What is BIPOC? Can I say "trans" without offending people? How many letters are supposed to be in LGBTQIA and what do they all mean?! 

In honor and recognition of Pride Month, Black Lives Matter, social justice, and minority mental health, Ashley and Andrea devote this podcast to highlighting the unique struggles faced by people who identify with multiple marginalized identities and talk about ways we can all be better allies.* 

Learning the language is an important first step if you want to engage in conversations about race, disparities, and justice. Ashley uses the UC Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center Glossary to define several words that keep popping up in the news and which ones are most appropriate to use.  

Andrea shares the Project Implicit website and the quizzes you can take to uncover your hidden biases about race, gender, age, disability, and more. There's also a 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge where you do one action to further your understanding of power, privilege, supremacy, oppression, and equity each day for 21 days. If you love checklists, definitely try Dr. John Raible’s Checklist for Allies Against Racism. Read through the checklist to get a feel for what constitutes ally behavior on the part of anti-racists, and think about how often and how consistently you do any or all of them. 

Other great resources: 

The Angry Black Woman: The Do’s and Don’ts of Being a Good Ally 

The White Ally Toolkit/Ally Conversation Toolkit helps anti-racism allies do their part in the fight against racism by empowering and equipping them with best practice communications skills based on listening, storytelling, and compassion.  

Racial justice educator and writer Debby Irving, on her website, gives us "a small sampling of what the racial justice community has offer." 

Safe Space Radio: Talking to White Kids About Race & Racism. 

MHA and NAMI have all the data you want related to Prevalence of Mental Health Conditions in Specific Populations. 

The Netflix documentary, 13th, reviews the Thirteenth Amendment and analyzes the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom. 

If you want to donate, here's a list of Black Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter LGBTQ charities who need support.  

*Ashley and Andrea 100% recognize their privilege as white women and want to connect people with the experts and tools they need to engage in important conversations.  

Buy the book, There's an Elephant in Your Office, on our website elephantinyouroffice.com or on Amazon. Hire us to train your workforce on incorporating mental health into all kinds of businesses. Find us on social - Instagram @elephantinyouroffice; FB @ASJexplains