Your BIPOC Writing Coach

On episode 66 of the podcast we’re going to talk about witches. Why? Because there is a growing number of women who are practicing witchcraft in the United States.  And because this is America, there is a racial divide in this increasingly popular witching community. Apparently, Black witches and white witches just can’t get along. Cries of cultural appropriation, questions of who gets to call the...

On episode 65 of the podcast, I’m joined by children’s book author, educator, and activist Joanna Ho. Joanna is the New York Times bestselling author of Eyes that Kiss in the Corners , a beautiful picture book that tells the story of a little Asian girl who learns to love and appreciate the shape of her eyes.    Joanna holds a BA in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s fr...

On episode 64 of the podcast, I’m introducing a new segment called Writing Wisdom with Lori. On these mini-episodes, I’ll be sharing actionable inspiration for writers, aspiring writers and creative folks looking to put pen to paper. I want to give you a jolt of what you need to live your best literary life. Think tips, hacks and mindset motivation to get you going, or keep you going on your writi...

On episode 63 of the podcast, I’m joined by award-winning author, Jennifer Steil, to talk about her brilliant new novel, Exile Music. Exile Music tells the remarkable story of an Austrian Jewish family who has to flee Nazi occupied Vienna during WWII, and then finds themselves living as refugees in La Paz, Bolivia. Jennifer stumbled upon this fascinating and mostly unknown piece of history – Europ...

On episode 62 of the podcast we’re rewinding to listen to debut author and actress,Tembi Locke, talk about writing her brilliant memoir about love and loss, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home . In our conversation, Tembi and I talk about the reasons she decided to write this searing love story about life before and after her Italian husband’s death from cancer; her writing pro...

On episode 61 of the show, we’re talking about Blackness, Identity Politics and self-publishing as a form of activism with Dr. Yaba Blay, author of the just released book, One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race.  Dr. Blay’s book, One Drop is a gorgeous coffee table book filled with beautiful full-color portraits of people who identify as Black.  The people are divided in groups: Mixed Black, American...

On episode 60 of the podcast, we’re digging into the Meltingpot vault and replaying an episode that was inspired by the book, White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing (Skyhorse) by Gail Lukasik. The book is all about racial passing and family secrets in Gail’s family. I’m joined on the show by Gail Lukasik and Philadelphia journalist, Shannon Wink. Like Gail, Shannon was raised...

On episode 59 of the podcast, we’re having a birthday party for a very special book. And that book is, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America . Hair Story is the first book that I ever wrote, with my good friend, the journalist and author, Ayana Byrd. Hair Story covers the history, politics, business and culture of Black hair from 15th century Africa to modern-day America. And t...

Welcome to 2021. It's a new year and I'm ready for something different. Not just for this world and the United States, but for this podcast. So, I'm making a change. I don't want to talk about racism anymore. What do I want to talk about? Something that lights me up. Something that makes me excited. Something that I wake up thinking about and fall asleep dreaming about. Something I really and trul...

On episode 57 of the podcast, we’re replaying our Christmas show from 2019 because it's still very relevant today. Maybe even more so. On that episode, I set out to answer the question, "Is Christmas for white people?" Now, I’m not white and I’ve been celebrating Christmas with my very Black family for more than 40 years, so clearly Christmas isn’t intrinsically a white people’s holiday, but there...

November is National Native American Heritage Month and it’s the month we Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. On episode 56 of the podcast, we’re going talk about both of these so-called holidays and how and what we should be doing to celebrate. Clearly Thanksgiving 2020 is going to look a lot different than years past. You may be alone or far away from extended family for the first time. Some peopl...

This is episode 55 of the podcast and the seventh and final episode of the ' Don’t Be Racist Series. ' Think of it as the recap episode. I’ll be reviewing all of the anti-racism lessons learned over the last several weeks, and I’ll be reviewing the momentous presidential election that just happened as well. And at the end of the episode, I’ll be giving you some final words of advice to take with y...

On episode 54 of the podcast –  number six in our Don’t Be Racist Series – I'm sharing a tough but necessary lesson. We’re going to be talking about what to do when friends and family members are Trump supporters. I’m not going to teach you how to talk to them or how to get them to change their ways. Nope, today’s lesson is all about disengaging. I’m going to tell you why you should disengage with...

Last week on the podcast, we talked about the importance of using your voice to confront racist behavior. On today's episode, we're flipping the script to discuss what NOT to say as an anti-racist warrior. In other words, how to avoid ever having someone say to you, 'You can't say that, that's racist.' Listen in to hear my list of questions, sentences and phrases you should remove from your vocabu...

Did you realize you can live your whole entire life and never say a single racist thing or have a single racist thought, but if you’re not using your voice to speak out against racism, then you're not an anti-racist? In fact, some might even say you’re an accomplice or at least complicit in the crime of maintaining a racist system.  On episode 52 of the podcast, the fourth lesson in our Don't Be R...

This is our third episode in the Don’t Be Racist Series on the My American Meltingpot podcast. Last week we spoke about taking action . This week, we're going to work on decolonizing our minds. In order to be a true anti-racism warrior, decolonizing and unlearning many of the untruths we’ve been taught our whole lives is essential. So, today’s lesson is all about how and why decolonizing your mind...

On episode 50 of the podcast, we're continuing our "Don't Be Racist" series . And the lesson for this episode is all about taking action. Do Take Action to be an anti-racism warrior. Don’t sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to do the work. Last week we talked about mastering your mindset. Finding your why for doing this work. Hopefully, it is now clear in your mind why you need to beco...

Episode 49 of the podcast is our first official lesson in the "Don’t Be Racist Series." And the first  lesson is all about Mindset. In order to be an anti-racist warrior, you have to master your mindset. On the show I share why this is necessary, and how to get it done. Research shows that the difference between those who succeed with their goals and those who fail, often comes down to mindset. Bu...

On Season five of the podcast, we’re doing something a little different. From now until the end of November, we’re running a special series called, “Don’t Be Racist.” On each episode, I’ll be sharing short, actionable, bite-sized lessons on how to be an anti-racist. New episodes will appear every Friday.  On episode 48, I'm sharing my reasons for launching this series and explaining what you can e...

On episode 47 of the podcast I sit down with Lauren Francis-Sharma, the author of the My American Meltingpot Summer Book Club selection, Book of the Little Axe.  Book of the Little Axe takes place at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century and tells the story of Rosa Rendon, a Black Trinidadian woman who flees her island home and finds herself living among the Crow Nation...

On episode 46 of the podcast, I want to encourage everyone to pick up their pens and fight. Yes, become a revolutionary writer. We can all put pen to paper and write for our lives. You don’t need permission to write. You don’t need fancy tools or equipment. You simply must write.   You can write newspaper articles, blog posts, poems and manifestos. You can  write novels, comic books, biographies a...

On episode 45 of the podcast, I'm talking about a brand new book series called The Queens of the Resistance . A perfect collection for any wanna-be Revolutionary Reader, The Queens of the Resistance series is a group of four biographies saluting four of the most beloved boss ladies in Congress: Maxine Waters, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren. Written by Brenda Jones & Kr...

On episode 44 of the podcast we're continuing with our Revolutionary Readers summer series . The topic? We’re going to be talking about how to raise young revolutionary readers, with the hope that the young people in our lives go from being revolutionary readers, to revolutionary leaders. Think about it, reading can be the spark that leads young people to do great things. Keeping in mind of course...

I'm baaaack...for a special summer series on My American Meltingpot. Normally, I would have taken the summer off from the podcast, to relax and refresh, but I just couldn’t put down the mic when there is just so much to talk about. But rather than rehash the day’s news, respond to every new event, or simply continue producing regular full-length episodes about race and real life,  I decided to do...

On episode 42 of the podcast (the final episode of Season 4 by the way), I’m giving a lesson on colorism - that is the preferential treatment given to others based on the color or shade of their skin.  At this pivotal moment in American society, as people grapple with dismantling racism, it is critical that folks understand that racism has a crafty cousin named colorism.  And the truth is, if we d...