#8 – Brenda: Finding Light in Dark Spaces

In today's episode, we discuss trauma, racism, and steps to set people free from the hateful heart of racism and the harmful pain it inflicts on people of color.  References are made to Isabel Wilkerson's important book, "Caste. The Origins of Our Discontents."  This episode takes a personal exploration into the American caste system.  A plea is made for a collective beneficence throughout humanity, urging each of us to appreciate the beauty in the world and the steps we can take to set everyone free!

In this interview, ALLY Panelist, Justice Stanley, interviews our own Podcaster, Elizabeth Stanley, who also happens to be her mother. The two discuss ALLYSHIP, as they acknowledge that we all can and should do more to keep showing up for people in marginal spaces and we need to do more for one another. 

Learn where to start and how to find your why.

Time to bang the drum. Time to take a stand. Time to talk about racism. Time to demand change. With our voices - With difficult conversations - With conviction. Be the change! Be an ally. Be persistent, as we ALL demand fairness! We need to quit failing to imagine what opportunities could be. We hear these charges and so many more, as ALLY Panelist, Jill Veglahn talks with her activist mentor, Dan Seaver of ManifestWorks.

This Stanford University power couple discuss Lisa Moore Rameé’s books (Good Kind Of Trouble and Something to Say). They also discuss their personal experiences with racism. While discussing hope for a better America, strategies are offered to ensure that we see the vaue of the humaneness of one another.

As part of the LISTEN portion of our Solid Ally series, please join us as we ride along with Rodney. Jump on board and listen as Rodney steers us through what it’s like to have grown up black in America and live as a black man in America today. If we all take the time to ride along to get a glimpse into the life of another, there is hope that we can spark a better understanding and remove some of the blind spots we have when we don’t share a lived experience.

Forged by the war in Cambodia, facing near starvation, and constant danger, Mony Nop at the the age of six, walked amid bombs and land mines from Cambodia to Thailand while more than two million of his fellow citizens were being slaughtered by the Pol Pot Regime during the Killing Fields of Cambodia.  Mony and his family were devastated by war. Here is Mony Nop’s story and why he is running for Livermore’s Mayor.

As a part of our Learn series, we had author, Mike Nacimento, join our host, Elizabeth Stanley.  In this episode you will hear their discussion about Mike’s article and his life journey.  For our audience, Mike then shares his article,  titled:  “Why Sports, Race & Social Mobility Matter.”  Through his words, Mike gives us a history lesson on the useage of sports as a vehicle for change in American society, but also a vehicle for vital change in one’s own agency.   

LEARN The Origins of Racism. Coach Tony Green takes us in a learning journey. From this episode, we learn the origins of racism in America and how it is still plaguing its citizens today. This episode is both informative and interesting.

Today’s episode features Professor Kelly Musgrove a retired union City CA police Commander, who is now teaching at Central Oregon Community College. Hear why “There should be a reallocation of funding that moves the responsibility away from ‘law enforcement’ as responders to instances of mental illness, drug addiction, and homelessness

This is our ALLY - Accept Episode. In this episode you will hear Rodney talk with his friend - a lawyer and activist, Cherri Allison. Cherri has talked with, and learned from, some of the most revered world leaders, including The Dalai Lama, John Lewis and Angela Davis. Cherri used these great humanitarians’ guidance to carve out her career working in the judicial system. Her goal: CHANGE IT FROM WITHIN!