After Dr. Carey Yazeed’s article on how Brene Brown’s concept of vulnerability can be dangerous went viral on social media, she, Sana Mahboob, Natalie Bell and I had a live zoom panel discussion. This topic has had many people of color relate and many others frustrated. Tune into this almost hour long captivating discussion on vulnerability and safety for marginalized people of colour.

In this last episode of season 3, Sana Mahboob, Senior Communications Advisor for Western Economic Diversification Canada and Dr. Abdulrehman talk about the agony of emotional (and often free) labour in consistently helping people/leaders “get it” when it comes to racism. They hash out the difference between being digestible and breaking your identity into small pieces until it eventually disintegrates into the larger enveloping culture. They place a great emphasis on the listening skills needed in the conversations well meaning people and leaders need to truly understand the lived experience of marginalized people. Season 4 coming soon. Don’t forget to share these episodes to improve the necessary conversations needed to resolve racism.

Racism in North America is the best kept secret. What does that mean in an age when we see it all over the news? Sana Mahboob, Senior Communications Advisor for Western Economic Diversification Canada, and Dr. Abdulrehman discuss this, and burden of needing to always represent well. They also discuss how the messaging on multiculturalism needs to go beyond fitting a stereotype or defying it by abandoning culture. And because there just had to be a food reference, they discuss how baklava can lead to bias. Bold statements for a simple half hour. Tune in to find out more.

In the literal business of helping make change, Drs. Gregory Pennington and Rehman Abdulrehman talk about the challenges they face as professionals of colour in this second part of their conversation. Though doing the work of consulting is so very important, and despite any privilege gained through experience and education, Greg and Abdulrehman discuss how at times one can doubt how to respond to racism or ignorance, but how to respond in a way that makes the change “digestible”. In this process lies the concern of how authentic of a response we could have without coming across as the angry person or colour, and putting our own emotions and understandable responses in the backseat.

Who and what determines your identity? And how does that identity make you at risk to be the target of racism amidst scarcity? Dr. Gregory Pennington, managing partner of Pennpoint Consulting and fellow consulting psychologist joins Dr. Rehman Abdulrehman in the first of two parts of their conversation. This discussion of identity also leads to how as people of color in the profession of making change, we hold both challenges of being seen as the exception to others from our community (“the good -insert identity here -”) and the frustration of needing to manage authenticity of reactions to that to facilitate change. Part two (episode 8) of this conversation is going to take a deeper dive into this.

In this second part of a conversation between Anishinaabe community leader, and director of the Winnipeg Boldness Project and host Dr. Abdulrehman, they address the ever popularized concept of vulnerability, but with a realistic twist. They discuss how vulnerability is an asset of privilege, and how non racialized people have the choice to be vulnerable whereas people of color are forced into vulnerability. They discuss how systems abuse that vulnerability and how it’s used to keep people of colour working from a position of scarcity. Diane and Abdulrehman also relate to the experience of colonialism as an indigenous person and an immigrant. Join them in this strikingly honest and brave conversation on the truth of the experience of indigenous and people of colour.

Anishinaabe community leader, and director of the Winnipeg Boldness Project joins host Dr. Abdulrehman in the first of a two part discussion. Amidst the ongoing discovery of mass graves of children at residential schools marking a Canadian genocide against Indigenous People, and politicians suggesting residential schools were “well-meaning”, Diane and Abdulrehman discuss how these graves were long known to indigenous communities and how the minimization of the crimes against humanity is what sparks emotion. They speak about the relatability of colonialism from the perspective of first peoples and immigrants leaving colonized countries to settle yet in another such country. And they begin most importantly by talking about leading with cultural identity, and if the question, “where are you from?” is an insult or an opportunity to demonstrate pride in who we really are.

The 2nd part of a conversation with guest, Shreeraj Patel, Vice President, Royal Bank of Canada. You thought the first part was upfront and raw? This episode Shreeraj and Abdulrehman go deeper and discuss the barriers people of color and people from cultural communities face in the business world and general community - including their own personal challenges. They also discuss the impact the business world can have on inclusion and what practical things businesses can do to improve racism.

Conversation with guest, Shreeraj Patel, Vice President, Royal Bank of Canada. Part 1 of 2. Shreeraj and Abdulrehman discuss the impact of the terrorist attack on the Muslim South Asian family in London Ontario, but also the ongoing more silent hate crimes and racism experienced by communities of colour. They address the urgent need for change, the barriers faced by both racialized and non-racialized people and what it is leaders need to do to prevent hate crimes - be they a slow or tragic sudden death.

Part 2 of a conversation with guest Soo Kim, Executive Director for the Office of Transformation. Soo & Abdulrehman follow through on the discussion of relatability between people of colour, but discuss how we can extend that relatability to all people; racialized or not. Soo describes this as a “Utopia”, but we talk about how getting there is tied to justice, reconciliation and an understanding of the trauma racism (intentional or not) causes.