Increasing Empathy: Asian American Pacific Islander Edition

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 1 on Fit As A Fiddle!As we wrap up Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May 2021, I dive into another interesting and enlightening conversation with Dr. Tade Ayeni. In this episode, Dr. Ayeni discusses some of the historical implications that have contributed to the Asian American and Pacific Islander lived experiences in the United States. He touches on 19th century laws, the story of Bhagat Singh Thind, the internment of Japanese Americans, and the award-winning controversy for the movie Minari. The goal of these episodes is to open up difficult conversation surrounding race so that we can see the world around is in a slightly different light. Dr. Ayeni and I hope that listeners, and client-facing professionals especially, are able to gain more empathy and understanding of people who don’t look or sound like themselves.Dr. Tadé Ayeni is the Director of Diversity and Equity at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and Assistant Professor in the Human Dimension program. Dr. Ayeni enjoys creating meaningful connections with people from various backgrounds within and outside of the medical school with the aim of working toward a more genuinely equitable educational system for all students, which is a key piece in the fight to produce more equitable health outcomes in society. Listen to Dr. Ayeni’s other episodes on Fit As A Fiddle:Issues of Race in Healthcare: Seeing Others As HumansRace As A Social Construct