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Episode Eighteen: RACIST BRITAIN, Tales From a Small Island
Manage episode 288448519 series 2869397
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In this episode I chat with Glasgow-based artist and activist Karlie Wu, her work delves into the identity of being British/Scottish-Chinese, its expectations and misconceptions, and the reality of this lived experience exploring ‘cultural identity.
Karlie is also one of the six founding members of besea.n (Britain’s East and South East Asian Network), a non-profit, anti-racism grassroots organisation that tackles negative stereotypes and advocates positive media representation of East and South East Asian people in the UK.
This episode is about the rise in reported racism towards East and Southeast Asian people. It's about the history of how Sinophobia has been reported in the media, it’s about six women that came together to create a positive platform out of negative experiences.
But this is also an opportunity to listen in to a conversation between two people. Two women of colour who were born in the UK examining their own identity. Listening, sharing, and bringing both our journeys into the space. Too often debates about race can be over intellectualised, sanitised, and led by oppressive agenda, which can lead to those who are sharing having their experience dismissed and dehumanised. This is not that conversation. This a raw and honest unfinished version of our own events, lived experiences, and interpretations. The emotional labour of sharing your identity and racism story is a heavy load, and with that, I acknowledge this is not an easy endeavor.
This episode is about those unanswered questions of belonging, it’s about a link between racism and trauma and mental health, Gaslighting, internalised suppression, being mixed race, it’s about 80s Hong Kong meets Glasgow, the Hakka language, and the importance of finding a place to pass the baton of ritual that enrich our lives
If you want to find out more about Karlie Wu’s amazing work you can find her over at Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/wukarlie/?hl=en
The petition discussed in the episode can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/stop-depicting-east-south-east-asians-in-coronavirus-related-media
And at her website: https://www.karliewu.co.uk/Home
Besean: https://www.besean.co.uk/
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