Welcome to Season 2 of The Color of Us podcast! To start this season, we are incredibly honored to have spoken with Raj Tawney. Raj Tawney was born-and-raised in New York and is a proud multiracial American of Indian, Italian and Puerto Rican ancestry. Raj is a storyteller, and enjoys writing on identity, race, history, food, health, nature, entertainment, and current events shaping our culture. Beyond writing, he has hosted numerous live events, from introducing Alfred Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" at the Museum of Modern Art and to presenting "Pal Joey" with Frank Sinatra's granddaughter AJ Lambert. He’s also reported for Public Television, Zee TV, and Namaste America News. In this episode, Raj spoke on his new book, Colorful Palate, which explores his own cultural background and identity through the lens of food.
We are so excited to have had to opportunity to collaborate with Mixed Asian Media and record a podcast with Alex Chester-Iwata. Alex was named as one of 2022's top 50 Unsung Heroes at Asian Hustle Network’s Uplifted Conference. Alex graduated with Honors in May 2021 with her BA through St. Mary’s LEAP Program. She is the first person from LEAP to receive the Dean's Award for academic excellence and community engagement and is now part of LEAP’s Advisory Board. Alex, also the Editor-in-Chief of Mixed Asian Media shared her story growing up in the entertainment industry as one of the only mixed-race Asian Americans. She discussed how this experience shaped her passion for advocacy as well as the work she does through Mixed Asian Media.
Aisha Fukushima is a performance lecturer, justice strategist, singer/songwriter, and RAPtivist. She founded RAPtivism, a hip hop project spanning 20 countries and four continents, amplifying universal efforts for freedom and justice. Her work with ‘RAPtivism’ has been featured on Oprah Magazine and TEDx, to name only a few organizations. Additionally, she has spoken with the President of Estonia about the power of music to create change. She has also presented at venues such as Stanford University, Yale Law School, Duke University and the National Conference On Race and Ethnicity (NCORE). In keynotes she links themes such as hip hop, global citizenship, empowerment, feminism and cultural activism through storytelling as well as live musical performance.
Dr. Jill Falcon Ramaker is a faculty member at Montana State University specializing in Indigenous food systems and land practices. She is also a Program Director of the Buffalo Nations Food System Initiative at Montana State University and also works closely with the nonprofit Montana Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative. She is a member of the Midewin society and is an inspiring advocate. In this episode, Dr. Ramaker discusses her own multiracial and multicultural background. Additionally, she discusses the history of mixed indigenous communities and shares her opinion on blood quantum. Dr. Ramaker also discusses the future of land sovereignty in indigenous communities and multiculturalism.
Episode 06 with Andrew Jolivétte discusses the intersections and divisions between marginalized communities as well as ways to support one another. Specifically, Dr. Jolivette talks about the connections between the LGBTQ+ community and the multiracial community. Conversations about education in the context of school systems were also included to highlight ways in which early education could help create a more inclusive environment for all.