Shoot Promos on Race, Class, Gender, Etc

"In his face there came to be a brooding peace that is seen most often in the faces of the very sorrowful or the very wise. But still he wandered through the streets of the town, always silent and alone." - Carson McCullers "Self-actualized people also tend to be independent and resourceful: they are less likely to rely upon external authorities to direct their lives." - Martela & Pessi, 2018 This past week was the first vacation I've taken since I began working in Domestic Violence and my first vacation since April 2018, when I went to New Orleans for WrestleMania 34 with my best friend Lexi at the time. This was long overdue, having long since past the point of burn out from work and the PTSD of being a frontline worker during a pandemic. There was always a reason to delay my break. Colleagues who took their vacations and the struggles to find coverage for those missing shifts. Several colleagues who left the organization to pursue other opportunities, whe...

  "Having grown up so familiar with creating a pleasing facade, I now end up compelled to reveal things inside and say, 'Okay, now you really see me. Do you still love me?' And then it's never enough; it always has to be total self-revelation." - Kathryn Harrison One of my earliest coping mechanisms were to create facades, not because I'm a sociopath who lacks empathy. Quite the opposite; I created facades because I have empathy and inherited the people pleasing trait from my parents. I became whatever version of myself that I felt people wanted, in order for them to feel safe and valued. While I may have used a different toolbox than a sociopath, my facades were still a form of manipulation to get people to like me more.  Why do we create facades? If you're a person of color, woman, LGBTQ+, or non-Protestant, something we're all familiar with is  code switching,  a survival tool we adopt to assimilate in predominantly WASP (White, Anglo-Saxon, Prote...

  "I stepped into the shadows, telling myself not to be afraid. Yet I knew I would either find something worth living for or I would stay dead". - Zachary Kouko For much of my adult life I have been a supporting character in my own story. Working for and under accomplished, powerful women. Working in non-profit, first in multi-cultural education and now in domestic violence. The wingman to female friends who lit up every room they walked into with their beauty, style, grace, and larger than life personalities. I felt comfortable in their shadows, this was their show and it didn't have to be about me.  That's not to say that I've been silent. Often times I was hiding front and center. I was a Managing Director and MC for professional development workshops. I emerged as a Site Administrator at my current job and often serve as a mouthpiece for my boss. I use my platform and intersectional privilege to amplify marginalized voices, whether it's anti-racism, women...