Racial Healing Podcast

As a child, I disowned my Indian heritage due to the racism in my neighborhood and my appearance. In 2000, I traveled to India to meet my family and claim my heritage for the first time. I also met and became close with my family. After this I began identifying as biracial. I became an expert in Biracial Identity - teaching classes, conducting research, and leading organizations. My identity today is fluid. Often I have painful encounters with Indian people who test my authenticity as an Indian person.

Dr. Darnell Motley is a Black Psychologist. Dr. Motley shares how differently he is perceived now that he is a professional with a PhD versus when he was a poor kid growing up in Gary, Indiana. He also describes how when interacting with White strangers, Dr. Motley's entire self is one-dimensionalized into one characteristic - his Blackness. Friends and colleagues have also tried to use his Blackness to absolve them from having committed microaggressions. Dr. Motley also talks about his rage - over what happened to Christopher Cooper, for example, as well as his latent rage that is always present.

Raju

Diane Tran Weinberg shares her family's immigration story of escaping the dangers of Vietnam in October 1978. Diane contrasts her experience of growing up in relative comfort in Irvine, CA with her two elder sisters who were born in Vietnam and made the harrowing journey to the US. Diane also shares about microagressions (like being asked where she's from), how she feels in all White spaces, and her own internalized racism. 

Chris Rooney shares his experience of visiting his hometown of Minneapolis during and after the uprisings immediately following the murder of George Floyd. Chris compares the discrepancy between what actually happened in Minneapolis and how the uprisings were covered in the media.  He also shares a harrowing story of having a police officer pointing a shotgun at his forehead when he was age 17 and drinking at a high school party. 

René & Peter share their experiences of being gay, Asian men. Both men share their struggle to find self-acceptance around their sexuality, having grown up in cultures in which heterosexuality is the only acceptable way to love. René describes finding healing through yoga and meditation while Peter describes finding healing in therapy and in a community of men called the Mankind Project, where he learned that there are many ways of being a worthwhile man.

Bobby, Mahmoud, and Al talk about their lived experience with internalized oppression as a man with Asian or Middle Eastern heritage. Bobby shares about how he kept quiet in order to fit in. Mahmoud talks about not saying his full name after he internalized the shame of having it mispronounced every day. Al describes having tried to change his physical appearance as a teenager to be more accepted by White peers. Each of these men also gifts us with their healing through the Mankind Project - a men's organization designed to provide healing to all men.

Manisha describes her experiences of growing up Indian-American in Rock Island, Illinois where she was one of only a few Indian people. She has found racial healing in raising two biracial Indian kids who are eager to embrace their heritage.

Dr. Rebecca Hubbard shares about her experience as a biracial Afro-German woman. She also describes her racial healing derived from her Kemetic Yoga practice.

Ronnie Rios shares her experience as a Latinx Chicagoan in higher ed. Ronnie pays homage and honors deceased members of her family by sharing her Arbol de la Vida.

Charles shares his experiences of being a Black male growing up on the South side and South suburbs of Chicago. He also talks about being arrested at a bookstore for using a $100 bill. Charles describes finding healing from his racial trauma through the men's work in the Mankind Project, where learned to love and accept himself.