Growing Up Biracial: Mona Norfleet on Healing and Belonging

In this episode of Stories That Stay, hosts Shamm H. Petros and Dwight Dunston talk with Mona Norfleet—equity advocate, writer, and community builder—about growing up biracial and finding belonging across cultures. Mona reflects on her biracial upbringing as the daughter of Mary Norfleet, an Italian American from the Bronx, and Tom Norfleet, a Black man from rural Alabama. Through tender reflection, Mona revisits her earliest memories of racial difference: her father’s warm brown hands and a painful moment of exclusion that reshaped her sense of self. With openness and courage, she explores how storytelling helps transform shame into pride and memory into healing.“I remember looking at my father’s hands—they were the color of sweet chocolate milk and mahogany wood.” “When that boy said what he said, it felt like someone slapped me in the face. I was furious—and ashamed for the first time.” “Just thinking of my parents showing up for me—I don’t feel the tightness in my chest anymore.”What you’ll hear • Grounding breath and mindful arrival • Early memories of race and belonging • Naming and scaling emotions • Reimagining moments of racial stress • Healing through story and ancestral connectionAbout Mona Norfleet Mona Norfleet is a human-services student, racial-equity advocate, and membership director at her local YMCA. She cultivates belonging across generations and cultures, centering dignity, cultural humility, and lived experience.Stories That Stay is a project of Lion’s Story, a nonprofit dedicated to building racial literacy through storytelling, mindfulness, and healing. Rooted in over 35 years of research by Dr. Howard C. Stevenson at the University of Pennsylvania, our work guides individuals and institutions to reclaim their stories, reduce identity-based stress, and step into authentic inclusion—not as a checklist, but as a way of being.For a full video version of this podcast, visit our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@StoriesThatStayPodcastProduced and edited by Peterson Toscano. Mindful moment music by Dwight Dunston. Music by Epidemic Sound.Podcast site: StoriesThatStay.net Hosts: Shamm Petros and Dwight Dunston