Necessary Rebels

Yoga instructor Jonelle’s personal mantra is ‘be brave, be fierce, be free!’.
In this episode, we hear about Jonelle's lived experience of the racial and physical  prejudice that she has faced in her career, and she gives us her thoughts on how yoga can be 'for everybody'. 
Please note that this episode features strong language from the start.

Our guest on this episode is Toral Shah, a nutritional scientist and cancer campaigner. Toral tells us about her experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 29, and discusses the efforts needed to address racial inequalities in cancer care. 

The following Macmillan reports were discussed in this episode:  The Rich Picture: People with cancer from BME groups: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/_images/bme-groups_tcm9-282778.pdf

No one overlooked: Experiences of BME people affected by cancer: https://be.macmillan.org.uk/Downloads/CancerInformation/LivingWithAndAfterCancer/MAC15365BMENo-one-overlooked--experiences-of-BME-people-affected-by-cancer.pdf

Mind the Gap - Cancer inequalities in London: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/_images/4057%20MAC%20Report%202017_tcm9-319858.pdf

The NHS England and NHS Improvement three-part video series  ‘Learning from the experience of BME cancer patients’ (2020) were also highlighted:

Bias: https://youtu.be/BDSurHtFtZA

Communication: https://youtu.be/Oe2GKsejxQQ 

Dignity: https://youtu.be/jhOlem7Hm-o 

 Please note the following correction to this episode: Toral was re-diagnosed in 2018, not 2008.

Professional coach Meg Lyons tells us about her personal journey in becoming an anti-racist ally.  

Reading list for this episode: 
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad; White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh (https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf); Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Olivia has had a professional 30-year career dedicated working in public services for children and families. We ask her about the journey to leadership, dealing with racial prejudice and how to be an anti-racist ally in the workplace. 

Welcome to Necessary Rebels! We’re all about good advice for tackling inequalities and racism – at work and beyond. Hosted by Sandra and Kanar, we’ll be speaking to different professionals to hear their approach. Change is a comin’…and we hope you’ll join the rebellion! 

Find us on Instagram @necessary_rebels_pod 

Thank you to everyone who has helped fund the first series! If you want to support us to continue this work, please head to our crowdfunding page at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/necessary-rebels?utm_term=V9pgwe9wX