Kwesi A. Robertson shares about his journey through corporate America, pop culture, and the experiences that shaped his awareness of social justice. He describes the patterns that led him to recognize why access to vulnerability isn't a level playing field, noting how popular self-help and success narratives often hide an "underbelly" that ignores systemic barriers while blaming individuals for the negative outcomes they experience.

Kwesi defines social justice as a form of love and a foundational lens for understanding reality, urging listeners to seek connection, shared language that actually acknowledges the complexity of our experiences, and shared responsibility to build spaces where everyone can fully show up.

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.

Timestamps:

00:00 Packing Up the Persona

00:53 Rage at Vulnerability

01:26 Who Gets to Be Seen

02:28 Not Written for Me

03:28 Questioning the Boundaries

04:22 Self Help Underbelly

05:51 Justice Beneath Anger

07:00 Show Intro and Mission

08:11 Meet the Guest Kwesi

15:31 Activated by the Book

21:41 Body Cost of Success

25:55 Family Roots and Unlearning

31:27 Weighted Vest at Work

37:45 Writing Finds Community

42:30 Pop Culture as Justice Lens

48:27 Learning Black History Playbook

52:08 Choosing Justice Forward

53:56 Advice With Conditions

55:51 Pop Culture Empowerment

58:05...

Social Justice Origin Stories started off as a podcast, but is growing into something more. This is your guided tour of everything available on Social Justice Origin Stories' YouTube channel (so far).

In this episode of Design Decisions, you'll learn about the categories, special series, and the playlists that are available, so you'll know where to explore and what you'll find when you get here.

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.

00:00 Channel Tour Intro

01:18 Project Pillars Overview

01:30 Personal Journeys

04:02 Organizational Histories

05:58 Educational Segments

08:52 Community Voices

10:55 Weaving Our Voices

13:45 Annual In Community Series

14:19 Playlists And Themes

23:10 Design Decisions Series

24:11 Wrap Up And Invitation

This is Volume 3 of “For Those Who'll Come After“, a special series from Social Justice Origin Stories. In this series, storytellers reach across time, sharing messages and reflections for future generations, sharing what they want them to know, remember, and carry forward in the ongoing pursuit of social justice.

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.

00:00 Series Purpose

00:44 Bloom Where You're Planted

01:21 Plant Seeds Anyway

02:39 Hope as a Practice

03:08 Defining Critical Hope

04:18 Minneapolis Reality Check

06:54 Follow Your Innate Sense of Justice

07:37 Use Fear as Fuel

08:52 Challenge Old Rules

10:05 Keep Talking Across Differences

11:15 Gather Many Skills for Life

13:23 Legacy and Love

14:15 Closing Reflection

15:58 Subscribe and Support

Realizing social justice is not a simple or linear process, and the weight of the work can wear us down. Whether you are actively engaged on the front lines of your work, taking time to rest, or simply trying to survive the everyday realities of living within oppressive systems, we need you.

Social Justice Origin Stories is here to remind you that wherever you are in the struggle, these stories are for you.

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.

00:00 These Stories Are For You

02:05 Why Social Justice Origin Stories Exists

02:43 For When You Cannot Speak

04:24 Healthy Community Spaces

04:59 Honoring Rest And Limits

06:18 When I Get Tired Too

07:27 Storytelling Reconnects Us

08:44 You Matter. Take Breaks When You Can

09:34 Final Reminder And Gratitude

This is Volume 4 of The Justice We Imagine, a special series from Social Justice Origin Stories. This series focuses on storytellers' responses to three essential questions:  

When is true social justice possible? What shapes our approach to the work? And why does understanding and sharing our social justice origin stories matter?

As you listen to their responses, reflect on what your answers might be.

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.

00:00 Series Introduction

00:28 When True Social Justice Is Possible

02:39 Mutual Accountability

03:40 Inclusion And Wholeness

05:01 Power And Decision Making

05:39 Love And Humanity

06:52 Ancestors And History

10:43 Pain Into Purpose

11:47 Why Sharing Our Social Justice Origin Stories Matter

13:52 Preserving Oral Histories

17:07 Stories Build Community

19:58 Closing And Call To Action

After witnessing the racism her Black students experienced up close on a bus trip to Kentucky, Sharman Spieser’s awareness shifted from understanding how racism operates on an intellectual level to a deeper understanding gained from lived-experience. She reflects on how segregation, isolation, and scarcity thinking operate within a white supremacist capitalist system to keep us apart, and emphasizes the power of building authentic, trusting relationships that create the conditions for honest dialogue to happen as a way of unlearning white supremacy and advancing antiracist social change.

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.

00:00 From Knowing to Understanding

00:45 Systems Keep Us Apart

01:50 White Liberal Doubt of Black People's Lived Experiences

04:00 Book Bans and Backlash

06:07 Show Intro and Mission

07:16 Meet Sharman Spieser

08:24 Early Activations at Work

09:25 Family Modeling Justice

11:30 Kentucky Trip Wake Up

14:02 Listening Not Saving

16:51 Detroit Rebellion Revisited

28:22 Why Truth Triggers White Rage

31:37 Trauma and Openness

32:17 How A Death In The Family Changed Things

33:01 Taking Custody Suddenly

33:49 Mentor Encouragement

35:33 Rebuilding Family Life

37:11 Workplace Lessons On Power

40:19 Retirement Disillusionment

42:42 Scarcity Mindset Exposed

45:26 History Erasure And Violence

47:38 White Privilege...

This is Design Decisions: a space where I share news and updates about Social Justice Origin Stories as it continues to grow and evolve. More than updates and announcements, though, it’s a space for meaning-making, where I expand on the ideas, values, and design decisions that shape this work. It’s a space to think out loud, and a place where I talk through what it's like to build social justice origin stories in this time we’re living in, and the things I learn and experience along the way.

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Website: https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.

00:00 Why Stories Matter

00:13 Admiration Without Pedestals

00:45 Demystifying Courage

01:00 Inviting People In

01:44 Storytelling Connects Dots

02:09 Podcast Growth and Impact

02:30 Three Series Overview

03:16 Introducing Design Decisions

03:55 Updates and Meaning Making

04:27 Closing Thanks

Patrick Taylor, LCSW, US Air Force veteran and doctoral student in Social Work at USC, tells the story of how learning about the Grand Challenges for Social Work in his program and being surprised by how few Social Workers knew about them led him to recognize the experience as a systemic issue. Taylor's research led him to coin the phrase the Micro Pipeline in Social Work (MPISW), the systemic funneling of social workers into clinical roles at the expense of macro exposure, development, and support.

Taylor describes how social work’s identity became tied to a medical model and overly associated with mental health. He shares his own pathway from his early beginnings as a sociology student through his experiences with the clinical licensure process, and explains why he created Macro Pathways as an early-intervention, social worker-informed prototype to help students and professionals reimagine macro work, build community, and move the profession toward balance, prevention, and broader influence.

Connect with Macro Pathways on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/macropathways/

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones.

00:00 Do You Know About The Grand Challenges Of Social Work?

00:58 Micro Pipeline Explained

03:02 Why Macro Matters Now

05:13 Show Intro And Guest Welcome

08:11 Taylor Origins And Mission

11:00 Macro Pathways Early Intervention

14:07 R...

Pooja Kothari, Esq. begins her social justice origin story with memories of her father, who helped cultivate her abilities to think critically as a child, her early awareness of sexism in gender-segregated cultural spaces, and her later experiences with racism and internalizing shame as a cis, queer, first-generation Indian-American woman of color. Recalling her experiences as a former public defender with the Legal Aid Society Criminal Defense Practice in Brooklyn, NY, Pooja reflects on how she became more courageous and a better advocate thanks to her mentors Michael Letwin and Azalia Torres, and explains how systemic racism shapes courtroom dynamics and even defenders’ assumptions in ways that can make or break client outcomes.

She also talks about her relationship with resisting internalized oppression through finding community and “depersonalizing” oppressive messaging, while also resisting internalized patterns of power through developing practices of accountability and self-correction. This journey informs her work as the founder and principal facilitator of Boundless Awareness, where she develops and facilitates anti-oppression and anti-bias curriculum for workplaces and organizations.

Pooja’s storytelling reminds listeners that their activism can start today by identifying and challenging their assumptions.

Connect with Pooja and Boundless Awareness:

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In this educational segment of Social Justice Origin Stories, Dr. Darryl B. Rice, Associate Professor of Management and Richard T. Farmer Associate Professor at Miami University, returns to discuss a recent article he and his team published on how authoritarian leadership harms Black employees in the workplace. Rice argues that, in the context of workplaces in the United States, authoritarianism is an extension of racial oppression rooted in slavery and Jim Crow, and their research shows it reduces Black employees’ perceptions of a psychologically safe environment, making it harder to thrive.

He talks about the leadership implications of their research and validates Black employees’ instincts as they experience racism at work. Dr. Rice also shares practical advice for organizational leaders and listeners contemplating their next moves on their activism journey. He talks about racial retrenchment and the ongoing backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, the impact left in the wake of institutional leadership's capitulation to the current administration, and the need for courageous leadership in these times. Dr. Rice also previews what’s next in his area of research, focusing on the impact of inclusive leadership, trust, and organizational commitment to equity.

00:00 Workplace Research Takeaways

04:05 Show Intro

05:08 Why This Article Matters

08:44 Authoritarianism As Oppression

14:27 How The Studies Worked

18:34 Leadership Implications

22:44 Future Research Directions

32:45 What Gives Me Hope And What Keeps Me Up At Night

41:00 Advice For Finding Your Role In Social Change

44:25 Wrap Up And Credits

Dr. Rice's Previous Episode: Jim Crow 2.0: How Anti-DEI Laws Are Rooted in Systemic Anti-Black Racism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8w7xCOMI-A&list=PLkddd_SjYVRaEicJ3wZn0V1SYiLG-6tcn&index=13

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Linked...