Patient Empowerment through Fat Acceptance

This will be the last episode for the season and the year! I wanted to spend it talking about the importance of Fat Acceptance and Body Acceptance when it comes to individual health, and also to community health. The Fat Acceptance movement itself focuses on reducing and eliminating fat bias and fat stigma, thus improving overall health. I was joined by Shilo George who really added so much to this episode.  Shilo George is Southern Cheyenne-Arapaho and Scottish international speaker, trainer, and owner of Łush Kumtux Tumtum Consulting, which means “a great awakening of the heart and spirit” in the Chinuk Wawa trade language. She has lived her life in a body that transgresses and violates Western standards of beauty, size, sexuality, and health. Shilo interweaves cultural traditions and spirituality with an anti-oppressive and decolonizing lenses to promote healing and empowerment in herself and others in the communities she is a part of. Her workshops and presentations explore the intersections of race, sexuality, body size, and trauma (both individual and inter-generational). Shilo trains others on systems of oppression, trauma informed care, and proactive ways that businesses and organizations can create policies and environments that that promote diversity, equity, and healing.  Shilo received her Bachelor of Science in Art Practices in 2012 and a Masters of Science in Educational Leadership and Policy with a specialization in Postsecondary Adult and Continuing Education in 2017, both from Portland State University. She was named Higher Education Student of the Year by the Oregon Indian Education Association in 2013 and in 2015 was honored with the Queer Indigenous Scholar Activist & Alumni Award by the Indigenous Nations Studies Department at Portland State University. In addition to her consulting business, Shilo works as a Parent Advocate at the Native American Youth and Family Center and is an Affiliated Adjunct Instructor of the Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University.