Courageous Conversations

The ethnic minority tick box question of ‘White, Black, Asian or Other (Please specify)’ on forms used to make me nervous I didn’t want to get it wrong or end up oversharing! I grew up with various step and foster parents who were all white and had no idea who my birth father was – but that wouldn’t fit in the brackets.

Uncomfortable about lying, and not sure ‘brown’ was specific enough, I landed on ‘Caramel Taupe – according to the paint chart in B&Q’ as the perfect mixture of telling the truth and diverting a difficult conversation with humour!

When it comes talking about to race, I’ve been scared I’ll say the wrong thing and offend someone. I had a bagful of questions I was too afraid to ask so kept quiet. After George Floyd’s death, a friend suggested I join in the conversation, which caused a little bit of sick to come up in the back of my throat. I realised that if we all avoid getting it wrong nothing changes, but if we all lean into curiosity and empathy there’s potential for a win. So I decided to be 10% braver.

I recorded this Facebook Live and invited anyone who wanted to have a conversation to reach out. Here are the lovely humans that did.

The One Where Anni & Jaz Chat About How To Push Past The Fear Of Making Mistaks – And What To Do When You Do

The One Where Helen & Jaz Talk About How To Have Difficult Discussions In The NHS 

The One Where Andrew & Jaz Chat About Living In A Place With Little Diversity

The One Where Nicki & Jaz Chat About A Different Way Of Saying ‘I Don’t See Colour’

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