feel good.

• Advice to people who want to talk about race:

1- Do your own work.

2- Know yourself.

3- Don't ask Black people to be your teachers, or educate you.

4- Unlearn, learn and relearn about racism.

Tweetable Quotes:

"We have to create practices in our lives, to help manage the stress, anxiety, and trauma brought on by systemic racism, anti-blackness, micro aggressions, because it is killing us, there are resources to help us get that trauma, that stress, and that anxiety out of our bodies." - Katara McCarty

"Most of those people were white that were paying for my services. So went from 20 years of work. Working with people on the margins to now I'm a coach and I have an all-white clientele, which didn't resonate with my values and how I want to show up for my community." - Katara McCarty

Bio:

From out of the realities of abandonment by her biological mother, being bi-racial and growing up in a Black home, Katara McCarty realized early in life that the color of her skin mattered. After becoming a single mother at 19 and finding the courage to leave an abusive relationship, Katara became an entrepreneur holding leadership positions in both non- and for-profit organizations.

Today, Katara is a sought-after coach, author, and podcast host dedicated to cultivating brave spaces where all Black, Indigenous, Women of Color (BIWOC) belong. As a Black woman, she is committed to amplifying the richness of BIWOC and their stories, while also advocating for and providing emotional well-being resources for BIWOC, through her app EXHALE.

In this conversation on race, I'm joined by Amy and Hardy Nickerson. Amy is an author, creator, lecturer, educational consultant, and diversity/inclusion/antiracism advocate. Hardy Nickerson is a Former NFL All Pro linebacker (16-year career), NFL and college coach, and Amy's husband of 32 years. He's a football consultant and strategist, online coach, and now an MBA candidate.

In this episode Amy and Hardy talk about their experiences with police, racism and stereotyping, and concern for their children as African-Americans in the US.

Key topics:

[2:12] The frightening experience of a Black family driving through Florida and being stopped and interrogated by police for no reason.

[4:47] How young Black boys get labeled aggressive early on in elementary school, while nothing happens to young white boys who are doing the same things.

[12:55] What white people say to Black people to discount their experiences with race and racist police while driving

[14:13] What white people can do and what they should not do if they are in a car with a Black friend who gets stopped by the police.

[18:24] No matter how much money you have, if you are a Black person you are not immune to racism or racist violence.

[26:43] Athletes who are speaking out now.

The importance of voter registration and the threat or Black voter suppression

[28:14] Why it can be dangerous for Black people to call the police even when they are victims of crimes.

[31:09] Reactions to the George Floyd verdict of guilty for Dereck Chauvin

[42:20] What bystanders need to do to be active allies and save lives. The importance of standing up and taking an action

[54:00] How white people can school themselves, understand racism and be anti-racist

Bio and Contact Info

Amy Nickerson is an author, speaker, educational consultant, and antiracism & social justice advocate. Her book How Do You See Us?, an Amazon bestselling new release, details her family's harrowing accounts of encounters with police and the racism they often experience. Using their stories, Amy unpacks the long reach of racism in America, exploring how and why tensions continue to escalate. She addresses audiences ranging from local schools to the FBI National Academy, guiding conversations about race and social justice.

Married 31 years to husband Hardy, former NFL All-Pro linebacker and NFL/College coach, and having raised three student-athletes, Amy also possesses extensive knowledge and understanding of sports at the professional, college and high school levels. She is experienced in curriculum development and college instruction specializing in student-athletes' experiences and the impact of structural forces and systemic racism on their lives. Amy holds two degrees from UC Berkeley – BA (Afro-American Studies/Social Sciences) and MA (Education – Cultural Studies of Sport in Education), and is a Board member and chair of the Education Committee for the Freedom Football League (FFL), a newly formed professional football league.

Contact info:

Book: How Do You See Us? Our Lived Realities of Being Viewed As a Threat

Email LinkedIn Facebook Instagram HowDoYouSeeUs.com AmyNickerson.net

Hardy Nickerson

Former NCAA Power 5 Defensive Coordinator and Former NFL Assistant Coach. Retired NFL Player, was 5x Pro Bowler, 4x NFL All-Pro, 1990's NFL All-Decade Team. Highly Skilled Football Coach, Team Leader and Change Agent. Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from UC Berkeley.

Instagram

Twitter

On this conversation on race, I'm joined by Sam Caucci, CEO and Nora Boussatta, sales leader from the organization 1Huddle. We talk about how 1Huddle a company that creates games to reinforce learning uses gamification to educate people about race and racism.

Key Topics

[3:00] Nora shares her experience growing up biracial, and Muslim-American in New Jersey. Her father was born in Morocco and she was raised in a Muslim-American home

[4:26] Nora talks about her first experience with race and racism wanting to fit in at her mostly white college.

[5:43] Sam shares growing up in a blue-collar home and becoming an entrepreneur.

[7:25] Race is personally important to Sam because his wife is Black with a father from Jamaica. They have a daughter and he is concerned about how racism will impact her. He wants her to be safe and successful.

[11:01] Sam and the other people at 1Huddle began to develop games to support issues of social justice, racism and Black History month. He shares how they came up with their ideas.

The process of game creation which included putting Obama's book into a game, info from "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson, "How to be an Anti-Racist" by Ibram Kendi and content from history.

25:40 Sam talks about why companies have to address racism, and put money behind their words. He addresses his role as a white male co-founder in supporting diversity, equity and inclusion.

32:46

Nora shares having to push back against white male student making racist remarks to her.

Studies that show people with white sounding names get more interviews than people with African-American sounding names who have the same if not better qualifications and more experience

In this Conversation on Race, Ilana Kaufman, executive director of the Jews of Color Initiative shares her experience and perspective as an African-American Jew.

Her work has been featured in books on Black Power, Jewish politics, and moral resistance, and spiritual authority. She's been featured in "The New York Times" and has published articles in the "The Forward", "Jewish Philosophy", and the "Foundation Review".

Key Topics:

• The Jews of Color Initiative – was founded three years ago to create some infrastructure for Jews of Color inside the Jewish community. "We wanted to answer the questions how do we respond as Jews of Color, and how do we center Jews of color in all of our conversations?".
• Results of research and survey to count Jews of Color in the US.
• Focus on Jewish people who self-identify as Jews of Color
• The impact of racism outside the Jewish community, and within the Jewish community from white Jewish people.
• How you can be a white Jew and be racist even having been oppressed as a Jewish person
• One oppression doesn't cancel out the other
• The complex makeup of the Jewish community, and the diversity of Jewish people in the US and the world
• Why everyone's liberation is tied together
• How the US invented the concept of whiteness to enslave, and force people into labor who were Black and Brown, Indigenous, and Asian in this country
• Different perspectives on race, racism, Israel, colonialism, amongst Jewish people based on age and direct relationship to the holocaust
• How the trauma of the holocaust is passed down and its impact on safety and behavior for Jewish people
• The increasing racial diversity of younger Jewish people
• How the Black Power movement was the foundation for the movement to free Soviet Jews
• Jews of Color have to deal with racism amongst white Jews and both racism and antisemitism outside the Jewish community.

About Ilana Kaufman

Ilana Kaufman is the Director of the Jews of Color Field Building Initiative, a national project housed at the Leichtag Foundation. The initiative, inspired by a team of racially diverse Jewish community leaders and motivated funders, informed by racial equity and justice, and anchored by the voices and experience of Jews of Color is focused on grant making, research and field building, and community education. As a guest on NPR's Code Switch, with pieces featured in eJewish Philanthropy and The Foundation Review, and an Eli Talk titled Who Counts, Race and the Jewish Future with 16,000 views, Ilana is passionate about all things at the intersection of Jewish Community/Racial Justice/Jews of Color/Education/Philanthropy. Prior to joining the Jews of Color Field Building Initiative Ilana was the Public Affairs and Civic Engagement Director, East Bay for the San Francisco, Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council. Ilana, a Schusterman Fellow who is always searching Jewish Text for discussion of equity and justice received her B.A. in Sociology from California State University-Humboldt, and her M.A. in Educational Pedagogy from Mills College.

Contact Info:

Website Newsletter LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

In this Conversation on Race, I'm joined by Greg Jenkin, a white man who spent over 28 years in the military. We talk about white supremacy in the military, and the riots at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Greg, is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leader who continues to coach and mentor veterans who are transitioning out of the service.

This show is a little different in that Greg and Simma are both white. Stephon Williams who is African- American had to cancel at the last minute. We decided to do this episode anyway because of the topic.

Greg shares his perspective on the white riots/insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, where there seemed to be a disproportionate amount of people who had been in the military.

Key topics:

• The numbers of people who had been in the military who participated in the white riot.
• Although there were a few Jewish, Black and Latinx people at the riot, a great majority were there representing white supremacy.
• Greg's reason for going into the military; not out of patriotism but because of the recession when he joined
• How Greg found a deep patriotism once he was in the military
• How some people come into the military who are already indoctrinated in white supremacy and other people let go of many of their biases as a result of being around people who are different
• The military itself does not support white supremacy and impresses on people the importance of supporting freedom and the constitution for everybody
• Consequences when someone in the military is discovered to be a white supremacist
• The military also provides opportunities for people to engage and interact with people who are different
• Greg talks about why he thinks it's difficult for white supremacists to get into the military
• How Greg learned about racism and sexism and self-awareness from being in the military. It was a place of self-discovery and growth around diversity for him
• The responsibility that military leaders have to educate, and create environments where people can learn about each other to serve everyone in the country
• What makes a good leader in the military

About Greg Jenkins

Greg Jenkins is a dedicated and passionate consultant, practitioner and life-long learner of Diversity & Inclusion, Equal Opportunity and Leadership. He recently completed a successful US Army career that ranged from overseas duties in Germany, South Korea and combat duty in Iraq to include a number of stateside assignments culminating in Washington D.C. His performance in Military Equal Opportunity efforts resulted in developing a model program for other Army Equal Opportunity and human relations efforts. He served as the senior commander's liaison with state and local organizations, along with educational and community leaders resulting in improved civic relationships.

Greg was hand-selected by the Director of the Army's Diversity Task Force to help establish the Army's Diversity program, policy and products. He was instrumental in the planning and execution the Army's Diversity marketing campaign achieving world-wide coverage for the Army's 1.4M Soldiers, Civilians, and their family members. He's an experienced instructor who has provided training, facilitation and oversight for thousands of personnel ensuring quality and relevant Military Equal Opportunity, Diversity and Leadership training and education for mid, senior and executive level managers and leaders.

Most recently, he was appointed as; Chair or Board, Diversity Certification Institute, Global Diversity & Inclusion Foundation. He volunteers for the Missouri committee of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. He's a published author and graduate of Webster University, where recently attained my Master's degree in Human Resources Development. He enjoys helping people, spending time with my friends, family and staying physically fit while volunteering for organizations within my community.

In this conversation on race, Lee Mun Wah, a Chinese-American man, and Dr. Joel Davis Brown, an African-American man, talk about racism against Black and Asian people.

Key topics:

• Stereotypes, and their root causes between African-Americans and Asians.
• Lee Mun Wah recounts issues amongst men from different races and ethnicities when he produced the groundbreaking film on race, "Color of Fear".
• Mun Wah shares the stereotypes he heard about Black people when he grew up.
• Joel shares stereotypes he heard about Asians growing up from the people around him.
• The problems with Asians being considered "model minority" by white people.
• Joel and Mun Wah talk agree that communities of color are missing the opportunity to talk to each other.
• How white supremacists create, perpetuate and benefit from conflict and misunderstandings between Asian and Black people.
• Why it's important for Black and Asian people to not just focus on white people, but spend time becoming better allies against racism.
• Early movements of third-world unity including Black people, Asians from different ethnicities, Native Americans, and LatinX people, as well as working in a coalition with progressive white people.
• Racist, stereotypical messages immigrants get about other groups before they come to the US and how those messages cause stress, conflict, and racism.
• The dangers of Black people being stereotyped as "model activists".
• What African-Americans and Asians can do to create unity, learn from each other, and show support to end racism.

Lee Mun Wah is an internationally renowned Chinese American documentary filmmaker, author, poet, Asian folk teller, educator, community therapist, and master diversity trainer. He is the Executive Director of StirFry Seminars & Consulting, a diversity training company that provides educational tools and workshops on cross-cultural communication and awareness, mindful facilitation, and conflict mediation techniques. His first documentary film, Stolen Ground, about the experience of Asian Americans, won honorable mention at the San Francisco International Film Festival. His most famous film about racism, The Color of Fear, won the Gold Medal for Best Social Studies Documentary and in 1995, Oprah Winfrey did a one-hour special on Lee Mun Wah's life and work that was seen by many. His latest film, If These Halls Could Talk, was just released. The film's focus is on college students and their experience with racism and other diversity issues in higher education. Thousands of people from government and social service agencies, corporations and educational institutions have taken Lee Mun Wah's workshops and partnered with Stirfry Seminars & Consulting on their diversity initiatives.

Dr. Joel A. Davis Brown is the Chief Visionary Officer of Pneumos LLC, a management consulting and coaching company based in San Francisco, USA, specializing in cultural intelligence, leadership, change management, and strategic storytelling. As a change agent, Joel works strategically with organizational leaders to cultivate innovative, creative, and adaptive environments where the cultural genius of everyone can be harnessed and leveraged successfully. In particular, Joel works with organizational clients to foster psychological safety, healing, belonging, and transformation. His work spans five continents and his mission is to facilitate liberation for every global citizen.

Best known for his critical analysis, creativity, humor, and an ability to build consensus, Joel has partnered with Fortune 500 Companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies to help them achieve sustained growth and organizational breakthroughs. His clients have ranged from LinkedIn to the United Nations, and his "sweet spots" have included men's leadership, LGBT inclusion, interpersonal dialogue, and intercultural communication.

Contact information: Facebook: www.facebook.com/Pneumos Twitter: @joelabrown7 Website: www.pneumos.com LinkedIn: www.linkedn.com/in/joelanthonybrown

In this Conversation on Race, I'm joined by Pam Grimm, who talks about her experiences as a a Black woman in the fitness world. She's 62 years old, has been teaching fitness since she was in her 50's and says it's never too late to get in shape. In this episode, she shares why getting shape is so important for everyone, and especially women of color.

Pam has been in recovery from drug addiction since 1993. In 2013, she decided to focus on fitness. And I'm telling you, this woman is fit. She is the author of two books, "#empowered: 90 Days of Enlightenment" which offers encouragement and spiritual inspiration, and #empowered: A Gratitude and Affirmations Journal

She is a certified personal trainer with the International Sports Sciences Association, a certified Group X Instructor, and a certified lifestyle wellness coach.

Key topics:

• Her story of recovering from drug addiction
• Her journey from drug addiction to fitness instructor
• Women and fitness
• How to get fit in the virtual world
• Her motto "Don't let your head tell you what you can't do"
• How to get your body to move
• Her thoughts on being a Black woman in her 60's teaching fitness
• Black women and body image
• Why getting in shape is revolutionary for women, especially women of color
• Health care disparities and medical myths about Black people
• How self-care is a weapon against racist medical policies
• How to get started now even during Covid

About Pam Grimm

Pam Grimm is a corporate fitness instructor and currently teaches classes for corporations and individuals. She is also a personal trainer and a health & wellness coach. Her training focuses on strength, flexibility and balance in order for her clients to become the best version of themselves.

Contacts

www.pamgfitness.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-grimm-39670a38

https://www.instagram.com/pamg_fitness

In this conversation on race Deanna Singh talks with me about growing up Asian-Indian, and African-American in Wisconsin.

Key topics include:

• Deanna's experience with parents from two different cultures
• What it was like to be one of only two kids of color in an all-white school
• The beauty and joy of talking about race
• First experience with overt racism at the age of five from another five-year-old
• Impact of last four years with Trump et al. on young people of color and her vision for the future
• Founding a publishing company for books with children of color
• Her life experience- the lynching of her Black great grandfather
• Aftermath of 9/11 on her family and her Sikh father who wears a turban,
• The attack on the Sikh Temple and effect on her friends and family
• Why she believes in the triumph of love to fight racism and inequity

About Deanna Singh

Deanna Singh is a highly respected thought leader who travels the world motivating and educating audiences about living with joy and purpose. A gifted communicator, she is a champion to marginalized communities and an inspiration to all those who want to be agents of change in their work, lives, and society.

Singh earned her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Fordham University, a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University, a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Cornell University. She has impacted the world as a speaker, a teacher, a principal, a leader of large foundations, a social entrepreneur, a businesswoman, an author, a publisher, and a mother.

Contact Info:

Website: www.deannasingh.com/about-deanna-singh

Facebook: www.facebook.com/deanna.singh.10

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Deannasingh1

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannasingh

LeRon Barton, author, speaker and social media influencer joins me in this conversation on race to talk about his perspective as a Black man in the US on the Capitol riots.

Topics include:

• White riot insanity at the Capitol
• How white people's insurrection demonstrated the history and present state of racism in the US- it's still here
• If the rioters had been Black most would be dead, but because they were almost all white they were allowed to take over the building, threaten lawmakers and physically attack cops and other people who tried to stop them
• The attack on the Capitol is treason, sedition and fascist
• Why participants need to be prosecuted to the extent of the law and not allowed to continue
• How some people in congress, law enforcement and other government employees aided and abetted the rioters
• Why some Black, Brown, Asian and Jewish people support the racist actions of Trump and the white racist insurrection
• How individualism and the mindset of not caring about anyone else but oneself permeates the US culture and perpetuates the spread of COVID
• The different experiences, opportunities and outlooks between ADOS (African Descendants of Slaves,) and Black people from Africa

About LeRon Barton

LeRon L. Barton is a writer from Kansas City, MO currently living in San Francisco, Ca. A graduate of Paseo Academy of Fine Arts, LeRon is the author of two books, "Straight Dope: A 360 degree look into American Drug Culture" and "All We Really Need Is Love: Stories of Dating, Relationships, Heartbreak, and Marriage." In addition to the books, LeRon is an essayist; whose topics cover racism, mass incarceration, politics, gender, and dating. These works have appeared in Salon, The Good Men Project, Elephant Journal, East Bay Times, and MoAD. LeRon has also given talks and speeches at TedX Wilson Park, University of San Francisco, Glide Methodist Church, been a guest of Al Jazeera's The Stream, Story Corp, Dr. Vibe's Do You Know What Time It Is podcast, and has participated in panel discussions on race and prison recidivism. In his spare time, LeRon mentors young men in San Francisco and loves to backpack around the world.

www.leronbarton.com

Facebook.com/LeRonLBarton Twitter.com/MainlineLeRon Instagram.com/leronlbarton