Podcasts about saira rao

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Best podcasts about saira rao

Latest podcast episodes about saira rao

Ready To Be Real by Síle Seoige
Allison Keating : Glimmer seeker

Ready To Be Real by Síle Seoige

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2024 70:47


Topics covered : Uncovering blind spots, racism, overwhelm, anxiety, panic attacks, burnout, regulation and dysregulation, consumerism, community and collective care, self-care, rupture and repair, glimmers. This week I speak to chartered psychologist, Allison Keating and it was wonderful to be in her company. She is married to Thomas and they have 3 daughters, Alannah is 15, Hayley is 12 and Brooke is 9 and they live in Dublin.And in this conversation, she talks about anxiety, overwhelm and panic attacks. How important cultivating a sense of community and connection is and how embracing ‘glimmers' can be hugely beneficial to our lives.Her new book ‘It's all too much' has just launched and it is full of brilliant, practical advice including how to disrupt a panic attack and it's a gamechanger!Find Allison on InstagramAllison Keating | thepractical.psychologist (@thepractical.psychologist) • Instagram photos and videosBook mentions -'Man's search for meaning' by Viktor E. Frankl'White Women – everything you already know about your own racism and how to do better' by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Book and Film Globe Podcast
BFG Podcast #167: Special Guests Elisa Albert and Meghan Daum:

Book and Film Globe Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2024 40:56


It's a podcast ripped straight from the headlines this week, or at least the extremely-online headlines. Elisa Albert joins Neal Pollack to discuss the recent cancellation of a book panel at the Albany Book Festival. Two young writers didn't want to appear with Albert because she's a "Zionist." This is the latest and most appalling act of antisemitism yet in the literary world. Even though Albert admits that she is "very much a Zionist, and proudly so," the panel was about coming-of-age novels. Pollack and Albert call out this act of disgusting cowardice. "It's a lot of ignorance and a lot of performativity," Albert says. "There are a lot of opportunists. You can really fake it as an artist in many ways...this year has exposed a lot of garbage behavior from a lot of garbage people."Writer Meghan Daum, the founder of the Unspeakeasy community for women who have dangerous thoughts, joins Neal to talk about the dangerous-thinking movie 'Am I Racist?' a documentary from conservative online personality Matt Walsh that takes on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion industry. Neal has his criticisms of Am I Racist? as a movie, but neither he nor Meghan can find much fault with his taking the piss out of DEI hustlers. Meghan has actually interviewed Saira Rao and Regina Jackson, two of the people that the movie calls out, and she has some insider-baseball insight about why they're successful. It has something to do with the "weaponization of female rage," or maybe grievance, which Neal knows nothing about but Meghan does.This is a great episode, the reason we do what we do, featuring two of the smartest and most contrarian thinkers in the literary world. If this doesn't put our podcast at the top of the conversational board, then nothing will. Enjoy the show, and share it with Zionist friends.

It’s a Fandom Thing
Pop Culture and Fandom News for the Week of July 21st

It’s a Fandom Thing

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2024 71:21


This week, Erin is joined by Jenn, host of My Streaming Bubble, and Paula, co-host of It's a Dean Thing Pod, to discuss everything in pop culture and fandom that has caught their attention. Topics Include: - The Disney Villains series of books - Dropout TV - Longlegs - Jack Black's departure from Tenacious D and throwing Kyle Gass under the buss. - The band AJR - The book "White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better," by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao. - And the recent, and very valid, critique of Misha Collins, and the importance of not idolizing celebrities. Join the Here4TheKids Substack: https://here4thekids.substack.com/. To order the book, "White Women," click here: https://www.race2dinner.com/white-women Help Yahya's family escape Gaza: https://chuffed.org/project/111028-help-yahyas-family-evacuate-from-gaza Consider donating to World Central Kitchen to help provide meals to communities in need, including Gaza: https://donate.wck.org/give/499865/?_gl=1*1ucesuz*_ga*NjM3NjI2NTc3LjE3MjE3ODAyNDU.*_ga_5WKVY8503C*MTcyMTc4MDI0NC4xLjAuMTcyMTc4MDI0NC42MC4wLjA.#!/donation/checkout?c_src=navbar For excellent bonus content and ad-free versions, please support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/itsafandomthingpod. You can follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/itsafandomthingpod Twitter: @fandomthingpod Instagram: @itsafandomthingpod Discord: https://discord.com/channels/1042986989349257216/1042987584151879762 You can follow Fergie on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@schroederandfergs Cover art by Carla Temis. Podcast logo by Erin Amos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conversations on Conversations
A Conversation on Inclusive Hiring with Ify Walker

Conversations on Conversations

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2024 72:28


Join Sarah Noll Wilson and guest Ify Walker as they discuss Ify's work challenging and disrupting the norms and biases involved in hiring, and offer actionable insights for creating inclusive workplaces. About Our Guest Ify Walker is a proud product of Nigerian parents, Wisconsin, and Head Start. A fierce believer in the power of equitable culture and talent practices, Ify's experience sits at the intersection of law, fundraising, and talent cultivation. She is a steady and courageous advisor whose firm has helped over 200 companies hire top executives from Offor's talent network of over 10,000 leaders. As the Founder and CEO of Offor, Ify leads with her values: she believes that when people's needs are prioritized, everyone can do their best work. As such, Offor invests in a paid certified financial planner and mandatory paid six weeks off for all of its employees. When she is not leading a growing national firm and debunking the meritocracy myth, Ify is running Mom's School of Excellence with her husband—the most important decision she has ever made. Links and Resources Website: www.offor.co LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ifywalker X: twitter.com/ifywalker White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669854/white-women-by-regina-jackson-and-saira-rao

The Amanda Seales Show
Warner Bros Isn't Happy With The Color Purple, An Airplane Loses A Door Mid-Flight, Are You Ready For Valentine's Day, and More

The Amanda Seales Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2024 61:03


With Valentine's Day approaching, we're less than a month away from the rush to Walgreens for last-minute gifts. The Florida State Board of Education seems to be dancing around diversity, equity, and inclusion. We're not just talking about polka dots here; it's about crucial aspects of education. And speaking of things blowing up, did you hear about the Alaska Airlines flight where a door blew off mid-air? Wait until you find out what they're giving passengers as an apology. In the world of entertainment, "The Color Purple" seems to be thriving, but Warner Brothers disagrees. Guess who they're blaming? It's not Jonathan Majors! Also, someone other than Jonathan Majors is speaking highly of Coretta Scott King—find out who. To cap it off, we'll kick off our Group Chat Topic of the Week: Polyamory. Are you with it or nah? We'll explore this unconventional form of relationship and take your calls. Listen, Laugh, and Learn on The Amanda Seales Show! FOLLOW ALONG AS WE COVER:   (3:13) - The Florida State Board of Education passed a rule to permanently prohibit Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the state's 28 state college campuses. Discussion on what Black folks should remove or prohibit from Florida. (8:45) - Exploring ethical non-monogamy (polyamory) after a New York Magazine edition. Definition and discussion on polyamory. (14:19) - 60 Second Headlines covering various topics. (17:58) - Blackurate News: Alaska Airlines mid-air incident, Amanda's weekend in Chicago, and the Big Up/Let Down segment. (21:02) - Discussing the Alaska Airlines incident where a piece of fuselage broke loose mid-flight. Passengers' experiences and compensation. (26:49) - Amanda shares her trip to Chicago, focusing on a stand-up experience. (30:04) - The Big Up/Let Down segment: Commending a couple in Philadelphia living in a storage unit and addressing bullies targeting kids for sneakers. Rent-A-Center now renting out Jordans. (35:28) - Amanda continues discussing her trip to Chicago and the importance of supporting. (38:40) - Blackurate News: Yolanda Renee King highlighting Coretta Scott King's role in the Civil Rights movement, and executives allegedly blaming Oprah and Taraji P. Henson for The Color Purple's box office struggles. (42:53) - The Color Purple's box office struggles after its initial success and the alleged blame on Taraji P. Henson and Oprah Winfrey. (47:56) - Small Doses podcast episode on the side effects of deconstructing Karen with Regina Jackson and Saira Rao. (50:47) - Amanda shares more thoughts on The Color Purple. (52:31) - Word of the Day: Harangue - a forceful or angry speech or piece of writing. (55:18) - Politicians Say the Darndest Things. (58:08) - Closing remarks. Thanks for listening to The Amanda Seales Show! FOLLOW THE SHOW ON ALL SOCIALS: @Sealessaidit @Amandaseales @Jeremiahlikethebible If You Have A Comment Leave Amanda A Message At 1 855-Amanda-8 That's 1-855-262-6328  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Small Doses with Amanda Seales
Side Effects of Deconstructing Karens (with Regina Jackson & Saira Rao)

Small Doses with Amanda Seales

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2024 56:26


This week, Regina Jackson and Saira Rao joins us to break down the concept of Karens, white women privilege, and what it takes to dismantle white supremacy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Currently Reading
Season 6, Episode 21: A Look Back - Our Favorite Books of 2019

Currently Reading

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2024 40:54 Very Popular


On this episode of Currently Reading, Meredith and Kaytee are taking a look back at their favorite reads of 2019. These stood the test of time better than our 2018 reads, and most of these books should be available for you to grab if any interest you after hearing us rave about them four years ago! Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site) .  .  .  .  .  4:30 - Our Top 10 Reads of 2019 5:07 - Sweep by Jonathan Auxier (Kaytee) 5:35 - Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier 6:23 - Winterhouse by Ben Guterson (Meredith) 7:31 - Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski (Kaytee) 7:45 - Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski 8:23 - A Better Man by Louise Penny (Meredith) 10:00 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (Kaytee) 11:00 - The Whisper Man by Alex North (Meredith) 11:03 - Book of the Month 11:56 - The Passengers by John Marrs (Kaytee) 12:08 - The One by John Marrs 12:58 - The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye (Meredith) 14:15 - Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts (Kaytee) 15:56 - The Current by Tim Johnston (Meredith) 16:05 - Descent by Tim Johnston 18:04 - White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo (Kaytee) 19:47 - The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff (Meredith) 21:48 - Sarah's Bookshelves Live w/Garrett Graff 22:09 - We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter (Kaytee) 23:26 - American Royals by Katharine McGee (Meredith) 25:15 - The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal (Kaytee) 27:04 - Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry 27:36 - The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth (Meredith) 29:21 - The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (Kaytee's #2 book) 29:37 - The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 30:32 - The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (Meredith's #2 book) 32:10 - The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall (Kaytee's #1 book) 33:53 - A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (Meredith's #1 book) 35:19 - Deep Dive: Discussion on our Top Books of 2019 35:49 - White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo 36:03 - White Women by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao 36:13 - Sweep by Jonathan Auxier 36:14 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 37:10 - American Royals by Katharine McGee 37:31 - The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff 37:33 - The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich 38:25 - The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead 38:40 - The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. January's IPL will be with our anchor store, Fabled Bookshop in Waco, TX. Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

Blocked and Reported
Episode 192: Andrea James's Stalking Website Transgender Map Sure Is Creepy

Blocked and Reported

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2023 71:32


This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse and Katie discuss Andrea James, the stochastic terrorist trans activist with a website and a grudge. Plus, gay furry hackers target a nuclear lab and Saira Rao gets canceled. Jesse's fifth-grade yearbook page:And in cake form:Engadget: “Self-proclaimed 'gay furry hackers' breach nuclear” labJesse: “The rage behind Transgender Map”Alice Dreger: Galileo's Middle FingerAlice Dreger: “The controversy surrounding The man who would be Queen: A case history of the politics of science, identity, and sex in the Internet age”Benedict Carey: “Criticism of a Gender Theory, and a Scientist Under Siege”Jesse: “When Children Say They're Trans”Axios: “Exclusive: Using data to track transphobia in media”Kickstarter: “This Is What Transphobia in the Media Looks Like”Journalism.co.uk: “Transphobia Project uses data visualisation to zoom in on outlets that spread biased transgender content”Nieman Lab: “The Transphobia Project uses data visualization to “zoom in on outlets that spread biased transgender content”Google: December 2022 link spam update releasing for Google SearchGoogle: A new tool to disavow linksSuper specific information about the image we used: We got the photo of Andrea James from her Wikipedia page. The image includes the following “Permission details” (screenshot below): This work is free and may be used by anyone for any purpose. If you wish to use this content, you do not need to request permission as long as you follow any licensing requirements mentioned on this page.The Wikimedia Foundation has received an e-mail confirming that the copyright holder has approved publication under the terms mentioned on this page. This correspondence has been reviewed by a Volunteer Response Team (VRT) member and stored in our permission archive. The correspondence is available to trusted volunteers as ticket #2016051210001768.If you have questions about the archived correspondence, please use the VRT noticeboard. Ticket link: https://ticket.wikimedia.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom&TicketNumber=2016051210001768On the off chance this becomes an issue, it could not be clearer that Andrea James has given permission for this photo to “be used by anyone for any purpose.” Under Creative Commons, according to the image page, we “must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.” We are following all those requirements: credit goes to Andrea James, a link to the license is contained in this language quoted directly from the photo's page — “This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license” (click the link and you'll see that commercial use is explicitly allowed) — and no changes were made, with the possible exception of the photo getting cropped by Substack for the web preview. And obviously we have no reason to believe the licensor endorses us or our use of this image. Thank you, and God bless. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Come Get Your White People
91: White Women, Accountability, and Liberation with Race 2 Dinner

Come Get Your White People

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2023 31:51


Wanda is joined by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao, co-founders of Race 2 Dinner, to talk about their work and having tough conversations with White women about their racism and oppression.   Learn more about Race 2 Dinner at race2dinner.com and on Instagram @race2dinner.   Join the Practice Liberation Academy at https://startbytalking.mykajabi.com/practiceliberationacademy   Learn more at https://startbytalking.mykajabi.com/   Email questions to sbtinfo@wanswan.com  

I SEE U with Eddie Robinson
99: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner with Karen? with Authors Saira Rao and Regina Jackson

I SEE U with Eddie Robinson

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2023 52:57


As a group of white women sit at a fancy dining room table, sip wine and pass the breadbasket ready to eat, another woman—the only Black woman at the table—asks a stunning question to the guests: “How many of you would trade places with a Black person in this society?” The silence that instantly hovers over the dinner crowd was not only deafening but also revealing. Entrepreneurs Saira Rao and Regina Jackson have designed a program that radically educates a specific group of individuals who they say are directly responsible for the racism and discrimination happening in this country. Their unique tactic is to facilitate honest conversations and sometimes uncomfortable dialogue over an illustrious dinner. These powerful dinner experiences offer up an opportunity for white women to acknowledge their own racism and how they benefit from white privilege—regardless of a political party affiliation. Join us as I SEE U host Eddie Robinson chats candidly with New York Times best-selling authors, Saira Rao and Regina Jackson, for a provocative discussion about their no-holds-barred campaign. We'll learn more about their Race2Dinner movement, as well as take a deep dive into their latest book, “White Women: Everything You Already Know about Your Own Racism and How to Do Better,”—which serves as a call to action to those who are looking to take the next steps in dismantling white supremacy. Both Rao and Jackson have also released a documentary available on Apple TV and Prime Video entitled, Deconstructing Karen, where viewers become a “fly on the wall” during one of these eye-opening dinners.

Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey
The Bullpen: Activists Behind ‘Deconstructing Karen' Doc Speak Out

Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2023 16:07


Bullpen interview with Regina Jackson and Saira Rao, the activists behind "Deconstructing Karen" and founders of Race2Dinner.Host: Dr. Rashad Richey (@IndisputableTYT)Bullpen Guests: Regina Jackson and Saira Rao***SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ https://www.youtube.com/IndisputableTYTFACEBOOK: ☞ https://www.facebook.com/IndisputableTYTTWITTER: ☞ https://www.twitter.com/IndisputableTYTINSTAGRAM: ☞ https://www.instagram.com/IndisputableTYT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mountain Practice Journeys
How To Begin Decolonizing Coaching Spaces with guest Emily Anne Brant [Episode 96]

Mountain Practice Journeys

Play Episode Play 60 sec Highlight Listen Later Aug 7, 2023 26:39 Transcription Available


Here in Episode 96 I continue my conversation with Emily Anne Brant about how we can begin to decolonize coaching spaces.Episode 96 Show Notes~~~-Emily's Website: https://www.emilyannebrant.com/-FREE E-Book: Beginners Guide To Decolonize Your Coaching Business: https://www.emilyannebrant.com/decolonize -The Round Table Masterclass: https://www.emilyannebrant.com/offers/A6RkuL5j/checkout-Decolonized Coach Community: https://www.emilyannebrant.com/decolonizedcoach -Book: White Women by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao: https://amzn.to/4119azN ~~~

Mountain Practice Journeys
Decolonizing Coaching, Spirituality, & Personal Development with guest Emily Anne Brant [Episode 95]

Mountain Practice Journeys

Play Episode Play 56 sec Highlight Listen Later Jul 31, 2023 27:34 Transcription Available


Here in Episode 95 I chat with Emily Anne Brant about the work of decolonizing coaching, spirituality, and personal development.Episode 95 Show Notes~~~-Emily's Website: https://www.emilyannebrant.com/-FREE E-Book: Beginners Guide To Decolonize Your Coaching Business: https://www.emilyannebrant.com/decolonize -The Round Table Masterclass: https://www.emilyannebrant.com/offers/A6RkuL5j/checkout-Decolonized Coach Community: https://www.emilyannebrant.com/decolonizedcoach -Book: White Women by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao: https://amzn.to/4119azN ~~~

Conversations With Warrior Women Podcast
Lisa Bond- Are You a Good White Woman? Unraveling White Supremacy Episode 166

Conversations With Warrior Women Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2023 51:07


Episode Description: Are you a good white woman? Raised to be colorblind? Do you think adopting black children makes you immune to racism? There's a socialization around white womanhood and we're talking about that today with Race to Community founder Lisa Bond. How are we (white women) upholding the systems of white supremacy? We are getting radically honest today about what it looks like to do the work that the best selling book: “White Women- Everything you already know about your own racism and how to do better” by Regina King and Saira Rao- has reignited. Come to Warrior Women Camp! Self paced, virtual and FUN! Sign up now! www.lizsvatek.com/camp Connect with: Lisa Websites for Race2Dinner and Race2Community: https://www.race2dinner.com/ https://www.race2dinner.com/race2community Watch the documentary that started it all: Deconstructing Karen https://www.deconstructingkaren.com/ Buy the one book you need to read: White Women https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669854/white-women-by-regina-jackson-and-saira-rao/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.elwell.bond/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisadbond/ Guest Bio: Lisa Bond is an experienced and effective advocate for personal change, - grounded in principles of anti-oppression, decolonization, antiracism and restorative justice. A creative thinker, effective collaborator, and engaging facilitator, I help white women unlearn the behaviors of white supremacy culture deeply embedded in our socialization so that we can interrupt systems of oppression at home, at work and at play. Incorporating and building on the work of the great antiracist educators of the past and present, I create informed and powerful program curriculum, focusing on continuous improvement by incorporating new stories, theories and resources for powerful and effective results.

The MalaCast
The Left Hates White People

The MalaCast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2023 22:49


Where religion is compulsory, I am an atheist; but where religion is forbidden, I am a believer.  –Theodore Dalrymple   Saira Rao is an antiwhite bigot.  So what?  Well, Andrew Yang endorsed her.  Antiwhite hatred is a zero to the left.   Just as a man can commit suicide due to guilt, so can a nation.

Bearing Arms' Cam & Co
Protest to Ban Gun Ownership Off to a Slow Start

Bearing Arms' Cam & Co

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2023 22:40


Anti-2A activist Saira Rao declared that tens of thousands of her fellow gun prohibitionists would flood the state capitol in Denver, Colorado at 5 a.m. Monday morning to demand Gov. Jared Polis sign an executive order banning gun sales and gun possession in the state, but hours after the sit-in began in earnest, the crowds had yet to materialize in the numbers she predicted.

Accessible Yoga Podcast
10. Here 4 the Kids: A Conversation with Saira Rao

Accessible Yoga Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2023 22:54


Saira Rao is an activist, producer of the provocative documentary, Deconstructing Karen, co- author of White Women: Everything You Already Know about Your Own Racism and How to Do Better, and host of radically honest conversations at Race2Dinner. Since our last conversation on this podcast, Saira has embarked on a new movement effort, called Here 4 the Kids, to push “unexplored and unprecedented action to end gun violence”. During this conversation, Saira and Anjali discuss: • Saira and Regina's experiences of hosting sold-out events all over the country at Race2 Dinner conversations • Gun violence is the number one cause of deaths for children in the United States. How we move past the political gridlock • How dominant culture is complicit in suppressing efforts to end gun violence • What Here 4 the Kids is • How listeners who want to be a part of this movement can join in • Join the Denver June 5th Here 4 the Kids sit-in! It's history in the making! Check out https://here4thekids.com/ and follow them on Instagram to learn more about how you can get involved with Here 4 the Kids today! You can follow Saira on Instagram and keep up with everything she's up to here. Thank you, Saira, for this incredible and timely conversation! A huge thank you to the support of our partner OfferingTree - an all-in-one, easy to use business platform for classes, courses, memberships and more. Check them out www.offeringtree.com/accessibleyoga to get a discount today!

A Special Place in Hell
Saira Rao and Regina Jackson DESTROY Our Inner Karens

A Special Place in Hell

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2023 55:02


To kick off the new season of A Special Place In Hell, Sarah and Meghan welcome Saira Rao and Regina Jackson, founders of the anti-racism enterprise, Race To Dinner. Is Meghan holding back white woman tears? Is Sarah Nazi-adjacent? Or merely Meghan's sidekick? Listen to the podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/3jnEkAL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3l3WLLe Amazon & Audible: https://amzn.to/3JANQeh i-Heart Radio: https://bit.ly/3jtpsko RSS: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/aspecialpl... Tune In: http://bit.ly/3lhLwix Stitcher :http://bit.ly/3x1P9eY Google: http://bit.ly/40WvZEk YouTube: : https://bit.ly/3jrxz0A Follow us on: Twitter: https://bit.ly/40heL4Z Instagram: https://bit.ly/3X3fHXE Facebook: https://bit.ly/3l2OW8G Substack: https://bit.ly/3XYHFoW YouTube: : https://bit.ly/3jrxz0A Website: bit.ly/3wQygUe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Special Place in Hell
Saira Rao and Regina Jackson DESTROY Our Inner Karens

A Special Place in Hell

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2023 53:32


To kick off the new season of A Special Place In Hell, Sarah and Meghan welcome Saira Rao and Regina Jackson, founders of the anti-racism enterprise, Race To Dinner. Is Meghan holding back white woman tears? Is Sarah Nazi-adjacent? Or merely Meghan's sidekick?Watch the video episode on YouTube: : https://bit.ly/3jrxz0A Listen to the podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/3jnEkAL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3l3WLLe Amazon & Audible: https://amzn.to/3JANQehi-Heart Radio: https://bit.ly/3jtpsko Tune In: http://bit.ly/3lhLwix Stitcher :http://bit.ly/3x1P9eY Google: http://bit.ly/40WvZEk Follow us on: Twitter: https://bit.ly/40heL4Z Instagram: https://bit.ly/3X3fHXE Facebook: https://bit.ly/3l2OW8G This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aspecialplace.substack.com/subscribe

Spilling Chai
S5 E9: How Whiteness Kills with Saira Rao

Spilling Chai

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2023 22:39


How does whiteness kill? How is it deadly even for white people? Bestselling author Saira Rao is back on the show to answer those questions and explain to us that when it comes to gun violence and mass shootings, we have a choice. But we have to get on our feet and take action. Rao tells us how.

Her Story Speaks
Deconstructing Karen

Her Story Speaks

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2023 55:36


Saira Rao grew up in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Indian immigrants. For forty years, she wasted her precious time aspiring to be white and accepted by dominant white society, a futile task for anyone not born with white skin. Several years ago, Saira began the painful process of dismantling her own internalized oppression. In this episode Saira shares her story of how her eyes finally started to open to her own internalized oppression to start speaking up against white supremacy. Saira is the co-founder of Race2Dinner, co-author of New York Times Bestseller White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How To Do Better and Executive Producer of the documentary Deconstructing Karen.

Too Dope Teachers and a Mic
113. Real Talk About Deconstructing Karen with Saira Rao!

Too Dope Teachers and a Mic

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2023


Trigger warning: This episode contains discussion of White supremacy, violence, and racism. Be advised. Central Park Karen. BBQ Becky. These incidents have become tropes. Many of us laugh, if even in an exasperated way, when reminded of these incidents. But there is a deeper and more insidious reality for Black and Brown people. Violence, literal and symbolic alike, stalks us. If we are lucky, we only get angry and frustrated. But like countless others, too numerous to name, the results may be worse. Our guest this week is author, filmmaker, and activist Saira Rao. co-author with Regina Jackson of White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better, co-founder of Race2Dinner, and creator of the film Deconstructing Karen, joins Gerardo to discuss how she began on this path. She shares the deeply upsetting moment following the 2016 Presidential Election, when she discovered her "friends" true beliefs. She lambastes White Supremacy, and calls upon all of us to end it. All this and a Top Five that will surprise you. Get a discount with www.quetzalec.com when you mention us. Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/ttoodopeteachers

Honestly Unorthodox. with Kayla Perry
The Modern Day Guide to Making Everything Racist

Honestly Unorthodox. with Kayla Perry

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2023 63:15


"Race2Dinner" is a "program" developed by Saira Rao in which a bunch of white women are invited to a dinner and told how inherently sinister they all are by Saira Rao and co-host Regina Jackson. My panelists today join me in discussing one of the hottest topics of modern day: racism and anti-racism. Oh, and one of them got conveniently bombarded in a comments section based on her skin color, which apparently wasn't racist at all.The Angry Behavior Analyst has officially rebranded. We are now "Honestly Unorthodox." IG: @honestlyunorthodox

Rich Zeoli
Philosopher Says It's “Unfortunate” COVID Wasn't Deadlier

Rich Zeoli

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2023 47:51


The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 3:  Dr. Wilfred Reilly—Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University & Author of “Taboo: 10 Facts You Can't Talk About”—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss his recent article, “Saira Rao's Latest Book of Grift.” Dr. Reilly writes that in their new book activists Saira Rao and Regina Jackson basically argue, “[t]he United States is a white supremacist, genocidal, racist society, and white female citizens of this modern Reich need to hire Rao and Jackson's Race2Dinner company to reeducate them past their internalized pathologies.” Amazingly, during “Race2Dinner” they don't even serve you dinner—they just yell at you! Dr. Reilly also weighs-in on Hulu's new “1619 Project” documentary series and the recent revelation that Nikole Hannah-Jones was paid over $1 million for 33 speeches in 2021. Philosopher Sam Harris bizarrely suggested that societally we were “unlucky” that COVID-19 didn't have a higher fatality rate capable of silencing vaccine skeptics. While appearing on CNN, medical analyst and Washington Post opinion columnist Dr. Leana Wen said she believes the United States is overcounting deaths caused by COVID-19. 

Rich Zeoli
Karine Jean-Pierre Gets Caught Lying + Bond Villains in Davos

Rich Zeoli

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2023 178:45


The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Episode (01/17/2023):  3:00pm- According to journalist Daniel Chaitin of The Daily Wire, Douglas Wise, “[o]ne of the 51 intelligence veterans who signed a letter suggesting the Hunter Biden laptop story could be part of a Russian disinformation operation said [he] knew the contents of the device were genuine at the time.” 3:20pm- During her Tuesday press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied reporter accusations that she had not been “forthcoming” about information regarding President Joe Biden's mishandling of classified documents. On Friday, Jean-Pierre stated that the search for misplaced documents had concluded, but on Saturday it was announced that five additional documents were discovered at Biden's Wilmington, Delaware home.  3:40pm- NBC News' Peter Alexander pressed Karine Jean-Pierre about the White House's claim that Republicans are “faking outrage” over President Biden's mishandling of classified documents—but, as Alexander notes, “why shouldn't Americans be upset” over Biden's negligence?  4:05pm- The World Economic Forum Conference—an international non-governmental lobbying organization—kicked off its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland on Monday. Several American lawmakers will be in attendance, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.  4:15pm- During the World Economic Forum (WEF), Vice President of the European Commission Vera Jourova suggested that the United States should criminalize “hate speech.” Meanwhile, climate and health researcher Alan Dangour stated that there was a link between global warming and the mental health crisis plaguing Western society.  4:25pm- What is the goal of the World Economic Forum (WEF)? Environmentalism, economic equity, and seemingly a dangerous form of globalization that usurps national sovereignty. Investigative journalist Michael Shellenberger discovered a now deleted video from 2018 where the WEF attempted to predict what the world will look like in 2030. Among the predictions: “You'll own nothing. And you'll be happy.” They also predicted “[t]he U.S. won't be the world's leading superpower.” 4:50pm- While speaking with Brian Stelter at the World Economic Forum, Chairman of the New York Times A.G. Sulzberger called disinformation the greatest challenge facing society. He went on to compare Donald Trump's utilization of the term “fake news” to terminology used in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia.  5:00pm- Dr. Wilfred Reilly—Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University & Author of “Taboo: 10 Facts You Can't Talk About”—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss his recent article, “Saira Rao's Latest Book of Grift.” Dr. Reilly writes that in their new book activists Saira Rao and Regina Jackson basically argue, “[t]he United States is a white supremacist, genocidal, racist society, and white female citizens of this modern Reich need to hire Rao and Jackson's Race2Dinner company to reeducate them past their internalized pathologies.” Amazingly, during “Race2Dinner” they don't even serve you dinner—they just yell at you! Dr. Reilly also weighs-in on Hulu's new “1619 Project” documentary series and the recent revelation that Nikole Hannah-Jones was paid over $1 million for 33 speeches in 2021.  5:35pm- Philosopher Sam Harris bizarrely suggested that societally we were “unlucky” that COVID-19 didn't have a higher fatality rate capable of silencing vaccine skeptics.  5:45pm- While appearing on CNN, medical analyst and Washington Post opinion columnist Dr. Leana Wen said she believes the United States is overcounting deaths caused by COVID-19.  6:05pm- According to Fox News, more than a dozen House Democrats are hoping to propose a Constitutional Amendment lowering the voting age to 16-years-old.  6:10pm- The Turkish government has placed a $500,000 bounty on former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom for being an outspoken critic of the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  6:15pm- A Colorado College professor accused the field of astrophysics of being guilty of “systemic racism and white supremacy”—citing the field of study's emphasis on “individualism and exceptionalism and perfectionism.” 6:30pm- According to a report from Breitbart News, Hunter Biden “paid a $49,910 rental deposit to the House of Sweden for an office for the Biden family business's venture with the infamous CEFC China Energy Co.”—which matches the exact amount he paid in monthly rent at Joe Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware.  6:45pm- CBS News White Correspondent Weijia Jiang grilled Karine Jean-Pierre for her unwillingness to directly answer questions about Joe Biden's mishandling of classified documents.  6:55pm- Who Won Social Media?

Rich Zeoli
The Extraordinary Hypocrisy of Progressive Activisits

Rich Zeoli

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2023 22:17


Dr. Wilfred Reilly—Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University & Author of “Taboo: 10 Facts You Can't Talk About”—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss his recent article, “Saira Rao's Latest Book of Grift.” Dr. Reilly writes that in their new book activists Saira Rao and Regina Jackson basically argue, “[t]he United States is a white supremacist, genocidal, racist society, and white female citizens of this modern Reich need to hire Rao and Jackson's Race2Dinner company to reeducate them past their internalized pathologies.” Amazingly, during “Race2Dinner” they don't even serve you dinner—they just yell at you! Dr. Reilly also weighs-in on Hulu's new “1619 Project” documentary series and the recent revelation that Nikole Hannah-Jones was paid over $1 million for 33 speeches in 2021. 

Embracing Only
Embracing Only Podcast

Embracing Only

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2023 32:17


In this episode of the Embracing Only Podcast with Archita Fritz and Olivia Cream, Regina Jackson of Race2Dinner helps us deconstruct what being a true ally is. She leads off with how her work alongside Sair Rao is not steeped in niceness because being nice has not stopped racism. Thorugh her work and lived experiences over the last 72 years she is on a mission to change the status quo she co-founded Race2Dinner with Saira Roa. They took the experiences from these dinners and developed a documentary with film maker Patty Ivins called Deconstructing Karen. In the words of the filmaker's themselves “It is a provocative documentary, white women experience RADICAL HONESTY ABOUT RACISM…their daily role in upholding it, their conditioning to ignore it and the essential part they can play in tearing down the systems that are killing black and brown people every single day.” How does this translate into the workplace? It provides thought provoking questions to consider if you call yourself an Ally at work It challenges you to start with yourself in deconstructing your beliefs and triggers first It leaves us with key messages to ACT as there is urgency in having honest discussion however uncomfortable that make us feel. Only then can we seek to make the impact we seek within the Employee Resource Groups (ERG's) or diverse teams we are leading in organizations. Finally, a recognition that is a constant journey of learning, recognition and evolution If you are ready to join in on this journey to deconstruct your own racism we encourage you to engage in the following way. Purchase their book “White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better”. You can purchase it here or anywhere you read books. https://www.amazon.com/White-Women-Everything-Already-Racism-ebook/dp/B09RPPV3B8 Watch their movie “Deconstructing Karen”. You can watch it by purchasing it on iTunes or on YouTube Engage with the Race2Dinner Community if you recognize as a white woman. If you are ready to unravel, connect and commit. You can buy one for yourself and gift one to another friend here through January 2023. https://www.race2dinner.com/race2community. Register for the Race2Dinner Self Actualization Program if you identify as a person of color. An opportunity to dive deep, live authentically and free. https://www.race2dinner.com/race2selfactualization Host a Race2Dinner with a group of your girlfriends. Reach out to Saira Rao and Regina Jackson here. They have SOLD Out of their dinner in 2023 but be on the watch out for more in 2024

Emerging Women: Grace and Fire
Everything You Need to Know About Your Own Racism with Saira Rao

Emerging Women: Grace and Fire

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2023 56:27


Episode Summary Although not everyone is able to digest radical honesty about racism, Saira Rao is here to talk about it in a courageous and raw way. In this episode, Chantal and Saira talk about racism and how white supremacy and saviorism are still a massive problem in a world where everyone is more racist than they would like to admit. They also talk about how Saira makes this situation visible through projects like her movie, Deconstructing Karen, her book, White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better and the discussion space Race To Dinner. About Our Guest Saira Rao is a co-founder and Creative Director of In This Together Media, a book packaging company of children's fiction with greater diversity in terms of gender, race, sexual orientation, and experience. She is the author of Chambermaid (Grove Press) and The Madlands (forthcoming). Previously, Saira was a television news producer in Washington D.C., and Miami; a policy associate at the Center for Educational Innovation at The Manhattan Institute; a law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; and a lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York City. Saira is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the New York University School of Law. Saira Rao (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Colorado's 1st Congressional District. She lost in the Democratic primary on June 26, 2018. She launched a movie named Deconstructing Karen at the same time she launched with Regina Jackson “White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better”. Saira co-founds Race To Dinner with Regina Jackson which is a space to discuss with radical honesty different topics that are not talked about enough in this patriarchal and racist society. Insights from this episode: —Saira's journey to being a self-constructed best seller author —Difficulties in achieving profit with Race To Dinner —Dealing with the reviews of Saira's book “White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better” —Applying for a job as a woman of color —Positive white identity —How can black women be in a community with non-black women —White saviorism —Saira's son and how he experiences racism in school —Black women in the technology industry —White supremacy as the status quo —Community building between white women —What is next in Saira's professional life Quotes from the show: “[About the book] This is deprogramming and it's painful, at first it is really painful, it's confusing” —Saira Rao, Emerging Women Podcast. “[About work situations where women of color are left aside] We've intentionally interviewed a bunch of black, indigenous, latina, and asian women in different professions to show it doesn't matter if you're a latina woman in Seattle or a black woman in Florida, it's the same” —Saira Rao, Emerging Women Podcast. “In order for us to do community, we need to stand strong in our claiming of our identity, whatever that means to us and that also means unraveling what we've been socialized to believe who we are” —Chantal Pierrat, Emerging Women Podcast. “There is no perfection without white skin so I don't have a chance, Regina [Jackson] doesn't have a chance, so white skin is a necessary but insufficient component of perfectionism” —Saira Rao, Emerging Women Podcast. “If you all are competing with each other to be the thinnest, the prettiest, have the best hair, have the best looking husbands, have the smartest best looking children, have the best homes, how can you be in community with each other? ” —Saira Rao, Emerging Women Podcast. Stay connected: Saira Rao: Twitter: Saira Rao LinkedIn: Saira Rao Instagram: Saira Rao Chantal Pierrat Twitter: @chantalpierrat LinkedIn: Chantal Pierrat Emerging Women Website: https://emergingwomen.com/ Twitter: @emergingW Facebook: @EmergingWomen

Fit to Practice with Angela Han
How Not to be a Racist, with Saira Rao

Fit to Practice with Angela Han

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2023 39:08


  In this episode, Angela meets Saira Rao, political activist, author, publisher, and former Wall Street lawyer and television producer.  She is the co-founder of "Race2Dinner", in which she and her partner in the project, Regina Jackson, imagine a world without white supremacy and misogyny.    Saira and Regina attend dinners with 8–10 white women, hosted and catered by one of the women, and lead a conversation aimed at confronting the women with their own racism. An Apple iTunes documentary Deconstructing Karen explores the Race2Dinner concept.  They are also co-authors of White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better.    A long-time supporter of the Democrats, Saira became disillusioned at their failure to recognise, or combat, racism in daily life and in the corridors of power. She ran for Congress in 2018, losing out in the primary to the Democrat incumbent.    

The Empathy Edge
Saira Rao: Why White Women Need to Talk About Our Racism

The Empathy Edge

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2023 55:40


Talking about racism is hard. But ignoring it doesn't make it go away. Empathy requires us to be humble and curious and to sometimes have hard, honest, emotional conversations. Only in acknowledging wrongs can we make things right -and that actually benefits all of us. Today, my guest Saira Rao gets real about the role seemingly well-intentioned and even Liberal white women play in supporting the patriarchy and oppression. Our conversation goes far deeper than DEI efforts - which Saira will share her opinions on. We talk about how Race2Dinner got started, what Saira experienced in her run for Congress a few years ago, how she and Regina's voices have even been censored by the BBC. We also talk about why white women's conditioning to be nice and not rock the boat is killing people of color, and the hard choices we need to make if we truly want to save our country and communities. As Saira says in the interview, we are dying and we need to take risks, become aware, and have hard conversations with each other. As she states, once white supremacy goes away, many of our societal problems will go away, too. Key Takeaways:White women have more power than they know, but consistently choose whiteness over everything else. You have the power to talk about racism and to make changes. So do it. It takes all kinds of people, of all backgrounds, to do this work. Start the conversations, point out the inequalities around you, and start doing the work on yourself first. Individualism is colonialist behavior. White supremacy hurts everyone, including white people.There is nothing micro about a microaggression.  "The amount of energy white women spend - time, money, and energy - to say ‘not me,' use that energy to go turn other white women - your neighbors, kids, friends, parents, teachers. Get to work. Instead of patting yourselves on the back, start turning other people in your community. Because we can't. You can." —  Saira Rao"Let's start feeling comfortable having these conversations. We're not going to be able to affect any change until we start being honest with ourselves and each other." —  Saira Rao About Saira Rao, Co-Founder, Race2DinnerSaira Rao is the co-founder of Race2Dinner, New York Times Bestselling co-author of White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How To Do Better and co-subject and Executive Producer of the documentary Deconstructing Karen.Saira grew up in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Indian immigrants. For forty years, she wasted her precious time aspiring to be white and accepted by dominant white society, a futile task for anyone not born with white skin.  Several years ago, Saira began the painful process of dismantling her own internalized oppression.  Saira is a lawyer-by-training, a former congressional candidate, a published novelist and an entrepreneur.Connect with Saira RaoRace2Dinner: https://www.race2dinner.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/sairasameeraraoLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sairarao/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sairarao/White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How To Do Better: https://www.amazon.com/White-Women-Everything-Already-Racism-ebook/dp/B09RPPV3B8/Documentary: Deconstructing Karen Don't forget to download your free guide! Discover The 5 Business Benefits of Empathy: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy  Connect with Maria: Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.comLearn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice

The Empathy Edge
Saira Rao: Why White Women Need to Talk About Our Racism

The Empathy Edge

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2023 55:40


Talking about racism is hard. But ignoring it doesn't make it go away. Empathy requires us to be humble and curious and to sometimes have hard, honest, emotional conversations. Only in acknowledging wrongs can we make things right -and that actually benefits all of us. Today, my guest Saira Rao gets real about the role seemingly well-intentioned and even Liberal white women play in supporting the patriarchy and oppression. Our conversation goes far deeper than DEI efforts - which Saira will share her opinions on. We talk about how Race2Dinner got started, what Saira experienced in her run for Congress a few years ago, how she and Regina's voices have been both censored and maligned by major media, both in the US and the UK. We also talk about why white women's conditioning to be nice and not rock the boat is killing people of color, and the hard choices we need to make if we truly want to save our country and communities. As Saira says in the interview, we are dying and we need to take risks, become aware, and have hard conversations with each other. As she states, once white supremacy goes away, many of our societal problems will go away, too. Key Takeaways:White women have more power than they know, but consistently choose whiteness over everything else. You have the power to talk about racism and to make changes. So do it.It takes all kinds of people, of all backgrounds, to do this work. Start the conversations, point out the inequalities around you, and start doing the work on yourself first.Individualism is colonialist behavior. White supremacy hurts everyone, including white people.There is nothing micro about a microaggression. "The amount of energy white women spend - time, money, and energy - to say ‘not me,' use that energy to go turn other white women - your neighbors, kids, friends, parents, teachers. Get to work. Instead of patting yourselves on the back, start turning other people in your community. Because we can't. You can." —  Saira Rao"Let's start feeling comfortable having these conversations. We're not going to be able to affect any change until we start being honest with ourselves and each other." —  Saira Rao About Saira Rao, Co-Founder, Race2DinnerSaira Rao is the co-founder of Race2Dinner, New York Times Bestselling co-author of White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How To Do Better and co-subject and Executive Producer of the documentary Deconstructing Karen.Saira grew up in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Indian immigrants. For forty years, she wasted her precious time aspiring to be white and accepted by dominant white society, a futile task for anyone not born with white skin.  Several years ago, Saira began the painful process of dismantling her own internalized oppression.  Saira is a lawyer-by-training, a former congressional candidate, a published novelist and an entrepreneur.Connect with Saira RaoRace2Dinner: https://www.race2dinner.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/sairasameeraraoLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sairarao/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sairarao/White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How To Do Better: https://www.amazon.com/White-Women-Everything-Already-Racism-ebook/dp/B09RPPV3B8/Documentary: Deconstructing Karen Don't forget to download your free guide! Discover The 5 Business Benefits of Empathy: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy  Connect with Maria: Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.comLearn more about Maria and her work: Red-Slice.comHire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-RossTake my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with EmpathyLinkedIn: Maria RossInstagram: @redslicemariaTwitter: @redsliceFacebook: Red Slice

Blocked and Reported
Episode 145: Helen Lewis Challenges Us To An End-Of-Year Quiz About Internet B******t

Blocked and Reported

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2022 69:24


Helen Lewis stops by BARPod to help put a very stupid year to bed. After discussing her excellent new BBC show on gurus, including her thoughts on Saira Rao's Race2Dinner initiative to make liberal white women feel worse about themselves, she challenges Katie and Jesse to a quiz about the year in internet b******t. It goes about as well as you would expect.Helen's new show: And her Twitter account: https://twitter.com/helenlewisSaira Rao has to be seen to be believedhttps://twitter.com/sairasameeraraoImage: CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGESHIRE - NOVEMBER 02: Jordan Peterson addresses students at The Cambridge Union on November 02, 2018 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. (Photo by Chris Williamson/Getty Images) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

The New Gurus
4. White Women's Tears

The New Gurus

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2022 28:46


The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement brought renewed interest in corporate diversity gurus. But Regina Jackson and Saira Rao were ahead of the curve, pursuing their own unique anti-racist education programme. Tired of talking to individual white women about their racism, they decided to invite a group of them for dinner, and confront them with their bias and bigotry. There was one rule - no crying. The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world. Written and presented by Helen Lewis Series Producers: Morgan Childs and Tom Pooley Story consultant: Geoff Bird Original music composed by Paper Tiger Sound design and mix: Rob Speight Editor: Craig Templeton Smith A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Feminist Book Club: The Podcast
Deconstructing Karen (Regina Jackson & Saira Rao)

Feminist Book Club: The Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2022 27:09


We need more radically honest conversations about white supremacy. Tayler has a chat with Regina Jackson and Saira Rao about their book WHITE WOMEN: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better and how they have radically honest conversations with white women allies.   Buy a copy of White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao   Books & Resources Mentioned:  Deconstructing Karen Leah Michele racist allegations The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall Patriarchy Blues: Reflections on Manhood by Frederick Joseph Support our hosts & guests:   Follow Race2Dinner: Website // Instagram // Facebook Follow Tayler: Twitter // Instagram // TikTok Beyond the Box: Our weekly round-up of blog and podcast content delivered directly to your inbox every Friday   Check out our online community here!    This episode was edited by Niba and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.   Original music by @iam.onyxrose   Learn more about Feminist Book Club on our website, sign up for our emails, shop our Bookshop.org recommendations, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest.

KUCI: Film School
Deconstructing Karen / Film School Radio interview with Director Patty Ivins Specht

KUCI: Film School

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2022


In Patty Ivins Specht's latest documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING KAREN, follows the work of Regina Jackson and Saira Rao as they continue to challenge the pall of racism through their RACE2DINNER — a movement to inspire white women to confront themselves and to acknowledge their own racism and complicity in white supremacy. The dinners will remind you of your favorite childhood memory of playing the game Clue. The most dangerous person in the room is never the obvious suspect. What if the bible-thumping, conservative Trump voter isn't any more racist than the liberal yoga teacher who screams “love is love” What if well-intentioned liberal white women actively play a role in upholding racism and white supremacy? In this provocative documentary, white women experience RADICAL HONESTY ABOUT RACISM…their daily role in upholding it, their conditioning to ignore it and the essential part they can play in tearing down the systems that are killing black and brown people every single day. Director, producer and writer Patty Ivins Specht joins us for a conversation on the why confronting white women is vital to breaking the stranglehold that latent and overt racism has on America, connecting with the organizers of RACE2DINNER, Regina Jackson and Saira Rao and her reaction to the spirited conversations showcased in her insightful new film, Deconstructing Karen. For more go to: deconstructingkaren.com

Spilling Chai
S5 E2: The Racism of White Women with Saira Rao and Regina Jackson

Spilling Chai

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2022 26:05


What role to white women play in upholding white supremacy and racist systems? A pretty big one! Even though we tend to leave them out, historically (most) white women always stood by white men when it comes to social orders that place whiteness as superior to well, everything else. To this day, majority of college women in America vote for their race over their gender and played a huge role in ushering in white nationalist and misogynist, Donald J. Trump. So what's their problem? Bestselling authors, Saira Rao and Regina Jackson spill the tea with Anushay in this must-see episode.

Accessible Yoga Podcast
068. Radical Honesty with Saira Rao

Accessible Yoga Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2022 17:32


Saira (NOT Sara) Rao grew up in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Indian immigrants. For forty years, she wasted her precious time aspiring to be white and accepted by dominant white society, a futile task for anyone not born with white skin. Several years ago, Saira began the painful process of dismantling her own internalized oppression. Saira is a lawyer-by-training, a former congressional candidate, a published novelist and an entrepreneur. Saira is the co-founder of Race2Dinner, the New York Bestselling Co-Author of White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How To Do Better and the subject and Executive Producer of the documentary Deconstructing Karen. In this episode, Anjali and Saira discuss: The role of radical honesty in challenging white supremacy How performative activism upholds the status quo How yoga practitioners can actively disrupt racism in yoga spaces The impact of speaking truth to power Connect with Saira on Twitter or on Instagram @race2dinner @sairasameerarao Purchase Saira's book: White Women Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better Watch Saira's documentary: Deconstructing Karen

Turn the Page Podcast
Turn The Page – Episode 222a

Turn the Page Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2022 31:19


Episode two hundred twenty two - part one Regina Jackson and Saira Rao's WHITE WOMEN: EVERYTHING YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT YOUR OWN RACISM AND HOW TO DO BETTER is a very necessary and very timely guide. Jenn was lucky enough to chat with Regina about radical honesty and how it is a necessary tool in the fight against white supremacy.

Conversations With Warrior Women Podcast
Saira Rao, Regina Jackson,Patty Ivins- Deconstructing Karen

Conversations With Warrior Women Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2022 49:08


Episode Description: Being a “Karen” has become a popular term for a white woman who is racist. Now in this provocative documentary, “Deconstructing Karen” , Director/ Producer Patty Ivins, along with Saira Rao and Regina Jackson of “Race to Dinner” , allow white women to experience what RADICAL HONESTY ABOUT RACISM looks like…their daily role in upholding it, their conditioning to ignore it and the essential part they can play in tearing down the systems that are killing black and brown people every single day. Saira and Regina are also NYT best selling authors of the book White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and how to do Better. This episode is a candid conversation about our inherent racism and where we are in America today. Discover how you can stop being “nice” at the expense of your own racism. Show Notes: Watch the Documentary Deconstructing Karen: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/deconstructing-karen/id1654085496?ls=1 Buy the book (if you're white please by 10 copies and give them out like I am) Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better https://amzn.to/3Vaz1lu Guest Bios: Regina Jackson: Born in Chicago in 1950 Regina remembers an America where everything was in Black and white. Burned into her memory are; the beatings and horrific treatment of civil rights workers throughout the south, the Goodman, Chaney & Schwerner murders, the murder of Viola Liuzzo, the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the murders of President John Kennedy and his brother Robert. The violence perpetrated on innocent people going about their lives, by white people. It is these memories that drive Regina to push for real change in America. Which is why she co-founded Race 2 Dinner. Saira (NOT Sara) Rao: Saira grew up in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Indian immigrants. For forty years, she wasted her precious time aspiring to be white and accepted by dominant white society, a futile task for anyone not born with white skin. Several years ago, Saira began the painful process of dismantling her own internalized oppression. Saira is a lawyer-by-training, a former congressional candidate, a published novelist and an entrepreneur. Saira and Regina are co-founders of Race2Dinner. Patty Ivins: Patty Ivins is an Emmy-award winning producer, director and writer dedicated to making films about humanity that inspire and challenge audiences, including documentaries about womanhood (Logo's HUNGRY, Discovery's Mean Girls Mind Games, PBS's Girls on the Wall), equality (Logo's Light in the Water) and human rights/white supremacy (Deconstructing Karen). Patty believes in anti-racism work and continues to deconstruct her own inner Karen and to walk in Regina Jackson's wisdom to have the courage to “call a thing a thing.”

Conversations With Warrior Women Podcast
Deconstructing Karen & Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism & How to do Better- Ep 134

Conversations With Warrior Women Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 23, 2022 49:08


Being a “Karen” has become a popular term for a white woman who is racist. Now in this provocative documentary, “Deconstructing Karen” , Director/ Producer Patty Ivins, along with Saira Rao and Regina Jackson of “Race to Dinner” , allow white women to experience what RADICAL HONESTY ABOUT RACISM looks like…their daily role in upholding it, their conditioning to ignore it and the essential part they can play in tearing down the systems that are killing black and brown people every single day. Saira and Regina are also NYT best selling authors of the book White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and how to do Better. This episode is a candid conversation about our inherent racism and where we are in America today. Discover how you can stop being “nice” at the expense of your own racism. Show Notes: Watch the Documentary Deconstructing Karen: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/deconstructing-karen/id1654085496?ls=1 Buy the book (if you're white please by 10 copies and give them out like I am) Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better https://amzn.to/3Vaz1lu Guest Bios: Regina Jackson: Born in Chicago in 1950 Regina remembers an America where everything was in Black and white. Burned into her memory are; the beatings and horrific treatment of civil rights workers throughout the south, the Goodman, Chaney & Schwerner murders, the murder of Viola Liuzzo, the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the murders of President John Kennedy and his brother Robert. The violence perpetrated on innocent people going about their lives, by white people. It is these memories that drive Regina to push for real change in America. Which is why she co-founded Race 2 Dinner. Saira (NOT Sara) Rao: Saira grew up in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Indian immigrants. For forty years, she wasted her precious time aspiring to be white and accepted by dominant white society, a futile task for anyone not born with white skin. Several years ago, Saira began the painful process of dismantling her own internalized oppression. Saira is a lawyer-by-training, a former congressional candidate, a published novelist and an entrepreneur. Saira and Regina are co-founders of Race2Dinner. Patty Ivins: Patty Ivins is an Emmy-award winning producer, director and writer dedicated to making films about humanity that inspire and challenge audiences, including documentaries about womanhood (Logo's HUNGRY, Discovery's Mean Girls Mind Games, PBS's Girls on the Wall), equality (Logo's Light in the Water) and human rights/white supremacy (Deconstructing Karen). Patty believes in anti-racism work and continues to deconstruct her own inner Karen and to walk in Regina Jackson's wisdom to have the courage to “call a thing a thing.”

Werk Stories
White Women: A Conversation w/ Author Saira Rao

Werk Stories

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2022 30:00


Saira Rao, one half of Race2Dinner and the duo behind Deconstructing Karen, has a candid conversation about the impact of white women and what they need to realize in order to become real allies to Black and brown folks. Her book White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How To Do Better was released in November 2022 and is a New York Times Bestseller, proved essential for white women and cathartic for Black and brown women. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Soul's Way
”White Women” A Radically Honest Conversation with Saira Rao

The Soul's Way

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2022 30:35


White Women: LISTEN UP! This conversation is a replay from an Instagram live interview with New York Times bestselling author Saira Rao on her new book "White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism & How To Do Better" co-authored by Regina Jackson. In this conversation, we discuss why white women specifically are being called out and called into action, how this is what love looks like, and how to start unravelling your own relationship with the trauma of white supremacy culture. Nobody is immune to it.  Head over to my Instagram (check my IGTV for this replay) to enter the book giveaway before Friday November 18th, 2022.  Follow Saira on Instagram @sairarao, as well as @race2dinner , @rljack12 (Regina) and  @deconstructingkaren for updates on the documentary.  Purchase the book here or anywhere books are sold. To begin decolonizing your coaching business, watch The Round Table (a virtual event I hosted for white coaches) recording, sold here. 

Living Corporate
Race2Dinner (w/ co-founders Saira Rao & Regina Jackson)

Living Corporate

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2022 47:12


Zach chats with Race2Dinner co-founders Regina Jackson and Saira Rao a second time to talk about their documentary, white terrorism, their new book, and so much more. This episode features explicit language. Listener discretion is advised! Connect with Saira & Regina on LinkedIn. https://bit.ly/2XgzpUP https://bit.ly/3RRscmG Learn more about (and pre-order!) Saira & Regina's new book, "White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better," on Amazon. https://amzn.to/3STon1s

The Papaya Podcast
The One About Deconstructing Karen with Regina Jackson & Saira Rao

The Papaya Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2022 45:58 Very Popular


On a recent plane ride home, a woman tapped me on the shoulder, slipped me a note, and shared with me about her documentary she was coming to Toronto to premiere. The documentary? Deconstructing Karen. The woman? Saira Rao. Today Saira and her Race2Dinner & Deconstructing Karen partner, Regina Jackson, join me to discuss the documentary, the dinners, the women and the whiteness. Discomfort, the goal, and why we need you. Check out race2dinner.com, follow @DeconstructingKaren on IG, pre-order the book https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669854/white-women-by-regina-jackson-and-saira-rao/ AND view the movie in Toronto THIS WEEK at https://hotdocs.ca/whats-on/films/deconstructing-karen   Produced by Dear Media 

Immigrantly
American Liberals: A Culture of Complicity

Immigrantly

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2021 48:36


Saadia sits down with recurring guest, Saira Rao and her publisher, Jessica Regel, for a very real conversation on the state of social justice issues. To put it simply: No, things have not gotten better. They break down the culture of (white) liberal complicity that comes from having a Democratic president. They discuss whether the term "diversity" has become a meaningless word and explore the dynamics of representation within the publishing industry. This episode is sponsored by Stamps.com Producer & Host: Saadia Khan Content Editor: Kylee Roberts Content write: Sarah Doh Editor: Bronte Cook Music Credit: Just Dance, Follow us on Twitter @immigrantly_pod and IG @immigrantlypod.com

What Radicalized You?
"What's Going to Cause All of Us to Have a Radical Awakening?" with Saira Rao

What Radicalized You?

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2021 37:28


Episode 54 featuring Saira Rao On the fated dinner with the Jans, white feminism, white saviorism, and where we are now. White people can learn more about Race2Dinner here (www.race2dinner.com) BIWOC can learn more about HAVEN at (www.havenmedia.org)⠀ You can find more of Saira on twitter at @sairasameerarao

The Progressivists Podcast - Hosted by Jo Lorenz
S1E2: Deconstructing Toxic Whiteness – with Saira Rao

The Progressivists Podcast - Hosted by Jo Lorenz

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2021 54:40


Meet Saira Rao . . . Saira is a lawyer-by-training; a former congressional candidate; co-founder of Race2Dinner, the dinner party experience aimed at enabling white women to confront their own racism; co-founder of Haven, the collective of BIPOC women rooted towards abolition, liberation and healing through art and storytelling; and also co-author of the upcoming book 'White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better' (released Fall 2022). Saira grew up in Virginia, USA, the daughter of Indian immigrants. For forty years, she wasted her very precious time aspiring to be accepted by a dominant white society, which Saira describes as a futile task for anyone not born with white skin. Several years ago, Saira began the painful process of dismantling her own internalized oppression — and on this episode of The Progressivists Podcast, she and host, Jo Lorenz, discuss the habits of white women that affect BIPOC women, and importantly, how we can move forward. Want to support BIPOC women? Then please donate to Haven. Your donation helps create a space where BIPOC women and non-binary identifying folks can build community and heal.

Radicals & Revolutionaries Lab

Joining us this week on the Radicals & Revolutionaries Lab is Saira Rao, co-founder of Race2Dinner and Haven Media. Our host, Jillian Foster, speaks with Saira about her unyielding work attempting to educate white women. She created Haven Media, a community-based in abolition and liberation for BIPOC women, and Race2Dinner, a dinner event where white women talk about their complicity in upholding white supremacy and keeping Black and brown women down. This episode digs into that and more as Saira shares her thoughts on white perfectionism, intersections of substance and process, setting healthy boundaries in the face of capitalism, and critical race theory in our schools. This conversation and Saira's work remind white women that anti-racism work can't possibly begin until you start dismantling internal misogyny and whiteness. Anti-racism work can't start until you love yourself.Connect with Saira:Twitter: @sairasameeraraoInstagram: @sairaraoWebsite: www.race2dinner.com, www.havenmedia.org Join our movement for radically authentic, intentional, interconnected feminism inside Continuum Collective. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Immigrantly
White Women, Listen Up!

Immigrantly

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2021 47:56


Saira Rao is the co-founder of and is vocal about activism, especially when it comes to politics & speaking up against anti-Black racism. We spoke to Saira and Regina Jackson, the founder of Race2Dinner, in early March 2020 about their organization. Today, we build on the conversation further. Saira has a book coming out called “White Women: Everything You Already Know about Your Own Racism & How To Do Better.” Producer & Host: Saadia Khan Associate Producer: Kylee Roberts Content writer: Yudi Liu Editor: Tom Whelan 

Don't Shoot The Messenger
Would you pay for dinner to get told that you're racist?

Don't Shoot The Messenger

Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2021 21:38


Would you pay to attend a dinner party at which you're told that you are probably more racist than you realise? A business established by two women of colour in the USA invites white women to do just that - and hear some hard truths. In this episode, we're talking to Saira Rao and Regina Jackson, founders of the controversial project Race2Dinner. MUSIC: Oh Freedom! (Slave spiritual folk song) by Sound of Joy & Oh Freedom! as sung by the Golden Gospel Singers Don't Shoot the Messenger is produced by Haji Mohamed Dawjee and written and presented by Rebecca Davis with editing by Tevya Turok Shapiro, sound mix by Bernard Kotze and additional support by Kathryn Kotze. This podcast has been sponsored by Ninety One.

A Desi Woman with Soniya Gokhale
A Desi Woman with Soniya Gokhale: Race2Dinner & White Privilege in the US--A Conversation with Saira Rao, Part 2

A Desi Woman with Soniya Gokhale

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2021 22:45


https://race2dinner.com/https://www.today.com/food/organization-aims-dismantle-racism-over-dinner-t185504https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/03/race-to-dinner-party-racism-womenhttps://tarra.co/an-interview-with-saira-rao-and-regina-jackson-of-race2dinner/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brown-women-democratic-party_b_5a31a32de4b07ff75b001456https://nypost.com/2020/02/04/white-women-paying-2-5k-for-a-dinner-to-learn-how-theyre-racist/Definition of 'Karen', 'Becky' & 'Stacy'https://www.dictionary.com/e/karen-vs-becky-vs-stacy/ 

A Desi Woman with Soniya Gokhale
A Desi Woman with Soniya Gokhale: Race2Dinner & White Privilege--A Conversation with Saira Rao, Part 1

A Desi Woman with Soniya Gokhale

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2021 31:52


https://race2dinner.com/https://www.today.com/food/organization-aims-dismantle-racism-over-dinner-t185504https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/03/race-to-dinner-party-racism-womenhttps://tarra.co/an-interview-with-saira-rao-and-regina-jackson-of-race2dinner/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brown-women-democratic-party_b_5a31a32de4b07ff75b001456https://nypost.com/2020/02/04/white-women-paying-2-5k-for-a-dinner-to-learn-how-theyre-racist/ 

Desiable Podcasts
Overcoming hate with Saira Rao

Desiable Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2020 15:22


On today's episode we chatted with Saira Rao, who gained a platform very quickly. We discuss any racial based hate she received, as well a judgement along the way. She tells us about how she deals with hate, and gives advice to those who may be going through similar situations.  Follow Her Socials: Instagram:@srao2003 Tik Tok: @srao87

Speaking of Racism
Race 2 Dinner with Regina Jackson and Saira Rao

Speaking of Racism

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2020 58:54


On this week's episode of Speaking of Racism, Tina and Jen are joined by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao, the creators of Race 2 Dinner. Tune in to learn more about what brought Regina and Saira together and how they are working to dismantle racism, one conversation at a time.    

Twink Revolution Podcast

I think we’re alone now… and Elon Musk has thoughts on socialism, Saira Rao has thoughts on white people, the US state department has thoughts on gays in Chechnya, and Angela Nagle has thoughts on Ireland. All this and more!

Oh...We're Going There
The Race Card with Saira Rao

Oh...We're Going There

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2020 56:15


In this episode, I’m chatting with Saira Rao, an attorney, author, activist, and former candidate for Congress in Colorado's 1st district. Saira is also Co-Founder of Haven Media Organization, a radical digital platform by and for women of color, and Race 2 Dinner, which holds dinners with white, liberal women to help them confront their privilege and racism.Support the show (https://OWGTPodcast.contactin.bio)

Living Corporate
209 : Discussions Over Dinner (w/ Saira Rao & Regina Jackson)

Living Corporate

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2020 48:51


Zach chats with Race2Dinner co-founders Regina Jackson and Saira Rao about the genesis of Race2D, how exactly its dinners take place, their experiences running it and so much more. This episode features explicit language. Listener discretion is advised!Connect with Saira on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and connect with Regina on Twitter.Interested in learning more about Race2Dinner? Check out their website.Follow Race2Dinner on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.Find out how the CDC suggests you wash your hands by clicking here.Help food banks respond to COVID-19. Learn more at FeedingAmerica.org.Visit our website.TRANSCRIPTZach: What's up, y'all? Now, look, you know that we try to keep it clean on Living Corporate, but every now and then we have folks come on who are impassioned, and we are not ones to censor anybody if we really believe in the heart of what it is that they're saying and the mission that they're doing. So the conversation you're about to hear does contain some harsh language, so listener discretion is advised. Catch y'all next time.What's up, y'all? It's Zach with Living Corporate, and you know what we do. We're having real talk in a corporate world. How do we do that? We talk to black and brown entrepreneurs, executives, activists... let me see here, what else? Public servants, creatives, artists, influencers, educators, you know what I'm saying? Anybody who is black and brown or an aspirational ally. We try to have them on the podcast and have real conversations, right? These real conversations are centering underrepresented and marginalized voices. We're having conversations that often go unhad or whispered in a corner. We're trying to have those out loud and on a digital platform so that they can be accessible to everybody, and we do this weekly, and we have dope dope dope dope DOPE guests. So today we have two guests at the same time, yo, at the same time. Saira Rao and Regina Jackson. Yo, so let me--so I got these two bios here, y'all. Y'all know what we do. You know I try to read the bios just so y'all can have an idea of what's going on, then we get into it. So here we go. Saira Rao grew up in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Indian immigrants. For forty years, she wasted her precious time aspiring to be white and accepted by dominant white society, a futile task for anyone not born with white skin. Several years ago, Saira began the painful process of dismantling her own internalized oppression. Saira is a lawyer-by-training, a former congressional candidate, a published novelist and an entrepreneur. Now, look here, if y'all don't recognize what kind of podcast this is about to be by the bio that I read that they gave me, listen, I'ma just go ahead and drop the Flex bomb right now. It's about to be spicy in here. Now we'll go ahead and go Regina. Now, born in 1950, Regina remembers an America where everything was in Black and white. Burned into her memory are; the beatings and horrific treatment of civil rights workers throughout the South, the Goodman, Chaney & Schwerner murders, the murder of Viola Liuzzo, the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the murders of President John Kennedy and his brother Robert. The violence perpetrated on innocent people going about their lives by white people, it is these memories that drive Regina to push for real change in America, which is why she co-founded Race2Dinner. Saira and Regina, welcome to the show. How are y'all doing?Regina: You know, I'm doing great. Saira?Saira: I'm doing pretty well, thank you.Zach: So I read some bios, but can we get into y'all's own stories as to why Race2Dinner came to be and how?Saira: Well, like my bio said, I ran for Congress exactly two years ago, and I ran in--we live in Denver, which is a predominantly white city, and I ran on an explicitly anti-racism [platform] about the racism within the Democratic Party, which, you know, we know there's--the Republican Party's entire platform is racism, but there's ample racism within the Democratic Party. And so, you know, what I found was a long line of white ladies wanting to have coffees, breakfasts, lunches and dinners with me, and 99.9% of the time it was for them to tell me very indignantly that it's not them, "not all white women," and then they tick off all their civil rights accomplishments in the past and their safety pins and how awesome they are, and really just telling me about how I had them wrong, that they were individual--you know, "Stop painting all white people as the same," and so, anyway, I had to do those because I was running for office and I needed to [?]. After I lost in June of 2018, I became a big target of sort of the alt-right, Breitbart, Fox, those places, and the invitations for these lunches and dinners didn't dissipate as I had hoped. They just got more and more and more. And I continued to do these lunches and dinners in good faith, recognizing by the way I was not just out hours and hours of my time. It also took a tremendous toll on my mental health. And by the way, these ladies never picked up the bill. And I was, you know, paying for dinner [?] for babysitting because I have two small children. Anyway, that's when last December this happened with Regina.Regina: So when Saira ran for office, I immediately fell in love with her because she was talking about racism that doesn't get talked about in the United States, and she was talking very provocatively about racism. She wasn't being nice. She wasn't not using the white privilege and white people. I mean, she was talking it, so I immediately volunteered for her campaign. I worked on her campaign and got to know Saira, and I was like, "Wow, I really like this woman." So I had had a white friend who said to me--she said, you know, "I'm just over Saira. She hates white people, and I'm just gonna be done with her," and then in the next breath she says to me, "But if you can arrange it, I'd like to go to lunch with her to talk about it." So I talked to [Saira] and Saira said to me--she said, "You know what, Regina? I'm not doing that anymore," she said, "But I'll tell you what. If she wants to have a dinner and invite some of her white lady friends and you do it with me," she said, "I'd be happy to do that," and thus was born Race2Dinner.Zach: Wow. It's--okay, so let's talk a little bit about, Regina, the exchange that you had. Why do you believe that your friend at the time said that Saira hates white people?Regina: Well, because Saira was saying she hated white people. [everyone laughs]Saira: [laughing] No, I didn't. I didn't say that. No.Zach: [hold on a minute there playa sfx, laughing]Regina: Okay, it's up for debate. [laughs]Saira: No, I literally never said that. So the thing about this particular woman was that I said that Beto O'Rourke is a white savior, and she was one of these women who was, like, obsessed with Beto O'Rourke and went to Texas to volunteer for Beto O'Rourke, and I said, you know, Beto O'Rourke is a white savior, and I also donated to his campaign, and if I lived in Texas I would vote for him. You can actually, you know, hold various things to be true.Zach: At the same time, yeah.Saira: At the same time, and so that's what sent her over the edge. And that's actually--at the dinner she brought that up as the thing that sent her over the edge, and she, you know, got really angry when I wouldn't budge on the fact that Beto O'Rourke is a white savior. Frankly, I think Beto O'Rourke might acknowledge himself that he's a white savior. And so, anyway, she cried. She got super mad. She did all the stuff that white ladies too.Regina: This is a white woman who called herself my friend. She thanked me for, you know, teaching her about racism and helping her to be a non-racist. She told me how much she loved me all the time, blah blah blah. When we started our Race2Dinner website and we decided to do a Patreon, you know, where people sign up for $5 a month or $12 a month. This white woman, who had told me--she's a widow, never had any children--that her income after her husband died is $200,000 a year, and I said, "Will you sign up for our Patreon?" She told me to put it [?] on Facebook. Needless to say, we are no longer friends, 'cause she talks the talk but she doesn't want to walk the walk.Zach: So you're saying she has over 200--I'm sorry, but I'm shocked, 'cause I come from humble beginnings, right? And I'm not from Denver. Like, I'm from the South. So, like, you said--just to go back a second, you said her income is over $200,000 a year?Saira: Yeah, and she won't spend $60 a year on our labor, on our writing. She wanted us to put it on Facebook for free.Regina: And see, we have really been talking about that issue, how white people don't want to see black and brown women especially paid for our work. Now, you know, they'll pay $40,000 to go hear--what's her name?Saira: Glennon Doyle.Regina: Yeah, Glennon Doyle, but they can't pay us for our labor in a personal, private, small group conversation?Saira: That includes dinner and booze.Regina: That's more white people nonsense, and I'm not having it.Zach: I mean, at a certain point you're just like [what more do you want from me? sfx] You know? Like, what is this? Like, what are we doing? Like, y'all see this effort. Y'all know that it's valuable. Recognize it financially. And y'all know that the way this system is built--capitalistically--that we need the bread to survive, so come on. Like, come up off. So I hear that, and it's interesting, 'cause Race2Dinner, it reminds me--and I want y'all to walk me through this format, 'cause I've been to a couple of events like this where, like, you get together over dinner and you talk about quote-unquote culture. I want to understand though. Like, talk to me about the format of Race2Dinner, how it works, and just how it's set up.Regina: Okay. Well, one of the first things I think there is to recognize is that most white people don't even know that they [?], okay? In the book "Waking Up White" by Debbie Irving, she talks about white culture, and us as non-white people, we recognize it because we have had to live it in order to, like you say, survive. It's perfection. It's being nice to everybody.Saira: It's talking about nothing.Regina: Yeah, don't talk about hard stuff. Don't upset people. You know, that's the culture that we were all raised in, and they still want to just talk nice, and we say, "You know what?" The other thing is they're all in their feelings. "You made me feel." Can we curse on this show?Zach: Yes, absolutely. Go ahead.Regina: [laughs] And I love to say, "Fuck your feelings." [Zach laughs] That's between you and your universe. That has nothing to do with me, but they are always up in their feelings, and that's one of the things--in Race2Dinner, if you have to cry, you have to leave the room. Zach: Really? If you start to cry, you are [?] from the table?Saira: Yeah, cry or get really angry. But to answer your question about painting a picture for you. So, you know, why is it dinners? People say is it "Why is it dinners? Why can't you do conferences and keynotes?" Blah blah blah. Here's what we know about white women. White women are devoted to being nice and polite, and there's nothing more impolite than getting up and leaving the dinner table, period. The setting is a beautiful dinner table in a woman's house where she's serving dinner and she's pouring wine. And so this is the white woman's happy place and safe place, a dinner party with other white women, right? And, you know, every once in a while maybe they go to dinner parties where there's A black woman or An Asian woman or A Latina woman, but, like, you know, they feel very comfortable, so they come in and kiss kiss, "Oh, my God, how are you? You look great, you look great," the whole nine yards. And then they sit down, and instead of "Oh, my God. What are your kids doing this summer for summer camp? Oh, my God. My husband's irritating me." We just--it's very, very much like this. Like, everyone go around the table and say why you're here, and you literally have, like, a minute or two to do that. 'Cause early on we were like, "Why are you here?" And they would just, like, pull out their resume and start telling us about how they volunteered at Planned Parenthood and they went to a Black Lives Matter rally and whatever, and so--anyway, after that, the next question is "Please go around the table and name one way in which your racism has presented itself in an action that you've done recently," and then they basically fall out of their chair. Like, you might see pee come down their legs, because it's like... they can't leave. They all want to freak out and run out of the room, but they can't because they've got this nice beef tenderloin and a glass of Chardonnay sitting there and it would be rude as fuck to do that. So then they have to actually do that.Regina: And we used to--we just changed that format, because we used to [have] everybody introduce themselves, and then we'd talk about our background and why we were there, and what we found is we would have two or three women in every dinner who would not say a freaking word. You know, the lurkers. So we finally said, "This is not okay. If people are going to be here, they need to engage." So we make everybody talk about, you know, "This is why I'm here, and this is how I notice racism in myself."Saira: In myself. So, you know, you go to one of these, like, liberal white person dinner parties, and they're sitting around for hours trashing Donald Trump and trashing the Republicans and talking about--like, they pat themselves on the back. It's like the Backpatting Olympics, right? Who is the most awesome white person in the room? This is a place--and by the way, they try. So, like, at the last dinner party--and look, these are not bad people. We've got to break down this false binary of racist bad, not racist good. That shuts down the conversation. But there's a white lady there who's lovely and [?], and we asked her "What is the racist thing you've done?" And she starts rambling, and then she says, you know, a friend of hers ends every conversation with "Me love you long time." And all the other women were like, "What?" And I was like, "No, no, no. How are YOU racist? Stop deflecting it to your friend." In that case, which she could have easily said--but she didn't, she can't [?] anything else--is "I'm racist because I've never shut that down." So that's the silence is complicity. So all this, like, "The Republicans are bad," what about you? Like, what are you doing? Like, what are you doing? Like, silence is complicity, you know? And even though the Republicans are quote "bad," white America allowed this to go on. Donald Trump didn't invent racism. He just capitalized on it.Regina: That was my turning point, this whole Make America Great nonsense. I'm like, "No. I'm done with white people nonsense. I'm done." You know, they need to step up and call a thing and be the wonderful people that they seem to think they are.Zach: And Regina, so your profile, the fact that you were--you know, like, you were active. Like, you was moving around during the civil rights movement and you're still here in 2020. So, like, have you ever had situations where people have, like, either alluded to or told you to, like, get over it or it was a really long time ago or times have changed, and if so, like, how do you react or respond in those situations?Regina: You know, I don't think anybody would tell me that. [everybody laughs] But I have [this?] attitude. You know how us black women can give off that "Don't fuck with me today?" Zach: Yes. [everybody laughing]Regina: [?] going on generally 24/7. It's like--[to this day sfx] So not today, not ever. Not having it.Zach: Oh, my goodness. I love it. The spice. The energy on this podcast, it's reached incredible levels, and we're really just, like, still in the beginning. So when it comes to--and even, like, honestly, like, the tone of this conversation, right, the unapologetic, like, very to the point manner in which y'all are speaking and in which, like, I see, like, your website communicates as well as your online personas. I'm curious about what feedback or critique you get when it comes to, like, the idea of civility, right? 'Cause I feel like even today there's a lot of folks who are still, like, really hanging their shingle on civility, and they use it almost, like, as a cudgel to, like, silence voices. I'm curious as to how y'all respond to that.Saira: That's what it is. Calls for civility is calls for silencing. And I'm just curious, when has--so civility is code for being nice, right? When has nice saved people of color [?]? Like, was niceness there to save Trayvon Martin? Is being nice saving the brown and black people who are dying in concentration camps around the country? Is niceness [saving?] the Palestinians, upon whom we are, you know, aiding [Israel? and dropping bombs upon them?] Like, being nice is code for doing whatever the fuck you want to oppress people and not getting called out for it. That's what being nice is.Regina: Exactly. And remember that Dr. King said that white [moderates,] they would rather have order than justice. You know what? I'm not about order. Fuck your rules, okay? Fuck hurting your feelings. Fuck being nice. Let's talk the real deal. Let's talk about how you're hurting black and brown children, how black boys and girls get treated in school, how black people are being [?] out of their communities onto the streets by gentrification? Let's talk about all that, and if it requires me to be nice, then it ain't happening.Saira: Yeah, you know what's super not nice? Stop and Frisk. You know what's super not nice? The Muslim ban. You know what's super not nice? These concentration camps. And so I'll tell you what though, Zach, is, you know, before I even ran for Congress I spent a year, 2017, going the civil way. I went to the University of Virginia, and at that time most of my [?] in life were friends that I had met at the University of Virginia, overwhelmingly white women. By the way, like, I was in an all-white sorority and I wore [Laura Ashley?]. So I used to think that I was a white woman. [?] And I tried. You know, I did dinners with these friends. I cried, they cried. I made them--you know, I patted them on the back. I massaged their feet. I think I might have painted a toenail or two. I mean, I did all the nice, civil things, and every single time--it was, like, straight out of an SNL skit... which, by the way, SNL is also a toxic, white, liberal mess, but it was, you know, "We don't like your tone. You just seem really angry." My favorite from one of these women was "What are you doing? You're completely alienating everyone." And I said to her, "Who's everyone?" And I said, "Are you unaware that there are people of color who actually are in agreement with what I'm saying?" And she was like, "Oh, I never thought of that," because she literally--the only people of color [she knows?] were me, one--and she's a nurse, so a couple of her colleagues. She has a black woman colleague and a brown woman colleague, and she said to me, "Well, I asked them, and they said that they think you're crazy, and, like, [that?] racism is untrue." And I'm like, "They're not [safe?] to say that. You're, like, their boss," you know? And somebody said--it's very funny. They're like, "If you're white and you have a brown or black friend who doesn't talk about white people, then you don't have a brown or black friend." Regina: I was gonna say, now, my big thing, I started working, volunteering, mentoring in a high school about six years ago, and I would--the woman who ran the program and started the program woudl tell me all the time that I hurt her feelings. You know, everything you say hurts their feelings, and I sounded like I was angry, and I just started saying, "You know what? I'm mad as hell, and I could give a shit about your feelings, so deal with it." She finally resigned, and I [?], and now the program is being run by people of color.Saira: Yeah. And by the way, like, of course we're angry. I'm sorry. Like, white women literally go batshit crazy if their spin class instructor is 5 minutes late. Go fucking crazy, right? They're angry and it's fine, like, that's fine, but we're not supposed to be angry about systemic oppression. We're not allowed to be angry about that, but they can be angry about a yoga instructor or a spin class instructor being 5 minutes late. It just goes to show you they don't care--it's not only that they don't care, they actively are fine with being participants in this. They just don't want you to call them out for it, and in some ways that's the difference between Republican woman and Democratic women, the 50% that voted for Donald Trump versus the one who kind of sat idly by on let Donald Trump win, you know? Do you know how many white liberal women I know who voted for Hillary Clinton, but their husbands voted for Donald Trump, and they didn't speak a word [?] Hillary Clinton. They didn't put a Hillary Clinton sign in their yard. When I would come into their house they would be like, "You can't talk about Hillary Clinton here because of So-and-so." So what's the difference between the husband who is voting for Donald Trump and the wife who is silent? Nothing. You know, feasance versus non-feasance. It's all the same thing. Not acting is acting.Zach: And so I'm curious, like, again, the delivery of this, and even with the [criticism?] that you've received like "You're not being nice" or "It's not being [?]" or whatever the case may be, and yet Race2Dinner is a whole organization. Like, y'all are an active organization, so clearly--Regina: That's the other thing [?]. These white women want to say, "Well, what do we do with our money?" It's like, "It's not your business. Do you go into Nordstroms and say, "What do you do with your money?" We're not a non-profit. This is a business."Zach: And so I'm curious. Like, it seems as if your approach was so off-putting and alienating that your business would not be viable, and yet it is, right? [Both: Yeah.] So talk me through--Saira: That's a good question. You just asked the question "Why?" One woman put it to us like this not too long ago, and I think this is it. She said a lot of stuff. She's the woman who said to us--I said at this dinner, particularly dinner, you all don't see Regina and I as your [equals.] You don't see our humanity. You do not see our children and grandchildren as your children and grandchildren's equals. You don't see their humanity. 7 out of the 8 of them just shook their head. "Oh, my God. Wrong, wrong, wrong," right? Woman to my left, you know, God bless her, she paused before she spoke and she said, "You know what? I'm not gonna lie. I don't. I don't see the two of you as my equal. I don't see your humanity. I don't see your children and your grandchildren, Regina, as equal to mine," and there was a collective gasp, right? Like, they couldn't believe it, and then little by little they were like, "Yeah. I mean, that's right," and at the end of the dinner this woman said, "I feel such a sense of relief. I feel relieved," because white supremacy kills everybody, including white people. It's like a disease. It's toxic and it kills you. And she said, "This is the first time I've been able to actually acknowledge this to myself, say it out loud, say it in a room full of my peers and say it front of the people that I harm every [day?]," and I think that's it right there. She articulated why we're able to get people to come to these dinners, because it is a relief for them, at least, you know, the ones who are willing to accept it and come in with fully open minds and leave their fragility at the [door.] I think it's a relief.Regina: And, you know, one of the things that I want white women to do--and I don't know why it's so hard, but it is, is to just step up when you see injustice, when you see racism, when you hear it, call that shit out and let things fall where they fall. They never do that. They're always dependent on us to be the ones calling it out, and I'm like, "Y'all started this shit. Get in here and stop it." Saira: Right, just like men created and benefit from misogyny, so men have to dismantle misogyny. We can't. Women cannot. Similarly, white people created and benefit from white supremacy, so they're the ones who have to do it. So this is--by the way, we don't allow for other women of color in the room, because the one time we did--it was a Chicago dinner. There was another Indian woman in the room, and so, you know, she's a member of the community. These are people that she sees at pick-up and drop-off at her kid's school. Every time we were speaking, looking at her and waiting to see and asking, "Well, do you feel like this? Do you feel like this?" It was a deeply unsafe space for her, just like my nurse friend asking her women of color colleagues if they felt like that. That's not safe, right? So we don't want to put other women of color in a situation where they're answering to white women in that room because it's not safe for them.Zach: In y'all's experience of having this organization, this [business?], and facilitating these dinners, like, what has been the most eye-opening experience?Regina: My most eye-opening experience is we had a dinner with several white women, 8, and maybe 4 of them had adopted children of color, okay? Black children, and we had one young woman--I would say she was maybe in her 30s. She had adopted a young black boy. This woman had the audacity to say that if her family and friends said something racist or harmful to or about her child--Saira: In front of her child.Regina: In front of her child! She did not correct them because they loved him. That's the biggest [?] I've ever heard in my life, and if I could've taken that kid away from her I would have done it.Zach: And so then--you know, a piece recently came out--and Saira, this was something that you actually tweeted about. I believe it was someone who actually attended a Race2Dinner event, and they said, you know, "Most folks don't like Saira."Saira: Well, she said, "A lot of people hate Saira." [everyone laughs]Regina: And I'm like, "There, it's out there. We can get over it." [laughing] Saira: Yeah.Zach: And so I'm curious about what does it to look like--like, what does it look like to continue to do this work in light of those types of critiques? Like, where do you get your strength and resilience from to continue this type of work?Saira: It's not easy. I'll say Regina's a big source of strength and a big source of resilience for me. Here's the deal. It's a process, right? And I would be completely lying if I said it didn't bother me when--you know, look, I've gotten used to most of it. I've gotten used to the white supremacist trolls. I've gotten used to the Nazis. What I do not enjoy is getting doxxed. That happened over the weekend by a white woman in Abu Dhabi. Doxxed me and my family, so put out our private information and tried to send Nazis to come hurt my family. I do not enjoy that. I don't enjoy that my children get left out of things, you know, because their moms hate my guts. I don't like that. It's uncomfortable a little bit to run into these old friends of mine around town, and I know what they think of me and I know what they say about me. I don't love that, but, you know, besides that, it's okay. It sounds really weird. Like, I'm actually okay, because I realized that I was filling my life with a lot of nonsense, and how many times--I mean, you know, I was thinking back on this because we're working on a bunch of stuff, but I've had to, like, dig deep, how many times--I was at a party once in college with these friends. It wasn't even a party. It was a dinner, right? And I couldn't leave because it would have been rude to leave. And it was two white women sitting across from me who were not really close friends, me, and then this white woman to my left who was a very good friend, and one white woman said to the other--her last name is an Asian last name but she's white, and she said, "Oh, my God. When I got the letter in the mail that you were gonna be my roommate, I freaked out and I said to my parents, "What have I done in my life to deserve an [Asian?] roommate?"" And they started laughing, and they were like, "And look, it turned out great!" And my friend to the left of me, she was laughing too, and I was just sitting there stunned, and I said, "Hey, you guys. I'm Asian," and then they all took another sip of their [beer?], like, spit it out laughing, and they go, "Oh, yeah, but you're not one of those kind of Asians." And I said, "No, I am. I'm actually 100%--" They go, "You know, like, the accent and, like, the weird food--"Zach: Weird food?Saira: Yeah, "And the smelly, weird food," and I looked to my friend, and she just sat there and was laughing with them, and so I did what I had always done, which I started laughing too. So I sold myself down the river and I upheld--that's how [people of color?] uphold white supremacy is I laughed as well and I let it go. How many of those experiences have I had in my life? I cannot even count them. There are too many to count, and so I'm living an honest life, and you know what that means, living an honest life? If that [means I'm hated?], so be it. Hate me.Regina: You know, as a black woman, I have learned many, many years ago that the only way I can sruvive is I affirm myself on a daily basis. I know who I am. I know what is okay with me. I know what's not okay. So when people start talking shit, "Regina's this, that and the other--" And I tell my mentees that. The best way to have a good life is know who you are. Affirm yourself, and when you get crap from anybody else, you don't have to own that because you know who you are.Saira: Yeah. And Zach, just further to that by the way, I'm trying to start affirming myself because Regina really truly is the most [evolved?] person I know. I think a big part of why a lot of people come at me--and it's all kinds of people. It's not just white people. It's black people, it's Indian people, it's Latino people. It's I'm the first generation of the "model minority" born and raised in this country, right? So we're new, and we're supposed to stay in our lane, and we're supposed to be extremely grateful and not call out white supremacy because we are the model minority. So there's something extremely jarring to have an Asian lady in the middle of Colorado speaking like this. I think that's a big part of it too. I mean, lots and lots and lots and lots of South Asian people really hate my guts.Regina: They just want her to shut up.Saira: You know? They will say--I had [?] Indian people say to me, "Stop talking about Black Lives Matter," and I was like, "They know that there's a Muslim ban. Like, they know." So I'm so confused. I mean, you're called Apu how many times a week? You're called [?] how many times? And they're just, like, pretending like it didn't happen. And really funny, the only Indian/South Asian PAC didn't invite me to their gala in 2018 when I was running for Congress, and so [Andrew Yang?] actually invited me to go as his guest. And so I went. I flew out and I get there, and it's 8 other--something like that, 8 other--South Asians all [?]. By the way, they're all, like, super white platforms and [?], and I show up with Andrew and everyone's literally like, "Who the fuck brought her?" Like, "Why did you all bring her?" I mean, it was just really funny. I mean, it's funny "haha," but yeah, like, my own people hate my guts. Regina: You will love this. Saira says at our dinners, "I'm anti-black and all of you are racist," and I go, "Guess what? Black people know that." We know that every immigrant group thinks they're better than us. We know everybody would rather be whatever than black. That's not news.Saira: So we talk about. So I just want to add that one last thing to what Regina said. You know, we'll say, "Who's racist in this room?" And most of the time no one raises their hand except for me, and they're like, "Wait, what?" And [I'm like?] "[I'm Asian?], so I've been trained institutionally to be anti-black," and then they'll look at Regina because then the next step--you know, Step 1 is dividing and conquering, and they look at Regina like, "Oh, my God. Look. You've got an anti-black colleague here." Regina's like, "All Asians are anti-black." Like, if I'm asking white people to acknowledge their own institutional bigotry, it would be wildly hypocritical of me and completely lack of self-aware if I wasn't able and unwilling to do that myself.Zach: And so it's interesting because, like--I just find it all so very intriguing, because, like, the closer we get--and I'm continuing to have conversations about the fact that November is coming up, and, like, the closer that we get to November, it's interesting that we're, like--a lot of us are still kind of moving, like, business as usual, but--Regina: I know! It's scary.Zach: It's really strange, right? Like, even though, like, we remember all of the chaos, like, that happened four years ago, like, in and outside the workplace. I recall the work day--Regina: [?] the election.Saira: We know that. We know that.Zach: Right, and so it's just strange to me that, like, even from a diversity, equity and inclusion perspective that we're not really talking about that. Like, we're not preparing--Regina: Yeah. Where is the [Congressional Black Causus?] Where the fuck are they? [everyone laughing]Zach: Oh, my gosh. This has been--oh, man, this is great. But no, I find it really curious, I find it really curious. So Race2Dinner, it's white women attending the dinners, and then you both are facilitating the dinner. What do you believe it is about--like, 'cause typically we talk about gender equity and we're rarely intersectional. We rarely talk in [?]. We typically just say "men and women," and the default of course there is white women. It seems as if there's still a lot of work to be done when it comes to white women understanding their place when it comes to understanding diversity, equity and inclusion and how they fit in this role and, like, what power they wield, and I'm curious, why do you think there's still a reticence to engage that? Even from, like, just an intellectual exercise?Regina: Well, you know, I like to say, first of all, you all--everything you've made has been on the backs of black people. Let's get that out there first, okay? So that's the first thing they need to understand. They wouldn't have what they have today if black people had not fought and died [in] the civil rights movement. So that's the first thing I want to say. The second thing, when we talk about intersectionality, we're really talking about black women and their intersection of both race and sex. So white women--this is what we try to say. You know, the foot of patriarchy is on your neck just like it's on yours. You want to continue earning 75 cents for every dollar the white man earns? Fine. But if you want ever to have equity, enjoy the same rights that white males do, you better come and join us, because we've been fighting this for a long time, and we're gonna continue to fight it with or without you, but they also have the proximity to the power. They have the proximity to the money. These are their fathers, their uncles, their brothers, their sons. So that's why they need to be engaged in this.Saira: Well, and the reason, you know, they always pick whiteness over gender is because they're benefiting greatly from whiteness, and so they've been born and raised--but they would never say that, right? That's the lack of honesty and transparency. They've been born and raised to see themselves as the greatest victims on the planet because they are below white men. So that's it. That's where their analysis of inequity--that's where it stops. It starts and stops on them being the biggest victims on the planet, and as a result they erase women of color. We don't even exist in their minds. I'll tell you what, Zach. Use this whole hoopla around the 19th Amendment 100-Year anniversary this year. It's a great window into white feminism. Susan Becky Anthony totally fucked black women, right? So the 19th Amendment [was not?] the women's right to vote. That was the white women's right to vote. And so we're not--like, black and brown women are not celebrating the 19th Amendment, but you would think all of these freaking white suits all over the place running around and talking about how this was, you know, the year that women [?]--that's not true, and there's a direct line between Susan B. Anthony and Nancy Pelosi who regularly throws her women of color colleagues under the bus, starting with Maxine Waters and every member of the squad. So I'm tired of it. I'm tired of white women, you know, lumping all women's rights together. That's not true. That's just not true.Regina: And they know it.Saira: They know it. They're pretending like they don't know it.Regina: See, the biggest issue that we have is them pretending that they don't know shit. They're here to pretend like they don't know how bad it is for women of color. They know. They're gonna pretend like, you know, we're all treated equally. They know. So I want them to stop pretending and tell the fucking truth.Saira: We ask every dinner--this is well over 100 white women around the country--how many of you would trade places with me or Regina? Guess how many of them have raised their hands. Guess.Zach: Zero.Regina: The first dinner. No, one from the first dinner, remember? That we filmed?Saira: Yeah. I mean, it's between zero to one. So they were [?] about that, so they know. They know. So they first tell us that they wouldn't trade places with us because they're better than we are, and then they'll all say--they stopped doing this though because we put an end to this nonsense--"I'm just hear to listen and learn. I'm just here to learn." You already know because you wrote the book about white supremacy. You had it optioned [?]. You've made every film. It's won every Oscar. It's been exported to every country around the world. It's been translated into every language. And you're asking us to explain the book that you wrote? Like, I'm so--that's bullshit. That's bullshit, and we are not [?]--that's fine, that's the way it is, but we're not here for it. We're not here for your stupid ass lies.Regina: That's right.Zach: [laughs]Regina: We can tell you can't wait to have dinner with us, right?Zach: No, no, I'm here for it. I'm here for it. I actually have some mentors that would love this, and actually what I really want to do is I want to give y'all space. So we'll make sure we'll put all your information in the show notes, but I want to give you actually some space, like, to plug all your information. Where can [they learn?] more, how people can sign up, all of that.Saira: Race2Dinner, R-A-C-E-2-dinner.com, and find me on Twitter--I'm Tweeting quite often--@sairasameerarao. Regina: Regina Jackson. I'm on Twitter @ReginaJacksonMe... I think. You know, I'm old. I don't know all this stuff. [both laugh] But we have a couple of great people working with us who schedule all of our dinners, and you can reach them through the website. And also we have a Race2Dinner Facebook page, and Race2Dinner is on Twitter, and Race2Dinner is on Instagram.Saira: And we're also, Zach, starting to do corporate executive teams, so boards and executive teams, because they seem to need it because diversity and inclusion is a big hoax, as you know, and, like, 95% of diversity and inclusion is run by white women. And hey, companies, white women are not diverse and are not inclusive. Regina: Well, and where do you think they get their information about racism?Saira: Yeah.[Flex bomb sfx]Saira: What we've heard from a lot of--like, the three non-white diversity and inclusion officers in the country have talked to us and said, you know, "How great would it be if you two could come in and say the things to the board and my colleagues that we can't say without getting fired?" They can get fired. We can say the shit they can't.Regina: And I just had this conversation with my husband yesterday. We've got some things going on in Colorado with our judiciary. The office of the Supreme Court in Colorado has nine black employees out of 260 something, and none of those are at a management level. So we were having this conversation and I said to him, "You know, Gary, me and Saira, we can talk shit 'cause we don't have to answer to anybody. I don't have to keep a job. We don't have to play politics. We get to just call a thing a thing." Saira: And I think ultimately, if we want to blow a little smoke up our bums, I think that people kind of like us at these dinners.Regina: I could care. [laughs]Saira: No, no, but he's asking why they [?].Regina: Oh, yeah. They want to be our friends. They want black and brown people to like them. And this is really interesting. I just--while we're talking about this, I just got a three-page letter from a white woman friend of mine--[I've known?] her probably 40 years--who is married to a black man, and in the letter she wanted--she had read The Guardian and she wanted to know about if we were gonna take on the issue of how white women that are married to black women are treated in black women spaces, okay? So that's what she wrote me about, and I talked to my husband and I said, "Here's the issue. We can't trust you." I said, "When 53% of [white women] voted for Donald Trump, and then they want to tell us, "Oh, we're in your corner," we can't trust you." So until we can trust you, I doubt that we're gonna accept you.Saira: Yeah, and Regina said that at one dinner last summer. You know, we were talking about trust, and one of the women said, "Well, that hurts my feelings. You mean to tell me you don't trust any of us in this room?" And she goes, "No, I do." She goes, "I trust Saira with my life," but she goes, "I don't trust the rest of you bitches." [both laughing]Regina: You know, it is what it is. In order to be trusted you have to be trustworthy, and white women have not proven themselves to be that.Saira: Not just that, they've proven themselves to NOT be that.Regina: Yeah.Zach: And so then, you know, in some of the pieces that I read about Race2Dinner, I know that there are executive leaders who are white women who attend Race2Dinner, and I'm curious about, from your perspective, what is it that you're seeing leaders are doing or not doing that is hampering inclusiveness and equity in their respective workforces?Saira: We just had a dinner in Chicago, what, like, two weeks ago, and I would say this was one of those--you were asking what were sort of the most poignant moments, well, this was one of the more poignant moments for me because we kind of saw the whole ecosystem at play. So this woman is a nurse in Chicago, and she said--and she, like, got teary, and she said a month earlier she was in a meeting with 9 other white women nurses and doctors and their boss, who's a white guy. A doctor, okay? A doctor. These are people who deal with brown and black lives all the time. And he said that the big thing they need to tackle in 2020 [was?] hiring foreign-born doctors, and she said, "Well, guess what I did?" And we were like, "We know what you did. Nothing, right?" So she said, "I went through the whole thing in my head. "Maybe he didn't mean it." But she was like, "No, all the foreign-born people that we've been hiring, Norwegian and French doctors. We had been hiring brown and black doctors." And she said, "I didn't say anything. I didn't say a word." And I said, "Did anyone else?" And she said no. So that to me was like, "Oh, my God." And I said, "[?] that. So you just upheld--what you all, the ten of you white women did, was every bit as toxic as what the white guy did."Regina: And harmful.Saira: And harmful. And so, you know, I said, "What if you broke the cycle there? What if you had said something?" And then Regina of course said, which is true, "Here are some of the ramifications. Let's play this out. You could have been fired, right? They would make up an excuse to fire you. "You've become a troublemaker" or whatever. You become demoted. You're ghosted. All the stuff that we've experienced, but they would think twice before saying and doing this harmful stuff the next time. Like, using your voice in these professional settings is so important because it moves the needle in a way that [?] they can actually move the needle. And, you know, she totally got it. Meanwhile, white lady to her right does exactly what they always do 'cause they need to set themselves apart. She goes, "Ugh, I can't believe that you did that. I would never do that." I was like, "No, no, no. Like, let's back it up. Of course you would, and you do, so why do you feel--" She goes, "Well, I know that you think that it's not possible that I'm not like that," and I was like, "You're all like that by training, you know?" And so, anyway, it was the need to separate herself from, you know, classic white woman behavior, and what was great is the other women at the table did come after that woman and say, "Come on, you know that we all do this. We're all silent at dinner tables. We're all silent in executive meetings."Regina: Exactly. One of the things that I make sure that I tell women, this is just the beginning. If you are going to be in this work, #1: It's work. You will be doing this for the rest of your life. #2: If you expect to gain anything, boy, are you wrong. You're gonna lose. You're gonna lose relationships. You're gonna lose jobs. You're gonna lose friends. This is not a winning game. It's not a winning game for us, and it's definitely not a winning game for white people.Zach: Oooh. See, I don't have sound effects for, like, spiciness. That's why I've been dropping that Flex bomb from time to time, but I will say this has been incredible. Before we let y'all go, any parting words?Regina: I want to shout-out to Genevieve and Lisa.Saira: The two white women who work with us.Regina: Yep.Zach: Come on, white ladies. [air horns sfx]Regina: Thank you for having us on this show, and I'm looking forward to listening to this interview.Zach: We're looking forward to everybody hearing it. Y'all, yo, now, I told y'all at the top of this it was gonna be spicy, so y'all don't--don't be emailing me with your complaints. You want to see the manager? I'm the manager. Y'all know we are unbought and unbossed, okay?Regina: That manager stuff doesn't work with me, so I get you. [laughs]Zach: Yes. No, it's not. All the emails go to me, Ade and Aaron, so we not--nope. [laughs] Y'all, this has been--man, this has been a dope conversation. You've been listening to the co-founders of Race2Dinner, and just thank y'all, thank y'all. Saira Rao, Regina Jackson. Make sure you check us out on Instagram @LivingCorporate, on Twitter @LivingCorp_Pod. Just Google us, you know what I'm saying? If you look up Living Corporate we're gonna pop up there. SEO is strong enough, okay? Check us out on all of our domains, www.living-corporate--please say the dash--dot com, livingcorporate.co, livingcorporate.us, livingcorporate.org, livingcorporate.net. We got all the different domains, y'all, we just don't have livingcorporate.com yet. Like, Australia owns livingcorporate.com, but one day we're gonna get that domain too. And shoot, if you have questions just make sure you just DM us. DMs are wide open. You don't have to follow us back. We're thirsty like that. Just hit us up. You can also email us at livingcorporatepodcast@gmail.com. Until next time, this again has been Zach, and you've been listening to Regina Jackson and Saira Rao, co-founders of Race2Dinner. Make sure y'all check out the information in your show notes, and make sure you sign up and go to have a racy conversation. All right, y'all. Peace.

Immigrantly
"Raise Your Hand If You're A Racist"

Immigrantly

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2020 41:22


Regina Jackson and Saira Rao are the co-founders of Race2Dinner, an organization that allows specifically white women to address their racism through a sit-down dinner they pay for. It’s innovative, and it pushes past social boundaries to get to the heart of the matter. Saadia talks to Saira and Regina about how they define racism in America, their encounter with white supremacy, and what led them to start Race2Dinner. In the process, Saadia hints at her take on the controversial topic of racism in America.

Muslim Rumspringa
"Saira Rao No Way No How" Ep 3 ft. ARISH SINGH

Muslim Rumspringa

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2020 50:42


Comedian Arish Singh and the gang talk canvassing, the Sonia Saira rift, the "Fuck Modi" gig in Brooklyn with the Kominas, #WarrentoBiden, PMC Desis, Biden & the BJP. Nashwa has a special message for Tulsi Gabbard.

You Started It!
Save a Prayer By Duran Duran (and a frank discussion about white supremacy with Saira Rao)

You Started It!

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2019 59:24


She's been called many things by white supremacist trolls on both the left and the right. Trolls including staff at Breitbart, Daily Caller, Daily Stormer and...Boy George (yes, you read correctly.) She's also a former Democratic Party Congressional candidate from Colorado, an author, an activist, a producer and all-around delight to talk to. My guest is Saira Rao (@sairasameerarao.) We dig into a lot. She talks about her series "Race to Dinner" (www.race2dinner.com) where she and her partner and co-founder Regina Jackson have frank, non-coddling conversations about race and white supremacy with white women over dinner. She also talks seeing people who looked like her in pop culture for the first time via Duran Duran's 1982 music video "Save A Prayer." It's a wonderful, frank, funny, intimate, personal, often hard-hitting, but ultimately honest conversation. One I'm proud to present to you. And one I'm thankful Saira agreed to participate in. No disclaimers. No coddling. We get real here. And, as I have from the beginning, I invite you to listen in good faith and with your mind open. Support the show (https://twitter.com/YouStarteditpod)

That's What She Did Podcast
S4E5: "Not All White Women" with Race2Dinner Co-Founders Saira Rao and Regina Jackson

That's What She Did Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2019 59:40


Contact the Show: ThatsWhatSheDidPodcast@gmail.com IG: @That'sWhatSheDidPodcast FB: That'sWhatSheDidPodcast Website: That'sWhatSheDidPodcast.com Send your suggestions for women to feature on the show to Tangia Renee. Featured Guests: Saira Roa and Regina Jackson  Saira Roa and Regina Jackson are friends who decided to do something unusual after an especially tumultuous campaign in which Saira ran for Congress. During her campaign, Saira became a controversial figure for running on a platform focused on dismantling white supremacy. Following her campaign, Regina and Saira began organizing informal dinners at the request if white women to discuss racism. Saira and Regina then formed Race2Dinner, an organization focused on dismantling white supremacy by having face to face conversations with white women about racism.       In This Episode: What happens when two women of color go to dinner with a white woman to talk about race What it means to have a racial awakening  Personal narrative as a tool for activism Connect with Saira and Regina: Website: https://race2dinner.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Race2D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/race2dinner/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Race2Dinner

IRISE RAGE
S2E6: Caucasity: Exploring the Complicity & Fragility of White Women ft. Saira Rao (Part 2)

IRISE RAGE

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2019 14:24


Listen in on the 2nd-part of our incredible interview with the indomitable Saira Rao as she digs deep and explains the complicity and fragility of white women and its impact on society in general but social justice movements in particular.

IRISE RAGE
S2E5: Caucasity: Exploring the Complicity & Fragility of White Women ft. Saira Rao (Part 1)

IRISE RAGE

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2019 11:11


Join the R.A.G.E. Podcast in this 3-part series entitled Caucasity - Exploring the Complexity/Fragility of white women. In this first of the series we speak with indomitable Saira Rao as she explains her journey and awakening into caucacity and her analysis on what next steps should be for them and people of color.

Brian Wallenberg Show
*Special 1 Hour Episode* Broadcast at the UT Postcast Summit 2019

Brian Wallenberg Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2019 58:18


Breaking news update: Trump is reaching a deal with Mexico that suspended the tariffs so that the border issue and the immigration status will be better. **Brian's Conservative take on Politics** D-Day happened 75 years ago. President Trump visited The United Kingdom (England) to pay tribute to the fallen. (Audio Clip). **Democratic Chaos** Maxine Waters says she supports Islamic people and the Sharia Law in America. Former (CO) Democratic candidate, social justice activist and writer Saira Rao got lit up on Twitter this week for openly posting that “The American flag makes me sick." (They are running? Why do we want them?) (NY) A Bill- The Clean Park Act bands demonstration on grounds, which is really after all, banning free speech. George Soros (D) a Billionaire Philanthropist is suspected of funding the migrant caravans that have infiltrated the US Borders in seeking asylum. **UT Podcast Summit** Brian talks about this show and the social apps to find 'The Brian Wallenberg Show'. **Dealing with weirdos** (DC) Arnav Gupta lit himself 5/29/19 on fire at the white house when police went to douse the man with an fire extinguisher to save him but, the next day passed away due to his the 85% of burn injuries over his whole body. (UT) A Draper driver, age 19 (white himself), Steven Becky, hits a 11 year old girl on her scooter in the early morning hours because, 'she is white.' her injuries were severe and broke her pelvis. **You got to be kidding me?** (CA) Mom is mad that her daughter could not wear the T-shirt, 'Make America Great Again' T-Shirt on America Pride day and at the school was told to change the T-Shirt. (Audio Clip). **Other News** (NASA) Asteroid is planned to hit Earth in September 9, 2019 but its 1 in 7,000 chance of a impact. The asteroid is 30 million miles away from the planet. (DC) Boeing is offering a passenger plane concept hyper sonic that would fly across the ocean in two hours. -Thank you for listening!-

Your Mom Friend
Saira Rao

Your Mom Friend

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2019 56:24


This week I’m talking to Saira Rao about politics, race, and change. Saira Rao is a racial justice activist, former congressional candidate, and co-founder of In This Together Media, Race2Dinner and Healing from Hate. Rao's upcoming memoir, BROKEN NEWS, will be published in Spring 2020. I was introduced to Saira through Facebook and her page regularly gives me life. She is an unapologetic truth-teller in a world that tells women, especially black and brown mothers, that we must lie to stay safe. Her page is regularly a safe haven for me - even as she is constantly under attack. I am so grateful that she took some time out of her busy schedule to chat with me! Connect more with Saira! On Facebook On Twitter On Instagram In Brown Girl Magazine

The Way with Anoa
Being Bold BIPOC Women and Dismantling White Supremacy

The Way with Anoa

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2019 76:32


Anoa chats with activist Saira Rao about her latest article, "When Being an Opponent of White Supremacy Means Being Not Nice". Very timely conversation in light of the ongoing attacks on Representative Ilhan Omar. Saira reflects on the struggle of dismantling White Supremacy in various spaces, and the expectation that BIPOC women must be "nice" and nonconfrontational in this work. The second half of the episode is a replay of a session during Rootscamp led by Anoa and Tracey Corder from the Center of Popular Democracy about dismantling white supremacy in progressive spaces. I'm A Brown Woman Who's Breaking Up With The Democratic Party When Being an Opponent of White Supremacy Means Being Not Nice

#causeascene
Saira Rao

#causeascene

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2018 57:14


Podcast Description Saira Rao has been a Democratic party activist since she was a teenager; she cast her first vote for Bill Clinton.  But after the catastrophic November 2016 election, it was clear that the Democratic party establishment had lost touch with the people it claimed to represent. Saira has emerged as one of the country’s strongest voices for social justice, equity, and inclusion. A graduate of the University of Virginia and New York University School of Law, Saira clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia before landing a coveted position on Wall Street. Saira and her husband Shiv live in Denver with their two children, Lila and Dar, and their dog, Hector. Twitter Saira Rao Here is where you add guest information. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. Become a #causeascene Podcast sponsor because disruption and innovation are products of individuals who take bold steps in order to shift the collective and challenge the status quo.Learn more >All music for the #causeascene podcast is composed and produced by Chaos, Chao Pack, and Listen on SoundCloud. Listen to more great #causeascene podcasts full podcast list >

Colorado Matters
The Crusade For Center, Pt. 1; Former Candidate Saira Rao Leaves State Because Of Threats

Colorado Matters

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2018 48:53


The small town of Center has a history of racism, and political intrigue. See the rest at center.cpr.org. Then, Saira Rao was harassed after she tweeted about whiteness. Next, how Colorado will adapt to legal sports betting. And, how the AG candidates weigh in on the opioid lawsuit. Finally, a farting unicorn design tears a local artist and Elon Musk apart.

Millennial Politics Podcast
Saira Rao Is Taking On White Privilege in the Democratic Party

Millennial Politics Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2018 30:24


In December 2017, Saira Rao wrote that as a brown woman, she was breaking up with the Democratic Party. Now, she's taking on white privilege in a run for Congress in CO-01.

Jon of All Trades
Ep. 170: Saira Rao – Candidate for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District

Jon of All Trades

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2018


Saira Rao is a Democrat candidate for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. She and her husband Shiv live in Denver with their two children, Lila and Dar, and their dog, Hector. You can find her website, Saira Rao for Congress, here. This is the first time on the podcast I’ve interviewed someone actively running for office,...

Jon of All Trades
Ep. 170: Saira Rao – Candidate for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District

Jon of All Trades

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2018


Saira Rao is a Democrat candidate for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. She and her husband Shiv live in Denver with their two children, Lila and Dar, and their dog, Hector. You can find her website, Saira Rao for Congress, here. This is the first time on the podcast I’ve interviewed someone actively running for office,...

Chapter Be Podcast
S3 EP 07: Saira Rao - BElieve You Can Do It!

Chapter Be Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2016 38:31


Saira Rao is the Creative Director and Co-Founder of In This Together Media, a book packager of children’s fiction with greater diversity in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, and experience. She was a television news producer turned lawyer turned author – who as a mother recognized the complete lack of diversity in children's literature and programing. So, she set out to change this by starting a company that creates compelling stories for underserved markets, where readers see themselves in the stories they are reading. She changed her life so that she could make a change!    Features: Chapter Be's theme song, Happiness, by Dave Preston and Tried to Be True by Indigo Girls