Our True Colors: Mixed Race Voices and Other Stories of Belonging

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Jason and I close out the season talking about the experiences we had and the topics covered. Be sure to subscribe or follow so you don't miss the start of Season 3!

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

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Why should you make red beans and rice on Mondays?

How did okra make it to the US?

As we near the end of the second season, Jason and I take the opportunity to chat with our Aunties and learn about these Creole facts and more! Listen in to this warm, heartfelt convo with Aunt Bianca and Aunt Daphne and immerse yourself in all that is lagniappe. We round out this season's theme of family as we continue our journey in identity as we embrace family, food, and creole culture in this packed episode. Enjoy!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Let the good times roll!

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

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Welcome back to part two of a fantastic reunion story. Join me with my guest Carmen Watson and her cousin, Rebecca Godard, as they discuss their families sweet story of rediscovery. Check out Rebecca's story from a previous episode here. 

and if you missed part one, you can find it here. 

Enjoy!

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

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In this episode I chat with my guest, Carmen Watson, about her journey of self-identity.  Carmen is Chinese and white and grew up just about all over Canada, in places like British Columbia (BC), Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories. She moved back to British Columbia in 2014, to start university in Vancouver. She holds a BA in History (Honors) and International Relations from the University of British Columbia, with a focus on decolonization (see her recommended reading list below).

It wasn't until she was attending university that she actually accepted that she was a person of color. It really struck her in the second or third year of "uni" that she actually fit in with the themes she was looking at in her classes about decolonization; she could finally put words/themes/social concepts to the feelings she'd had her whole life. She found it to be a benefit that she was living in a city with one of the largest Chinese-Canadian populations, and a part of that includes a large number of people who are mixed, just like her.

She always knew that she didn't quite fit in with the 'white' kids, but I never really saw herself as someone whose experiences were in fact shaped/impacted/driven by the intersections of gender, race and class. You can't miss this episode as Carmen and I discuss this journey!

Check out some of Carmen's reading recommendations if you are interested in decolonization. Both are scholars/writers/artists and really detail the lived experiences of Indigenous women :

Leanne Simpson's Dancing On Our Turtle's Back
Lee Maracle's I am Woman 

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

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Join me this week as I interview author Ashley Boren. We discuss her new book Sounds Perfect and the growth of the two main characters, Kat and Stella. Kat and Stella, both multiracial with Mexican and White ethnic backgrounds, have completely different life experiences. Ashley and I also discuss how people with differing perspectives navigate today's social climate.

Ashley is from San Diego, CA and she's a recent graduate from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she studied communication and professional writing. She is also a recipient of the University Service Award, given in recognition of dedicated service to the University, its students, and the community.

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

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This week I am sharing another bonus episode - a Father's Day special! Hang with my dad and me for this Pop-isode where we talk about coffee, current events, and classics. You'll even catch my mom's cameo if you listen carefully. 😄

Enjoy!

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

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This week we take a look at how two marginalized communities come together at an intersection. I have this discussion with my guest this week, my son Christian Gann. Together we discuss his experiences being multiracial, what it's like being a member of the black community and the LGBT community, and the challenges that come with it.

Be sure to listen all the way through to check out new music by Kidd and Queen with the release "Weight on Me".

Below I have listed lots of resources for topics references in the episode.

Intersection of LGBT Pride and Black Live Matter

• https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/07/us/lgbtq-pride-month-events-in-solidarity-with-black-lives-matter-trnd/index.html

Trans Women of Color

• https://www.glaad.org/amp/beginner-guide-transweek-2018

Justice for Tony McDade

• https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/05/tony-mcdade-tallahassee-florida-police-shooting-death/

Racial Discrimination in Dating Apps

• https://theconversation.com/grindr-is-deleting-its-ethnicity-filter-but-racism-is-still-rife-in-online-dating-140077
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/06/02/race-protests-are-forcing-dating-apps-to-reconsider-the-value-of-their-ethnicity-filters/#6afa403f768f
• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/29/wltm-colour-blind-dating-app-racial-discrimination-grindr-tinder-algorithm-racism

LGBT Body Type Names

• https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/gay-culture-twink-grindr-body-image-eating-disorders-a8360001.html
• https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51270317

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

MESSAGE ME HERE!

In this episode, I joined  Ku'ulani Keohokalole for her webinar to talk about the recent events that have resurfaced blatant issues of racist-driven actions against communities of color the roles that each of us plays when it comes to addressing and acting on solutions to these issues.

REFERENCES

Healthcare Disparities

https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-we-fail-black-patients-pain

https://www.oprahmag.com/life/health/a23100351/racial-bias-in-healthcare-black-women/

Disparities in Education

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffraikes/2019/09/19/we-can-challenge-systemic-racism-one-school-district-at-a-time/#6152c3457e42

Housing Segregation

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/

Housing Discrimination/Gentrification

https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/

https://www.navigatehousing.com/racial-steering/

 Unequal Pay

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/03/racial-wealth-gap-income-inequality-black-white-households/585325/

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2019/08/22/473775/racism-sexism-combine-shortchange-working-black-women/

Anti-Blackness

https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2020/06/01/recognizing-and-dismantling-your-anti-blackness/#1b397f554472

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/nyregion/black-hair-decriminalization-ny.html

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

MESSAGE ME HERE!

Jason is back with me this week to talk with me about my interview with Jamie Keener, a student earning her masters degree in medieval English literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Jamie examines medieval race in texts surrounding Faerie and part-elf, part-human individuals. Her interest in the development of racial identity emerged from her own experiences growing up as a mixed race and third culture kid in both China and the United States. Join us as we talk about racial identity in the context of her personal experiences and her studies.

Jamie is a biracial (Chinese and white-American) individual who has grown up between China and the US. She discusses her experiences as a child, especially while living in China, wanting to be white. At the international middle school she attended, she endured exclusion from cliques that didn't find her to be white enough. Listen to her story as she recounts wrestling with her identity as she got older and finally learning to accept and appreciate her Chinese heritage and appreciate the fact that she could be "both/and" while simultaneously being "neither/nor." 

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!

MESSAGE ME HERE!

Words cannot describe the struggle we are facing in America right now - a struggle that stems from America's original sin of racism. We are witnessing protesters take to the street all around the US and others around the world taking a stand against the injustices demonstrated daily again people of color - particularly black Americans. This brings so many confusing emotions and thoughts of uncertainty as we begin to see ourselves and each other through different lenses.

This week I am joined by Dr. Anita Foeman and her husband, Nate Terrell, to discuss coping with the murder of George Floyd through the lenses of black, white, and racially ambiguous people. Nate is a licensed clinical social work with 40 years of practice. Nate is the author of Achieving Self-Compassion. Dr. Anita Foeman teaches in the communications and media department at West Chester University and focuses on intercultural and organizational communication. Together, the two have developed and facilitated diversity and inclusion training.

Additional References:

CNN Reports

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/31/los-angeles-washington-protest-lemon-sot-ctn-vpx.cnn

https://youtu.be/owjr87EH0wY

MSNBC Reports

https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/protesters-in-minneapolis-take-knee-chant-names-of-people-who-have-died-at-hands-of-police-84137541989

Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Work available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram

Our True Colors is powered by The Culture Crucible. Go to THE HUB to learn more!
Consider joining the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association!