Don't Stop The Conversation About Race with Melissa DePino and Michelle Saahene | Cocktails & Convos
In this week's interview we were lucky enough to speak with Melissa DePino and Michelle Saahene, two incredible women who have been desegregating the conversation about race and racism through their project From Privilege to Progress, which has become a national movement that calls on white allies to #ShowUp against racism and social injustice by understanding and using their privilege to speak out, share and amplify the voices of people of color. If you want to be informed and inspired, listen in to hear about the traumatic experience that brought Melissa and Michelle together back in 2018, what we can do to keep these important conversations going, why voting matters and how we can talk to our kids about racism and engage them to be allies.
Click below to watch/listen and keep scrolling for our top takeaways from this episode.
WATCH HERE:
LISTEN HERE:
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
After slavery, there were all kinds of systematic things that were put in place to segregate the black population. It was all very intentional, and we were left with a country that is highly segregated.
Melissa and Michelle created From Privilege to Progress after their video of two black men being arrested for absolutely no reason in a Philadelphia Starbucks back in April 2018 went viral. It was one of the first stories to make it into mainstream media that showed how white people call the police on black people for simply living their lives. One of the significant things about this is that policing in the US started as slave patrol and has a long legacy of targeting and brutalizing black people.
Together, Melissa and Michelle started an important conversation and now they can't let that conversation fade away. If black people aren't talking about their pain, tragedy and terrible stories, people lose interest, but that shouldn’t be the case. Don’t let the conversation die out just because there is nothing in the news. Don’t wait for the next person to be harmed.
Black people are people, they aren't just a movement. We need to connect as people rather than connecting due to a movement and expecting black people to “serve” white people with this important education on racism.
White people have the privilege to check out and not think about racism. But Melissa and Michelle want to make it easy for people to #ShowUp. They want to help us learn and continue to have conversations and not just let this be a trend.
Melissa explains that the whole concept behind white fragility is that white people equate racism with a good/bad binary. We think if we have racist thoughts or ideas that we're a bad person. So we personalize it and we get triggered with all of these emotions of defensiveness, shame and guilt.
Michelle goes on to say that if you don't have the same views as someone else, you have to set a healthy, compassionate boundary. Let them know that if they say any more racist things, you'll have to exit the conversation. If you let them know that you want to continue to have a relationship with them but don't want to engage in the conversation, maybe it will make them think about where you're coming from.
If you have a child, it's important to teach them to use their words to include people. Make sure the playing field is inclusive rather than segregated. As parents, we have a huge opportunity to teach our kids right now. We should be talking about race and making sure the books our kids are reading are diverse. And it doesn't just need to be about racism, we need to humanize people of all races. Michelle also encourages parents to check out embracerace.org for information on how to talk to your kids about race.
MORE ABOUT MELISSA & MICHELLE:
Melissa DePino and Michelle Saahene have become friends through their mission to desegregate the conversation about race and racism and encourage others to #ShowUp against racism. Through their platform From Privilege to Progress, Melissa and Michelle create awareness and inspire action toward racial justice. Their work has been featured in many different media outlets and they’ve spoken to corporations & organizations and at events all across the country.
Follow Melissa and Michelle on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter @PrivToProg for more informative discussions around race and racism and to learn how you can #ShowUp.
Join them on Monday nights for their LIVE Q&A session.
And book them for a speaking engagement for your corporation, organization, school or event!