Welcome to Season 2 of Voices on the Side! We have some really exciting guests for you this season, starting with Michelle Li.

Michelle is a mother, writer, journalist, news anchor, and she co-founded The Very Asian Foundation, whose mission is to shine light on Asian experiences through advocacy and celebration.

Michelle is a transracial Korean adoptee who grew up in middle America, literally jumping hay bales. She shares about how her unique identity shaped her understanding of her culture and the resulting beautiful blended family.

We wonder together if true representation has yet to permeate our culture here in US, acknowledging that as exciting as it is to see increased Asian representation in Hollywood, where we really need to see energy invested is in local communities, companies, and classrooms. We also talk about the fact that people DO see color, as we have both seen in our children, and rather than something to be shushed away, we’ve discovered this is a beautiful starting point for conversations about race and diversity. Michelle and I are both raising mixed race children, and at one point during our conversation, Michelle says she wishes someone would just write a book for parents like us. I didn’t mention this to her at the time, but I found it to be a stroke of serendipity that I write about this very topic in my forthcoming book, which I am excited to share more about with all of you soon.

In the meantime, I know you will enjoy this thought-provoking episode with the very magnetic — Michelle Li.

Find out more about Very Asian Foundation at veryasianfoundation.org and you can find Michelle on Instagram ⁠⁠@michellelitv, you can also find Leah ⁠⁠@leahsoojinkim⁠⁠

This podcast was produced by Just Breathe, find out more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠justbreatheproject.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ our intro and outro music is from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠purple-planet.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠