This introductory episode introduces listeners to the premise of Our True Colors. In this opening episode, I discuss terms and concepts surrounding issues of race. The links below are here for your reference and to learn more.

I encourage you to reach out to me and share your thoughts! What topics would you like to discuss? Do you have some feedback? Would you like to respond to an episode? Check out www.truecultureconsulting.com where you can also send me a message.

Welcome to the community!

Link further exploration:

• Race as a Social Construct
• Human Genome Project
• Race, Ethnicity, and Culture with Jelly Beans
• Biden Administration's Proposal for Updated Census Data Collection
• Honorary Whiteness - Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
• Colonialism
• Culture
• Being a Third Culture Kid
• Intersectionality
• Blumenbach and "Caucasian"
• More on Blumenbach and the term "Caucasian"
• Gender Neutral Terms

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show.

Our True Colors is sponsored by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic, for more great content. You can find us at truecultureconsulting.com where you can also contact us to schedule a free consultation.

This is it, y'all! The last episode of OTC! Join the cohosts and me as we reflect on this journey and enjoy the sampler platter we've prepared for you as we talk about the themes we explored, lessons learned, and incredible growth over the years!

About This Episode:

Part 1: The Mixed Tape with Jason

• Season 2: I'm Gumbo, Baby!
• Season 2: What's in a Name?

Part 2: The Mixed Tape with Shannon, Carmen, and Yolandie

• Season 4: Kickin it with Karlton Hoskins
• Season 1: Coming to Our Census
• Season 3: Good Vibes Family Reunion
• Season 3: Sticks and Stones
• Season 1: Growing Up Ambiguously Across the Generations
• Season 3: Unwrapping the Gift of Dialogue
• Season 3: A Mother's Love
• Season 1: Talking H & M: Race and Royalty

Other Stuff:

• Animated map shows the evolution of American accents
• NPR Code Switch: Talk American
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show.

Our True Colors is sponsored by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic, for more great content. You can find us at truecultureconsulting.com where you can also contact us to schedule a free consultation.

This week I am joined by Joquina M. Reed, my colleague and dear friend.
She is the founding steward of J Reed Consulting LLC. She is also the curator behind the Please Say Black podcast as well as the Divesting from Whiteness Podcast. Kina is deeply committed to global reparations for chattel enslavement and creating shared humanity.

In this episode we explore new perspectives on belonging and how learning more about our identities can provide a welcome anchor to our personal narratives.

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show.

Our True Colors is sponsored by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic, for more great content. You can find us at truecultureconsulting.com where you can also contact us to schedule a free consultation.

Yay! Yolandie is back after taking a few months to be with her little one (if you listen carefully, you'll hear a little bit from her, too! 👶). In this episode, Yolandie (and sometimes Olivia) tells us about a play she is working on and the complexities of identity and stereotypes. This all made me very curious and, despite my congestion (sorry, y'all - guess I was keepin' it real), I had lots of questions for her about her experiences and the premise of the play.

References

• By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
• Meet Yolandie! Season 4 Cohost
• Will Smith in Emancipation
• Will Smith Has A Candid Answer After Getting Asked Why He Wanted To Make A Movie About Slavery
• Will Smith Explains Why He Avoided Making Movies About Slavery: 'I Wanted to Be a Superhero'
• SPECIAL EPISODE: The Little Mermaid of Color
• The racist backlash to The Little Mermaid and Lord of The Rings is exhausting and extremely predictable

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show.

Our True Colors is sponsored by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic, for more great content. You can find us at truecultureconsulting.com where you can also contact us to schedule a free consultation.

Prepare to be inspired! On this episode of OTC, I am talking with Dija Henry. Together we discuss her work in film and how the work supports the empowerment of authenticity all the way from the people contributing to the film to those viewing it. We go on to discuss the nuances of having a multicultural family and the connections that younger generations are making cross-culturally – a notion that is good for all of us to practice, including one's sense of belonging, particularly when you are racially ambiguous. We also talked about art being central to our lives, and there's a little bit of 80's and 90's nostalgia sprinkled in, too!

Dija is a multi-award winning actress, filmmaker and CEO and founder of Blue House Entertainment, which is a social impact entertainment company dedicated to telling diverse stories that facilitate heart changing conversation to elevate our culture to a more equitable, inclusive and empathetic society. She also works to coach individuals who are working on their first film. In her free time, Dija likes to read, travel, watch movies with her family and have meaningful conversations with others. She's very grateful she has been able to take her family to two of their three countries of origin. India is next on the list!

References and Resources

• Belonging: A Culture of Place
• Find Dija Henry on Instagram
• Check out The Blue House on Instagram, too!

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show.

Our True Colors is sponsored by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic, for more great content. You can find us at truecultureconsulting.com where you can also contact us to schedule a free consultation.

On this episode of Our True Colors, I had the opportunity to spend time with Velda Thomas - sharing our thoughts on identity, growth, and belonging.

Velda Thomas is the author of Blended: Perspectives on Belonging. She was born and educated in England, UK with family ancestry from Africa, the Caribbean, and the America's. Healing modalities have always been of interest to Velda. She has a love of plants and herbal remedies. For Velda, somatic and ritual experiences weave passion with grounded human experience for creativity and freedom of expression.

Velda has worked as a kindergarten teacher, adult educator, birth doula, massage therapist, sound practitioner and writer. She is a horsewoman, nature lover, mover of the body and world traveler. Velda is currently living in Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula in the USA.

Together, Velda and I talk about belonging to oneself and her sense of vibrational alignment with nature.

Resources and References

• Musicians are Hooking Up Synthesizers to Plants for New Sonic Possibilities
• Connect Your Plant To A Moog Synth With MIDI Sprout
• The Woman King (2022)
• Whites Distrust Biracial People When Their Racial Presentation Varies, Rutgers Study Finds
• Asian Americans are Skeptical of Biracial People’s Racial Loyalties

(Note: Jacqueline Chen is a former Our True Colors Guest. Check out her episode here.)

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show.

Our True Colors is sponsored by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic, for more great content. You can find us at truecultureconsulting.com where you can also contact us to schedule a free consultation.

What a fantastic episode I have for you this week! I am joined by Joe Huang-Racalto, a Civil Rights lobbyist, who works for organizations that defend people who are enslaved in labor and sex trafficking, abused children, minorities living with HIV/AIDS, and humane animal welfare. He retired from Capitol Hill on June 1, 2017 as Chief of Staff. During his Congressional career, he focused on civil rights for women and LGBT Americans. He successfully led efforts to enact the Matthew Shepherd and James D. Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), and the reversal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Additionally, he worked with his colleagues to successfully block cuts to Title IX.

***Warning***
This episode includes sensitive discussions of topics, such as suicide and other topics, which may be difficult for some listeners.

References and Resources:

• Barney Frank
• Who is protected from employment discrimination?
• GOP lawmakers push historic wave of bills targeting rights of LGBTQ teens, children and their families
• Justice Thomas urges U.S. Supreme Court to feel free to reverse precedents
• Supreme Court Dobbs Decision
• Child Welfare League of America
• What is Kinship Care?
• The (Only) 5 Fears We All Share

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show.

Our True Colors is sponsored by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic, for more great content. You can find us at truecultureconsulting.com where you can also contact us to schedule a free consultation.

Rach Kass is a Nursing Station Technician (NST), life coach, and podcast host and joins us for this episode to talk about her experiences as the White mother of her five biracial children. Also joining us as a guest host, while Yolandie takes some time with her new little one, is Sarah Bacerra - a two-time former guest on OTC. Rachel and her husband, Chris, also host and produce Infusion Health Podcast.

In this episode, she talks with us about being a White mom to biracial children and what that means for their family.

***Warning***
This episode includes sensitive discussions of topics, such as suicide, abuse, violence, and overt racism, that may be difficult for some listeners.

Sarah Bacerra Episodes:

• Growing Up Ambiguously
• Processing COVID-19: A Minisode

References and Resources:

• History made: Bruce’s Beach has been returned to descendants of Black family
• White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America
• How The Adultification Bias Contributes To Black Trauma
• Impression Management and Self Presentation (Goffman)

If this is your first time with OTC, check out EPISODE 1: START HERE for more background on the show.

Our True Colors is sponsored by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic, for more great content. You can find us at truecultureconsulting.com where you can also contact us to schedule a free consultation.