In this episode I chat with my guest, Carmen Watson, about her journey of self-identity. Carmen is Chinese and white and grew up just about all over Canada, in places like British Columbia (BC), Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories. She moved back to British Columbia in 2014, to start university in Vancouver. She holds a BA in History (Honors) and International Relations from the University of British Columbia, with a focus on decolonization (see her recommended reading list below).
It wasn't until she was attending university that she actually accepted that she was a person of color. It really struck her in the second or third year of "uni" that she actually fit in with the themes she was looking at in her classes about decolonization; she could finally put words/themes/social concepts to the feelings she'd had her whole life. She found it to be a benefit that she was living in a city with one of the largest Chinese-Canadian populations, and a part of that includes a large number of people who are mixed, just like her.
She always knew that she didn't quite fit in with the 'white' kids, but I never really saw herself as someone whose experiences were in fact shaped/impacted/driven by the intersections of gender, race and class. You can't miss this episode as Carmen and I discuss this journey!
Check out some of Carmen's reading recommendations if you are interested in decolonization. Both are scholars/writers/artists and really detail the lived experiences of Indigenous women :
Leanne Simpson's Dancing On Our Turtle's Back
Lee Maracle's I am Woman
Don't forget to check out Dr. Gann's new book, Mixed Signals: A Multiracial Window into Civility and Belonging at Workavailable in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook.
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