0:19

Hello , welcome back to the

0:21

podcast . My name is Jebba

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Edmonds and welcome to

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the Cultural Curriculum Chat . I

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am so happy that you're here with us

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today . We are going to focus

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on words and phrases

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to use and avoid

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in D , e and I communication

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. Before we begin , don't forget to

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hit that subscribe button so

0:43

you never miss an episode

0:46

. One of my favorite quotes that

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I want to share with you is by

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Joy Meads from the

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American Theater Communications Group

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, and she says , and I quote

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we are not doomed to act

0:59

on our unconscious biases

1:01

, but we can't overcome

1:03

them unless we know what

1:05

they look like and where they live

1:07

. Last week's episode we

1:09

talked about key vocabulary terms

1:12

in DE&I . In one

1:14

of those terms we touched

1:16

on unconscious biases , and

1:19

so when we are thinking

1:21

of these common phrases that

1:24

are not good to share anymore

1:26

, a lot of that stems from these

1:28

stereotypes and attitudes , of

1:31

our unconscious biases of

1:33

the adults that were

1:40

in our lives and how

1:42

it shaped underlying effects

1:44

of these phrases that

1:47

are very common in our

1:49

vernacular , but it also

1:51

hinges upon the

1:53

underlying nuances

1:56

that really harm

1:58

different cultural groups in our

2:00

society . I found a

2:02

really great common DE&I

2:05

language reference guide that

2:07

I will have in the description

2:10

below so you can look

2:12

at the multitude

2:14

of harmful phrases that

2:17

have been touched on , and also

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they have given you great

2:21

strategies of how to turn

2:23

these phrases and reword

2:26

them so that they are not inflicting

2:28

more harm towards others . So

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I'm going to share a

2:32

couple of these harmful phrases

2:34

and what particular

2:37

marginalized group it

2:39

affects the most , and then

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I'm going to give you examples

2:44

on how to rephrase

2:46

it in a way that it is not causing

2:48

harm . So , for example

2:51

, a harmful phrase that you might have

2:53

heard about geared negatively

2:55

towards Asian Americans is

2:58

gung-ho , and

3:00

instead of saying that phrase

3:03

no

3:07

, and instead of saying that phrase , we need to reframe it and change

3:09

it into being I am so enthusiastic about something , or

3:11

I'm so excited about something

3:13

. Another harmful phrase that

3:16

you might have heard or have used as

3:18

well is the phrase

3:20

long time no see , also

3:22

very harmful towards the Asian community

3:25

, and so you can change

3:27

that phrase into I haven't

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seen you in a long time

3:31

or it's been a while . These

3:34

are some phrases that you should use instead

3:36

, a couple of phrases that

3:38

impact negatively people in

3:40

the Black community . Is the

3:43

phrase calling a spade a spade

3:45

Very harmful verbiage , and you

3:47

want to change that phrase to telling

3:49

it like it is . That's a very

3:51

good reframed phrase

3:54

that you can use . Moving forward , another

3:56

one that a lot of people still use

3:58

without even knowing the intention

4:01

is mumbo jumbo . That

4:04

is also negatively impacting people

4:06

in the Black community . To rephrase

4:08

that , you want to say I couldn't

4:11

understand them or they must have been

4:13

mumbling something . A couple

4:15

phrases that touch on negatively

4:17

to the Indigenous people in

4:19

our society is low

4:21

man on the totem pole very

4:23

harmful phrase . You want to change

4:26

that to the lowest ranking

4:28

person in the workforce or

4:30

a person with the least positional

4:32

power . I hear quite a bit

4:35

. Also negative is the

4:37

phrase of circle the wagons . You

4:40

want to change that to protecting

4:42

ourselves . And another one

4:44

phrase that you hear quite a

4:46

bit in the LGBTQIA

4:50

plus community that has negative

4:52

connotation is that's so gay

4:55

. To rephrase would be oh

4:57

, that's so silly or that's bizarre . Another

5:00

phrase that has been harmful

5:02

to people with disabilities that

5:08

has been harmful to people with disabilities turning a blind eye or turning a deaf ear to

5:10

something . You can change those two negative connotations to

5:12

oh , that's willfully ignorant or

5:14

I'm deliberately ignoring

5:17

you or it was deliberately ignored

5:19

to me . That is a phrase that

5:21

you should use . Instead , we are

5:23

going to be in situations where

5:25

these phrases and

5:27

there's a lot more in this reference guide

5:30

that have been so

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automatic in

5:34

our slang and vernacular

5:36

that some of us feel that the connotations

5:39

don't carry as much weight

5:41

. But if you are a person in these

5:44

identities and cultural groups

5:46

, it does still carry weight . It

5:48

still has that . You know nails

5:50

on the chalkboard feel when

5:52

you hear these phrases and when

5:55

people don't call out those phrases

5:57

to check and correct that

5:59

phrase and educate

6:02

others of what we can't say that

6:04

phrase anymore . Or you know , I

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heard something on Jeba's podcast

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that these are some phrases

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that we should turn it

6:13

into a better connotation by using

6:15

these new phrases to

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get our point across still

6:19

, but with a more positive connotation

6:22

to what we mean . There's tons

6:25

more in this reference guide

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that are even more hurtful and

6:29

harmful that I just don't feel comfortable sharing

6:31

. I just wanted to give you a touch of

6:33

some phrases just to get

6:36

your mind into that space of wow

6:38

. This is pretty common and I found

6:41

myself saying these phrases

6:43

too , but now that I know

6:45

the negative connotations behind them

6:47

, I know I can do better . So

6:49

if you say these phrases , we are all

6:51

human , but we all need to understand

6:54

, when that does happen , that we

6:56

need to have that growth

6:58

mindset of I will do better

7:00

and I will hold myself accountable

7:02

. I really want you to practice

7:05

this by thinking about when

7:07

you are in the moment and you do

7:10

say something , then I want you to

7:12

say to oh , I am so sorry

7:14

, I meant to say something else

7:16

or I'm so sorry , I

7:19

really stepped in at this time

7:21

. I will do the work and do better . Last

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week's key vocabulary exercise

7:27

, we worked on a journal

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prompt and I'm going to have us do that

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again with ourselves

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today for a new journal

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prompts . So if you do have

7:38

your journals with you

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and your favorite pen

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, I'm going to have you think about

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a harmful phrase or hurtful

7:47

saying and I want

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you to write that hurtful

7:51

phrase at the top . I gave

7:53

you some examples in this episode . But

7:55

if you just kind of think back and reflect

7:58

of some things that you have

8:00

said without the intention

8:03

of harming a particular group , but you still

8:05

said it anyway think about the

8:07

context clues of what

8:09

that could be pointed towards

8:12

of a particular group . So

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when you think of that harmful phrase

8:16

, you write it down in your journal and

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I want you to kind of think of that

8:20

phrase in if it was

8:22

said out loud , and I want

8:25

you to write down these three prompts for me . So the first , and I want you to write down these

8:27

three prompts for me . So the first prompt I want you to

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write down is how do you

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think they feel about

8:33

this phrase and they

8:35

meaning that cultural

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group that it's geared towards

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? How do you think they might have felt with

8:42

this phrase ? How do you think that person's

8:45

reaction might have been , if there

8:47

was a reaction ? The next prompt

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I want you to write down and I want you to answer

8:52

authentically where do

8:54

you think that idea or phrase

8:57

came from ? And , lastly

8:59

, how do these mentalities

9:01

create barriers for change

9:03

? When we're thinking about the phrases

9:06

and the origins of where you think it

9:08

might have come from or why this

9:11

phrase is hurtful and

9:13

harmful towards particular groups of people

9:15

, how are these

9:17

mentalities still creating barriers for

9:20

change ? How are we not

9:22

the

9:26

negative connotation and , knowing

9:28

the vast vocabulary

9:30

that we have in the English language , why

9:33

are we still using these hurtful phrases

9:35

as a default setting in

9:38

our subconscious when we do have

9:40

more words in our vocabulary to

9:42

get the same point across . So

9:45

I want you to take some

9:47

time this week and

9:49

answer fully and

9:52

honestly about that hurtful phrase

9:54

that you wrote in your journal , and I want

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you to think about how does it make that person

9:58

feel if you've said it out loud to

10:00

them and where do you think that

10:02

phrase came from , and what

10:05

are those barriers that

10:07

are still in place , affecting

10:09

us from doing the positive

10:11

work that we need to do ? Having said

10:13

that , I love self-reflection

10:16

. It's a huge tool that I've

10:18

worked with over 60 organizations

10:21

and counting in doing

10:23

these self-reflective practices

10:25

of looking at harmful

10:27

phrases , harmful idioms

10:30

and trying to unpack

10:32

it all to see what are the origins

10:34

of that and what happens

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when I have a colleague of mine

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saying this out loud to the

10:41

group of us in the workplace , and

10:43

what are the tools that I need

10:45

to disrupt and dispel

10:47

those same patterns

10:50

that we need to unlearn and then

10:52

relearn new ones . I

10:54

have created a wonderful

10:57

resource for you all to check

10:59

out and enroll today . Think

11:01

about this as a launching

11:04

point of creating your own

11:06

diverse and inclusive

11:08

culture , and I can't wait to

11:10

help you and your organization succeed

11:13

. Our interactive training will

11:15

help you identify these

11:17

biases that you hold dear , so

11:20

that you can mitigate the risks they

11:22

pose to your organization

11:24

. We will help you explore

11:26

how changing your own perspective

11:28

can change how you think

11:30

about D , e and I

11:32

and B . So how to Be

11:35

a Culturally Competent Leader digital

11:37

learning course will take you on

11:40

this five-part diversity

11:42

course where you can learn how

11:44

to recognize , understand

11:46

and eliminate the

11:48

unconscious biases that is

11:50

hindering your

11:52

progress for positive change

11:55

. Enroll in my course today and

11:57

start creating that inclusive

11:59

and culturally competent workplace

12:01

on my website at

12:03

jebedmondscom slash

12:06

digital course . Now

12:08

, before we wrap up , I really want

12:11

you to take the time to sit

12:13

with those prompts that I have shown you , and

12:16

I also want you to , of

12:18

course , enroll into my course so you

12:20

get up to date and more

12:22

vetted materials so you don't feel so

12:24

overwhelmed . And I also want

12:26

you to go forth

12:29

and practice those

12:31

new rephrases so

12:33

you can show your

12:35

friends in our marginalized

12:38

communities that you do

12:40

have their back . Thank

12:42

you all so much and I can't wait to see

12:44

you here same time next

12:46

week . Bye-bye .