Heal, Grow, Thrive: The Podcast

Dr. Rhonda Bryant talks with Dr. Taquan Stewart about his experience as a principal in South Los Angeles where he re-created his school as a caring institution. He shares many insights about how to focus on the humanity of students, as well as fundamental questions about the role of police in schools.
Biography:
Dr. Taquan Stewart serves as Faculty Advisor for the CalStateTEACH and Los Angeles Urban Teacher Residency (LAUTR) programs at California State University, Los Angeles. In addition, he is Program Director for Project Youth California– a non-profit organization designed to provide additional educational services to underserved youth of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. From 2007 through 2012, Dr. Stewart served as a secondary principal in South Los Angeles. As a teacher educator, Dr. Stewart stresses a humanizing pedagogy.
Resources:
Transforming Practices in Urban Education
Thoughts of a Ghetto Scatterbrain: The EP
Disrupting Dehumanization and Affirming the Humanity of Boys and Young Men of Color and their Villages

Our guest for this episode is Dr. Dana Crawford, a pediatric and clinical psychologist. She is a graduate of Howard, Temple, and Miami universities and has degrees in African-American studies, education, and psychology, and certifications in practical nursing, medical hypnosis, and biofeedback. She is also a Scholar-in-Residence in Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute. Finally, she is the developer of the Crawford Bias Reduction Theory & Training (CBRT) and has provided hundreds of trainings across the US.
In our conversation with Dr. Crawford, she breaks down how we must "move our jaws" to disrupt dehumanization rooted in racism, prejudice, and bias - or the other STD's...Socially Transmitted Diseases and shares some practical, yet transformative approaches for doing so!
Episode Resources:
1. Cornell University's annual conference on DEI keynote “Turning Awareness into Action”
2. Cultural Reflections, Reducing Bias podcast (15 minutes): https://open.spotify.com/show/4HSpcWB2rYcw9yWJxya1dg
3. Short talk I gave with a brilliant colleague on racism, the brain and a call to action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYY4bJjafT4
4. Crawford Bias on News 12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9nBYL23Ak&t=89s
*The views and opinions expressed by our guest do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Forward Promise, The Moriah Group, or its employees.

In this episode, we will have a conversation with Keith Miller regarding the importance of holding space for the LGBTQ+ community. The history, identities, experiences, and needs of LGBTQ+ people are often overlooked when it comes to their intersecting racial identities.
Keith Miller is the Deputy Director at the Deep Center and founder of Healing By Any Means. In his work and art, he explores concepts of masculinity, sexuality, intimacy, and art as a form of resistance, transformation, and healing. In our conversation with him, we unpack why intersectionality matters deeply, the power of representation through his work Pritty: The Animation, and how to honor and respect the narratives of LGBTQ+ people of color.

“Every month is PI Heritage Month for me. Colonization meant the banning and suppression of our cultures, so to claim and study it now feels revolutionary.” – Tavae Samuelu
In this episode with Tavae Samuelu, she shares healing lessons from the Pacific Islander community from historical trauma and toxic stress rooted in the dehumanization of people of color. Although AAPI Heritage Month is celebrated nationally in May, we should uplift Asian and Pacific Islander peoples, cultures, and heritages all year round.

Tavae Samuelu (she/her) is the daughter of a pastor from Leulumoega and a nurse from Saleimoa. As the Executive Director of Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC), she's a passionate advocate for Native Hawaiians & Pacific Islanders and is committed to liberation for all. Tavae was born and raised on Tongva land and credits her time on unceded Ohlone territory for her political identity and consciousness. Before joining EPIC, she served as the Development Director for the RYSE Center in Richmond and has since become a member of RYSE's Board of Directors. Tavae is also the Vice President of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON) and an alumna of the Forward Promise Fellowship for Leaders. The pandemic has taught her that her most important title is Aunty Vae.
Episode Mentions & Resources:

• Dr. Maile Arvin's Possessing Polynesians
• Dr. Jamaica Osorio
• Dr. Joyce Pualani Warren
• Zora's Daughters Podcast

Books
lep Jaltok: Poems From A Marshallese Daughter
Remember We Have Choir Practice
Polynesian Panthers
Samoan Queer Lives
Tales of the Tikongs
Night Is A Sharkskin Drum
From A Native Daughter
Decolonizing Methodologies
Pouliuli
Check out this IG account for more recommendations.
Films
For My Father's Kingdom
A Place in the Middle
Leitis in Waiting
Kapaemahu
The Rogers
Power Meri
Island Soldier
Vai
Check out more at PIC's website.

Forward Promise Co-Director, Dr. Rhonda Bryant talks with Tamieka Mosley and Nathaniel Smith about the issues faced by African Americans in the South during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and this time of heightened racial tension.
Biography:
Tamieka Mosley is Director of Grantmakers for Southern Progress (GSP). GSP seeks to engage Southern-based and national funders on the importance of supporting and achieving equity focused structural change in the South.
Nathaniel Smith is Founder and Chief Equity Officer of the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE). PSE advances policies and institutional actions that promote racial equity and shared prosperity for all in the growth of metropolitan Atlanta and the American South.

Resources:
COVID-19 Community Impact & Response
Grantmakers for Southern Progress
Partnership for Southern Equity
The South Has Something to Say: COVID-19 and our Chance for Transformation
Forward Promise