Vocal About it: Recent Episodes
Sara Hassan & Sarah Diedro
A podcast by @sarahas_san & @sarah_diedro celebrating women of color in Europe and featuring real talks about their lives as two WOC living in Brussels
What happens when women of color face sexual harassment? In this episode we go through the various aspects and impacts of sexual harassment at the intersection of racism and sexism. Perpetrators strategically go for marginalised women for a reason: they most probably won’t be believed even if they gather the courage to speak up, they’ll face backlash from their community if the harasser is from the same race, and they’ll have to carry major emotional load along the way which will make them weaker.
Here are the phenomenal women of color celebrated in this episode: -Marielle Franco, a Brazilian, black, lesbian politician and feminist activist who was assassinated on march 14th 2018. A rising political star from the favela, she was outspoken on police violence in Rio and an unapologetic advocate for black women who are strongly underrepresented in Brazil’s politics. Her assassination that has been unsolved until today, was meant as an intimidation but mobilized more afrobrazilian women than ever to run for congress and regional parliaments. Marielle Franco’s widow Monica Benicio continues her fight till today. Check out the documentary about their lives and fights: Marielle and Monica: The LGBT activists resisting Bolsonaro’s Brazil bit.ly/2v6THAS
-Anousha Nzume, among many other dope things: author of the critically acclaimed book “Hello white people” and host of the podcast “Dipsaus” for and by women of color in the Netherlands. Make sure to pop by her website and go through her inspiring work: bit.ly/2ICEvDc and follow her on Twitter @anoushanzume
-Jay Ann Lopez, creator of UK-based Black Girls Gamers: a platform created as a safe space in 2015, void of the sexism and racism widely experienced by black girls in gaming. Check the website and read more on her story here: bit.ly/2Paqqhy
After a short break, your favorite sisters of color are back to crush some fragile egos: Following popular demand, this episode is about white tears. We are going to touch on the power of crying to get away with racism, how white fragility can destroy friendships, how privileged people use emotional pressure to evade accountability and the importance of getting over yourself
Racist bias within the medical industry can literally kill women of color. Today we're vocal about the different stereotypes-based expectations, discriminations and behaviors that impact us, our sisters and brothers of color from a very young age on a sports field up to an hospital bed during adulthood.
Below are the inspiring Women of color we celebrate in this episode with links to their work: Jelena Jovanović, Rokhaya Diallo, Koko Hubara, Cécile Kashetu Kyenge.
In this episode, we welcome our very first guest, queer activist Seden Anlar, and talk about what it’s like to deal with racism and homophobia at the same time. We touch on the notion of how some people like to get a little taste of our everyday's reality, just to go back to the perceived "normal" afterwards. We discuss what it means when living contrary to multiple social norms and how freeing a coming out can be.
In this episode we talk about the stigma of mental health issues: we’re standing up for vulnerability, we touch on the intersection of race and mental health, deconstruct the stereotype of the strong woman of color, we also open up about how certain people tend to exploit our supposedly "inner sense of listening and problem-solving" and the importance of having strong boundaries.
Women of color and sex: how racism creeps into our beds? In the 4th episode of Vocal About It, we talk about how we unavoidably face fetishization at some point of our dating life, We also touch on why making research and decolonize your approach as a partner to a WOC is highly important.
Today we celebrate these fantastic Women of Color:Elif Kücük and Poliana Baumgarten, French musical duo Ibeyi and Nikita Dhawan.
What it's like to travel and live abroad as a woman of color? Do we enjoy travelling alone? How do we feel about living alone for the first time? In this third episode we discuss our love for travelling, the impact of our skin color on how people abroad perceive us and how much we cherish personal freedom and the coocoon kingdoms we created for ourselves in the heart of European capital.
We celebrate great Women of color today:Beatriz Gomes Dias, Katharina Oguntoye, and Wanuri Kahui.
Hysterical, unreasonable, crazy - women are consistently bashed when they’re vocal about their disagreements and anger. But why can’t women be angry? In this episode we deconstruct the myth of the angry woman, and how the stereotypes are even heavier and more violent on Women Of Color. We also share tips on how do we deal with our anger and how radical self-care has to be in our lives. Here are the women we celebrate in this episode: Cecile Djunga, Reni Eddo Lodge, Sukina Douglas.
In the first episode we talk about the importance of positive representation and how confidence and representation are closely connected. Do you have friends/lovers of color? Pay attention to the section on allyship and the crucial role of active listening. Sisterhood of WOC gives us life and we share how key this is to our survival in sometimes very white surroundings.
A podcast by @sarahas_san & @sarah_diedro celebrating women of color in Europe and featuring real talks about their lives as two WOC living in Brussels.