Season 2: Welcome Back

Transcript

Speaker: 0:00

Welcome to If I'm Honest and welcome to season two of the podcast. Since the last time we were together, it's been a long time. I think it's been a whole 10 months, almost a year. And I've missed you. A lot has happened in my own life and life just be lifin sometimes. But I'm back and I'm hoping that we can again start to have the kinds of conversation that we were having before. for conversation that inspire us, that help us to grow, that challenge us, and help us to rethink how we provide equitable access to our deaf consumers, but also provide good support to our teams. I have missed you. And today I'd like to take the opportunity to give a big shout out and the thank you for everyone who supported the podcast last season. And that means if you shared, if you commented, if you liked, if you engaged, if you ask questions, if you DM'd me, if you donated money or your time, if you came on the podcast, Thank you. I could not be here without you, and I'm here because of you. So I hope we can continue making magic together. As we reacquaint ourselves with the podcast, I think it's important to remind ourselves that this is a podcast about anti oppression in the larger context of the interpreting profession. And basically what that means is that we are doing the work to unpack our internalized racism sexism homophobia Autism, ableism, fill in the blank, right? We are doing that so one, we can be better interpreters for our clients, but also better teams to our colleagues. And so some of the things that we talked about last season is whether or not you should interpret the N word as a non black person. And I'm still saying no, don't do it. Nope. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. But we also talked about fighting for your racism. We talked about professional dress. We've talked about the interpreter archetype and this kind of standard expectation of what an interpreter is and looks like, right? Conceptually, we talked about recovery. We talked about performativity and we talked about how to provide equitable fair and safe access to our clients. And those are conversations I want to keep having. I think they're really important conversations and I think they're like an onion, right? And layers have to be pulled back before we get to the heart of the matter. And I get that we have people who are at varying degrees and levels in their anti oppression journey. And guess what? I'm right along with you. I am doing this work with you. Because I am not above being an oppressor. And that's just real. And so I hope that we can keep having this conversation and that you're willing to have this conversation. So that's what we talked about last season. Now this season, I sent out a poll a few weeks ago and I asked you guys what you wanted to talk about. I got 43 responses. Crazy, right? And some of the things that you said you want to talk about categorically include things like teaming and power, privilege, and oppression. Things like ethics, cultural considerations, authenticity. How we show up, how we build authentic relationships racism, right? There were lots of things that you listed that you wanted to talk about that I felt like I could adequately categorize, but there were things that you listed that I don't know how to talk about. Like the similarities or differences between spoken language interpreters and ASL interpreters, right? Or. How we support trilingual interpreters, or maybe something like, the lack of standardization with CART and sign language interpreters. Like there were so many things that you listed that I think are probably fantastic conversations, but guess what? I cannot have them alone. What's real and honest is I have expertise. Sure. But it's still limited to keisha, right? Like I'm still limited to the realms that I work in and the places that I live. I have no idea what it's like to work and live in a small town, right? I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, right? But now I live in the DMV, which is a huge metropolitan area. And it has lots and lots of interpreters and a huge deaf community. That's a very different experience than working in a rural area. And while that is something that I think is very important to talk about the differences and also how you meet the needs and you show up in those spaces, I literally cannot do it. I need you to do it. And so I am hoping that you will willingly come to the conversation physically, right? Come on the show. And I think what's important that you know, is that. Most of the people, aside from Sherrette, right, who came on the show last season asked to be on the show. They said, I have something to bring to the table. And so I invite you to bring your voice. I invite you to refer your friends. I invite you to be a part of this conversation actively so that we can at least engage the thought of how to do this well. Because the reality is I'm a good interpreter. I'm good, but I could be better. And there are places and spaces that I am limited in my expertise and I could really use the lesson to be taught to me. And I can do that with you. So I'm hoping that you will willingly come to this conversation, take on a brave space and be able to say, The hard thing, say the thing, cause this is what we do in this space. All right. So I'm looking forward to hearing from you, right? I'm looking forward to you to feel my DM saying I'll be on the show. And this is what I want to talk about already. I have done three interviews. I, we have a show coming up that is going to be about pre conferencing and I'm having that with Sandra Roelke. I'm also having a conversation with Rodney. I think everybody knows Rodney and he and I haven't decided what we're going to talk about just yet, but he's coming on the show and that's something that I think people can look forward to and I'm also wanting to engage Gen Z a bit more. We are a different generation. I am a millennial. I am a Xenial. Right. Like I am even closer to Gen X than I am millennials but I'm smack dab in the middle. And what that means is we have a generational divide and a disconnect. And whereas I, as an older interpreter, my God, I know, I know, I know. But it means that I have to take on the role of mentor and be a kind of leader in this field that I still feel very young and like I can learn in. And so these are conversations that, that I have coming up, but I need more. I need you. So if you have been in my DMS, at least Twice. How about five times? Then I can't wait for you to be in my DM saying I'll be on the show. I'll talk to you about this thing. Even a thing that you might not be an expert in. I'll talk to you about it and I'll get engaged. Honestly, I'll let you challenge me. I'll push back. I'll disagree with you. Let's have an honest conversation. All right. All right. So let's set some boundaries and expectations for this season of the podcast and for our conversations moving forward. I am not your guru. I am not interested in some version of keisha said floating around. So I have intentionally avoided prescriptive measures or providing a series of options that could apply because inevitably one size does not fit all. And I mean of the options, right? And so what I don't want you to do is to see a situation. And go into that situation and check the boxes and say, Oh, I've done this, especially when none of those options may apply. So I need you to be critical thinkers. Even the conversation about the N word, which I mentioned earlier, has nuance, right? Like there are moments and times where a non Black person should say the word. I cannot tell you that, but what I'm saying is that most times it is, it should not, don't do it. Right. But that conversation has nuance. And if you're looking for the details of the nuance, please check back in last season. This is an important conversation because I do want to problem solve, right? I want to identify a problem. And then I want us to be able to find the solution that allows us to provide equitable access, but also good support for our teams. And we can't do that if we're trying to operate in this kind of prescriptivity. Uh, and the space of just checking boxes, it is disingenuous and inauthentic and it can be harmful. The second thing I want to say is I am not interested in this podcast being your place of Rosetta Stone. Okay, so what what we know now is that being a social justice warrior who was anti oppressionist Is in right and what people are doing is Is acquiring the language of social justice and they're becoming quite fluent. And I don't want this to be the space that you become fluent in the conversation of social justice, that you virtue signal that you are a better, um, performer in the realm of social justice when social justice and being an anti oppressor is a process. It is. a way of being and doing and living. It is who you are when nobody's there, no one's looking and the lights are out, right? Like who are you in the dark? That's what I'm interested in is, is inspiring people to take the conversations that we have, figure out how they apply to their own lives and make the change In themselves, right? Like I carry that responsibility myself. It's what I'm doing. It's why I invite challenge. It's why I'm okay with being pushed back. It's why I even do the work to read the books, to watch the shows, to engage the content. That's going to help me change my way of thinking so that when I show up in a space, I'm living it. I'm not just talking about it. Now I bring that up because some comments that were sent in about things that we should talk about the season include how we use language that we think hides our racism. And like, that's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. I don't want to be your Rosetta Stone, but people also talked about how do we build authentic relationships, and how do we show up authentically? Someone also said, what does it mean to be an anti racist? What does that actually look like as an individual or community? And I just don't think I can tell you what that is. I think there's People are looking for concrete answers, right? And I feel like if I give you consistently a do this, don't do that, then I become prescriptive. And then I slide into this guru space. Whereas if I give you the tools and the conversation to help you think about things and think about how it might impact the conversations, how you Or I might impact the space that I think we can make better decisions and have better conversations that allow us to be more authentic, not some kind of rule following robot. Right? I don't want to create that kind of environment for us. And so I can't tell you how to build authentic relationships. Like you surely have authentic relationships. And if you don't, I don't think this is the place for that. Right? Now having said all of that, I'm really looking forward to this season and what the conversations that you want to be involved with and that you want to have in this space have to offer. I think this is a great space for us to grow and challenge one another and talk about, you know, The issues that really matter but also the work itself. It's a really fun field for me I really like my job as an interpreter and I enjoy having these conversations with you And so I hope that you will join me I also want to say I don't know what the hell I'm doing here, right? Like I start this podcast kind of from scratch without seeing it modeled or an example I don't know what the hell I'm doing and I want to say this because I think it's really important There are people who want They are deaf friends and family members to have access to this podcast and I can't do more work. It's just, I can't, I can't do more work. I cannot edit the video, the audio, do the transcription, film the content, arrange the interviews and interpret it. It's just not something that's possible. But I bring that up because one of the people that I interviewed this season said they want their people to have access to this, and I, they're gonna interpret the episode themselves. And sheesh, it's an hour long, right? And so this is what I want to say, because there are people who want their people to have access. I also want deaf people to have access, which is why I make sure to provide a transcript and I provide captioning on the videos. But if you want to take on a more active role and that active role looks like interpreting the episodes, Please go forth and be great. I don't want you to be concerned that as a white person in a white body, how you have these conversations. I think what's important is that we provide the access, and I don't think it's appropriate to ask black and brown people to do the labor. And so I want to give you permission and encouragement that if this is something that you've thought about, just interpreting the episodes or maybe summarizing or something, please go forth and be great. I can't wait to see what the season has to offer. See you

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soon.