Children receive race and racism sometimes before they receive their own connection to themselves as human beings. In this final episode of the series, we explore race through children's eyes and also how it robs children of their humanity, wonder, and their very childhoods. The episode begins with a historical reflection on Canada's residential schools (0:33), includes special guest Tina Lopes (3:36), and closes with a reflection from our co-host Joy Donnell on her own childhood introduction to racism (39:53) and her journey to use media like this series to empower us all away from that which separates us and toward a return to the collective divine that we all share (43:28).

Tina Lopes's Consulting Website

Source Materials for Residental School Reflection "Stolen Children"

The concept of 'Asian American' is a complex one. This episode expands the conversation around race with regard to those who identify as Asian and those who have adopted labels and expectations assigned to them as "Asian". The podcast begins with a historical reflection about the murder of Vincent Chin (0:29) and includes special guests Dr. Tom Hayashi (4:44) and Masami Covey (12:50).

Masami's Shift Course On-Demand

Why Aren’t There More Asian Americans in Leadership Positions?

by Stefanie K. Johnson and Thomas Sy

As a companion to our previous episode, we take a historical look at Skid Row and it's misunderstood infrastructure

Lost Angles Documentary

New York Time Article from Alice Callahan

The solutions to the modern day issues of race and poverty has created a mixed bag of results. Billions of dollars have been spent with no consistent, positive outcome. Investor and Community Organizer Darryl Finkton Jr. shares his vision for dismantling racism by ending poverty through investment.

To learn more about our guest and his plan to eradicate poverty, visit EndPovertyMakeTrillions.

Policing in America has historical roots in the nation's origins of slavery, capitalism and colonialism. This episode explores that history and policing's present day problematic relationship to race. We offer an open, nuanced conversation about police reform and the things that cannot be ignored if we want to get better together. Special Guests include Lora King, the daughter of Rodney King, followed by Police Chief Mike Alexander. This podcast will explain the history of policing in America (01:35), a reading from ”Confessions of a Former Bastard Cop” from Medium.com (03:28), an interview with Lora King (07:31), selected readings from “Warriors to Guardians” from the Washington Post (21:47 and 40:54), an eye-opening discussion on police reform with Chief Mike Alexander (26:00), and a discussion on the cultural context of outcries to defund the police (41:43). 

RELATED REFERENCES:

Washington Post Article: Creating Guardians, Calming Warriors

Medium Article: Confessions of a Former Bastard Cop

November marks Indigenous Heritage Month in the United States but a majority of Americans still remain unaware of the reverberating trauma Indigenous people have suffered in the past and still endure today. "Honoring Race" is a special episode of Shift's Liberating Race podcast in which we make a humble contribution to this vital and necessary conversation. Special guest Dr. Joely Proudfit joins our hosts Aliah MaJon, Joy Donnell, and Nick Mattos to discuss land, America's complex founding, and the rich restorative opportunities that present when we maintain Native American futures as intrinsic to our global future.

Related References:

Native Land Digital, a Canadian not-for-profit organization, strives to create and foster conversations about the history of colonialism, Indigenous ways of knowing, and settler-Indigenous relations.

Native Time, an app that brings together complex historical information and Indigenous calendars, so that you don’t just read about Native American history through the app; you feel it.

Sogorea Te' Land Trust, an urban Indigenous women-led land trust that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people.

Land Acknowledgments Meant to Honor Indigenous People Too Often Do the Opposite By Elisa Sobo, Michael C. Lambert, and Valerie Lambert of Pocket

To learn about our guest, visit Dr. Joely Proudfit online.

The concept of "Race" plays an active role in the entertainment we consume today and in our film and television of the past. This episode reveals racism’s role in the invention of stereotypes (00:33), and its ability to deny real-life voices of their accurate portrayal in the stories we tell (04:18). Special guest Liberating Race Producer Amy Kersten joins Aliah MaJon, Gillian Shelley, and Joy Donnell to explore anti-racism in casting and storytelling.

Additional Resources:

From the 60 Minutes archives on YouTube, in 2002, Ed Bradley profiled Pulitzer prize winner August Wilson

The application of false race theory on those of Jewish faith fueled Nazi hatred and the tragic loss of life during WWII. In this episode, we will explore how the idea of race and the application of racism was placed on people of the Jewish faith to create an extra layer of dehumanization and exploitation around their bodies (00:46). And we will discuss the transformational modalities that help one heal from such dehumanization (11:58) and how tragedy, trauma, and loss can lead us to our soul purpose (28:36). 

Phoenix Singer joins our hosts Aliah MaJon, Joy Donnell, and Gillian Shelley in a special conversation with our guest Cantor Judith Steel, one of the youngest living Holocaust survivors today (02:27). She was a passenger on the M.S. St. Louis, also known as the Voyage of the Damned. Judith has devoted her life to her personal healing and the collective healing of all people after the Holocaust.

To learn more about Judith or read her book visit: cantorjudithsteel.com

Mixed race children are simply the blending of two people with different skin colors and ethnic backgrounds. Yet, their very existence debunks the myth of race. This episode reveals the economic and divisive roots of mixed-race identity, how the spiritual dilemma of these origins persists today (07:15), and how we can start to think differently about ancestral healing (12:50). Special guest Dr. Nicole Haggard of CIME joins hosts Aliah MaJon, Gillian Shelley, and Joy Donnell to dive into how TV and film have taught us to see the mixing of race, aka miscegenation, and mixed-race children (02:26). Darryl Finkton, Jr. shares his insight as a scientist and his work to course correct one of his ancestors through, End Poverty Make Trillions, his movement for universal basic income (11:36).

Additional Resources:

The Hollywood Production Code, or Hays Code, forbade the romance between different races, or miscegenation, in film. More can be found at Digital Collections of the Margaret Herrick Library.

Occasionally, biracial twins are born with clear skin-color differences. It’s a rare circumstance that’s *been termed having “biracial twins.”

#mixedrace #universalbasicincome

The roots of race run deep. Hosts Rev. Dr. Aliah MaJon, Joy Donnell, and Gillian Shelley look at what we’ve inherited from the idea of race (24:03), discuss restorative practices for healing the traumas of racism (40:02) and explore our evolutionary path to liberating race.

Additional Resources:

Learn about how Bacon's Rebellion was triggered when a grab for Native American lands was denied and how the aftermath created new classifications for race and caste.

Race theory also found its way into illustrations of Human Hierarchy Charts intended to rank different races as "more" or "less" human

The Crania Americana is noted as "the most important book on the history of scientific racism"