83: Beyond Fragility: An Anti-Racism Guide by Women of Color Psychologists with Dr. Natalie Watson-Singleton and Dr. Yara Mekawi

This episode is powerful. I’m honored to have two of the three authors of the book, Beyond Fragility with me today. Dr. Natalie Watson-Singleton and Dr. Yara Mekawi, along with Danielle Dawson, have written truly the best anti-racism resource I’ve ever encountered. As a white person and a clinician, it is powerful to hear this perspective of what we need to do psychologically to get to a place of anti-racism. Drs. Natalie and Yara are researchers, educators, writers, and the co-founders of DEAR, the Dialectical Engagement and Anti-Racism Project. Join us to learn more about this timely and important topic!

Show Highlights:

●      The origins of DEAR and Beyond Fragility as an outgrowth of Yara’s Medium article, How to not be a “Karen”: Managing the tensions of anti-racism allyship

●      The differences between DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) and traditional talk therapy

●      Systemic racism, emotions, and “whiteness”

●      The goal of Beyond Fragility: to teach hard truths and skills that are necessary for a society that isn’t harmful to people of color

●      The DBT skill of effectiveness as a decision-guiding principle

●      A perspective on furthering anti-racism instead of placing blame

●      Barriers to anti-racism work

●      Anti-racism skills covered in the book, like accept, feel, detect, etc.

●      “Fight or flight” responses–and how they show up in anti-racism

●      Anti-racist repair and apologies

●      Skills to use in calling out racist missteps: (CALL) clarify what happened, acknowledge intentions, lay out the reasons, and list possible solutions; (OUT) observing, using humility, and tolerating resistance

●      The DEI calculator–and how to use it to ask for other perspectives

●      An example of anti-racism tools and skills in action with racial marginalization

Resources and Links:

Connect with Dr. Natalie, Dr. Yara, and The DEAR Project: Website, Instagram,

and Facebook, LinkedIn

Beyond Fragility: A Skills-Based Guide to Effective Anti-Racist Allyship by Dr. Natalie Watson-Singleton, Dr. Yara Mekawi, and Danielle Dawson

Also mentioned in this episode: White Fragility by Dr. Robin DiAngelo

Connect with KC: Website, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook

Get KC’s book, How to Keep House While Drowning

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