83: Beyond Fragility: An Anti-Racism Guide by Women of Color Psychologists with Dr. Natalie Watson-Singleton and Dr. Yara Mekawi

Struggle Care

This episode is powerful. I’m honored to have two of the three authors of the book, Beyond Fragility with me today. Dr. Natalie Watson-Singleton and Dr. Yara Mekawi, along with Danielle Dawson, have written truly the best anti-racism resource I’ve ever encountered. As a white person and a clinician, it is powerful to hear this perspective of what we need to do psychologically to get to a place of anti-racism. Drs. Natalie and Yara are researchers, educators, writers, and the co-founders of DEAR, the Dialectical Engagement and Anti-Racism Project. Join us to learn more about this timely and important topic!

Show Highlights:

● The origins of DEAR and Beyond Fragility as an outgrowth of Yara’s Medium article, How to not be a “Karen”: Managing the tensions of anti-racism allyship

● The differences between DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) and traditional talk therapy

● Systemic racism, emotions, and “whiteness”

● The goal of Beyond Fragility: to teach hard truths and skills that are necessary for a society that isn’t harmful to people of color

● The DBT skill of effectiveness as a decision-guiding principle

● A perspective on furthering anti-racism instead of placing blame

● Barriers to anti-racism work

● Anti-racism skills covered in the book, like accept, feel, detect, etc.

● “Fight or flight” responses–and how they show up in anti-racism

● Anti-racist repair and apologies

● Skills to use in calling out racist missteps: (CALL) clarify what happened, acknowledge intentions, lay out the reasons, and list possible solutions; (OUT) observing, using humility, and tolerating resistance

● The DEI calculator–and how to use it to ask for other perspectives

● An example of anti-racism tools and skills in action with racial marginalization

Resources and Links:

Connect with Dr. Natalie, Dr. Yara, and The DEAR Project: Website, Instagram,

and Facebook, LinkedIn

Beyond Fragility: A Skills-Based Guide to Effective Anti-Racist Allyship by Dr. Natalie Watson-Singleton, Dr. Yara Mekawi, and Danielle Dawson

Also mentioned in this episode: White Fragility by Dr. Robin DiAngelo

Connect with KC: Website, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook

Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning

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