Our True Colors: Mixed Race Voices and Other Stories of Belonging

Rewriting the Story: Tara Moore on Identity, Healing, and Personal Agency

MESSAGE ME HERE! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/fan_mail/new] Content note: This episode includes strong language and explores childhood abuse, sexual abuse, and the lasting impact of trauma on identity and self worth. In this powerful and layered conversation, Dr. Shawna Gann and co-host, Marcel De Jonghe sit down with Tara Moore, [https://www.taramychelle.com/about] intuitive coach, empath, energy healer, host of the Rooted & Rising podcast [https://www.taramychelle.com/podcast], and founder of Soul’d Spaces [https://www.souldspaces.com/about]. Together, they explore what it means to deconstruct identity, release inherited stories, and rebuild from a place of deeper truth. Tara reflects on growing up mixed race, feeling caught between worlds, and spending years trying to become who others expected her to be before beginning the work of reclaiming her own voice, worth, and sense of self. This episode moves through race, belonging, trauma, motherhood, healing, and the tension between how the world sees us and how we learn to see ourselves. But the conversation does not stop there. In a deeply honest follow up, Shawna and Marcel revisit one of the episode’s central questions: what happens when personal agency meets structural harm? Tara then responds with a vulnerable reflection rooted in her own lived experience of abuse, survival, and the decision to stop cycles of harm in her lineage. What unfolds is not a neat conclusion, but an invitation to stay with complexity, hold multiple truths, and keep asking better questions.  If this episode moves you, share it, subscribe, and send it to someone who values courageous conversations. If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/episodes/17834585] for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ourtruecolors_podcast/]! Interested in being a guest? Head to this link [https://form.jotform.com/241343706571050] to share your story with us! Our True Colors is powered by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website [https://truecultureconsulting.com/] to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic [https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7206421517469892608], for more great content.

Mindful Inquiry and Better Questions with Ashnie Butler

MESSAGE ME HERE! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/fan_mail/new] In this episode of Our True Colors, Dr. Shawna Gann sits down with returning guest Ashnie Butler [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/episodes/11259141] for a rich conversation about identity, belonging, and the power of asking better questions. Together with Marcel De Jonghe, they explore what happens when curiosity crosses the line into assumption, why certain questions about race and ethnicity can feel intrusive, and how mindful inquiry can help us communicate with more care, honesty, and connection. Ashnie shares how her lived experience as an Indian Trinidadian woman has shaped the way she understands identity, marginalization, and the layered realities of fitting in and standing out. Drawing from her work as a certified professional diversity coach and creator of The Art of Mindful Inquiry [https://www.innerworkouterplay.com/], Ashnie offers a grounded framework for slowing down, noticing what is happening in the body, and asking questions from genuine curiosity instead of confirmation bias. This episode speaks directly to anyone navigating racial ambiguity, workplace tension, difficult conversations, or the everyday challenge of building authentic relationships across difference. One of the biggest takeaways is this: questions can either open a door or slam one shut. Mindful inquiry invites us to pause long enough to choose connection. If this conversation resonated with you, subscribe, leave a rating or review, and share this episode with someone who cares about identity, communication, and building deeper human connection. If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/episodes/17834585] for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ourtruecolors_podcast/]! Interested in being a guest? Head to this link [https://form.jotform.com/241343706571050] to share your story with us! Our True Colors is powered by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website [https://truecultureconsulting.com/] to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic [https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7206421517469892608], for more great content.

SPECIAL EPISODE: Fire, Healing, and CMRSA: 2026 Critical Mixed Race Studies Association Conference in UCLA

MESSAGE ME HERE! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/fan_mail/new] Dr. Shawna Gann travels from Washington, DC to UCLA for the 2026 Critical Mixed Race Studies Association (CMRSA) Conference, themed Critical Healing. Before the first keynote, a grounding experience at the Fowler Museum’s Fire and Kinship exhibit reframes the weekend through an unexpected through line: fire as renewal, not destruction. Across two workshops (Resonant Voices and Fault Lines and Bridges) and hallway conversations with scholars, artists, organizers, and first-time attendees, Shawna explores how mixed race experiences illuminate both personal inheritance and institutional architecture. From stories of ancestry, assimilation, and microaggressions to insights on systems, belonging, and community as oxygen, this episode asks what it means to heal without denying heat, and to steward the burn instead of fearing it. In This Episode • Traveling to UCLA for CMRSA 2026 (Critical Healing) • Jackie Robinson’s legacy at UCLA and the pressure of integration • Fowler Museum: Fire and Kinship as a frame for healing and renewal • Resonant Voices: four interviews on lineage, identity, and lived experience • Fault Lines and Bridges: a World Café on conditional belonging and structural shifts • “Healing within inherited systems of power” and the turn toward institutions • Hallway energy: why CMRSA feels different, and why community matters • Closing reflections from LAX: carrying the fire without burning down Featured Voices (as heard in this episode) • Hedy Tripp (Resonant Voices) • Galia Recinos (Resonant Voices) • Jessica LeCap (Resonant Voices) • Alicia del Prado [https://www.drdelprado.com/] (Resonant Voices) • Steve Castro (session excerpt) • Aeriel Ashlee (session excerpt) • Dakota Duffy [https://alumni.ucla.edu/alumni-networks/mixed-alumni-association/] (Mixed Alumni Association at UCLA) • Chandra Waring • Deja Goodwin • Wendy Ashley [https://a.co/d/04u2jlPe]and Nolan Krueger • Jordan Adams • Joy DuVivre Organizations and Places Mentioned • Critical Mixed Race Studies Association (CMRSA) [https://criticalmixedracestudies.com/] • Fowler Museum at UCLA [https://fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/fire-kinship/] • Multiracial Americans of Southern California (MASC) [https://multiracialamericans.org/] • Resonant Voices &  Fault Lines and Bridges (True Culture Coaching & Consulting) [https://www.truecultureconsulting.com/] If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/episodes/17834585] for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ourtruecolors_podcast/]! Interested in being a guest? Head to this link [https://form.jotform.com/241343706571050] to share your story with us! Our True Colors is powered by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website [https://truecultureconsulting.com/] to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic [https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7206421517469892608], for more great content.

From Luanda Angola to Los Angeles: Joy DuVivre on Mixedness Across Borders

MESSAGE ME HERE! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/fan_mail/new] What would people assume about you if they could only hear your voice? In this expansive and thought provoking episode, Dr. Shawna Gann and Marcel sit down with global cultural commentator Joy DuVivre to explore identity across borders, histories and lived experience. Born in Romania to a Romanian Romani mother and an Angolan father, and raised primarily in Angola, Joy brings a deeply layered perspective shaped by colonial history, colorism, migration and disability. From the legacy of Romani enslavement in Europe to the impact of colonial borders in Africa, this conversation moves across continents while staying grounded in one powerful truth: identity is fluid, contextual and constantly evolving. Joy shares reflections on colorism using the framework coined by Alice Walker, the historical reality of Romani persecution including during the Holocaust, the parallels between Romani experiences in Europe and Black experiences in the United States, and what it means to become disabled after building a career rooted in physical expression. She also introduces her playful yet powerful identity markers like "West Coastian" and "Sunsetter", reminding us that belonging can be self-defined. In this episode, we explore: • How perception and voice shape racial assumptions • The global roots of colorism and colonial hierarchy • Romani history, enslavement and ongoing discrimination • Afro Romani communities in the American South • Assimilation, survival and generational silence • Disability as identity • Why mixedness is not a box but a lived experience Joy mentions her excitement about attending the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association Conference [https://criticalmixedracestudies.com/conferences/cmrs2026-conference-logistics/] taking place February 19 through 21 at UCLA in Los Angeles. Click here to learn more about the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association [https://criticalmixedracestudies.com/]. Consider becoming a member! If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/episodes/17834585] for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ourtruecolors_podcast/]! Interested in being a guest? Head to this link [https://form.jotform.com/241343706571050] to share your story with us! Our True Colors is powered by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website [https://truecultureconsulting.com/] to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic [https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7206421517469892608], for more great content.

SPECIAL EPISODE: “Wait, Is This Really Happening?” A Candid Check In From Inside the Moment

MESSAGE ME HERE! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/fan_mail/new] No guest today, no polished lesson, no neat ending. Just Dr. Shawna Gann and Rachel, one of last year’s co-hosts, sitting down for an unfiltered, unscripted conversation about what it feels like to be alive in this moment. They jump from media to power, faith to language, survival to community, and the constant mental whiplash of trying to stay grounded while everything feels loud. The through line is voice, not the perfect kind, but the kind that helps you name what you’re noticing, process out loud, and remember you are not the only one holding this tension in your body. Together they talk about how we got here, how information gets curated, how language gets manipulated, and why proximity to wealth and authority has never been proof of intelligence or morality. They reflect on growing up in church, the ways religion and politics get tangled, and how systems shape what we believe about gender, race, and who is seen as human. It’s funny in places, heavy in others, and above all honest. A reminder to protect your voice, protect your energy, stay connected, and stay engaged where it counts, especially locally. Content note: adult language and discussion of politics and current events. This is not a news report or definitive analysis, it’s two people thinking out loud in real time. If this is your first time with OTC, check out  EPISODE 1: START HERE [https://www.buzzsprout.com/680750/episodes/17834585] for more background on the show. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ourtruecolors_podcast/]! Interested in being a guest? Head to this link [https://form.jotform.com/241343706571050] to share your story with us! Our True Colors is powered by True Culture Coaching & Consulting. Head to our website [https://truecultureconsulting.com/] to find out how True Culture Coaching and Consulting can support you and your organization, and subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter, The Culture Clinic [https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7206421517469892608], for more great content.