Not Your Token Minority

Not Your Token Minority

By TaoSociety & Culture
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Not Your Token Minority episodes

  • Too Arab to be Russian, too Russian to be Arab
    Maria Khaydar is Russian-born and speaks Russian fluently, but has struggled to identify as Russian for a long time. As a part-Arab part-Azeri woman, she’s been questioning where she belongs and what her identity really is. And now with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she has been unpacking even more questions about identity and belonging.

    Remember to rate, review and subscribe if you enjoyed this episode, as well as follow along on Instagram. 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    45 min
  • From Me to You: Documenting the past, the present and the future with Sochetha Meng

    In the last year of her degree in communication design at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, Sochetha Meng created three zines documenting her family’s past, her own present and her hopes for the future.

    Sochetha is a second generation Cambodian New Zealander who is grappling with her identity as an “inbetweener” while also learning more about - and working through the trauma - her family’s history that, like all Cambodians, is inextricably intertwined with the horrific Khmer Rouge regime. 

    You read Sochetha’s zines here: https://issuu.com/sochetha_meng and you can follow her work on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/project.frommetoyou/


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    29 min
  • Florence & Athina: Inclusive eyewear, diversity in fashion, and growing up in the US

    Florence and Athina are the co-founders of Covry, a company that makes inclusive eyewear for faces of all shapes and sizes. I bought a pair of these glasses last year after seeing an ad on Instagram and I had no idea I needed them until I tried them on. 

    In this conversation, I chat with Florence and Athina about their backgrounds, the inspiration behind Covry, building their brand, and why it’s meaningful to them to promote diversity and inclusion through their business.

    You can buy Covry products via the website and follow them on Instagram. 


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min
  • Representation and diversity in gaming with Dhayana aka “MissDeusGeek”

    Dhayana, who goes by “MissDeusGeek” online, is an avid gamer, influencer and content creator based in Australia. Of Sri Lankan descent and born and raised in Malaysia, Dhayana is passionate about championing diversity in gaming, particularly for future generations. 

    During our conversation, we chat about:

    • The hierarchy of Malaysian society and its implications, including the pursuit of perfection, unhealthy competition and colourism.
    • Why she started Women of XBox, a global initiative focused on supporting and empowering women Xbox gamers. 
    • The power of diversity in gaming and entertainment

    You can follow Dhayana on Twitter and Instagram, and learn more about her work on her website.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    51 min
  • Golriz Ghahraman: What it means to be a truly representative MP

    Golriz Ghahraman is often described as New Zealand’s first refugee Member of Parliament (MP) and it is a label that follows her in all her work with under-represented communities in New Zealand. She came to New Zealand as a nine-year-old child asylum seeker from Iran and went on to study at Oxford University and practise law at the United Nations. She’s now an elected MP representing The Green Party, where she works on a wide range of human rights issues, including refugee and migrant rights.

    In this episode, Golriz shares with me:

    • The influence her background has had on her career choices and the issues she’s most passionate about
    • How she manages the responsibility of representation for so many different under-represented communities
    • Her journey with multiple sclerosis and her firsthand experience of how healthcare fails women

    You can learn more about Golriz’s story in her book, Know Your Place. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook. 


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    53 min
  • Rerun: experiences at the intersection of sexuality and race with Alex Nguyen
    This is a rerun of a conversation released in June 2021.
    -------------------
    Alex was born and raised in the United States and is of Taiwanese and Vietnamese descent. In this conversation, we explore Alex's experiences being both Asian and gay and the challenges those intersecting parts of his identity bring.

    He shares his lived experiences being Asian American,  why the US isn't really the melting pot that it claims to be, why we need better representation of what being gay means in popular media, and his journey of becoming more comfortable and accepting of his identity.

    As always, please share and rate, as well as follow along on Facebook and Instagram! And send me an email [email protected] if you want to share your story - I would love to hear from you!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 16 min
  • Rerun: Shilo Kino on reclaiming her indigenous identity
    This is a rerun and extended edit of an episode published in March 2021.
    ------------------------------

    Challenging the status quo and being the representation you want to see can be a lonely uphill battle. Shilo is an author and journalist who is of Ngāpuhi and Tainui iwi and she on that path to breaking down existing narratives and heavily entrenched racism against Māori in New Zealand through her storytelling.

    In our conversation, we talk about our early days as graduate journalists at The Manukau Courier, Shilo's time in Hong Kong as a missionary, confronting racism while working in Tauranga, writing and releasing her first book and how she is feeling ahead of her year-long full-immersion Te Reo Māori course.

    Language notes:
    1. "iwi" means "people" or "tribe".
    2. "Aotearoa" is the Māori name for New Zealand.
    3. "Pākehā" means a non-Māori New Zealander, generally of European descent
    4. A marae is a meeting ground and focal point of Māori communities, incorporating a carved meeting house, Te Wharenui. It's where the community gathers for celebrations, funerals, and other important events.
    5. "Kaumātua" are tribal elders and help to preserve traditions and pass knowledge down to younger generations. They are highly revered.
    6. "Mana" is kind of a tricky term to understand fully through words only. In Māori, it refers to an intangible force found in people and objects. It underpins everything and to have mana means to have spiritual power, authority, identity and respect.
    7.  "Waka" means "canoe", but in the context of this episode, the word is used metaphorically to mean "journey".

    You can support and follow Shilo's work through her Instagram account and Twitter, as well as her column at Newsroom. She is documenting her Te Reo Māori journey through her own podcast, Back to Kura. Her book is The Pōrangi Boy.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 9 min
  • Rerun: Growing up as the "token" Asian, becoming a business owner & coping with the grief of losing a loved one with Sheila Ye

    This is a rerun of the first episode of the first season of NYTM that aired in February 2021. 

    In the very first episode of Not Your Token Minority, I speak with my good friend Sheila about growing up in small-town New Zealand, building her career as one of the only Asian female leaders in her industry and coming to terms with her mum's death. 

    Themes and topics explored in this episode include:
    - growing up as an Asian kid in small-town New Zealand, including experiences of racism
    - work ethic 
    - the death of a parent 

    Have a story you want to share? Email me at [email protected] or fill in the form here. 

    If you like the show so far, I would really love your support: leave a review, make sure to subscribe and follow NYTM on Facebook and Instagram.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    27 min
  • Lisa: challenging the "fairytale" narrative of transnational adoption

    The "better life" adoption narrative is one that many of us know well - a child, who is usually from the global south, is adopted by a loving couple from the west and given a “better life”, one that they never would have had, had they never been adopted.

    But what if, in reality, many adoptions don't follow this familiar narrative? In this episode, my guest shares with me her own adoption story and how her journey to learning more about her own background has led her towards a decade of fighting for adoptee rights. 

    Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom is a Korean adoptee, who was adopted by a Swedish couple when she was 2 years old. During the course of her journey looking for her first parents, she uncovered some unsettling things that challenged everything she was ever told about her adoption. 

    Her graphic novel "Palimpsest" is about this journey and you can order online. You can also check with your local library to see if they have it in their catalogue.

    In our conversation, we also talk about finding belonging as an adoptee of Asian descent and the unique challenges she's faced in figuring out her own identity. 

    You can also follow Lisa on her Instagram and support her Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/woolrim


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 3 min
  • Leo: Finding his place in the global migration story

    "Nikkei" is a term that you'll hear a few times in this episode. It's a Japanese word that means "of Japanese descent" and is used to refer to the huge communities of Japanese diaspora living overseas.

    Leo Fuchigami is second generation Japanese-Canadian and is considered "Nikkei". But what does that really mean? In this episode, Leo shares his journey of how he has unpacked his "Nikkei" story through a series of experiences travelling and living overseas. Through the people he's met along the way, the things he's learnt from their stories and discovering more about his own family's migrational movements, Leo has come to understand his own cultural identity in the context of the much larger migration of people all over the world and across generations.

    As always, please rate and share to support this podcast, as well as follow on Instagram and Facebook. This is the second-to-last episode of the year before I take a bit of a break over December and January. This is the perfect time to get in touch if you, or someone you know, would like to be a guest on the show. Just send me a message via IG or FB, or email [email protected].




    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    50 min

About Not Your Token Minority

From the publisher's feed

Not Your Token Minority explores the stories and experiences of people of the global majority. The aim is to create a space where our stories can shine, where we can challenge the existing narratives…