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In this passionate conversation about cultural appropriation Caroline Caldwell and your host, Carol Hamilton discuss the Dos and Don’ts. 

Caroline is a nonprofit founder and a community activist, of over 20 years and her unique understanding of Cultural Appropriation has pivotal many people to understand the delicate ways in which we can have conversations around the often heated topic. 

Carol and Caroline take this conversation from such heated topics of using slang, to even conversations about the racy lyrics of Cardi B. This conversation has it all but more than anything it has the signature Evolving Diversity theme of understanding and tolerance.  This is a conversation that will leave you laughing out loud and pondering how you can connect deeper with your fellow brothers and sisters.  

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Main Ideas
How do you what's Cultural Appropriation?
• How do know when you are actually celebrating and honoring someone’s culture?
• Need to make sure when sharing in someone’s culture that you give reference to, and accolades to that culture and not just taking and using it and disregarding where it comes from. 
• Even look at country music references which are historically taken from Blues, and very rarely referenced. 

Appropriation can be difficult 
• Many times people are oppressed, culture is ripped from them and they are left with nothing. 
• There are so many historical differences, and perspectives
• The lens is completely distorted and many people are taking credit for culture and history that does not belong to them.

Some great ways to bridge the gaps and understand each other cultures better
• Call your black churches and ask to visit or meet with the hospitality team
• Initiate active conversations with other groups of cultures different from you

It comes down to being more observant of your behaviors and staying true to yourself.
• Don’t try and change your vernacular to fit it, or the way you dress to fit in, please be the authentic you, that you know you are
• Code-switching becomes a problem when you're doing it because of whom 
• if you're white, would you say that to another white person?

KEY Thoughts
2:02 - “The problem is you take something that doesn't belong to you. You don't give credit to where it comes from.
You don't even give respect. To where it comes from. You don't even feel like you need to talk about why you like doing it.”
6:18 - “So I'm going to say this black person, even when it comes to appropriation, we are all monolithic in how we see it and perceive it and how we experience it. Absolutely. Right. And so, again, I don't have a problem. With white people wanting to do black stuff. Right. That's not my problem because we're awesome.”
19:31 - "That becomes the issue when you grab things that don't belong to you as if they're yours and you created them it's a lot of work, right. But that's the work that's required in this country in order for us to heal in order for us to be in a space where we can start to share experiences openly and lovingly, right. Is that acknowledgment because there's so much hurt, Carol. There's so much hurt behind the fabric of being a person of color in this country. 
22:41 - “I tell people all the time, you're not going to ever hear me say if the police, my whole entire family is law enforcement, so that's not my issue. But the reality is the history of policing. Policing is not in the constitution. The history of policing is slave controlling. That's where police came from. Slave patrols turn into state police turns into County police turns into city police period. And so the foundation of policing is still the same to oppress, suppress and control Brown bodies. That's never changed..”
24:21 - “ And this is where I think cultural appropriation has a shot at changing is when people like you tell people like me, do you realize what you're doing? So, you know, what are you doing? You're inviting people to step into black churches without having any preamble, without having any pre-relationship without asking for an invitation that's wrong.  Don't do that. Here's how you can do it because I think if we keep offering, here's what you need to do instead. And here's how it can be. We're going to, that's how we change the world.”
25:19 - “Here's what I believe, even in these troubled times, even when there's so much division and we're split like right down the middle, I still believe people are inherently good. I still believe that people want the best for them, the best for the people that they love, and the best for their neighbors. I feel like sometimes all the noise and the pain and the suffering, that you feel you sometimes can't see your way past that, but there is a way past that.
 
Resources
http://newmindhealthandcare.org/
Please Reach Caroline at
c.caldwell@reflight.org