On Anti-Racism, Asian Experience, & Solidarity with Black Liberation

In our first full-length episode, Céline, Trixie, and Maria contextualize anti-Black racism in Canada from an East Asian perspective and discuss the importance of foregrounding Black lives and Black liberation in anti-racism work. We talk about holding a posture of openness, unlearning dominant narratives, uncovering hidden histories, and how anger can be a generative force for change.

Transcript available: https://resettingthetablepodcast.blogspot.com/2021/01/episode-1-on-anti-racism-asian.html

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Episode Notes & Annotations:

In this episode we speak from our own experience as East Asians, and don’t discuss how anti-Asian racism intersects with Islamophobia for some of our South Asian siblings (a form of racism and xenophobia which long predates the pandemic, notably rising after 9/11). We plan to unpack Islamophobia more in a future episode. If you want to point us to any relevant resources, you can email us at resettingthetablepodcast@gmail.com or DM us on Instagram.

The concept of “conditional belonging” that Celine references, especially in the context of the Coronavirus, was written about by actor John Cho for the LA Times.

Celine and Trixie reference Austin Channing Brown’s book, “I’m Still Here,” specifically the chapter on anger, which is based on Audre Lorde’s 1981 talk “The Uses of Anger” (available to read online at https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1981-audre-lorde-uses-anger-women-responding-racism/).

Maria references Hogan’s Alley (https://www.hogansalleysociety.org/) when talking about learning Black History in local contexts, specifically Vancouver.

Celine references The Secret Life of Canada podcast episode “The Secret Life of Birchtown” on Black History and slavery in Canada (https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-secret-life-of-canada/episode/the-secret-life-of-birchtown-52013370).

Trixie mentions Reclaiming My Theology, a podcast that inspired our own, which is about taking theology back from oppressive systems and ideas (https://www.reclaimingmytheology.com/).

Celine mentions two foundational books for understanding anti-Black racism in Canada: The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole and Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard. She also mentions The First Rainbow Coalition documentary: https://www.ket.org/program/independent-lens/the-first-rainbow-coalition/.

The piece we mention in the prelude is “Police response to storming of U.S. Capitol should not surprise anyone” by Sandy Hudson: https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-police-response-us-capitol-building-racism-1.5864611

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