Multiracial Whiteboy

Multiracial Whiteboy podcast host Kim Noonan talks about the new biracial head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Mike McDaniel, with Dr. Jenn Noble (Mixed Race Psychologist). Mike is white in presenting, but identified himself as a "human" during his first team press conference. Kim related all too well to McDaniel's discomfort about having to identify your racial identity and discusses with this complicated topic with Dr. Jenn. 

 Fanshen Cox has been featured in the New York Times and on NPR, with OpEds published for Blavity, Shondaland and The Lily. Reared in Cambridge, Massachusetts by a Pan Africanist, Jamaican-born father and white Northwestern mother, Fanshen uses her family’s heritage to spark conversation and challenge notions around race, class and gender. Fanshen talks to Kim about her dedicated work regarding the Hollywood Inclusion Rider, why she's critical of the mixed community, doing theater with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and working with them years later at Pearl Street Films. 

Jackie Stewart is a meditation and mindfulness advisor. Jackie talks about the challenges of growing up in Orange County with her single Taiwanese mother, struggling with her mixed identity and  mother's cultural heritage, the decision to model in Asia, and leaving  on the fly to a Nepal Montessori.  A great story about personal redemption!

Mickey Finnegan is a Writer/Director best known for his music video and commercial work with artists and brands such as Usher, The Offspring and Pepsi.  Mickey, who's Irish & Filipino, talks about his Irish roots in his family,  growing up with no Asian role models in his life and the ongoing challenges of dealing with the typical Asian male stereotypes. 

Anya Steinberg was the 2021 Grand-Prize Winner of NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge. Her podcast "He's Just 23 Chromosomes," takes listeners through her journey of self-discovery when she learns that her biological father was an anonymous Korean sperm donor she had always been told was a doctor.  Kim talks to Anya about the half-Korean father she grew up with, dealing with imposter syndrome during her time at Colorado College, and why she wants to meet her biological Korean sperm donor. 

Haui is the creator of Mixed↑. His documentary follows his life as he combats the isolations of a BIPOC and LGTQT+ as he helps to normalize the existence of being an “other.” Part testimonial, part confessional, Kim talks to Haui about the challenging personal topics explored in his film, moving back and forth between Canada and the UK, finding approval in the Black community and the reason the film centers around his relationship with his father. 

 Doni Aldine is a globally mobile Afro-Latina and first-generation North American who, by age 19, lived in & identified with seven cultures on five continents.  Doni talks to Kim about what it means to be a TCK (Third Culture Kid), the 13 dimensions of a TCK,  the multi-cultural lifestyle, unresolved grief when she settled down in Colorado, and how 21st diversity will lead to a future of empathy.  Doni Aldine, MBA, is recognized by FOLIO as a 2020 TOP Women in Media Honoree. She also does consulting for iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, NBC/Universal, Turner, and Warner Bros. https://www.cultursmag.com/about-culturs/

Actor and content creator, Ryan Alexander Holmes, has a loyal following on his Instagram page for creating challenging, witty and clever stories about his Blasian identity. But he wants you to know, even though he looks black, he's  also 100% Chinese. Kim talks to Ryan about growing up in the San Gabriel Valley with his Chinese family, learning about real African-American history from his father, his powerful letter to the Asian community regarding the death of George Floyd, and the moment when he started to  prioritize his own happiness and well being. 

Actress Cynda Williams likes to say she was conceived in Muncie, Indiana and born in Chicago. Cynda talks to Kim about her parents illegal interracial marriage in 1964, her trailblazing black civil rights grandfather, booking Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues, and of course, One False Move, where was nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. But beyond life in Hollywood, a fascinating chat about growing up Chicago and Indiana during what she called the black power civil rights time! 

After talented and self-proclaimed multi-hyphenate, Elyse Cisek, got called out on a woman of color of L.A. Facebook Group regarding police brutality, she asked herself... What If I'm Wrong? That question has been the first of many steps on her road to finding her own sense of truthfulness. Elyse talks to Kim about her riveting article Dear White Friends that was published on Medium,  a crucial moment of having to choose her ethnicity at the DMV as a teenager, the moment she found a sense of acceptance after watching Beyonce's Lemonade, and forgiving herself and others on her own terms. A brutally honest discussion about the consequences of not accepting one's racial identity, and how it led to destructive personal behavior. https://elysecizek.medium.com/

The first week  when comedian Adrian Cronk moved to Kingston, Ontario from North Carolina, he knew his biracial identity might be an issue when a kid on the bus said to him... Why don't you go home, get in the bathtub and paint your face white.  Adrian talks to Kim about growing up in Canada and the Carolinas, being inspired by the deacons at his black church in North Carolina, finding his voice at local radio station, and boldly exploring his biracial identity on the stage. Adrian has opened for Comedy Greats like Russell Peters, Jon Dore and Tom Green. He's also been featured at the world-famous Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, Halifax Comedy Festival on CBC, and Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud network.  Adrian was chosen to be Yuk Yuks Ottawa's first House Emcee in thirty years. Link to Adrian's album Hybrid: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/hybrid/1329945009

Aaron Keller is the writer of Marginal Eyes, a memoir of a biracial American’s struggle for identity in a nation of black and white.  Kim talks to Aaron about how his life took a turn for the worst at age ten when he moved to a rural suburban in Indiana, the anger and destructive behavior that manifested itself into other areas of his life as a result, and why he decided to  write a memoir about his personal struggles with his biracial identity.  Great talk!Link to Aaron Keller's book: https://marginaleyesbook.com/

"I can tell people almost anything and they believe it. But the thing I actually am, they’re always shocked by.” Actress Erin Ruth Walker, who's Black & Jewish, talks to Kim  about struggling to take up space as a black woman, trying to figure out what "being black" means to her since the George Floyd tragedy, and the poem she chose to write to give her complicated upbringing and mixed identity an opportunity to be fully seen. Erin's story is poignant, perceptive and touching. She also shares the loveliest story about how her mother and father met for the first time. Spoiler alert: It involves cats. Fantastic chat!

Lisa Helmi Johanson had a mic drop moment that set her voice and herself free... But it took a little work to get there. Lisa "Hurricane" Helmi Johanson (Korean and Finnish) talks to Kim about her mother leaving it all behind and coming to America from Korea with her Fiddish father, dealing with inappropriate comments about being Asian in college, and talking to her conservative mother and father about the recent hate crimes against Asian-Americans. 

Actress & dancer, Candice Coke, has lived several different lives as a result of her immense talent as an athlete, dancer and performer. Candice, whose her mother is Polish, and father is Jamaican, talks to Kim talks about going to door to door as a Jehovah Witness with her mother, graduating HS early to attend NYU on a diving scholarship, booking her first major dance gig with Michael Jackson, and how her upbringing and mixed identity connected her to a greater diversity of people from all different backgrounds. 

Lauren Shields always struggled to share her journey as a mixed woman. Her mother is Irish and English, her father is African-American, and Native American (Cherokee and Choctow lineage). As she says, "I wasn't black and white enough, and had zero connection to my indigenous side." What Kim didn't see coming during their conversation however was when Lauren revealed that this lifelong struggle created a lot self-hatred toward herself. But with a little help from her black friends, and a retreat doing Ayahuasca , Lauren has since found power and redemption in accepting all the ethnicities she represents. Fantastic and honest discussion! Lauren Shields: https://www.merakimamacollective.com/

Once Sharmane "MixedGirlMane" Fury, reveals her entire family background, you realize that she is exactly what she says she is...militantly mixed (Black, Japanese and White). The host of the popular podcast, Militantly Mixed, opens up to Kim about her grandparents interracial marriages in the fifties, Japanese  domesticity classes, trying to connect in Asian spaces, her grandmother's collection of Jim Crowe artifacts, and her lifelong mission of accepting her mixed-ass self. 

For Jonah Aimz, it's his love of filmmaking and acting, that has led him on a creative journey to find his individual voice and identity as a person of Middle Eastern, Turkish and Indian descent. Jonah talks to Kim about the growing pains that came during his formative years in a small town in Illinois, where he says 90 percent of the week was spent with his caucasian friends, and the rest of his time at a mosque with those that looked like him.  He also opens up about the overwhelming sense of dread he felt on September 11, 2001, and how he knew that tragic day would change his life forever. 

Dr. Jenn discovered early on in undergrad that her research about racial identity led her to 'me' search. After all, she is Tamil Sri Lankan and African-American. Now, Dr. Jenn helps coach parents to help raise confident and secure mixed race kids. Kim digs deep with Dr. Jenn to discuss the overwhelming difficulty that parents struggle with when it comes to navigating their children's racial identity. But first, he turns the tables on Dr. Jenn, as she shares how her own unique mixed background inspired the kind of work she's doing within the mixed community. If you're a parent of mixed kids, don't miss this personal and informative discussion!  Read more about Dr. Jenn: https://drjennpsych.com/

The Multiracial Whiteboy podcast ends 2020 on a positive note with actor, Joel Steingold (The Chi, How To Get Away With Murder, Maron ). Joel, who is Black & Jewish, talks to Kim about growing up in the city of Detroit with his single white Jewish mother, going to Hebrew school in the suburbs, booking more voice-over jobs once he changed his full name to something more urban, and his ability to relate with people from other backgrounds as a result of his unique upbringing and hardworking mother. Great guy, great talk! More about Joel @ https://www.joelsteingold.com/