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

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Host Dr. Shawna Gann and co-host Marcel welcome their first guest of the season in this powerful conversation of Our True Colors.  They are joined by the founder of Lonewolf District Ali Blair Caplan, known as "AB". In this discussion, they explore what it means to live between identities and still claim a sense of belonging. AB shares her lived experience as a biracial Black and white woman adopted into an all-white family, and how that journey shaped her understanding of race, contentment, and self-trust.

This episode moves through stories of being labeled, questioned, and reduced by others and how those moments can fracture identity or become catalysts for healing. AB reflects on the moment she realized society would always see her as non-white, regardless of proximity to whiteness, and how that reckoning led her toward spiritual practice, integrity, and creating spaces where people feel safe to be fully themselves. The conversation weaves together race, adoption, wellness, cultural responsibility, and energy work, offering grounding rather than escape. A central reminder echoes throughout. Love and good intentions are not always enough. Integrity, responsibility, and tending to ourselves matter if we want to stay human in uncertain times.

You can work with AB, too. Check out Wolf Pack Collective, a steady and supportive online community you can access from anywhere.

More to Check Out:

• The Aimee Amour - Best Bar DJ in New York City
• How frogs went from right-wing meme to anti-ICE protest symbol

To explore Shawna’s work and sign up for updates about her upcoming book Mixed Signals, visit TrueCultureConsulting.com.

If this episode resonated, subscribe to the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who might need it.

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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Season 6 is here—and we’re starting with a Meet the Co-Host episode. Shawna welcomes back Marcel De Jonghe (joining from Birmingham, UK) for a warm, funny, and deeply reflective conversation about what it means to live in complexity. Marcel shares why being mixed isn’t a neat “half-and-half” story. It’s more like ingredients baked into something entirely new. Together, Shawna and Marcel talk about how identity often gets filtered through other people’s assumptions, how microaggressions can feel “frosted” in the air, and why belonging can be hardest in that in-between, liminal space where you’re moving… but never quite “arrived.”

Marcel also opens up about well-being and the importance of men speaking honestly about mental health—especially when pain can stay hidden for years until it demands to be addressed. He introduces the concept of sonder—the reminder that every person you pass is carrying a whole life of their own—and invites us to move through the world with more curiosity, care, and humanity. This season, Shawna and Marcel are leaning into honesty, nuance, and the courage to show up as our full selves—without shrinking into whatever version feels easiest for the room.

Connect with Marcel:

• The Belonging Lab
  LinkedIn
  
  

If this episode resonated, here’s your CTA:

• Share this episode with someone who’s ever felt “in-between.”
• Subscribe/follow Our True Colors so you don’t miss the conversations ahead.
• Leave a review—your support helps more listeners find the show.

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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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!

Interested in being a guest? Head to this link to share your story with us!

Our True Colors is powered by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic, for more great content.

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Welcome to Our True Colors. This brief introduction gives you the full picture of what the show is about, who I am, and what you can expect in every season.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why I started this podcast and what “racial riddle, ethnic enigma, and cultural conundrum” really mean.
• How different co-hosts join me each season — and why that rotating perspective matters.
• The kinds of stories you’ll hear, from families, professionals, and my own lived experience.
• Why belonging is at the heart of every conversation.

👉 Want to connect?

Look for the link above to send me a direct message or let's connect online! You can find the links right here in the show notes.

Welcome to 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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If you’re new here, this short trailer will give you a taste of Our True Colors. You’ll hear how the show explores identity, belonging, and life in the in-between spaces.

Subscribe now and then check out the full Start Here episode for a deeper dive into what we’re about.

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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For the first time, I’m joined by my full family—my husband Chad and our kids, Christian and Ariana—in a double-length finale to close out Season 5 of Our True Colors.

We get into it all:

• Identity, hair, and insecurities
• What people assume about us as a couple
• Family culture, music, and travel
• How our kids make sense of their biracial identity
• What it really means to belong

It’s funny, vulnerable, unscripted—and filled with moments we’ve never shared, even with each other.

Let's stay in touch!

• Shawna on LinkedIn
• True Culture on LinkedIn
• The Culture Clinic Newsletter
• True Culture Coaching and Consulting
• Our True Colors on Instagram
• Season 5 Episodes on YouTube
• Contact Me Directly

Stuff to Explore and Learn More About:

• Our True Colors "Start Here" episode
• W.E.B. Du Bois & Double Consciousness
• J.D. Vance...calls Kamala Harris a chameleon

Previous Episodes with Christian Gann/Aimee Amour:

• Intersecting Communities: BLM and Pride
• Hey, Queen! Talking Racial Ambiguity with Christian Gann and Aimee Amour
• Follow Aimee Amour on Instagram and TikTok
• Check out this special edition Culture Clinic featuring Christian and Aimee

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 rich and vulnerable episode, Dr. Shawna Gann welcomes Belgian-French author, historian, and researcher Victoria Kabeya to discuss the complexities of multigenerationally mixed identity. From the trauma of slavery to the politics of racial categorization, Victoria shares personal stories, global insights, and the intellectual foundations behind her groundbreaking books. Together, they explore what it means to be Multi-Generationally Mixed—not just biologically, but culturally, historically, and emotionally.

Stuff to Check Out:

• Matriarch by Tina Knowles 
• Mixing: A History of Anti-Miscegenation Laws in the U.S.
• Free People of Color in Colonial Louisiana 
• BET: A ‘Love & Hip Hop’ Star’s Blackness Is Being Questioned
• NPR: For Some People of Appalachia, Complicated Roots
• The Melungeons
• YouTube: Understanding the Melungeons
• Arab Center DC: The Colonial Legacy in the Arab World
• NPR Code Switch: Why Rachel Dolezal Can Never Be Black
• HowStuffWorks: When Irish Immigrants Weren’t Considered White
• YouTube: The Asian Man Who Wanted to be White 

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, Dr. Shawna Gann—joined by her co-host Kat—welcomes Dr. Geoffrey Greif and Victoria Stubbs, LCSW-C, for a thoughtful and timely conversation about interracial and interethnic relationships, raising mixed-race children, and navigating identity across lines of race, culture, and experience.

The discussion is rooted in research and real-world insight from their forthcoming book When Family Relations Are Race Relations, and it touches on how societal events press into private life, how couples process racial identity differently, and how families work through tension, silence, and love in the face of cultural difference.

The episode was inspired by a moment of curiosity: Special thanks to Neal Augenstein, reporter at WTOP, whose segment sparked this episode.

And while Loving Day itself isn’t the focus of the conversation, the timing of this episode’s release—just ahead of June 12—makes it a powerful moment to reflect. In the intro, Dr. Gann shares a bit of history about the Loving v. Virginia decision, the legacy of Mildred and Richard Loving, and what “Virginia is for Lovers” means to her personally as someone in an interracial family.

🔗 Resources & Mentions

💛 Loving Day & Reflection

• “Remember. Reflect. Celebrate. Loving Day.” – Dr. Gann on LinkedIn
• Virginia is for Lovers – About the slogan

🎥 Pop Culture Mentions

• Cheerios Ad Featuring a Mixed-Race Family (YouTube)
• Today Show Article – Cheerios Ad Backlash
• A Simple Favor – Film Mentioned
• The Wicked Wiz of Oz: The Rusical – RuPaul’s Drag Race (YouTube)

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 of Our True Colors, Shawna is joined by co-host Rachel Sadler and special guest Ian Gibbs-Hall—a DEI advocate, thought leader, and creator of Curiosity Architecture. With over a decade of experience creating inclusive environments, Ian offers a fresh framework that invites us to move beyond checkboxes and binaries and into deeper, more curious ways of seeing one another.

Together, they explore identity, belonging, masculinity, and the limitations of social categories—highlighting how “other” doesn’t just mean different, but often means left out. From coloring books to Frozen 2, neoliberalism to Mr. Clean, this conversation is as layered as it is enlightening.

And yes—you’ll want to check out the video version for the moment Ian reacts to Shawna revealing she used to work at Blockbuster Video.

✉️ Want to submit a question for the final episode? Use the message feature above to send a text.

📚 Referenced Resources & Links

• The Ethics of Identity by Kwame Anthony Appiah: Buy the book | Watch a video about his work
• Commentary on the Mr. Clean Commercial (yes, that one): Watch it here
• What’s a “Soy Boy” anyway? Read more on the term and its cultural baggage

🎧 Related OTC Episodes

• CJ Gross on Navigating Identity & Nuance
• Londell Jackson on Masculinity & Belonging

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 powerful episode of Our True Colors, Dr. Shawna Gann is joined by Cindy Ogasawara and Kara De Maine, leaders in the Resounding Love Interfaith Gospel Choir—a multiracial, interfaith, LGBTQ+ embracing choir grounded in African American musical traditions and active anti-racism practice.

Together, they explore:

• The complexities of racial identity, especially for those with mixed or ambiguous backgrounds
• What it means to be part of a community that doesn’t just sing together—but heals together
• How they’ve created a choir that holds joy and accountability side by side
• The connection between leadership, cultural humility, and inclusion

You’ll also hear how Resounding Love continues to hold space for marginalized voices in a time when Pride celebrations are shrinking and DEI efforts are under attack.

🎶 All of the music featured in this episode is performed by Resounding Love Interfaith Gospel Choir.

More Stuff to Check Out:

• These Words are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration
• From Free Speech to Fear Speech: When Language Becomes a Liability
• Sinners (2025) – A dramatic film that weaves blues and gospel influences into a story of justice, family, and faith.
• Resounding Love Songs Featured in this Episode:
  • Spiritual Medley
  • Waymaker
  • It is Well
  • Wonderful Is Your Name
  • How Excellent

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!