When you think about liberation, what comes to mind: Intentional action? Physical protests? Thoughtful contemplation? One thing we didn’t really think about was minimalism as a form of liberation. We didn’t see the connection then between liberation and simplifying until after we spoke with our guest, and read her book. Now we believe: less can be liberation.

Today we interview Christine Platt, who is also known as the Afrominimalist. And in preparation, ask yourself: what is a minimalist space? Once you’ve got that vision, the next question is: whose aesthetic is this? After you listen to this episode, we challenge you to tell five people about this episode - and then start examining how minimalism can be liberation in YOUR life, and other ways to view minimalism that aren’t part of the mainstream narrative. And then go and buy her book, The Afrominimalist.

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After what seemed like five years rolled into one in 2020, it’s hard to believe that we are now approximately halfway through 2021. We hope that our earlier summer episodes have given you all some ways to practically and intentionally think differently about small, yet impactful, decisions that we make as part of our everyday lives.

But as we think of summer, we also think about the Summer Olympics. In general, we love everything about them - the athletics, the camaraderie, the national pride, the international nature. Really, we love it all.

But what we don’t love about the Olympics this year (besides holding it during a global pandemic) is how Black athletes, and in particular, Black female athletes, have been treated even prior to a single Olympic event happening (and, at the time that we recorded this, it’s still unsure how and if events will happen as planned). We’re breaking down that disparate treatment in today’s episode, along with our thoughts about how best to show your support (the title is probably a spoiler alert there).

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As we’re still in our summer of action, we had a conversation lately behind the scenes to ask ourselves: are these episodes actionable enough? And we really believe that to make all of this work sustainable, sometimes it has to be in the little things. It has to be in which link you send to your friend about a book you’re recommending - Amazon or Bookshop? - and it has to be in looking deep within yourself and looking around to build a more diverse community. But sometimes it’s also about doing work - social activism, DEI work in your organizations, and the groups you’re a part of.

We’re back with Part 2 of our fabulous conversation with Kelly and Aurora of The Opt-In to look at all different forms of activism, ways to think about where we’ve collectively been and where we are in this realm, and suggestions for courses and people to look at. And fundamentally the message is: we can do hard things. This isn’t even one of the hardest things we’ll do in our lives, but it may be what has the most lasting impact - not only for ourselves, but for our kids. Remember: it’s seemingly little things and little choices that make lasting, much larger changes in our communities and our world.

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We’re continuing our summer of action and diving deeper. And as we’re releasing this episode, we’re also in the midst of a summer that’s been filled with more friends and family and conversation and ability to BE TOGETHER in a way that we haven’t been able to be since March of 2020. #vaccines

It makes us think of friendship, community, and how much we learn from each other - not only through our similarities, which is how we often create friendships, but also our differences, which can be particularly true when we think about cross-racial friendships and communities.

Today we’re excited to have Kelly and Aurora from the Opt-In, two of our very favorites, to discuss community, cross-racial friendships, and so much more. What we love about these women is that they are real - real about the good parts of their friendships and identities, and also the tough parts. And because we loved them so much, we split our conversation with them into two parts. Part I is this episode. Part II - well, you’ll have to stay tuned. But it centers around what we can all do in terms of social activism and moving the needle - and spoiler alert, it starts from within.

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If you’ve been listening to our episodes in order, you know we’ve been focused on the role of community, as well as small business in community - and how we can show up for one another when we support the amazing people who run these.

Today we have Bunnie Hilliard, the owner of an Atlanta-based bookstore called Brave+Kind, on the podcast. She talks about her move from corporate America to opening Brave+Kind, the intentionality that comes into all of her decisions about the physical space of her store as well as how that showed up online during the pandemic, and what she’d like us all to know not only about children’s books but how we can take those conversations into our own homes, and have our buying patterns reflect what we truly believe in.

Our ask for you after you listen: Take those books out of your Amazon cart and find them in an independent bookstore - online, or in your community. Tell all your friends to do the same thing. And if you’re looking for recommendations - shoot us an email at hello at dearwhitewomen dot com. We’ve got you.

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Let’s face it: we are an app-based, “easy button” based, instant gratification kind of society. One click of a button and we get something brought to our house: food, alcohol, flowers - basically anything you can ask for. If it’s not instant, you can get it for free shipping and in two days if you’re an Amazon Prime member. But, as we’ve often asked on this podcast, what is the true cost of your purchases when you’re getting them through these apps, and not through your community and local store owners?

Today we talk to one of those businesses - and the women behind it. Nirvana Soul isn’t only about providing amazing coffee to the people of San Jose, California - it’s about creating community through shared spaces, carefully curated art, and so much more. Be’Anka and Jeronica opened their doors during a pandemic, but in so doing they brought community to their own community - and that’s priceless. Our ask for you after you listen: go find one of these spaces in your own community, go support them (and for real - not in a performative way), and then tell all your friends to do the same. We rise by lifting others, and we need each other right now more than ever.

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Every once in a while, we both read a book that makes us immediately text the other to say: have you read this? Isn’t it amazing? That’s what happened when we read A Radical Awakening.

We were blown away by the revolutionary way of thinking and being that is suggested for women in this book, and were so deeply grateful to find that Dr. Shefali’s energy and authenticity match her reputation.

There’s little else left for us to say, other than this is a can’t-miss episode, and that you should go to Bookshop to order this book immediately.

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Mamas, here’s a real question for you: How Whyte are your spaces?

We write that word that way because the censors seem to be limiting our ability to write it as w-h-i-t-e without being hurt by the algorithms.

But really, when we talk about a summer of action, we mean starting within your very own spheres of influence. And as moms, we have a lot of influence. So let’s start by looking at our own circles!

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If you’ve been listening to our podcast for a while, you know that we lean into heart-led action to create change - and today we get to interview an expert on where that heart-led action comes from. Terri Givens is a woman of many talents, but one of them is author, and we’re talking to her about her book Radical Empathy, which provides a framework as to how we reach radical empathy for ourselves, and where radical empathy can be used to make change and bridge racial divides (hint: it’s pretty much everywhere).

We’re also super excited to announce that Terri is the one who wrote the foreword for our forthcoming book Dear White Women: Let’s Get Uncomfortable Talking About Racism - which is now available for preorder!

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We’re here, just over one year after the murder of George Floyd, with a question: now that we’ve spent a year in discussions centered on being more open about racism, systemic racism, and how we can be more anti-racist, what have we actually done about it? How do we feel? Where do we go from here, and more importantly - where should we collectively be moving as a country?

Today’s episode is a conversation - a reflection of what we’ve experienced last year collectively and personally, and most importantly, an introduction to our summer of action. Let’s move past “muted and listening” and onto action, because that’s how we’re actually going to make change, together.

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This episode is personal, as we’re both Japanese women. We’ve been called exotic. We’ve had White men visibly change their reactions to us when they find out we’re Japanese. We’ve then had to hear about their “other Asian girlfriends”. For the record? That’s disgusting.

But we need to talk. We need to talk about what we’ve personally experienced, what our Asian female friends have experienced, and the history that we, as a country, don’t want to talk about - namely, how Asian women are seen by Americans, and in particular, White men. Because, more often than not, we’re seen as invisible, exotic, sexual toys. And we’re done with that B.S., to be quite clear.

Because what happens when we don’t talk about it? Atlanta, and the further perpetuation of historical inaccuracies, untruths, and stereotypes that we need to change right now.

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When’s the last time you had a conversation with someone of Asian descent? Not just a transactional conversation, or a “hi how are you” mumbled in passing, but one where you saw them as a product of their history and experiences and asked them something perhaps more sensitive and interesting than “where are YOU from?” Something about their goals, their passions, and how their identities may have played into shaping who they are, rather than relying on the stereotypes that are so pervasive in American culture?

Our guest today, Jerry Won, is the host of Dear Asian Americans, a podcast featured by Apple Podcasts at the TOP of the list of podcasts to listen to for Asian American Pacific Islander Month this May. His podcast growth has more than quadrupled since the latest slew of anti-Asian hate - and he’s used it as an opportunity for personal and professional growth to get more narratives of the often under-celebrated Asian community in America out into the world.

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