Race, Health & Happiness

Bamby Salcedo is known all over the world for her activism as the President and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition. In her conversation with Dr. O she talks about the courageous journey she took to live her life authentically and the risks and costs of living out this truth. As a transgender woman who was also an immigrant from Mexico in Los Angeles, she shares about the layered intersections of her experience that helped to develop her into the strong person she is today. The resilience and grit she cultivated over the course of her life helps her in her activism as she runs an organization dedicated to supporting people through the challenges of living while trans. Listen to this fascinating conversation for an inspiring story of following your calling. Access our Shownotes to uncover additional meaning! (http://bit.ly/3Mi9Vj7) Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

Dr. O’s guest for this episode is Dr. Lulu, aka “The Momatrician”. She is a Nigerian-born, board-certified pediatrician, a former lieutenant colonel and commander in the US Air Force, mother of three children, author of “How to Teach Your Children About Racism” and a two-time TEDx speaker. In this episode Dr. Lulu shares her story of coming of age in Nigeria, and talks about the mistakes that many parents make when they find themselves at a crossroads in their children’s lives, dealing with. childhood trauma, LGBTQ+ acceptance and youth suicide prevention. An engaging and passionate guest, Dr. Lulu inspires us to examine the way we look at parenting. - Dr. O Access our Shownotes to uncover additional meaning! (http://bit.ly/3Mi9Vj7) Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

On Part 3 of RHH on Campus, Xavier Oshinowo interviews Senior Advisor, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (EDI) Initiatives in the Faculty of Health Sciences , author of a new book, Can You Hear Me Now? How I Found My Voice and Learned to Live with Passion and Purpose and member of the Black Scientist task force- Celina Caesar-Chavannes- about the impact of Covid 19 on Black Communities. Access our Shownotes to uncover additional meaning! Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

On Part 2. of RHH on Campus, Xavier Oshinowo interviews Head of the Division of Infectious Disease at the Hospital for Sick Children, Professor of Paediatrics at U of T and member of the Black Scientist task force- Dr. Upton Allen- about the impact of Covid 19 on Black Communities. Access our Shownotes to uncover additional meaning! Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

On Part 1. of RHH on Campus, Xavier Oshinowo interviews Naturopathic doctor and member of the Black Scientist task force-Dr. Candice Todd. During this episode Xavier and Dr. Todd discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Black Communities. Access our Shownotes to uncover additional meaning! Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

This is the first episode of “RHH On Campus”, where we pass the mic to Black students!!! In this episode Xavier Oshinowo, who is a Media Production student at Toronto Metropolitan University, interviews his peers. The conversations highlight four students’ transitions from online to in-person schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

Season 4 of RHH is going to be an international journey, and we we start it off in the USA with our amazing sister, Elizabeth Leiba! She is a multimedia journalist of Jamaican descent living and working in Florida, where she has hosted numerous podcasts including “Black Power Moves” on the Ebony Podcast Network. Leiba is also a professor who has spent more than a decade working in higher education, teaching advocacy at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is the Director of Instructional Design and Innovation at City College in Hollywood, Florida, and the founder and course developer for The Black History and Culture Academy, an informative, engaging and immersive online Black history program. And Leiba is the author of a magnificent book about “surthrival” entitled “I'm Not Yelling: A Black Woman's Guide to Navigating the Workplace”. And as if all that were not enough, in 2020, she was recognized by the networking website LinkedIn as a “Top Voice in Education”. In this episode Elizabeth talks with me about her experience “Shopping While Black”, her unnerving experience with the police, what she learned about the legal system, and of course she shares with us her stories of overcoming and resilience. - Dr. O Access our Shownotes to uncover additional meaning! (http://bit.ly/41gCYsw) Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

"I am a HUGE fan of centering Black Joy during the holidays! As an antidote to the materialism, colonial social structures, and more recently the pandemic-related isolation, I think it’s important to celebrate with friends and loved ones, good food, and good music, all grounded in our rich cultural traditions. In this special episode of the “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast I sit down with my Senior Producer Dr. Karl Kabasele to share memories of holidays past, and to discuss how we can all find joy, connection, and rejuvenation during this festive season. However you celebrate, whether you embrace a religious or cultural tradition or not, there is room for everyone around our RHH holiday table! At the end of the show we also take a look at the future of RHH and our plans to expand the role of our BIPOC journalism and production students as we prepare to launch Season 4 in February of 2023. On behalf of the whole RHH Family, here’s wishing you Health & Happiness now and into the New Year!” - Dr. O Access our shownotes to uncover additional meaning! (https://tinyurl.com/rhhtdnakio) Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

On this episode I speak with Dalton Higgins, an African-Canadian self-proclaimed multi-hyphenate. He is a PR strategist and publicist, author of six books, festival producer and National Magazine Award winning journalist. Dalton teaches a course called 'Deconstructing Drake, and The Weeknd' as a part of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Professional Music BFA program. Dalton is also the author of the definitive biography of rap icon Drake entitled, 'Far From Over: The Music and Life of Drake', which is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum collection in the U.S. Dalton has been a script writer for the Juno Awards ceremony for Canadian music, and a former member of the Racial Equity Advisory Committee for The Canada Council for the Arts. Additionally, Dalton is the host of one of my personal favourite podcasts, ‘Black Tea’, which was created for and by Black Canadians, where they dig into Black culture, news and sports. In this episode of RHH we discuss topics like Black entrepreneurship, tokenism, challenging the status quo as minorities, and the incredible healing powers of music. - Dr. O Access our shownotes to uncover additional meaning! (https://tinyurl.com/rhhtdnakio) Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

DESCRIPTION: My guest for this episode is Naki Osutei, a Ghanian-born Canadian woman, and the Vice President of Strategy, Colleague Experience and Environmental Social Governance at the multinational bank and financial services corporation, TD Canada Trust. Naki has helped to develop the “TD Ready Commitment”, TD’s global citizenship platforms that assist in providing grants to community-based organizations. Additionally, she co-chairs the Black Employee Network and she is a member of the Black Executive Steering Committee at TD. Naki is also the founder of Next Level Presence, a boutique coaching consultancy, which produces the podcast “Presence by Naki O”. And she was appointed Executive in Residence at Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto in 2021. In this episode we have an open, honest and sometimes painful conversation on a range of topics including overcoming racial isolation, stereotyping, “respectability politics”, assimilation, and redefining “diplomacy”. And through it all Naki inspires us even as she shares her pain, and she maintains her sense of humour — we shared some good laughs! Naki truly has a compelling story of overcoming and “sur-thriving”, despite the challenges. - Dr. O Access our shownotes to uncover additional meaning! (https://tinyurl.com/rhhtdnakio) Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

“My guest for this episode is Karyn Pugliese, who is a Canadian broadcast journalist and communication specialist of Algonquin and Italian descent. Karen is the current Executive Director of the publication “Canada's National Observer”. Previously, she was the managing editor of investigations at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and the executive director of news and current affairs at the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). She received the 2022 National Newspaper Award in the “Columns” category for three powerful pieces written after the discovery of unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian residential school. We talk about speaking truth to power, the trauma of residential schools, writing with love and Black & Indigenous solidarity.” - Dr. O Access our shownotes to uncover additional meaning! (https://bit.ly/3rbsmu3) Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

“For this episode of the RHH podcast, we are bringing you a throwback, and it’s the very popular episode from Season 2 featuring Kike Ojo-Thompson. The reason we are doing this encore presentation is because we know that so many of you are heading back to the workplace or back into the classroom, and what she has is the ultimate advice on knowing how to succeed and understanding the game board you’re playing on, especially as a Black person. And so we are bringing it back, this gem of an episode with my girl Kike! Kike's mission is to transform institutions and work cultures into more equitable spaces. Our conversation explores the tensions and intersections of Black identity within Black communities. Then we delve into the double discrimination faced by Black women called “Misogynoir”, and finally tips for staying healthy and raising resilient Black children. I love this conversation. I hope you do too.” - Dr. O Access our shownotes to uncover additional meaning! (bit.ly/rhhs2e1) Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of Toronto Metropolitan University.]

In this special episode of Race, Health & Happiness, we are profiling one of our star interns, Jael Joseph. And as a super special treat I’ve also got our senior producer Dr. Karl on the mic, since he plays an important role supervising and working with our students. So… as y’all know, our podcast team is comprised of Black and BIPOC volunteer students and paid interns. Our distinguished guest Jael was our first intern, and she did such a wonderful job that a year later she was promoted to Associate Producer! She is so talented and a bright light on our team so we decided y’all should meet her! Jael is a media producer, emcee and influencer born in Dominica. Even before becoming a student at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson) she had over 10 years of experience in radio as an on-air personality and program coordinator. She is the first Black woman to be the recipient of the Faulhaber Communications Award for women aspiring to be a senior leader in communications. AND She is just wrapping up her master’s degree in Media Production. During our conversation we talk about Jael’s experience as an intern on RHH, the challenges she faced as a Black female immigrant student in North America, and the importance of knowing your worth and demanding that it be respected! - Dr. O View our ShowNotes for more information - https://bit.ly/3Bl3iXZ Please support us on Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of United Way Greater Toronto, and the help of Toronto Metropolitan University, the school formerly known as Ryerson]

This is the second of a two-part series. See S03E04 for Part 1, entitled “Protecting Ourselves” In this episode, we will continue what we started in Episode 4, where I interviewed EDI leader Nouman Ashraf, and we focused on protective factors that can shield us from some of the harms of systemic racism. In that episode we reflected on Nouman’s own journey and how factors like self-love, cultural pride, cultural fluency were protective for him, and I talked about the importance of taking a mindful moment when you are triggered. This episode is about the power of the community organizations that create “protective spaces” for us. I think we don’t always realize the power and protection we get in groups - there is a reason for the saying ‘united we stand’ – it’s just harder to knock us down when we are a collective. As two case examples of this, I spoke to the leaders of the NIA Center for the Arts in Toronto and Roots Community Services in the Greater Toronto Area. Both of these centers provide 4 protective factors that I want to highlight: 1) they provide a sense of belonging, 2) foster a sense of joy, 3) empower their members and 4) cultivate collective self-determination. All are antidotes to the poison of systemic racism and other structural forms of discrimination. I’m going to guide you through the journeys of their organizations, the challenges, the programs they offer and the success stories from these protective spaces. - Dr. O View our ShowNotes for more information - https://bit.ly/3y3TNsN Please support us on Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of United Way Greater Toronto, and the help of Toronto Metropolitan University, the school formerly known as Ryerson]

In this episode, Dr. O speaks with Nouman Ashraf, Assistant Professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. As a leader in the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion space he has spent a lot of his time thinking and teaching about how leadership can be a tool to promote social equity. In this wide-ranging conversation, Nouman discusses what growing up in multiple parts of the world taught him about navigating multi-cultural spaces. He explains how his understanding of diversity has been a protective factor in his life, particularly against systemic racism. And then Dr. O digs a little deeper into how we can all curate these protective factors in our own lives. Dr. O was so deeply affected by this conversation that she was inspired to include a Mindful Moment in this episode, where she shares some of her own experiences as a Black woman trying to deal with the “misogynoir” that she has to face every day. This is the first of a two-part series. In the upcoming Episode 5, Dr. O brings on community leaders who will talk about how we protect ourselves as a community from the harms of racism. View our ShowNotes for more information - https://bit.ly/3PBCuaN Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of United Way Greater Toronto, and the help of “University X”, the school formerly known as Ryerson]

In this episode Dr. O speaks with anti-poverty activist Paul Taylor. He is the Executive Director of FoodShare Toronto, an organization that focuses on the connections between food, social justice and community engagement. Paul opens up about his experience with poverty and how it was critical in his journey. He talks about his mother’s love and resilience that inspired him to do purposeful work in challenging racial settings. Paul and Dr. O analyze institutional discrimination and inequalities in the key determinants of health, education, income, and housing. Paul also talks about how Black and white populations in Canada differ in their vulnerability to household food insecurity. This episodes includes a lesson on the goals and benefits of racial caucusing, and how it creates spaces and inclusivity for people of color (PoC). View our ShowNotes for more information - https://bit.ly/3OhweEe Please support us on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/RaceHealthHappy [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of United Way Greater Toronto, and the help of “University X”, the school formerly known as Ryerson]

In this episode I speak with Camille Dundas, the Editor-in-Chief of Canada's largest Black online magazine ByBlacks.com and a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant specializing in anti-racism education. We had an incisive conversation where Camille talks about centering herself in her identity after years of running away from it. She opens up about a traumatizing racist incident that happened to her in broad daylight in Ottawa. She also discusses anti-Black racism in media, and how going to school in the Caribbean taught her about excellence and expecting more from herself. Real talk: Before we spoke I was a little nervous to be interviewing Camille because she is a GIANT in journalism! But I just took a deep calming breath and then we dug deep into racism in media, the plight of “diversity hires” and even touched on our experiences with wearing weaves!!! Yasss! This episode of the “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is pure fiya 🔥🔥🔥, check it out! - Dr. O ShowNotes Patreon [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of United Way Greater Toronto, and the help of “University X”, the school formerly known as Ryerson]

In the Season 3 premiere of the “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast, Dr. O is in conversation with Trey Anthony, the award-winning writer, television star, motivational speaker and mentor. In their discussion, Trey opens up about her journey with depression and how she maintains her mental health. She talks about her success in the entertainment business, and why this left her with deep feelings of guilt. She shares how she learned to stop trying to do everything herself and how working with her team helps her to prioritize self-care and wellness. And she speaks about walking in her purpose and how we can all do the same! [The “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast is produced with the support of United Way Greater Toronto] View our ShowNotes for more information. [https://bit.ly/3DkKfeu]

In this special episode of “Race, Health & Happiness” we are talking about — FOOD! To complete the menu I’ve got two guests. First I speak with registered dietitian Tameika Shaw, who tells us about how she works with members of communities that are experiencing oppression, and helps them find ways to eat healthy authentic food, with a joyful spirit! After that I speak with graduate student Gurneet Dhami, who tells us about the creative resistance that is happening in the field of dietetics. Both of my guests are thriving in a field that has a history of both excluding BIPOC people, and reinforcing the racist notion that European food is somehow healthier or superior to other foods. Despite this, these two women of color are making magic in the margins, and how sweet it is! We even recorded part of this episode in Tameika’s kitchen! You may need to get a snack as you listen to this one … Bon appetit! - Dr. O View our ShowNotes for more information. [https://bit.ly/3DkKfeu]

The last time we featured Celina Caesar-Chavannes on the “Race, Health & Happiness” podcast was way back in 2019, when we were preparing to launch the first season of the show. At the time Celina was an elected Member of Canadian Parliament, and she was fierce and outspoken about who she was, and the issues that she cared about. From the outside, it would have seemed that she was on top of the world. But that just wasn’t the case, the truth was much more nuanced, and even ugly, as you will hear in this episode. Being in the political sphere broke Celina down, and she eventually decided to leave politics and rebuild her spirit. Celina went on to write a book about her experiences, (https://www.celinacc.ca/book/) after reading it I wondered, how is Celina doing today? How does she reconcile all that has happened in the past couple of years? So I decided to give Celina a call, and the first part of this episode is that conversation. The second part of this special episode is a "Race, Health & Happiness" throwback! It's my original interview with Celina from October 2019, after she had left the Canadian liberal party. We decided to bring back this gem after yet another Black woman, Annamie Paul resigned as the leader of the Green Party this year. A troubling but empowering pattern of Black women saying enough is enough. There is healing and wisdom in that so we’re bringing it back! - Dr. O View our ShowNotes for more information. [https://bit.ly/3DkKfeu]