The Culture We Speak

When Cultures Collide

 
In this episode, Sandrine Umunoza, Manar Jaber and I explore issues relating to the violence of systemic racism on immigrant populations in Canada. We discuss their organization GAAROA and examine antiracism efforts in the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology. 
Sandrine is a bilingual speech-language pathologist of Rwandan origin who practices in English and French. She lives in Gatineau, Québec where she owns her own private practice (Cabinet d’orthophonie l’Envol). She has also offered various conferences and workshops across Canada about how to better be culturally responsive in practice and she specializes in multilingual language development and multilingual education practices with a focus on identity and culture. Also, for the past 10 years, Sandrine has been involved with indigenous communities to better serve their communication, language, and learning needs. She teaches at the University of Montreal at the Speech-language and Audiology Master’s program (École d’orthophonie et audiologie) and the University of Québec in Chicoutimi in the department of Education Sciences.  Sandrine is an active member and cofounder of Le Groupe d’action antiraciste en orthophonie et en audiologie (GAAROA) or the Anti-racism Advocacy Group for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. She is also the co-author of the Report on the Impacts of Systemic Racism in the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Professions in Québec (August 2020).
Manar is a trilingual speech-language pathologist of Lebanese and Syrian origins who was born and raised in Montreal. She works in the public health system and in private practice, primarily with racialized and multilingual communities. For the past three years, she has been practicing with autistic children and their families. She is interested in multilingualism, identity matters, and anti-racist activism, and is continually learning in order to make her practice more respectful of neurodiversity and more inclusive. Also, as of recently, she started working as a project coordinator for the implementation of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies in the department of Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Québec in Trois-Rivière. Manar is an active member of Le Groupe d’action antiraciste en orthophonie et en audiologie (GAAROA) or the Anti-racism Advocacy Group for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. Through her volunteer work with GAAROA, she has offered workshops covering topics such as cultural responsiveness, implicit biases and microaggressions. She is also the co-author of the Report on the Impacts of Systemic Racism in the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Professions in Québec. She currently lives in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Connect with Sandrine: 
Email: sandrineumunoza@gmail.com
Private practice: Cabinet d’orthophonie l’Envol
Website: https://www.orthophonielenvol.com/
Instagram: @orthophonielenvol
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orthophonielenvol
Connect with Manar:
Instagram: @manaar.j
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manar.jaber.91/
Email : manar.jaber91@gmail.com
GAAROA website and social media:
Website: https://www.gaaroa.ca/
Instagram: @gaaroa2020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GAAROA/
 
To contact and/or book an event with Dionna Latimer-Hearn: dlhearn.net | dlhearn@yahoo.com | 682.777.2749 

Colonized, Categorized, and Creolized Culture

In this episode, Dr. Anick Tolbize and I discuss the challenges of forming an identity through a borrowed language and worldview.  We examine the validity of creole language and culture, the inadequacies of demographic categories, and the significance of embracing one’s own identity. 
Dr. Anick Tolbize lived in the US in the state of Minnesota for five years while completing her PhD in educational psychology. She has been living and working on the island of Rodrigues, her home island, in the Republic of Mauritius, Indian Ocean since 2012, as manager and training coordinator for the Roman Catholic Education Authority Rodrigues, primarily applying Response to Intervention to set up services to support struggling learners in the area of reading in English as a second language. She is married and a mom of three young children.
Work by Dr. Tolbize:
Tolbize, A. (2019). RtI in the challenging context of the Republic of Mauritius. SAGE Publications Ltd, https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526470430 

2022 and Through

In this mini episode, I provide updates about recent events, highlight a social media discussion about multicultural perspectives, and offer suggestions to promote equity for historically marginalized groups in 2023.
Dionna Latimer-Hearn is an alumnus of Northwestern University, The George Washington University, and Notre Dame of Maryland University.  She has served as a multilingual speech-language pathologist and educational consultant since 2002, holding positions in France, Illinois, Japan, Maryland, and Texas.  She currently works as an educational consultant and continuing education provider in support of a number of organizations in the US and abroad.  She is the founder and director of REACT Initiative, Inc., a nonprofit organization advocating for equity in education.  Dr. Latimer-Hearn is the host of The Culture We Speak, a podcast examining the intersection of culture, language, and education.  She is the recipient of a number of awards including the inaugural Clinician of the Year Award which was presented by the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing (NBASLH).    
Get more content relating to The Culture We Speak by visiting our Official Page and by joining our Facebook Group
Thanks to our sponsor, REACT Initiative, Inc., for continued support!
Other ways to connect with me:  
Website - www.dlhearn.net 
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/dionnahearn/ 
Facebook - www.facebook.com/DionnaHearn
Instagram - www.instagram.com/dionna.hearn   
Respect the Dialect  - www.facebook.com/groups/respectthedialect
Business Turning Point - www.facebook.com/groups/Businessturningpoint 
 

Parent and Community Engagement

In this episode, Ms. Susana Barrios and I discuss her engagement in parent and community advocacy in Baltimore, MD. Strategies to improve educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse populations are discussed.
Ms. Susana Barrios is a self-described learner of life and an agent of change who currently serves as an outreach coordinator for Disability Rights Maryland.  Disability Rights Maryland is a protection and advocacy agency.  Ms. Barrios is an active volunteer for a number of organizations where she advocates for parent involvement and empowerment.
Disability Rights Maryland 
Advocacy & Community Building Through Language Learning Panel Discussion

Linguistic Liberty and Social Justice for All

In this episode, Ms. Ruskamp and I explore issues pertaining to language diversity and social activism.  She shares some insight into her experiences attending school in Oakland, CA during the Ebonics Controversy.  
Ms. Simone Akila Ruskamp (she/her) is a Black woman who loves Black people. She is a co-founder of Juneteenth Santa Barbara as well as Healing Justice Santa Barbara. She has led successful campaigns to center de-escalation and affirmation of life in Santa Barbara police use of force policies, secure monies for mental health positions instead of additional funding for law enforcement, establish city and county institutional support for Black cultural events, and to designate sites of Black Santa Barbara history as historical landmarks to protect them from gentrification. She currently is one of the driving forces behind the forming police oversight commission in Santa Barbara, an organizing effort spanning over four years.
Simone is a Masters of Social Work student at Howard University where she is a John E. & Barbara S. Jacob Social Justice Fellow and ambassador for the HBCU Center for Excellence in Behavioral Health. She studies Afrocentric approaches to healing and therapy. Simone is the former Vice President of Howard University's School of Social Work Student Council Association and is currently a student representative to the DC Chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers.
Healing Justice Santa Barbara website:  https://www.hjsb.org/
Social Media:  https://www.instagram.com/simoneakila
 

Microaggressions in the Profession

In this episode, Dr. Karen Davis and I discuss microaggressions in communication sciences and disorders and our experiences at the 2022 National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing Convention.  
Dr. Karen Davis is an associate professor at Middle Tennessee State University who has worked over 15 years as a school speech-language pathologist.  Her research interests are centered in the domain of language and literacy for struggling learners.  Dr. Davis’s research interests include language and literacy disorder in culturally and linguistically diverse populations, reading comprehension intervention, interprofessional education/practice (IPE/IPP), and cultural responsiveness in CSD education.
 

Moving Away from a Deficit Mindset

In this episode, Ms. Yalanda Ludtke and I discuss deficit mindsets and incorporating familial and societal considerations into service delivery.  
Ms. Yalanda Ludtke is speech-language pathologist who currently serves as the Collaborative Partnerships Director for Higher Expectations for Racine County.  She is a leader, relationship builder, and equity advocate who works toward systemic change in favor of Black and brown families in Wisconsin. 
Connect with Ms. Ludtke:  
yalanda.ludtke@career2cradle.org
https://www.higherexpectationsracinecounty.org/
https://www.strivetogether.org/
Facebook

Using Language to Educate

In this episode, Dr. Lakeisha Johnson and I discuss multicultural education. 
Dr. Lakeisha Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Science and Disorders program at Florida State University and a certified speech-language pathologist. She is also the director of The Village, the community outreach and engagement division of the Florida Center for Reading Research. Her primary research interests include language, literacy, dialect, and executive function development in African American children. Dr. Johnson believes in building and leveraging research-practice partnerships to ensure children from vulnerable and underserved populations obtain strong language and literacy skills. She has a passion for diverse children's books and runs a website, Maya's Book Nook, to help caregivers and educators use these books to promote language and literacy foundations.
Connect with Dr. Johnson:  
https://twitter.com/mayasbooknook
https://twitter.com/DrJ_SLP
https://www.instagram.com/mayasbooknook/
https://www.facebook.com/mayasbooknook