Shownotes
Episode Title: “Racial Chaos”
Intro: In this episode, Tracy talks with Kasey Louis, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a private counseling practice in Olympia, Washington. They discuss the sensitive topic of race / racism, and specifically how it affects women of color in our world today. As a woman of color herself, Kasey shares a variety of stories about her direct experiences with racism, and shares some of her ideas about what people can do to better understand and support people of color.
- Introduction: “Kasey, tell us a bit about yourself….”
- Women of color and the unique struggles they have in their lives today
- Kasey tells her stories, and how she coped with racism / profiling in the following areas:
- School (Valedictorian story)
- Military
- Being a Mom with children in school)
- Counseling Practice (The guy at your office door)
- Some of the strategies Kasey has used to cope with racism / profiling include:
- Think of who your are “Your foundation”)
- Calm your emotional chaos
- Remember your values, principles, faith
- Speak the truth, know when to “defend” and when to advocate
- Ask a person their name, listen to their stories
- Validate them
- Educate them person by person,
- Call attention to any of their assumptions
- Encourage them to ask questions
- Try and find the joy and the lesson in the tough situations
- Don’t let them limit you!
- What can we do to be more culturally responsive and to better understand and support people of color? (Ideas)
- Awareness: continue to help people to be aware that this IS an issue
- Get to know each other…. person to person
- Share stories and experiences with each others
- Acknowledge and validate people’s struggles
- Ask questions instead of assuming something about them
- Don’t be limited by others…and don’t limit yourself!
- Continue the conversation
