My guests on the podcast this week are Dr. Kami Anderson and Dr. Joy Wiggins, co-authors of the newly released book, From Sabotage to Support: A New Vision for Feminist Solidarity in the Workplace.
I had the opportunity to participate in a workshop led by the authors and based on the book. It was an enlightening experience, and a gentle reminder to me that as a white woman doing diversity and inclusion work and advocating for women’s rights it’s really important for me to keep in mind that my experiences as a female in this society are not universal.
In our interview, Joy and Kami shared the background of the book, and we had rich conversations around power and privilege, the systems that pit women against one another, and the role men must also play in advocating for gender equity in a more meaningful way.
I highly recommend the book for anyone who is doing diversity, equity and inclusion work.
Dr. Kami Anderson is an interculturalist, scholar and language advocate. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dr. Anderson has always kept a tight grip on her passion and compassion for others and difference through language. Her primary focus is family empowerment through language with an emphasis on application and confidence. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Spelman College, a Master’s degree in International Affairs/Interdisciplinary Studies in International Communication and Anthropology from American University and a PhD in Communication and Culture from Howard University.
Dr. Anderson is the founder and CEO of Bilingual Brown Babies and creator of a revolutionary online program that meets Black families where they are in their journey to bilingualism. She’s a passionate life-long teacher and the go-to girl when it comes to language, Blackness and identity.
Dr. Anderson has published extensively in both English and Spanish in scholarly and trade journals as well as in national US news publications. She has published several other books including: Raising Bilingual Brown Babies: Everyday strategies to become a confident bilingual family (2018, KDP Publishing) and Language, Identity and Choice: Raising Bilingual Children in a Global Society (2015, Lexington Books) which talks about her own experiences raising her children bilingual. You can connect with Kami at sojourningwhileblack@gmail.com.
Joy L. Wiggins, Ph.D., received her doctorate from The Ohio State University in multicultural education and social justice. She is the founder and CEO of Joy Wiggins, PhD: Equity and Inclusion Consulting which provides speaking, facilitation and mentorship opportunities on the topics of power, privilege, racial and gender justice and liberation. She has spent the last 20 years working on understanding our cultural identities and perceptions of how we navigate the world through our cultural identities.
Dr. Wiggins’ consulting centers around understanding biases and women supporting women in the workplace. She teaches multicultural children’s literature, literacy and English language learning in the Elementary Education department at Western Washington University. Based on her 2017 TEDxWWU talk, she and Dr. Kami J. Anderson wrote, From Sabotage to Support: A New Vision for Feminist Solidarity in the Workplace and is available now. You can connect with Joy at her website: www.joywiggins.com or any of the following social media platforms: Twitter @DrJoyGPP, Instagram: @Drjoywiggins, Facebook: @joywigginsGPP.
