Podcast appearances and mentions of michelle mijung kim

Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! You can also support the show by grabbing a cozy fall sweater at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is issuing an ultimatum to all of you– listen to this episode or seriously miss out. This week, co-hosts Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with award-winning author, global keynote speaker, and host of I Feel That Way Too, Michelle MiJung Kim (@michellekimkim) for an in-depth breakdown of Season 2 of everyone's favorite messy reality tv show, The Ultimatum: Queer Love.  When Michelle told us she wanted to talk about The Ultimatum, we were immediately on board. We love mess just as much as the next gays; and season 2 really went off the rails in ways that were at best hilarious and at worst downright unsettling (like, we hope Netflix paid for their therapy unsettling). This extreme level of messiness adds an authenticity to the cast that actually feels like a move in the right direction for queer representation. They're not the usual sanitized “love-is-love” mainstream gays. Instead the cast are real queer people, appearing as they are, un-healed trauma, complicated families and all. And we think their bravery deserves a lot of credit. Now if we could just get a host that wouldn't be so scared to take her claws out and ask the real questions, we'd have a master class for young queers in recognizing red flags, navigating conflict effectively (and ineffectively), determining consent and boundaries, and questioning heteronormative relationship values.  Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Host Miko Lee speaks with author, activist Michelle MiJung Kim about her new Podcast, I Feel That Way Too. Then we listen to the first episode. Michelle MiJung Kim Website I Feel That Way Too podcast     I FEEL THAT WAY TOO show Transcript Miko Lee: Welcome to APEX Express. I'm your host, Miko Lee, and tonight I'll be talking with author, speaker, and activist, Michelle MiJung Kim, about the new podcast. So we get to listen after the interview to the very first episode, and you get a little behind the scenes with activist Michelle MiJung. Kim, stay tuned. welcome, Michelle MiJung Kim to Apex Express. I'm so excited to chat with you. You are an award-winning author, activist, and now a podcast host. Hello girl. Welcome. Yay. Michelle MiJung Kim: Hello. Thank you so much for having me, Miko. I'm so excited. Miko Lee: I wanna start with my big question, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you? Michelle MiJung Kim: Hmm. What a deep question that I can go on forever about. My people are, first and foremost people who are in my life, who have supported me throughout. Everything that I've gone through in my life, including my friends and family who have different lineages, people, most of the people that I hold near and dear carry with them, a deep understanding of their historical trauma, their familial trauma, and people who are courageous enough to share them [00:02:00] with me. So that really creates this bond that I have with my people. A lot of my people are in the queer and trans community and in the physical space of the Ohlone land, also known as Oakland, California. A lot of my community rooted in my Asian American identity. Miko Lee: Love this. My follow up, what is the legacy you carry with you from your people? Michelle MiJung Kim: The legacy that I carry from my people that jumps out to me right now is the legacy of my grandparents. My grandparents were both born in Korea. My grandpa from the north, my grandma from the south, and I am always thinking about how my grandpa was fighting for the Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation, and he was a writer himself. I always saw him writing and he had [00:03:00] stacks of paper ready to be published, but he ended up not being able to publish before he passed. So my book dedication starts with my gratitude to my grandparents and my grandpa specifically. The legacy of his work, his spirit, his love for philosophy, social justice language I carry with me. My grandmother, who was part of the first class of women in her generation to go to a university she was a badass matriarch of our family and her energy, her audacity, her courage, her confidence in her herself and her community is what I try to channel. I think about them every day. Miko Lee: Ugh. I love that. I'm wondering if you could share a little bit about your book. Michelle MiJung Kim: My book is called The Wake Up Closing The Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change and really it's part memoir, part [00:04:00] principles of Social justice that I hold near to my heart. I really wanted to write a book that could be timeless and that could put into accessible ways how we can embody these values that are important for our collective liberation. So much of the social justice work that I encountered throughout my education journey had been highly intellectualized and theoretical and sometimes not unpacked in ways that feel human. I wanna see how people are struggling to hold social justice values while living their daily lives. How sometimes it gets challenging to embody the values that we say are important to us because it asks us to trade off our comfort and safety sometimes. I wanted to be really honest about my experience trying to live in alignment with my values, including the parts of my own contradictions and struggles and paradoxes that I've had to navigate. Miko Lee: Such a powerful [00:05:00] book for the time of now in that it does have the personal story, but then also recognizing what's happening in our world. It's really action forward. Tell me how you got from this book to creating a podcast series called. I feel that way too. Tell me what inspired this whole series? Michelle MiJung Kim: I think it is an extension of the work that I've been doing, which really marries personal storytelling and social justice values. I Feel that way too, exploring these tricky life questions like, can we be friends if we politically disagree? What if I'm not above revenge, even though I am a self-proclaimed abolitionist? Why do I have this urge to, be vengeful and why do I feel gleeful when people that have done harm get punished, right? Am I supposed to sleep with one person for the rest of my life? Am I a bad daughter? These are all the questions that I've struggled [00:06:00] with. I wanted to have an opportunity to unpack them with raw honesty and with guests that could really help guide me in thinking about these things while trying to stay tethered to my values around social justice. I've always been a fan of audio storytelling. So this was the perfect opportunity to explore that, especially in an era where the world is constantly insisting we solve these issues in isolation and we deal with our traumas in shame and without each other's witnessing. This is my way of hopefully making people feel a little bit less alone in their struggles and also in a way that, helps us to build more courage and community through stories. Miko Lee: I binge the entire season. Super fun, super personal., I was wondering how did you decide on these topics? Did they come naturally [00:07:00] or did you create an arc? Tell me about your process. Michelle MiJung Kim: I had probably two, three pages long list of topics that I wanted to explore and we had to pick and narrow it down. I wanted to tackle questions that felt existential in the collective psyche. I look at and feel into the zeitgeist of what is happening in the world . These are the questions that I wanted to explore because of my own life, but also some of these questions bring up a lot of shame and tension. when I looked at other podcasts that were exploring similar topics, I just felt as though a lot of these issues were being talked about in a very intellectualized way, in a very theoretical way without the raw sort of personal storytelling aspect that I was craving. So this was my attempt at being, courageous and practicing what I preach and being able to share some of the more vulnerable [00:08:00] tensions that aren't typically explored in the public arena. Miko Lee: Oh wow. So two whole more pages for future seasons of shows to do. I was, struck by how vulnerable the episodes are, how they're so personal. The first one being around, supporting your single mom and around financial and really emotional stability that really struck me as being so very personal and deep. I just wonder, has your mom and dad listened to the series or particularly that episode and what has been any response? Michelle MiJung Kim: Yeah. Um, my dad, no, but my mom, yes. I wanted my mom to listen to it before it aired. 'cause I thought that was the only fair thing to do. I gave her the option also to not have this air if she didn't want it to go live. And I was. So [00:09:00] scared about how she was gonna receive it. And for the listeners, the story really goes deep into my struggle around prioritizing her needs over my desires, and constantly living in this. Feeling of guilt for not doing more to support my mom. And also our definition of love and sacrifice being entangled in ways that feel sometimes impossible to navigate. I had attempted to have this conversation years ago with my mom that like completely backfire that I talk about on the podcast and, since then, I just never broached the subject because I was so nervous about how she was gonna take it. , And my biggest fear was her feeling less loved and feeling, hurt by my honesty. And so when it came time for me to present this podcast to her, I was incredibly nervous. What ended up happening was we ended up listening to the episode together. She was sitting [00:10:00] right there on the couch behind me and the, I played the episode and I just couldn't look at her face. So instead of looking directly at her, I had my camera on , so I could look at her through my phone. And I had my back toward her, and within the first five minutes she started crying. So I would pause the episode, talk to her about what was coming up for her. We would cry, we would fight, we would argue, we would apologize and we would cry again. So the entire episode that's 30 minutes long, took us three hours to get through. Miko Lee: Wow. Michelle MiJung Kim: It was incredibly difficult emotionally. And it was probably one of the most pivotal interactions I've ever had with my mom. I've been able to be more honest than ever with her. [00:11:00] She got to also be honest in her reaction and response, and we were able to be really brave with our vulnerability, which we had never done because most of our lives, our love and , especially our pain was communicated through silence. Just pretending that we're not hurting because we don't wanna hurt the other person. Very Asian. It was hard, very Asian, but it was also really healing. Miko Lee: Wow. I would love, love, love a follow up episode with you interviewing your mom. Michelle MiJung Kim: Yeah. I don't if request that. Miko Lee: I dunno if she'd be downed for that, but that would, I'm curious if you could share a little bit more about your needing to have your back toward her in the beginning and if that shifted over those three hours. Michelle MiJung Kim: Yeah. I think it was my fear of my truth being seen by her , and the inability for me to face her [00:12:00] when I knew my truth was hurting her. Hmm. And I also didn't want to pressure her to react in a certain way when I'm looking at her. So I, I, I don't know if she knew that I was looking at her through my phone. But I think I really wanted her to have an honest reaction and, that scared me. So I, and so at some point in. Yeah, I did turn around after I saw her crying. I paused the episode and I looked at her and I said, well, what's coming up for you? And she, her first thing, the first thing that she said was, I just don't remember it that way. Which started a whole nother conversation right around how she remembers my childhood, from her vantage point. And I think it's only natural for a parent, for anyone to want to know that their child, was not [00:13:00] hurt by their choices and that they did the best that they could and that was enough. And I think it's really hard to make space for the possibility that their best. Also cause harm. Hmm. Without making them, one dimensionally a bad person or a bad mother. I think holding multiple truths like that can be so difficult , for anyone, but especially when it comes to the impact that our action has on our loved ones. Mm-hmm. So I think it was truly, shattering the image of what she thought was our childhood. And rewriting an entire history in her mind, in order to make space for my reality. And I think that took a lot of courage on her part, and also a lot of grace, that she had to extend to herself and me. Miko Lee: And by the end of that three hours, did you have a sense of resolve or a different [00:14:00] path moving forward? Michelle MiJung Kim: I think we didn't come to a hundred percent agreement on what happened, which I didn't expect. But there was certainly things that were said that we had never verbalized before around what was hard, what was painful, and what we kept from one another. And I think we needed time away from each other to really process that. So I think we did the best that we could. Actually that night we went to a concert together 'cause we already had tickets and we could not go. And we went, Miko Lee: what was the concert? Michelle MiJung Kim: We went to a K-pop concert, Bada, which is Miko Lee: Oh yeah. Michelle MiJung Kim: All like dancing. Miko Lee: Love her. Michelle MiJung Kim: So we just let out all of our angst , dancing and that was a good end to our night. Miko Lee: That's a great way to actually resolve dance it out. Michelle MiJung Kim: Yeah, exactly. We just dance it out. And then, at first it was a little awkward, but, we got over it. Mm-hmm. [00:15:00] Afterwards, she listened to the podcast on her own with a transcript because her first language is not English. She really wanted to make sure that she understood what she listened to. So she had the transcript in front of her and she was looking up words that she didn't understand. She said that really helped her to understand more of what, I was trying to say. I didn't expect this, but weeks later she just randomly said, I am really sorry. I did the best that I could and I didn't know how much you were carrying. That changed everything for me. I didn't expect that kind of acknowledgement and validation from her when I was putting out this episode when I was writing it. I truly just wanted to do justice to my own truth and make space for my stories in ways that I'd never done before. But to then receive her acknowledgement, of some of the things that [00:16:00] I talked about was. Truly invaluable and healing in ways that I didn't expect. That completely changed our relationship. I'm able to be a lot more honest with her and I feel less, guarded about, the most tender parts of me when I'm around her. Miko Lee: Wow, that's so powerful that one episode. How impactful. Thank you so much for sharing about that. the topics that rose to the top in your conversations? Every single one of them had such universality, the Oxford study then the talking about Gaza and the impact on your job, being friends with somebody that you disagree with politically, each of these topics, there's so much resonance. I'm wondering of the three pages you had to choose from, how did these float to the top? Michelle MiJung Kim: It was a tough one. I had a team that I talked to about which topics to prioritize and we all got votes [00:17:00] on which ones we wanted to talk about. Some I had to really push to get it in to the season. The one about, my open relationship journey, they were like, why the hell do , we wanna talk about this? For me it was like, it's not about how to do open relationship 101 or how to do poly 1 0 1. It's actually about desire. Right. How we get in touch with our desire and practice wanting and being able to practice wanting that is at the core of that episode. I really wanna talk about it because no one else was talking about it. Miko Lee: I appreciated that episode because it was about autonomy. Like how do you hold on to who you are as an individual? To me, I didn't look at it as much about poly as much as it about who am I and how do I hold on to my belief in who I am even in the midst of being in a relationship. Michelle MiJung Kim: Absolutely. Exactly. I think I wanted to prioritize topics that weren't popular in terms of the public discourse, not 'cause [00:18:00] it's not something that people are grappling with, but because it's tricky to navigate. Because it requires a lot of nuance and often I think when we talk about desire or when we talk about personal wellness and self-development, it's so often done through the lens of, white co-opted, self-help culture. I wanted to do it in a way that felt more in alignment with my values around social justice. I picked the topics that were less explored through that lens, but also that, I felt were present in our public zeitgeist and in the cultural musings. Some of these topics were also timely. Like the one about my job loss due to Palestine or my struggle with my friendships that were breaking all over the place because of our political disagreement or the conversation around [00:19:00] abolition and conflict, navigating conflict in our own lives that map to our vision of the collective liberation Miko Lee: and the contradictions that we hold. Michelle MiJung Kim: Exactly, and the contradictions that we hold and that we have to make room for that often get, muted or disregarded because it's uncomfortable to talk about or that makes us feel less radical, less critical, less social justice-y And I think these are actually quite urgent topics that we need to talk about in order for us to create more, coalitions, more resilient relationships that is at the foundation of all of our organizing. Whether that is, you know. Or in our political work or personal, , living in alignment with our values. So I felt these were also timely conversations that needed to be had in a way that felt accessible, personal, and honest, that wasn't overly packaged up. So that people can [00:20:00] resonate with the raw struggles. Miko Lee: I also appreciate how you put listeners voices in at the end and just with their perspectives, because as you're talking about, for instance, the breaking up with friends because of political differences, then we're hearing other people's voices about their experiences. So how did you do those call out for those voices and did you identify specific topics you wanted colleagues to speak on? Michelle MiJung Kim: Yeah, so we did a call out for voicemails for every episode, and it was so important for me. I kept pushing our team to do it, even though we were running out of time and resources. They were like, no, we gotta cut this part out. And I was like, no, because the podcast is called, “I Feel that way too” and it's about, not just me, but how my story then gets reflected by the entire community. I wanted to make sure that the community voices become a part of this episode. I did a call out on my social media, on my newsletter, and it was actually quite hard to get people [00:21:00] to submit voicemails. I think people feel a lot of pressure to get it perfect. I asked my friends and they said they wanted to do it, but they were feeling pressured because they feel, they felt like they didn't know what to say and they wanted to say it in a way that felt professional. And so Miko Lee: come up with something profound. Michelle MiJung Kim: Exactly. They wanted to be profound and everything that we do, I think takes a level of courage. I really appreciated people who submitted their voicemails. Miko Lee: Yeah. Michelle MiJung Kim: We had voicemails coming from New Zealand, from Taiwan, from the United States from Canada, and so it was wonderful to know that there was a global sort of connection to these issues and the things that we are grappling with, and also knowing that we're none of us is really alone. Miko Lee: Speaking to the alone, we're living in such a time of isolation right now and where there's two different parties with really clear agendas and people are this way or [00:22:00] people are that way, and yet your title is, “I feel that way too”. Can you share a little bit about where that title comes from? Michelle MiJung Kim: I was part of my very first high risk direct action calling for an end to the genocide in Palestine, I was terrified and I decided to partake in it because I didn't know what else to do to process my anger and my desperation, watching what was happening unfold on my screen. I just felt like I had to do something more than what I was used to doing, whether it's donating or signing petitions or writing. There was a collective gaslighting during that time where the media outlets were justifying what was happening in Gaza. People were being, retaliated against for talking about Palestine. There was this overall, polarization between people who felt this [00:23:00] urgent need to do something about Palestine versus people who are living their daily lives as if nothing was happening. I went to participate in this direct action, I was surrounded by people who felt similarly, and after this really intense action took place when everybody was highly activated and charged because we had just seen our comrades be arrested and then released, and we were, just in our adrenaline. We all held hands to chant together collectively. And the chant went like this. ” Don't worry, I got you. I feel that way too. We'll get through together, we'll make our way through.” And when the chant leader said, I feel that way too, something in me broke and I just started weeping. In that moment, I just needed to feel like I wasn't alone in feeling this kind of [00:24:00] desperation, this type of pain and trauma, and anger towards our systems, and that just holding hands with complete strangers. Chanting, I feel that way too. Made me feel so much more grounded and hopeful and courageous to a point where I felt I was able to take more risks than I was comfortable with. So that's where, that's the origin of the phrase. I feel that way too, for our podcast. I just think back to that moment where I felt so seen, I felt so held and encouraged just by the sentence. I feel that way too. That's the kind of feeling that I hope to be able to gift to our listeners, whoever's listening to our podcast and whatever topic may be. I hope more people feel encouraged by the stories that we share and the way that we are creating space for us to be vulnerable and courageous together. Miko Lee: I [00:25:00] love that. So you're asking your audience to listen, feel connected to something else, be able to be part of a bigger movement. Are there other things that you want your audience to ponder or to take action on? Michelle MiJung Kim: I think the podcast really is about, community and courage. The podcast asks us to be courageous about identifying what we want, about how we want to live our lives, who we want to be, and being courageous enough to face the contradictions and make space for the collective, and connection. I would love more than anything for people to feel seen. But also feel encouraged to share their stories with people in their lives and to hopefully be able to take action together. I think the action of caring for one another in this vulnerable, honest way, the way that my mom and I got through that very difficult conversation. That [00:26:00] in and of itself is healing. Multiple generations of trauma. If we all could muster up the courage to practice that level of honesty and courage with one another, so much of our, need to heal can be met and so much more possibility emerges from that action. After airing some of the episodes, we also hosted a discussion session. Called the Courage Collective, where we got to discuss and unpack what came up for people after they listened to the episode, and that was incredible. Just being able to have a consistent space where people can meet provided that sense of community that we all need right now to be able to move in solidarity with our broader movement , and to sustain this very difficult, exhausting path that we're all walking in our personal lives, but also in our collective lives. I hope people can listen to the podcast and share with somebody that they wanna talk about the topics and keep the [00:27:00] conversation going in a way that can encourage you to take action that brings you closer to more community, more possibilities for our collective liberation. Miko Lee: Michelle MiJung Kim, thank you so much for joining us on Apex Express. We're gonna put a link to the entire series in our show notes. where else can they find out more information about you and your work and your book. Michelle MiJung Kim: Everything you need to know about me on my website, www.michellemijungkim.com. You can sign up for my newsletter and follow me on social media, on Instagram at Michelle Kimkim or on LinkedIn. Miko Lee: Love it. Thank you so much for joining me. So now take a listen to the first episode of, “I Feel that way too.” Michelle MiJung Kim: The other day I was talking to my mom about my uncle, her older brother who has stage four lung cancer. My mom was [00:28:00] venting about how upset she was that her brother's kids weren't jumping at the opportunity to pay his hospital bills. She said he sacrificed his whole life for them. How could they do this to him? I mean, they have their own lives too, mom. One of them has a little kid. It's not exactly cheap to raise kids in Korea. So I don't know. It feels fair to me that they're talking about what they can or can't afford. My mom was not having it. She said they have their whole lives to be there for their kid, but their dad, he doesn't have that much time left. They should do everything they can to support him. Wait, were we talking about love or money? My mom knew there was a difference right after a few back and forths. I just asked her the question that I really wanted to ask. Do you think uncle feels like his kids [00:29:00] don't love him because they're not giving him money? It wasn't just a question about my uncle and his kids. It was a question about me and my mom. About love and sacrifice, after all, isn't our willingness to sacrifice the ultimate measure of our love. Hi, and welcome to, I Feel That Way Too, a podcast where we ask some of life's trickiest questions and together find the courage to unpack them one story at a time. If you've ever wondered how life could be different, but didn't know where to turn, I'm here to tell you, you are not alone. I feel that way too. Ever since I was young, I felt responsible for taking care of my single mom. You know, growing up seeing her sacrifice so much for [00:30:00] me and my younger sister. When I got older, I just thought, yeah, that's my job now. That's just what you do, right? Whether it was taking a soul sucking corporate job, or using my savings to relocate her from Korea. I took the responsibility for caring for her seriously. I took pride in it. Whatever sacrifice I had to make felt appropriate, given how much I love her and how much she'd given up to raise me. But as an adult, I've been struggling with this more and more. If the only way I can express my love is by showing how much I'm willing to sacrifice, then how can I ever prioritize my own desires and needs? What do I do with all the guilt and shame and resentment that comes from feeling burdened by this responsibility? Have I become so Americanized that the idea of al piety feels suffocating? Am I a bad daughter? I mean, [00:31:00] that's such a common experience. This can be even more complicated in immigrant families because often we have those values, right? Sahaj Kaur Kohli: Asian values, filial piety, or we see fism as a really big value in immigrant households. So putting other people first, prioritizing the family over the individual, that's a hedged core Coley. She's a therapist, writer, and founder of Brown Girl Therapy, the first and largest mental health organization for children of immigrants. I've been following her on Instagram for years now, and I love the fact that she's making mental health relevant and accessible for Asian Americans like me, like learning Speaker 3: about words like enmeshment. So enmeshment is this idea that there are very loose or no boundaries within. Relationship. So in the family system, if we're talking about families, there are no boundaries. There is research that suggests that immigrant families tend to be more enmeshed because they're actually trying to protect themselves and their loved ones, creating these insular communities and [00:32:00] families from harm from the dominant society. So it was adaptive initially, but of course, just because it's adaptive doesn't necessarily mean it's healthy. We can see now that that kind of loose boundaries can lead to people feeling really dependent on one another. So often that's it's hierarchical in immigrant families, so it's a top down of dependency, but then children are being dependent on more, depending on your birth order, your age, your gender, your being dependent on in different ways. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: Becoming someone my mom can depend on was kind of my life purpose for a long time. My attention was always on what she needed and how I could provide that as a kid. I rarely asked my mom for anything that wasn't practical or necessary. She was a single working mom, and I could see how hard she was working just to keep us afloat. Instead, I tried to help however I could. I'd hand over my New Year's allowance from my aunties and uncles. Whenever we went out [00:33:00] to eat, I'd always check the prices on the menu to make sure I wasn't picking something too expensive. I worked hard in school, got good grades, and told myself, this is how I can help. I'll get into a good college, land a good job, and make enough money to take care of her. That's exactly what I did. Right after college, I jumped into corporate America instead of chasing my passion for social justice because. At the time, what mattered most was bringing my mom to the US and supporting her financially. And honestly, I was proud of myself for that, starting so young, being able to help my mom. It felt good. Looking back though, I realized that I never really let myself just want things, you know, like things just for me. And then in my thirties, something started to shift. I found myself really struggling with our relationship. I was having trouble differentiating my desires from her needs. Speaker 3: So in the Western world, we talk about [00:34:00] individuation. When you're an adolescent, you were growing up and you start to build your unique interests and you start to prioritize your friends and you start to be your own person. A lot of us immigrant children didn't really get that we were still expected to do X, Y, and Z, so we didn't really get that chance to individuate around that age, you know, as we're 12, 13, up until 19, 20, 21. And so a lot of us are doing that later in life. I work with clients who are 30, 40, 50 years old who are like, wow, this is the first time I'm doing something for myself. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: At every crossroads in my career, my decisions were often tied to one question. How will this affect my ability to support my mom? Can I quit my job? How much money do I need saved up to cover both of us for six months? Even little decisions like whether to make a frivolous purchase came with this gnawing sense of responsibility. That kind of mental math had become second nature, but prioritizing my own joy and [00:35:00] abundance. Well, that always came with a side of guilt. It felt like my entire life was split in two. One part lived for me and the other for my mom, and as I got older, the tension between the two only grew becoming harder to navigate and more emotionally draining. Sahe calls this parent child role reversal parentification. Speaker 3: At the root of it, there are two types of parentification. There's instrumental parentification, which is more about taking care. In more practical roles of the family. So maybe, you know, cooking for sick relatives or making sure your younger siblings were okay, or if you were a latchkey kid, left at home alone, you know, going to school one time, making your bed, all of these things that you had to do for yourself or for your family because maybe your parents were out working or just weren't able to do it. And then we have emotional parentification, which is more about taking on those emotional roles. So being the family mediator, maybe taking on the role [00:36:00] of a parent or a spouse for one of your parents, because either one parent isn't more present or because emotionally they don't have the type of relationship where they speak to each other more emotionally or vulnerably. So a parent might use a child to do that. It's also about generally managing your parents' feelings. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: One year after many years of working with my therapist, I mustered up the courage to set some financial boundaries with my mom. Not necessarily because of money, but because I needed to shed the guilt. That gnawing feeling that whatever I was doing was never enough and that there was always more to give. I thought if I can get my mom to tell me the exact amount that she actually needs, then I can finally know that I'm meeting her expectations and I don't have to wonder if I'm not doing enough. I could handle the financial responsibility, but I didn't wanna carry the emotional weight anymore. So one day at a [00:37:00] posh new Indian Fusion restaurant that I thought she'd like, I mustered up the courage to ask her, can you tell me exactly how much you need monthly so I can better budget my own finances? Up until then, I was paying her rent and giving her allowance in random amounts, paying for whatever needs arose at various times throughout the month. She was visibly perturbed by my question. Without looking at me, she said, just give me whatever you can. I insisted, no, mom, I want you to tell me what you need and want. She replied, I just want you to do what feels good and right for you. I said, I don't know what that is, so I need you to tell me. I was getting frustrated. She was getting uncomfortable, so I said. Okay, fine. So if I said $500 per month, that's okay with [00:38:00] you. She looked visibly worried. See, so you know what you need. Why won't you just tell me, make my life easier? She burst into tears. Why are you making me say an amount? You want me to feel shame? I already feel bad now. We were both cry, yelling. People at other tables were exchanging awkward glances. She said, don't make me say an amount out loud. I want you to support me because you love me and because you want to, not because I'm asking you to. At this point, my voice was near full volume, tears dripping down my face from knowing I had caused her pain, but somehow my untamed anger kept spilling out. Despite knowing full well that I had done enough damage to my mom's heart, I desperately needed her to see my pain too. I shouted, [00:39:00] I do love you, and I'm asking for your help. Why can't you just help me? I never got my mom to say an amount. It was as if I had spoken the very thing that needed to remain unsaid. By speaking the unspoken. I had broken the delicate dance we'd been doing for decades where love meant anticipating needs and quietly fulfilling it to save face. Where protecting meant pretending not to see the weight we each carried, because naming it would make it all too real. Silence had become our shared language of care, but now we were at a loss for words. We packed up our untouched food without speaking and left the restaurant, and I never brought up the topic again. And here I was wanting her to tell me exactly what she needed so that I could feel less [00:40:00] guilt for feeling like I'm not doing enough, even though I was doing a lot. Speaker: Mm-hmm. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: And so we were at this crossroads and we couldn't see past each other's pain and our own pain in being able to connect to one another. And since then I've been really hesitant to bring up. Any conversations around money or boundaries with her, because first and foremost, I'm terrified of her feeling like she's not loved. That somehow if I bring this up, she's going to feel more like she's a burden and she's going to stew in her own shame knowing that I don't think she has. Capacity and the skillset to be able to hold her emotions right now. And then I feel resentful that I have to think through what she needs before I can just be a child and tell her to meet me where I am for once. Right? Mm-hmm. And so then the cycle just continues and I am not sure I, I know how to get out of it. Speaker 3: Boundaries is such a like. Trigger [00:41:00] word for so many of us, right? When you hear the word boundaries, you're like, no. All of a sudden that door closes and you say, this is not something that's gonna speak to me. Because it has this reputation of being like, cut people out. Say no, protect yourself. And those narratives really don't speak to so many of us who come from collectivist backgrounds where. We want to maintain a lot of these relationships. We just don't want it to feel as bad as it does. And so disentangling and learning how to disentangle our feelings and our values from our parents is often the work I do with my clients. And it takes a long time, right? Because you are sitting down, sifting through a basically a pile of values, norms, expectations, feelings, and saying, okay, this one belongs to me. This one belongs to my mom. This one belongs to my dad. And trying to figure out. Where does that leave you, and how do we move forward and build the sense of self with things that actually feel true to you? And a lot of that work is painful. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: Trying to disentangle my definition of love from my mom's isn't the only thing that's been painful to navigate. It's also the [00:42:00] realization that so much of my upbringing fundamentally shapes the way I live today. Speaker 3: At its best, parentification can lead to having a lot of pride developing really good work ethic, being really mindful of your role in your family and leaning into that. But at its worst, it can be a form of emotional neglect. And I think that's really important because in my work with children of immigrants, a lot of times a lot of us don't realize that we have different needs when we're growing up. And sure, maybe you had a roof over your head, maybe you were, you know, sent to school, maybe you always had food on the table. And these are really. Big significant needs that were met, but were you also cared for emotionally? Were you allowed to express your emotions? Were you modeled and nurtured emotionally? So just being taught that even emotions weren't something that was safe to have. And so in that way, that's when parentification can become a sign of emotional neglect. So as by definition, parentification is taking on adult-like roles or roles that are. Older than you are developmentally at a young [00:43:00] age. And it can lead to people pleasing, it can lead to perfectionism, it can lead to constantly, um, monitoring our parents or other people's emotions or feelings. Right? Those are very common long-term consequences of being parentified children because we've never really learned how to take up space. People pleasing, Sahaj Kaur Kohli: perfectionism, hyper vigilance. Yeah. I've been dealing with all of them pretty much my entire life. One of my core memories from when I used to live in Korea was being invited to a friend's house After school, we were supposed to do homework together, and her mom sat with us going over everything and helping us out. I remember feeling so reassured, like finally someone was helping me in the way that Mamie feel safe and cared for. And because I wanted to be invited back, I was always on my absolute best behavior. I didn't want her to feel like I was being a burden or a nuisance, so I made sure to take my shoes [00:44:00] off in the neatest way possible. I made sure to wipe off any crumbs off the table, and I even offered to do the dishes. Y'all, I was barely 10, but I felt like I needed to be, liked to be helped. The truth is. I am resentful. I resent that I never got to just be a kid. I'm angry that I couldn't tell my parents that I was sad or hurt or scared. I'm angry that I thought care and attention were earned. By making myself small, likable, and pleasant. I'm angry that I couldn't allow myself to rest or stumble because I knew there was no safety net to catch me and that I thought it was easier to not want than to be disappointed. But for the first time in my life, there is something I want [00:45:00] just for myself. I want to heal desperately. I want to shed this weight so I can finally be my most authentic, free, and expansive self without needing to prove anything to anyone. I want to access the safety, abundance, joy, and ease that I didn't have as a. Child. Talking to my parents about my childhood wounds feels really hard. Not only because I'm worried about how it'll make them feel, but because deep down I truly believe that they loved me the best way they knew how so? How do I even begin to tell them that their best wasn't enough to protect me from harm? How do I share that? I feel resentful for the child that I never got to have without breaking their hearts in the process. And the hardest part, even now, I catch [00:46:00] myself prioritizing their feelings over my truth. It is like this unshakeable sense of responsibility where their comfort feels more important than my pain. How do I even untangle that? Speaker 3: You deserve joy and peace and ease. I mean, ultimately so many of us aren't able to give ourselves permission to be able to work towards joy and peace and ease. 'cause we don't believe we're deserving of it. And that is a product of, you know, these family dynamics, but also guilt and shame and not knowing the difference between those two. And then feeling like we automatically are. Bad if we aren't constantly pleasing other people. So many of us also struggle with that, uh, binary mindset. You know, if I feel this way, it's wrong. If my parents are disappointed, I'm a bad child. And that's not true. We have to learn. And [00:47:00] you have to decide at what point you're willing to accept that it might not change. And then decide what you're willing to tolerate. And that's the acceptance in grief work that is so hard and grief, I call it grief for a reason. 'cause grief never goes away. There's no resolution in grief. It's learning to build a life around it. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: Yeah, that's so real and so hard, that whole acceptance piece, right? Knowing that it's going to take time, but also that there may need to be a time where you start to accept, uh, your parents for who they are and what they have capacity for and what they don't. What's been really difficult for me is the acceptance of the reality. And my desire to heal, part of me feels like I can't heal until I get the acknowledgement, until I get the validation, until I feel seen in my entirety by my mom and by my dad. And sometimes I feel like that just sets me up for more disappointment and sense of betrayal and resentment because I [00:48:00] am not getting the very sort of human and childlike need from my parents. But knowing that that may never come, and I can't depend on that for my healing, but that's been really hard to accept. Speaker 3: I was just gonna say, that makes me really sad because I'm hearing you like deny yourself something that you deserve because you're still waiting for your parents to give you permission for it. When you can give yourself permission for it yourself, but for some reason you don't feel like you have enough agency or you're not allowed to be the one who decides I can heal. Even without my parents' acceptance. And that's a lot of the inner child like re-parenting work of like, you know, thinking about little Michelle and what she needs and how do you give it to her. How do you find power and strength in being able to be the adult who can say, fine, if you're not gonna take care of this little girl I am. I'm gonna take care of her. And it's really hard, right? And it's really painful, but. [00:49:00] It hurts me to hear you say that you won't be able to do this until you get that permission, because the reality is you may never get that acceptance and acknowledgement you're looking for from them. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: In high school, when I came out as bisexual to my dad, he just ignored it. He pretended he didn't hear me change the subject, and that was that we never talked about it again. And honestly, I was fine with that at the time. He didn't wanna hear more and I didn't want to share more. We lived under the same roof, but how much did we really know about each other? Anyway, fast forward many years later, I was on my way to a date with a woman I just met. I was on the phone with my dad and thought maybe this is a chance to let him in on my life, just a little. So I told him where I was going and casually asked, what would you do if I ever brought a girl home? I don't know what I [00:50:00] was expecting to hear, but I definitely wasn't prepared for his answer. Don't come home. He said Speaker 3: It's very challenging and I think I just recently had these conversations with a couple clients of mine where, you know, sometimes we have to ask ourselves. The greatest gift we can give people we love is letting them see us for all parts of ourselves, right? Every part of who we are. That's the greatest gift we can give someone we love. And not everyone deserves that gift, especially if they're not tending to it, nurturing it. And I see you like, as like a younger version of you, like vulnerable and raw and saying, love me, love me, love me. Mm-hmm. It's not just you, it's it's all of us. Right? We, we have these experiences. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: It wasn't until one Thanksgiving back at my dad's house that I realized just how much I did crave my dad's acceptance and love. Thanksgiving is one day [00:51:00] that we all gather at my dad's house. We ordered a Thanksgiving family meal from Boston Market that no one really likes chit chat and eat for no more than 40 minutes and migrate over to the living room to watch a movie of someone's choosing, usually me or my dad. This has been our way of bonding for as long as we started gathering. The movie that my dad, the same man who stonewalled me when I came out to him in high school, chose for us to watch, was Boy Erased a movie about a gay man's search for acceptance from himself and his family without making eye contact. He said, have you seen this? I thought you might like it. It's about a gay person. As someone who's never been interested in anything L-G-B-T-Q related, this was his clumsy way of inching closer to me. My dad didn't throw me a coming out party. He didn't wear a rainbow pin or proclaim how proud he was to be an ally. [00:52:00] There was no tearful heart to heart about acceptance, apologies, forgiveness, or unconditional love. And you know what? At that moment I realized. I didn't need any of that. Sitting side by side on that Costco couch of his, I understood exactly what his silence was trying to say. Speaker 3: And that's what happens in high context cultures, right? It's not about being direct, it's not about being explicit. It's more about what the contextual clues are. I think behaviors is where it all comes down to. So that might have been your dad's way of saying, I accept you and the way that I know how, and me watching this with you is my way of showing that in the same way that my dad. Never growing up or through my thirties, only recently started to say, I love you. But growing up I would go home and he would leave me newspaper clippings about mental health or about something I had told him about and those would be on my bed every time I would visit home. And that's, I knew, was his way of saying, I love you. [00:53:00] Right. We have the cut fruit anecdote that everyone has in an Asian household. Our mom's way of loving us is through food and by caring for us and caretaking for us. 'cause that's the role they knew how to play. I even had an interesting conversation with my mom where I've asked her, I think this was a while ago, where I asked her, what else do you wanna do? Like stop trying to do my laundry when I come home. Get out of the kitchen. We'll just order food. But then I realized it made her sad and I realized I was actually taking away her agency to love me in the way she knew how. Because that's not how I need to be loved. I've also asked my parents, did your parents ever say, I love you? When was the first time or the last time you, you heard them say that to you? What was that like for you? Oh, that must have been really sad that your parents didn't even say, I love you. You know, that impacts kids. And then using that as a frame of like. Are you thinking about how you don't do it with me? Like sometimes it takes these little kind of games before we can get to a place where we feel like we can get that conversation going. But even then, where can we find beauty in the relationship with our [00:54:00] parents? I'm sure if we, you know, really wanted to dive deep into it, we would. You would be able to think of like strengths in your relationship with your parents, ways that they do love you or see you even if it's not what you want. The way that they love you is still a way that they are showing you that they love you. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: When I think about my younger self, I sometimes find myself imagining my mom and dad when they were young, what were they like growing up? How many crushes did my mom have as a teenager? When did she start sneaking cigarettes? And what made her start? Who was there for my dad when he lost his dad as a child who told them they were loved? When was the last time someone asked them about their hopes and dreams? What did they long for? Growing up in Korea with my mom, she often told me her parenting philosophy. [00:55:00] I want us to be like friends. She'd say, she'd tell me stories about how she was always afraid of her mom, how strict my grandma was. How she never got the chance to fully explore her passions and curiosities. One day when I was in elementary school, she just said, you're not going to school today. And instead of taking me to school, she drove me and my sister to a farm outside the city. She told us real life experiences are more important than what you learn in textbooks. She didn't want us to live inside the same box. She'd grown up in. She wanted something different for us. She'd say things like, date as many men as you can before you marry. Travel as much as you can while you're young. Learn to drive as soon as you can. More than anything, she wanted us to be free freer than she ever got to [00:56:00] be. The way my parents love me and the way I love them. It's not something you'd find in some textbook. It's messy. It's complicated. It's nuanced, and it's big. It's so big. It is not the kind of love you see in those Hallmark movies where a white parents hug you and say, I love you at least 15 times a day. But I feel it. I feel it in the everyday moments, like when my mom insists on doing my laundry with her permanently sore back, or when she likes every single thing I post on Instagram. I feel it every time she sees me and says, you're so pretty with genuine awe in her eyes.[00:57:00] Michelle MiJung Kim: If you liked what you heard today, please tell your family. Tell your friends. Tell your people. Subscribe to our show and leave us a review. Sahaj Kaur Kohli: Wanna hear more from me in Sege? Watch the full interview on the I feel that way. Two YouTube channel. And while you're at it, subscribe to our newsletter on our website at www dot I feel that way. Two.com. Miko Lee: Please check out our website, kpfa.org/program, apex Express to find out more about our show. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. APEX Express is a collective of activists that includes Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Have a great [00:58:00] night. The post APEX Express – 9.18.25 – I Feel That Way Too appeared first on KPFA.

We're so back!!! (hopefully) Thank you all for your patience while we sorted out technical issues. We're hoping that everything should now be working as it should, but if anyone encounters further issues listening to episodes please let us know :-) ___________________________ On this week's episode: the writer, speaker, fellow podcast host and self proclaimed proud millenial, Michelle MiJung Kim chats to Rowan about her childhood in South Korea, queer revelations and why we were all so transfixed by Mulan.  Check out Michelle here: https://www.michellemijungkim.com/ Listen to Michelle's podcast I Feel That Way Too here: Spotify / Apple Podcasts   Support QMP on Patreon: patreon.com/thequeermoviepodcast. For as little as $5 per month you gain access to perks like queer movie recommendations, Discord access, and watch-a-longs. Thank you for supporting us! New episodes every other Thursday. Find Us on the Internet Super Highway - Twitter: https://twitter.com/QueerMoviePod  - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thequeermoviepodcast - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queermoviepod/ - Website: http://www.queermoviepodcast.co.uk/  Production - Hosts: Rowan Ellis and Jazza John  

Things are getting so bad in America that many people are checking out, but we can't keep pretending things are normal when we know they aren't. We must collectively wake up to what's happening, to how we got here, to the ugly and the scary that we've allowed to flourish to find the courage to stand against it. That while hope is important, we must also acknowledge change is not coming if we don't stand up and work for it. People are not being rewarded for standing on the right side of history right now. There's a real reason to be afraid of speaking out, but we have to do it anyway, and we have to do it even if we're afraid. In fact, as our guest Michelle MiJung Kim says, “We can only truly practice courage when we are afraid”. As always, if you find worth in what we do, please consider SUBSCRIBING to PoliticsGirl Premium. You'll get this podcast ad free, along with a bunch of other perks, like the rants directly to your inbox and the knowledge that you're making this kind of highly researched, factual information possible. If that interests you, please go to  https://www.politicsgirl.com/premium  and subscribe today!! Thank you so much! xoPG Guest social: https://www.michellemijungkim.com/ I Feel That Way Too: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-i-feel-that-way-too-with-michelle-mijung-kim/id1813790730?i=1000708049234   As always, please RATE and SUBSCRIBE so we can grow the show, open the dialogue, and inspire change moving forward!   All show links here!: https://linktr.ee/politicsgirl   This episode is sponsored by… https://laundrysauce.com code: PoliticsGirl20 https://cookunity.com/politicsgirlfree code: politicsgirlfree https://JoinDeleteMe.com/politicsgirl code: politicsgirl https://hexclad.com/politicsgirl

Send us a textWhat happens when you speak out for justice and its costs you everything?In this raw and intimate conversation, Michelle MiJung Kim (author of The Wake Up and host of I Feel That Way Too) joins us to explore the aftermath of speaking up for Palestine in a world that often punishes courage.We explore:Losing clients and credibility after speaking up for PalestineGrieving the collapse of a once-successful career and public identityShame, silence, and the tension between self-love and social impactNavigating burnout, belonging, and friendship ruptures in justice spacesRebuilding worthiness outside of productivity and applauseWhether you've ever felt lost, unworthy, or unsure how to show up, you're not alone. This conversation is for you.Listen to Michelle's podcast: I Feel That Way Too –https://www.ifeelthatwaytoo.com/Read The Wake Up: https://www.michellemijungkim.com/bookConnect with Amplify RJ: https://amplifyrj.com/linksConnect with us!SUPPORT by sharing this podcast and leaving a rating or review

On this episode of We Can't Do It Alone, Nōn sits down with social justice activist, award-winning author of The Wake Up, and podcaster (I Feel That Way Too) Michelle MiJung Kim to explore how to be human with each other, the beauty of resilient relationships, Michelle's identity quakes, how we can all take on more collective risk in pursuit of collective liberation, and the story of when Michelle lost nearly all of her clients for standing up for Palestine.Helpful things mentioned during this episode:MichelleMijungKim.comI Feel That Way TooMichelle on InstagramMichelle on LinkedInAsian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality (AACRE)My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa MenakemHow you can support Nōn and this independently-run podcast:Leave a 5-star rating and a wildly glowing review for We Can't Do It Alone on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your pods.Order The Feely Cards on Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local indie bookseller for yourself and literally everyone you know.Listen to You, Me, Empathy, Nōn's previous podcast about mental health, empathy, and big feelings.Connect with Nōn at nonwels.com and on Instagram @youmeempathy.Thank you for listening to We Can't Do It Alone! Don't forget about the helpers. We all need help. Even you.xoxonōn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am very excited to welcome Michelle back on the podcast. In this conversation, we talk about making room for multiple feelings, self-erasure, and pressure testing our values.  Since her last visit, Michelle went back to our shared motherland of Korea. I loved hearing about how it felt like it was her first time returning home. We also address the institution-wide repression when it comes to liberating Palestine, the weaponization of feminism, and the need to abandon binary thinking.  Michelle leaves us with the actionable advice to commit to any issue that we feel called to, as all of our issues our connected.  Please enjoy, again, the lovely and inspiring — Michelle. Michelle's IG Michelle's book Leah's IG

Join Sarah Noll Wilson and guest T. Tara Turk-Haynes for a deep dive into the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion. T. Tara shares the power of truly integrating DEI practices into an organization's processes and operations for greater impact and measurable results. About Our Guest T. Tara Turk-Haynes is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. In her role at Leaf Group, she spearheaded the company's DEI journey, introducing impactful programs and resources for individual and group learning. She expanded global awareness of issues affecting underrepresented communities across the company's digital media and marketplace brands. T. Tara chaired Graham Holdings Company's DEI Council and has been recognized as a trusted leader offering valuable perspectives and advice. She has also made significant contributions through virtual events, panel discussions, and featured appearances at prominent conferences and publications. Website: www.equityactivations.com X: twitter.com/ttarahaynes Instagram: www.instagram.com/ttarahaynes LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ttaraturkhaynes TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@ttarahaynes The Wake Up by Michelle MiJung Kim: www.michellemijungkim.com/wakeup

Michelle is a speaker, writer, and activist, and the award-winning author of The Wake Up. Michelle makes me so proud to be a fellow Korean American — I am so inspired by her humanity, her integrity, and her ability to so clearly articulate her thoughts on many big issues. We talk about the clashing of unmetabolized traumas, the interconnectedness of all social justice causes, and the white supremacist lie that we must all be in competition with each other. She talks about the betrayal she felt when she realized that her lifelong fight for proximity to whiteness was leading her nowhere, and the unexpected, unconditional love she has received since focusing on the work she is now dedicated to. And I love Michelle's closing thoughts on hope being a discipline. Please enjoy the ever so clear and sturdy — Michelle. Michelle's IG Michelle's Book Leah's IG

In this conversation, I speak to Michelle MiJung Kim.  She is a queer Korean American immigrant woman writer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur. She the author of the award winning, The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real ChangeMichelle is the first non-therapist I have on the podcast for some time. I have been inspired by her advocacy and activism, specially so in the last several weeks as it relates to Palestine. We talk about her lived experiences and how they have shaped her relationship to silence and speaking, her holding and oscillating between compassion and criticality for herself and others. We also talk about DEI work, her thoughts on how it relates to social justice, and the cognitive dissonance of the private and the corporate.Michelle also shares about her first session in therapy, which I think many of us can relate to.I hope our conversation help spark reflections on your relationship to speaking and silence.  And, that perhaps it moves you to speak (more) and (continue) take action when you feel called for, even if new, uncomfortable or even risky at times. Let Michele and I know how our conversation resonates with you. It helps us keep going.  And, share this conversation with others. @michelekimkim@asiansdotherapySpecific Michelle's IG post mentioned:https://tinyurl.com/e3wem6skhttps://tinyurl.com/yeyu7hbchttps://tinyurl.com/5n7rurywThe documentary mentioned is called The Occupation of the American Mind:https://tinyurl.com/3m33cj7mMichelle MiJung Kim (she/her) is a queer Korean American immigrant woman writer, speaker, and activist. She is the award winning author of The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change and co-founder ofAwaken. Michelle has been a lifelong social justice activist and currently serves on the board ofAsian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality. Her work has appeared on world-renowned platforms such as Harvard Business Review and The New York Times, and she was named LinkedIn's Top Voice in Racial Equity and Medium's Top Writer in Diversity. She lives in Oakland, CA.If you enjoyed the podcast, give it a 5 star review on Spotify and Apple Podcast.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists.   This week's episode is an AACRE night, where we'll be joined by Michelle MiJung Kim, the award-winning author of The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change. In this thought-provoking book, Michelle guides us through the transformative journey of awakening to our potential for personal and societal change. AACRE is proud to have Michelle on our board!   Delve into Michelle's profound insights as she and host Cheryl explore the intricacies of her writing process, her holistic approach to tackling social justice and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) matters through an intersectional lens, and the vital significance of being trauma-informed in this crucial work. They tackle the holistic narrative structure The Wake Up takes on, discussing the pivotal importance of understanding the roots and histories of social movements and reflecting on the past to pave the way for a more just and equitable future. Know history, know self!   Tune into the conversation as Michelle shares her wisdom on moving beyond performative allyship, embracing complexity, and nurturing healing. The Wake Up serves as a rallying call, reminding us that the journey towards social justice is dynamic, messy, and imperfect.   Grab a copy of The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change from Eastwind Books of Berkeley The post APEX Express – 11.9.23 | AACRE Thursday with Michelle Mijung Kim appeared first on KPFA.

In this compelling episode with Michelle MiJung Kim we explore how culture, diversity, inclusion, and equity intersect to create a thriving culture. Michelle's journey, from South Korea to LGBTQ+ activism and award-winning authorship, provides a unique perspective. We talk about valuing marginalized voices, the power of collective action, and the importance of accountability in our quest for equity. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace culture. Tune in and be inspired to drive positive change. To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/ Interview with Minda Harts on the CultureLab podcast- Expanding the Table

On this episode of Soft Black Woman, host Dr. Akilah Cadet welcomes activist, speaker, and award winning author of The Wake Up, Michelle MiJung Kim to talk about the latest trending pop culture and news headlines of the week. Plus, they tell us how they're prioritizing softness in their own lives. Be sure to subscribe now so you don't miss an episode of Soft Black Woman, out every Friday. Co-host: @michellekimkim, Michelle MiJung Kim Topics: Dylan Mulvaney wins “Breakout Creator” at the Streamy Awards. R. Kelly and Universal must pay over a half a million in music royalties towards victims. Thousands gather to celebrate the 60th anniversary of MLK's “I Have A Dream” speech. White man fatally shoots 3 Black people in Jacksonville Florida in racist attack. Coco Gauff calls out Chair Umpire then wins match. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Soft Black Woman, host Dr. Akilah Cadet welcomes activist, speaker, and award winning author of The Wake Up, Michelle MiJung Kim to talk about the latest trending pop culture and news headlines of the week. Plus, they tell us how they're prioritizing softness in their own lives. Be sure to subscribe now so you don't miss an episode of Soft Black Woman, out every Friday. Co-host: @michellekimkim, Michelle MiJung Kim Topics: Dylan Mulvaney wins “Breakout Creator” at the Streamy Awards. R. Kelly and Universal must pay over a half a million in music royalties towards victims. Thousands gather to celebrate the 60th anniversary of MLK's “I Have A Dream” speech. White man fatally shoots 3 Black people in Jacksonville Florida in racist attack. Coco Gauff calls out Chair Umpire then wins match. Check out our latest promo codes here: https://betches.com/promos

In this episode, Joe Pardavila sits down with Michelle MiJung Kim, a writer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur who has been named LinkedIn's Top Voice in Racial Equity, Fast Company's Queer 50, and Medium's Top Writer in Diversity. Michelle is the award-winning author of The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change, a book that challenges us to confront our own biases, assumptions, and blind spots and take action to create a more inclusive and equitable world. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Awaken, a company that provides interactive and experiential DEI workshops and consulting services to hundreds of organizations and leaders from Fortune 500 companies, tech giants, nonprofits, universities, and beyond. Michelle shares with Joe her personal and professional journey as a social justice activist and leader, her insights and strategies on how to close the gap between good intentions and real change, and her vision and challenges as a queer Korean American immigrant woman in the field of DEI. Tune in to this inspiring and informative conversation and learn how to wake up and make real change with Michelle MiJung Kim.

Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, activism and DEI work are actually extensions of one another.   For us at #TeamIIP, we know that historically excluded or marginalized groups simply *can't* check their identities at the door when entering a professional workplace. To those we've spoken with and worked alongside, DEI is not just about fighting for equal opportunities in the workplace — it's about their lives and their livelihood.    But that doesn't mean that implementing DEI policies (such as inclusive language) at work isn't without its complications.   One one side, we've witnessed facing pushback over the years from those who think that the use of inclusive language is tone policing.   On the other end of the spectrum, we've witnessed those who all too freely shame someone for their mistakes (sometimes fellow DEI practitioners) when the audience fails to meet an ever-evolving standard for inclusive language.   Inspired by our 2020 episode with Michelle MiJung Kim, we revisit the idea of inclusive language three years on and discuss:   What inclusive language is, what it is not, and who it ultimately benefits How implementing inclusive language can be done with intentionality (without gate-keeping or shaming others in the process) Why it's less about saying the “right thing” and more about respecting the nuances of identity that language brings Our take on how to guide inclusive language in 2023 for more equitable workplaces In This Episode: [7:41] The origin and evolution of the word “woke”. [12:42] What is inclusive language and why does it matter? [15:36] How are people responding to inclusive language guidelines? [31:49] How to be more inclusive in day-to-day communication. Links: info@inclusionandprogress.com  www.inclusioninprogress.com/podcast www.linkedin.com/company/inclusion-in-progress   Download our 2023 Future of Work Culture whitepaper. Ready to renew your commitment to greater equity and inclusion? Get in touch today to learn more about working with us in 2023. Read our Forbes features on Ways to Support Employee Mental Wellbeing, What Self Care Looks Like For Us, and How to Create Effective Online Diversity Training. Learn how to leave a review for the podcast.   Content Disclaimer The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this article, video or audio are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article, video or audio. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article, video or audio. Inclusion in Progress disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article, video or audio. Disclaimer: Some of these links are for products and services offered by the podcast creator.  

"Seizing Opportunities to Ascend" is an event designed to celebrate and empower individuals of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage. This event features keynote speakers Michelle MiJung Kim and Kathy Fang, who have both achieved great success in their respective fields; prominent AAPI journalist and media personality Michelle Meow will moderate the event. They will share their experiences and insights on how to seize opportunities and rise to the top. They will provide practical strategies for personal and professional advancement, kicking off AAPI Heritage Month by focusing on learning, empowerment, celebrating diversity, and allyship. Join us for this inspiring conversation and then join us for food, wine and community. About the Speakers Kathy Fang was born and raised in San Francisco, where she grew up in the kitchen of her family's popular restaurant, House of Nanking, before she opened Fang Restaurant with her father in 2009, where she is co-owner and chef. She stars in the Food Network series "Chef Dynasty: House of Fang." She has also appeared on "Beat Bobby Flay," "Cutthroat Kitchen," "Guy's Grocery Games" and is a two-time "Chopped" champion. In 2020, she published the Easy Asian cookbook. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California and studied at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School Los Angeles. Michelle MiJung Kim is a queer Korean American immigrant woman writer, speaker and activist. She is the award-winning author of The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change and co-founder of Awaken. She has been a lifelong social justice activist and currently serves on the board of Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality. Her work has appeared on world-renowned platforms such as Harvard Business Review and The New York Times, and she was named LinkedIn's Top Voice in Racial Equity and Medium's Top Writer in Diversity. She lives in Oakland, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable on this week's episode featuring activist, speaker, and author Michelle Mijung Kim. We'll discuss Michelle's career as a change-maker and her journey to rewriting the narrative of what allyship can mean. Join us and learn how we can undo the harm performative activism has had. Listen now!

Discussions about leadership are often hyper-focused on goal setting, communication, and the development of the self and others. While those specific factors are important, leadership is more than that, and as leaders and coaches, we must become willing to broaden our leadership principles.  Even broader than how we define leadership, humanity is made up of people who come from all walks of life, and part of our duty is to expand our frameworks to encompass the people we connect with.  Tanya Martinez-Gallinucci, Esq. is here today to discuss Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEI&B) and how we can integrate them into our leadership principles. She is the Executive Director for the Office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for the New York City Bar Association. She got her BA from Yale and her Master's from City College before earning her Law degree from Columbia Law School. Beyond her professional duty, Tanya is passionate about making DEI and B more prevalent in the discussion of leadership, educating people, and developing programs for young associates and students to help diversify the industry.   Catch the full discussion in this episode of Coaching Through Stories.  Key Points:  Shifting leadership frameworks to include Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging best practices.  The impact of creating spaces where people can belong, and why we should direct more energy into improving these efforts.  The benefits of coaching as a tool for intrapersonal and interpersonal development.  Episode Highlights  [00:00] Introduction  [01:25] Tanya Martinez-Gallinucci, Esq., her background, and work  [05:17] Building awareness on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging  [07:40] Tanya as the Director for the Office for DEI and B  [16:15] On the impact of coaching on Tanya's life  [19:55] The shift in Tanya's story from not belonging to belonging  [24:12] How Tanya moved beyond the limiting external biases that can hinder complete belonging  [30:40] On misconceptions about coaching and the benefits of it at every professional level  [37:18] Tanya's advice on how to move on from your limiting stories  [41:43] On continuing to navigate external challenges to show up as her whole self  [45:56] Balancing boundaries in a way that doesn't compromise your career  [51:09] On the challenges and progress she has faced and achieved regarding DEI and B.  [56:49] Becoming more intentional when growing beyond your personal unconscious biases  [1:01:08] How leaders can be part of changing systems to become more inclusive   [1:04:17] What aspiring leaders can do to further their career growth while helping uncover the unconscious biases  [1:06:18] Tanya's one-book recommendation: there's no one book.  Resources Mentioned:  What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldwin  How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi  The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change by Michelle Mijung Kim 

On this episode, Michelle MiJung Kim discusses her book “The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change.” The author explores and explains the creative decisions behind her writing as well as the ways this book took her on a learning journey. Michelle MiJung Kim (she/her) is a queer Korean American immigrant woman writer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur. She is the award winning author of The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change. She is CEO and co-founder of Awaken, where she has consulted hundreds of organizations and leaders from Fortune 500 companies, tech giants, nonprofits, universities and beyond on their equity education journey. Michelle has been a lifelong social justice activist and has served on a variety of organizations such as the San Francisco Human Rights Commission's Advisory Committee, LYRIC nonprofit's Board of Directors, and Build Tech We Trust Coalition. She currently serves on the board of Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE). Her work has appeared on world-renowned platforms such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes, The New York Times, and NPR, and she has been named LinkedIn's Top Voice in Racial Equity, Fast Company's Queer 50, and Medium's Top Writer in Diversity three years in a row. She lives in Oakland, California. Learn more about our guest: https://twitter.com/mjmichellekim https://www.michellemijungkim.com/wakeup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OgM9bHAkAE https://medium.com/awaken-blog/how-to-lead-when-youre-afraid-cdf34e6defaf Find a transcript of this episode: shorturl.at/amOSZ Learn more about Pride and Less Prejudice this month: https://www.prideandlessprejudice.org/

Throughout the past few years, many have awakened to the external forces of injustice. But what if the key to making a lasting impact involved waking up to your own capacity to transform? In this conversation with Michelle MiJung Kim (she/her), a longtime activist & author, we discuss the real work of justice and how it involves going beyond just recognizing what's wrong. We tackle Anti-Asian hate, solidarity between Asian and Black communities, and the importance of the collective in the pursuit of justice. We also discuss her four-part framework that frees justice-seekers up to chart their own paths, and what's not ours to carry on this journey as we are continuously caring for ourselves. Find Dani on social media: www.facebook.com/ohhappydani www.instagram.com/ohhappydani www.twitter.com/ohhappydani Find Michelle MiJung Kim on social media: www.instagram.com/michellekimkim www.twitter.com/mjmichellekim https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjmichellekim/ Find the podcast on social media: www.instagram.com/fortheultimategood Grab artwork for the heart and home at www.ohhappydani.com Reach out about the podcast to admin@ohhappydani.com For the Ultimate Good is produced by Lovely House Media.

Today is another episode in celebration of Pride Month. Our guest, Michelle MiJung Kim (she/her), is a queer immigrant Korean American woman writer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur. She is the author of "The Wake Up," where she shares foundational principles often missing in today's mainstream conversations around “diversity and inclusion” and urges readers to go beyond performative allyship to enacting real transformation within ourselves and in the world. Michelle is also CEO and co-founder of Awaken, a leading provider of interactive equity and inclusion education programs facilitated by majority BIPOC educators, where she has consulted hundreds of organizations and top executives from Fortune 500, tech giants, nonprofits, and government agencies to spark meaningful change. In this episode, Michelle shares her immigrant story, coming out as queer in high school, and how it began her political activism journey. Michelle also tells us who and what inspired her to become an activist, why she is passionate about DEI and social justice, and what led her to write her book.Finally, we'll hear Michelle's insights on how we can be a part of the solidarity movement in more ways that are more than just changing profile photos, dealing with trade-offs and contradictions, and how we can truly incorporate racial equity and social justice in the workplace and the community.Episode Quotes:On what inspired her to be an activistI remember growing up in South Korea, I didn't have the language to talk about the experiences that I was having. But in retrospect, there were so many things that I was taught as a child from my grandpa around the importance of activism. I remember him teaching me some of the lessons that now I understand to be around activism, where he really believed in many, many social justice issues that were important. And I think about all of these nuggets of wisdom that I received from my grandpa, having had such a profound impact on me and my upbringing, without even realizing it. So, when I started understanding the kinds of work that other people were doing, I became really inspired. And I was fortunate enough to meet so many other people who were organizing to create a better future, who were kind enough to teach me and help me learn the language, help me understand the theories that weren't being taught in schools, even, for me to be able to understand and put language to the experience that I've lived that I know viscerally in my body but didn't have the words to describe. So, once I started learning the language, it felt incredibly liberating and empowering because now I can describe what it is that I'm experiencing. So, I think all those small experiences led me to being the person that I am today and the way that I understand the world.Defining performative allyshipPerformative allyship, to me, is similar to virtue signaling, when people are so quick to claim that they are in solidarity with certain movements or certain marginalized people and groups that they are quick to claim that identity before actually having done the work or before they are actually committed to doing the work in a sustainable way. And so, for me, that quick, urgent desire to claim that you are a good person, that you are an ally to a certain community, can sometimes be the very barrier between you actually living the values that you want to live, because you desiring to do something but without actually having sat with the necessary introspection can sometimes lead to unintended harm that could burden more marginalized people rather than being supportive or being seen as true solidarity.What does "The Wake Up" meanWhen I titled the work "The Wake Up," it wasn't just about us waking up to other people's struggles and the injustices that are around us in the world. It was also about our waking up to ourselves, our waking up to our capacity to change and transform, but also our capacity to wake up to our complicity in some of the systems of oppression that we're so quick to denounce.What I want to see is all of us taking the work of self-transformation seriously even before we claim that we are out there ready to march alongside other people. So, starting with ourselves begins with our questioning the why. Why are we doing this work? Why do I feel compelled to be a part of this social justice movement? On trade-offs and living in contradictionsWe will all have to, at some point, be willing to give up something in order to move the movement forward, whether it is our resources, our positions of power, our privilege. So, when it comes to actually doing the things that are in alignment with our set values, what are we actually willing to trade off? When it comes to doing this work, there will be some trade-offs that we have to be honest about making. Or when we're not ready to or willing to make those trade-offs, then let's be honest about why and interrogate where that fear is coming from. And they could be very valid reasons.So, these are some real decisions, real trade-offs and sacrifices sometimes that we are needing to make in order to stay in alignment with our values. We're not shooting for perfection, but we are trying to be honest throughout this process. So, I don't ask people to ever be perfect in their decision-making because I'm certainly not. And I live in contradictions all the time. But in these moments of contradictions, can we be courageous enough to be honest with ourselves and be willing to do the work in order for us to be closer in alignment with our values every single day?On holding onto hope and not giving in to cynicismI think holding onto hope is such a powerful and courageous thing for us to do, and to remember that change is indeed possible, and it's not only possible but that it's happening every single day all around us. And I think of Mariame Kaba, black abolitionist, somebody who I really admire and look up to and learn from. Her quote is, hope is a discipline. And that's the thought that I want to leave folks with because I think we need a lot of hope these days, and to remember that a better world, a more just, inclusive, safe, equitable world is possible and that it is being built right now by so many people with the same vision. So, don't lose hope. Don't give in to cynicism. Claim the corner of your life and the world that you're in charge of. And make that your frontline where you do the work to create change that you want to see.Show Links:WebsiteLinkedInThe Wake UpAwakenSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Zach sits back down with Michelle MiJung Kim, author, CEO, founder and speaker to talk about her latest book, Asian identity, capitalism, and the future of this work. Want to know more about our LinkedIn Learning courses? Check them out! https://bit.ly/3k4havy Interested in learning more about Michelle's work? Check out her website. https://bit.ly/3w0MWk0 Learn more about Michelle's latest book, "The Wake Up," on Amazon. https://amzn.to/3LZsTYU Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn, Twitter, & Instagram. http://bit.ly/2tUZRa0 https://bit.ly/3yrOHZt https://bit.ly/3P9Trc1 Interested in supporting Living Corporate? Check out our Support page. https://bit.ly/3egO3Dk

Naoko celebrates her birthday week! We share reflections on the beauty of our mid-40s and what is more to learn. Some analytics to share on which conversations have resonated with listeners and how we can further interact with our listeners. Happy Spring! The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change by Michelle MiJung Kim The Wake Up Fireside Chat with Michelle MiJung Kim and Lily Zheng Tokyo Yuzu candle (blood orange and yuzu) by Cellar Door Candles Scones recipe by Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery Chocolate Mint Trufflettes recipe by Jacques Pépin (mint is optional) Drive My Car Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi CODA (child of deaf adults) Directed by Siân Heder House of Sticks: A Memoir by Ly Tran Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong PBS NewsHour: Ocean Vuong's Brief But Spectacular Take on grief and language PBS NewsHour: Vietnamese American poet contemplates his ties to the war Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart on HBO Max Old Enough! (Hajimete no Otsukai) on Netflix On Japan's Adorable ‘Old Enough!' Show and the State of American Childhoods Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute (APALI) Civic Leadership Program What Is the Model Minority Myth? NPR Code Switch: 'Model Minority' Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks NPR Asian Americans Series Steak Marsala recipe served with mashed potatoes --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/naoness/support

We're rolling onto the next in our limited series. Michelle MiJung Kim joins Dr. Akilah Cadet, in a conversation between two equity and inclusion entrepreneurs! After the murder of George Floyd, they found themselves in a similar position. Overworked, swamped with clients, and many were looking to them for guidance. A space existed where many knew something should be done, but not what to do. Michelle talks about aligning your actions with your values (and also in her new book The Wake Up), centering marginalized experiences, and creating a culture of care. Michelle MiJung Kim (she/her) is a queer immigrant Korean American woman writer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur who lives in Oakland. She is CEO and co-founder of Awaken, a leading provider of interactive equity and inclusion education programs facilitated by majority BIPOC educators, where she has consulted hundreds of organizations and top executives from Fortune 500, tech giants, nonprofits, and government agencies to spark meaningful change. Michelle has been a lifelong social justice activist and has served on a variety of organizations.

This week, CEO, author, speaker, and activist Michelle Kim gets in the arena to talk about her recent book. It's called, The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change. And in it, Michelle clarifies what she's come to understand in her lifelong social justice activism while giving us all the tools to show up for societal liberation. Her work is beyond the basics, she digs deep, and she spares no truth. Most of all, she promises discomfort, which she assures means real change.

The Black Lives Matter and Stop AAPI Hate movements, among others, have brought international attention to widespread social injustices that have been ignored by society for far too long. As a result, many individuals have been inspired to make positive changes toward a safer and more inclusive world. But pursuing equity and justice can be a complex and confusing undertaking. Good intentions do not necessarily lead to good outcomes. Inspiration can easily be derailed by feelings of confusion, the trap of performative allyship, and misguided attempts to take action. When it comes to helping instead of harming, the hardest part can often be figuring out where to begin. Michelle MiJung Kim will unpack hot button issues—cancel culture, inclusive language, representation, and more—in a way that is accessible to people regardless of their current understanding of inclusive practices. Join us for an in-depth conversation Michelle MiJung Kim, followed by a book signing for her new tome, The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change. SPEAKERS Michelle Mijung Kim Author, The Wake Up; Co-founder and CEO, Awaken Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—Co-Host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 28th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Black Lives Matter and Stop AAPI Hate movements, among others, have brought international attention to widespread social injustices that have been ignored by society for far too long. As a result, many individuals have been inspired to make positive changes toward a safer and more inclusive world. But pursuing equity and justice can be a complex and confusing undertaking. Good intentions do not necessarily lead to good outcomes. Inspiration can easily be derailed by feelings of confusion, the trap of performative allyship, and misguided attempts to take action. When it comes to helping instead of harming, the hardest part can often be figuring out where to begin. Michelle MiJung Kim will unpack hot button issues—cancel culture, inclusive language, representation, and more—in a way that is accessible to people regardless of their current understanding of inclusive practices. Join us for an in-depth conversation Michelle MiJung Kim, followed by a book signing for her new tome, The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change. SPEAKERS Michelle Mijung Kim Author, The Wake Up; Co-founder and CEO, Awaken Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—Co-Host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 28th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michelle MiJung Kim joins Jerry to discuss her journey as a queer Korean American woman navigating academic, corporate, and now entrepreneurship life as she uses her voice to challenge the status quo in tech and beyond. Her first book THE WAKE UP is available everywhere today.Meet Michelle MiJungMichelle MiJung Kim (she/her) is a queer immigrant Korean American woman writer, speaker, and social entrepreneur challenging the status quo in tech and beyond. She is CEO and co-founder of Awaken, a leading provider of interactive equity and inclusion education programs facilitated by majority BIPOC educators, where she has consulted hundreds of organizations and top executives from Fortune 500, tech giants, nonprofits, and government agencies to spark meaningful change. Michelle has been a lifelong social justice activist and has served on a variety of organizations such as the San Francisco LGBTQ Speakers Bureau, San Francisco Human Rights Commission's Advisory Committee, LYRIC nonprofit's Board of Directors, and Build Tech We Trust Coalition. Michelle currently serves on the board of Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE). Her work has appeared on world-renowned platforms such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes, The New York Times, and NPR, and she has been named Medium's Top Writer in Diversity three years in a row. Michelle is the author of the book, The Wake Up (Hachette, Fall 2021). Order the book here: https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/michelle-mijung-kim/the-wake-up/9780306847202/About The Wake UpIn The Wake Up, Michelle MiJung Kim shares foundational principles often missing in today's mainstream conversations around “diversity and inclusion,” inviting readers to deep dive into the challenging and nuanced work of pursuing equity and justice, while exploring various complexities, contradictions, and conflicts inherent in our imperfect world. With a mix of in-the-trenches narrative and accessible unpacking of hot button issues—from inclusive language to representation to "cancel culture"—Michelle MiJung Kim offers sustainable frameworks that guide us how to think, approach, and be in the journey as thoughtfully and powerfully as possible. The Wake Up is divided into four key parts:- Grounding: begin by moving beyond good intentions to interrogating our deeper “why” for committing to social justice and uncovering our "hidden stories."- Orienting: establish a shared understanding around our historical and current context and issues we are trying to solve, starting with dismantling white supremacy.- Showing Up: learn critical principles to approach any situation with clarity and build our capacity to work through complexity, nuance, conflict, and imperfections.- Moving Together: remember the core of this work is about human lives, and commit to prioritizing humanity, healing, and community. The Wake Up is an urgent call for us to move together while seeing each other's full and expansive humanity that is at the core of our movement toward justice, healing, and freedom.Meet Michelle:Instagram: @michellekimkimTwitter: @mjmichellekimLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mjmichellekim// Support Dear Asian Americans:Merch: https://www.bonfire.com/store/dearasianamericans/Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jerrywonLearn more about DAA Creator and Host Jerry Won:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrywon/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jerryjwon/// Listen to Dear Asian Americans on all major platforms:Transistor.fm: http://www.dearasianamericans.comApple: https://apple.dearasianamericans.comSpotify: https://spotify.dearasianamericans.comStitcher: https://stitcher.dearasianamericans.comGoogle: https://google.dearasianamericans.com  Follow us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/dearasianamericans Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dearasianamericans Subscribe to our YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/dearasianamericans // Join the Asian Podcast Network:Web: https://asianpodcastnetwork.com/Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/asianpodcastnetwork/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asianpodcastnetwork/Dear Asian Americans is produced by Just Like Media:Web: http://www.justlikemedia.comInstagram.com: http://www.instagram.com/justlikemedia

We'll hear from activist Michelle MiJung Kim about her new book, The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change. Plus, we'll get an update on a few of the more consequential bills crossing Governor Newsom's desk and learn about the upcoming women's marches for reproductive justice here in the Bay Area.

Today I'm bringing you an interview with the author of a new book -- out today! -- that I can't recommend highly enough. The book is The Wake Up, and the author is Michelle MiJung Kim. The Wake Up is an important and necessary book for our times, about how we can take all of our do-gooder intentions and make real progress in fighting the status quo, while avoiding the harm that all too often accompanies good intentions. The book is practical and instructive, and raw and vulnerable, all at the same time. It belongs on your bookshelf next to Ijeoma Oluo and Dr. Ibram Kendi's essential books. Do yourself a favor and find a way to get your hands on it ASAP. Until then, here's a conversation that I absolutely loved with Michelle. Enjoy!Email me your questions: media @ tanjahester.comTanja's TwitterTanja's InstagramLinks from the show:Michelle MiJung Kim's siteThe Wake Up on Bookshop.orgThe Wake Up on Indiebound (lets you order from your local store)125 Black-owned bookstores you can shop fromWe Do This Til We Free Us on Bookshop.orgWallet Activism on Bookshop.orgBonuses for pre-ordering Wallet Activism

Taking a break from TRJL today to share the first two episodes of my NEW podcast "Diversity & Inclusion: Revolution or Reform" learn more and subscribe at: revolutionorreform.buzzsprout.com“If you want to journey with me in this transformation work and this work of social justice, then for me, the prerequisite is your earnest desire to change” - Michelle MiJung KimWelcome to the first episode of the podcast Diversity & Inclusion: Revolution or Reform? We are honored to welcome and delve into Social Justice work with Michelle MiJung Kim. Through our conversations we are introduced to Michelle's start to diversity work, her biggest struggle within D&I work and her truest D&I confession.Guest BioMichelle is the co-founder and CEO of Awaken, a published author of her newest book, The Wake Up (coming this September y'all!), a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and lifelong activist. To Preorder her book The Wake Up visit https://www.michellemijungkim.com/wakeup.Learn more about our work:Email: revolutionorreform@gmail.comConnie's Instagram: @and.now.collectiveConnie's Work: and-now-collective.comDavid's Instagram: @amplify.rjDavid's Work: amplifyrj.comListen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherClick here to access the transcript of today's episode.

**Join our LIVE webinar on Dismantling White Supremacy Culture with Dr. Tema Okun January 27, 4pm PST/7pmEST**“If you want to journey with me in this transformation work and this work of social justice, then for me, the prerequisite is your earnest desire to change” - Michelle MiJung KimWelcome to the first episode of the podcast Diversity & Inclusion: Revolution or Reform? We are honored to welcome and delve into Social Justice work with Michelle MiJung Kim. Through our conversations we are introduced to Michelle's start to diversity work, her biggest struggle within D&I work and her truest D&I confession.Guest BioMichelle is the co-founder and CEO of Awaken, a published author of her newest book, The Wake Up (coming this September y'all!), a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and lifelong activist. To Preorder her book The Wake Up visit https://www.michellemijungkim.com/wakeup.Learn more about our work:Email: revolutionorreform@gmail.comConnie's Instagram: @and.now.collectiveConnie's Work: and-now-collective.comDavid's Instagram: @amplify.rjDavid's Work: amplifyrj.comListen and follow the podcast on all major platforms:Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherClick here to access the transcript of today's episode.