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Welcome back to Conscious Pathways! In today’s episode, Brittney Carey has an engaging conversation with Sharon Shelton, a leader in racial justice and equity advocacy. Sharon reflects on her upbringing in South Los Angeles, her education in predominantly white schools, and a transformative encounter with civil rights icon Rosa Parks that shaped her passion for social justice.
Key Themes Explored:
- The Importance of History in Social Justice: Sharon explains why understanding historical context is essential to support modern social movements.
- Race, Gender, and Equity: Insightful discussion on how race and gender intersect in community organizing.
- The Anti-Racism Wheel Explained: Sharon shares how she developed this practical tool to facilitate respectful and productive anti-racist conversations.
- Education & Community Building: How schools and families can work together to foster equitable environments.
💡 Why This Episode Matters:
Sharon’s story reminds us that racial justice is a collective effort that starts with acknowledging history, embracing diverse identities, and fostering community relationships. For parents and educators, this episode offers practical strategies for supporting social justice at home and in the classroom.
📚 Explore More:
- Brittney’s curated list of social justice books on Bookshop.org. (Every purchase supports local bookstores and social justice learning.)
- Subscribe to Pathways of Promise, Brittney’s newsletter for more insights and resources.
💬 Join the Conversation:
What role do you believe education plays in advancing racial justice? Share your thoughts on Instagram or LinkedIn using #ConsciousPathwaysPodcast.
Transcript:
[00:00:09] Hello and welcome to Conscious Pathways. Today I am joined by Ms. Sharon Shelton. Thank you for joining me.
[00:00:15] Brittney Carey: Brittney, pleasure to be here Yes, I am so excited to speak with you. I was looking through your Credentials background and website and I was like, Oh my God, she’s talking to me. I was so excited to have you on and hear your story. Can you tell me about your work?
[00:00:30] You go into racial justice and equity. What was the spark for that? Where did that begin for you?
[00:00:35] Sharon Shelton: I grew up in South Los Angeles. In elementary school, I was a bus student. I have an identical twin sister, and her and I were both bused outside of the community, and we went to predominantly white schools. Beginning with Castle Heights and Culver City and then to the Valley.
[00:00:57] And I was always interested in terms of wanting to get to know my culture and people who look like me. I think also my mother and her attempt for us to really be knowledgeable about our culture. At that time, it was encyclopedia books, Brittney. But she would have us, when we came home, that would be part of our homework assignment in terms of studying our culture and our environment.
[00:01:27] from an early age I’ve always been interested in social justice.
[00:01:31] Brittney Carey: Wow, I think that is incredible, as someone who also just voluntarily would read the encyclopedia sometimes. I love hearing
[00:01:41] this.
[00:01:41] Sharon Shelton: Oh, really? You read encyclopedias?
[00:01:43] Brittney Carey: in high school I would, I was reading like a medical encyclopedia and I started at A and I was just reading through
[00:01:48] that was my casual fun reading. now I know a lot of random things that, I don’t know, they’re just in my brain now forever.
[00:01:54] Sharon Shelton: Happened very organically and in college I wanted to continue that knowledge and so I would take black study classes at Cal State Long Beach and women’s study classes I remember doing a report and there were a list of orators that we could do a report on and Dr.
[00:02:19] Martin Luther King was certainly on the list, but I thought that I had a good grasp of knowledge in terms of who he was and elected to choose Malcolm X. Someone at that time, I was 19 years old that I did not know a lot about. And a friend of mine he and I went to the library and he said, start with the autobiography.
[00:02:43] I remember being in my room crying my twin sister said, what’s wrong? I said, Malcolm X is dead. she was likewasn’t he killed in the 60s? I’m like, yes, but I just found out who he was. I immersed myself in education took all the black study and women’s studies classes.
[00:03:02] in my undergraduate studies at Cal State Long Beach.
[00:03:06] Brittney Carey: Yes. it’s really a testament when you find these types of classes that introduce you to different thoughts. Because I know I didn’t learn much about Malcolm X in high school at all. It was like a little blip, during the month of February where we learned about Black people.
[00:03:20] It was a lot about Dr.
[00:03:22] Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement beautiful work, but there’s so many names that were left out that were also really integral to. the movement and integral to just, black history in general that were left out of the conversation. We didn’t hear about Stokely Carmichael until college. I barely heard about
[00:03:41] Malcolm X, he was like a blip of and then there’s Malcolm X. He was radical. We don’t talk about him.
[00:03:46] Sharon Shelton: absolutely,
[00:03:47] that he did and stood for. And you’re like, wait right,
[00:03:51] Brittney Carey: not that these two men were like against each other. Like they weren’t diametrically opposed.
[00:03:55] There was so much more to that conversation social studies could have been way more interesting.
[00:04:01] Sharon Shelton: it could have and should be and I think we cannot be afraid to talk about social justice race, and I think we have to. I do think in my undergrad studies taking black studies and women’s studies classes, I did have a professor that pulled my sister and I to the side and said, listen, Don’t get hung up in feminism.
[00:04:26] Be rooted in your black studies classes. And I was confused by that because this is someone that I trusted and it just created in, internal sort of conflict. I then had the opportunity to meet Rosa Parks and expressed this conflict that I had in terms of, should I be working in the racial justice field or the gender based violence
[00:04:52] when the mother of the civil rights movement tells you not to separate them, justice, they go together and don’t separate them. I embraced that and haven’t looked back since. I am so grateful to Rosa Parks for telling me that.
[00:05:08] Brittney Carey: Yes, and that is such a powerful thing. I want to go back to you meeting Rosa Parks, that is a big moment historically, the feminism movement has primarily centered white feminism and white people’s rights.
[00:05:22] I see where your professor was coming from saying don’t worry about all that like focus on us, but then there’s intersectionality where yes, my identity and the way that I am looked at and the my the opportunities I am afforded and So much goes into that intersection of me being black and a woman living in the United States. There’s so much that goes into those two identities that I walk with every single day. And I don’t get to shed either of those identities, when I walk out the door. Like that’s the way that I present. That’s the way that I am. And that’s the way that the world treats me.
[00:05:54] it is important when we combine those two aspects of justice together, because yeah, it impacts our every single day life. That is,
[00:06:02] Sharon Shelton: It does. It does. And certainly, Kimberly Crenshaw has talked about intersectionality in terms of gender and race I started my career at the SCLC working at the Rosa Parks Rape Crisis Center. I knew Rosa Parks was coming to Los Angeles.
[00:06:22] She had just written a book and I was young, energetic, social justice advocate and wanted to meet her. And I called her manager over 30 times. We were having a volunteer training class and I wanted her to stop by. the manager said, I will try to get her to stop by if you will stop calling.
[00:06:45] And so I think they were just fed up with me calling I remember waiting outside and she pulled upit was a volunteer class for rape crisis survivors. we were told she would spend a few minutes with us and she sat down and talked about her Involvement in the movement and I think what most people don’t realize is long before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus she was a Advocate, for rape survivors.
[00:07:15] And so Recy Taylor that was who was raped by several white men Rosa Parks investigated that case and went to Montgomery, Alabama to inquire aboutjustice of that case. And so I think that’s a, an example in terms of that intersectionality that we’ve just spoken about.
[00:07:37] Brittney Carey: Yes. And I think there’s so much to Rosa Parks story that isn’t talked about. in. primary education spaces, like things I didn’t learn about, You just learned that she didn’t want to sit in the right spot in the bus. And that’s how the civil rights movement began.
[00:07:52] It’s no, actually there was conversations going on behind the scenes. This wasn’t just one day,
[00:07:56] It wasn’t by accident. It was on purpose. There was a plan. it was a very intentional, act in a very intentional movement. a lot of things we just don’t talk about with, civil rights and social movements in general is the intentionality behind it.
[00:08:09] And the myriad of voices behind that, it wasn’t just two people in the civil rights movement. There were so many voices
[00:08:15] and especially looking at our LGBTQ plus community, right? They were also a part of this, right? And again, going into that intersectionality your sexuality gender race, Come together at this apex on how you are perceived and treated many voices get erased, a lot of women were part of the civil rights movement and the Black Panther movement and their voices got completely erased, right?
[00:08:34] a lot of women who were also part of the feminist movement, a lot of Black people, women of color, who are part of the feminist movement, whose voices have essentially been erased. And that’s a tricky thing to go through, it’s tricky to seeespecially in education, it’s important to be intentional about teaching history and whose voices we are continuing to elevate which has been a big conversation with, critical race theory and DEI practices in higher education. I’d love to get into that with you I know you have a framework around anti racism where did that come from and how did you develop that.
[00:09:04] Sharon Shelton: Yeah. I think after my conversation with Rosa Parks in terms of not separating racial justice and gender based violence that I was led to have a career in the non profit world in terms of addressing racism and addressing the empowerment of women and spent a good career doing exactly that.
[00:09:27] I do think that when you talk about history and education, it’s critical. I think we should not it’s a good thing in terms of learning about our history the empowerment. And so I think America has a beautiful story to tell. It is one that is rooted in tragedy and injustice but the resolution or the attempt of the resolution of that has to continue and I think we cannot be afraid or shy away from history and we must put history at the forefront.
[00:10:08] Brittney Carey: If we’re not looking at our history, then we don’t know where we’re moving forward. We don’t know what direction we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve come from and I’m a big firm believer of that practice and really looking at our history, looking at the voices that are being told and making sure that we’re telling an accurate history and looking at. where we want to go from there. A lot of, we get a lot of,
[00:10:28] voices in like progressive education and in abolition and education. And I love these conversations and I love to see people re imagining what education could look like, could feel like, could be like. But we need to understand where we came from.
[00:10:41] we need to know the history of what we’re trying to change, So we’re not repeating the same cycle we’ve seen that with. many movements where we take steps forward and like a trillion steps backwards because we’re not actually telling an accurate history of what actually happened. And sometimes our history, sucks. Sometimes it’s hurtful to tell.
[00:10:58] it’s hurtful to hear, and I did a study abroad program in South Africa, and I think that, really solidified in my brain space about how important it is to reconcile with our history and decisions that have been made that impacted people and how that continues to impact us. And, South Africa is, still of quite young democracy. The democracy is only like 30 years old. there’s a lot they’re still working out and reckoning with. it’s not perfect and no country is perfect But, looking at apartheid, South Africa, they came together as a country and said, we’re not going to, shy away from that. We acknowledge that it happened.
[00:11:30] We acknowledge that it’s wrong. We acknowledge that we don’t want to see that happen again. And here’s how we’re putting forth steps and measures to make sure that we are constantly progressing as a country and not moving steps backwards. I look at that with our country, the United States.
[00:11:43] We definitely didn’t do that, and I think that’s why we see these trends over and over we haven’t fully acknowledged the truth of our history, and we haven’t acknowledged it was wrong, in your work, you’ve done a lot of work with, numerous nonprofits around Los Angeles County and just your work in anti racism and, gender based violence and community work what does that look like at a community level? how do we as a community work together?
[00:12:07] Sharon Shelton: yeah, you mentioned South Africa, and I am one that is really amazed by the process in which they went through, the reconciliation process, and I’m a mediator by trade, and so very fascinated. I had an opportunity to go two decades ago. It was quite adventurous.
[00:12:33] I think you mentioned the truth. And so I think South Africa, and again, it’s not perfect, but truth and reconciliation, was a formal process in terms of trying to move folks through through recovery and acknowledgement in terms of what happened.
[00:12:51] for non profits as being a mediator I think it’s important to have dialogue about it. Dialogue does not have to be adversarial. I think that we should bring civility back to conversations. we can build resources around dialogue in civil conversation and a lot of races.
[00:13:16] Embedded in trauma. And so I think we have to be prepared to, to deal with that and not hide from that. how we tell the history of America can be a beautiful thing in terms of where we were and where we are and where we intend on going and that.
[00:13:34] That has to be part of the work. as an executive leader I’m interested in working with and leading a nonprofit rooted in social justice and moving that work forward.
[00:13:45] Brittney Carey: so for my audience who might not be familiar with the role of a mediator, can you explain what a mediator is what they do and how they support organizations?
[00:13:53] Sharon Shelton: Absolutely. I rememberIn 1996 I was trained in mediation from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. I found it fascinating most people are afraid and run from conflict. And I was one of those individuals in terms of not being comfortable with addressing conflict.
[00:14:16] mediation is about Not running away from conflict, but embracing it to move through it in a healthy process. I went to grad school at California State University, Dominguez Hills that has a really good program negotiation and conflict management. And so I have been a mediator for a significant time, and again, it’s a healthy process in terms of discussing many issues racism being one of them homelessness the governance in terms of the city and state that we’re in and so I think it is, again, a healthy process in which to have a discussion in terms of emerging issues that need to be talked about.
[00:15:03] Brittney Carey: Yes. And yeah, that’s super fascinating, thinking about mediation. And, a lot of people and organizations do tend to be very conflict and risk averse. And so that does lead to more problems than it’s really worth. And if we just took a problem and addressed it, embraced it, and found ways to peacefully move through a conflict that would save a lot of workplace trauma, As someone who’s had to heal from a lot of workplace trauma, I feel like, yeah, if we just would have mediated that problem early, we wouldn’t be here.
[00:15:33] Sharon Shelton: many of us have to work through trauma. I’ve had to work to through workplace trauma. I don’t think it’s easy in terms of having a conversation when I say embrace it in a healthy conversation, but starting with that, and I think we can start at our dining table at home and having a conversation.
[00:15:52] And so I think much was said about the dialogue not to have this past Thanksgiving in terms of, Oh, don’t get into the politics. I think we, there’s certain rules that when you’re having a dialogue that you want people to acknowledge certainly being respectful and letting people talk, but I think for us to recognize Why did that push our button?
[00:16:16] I think it’s about how you manage anger and frustration. we have to take care of that. I think in terms of the very crisis that we are dealing with in terms of the wildfires. And so that’s tragic in itself, but the crisis that we’re also dealing with in terms of blaming and the political conversation.
[00:16:43] That again, we could have the conversation, but let’s have it in a productive, healthy conversation that we discuss it, that yes, we could hold people accountable but we’re not having a very angry, mean spirited non productive conversation.
[00:17:02] Brittney Carey: We see a lot of non productive conversation happening, on the internet these days. It’s, there’s a lot of vitriol. There’s a lot of strong feelings on either side of the conversation and it makes it really hard to have a productive conversation. Especially when there’s big conversations around, racial justice and rights and LGBTQ plus rights and, we’re having all these really deep. Thoughts and things that does that need and require nuance and need and require, really good productive conversations to happen. And I think sometimes we get in our feelings too much about it. And we have more of an energetically feeling charged conversation rather than having a conversation that’s charged by here are the facts. Here’s what we’re seeing, here’s how it’s impacting community. Here’s how it’s impacting actual people in their lives. And I think that, makes it really difficult to have those sit down conversations. I think we’re seeing a lot of that these days. I don’t know if it’s more than we’ve seen it in the past. I don’t know if it just feels like there’s more because the internet is everywhere. It’s just, it’s interesting to consider.
[00:18:02] Sharon Shelton: Yeah, I certainly think we have more streams of communication in terms of whether that be the social media platform there are so many more news stations And so I think we have to be careful. I also think, I’m one that likes to be diverse in my knowledge and education in terms of what’s going on.
[00:18:27] I think oftentimes people get Their source just one source and oftentimes, that may not be rooted in facts. And so I think we have we have to be careful and I think we, there’s a. I think a position that we all need to come to in terms of we don’t have to agree on everything. I just need to respect your opinion and your right to do what you think
[00:18:55] And so I think we’re rooted in so rooted in terms of you have to think my way or you’re wrong. And so I think in terms of again, the crisis that we’re dealing with now I think it’s going to take all of us to really navigate together to make sure that we are being responsive to our community to the folks that have been impacted and that we need to support those communities.
[00:19:25] But again, I think we need to do that in a way that pushes the conversation forward, the conversation, the resources so that that we’re intentional about that end goal that we want to achieve.
[00:19:40] Brittney Carey: Yeah, absolutely. considering these types of conversations and how difficult they can be and how tricky they can be to navigate, especially for parents or educators really trying to navigate these spaces with young children, what do we think that parents or even educators can do so we’ve known You know, across the United States, there’s just been sweeping, attacks on LGBTQ students, trans students, on, critical race theory in classrooms, really talking about racial justice, racial inequities and so there’s been what feels like sweeping attacks on these ideas within education. And I know there are parents out there who have questions on how they can navigate it, right? There’s parents who live all over places even in Arkansas who, believe their child deserves to have an access to education regardless of their gender identity, regardless of their skin color. You live in Arkansas and there’s things happening in Arkansas in terms of education. And how can parents and educators work together? What conversations can they have to facilitate deeper relationships and social justice
[00:20:42] Sharon Shelton: Yeah, I think there’s so many nonprofits around that provide resources to have those conversations. also schools are communities within communities. So I think parents need to know the school what the strategic plan is for that school, what the mission is for that school.
[00:21:03] But also, in terms of not Don’t be afraid to have those conversations at home. I worked at a rape crisis center and often times when I would go to the schools, the teachers would say, I sent the boys to the gym so here are the girls. You can speak to them about rape and sexual assault.
[00:21:22] If I really want to talk about sexual violence, I’m wanting to speak about it with everyone. Both the young males and the females. And certainly statistically if we’re talking about prevention then I would be more likely to speak to the males than the females. But I think that was the theory that most people thought in terms of, you speak to girls about sexual violence.
[00:21:46] And so for parents, I think we’re so busy and it’s so much going on. including the dinner hour. And so we don’t have time. whether once a month or a routine just acknowledgement that we’re going to have some conversation around the table. And I think there are again, nonprofits that could help and lead that discussion in terms of resources.
[00:22:12] As a parent, how do I start the conversation? I think for youth and being able to pull conversations out. what’s often important is to be a good listener.
[00:22:24] if we give children an opportunity to speak, I think we should listen. Listen to them what they’re saying but also reading that body language as well. And certainly the Institute of Nonviolence Los Angeles, Days of Dialogue has a website where there are guides on there in terms of conversations that that parents can have.
[00:22:49] I think parents can start with the school. I’d like to have this conversation with my children can you help me navigate that? they might have. A fact sheet or a resource pamphlet that could be very helpful in furthering that conversation.
[00:23:06] Brittney Carey: I’ll link some of those resources in my show notes as well, so if you’re curious on how to have those conversations, you can go check out some organizations that might be able to help and support you in that journey. as a mediator, what strategies do you generally use in supporting, two organizations or two people in having conversations, especially when we’re talking about, racial justice or gender based violence?
[00:23:27] Sharon Shelton: I like to get my news from various points of views, because I do want to be open. I may not agree with it, but I’m just wanting to know what folks are saying and talking about. Immediately, I think when folks start a conversation we might be 60 seconds into the conversation.
[00:23:44] Why did they say that? And immediately push your buttons. And I think we have to be intentional in terms of, Okay, let me listen. I always think we need to be respectful. And I think there’s not a place for foul language, abusive language. But I think we have to be intentional in terms of committing.
[00:24:08] To listen. I think we could start at home. a lot of folks belong to some institution whether a book club or a faith institution that you’re part of that we begin to dialogue with people. Those folks that are closest to us, and I think some people would say that’s the challenge for me to speak to my family sometime isn’t easy, and so it may take, and I think a lot of times we might have a conversation or a dialogue and go, that was horrible, and I think we have to keep at it.
[00:24:40] I think Not everything will be solved in one conversation. And when you spoke about South Africa, that was many conversations. And I think we have to be strong enough, committed enough to continue that dialogue and continue that conversation.
[00:25:00] Brittney Carey: That is such a powerful sentiment that it takes many conversations sometimes that you’re right. It didn’t like the truth and reconciliation agreement in South Africa. That wasn’t like they brought it to the table and everyone agreed all of a sudden and it just was, a five minute conversation that was many conversations over a period of time to get to a space where there was an agreement. take time. They take time to bring to the table. They take, that takes a lot of compassion and understanding and, it takes a lot of, addressing my own biases in my own work, I think. I see a lot of, there’s different ways that generations communicate and I see, I admire Gen Z, because they have strong opinions about advocacy and justice issues that they strongly attach to, whether that is, race, whether that is the environment education, all these different things that they really deeply connect to and really deeply feel. And it’s why I’m a really big. And I’m a big, proponent of youth adult partnerships when we’re young and not jaded by bureaucracy of the world, we just think that I want it to happen. And why isn’t it happening right now? Why didn’t it happen yesterday? And there’s a lot of urgency to it, which valid. These are things that deserve a lot of urgency, especially when talking about justice issues. They deserve urgency. They deserve attention. They deserve, we deserve to be very loud about the issues, especially the justice issues that are powerful and meaningful to us. . Also understanding that things do take time and there’s gonna be lots of conversations and lots of different changes.
[00:26:27] Sharon Shelton: they take time. we have to be committed, yes, in the dialogue, the conversation, but committed in the work. And so I think it’s a time to be more civically engaged. And for example, when we talk about political, the election, we’re only thinking of the presidential election.
[00:26:47] There are so many other ways to be engaged and to votewe often don’t know the issues and measures we need to be educated on one of my college professors Dr. Robertson at Cal State Long Beach said, Strong individuals make strong families, and strong families make strong communities.
[00:27:09] I think we should start with that. What can I do to be a strong individual? And then how can I then, that ripple effect strong families? So then, again, we can build strong communities. We use the analogy of the mask. put your mask on first then help others.
[00:27:28] look in the mirror and make ourselves whole and strong. many of us have trauma and when we have dialogue, it pushes a button. Okay, let’s start to explore explore that and I am a great component in terms of self learning and if that needs to be with a therapist that we do exactly that so that we can live that model.
[00:27:51] Strong individuals make strong families strong communities. strong nation. Yes.
[00:27:57] Brittney Carey: Yes. I love coming back to self and analyzing. I’m feeling strongly about this. Why do I feel strongly about this? What is the pool for me to feel so strongly about this? And how am I reacting to other people when we’re talking about, different conversations?
[00:28:12] And I know it gets tricky when we’re talking about this. issues of justice, right? And, I don’t have much interest in arguing with someone about my own humanity, right? And, knowing where, you need to walk away from a conversation. And, sitting with yourself on that.
[00:28:26] I’m willing to have conversations up to a certain point, but I’m not about to argue about my own humanity, about how I deserve to exist, And just knowing that it’s not your job to change everybodyIf they want to change, there are resources They can lean on their community, talk to their people, if they want to But that’s their journey and you’re not going to be able to change the minds of every single person. But the more that we engage in these intentional and thoughtful conversations, The better things happen, we have strong individuals and those stronger families and really building that community, right? Because the more we push community away, the further we get from the goal. We need people, we need community to address these issues and make change.
[00:29:06] that’s where we get those massive steps back in social issues, we have disconnected from community. this is where we need community most
[00:29:13] Sharon Shelton: Absolutely. I’m glad you said that, Brittney, because when I say be committed to dialogue, you don’t have to be involved in a conversation that’s abusive. the goal is, to make you understand my point by the end being intentional in terms of the goal, it’s okay
[00:29:29] to stop the conversation not everyone’s ready for a conversation. we have to dowhat’s healthy and best for us.
[00:29:36] Brittney Carey: Always consider what’s healthy and safe for you in a conversation, and just knowing that, wherever our identities are intersecting, some of these conversations are just gonna, they happen more often than they wear you down day after day.
[00:29:49] So just knowing you don’t always have to be a part of the conversations if you feel like it’s wearing you down and it’s making you question your own humanity and making you question your own identity and your own self. It’s you don’t have to sit there and take it, you don’t have to be a part of conversations that are actively harmful or
[00:30:04] abusive
[00:30:04] You can walk away
[00:30:05] Sharon Shelton: I’m a cookie baker, and at holiday time, I bake cookies, as gifts, give my cookies away, and I meet with people who ordinarily, I would not communicate with because I’m involved in cookie swaps, I’m always interested.
[00:30:23] usually people, when they’re baking their cookies, it might be a family recipe that was passed down to them. And it’s just so fascinating to me. And to have a conversation about cookies, again, that I ordinarily would not have a conversation with individuals, but we could have a conversation about cookies.
[00:30:44] there’s usually something we can have a conversation about. Yes. And everyone wants to have the conversation about the nuclear bomb. That may not be the conversation to start with. maybe it’s the cookie recipe we start with.
[00:31:00] Brittney Carey: Yes, that is such a good point to think on, there’s other things we can connect with.
[00:31:04] when I’m doing those trainings, I’m like, let’s connect with the things we can Let’s find where we can agree. Let’s find where we are in alignment, And start from there.
[00:31:11] It’s a
[00:31:12] slow moving process. people don’t change overnight. It takes time. conversations. what does the future of education look like to you?
[00:31:24] Sharon Shelton: it’s a really good time for us to reimagine education and the freedom of education because I think history is part of education. And I think it’s been held down, so to speak. And so I think we have to let history speak for itself. for itself and not be afraid of history. And look to the future.
[00:31:46] education is a platform we all need to be involved in. I would love to reimagine the freedom of education.
[00:31:56] Brittney Carey: Freedom of education. I love that. That felt right in my soul.
[00:32:04] Sharon Shelton: Yeah.
[00:32:05] Brittney Carey: to that.
[00:32:06] Sharon Shelton: It’s one of the reasons why I created the Anti Racism Wheela consistent tool that’s in your face. people throw away a flyer but the Racism Wheel, people will pin it up and it will be a visual reminder in terms of ways to eliminate racism and begin to talk and communicate with people and again, I think we have to have the freedom of education to, to move forward,
[00:32:31] Brittney Carey: can you tell my audience more about the anti racism wheel? if they’re interested where can they check that out?
[00:32:37] Sharon Shelton: Nationally, there are over, 200 YWCAs rooted in eliminating racism and empowering women. And I created an anti racism wheel just to highlight ten simple ways to eliminate racism. And I think a lot of work that I’ve done in the schools and encourage families to do is to think of additional ways to eliminate racism.
[00:33:00] And so as you mentioned in terms of parents and speaking to their children, that’s just such a phenomenal conversation that we can have around the dinner table in terms of ways that we can eliminate racism. And one of the ways that’s on the wheel is Not to laugh at stereotypical jokes and get to know people.
[00:33:26] I think it would be great if families created their own ways to eliminate racism and then that can spark a conversation for so many other being tolerant of other folks. And again, I think folks are. Frightened of the hard conversation, and I think this is a time in history I think we have to lean into conversation, into conflict, to move forward and not be afraid of that.
[00:33:58] I think people are afraid of it thinking of what if it goes wrong, and I would say what if it goes right?
[00:34:07] Brittney Carey: Yes. I love a good reframe. I’ll reframe things all day, I love that. What if it goes right? you never know the outcome when you first try that is the essence of vulnerability is that You’re doing something and you have no idea what the outcome is.
[00:34:21] You have no idea what the reception of it’s gonna be. But you’re putting yourself out there and trying that is vulnerability and life. Sharon, thank you so much for joining me This has been beautiful If my audience is curious, where can they find you?
[00:34:35] Sharon Shelton: I have a website, Brittney, I would love folks to visit Sharon L Shelton. com and so reach out and again, I worked in the non profit sector and that is I believe my mission to make sure nonprofits are sustainable and are working through social justice issues.
[00:34:58] Brittney Carey: Beautiful. I will link that down in my show notes, so if you’re curious on connecting with Sharon, you can go to her website, thank you again for joining me on the podcast. This has been a beautiful conversation.
[00:35:09] Sharon Shelton: Thank you Brittney. Thank you for the invitation.
[00:35:13] Brittney Carey: Absolutely.