Ever feel like you have no idea what to make of the media's coverage of China? How do we separate truth from xenophobia?  What does it mean to be "tough on China?" And how do we look beyond news reports and politics to see the nuance inherent in a nation of 1.4 billion? 

This episode of Femtastic features Dori Jones Yang, an expert who has spent her entire career helping Americans better understand China.

Dori helps us separate fact from fiction and see China for what it is: not a monolith, but a complicated, imperfect, impressive, and wildly resilient nation. 

She explains China's place in the geopolitical environment; what they got wrong and got right about coronavirus; the good and the bad of China's powerful central government; American diplomatic policy towards China (past, present, and should-be-future); and what to make of China's rise. 

Jones Yang's new book, When the Red Gates Opened: A Memoir of China’s Reawakening, tells of her experiences as a young foreign correspondent in China during the 1980s, a time marked by the both the euphoria of a post-isolationist China and the despair of Tiananmen. Learn more and find her memoir wherever books are sold.

After the execution of George Floyd earlier this year, Black entrepreneur, mother, and activist Lydia Elle found herself answering lots of questions from the white women in her social circles. They wanted to know how to teach their kids about racism, how to understand the world of parenting through the eyes of a Black mother, how to raise anti-racist kids, and how to talk about racism to their friends and family. Eventually, these conversations inspired Lydia to launch courses like "A Black Mother's Answers to White Women's Questions," and merchandise store Supplies for Allies so that these conversations were accessible to everyone. 

In this interview, Lydia discusses what led her to this work, the kinds of questions she answers in her courses, and the most common mistakes she sees well-intentioned people making when trying to be allies. She talks about how she navigates the emotional toll of her work, offers guidance for white people who may want to ask questions of their Black friends about racism, and provides a frame for thinking about the tokenization of Black people in white anti-racism work and spaces. Lastly, she offers advice for how white people can start on their journeys towards becoming anti-racists and how that work can be sustained (hint: check out her free Anti-Racist Advent Calendar this month)!

Resources:

• Course: "A Black Mother's Answers to White Women's Questions"
  
  This is an in-depth and honest conversation about racism and understanding the world of parenting through the eyes of a Black mother. There are many lessons that will help you handle  how to have the conversation of racism with your child. 
• Course: "We Need to Talk: Racism and Parenting"
  
  In this course you will learn learn how Lydia handles the racism talk with her child to help as you have "the conversation." This will not be comfortable, but it will be effective as we work to be agents of change to create a better world for their future.
   
• Course: "We Need To Talk - Racism and The Friends and Family Discount"
  It's time to talk about racism and the friends and family in our circle. The "discounts" and allowances of racist behavior has resulted in fatalities. Yes, I know this may be hard, but it is necessary because lives depend on it. So let's talk.
   
• Supplies for Allies store
• The Allyship Holiday Calendar (free!)