Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds
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Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds
Season 5 Episode #13: My Conversation with DEI Program Trainer Shay Marlowe
When Shay Marlowe's high school engagement with the Special Olympics blossomed into a lifelong dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion, it set him on a transformative career path. Now, as a DEI training specialist with the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy, Shea joins us to share his compelling narrative and the tangible impact of DEI efforts within communities and the workplace. We kick off with a heartfelt recollection of our encounter at the Duluth Thrives Summit, tracing Shea's journey from a Racial Ethnic Student Aid at Michigan State University to combating employment barriers for marginalized groups.
Navigating the labyrinth of our own identities and biases requires a mirror that reflects our true selves. In our discussion centered on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), Shea and I invite listeners to embrace the feedback from this eye-opening assessment, not as a judgment, but as a catalyst for personal growth. We unpack the nuances of identity and the conscious effort needed to mitigate unconscious biases. By acknowledging the shades of gray in our understanding and taking intentional strides towards inclusivity, we underscore how self-awareness can pave the way for a more cohesive society.
Finally, we take you on a cultural odyssey, celebrating the unique stories that weave the fabric of our identities. I share my own experiences of relocating from New Jersey to Georgia, a move that coincided with the state's cultural self-examination. We dissect the subtleties of Southern hospitality and dig into the strategies that can create a true sense of belonging in educational environments. From the profound impact of correctly pronouncing a student's name to the significance of recognizing their individual stories, Shea and I reveal how these acts of acknowledgment can foster an inclusive atmosphere where everyone feels valued. Join us for an inspiring exploration into the heart of diversity, identity, and inclusion.
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three, two, one. Welcome back everyone. It's jeva edmonds. Welcome back to the cultural curriculum chat. I can't believe we're already in season five and on and in the guest chair today we've got mr shea marlo with uh, awesome, awesome, really cool things that he's got, helping businesses and people in our community with the state of Minnesota, with his DE&I efforts, and I am so excited for Shea to be here with us today. So good afternoon, shea Welcome.
Speaker 2:Hey, thank you so much. It's good to be here, Jeva. I appreciate you making time for me today.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you're welcome for that. My friend. I met Shay, I want to say, a few weeks ago. We had a wonderful Duluth Thrives Summit where we were meeting with other people in the DE&I space in Northern Minnesota and we just got to talking and I just really enjoy the work you're doing, you know, for us Minnesotans getting to bridge that gap of what DE&I is and what we can do in the state of Minnesota and beyond. So, oh, I'm so excited for our conversation today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, likewise it was a true gift and surprise meeting you at the Duluth Chamber event, but I knew I was in the right place at the right time, so I'm glad this led to our conversation today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you. So tell our guests here, shea, you know your background story and how did you grow up?
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure. So I guess I like to just be clear on what I do now, and then I'll do a little bit of like a flashback, if you will. So again, shea Marlowe he him his pronouns DI training specialist with the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy. That is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota, you know, twin Cities, and the Minnesota Department of Human Services to try to provide support and training and education to child welfare workers throughout the entire state. So that's all 87 counties and 11 tribes, and I've been with the team for a little over almost four months now. So I've been enjoying it. And prior to that I was a diversity recruiter where I focused on hiring women, people of color, individuals with disabilities and veterans to work for the state government. So let's talk, I guess, a little bit about how I got to this awesome work Great role and it.
Speaker 2:Man, I don't even know where the best place to start, but I will say that one of the most pivotal points for me was late high school into college. So late high school I got my first exposure to working with Special Olympics. I was a volunteer on a seasonal basis with Special Olympics. They would come to our high school. I graduated from Duluth High School, so not Duluth, minnesota, duluth, georgia, the other Duluth as I like to say the other Duluth, Georgia, the other Duluth, as I like to say the other.
Speaker 2:Duluth yeah, I've been there, that's awesome. Yeah, a lot of people say like, oh, yeah, yeah, duluth, but anyway, yeah, as a junior and senior in high school, the special numbers will always be looking for, you know responsible students who are willing to spend part of their day working with individuals with disabilities. And these individuals were both adults and youth who wanted to play sports, and I was a sports lover. I played football, I wrestled, I was on the track team, I did it all. So to that end, it really opened my eyes to see a group of individuals who wanted to live what some may call normal, regular everyday lives, but sometimes needed help, needed assistance, and that really let me know that there's probably more I could be doing and even some things I could be more grateful for. That I have. That I just didn't really appreciate as much. So that really spurred my heart and my actions to do more in the community. You fast forward.
Speaker 2:When I graduated high school, I went to Michigan State University for any Spartans that may be watching go green and I started doing some work even after my freshman year, not only with continuing on to volunteer Boys and Girls Club still a little bit of Special Olympics things there. But I became a racial ethnic student aid and so for some people to hear that long title like, what does that mean? Well, we call ourselves RESAs for short Racial Ethnic Student Aid, but essentially what it was was trying to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within the college environment At Michigan State. At the time, less than 25% of the students at the university were students of color and my focal point, along with about 25 other students, was to make those students feel welcome, connected and encouraged to not only continue to keep coming to school but hopefully to graduate, and that's really what we wanted to do. We wanted to encourage individuals to graduate from a major four-year institution. So I was fortunate enough to graduate in four years myself. I actually maintained that position as a racial ethnic student aid for three years and that really just opened my eyes to what we now know today, right as like DEI, and what it really looks like to really make people feel culturally included and aware and understood, and I really enjoyed that work.
Speaker 2:Then you fast forward. I kind of went into the HR space after graduating. I did do some fun things as well between there, working in radio and sports, but I worked for Goodwill, so Goodwill is really known many people know for helping, again, individuals with disabilities, individuals with criminal backgrounds, single mothers, veterans. They do so much as a nonprofit to help and so in Georgia, when I graduated college, michigan State, I went back and I worked to help individuals who are again just struggling, you know, overcoming barriers to find work. So one of my passions was helping unemployed fathers find work, helping again adults with disabilities, youth who had limited education but have also very low economic backgrounds due to family circumstances or personal circumstances, and again individuals with criminal records too. I was helping actually veterans who had criminal records find work too and again just continue to open my eyes and make me really understand what it takes to really serve these different populations that are often overlooked or marginalized from these important areas like employment, stability, financial stability, growth, success, education, so many different things. And so again, fast forward.
Speaker 2:I eventually landed in state government here in Minnesota. Some people would go why would you leave Georgia? Come Minnesota? Because I knew how great Minnesota was and also opportunity was obviously very prevalent, even during the pandemic. I saw how many great opportunities there were to still do the work of you know, in the DI field within Minnesota. So I said, why not come here? And since moving here about three, almost three years ago now, I haven't looked back since. It's been a great experience and I'm glad I'm still here today.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's awesome, Shay, and you know I love how you shared. It's been your passion since high school and a lot of people always say oh DEI, like it's this new thing, it's the flavor of the month.
Speaker 1:It's like, oh honey, the flavor has been there for years, centuries of including as many people, and thank you for sharing more about your story and your background, especially. You know starting this from high school all the way through college, and what I've heard, the terms that you've been saying. You know, starting this from high school all the way through college, and what I've heard, this, the terms that you've been saying. You know with that sense of creating that safe space and that belonging for those overlooked groups, underserved groups, and let's talk a little bit more about that, especially in your current work now and in getting you know the same underserved populations together. What can educators know? You know now, and getting the same underserved populations together. What can educators know in this space of the students that you're helping and the people that you're helping to make them open their eyes, that we exist, different groups exist, and I feel like in Minnesota, we have these blinders on some of us of, oh, that's just across the country, it's not right here. What can you do to tell them? You know otherwise?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. One of the things that I've really enjoyed about my work in the DI space is um, contributing to my professional experience, but my lived experience. So in talking to someone else I'd say always be looking, if you can, to impact or increase your professional understanding and awareness or competency and your personal or lived experience and competencies. It's so easy to talk about this work from the standpoint of like a book you read or a case study you did, but then actually live it. You know, have conversations one-on-ones, like you and I are having, both within your cultural dynamics and outside. Those cultural dynamics can blow your mind. There are so many things you can learn just from sitting down and talking to someone or spending time volunteering.
Speaker 2:I'm a huge volunteer advocate. I try to volunteer at least twice a month with different groups, both the ones that I'm passionate about getting to know and then others I don't know much about, for the sake of just understanding more about these. You know groups that I may not identify with, but I know I'm one, curious, right, maybe that's another thing too, be curious. But two, I want to engage. I want to just not just sit here and be curious and go, I don't know. Well, lean into that. Well, what can you do to learn? Can you have a conversation, can you attend an event, all things that are related to something we're going to talk about here in a minute, which is like the IDI and the IDP of really trying to challenge yourself, to say hey once a week, once a month, however often I can make a commitment to put myself a little bit out of my comfort zone and get to know some individuals that I may not normally interact with.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love how you have that duality of volunteering at places you're passionate about, also volunteering at places you're curious about. You know that's really big shape. Thank you for sharing that, because so many of us are afraid to just step out of our comfort zone. You know we call it here, you know, Minnesota nice, but there's, there's that niceness that we got to really push ourselves. You know, push ourselves. I say we need to get to that Minnesota growth and growing within ourselves of.
Speaker 1:I might not be familiar with this group, I'm not an expert of this group, but I want to learn more and I love how you even said we don't need just to rely on books or case study or something, but just to sit down and listen to someone's lived experience. And what I also want to reiterate to our listeners their story and their lived experience is always going to be different than yours. So just to take that humble pie and just listen and absorb of what they're sharing, without minimizing their experience, but as a way for you to learn, you know, yeah, Anything to add to that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I'm glad you heard all of those key words. Minimization also comes up in the. You know, the IDI continuum is understanding how we show up in different spaces and how we receive others and how others receive us, and being aware of that, of how we present ourselves. I think that's so important and it can be tough to your point as well important and it can be tough to your point as well to step out of our comfort zones. I know you even touched on the Minnesota nice thing, which I, you know, have come to learn a little bit as well after being here. And yeah, you know, while to some degree being nice and friendly is okay for the surface, if you're really going to, you know, go deeper, just beyond, just again, you know surface, you know the easy stuff. Yeah, you're going to have to get at least a little bit uncomfortable just to put yourself out there, and nine times out of ten you will come out better for it. That is definitely not good.
Speaker 1:That is so true. And yes, you did mention the IDI assessment and we're going to talk a little bit about that because I think it's so important honestly feel all educators throughout should take that test as well, as people in the business community as well, to just have that self-reflective tool of understanding who they are and their own biases towards groups. So let's dive in a little bit to that, because I know you're an IDI practitioner. Can you share a bit about that, Shea?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. I became a qualified administrator for the IDI in January, but I was familiar with the IDI well before that. Before coming to state government. I worked for Sleep Number Corporate downtown Minneapolis, and we talked often about how we wanted all staff who worked in the DI spaces to have IDI assessment taken, just to again be more aware. And with that said, I'm glad that stayed kind of in my repertoire.
Speaker 2:But now I'm doing the work daily related to the IDI because, as you and I know, but maybe some of your listeners may not know is that is the only tool out there that really tries to assess or measure an individual's cultural competence or awareness. And that said, and even then, even if someone says, well, there are other tools, there are, but the IDI is the most recognized, most respected, has the most consistent results, if you will, in a sense of really trying to show a person, tell the story of hey, here's maybe where you think you are and here's how you or where you might really be. And even talking about the IDI and doing my debriefs with clients or social workers, child welfare workers, I always say it's not about good or bad, it's not that your results are good or bad, I would say it's almost like it is what it is. It's about what you want to do, what you want to be, who you want to be, and if you disagree with it, I even encourage some of the folks I do debriefs, that's okay.
Speaker 2:If you disagree with it, hey, I'm here to listen and talk about that to say so, what do you want to change or what do you want to do differently? Because, again, it's not about good or bad, it's about, well, how do you want to show up, how do you want to be perceived and what do you want to learn, what do you want to take from it? So I enjoy the IDI tremendously because it's you, as you said, a self-effective tool to really stop and think about some things that maybe you didn't really stop and think about before.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you know what I love about that test too, the assessment is it makes you kind of, when you take the test, to go, oh my gosh, wow, yeah, okay, you know it's it's hard to fail, you know. But the thing is, when you do have the conversation with the practitioner we did this many years ago when I was teaching at the Duluth Public Schools. We had that training, you know. We had an assessment administrator come into our district and do an assessment with the staff and it was just eye opening because it was like wow, I didn't realize subconsciously some of the things that I've been taught.
Speaker 1:And then another thing it showed me on the spectrum of where I prefer, what groups I prefer to be around. And then it also showed me on the spectrum of where I really need to stretch a little bit and get to know others. And I can only imagine to be a fly on that wall with you, shay, to be like hearing some people's reactions going what, what? This is not me, this is not who I am. It's like nope, take it, receive it and let's move on from that, because I bet you probably have some defensive folks you know that have listened, yeah, and that's just natural. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I've been fortunate that many of the debrief sessions I've had with the IDI result have gone pretty well. And in that way again, as I mentioned a little bit earlier, when individuals feel like they disagree with a portion of the result, I just ask them to lean into that Like okay, can you tell me more? What about it do you disagree with? Not because and I think I also try not to live in a world of absolutes, like everything's either all right or all wrong there's the gray.
Speaker 2:And some people will tell me like you got to learn how to play and live in a gray a little bit sometimes, and that's okay. So we just talk a little bit about, like, what characteristics maybe that are supposed to be true about certain orientations of the IDI that don't hold up or they don't feel hold up to who they are, and say, okay, awesome, what Awesome. What do you think are some things you can do to possibly ensure that that is not something that you are presenting Right? So if it's a certain right you even acknowledge like some unconscious bias, ok. So how do you, how do you intentionally fight that or work around that, knowing that that might show up? And then that's where we get to the interesting dialogue.
Speaker 2:Okay, I guess you're right, I guess I could ask more questions, I guess I could show up more often, be more engaged Instead of being a fly on the wall, be more present. And one of the biggest things I take from every debrief session is hey, celebrate who you are, don't be afraid to let people know who you are, but at the same time, have that same energy and passion for getting to know someone else and who they are. So, just as much as I might be proud to be a Christian, I want to stand up and shout from the rooftops about any of my colleagues and friends who may be Jewish, muslim, agnostic. Whatever the case may be, let them know that there is such I don't know joy and excitement about the diversity that we all hold. That's what culture is all about.
Speaker 1:That's it. Oh, I love it, dropping some gems today. I love it and just even tie into Shay with your family and education too. Can you share a little bit more about those experiences, like being a young black man in the school system, even in the South versus North, wherever you want to go with it? Yeah, just share some insights there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely I would love to, and I will tie in a little bit of. Since I touched on the faith and religion aspect there, I'll tie this in as well. So I was born originally in New Jersey, from the Jersey shore, as I like to call. People tell people I'm from the real Jersey shore, you know, not the one on TV, the real one, yes, the real one.
Speaker 1:Born in the real one. Yes, the real one.
Speaker 2:I love it. Yeah, one in Neptune Monmouth County, asbury Park area and I moved to Georgia mid-high school.
Speaker 1:So it was a rough transition for me going from there. What a transition, yeah.
Speaker 2:Because at the time, just to give you some insight, when I moved from New Jersey to Georgia, georgia had just changed its state flag from a partially Confederate flag to what it is today, had just changed the state flag from a partially Confederate flag to what it is today. Now, granted that I was a very I was typically a strong A minus B plus student. I knew what the Confederate flag stood for, at least historically right. So to move to a state where they still held that as a representation of who they were, it was shocking. It was shocking. I was a little nervous, but to that end, I also understood that I had to just dig deeper and learn a little bit more about like well, how did this come to be and why are they changing the state flag? Maybe there is some understanding here about what the government there recognizes this symbol means for so many people, especially the black community.
Speaker 2:About my family, you know, demetrius Marlo's, my father, marva Braxton's, my mother. High school sweethearts had me shortly after high school. We're not married and my dad went off to college. I was predominantly raised by a single mother, so I always like to stand up and give a shout out and kudos to all the single moms and dads out there Cause, let's be honest, there are single dads out there too and it shaped me to who I am from various perspectives.
Speaker 2:One, what it means to be a young man or young boy being raised by a mother. What it meant to try to learn how to be a young man or young boy with a distant father, also trying to come to terms and understand what it means to be Black. I love me some hip hop and R&B and jazz and reggae and all these things, but also like what that meant to me and my identity and how that's made me who I am today. So I learned a lot of that in Jersey and then moving to Georgia, where, at the time when I moved to Georgia in the early 2000s, you know, southern hip hop was blowing up you had a real cast that's going through the roof at the time and you know so many artists have now since then have come from the South, you know from the Sierra.
Speaker 1:Well, like Jermaine Dupri, come on now. Like, come on, think about it.
Speaker 2:Right, like so many Southern artists.
Speaker 1:Da Brat everybody.
Speaker 2:Man it was a time. You know C Usher. Let's be honest.
Speaker 1:All of them.
Speaker 2:Yes, I. I was fortunate because I moved that door. I was very reluctant, just to be clear for the audience members I didn't want to go to Georgia. I was like I'm a northern boy. Even when I got to school for the first week and someone said, oh, you're a Yankee. I was like no, I actually don't.
Speaker 2:I don't even root for the Yankees, I'm a Mets fan. They're like no, no, no, what. I didn't get it Right. So that like started like helping me understand, like what I represented, even coming to the South. But to that end, it didn't take long for me to embrace the Southern culture, the food, the sweet tea. If you don't know about sweet tea and what it means, or what sweet tea really is, as we like to say in the South, you got to ask about it, check it out and, yeah, that Southern hospitality was real. That said, I oftentimes like to have side conversations which we may not do today, of talking about like this what does Minnesota's nice look like right next to?
Speaker 2:Southern hospitality and I'll give an example, in the South or certain Southern states, when you're walking by someone, at least within a certain proximity, let's say less than, as the pandemic started, six feet if you're six feet or less than passing by each other, and typically there's not a ton of people, let's say less than two or three people in a certain area, going even opposite directions, but passing by. There is a kind of cultural expectation in the South to say hello, right, or good afternoon or how are you?
Speaker 2:What I've noticed is that in other areas, whether it be the North, like maybe a New Jersey, to even Minnesota, in passing someone within six feet and it's only one, two, three of you to pass by and not say anything totally normal, totally normal. But in the South, if you were to walk past someone and not acknowledge especially if one person seems to be or presents clearly as older than another it can come across as disrespectful. That's purely culture. It's not that it's intended to be that way, it's just culturally speaking. The norm is, when you see someone walking past you or you're in the position of someone, you should acknowledge their presence.
Speaker 2:So I talk about that a lot of times when I talk about my transition.
Speaker 1:Ooh, that is so, put it in there. Yes, I mean even like making eye contact. You know, sometimes, if you don't, then it's just like you know. And of course, culturally with eye contact it's different with different. You know nationalities, but I get that and you know. Visiting the South, you kind of give a little nod like, oh, I see you, you see me. Hello.
Speaker 2:How's it going? But here it's just like oh do I know you. Why are you saying hello to me? And it's like, can I just be nice?
Speaker 1:And I feel that even in African culture, from being Liberian, it's like if you don't say hello to an elder that seems older, like you said, identifying, you know to you, if you don't, it's a big no-no. And then you know they'll tell your relative like I can't believe she didn't say hello and like what you're not going to say hi, you know. So I get it. I get it. Oh, that is awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess just to use that as a small example. Those are one of the things I've been doing culturally how to adapt and for me, who I am, I guess some common identities that I use is, I saw being a cisgender male, black male. I do identify as Christian. My dad is an ordained minister. My mom identifies as Christian. I go to church, I say semi-regularly, I try to go, not just on Sundays.
Speaker 2:I'm part of a Bible study group, but even then, when I even tap into faith and religion, I would just say, like it's not just about the rituals of going to church and Bible study and did you pray today? It is a little bit of like how you live. You know how you treat others, you know how are you showing up. You know and how are you trying to like live your life's purpose if you do know what that is like. Live your life's purpose if you do know what that is.
Speaker 2:So, that said, yeah, religion and faith has played a big part of who I am too. I mean there's other things too. I mean, obviously I'm fortunate enough to consider myself educated, with having a bachelor's degree from Michigan State, and then continue to expand my horizons, you know, by volunteering, by, you know doing various things. You know I work more than one job. I actually do work for a Jewish nonprofit here in the Twin Cities, so I get a lot of opportunities to be exposed to different cultures on a daily basis and I guess it makes me the person I am today. So I enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, I love that, jay, and I also when you've been sharing. You know your story and you know I could listen to you all day, to be honest. But you know, I just love how you make it seem and it is. It's not as difficult as a lot of people think and I feel like when we're trying to be more inclusive with each other, we get stuck. I don't know where to start, I don't know what to do. You know, and even in the school system you know, of how do we get started, of inviting people from all walks of life in and when.
Speaker 1:I would tell you know other educators when I worked with them. It's like you can't see somebody in your class as face value of who they are. And, just like you said, with your different identities that you shared, you know your kids have multiple identities that are looking right back at you while you're teaching. So can you share with our educators out there and even people in our community? What are the best strategies to bring those you know identities in you know in a welcoming way?
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, that's a really powerful question, one. I'm going to use two examples here. One is modeling right for those teachers and let's be honest, all teachers aren't like of a certain age or demographic. They have their own identities. But modeling the type of inclusivity or inclusive environment you would like to have within your group or groups is critical.
Speaker 2:It's hard to say, well, I want everyone to feel psychologically safe, but you're not modeling psychologically safe behaviors yourself. So sometimes you have to show like, well, what does that look like? For some they don't know what that means, especially if that can be culturally specific. In some cultures it might be appropriate to bow, in other cultures it might be like well, if I'm bowed, does that mean I'm submitting? What is that? What is the significance?
Speaker 2:So, modeling what maybe is important, or even not just important, but why, you know, explaining why there are certain habits done because we don't always understand. There's a lot of assumptions made in this work and in these systems, including school systems. We think people should know things that they don't know, and I think we have to give some people some grace to say let's talk about why we do certain things the way we do them. And then also I'm going to get crazy here, but open it for, like some I don't want to say debate, but like feedback what if someone again disagrees with? Like I don't know if I feel comfortable standing for the Pledge of Allegiance, if I'm not, you know, originally from America or if I'm still considered an immigrant here. Right, I remember that was a huge debate when I was growing up about, you know, families and individuals who weren't from the US not standing or not putting their hand over their heart during the Pledge of.
Speaker 2:Allegiance things like that Modeling is so critical for teachers and leaders in the education system. I would also say one-on-one dynamics. I know it's super easy to assume that everyone's comfortable in groups and that is unfortunately like a big assumption. So these one-on-ones are super valuable because you really get to hopefully know someone, because they don't have to feel like they're putting on a show for others or pretending right or even their survival mode can hopefully be taken back a little bit because now it's just me and you Don't. You don't have to worry about it, it's just me and you. Now don't get me wrong If they don't feel psychologically safe with you, they still can feel like they don't want to be talking to you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it takes time.
Speaker 2:In that one-on-one dynamic they feel a little bit more like okay, I can really be me right now. And if I can be me and feel like I can come away from this conversation or interaction feeling like you don't judge me, that maybe you know me better, that I know you a bit better, that maybe next time, when I am in that group dynamic or when I see one-on-one, the connection is more authentic, it's more real, Not just surface hi, how you doing is more authentic. It's more real, not just surface hi, how you doing, what's your name, what's your title, but more so like oh, that's right, you told me you were about to go play a basketball game. You said you had a play coming up. You're about to. How's that going? It's really getting into the I call it the thick of it, the trenches of who we really are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that and also you're building trust that way and also showing the human experience. Like you know, when I was a teacher, it was like, yeah, I'm a lifelong learner, you know. Oh, I made a mistake, admit you made a mistake. And how can we do better? How can we as a classroom community do better to make that student feel like they belong? And I feel like with educators right now. You know, I know I was teaching during the pandemic.
Speaker 1:I feel it's been really, really tough getting you know to the other side of all of that, but I feel like a lot of us you see the posters, you know put the eye in kind and I feel like we need to do a little bit more than just being kind you know Where's that be and belonging. You know, Because you can be kind to my face all day. But, like you said, if you are not making me feel psychologically safe or culturally safe in your room, if you're still mispronouncing my name, how do I feel that trust with me and my teacher? Take the time to one practice, take the time to ask. You know, how did your you know basketball game go last night? Or, you know, those are the things that kids, they can detect, you know. It's like I got two teenagers at home. They can tell if you are not coming correct with the things you know. So, youth, they know a mile away if you don't have the time for them because of that trust.
Speaker 2:So yeah.
Speaker 1:Are there any other tips? I love that you're saying about building trust. Talking about modeling is really big and community wise, you know. Is there something you could talk about of like with the underserved and marginalized groups that you've noticed in your work? What can community members do as well to have that belonging space?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not. Let me start by saying it's not easy, right.
Speaker 1:No, it's not easy.
Speaker 2:A lot of individuals want the easy route. Okay, where do I write the check? Right? Who do I donate to? Where do I submit my vote? Right. And then I'm walking away and I'm like all right, I did my part.
Speaker 2:And I would just challenge anyone to say, to say like, if you really want to make an impact, just if you can try to be in it for the long haul, uh, and not just in it like because this is what they say, it's cute and it's fashionable. Right now, it's the hot topic, right, like, do it because you really want to do it, because, as you said, people can see right through that there's so many individuals just coming in because it's the day that the company was supposed to volunteer, it's the church, give back, it's the hot time. Rather than just like, hey, why don't you connect in some way that you can truly say I'm going to keep showing up for this group Right now? I know that we're filming this in the middle of April and, despite when this may actually go out and be broadcast available, april is of many things. It's Autism Acceptance Month, not just Awareness Acceptance Month.
Speaker 2:When we talk about things like acceptance. It means how do I make you again feel like you're a part of our community? And or, what do I need to do? Right, Put the mirror back in front of me. What do I need to do to show up for individuals who are like you, even if I don't? I don't identify as such, so I think that's just really critical.
Speaker 2:When I go, just, I keep going back to that idea of like, please don't be in it because it's easy, because it's probably not. If it's easy, that means going back to what we talked about earlier. Right, you're not probably growing, you're not making the impact you could be because you're just staying in your comfort zone. And I get that you do have to start easy. Because you're just so new to it. You're like I'm just not ready to do a lot. Okay, then be honest with yourself and say I'm not ready to do the uncomfortable work yet, but have a commitment to say but eventually, after I've done all the easy things, I'm going to have to start challenging myself to do something just a little bit harder for the sake of that growth and making a true impact.
Speaker 1:Yes, easy and gradually. Get to be the challenge. Get it going. Yes, to make that positive change. Oh man, I tell you, I can talk to you all day, my friend. Thank you, thank you, where can our listeners follow your work? If you're willing to share and we'll put in the show notes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, absolutely I would love that if you're willing to share and we'll put in the show notes. Yeah, no, absolutely I would love that. So individuals can always reach out to me directly. You know I have a. I work for state government so we keep our information fairly public because it's taxpayer dollars. So yeah, sheamarlo at statemnus. So again, shea, s-h-a-ymarlo, m-a-r-l-o-w-e at statemnus. Email me directly.
Speaker 2:I'm also on LinkedIn. I try to post regularly, at least once or twice a week, so you can find me on LinkedIn pretty easy, searching Shay Marlow, either Minnesota Department of Human Services or DEI. I happen to be a member of a great nonprofit organization called 100 Black Men Twin Cities, where we mentor young Black men or Black youth in the Twin Cities, so you can find me through some of their social media channels as well. Those are the biggest platforms, I would say, to find me. I'm always big on doing things like this, having one-on-ones and then, of course, attending events when I can to show my support of others in their work. So, by all means, anything and every way that I can interact with someone, whether it be individually or group-wise, I welcome the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Yes, and thank you, shea. We love what you're doing with our community, with our state level, and just showing your passion of, you know, amplifying those voices of the groups of people that are finally not just finally, but really getting that platform and the recognition and the validation that they deserve. So thank you again, shea, and thanks for listening. Oh, yes, and thank you all for listening to the Cultural Curriculum Chat Podcast. See you next time, bye-bye.