Episode 15: Everyday Conversations on Race with Jada Imani

Jada Imani, an Oakland, CA-based MC, hip-hop artist, workshop facilitator, and founder of the Tatu Vision movement, is dedicated to helping co-create regenerative communities through her performing event production and hosting, healing practice, and coalition-building with communities of poets, Hip-Hop aficionados, entrepreneurs and Permaculture practitioners. She was born in Belleville, Illinois and spent half of her childhood in Illinois and Missouri. Jada believes we are all influenced by race, and she thinks of leveraging her unique position of being from a mixed-race background to bring Black and White together. Apart from sharing about Tatu vision activities, Jada shares her favorite cultural music mashups. Talking about Hip-hop culture, she points out the difference between a true hip-hop soul and gimmicky people. Disrespect to the hip-hop culture by such people brings a lot of disappointment to Jada. Since childhood, Jada has loved music and gets inspired from every genre. She shares about how she uses music and performing to bring people together across race and make everyone feel included. Talking about her experience of racism, her light skin attracts a lot of attention and has experienced painful comments from Black and White people. According to Jada, a lot of millennials are more sensitive and interested in growth and liberation. But there is still hatred and racism among some of the young generations, most probably the effect of acquiring this hatred from their previous generation. Many of the white supremacists are millennials. Jada says it most important to focus on your growth, peace, and love but also don't avoid the crucial matters like racism!! It needs to be solved.