Description
this episode opens with a personal disclaimer. i’m not an expert or authority. i’m a mostly white-passing arab american musician reflecting on race, proximity to black music, and how unconscious racial programming shapes our inner and outer worlds. this podcast approaches antiracism as liberation work rooted in humility, discernment, and a willingness to sit with discomfort. take what serves you. leave what doesn’t.
Transcript
First, a Disclaimer
Welcome to White People, Black Music, and Liberation.
I’m Erich, and I’m here on the journey with you.
This is a transmission at the intersection of race, music, and spirituality.
It’s about transmuting the racism we’ve all inherited into liberation.
A DISCLAIMER
This is a preamble to the show.
I have no formal qualifications to speak of. What I do have is a desire to talk, to engage, and to learn about a subject that remains deeply taboo in the United States: race. More specifically, how racial identity programming has shaped me, limited me, and what it might mean to liberate myself from it.
A BIT ABOUT ME
I’m a mostly white-passing Arab American. I grew up in Southern California. I’m a child of the 80s, and I’m a musician who loves Black music.
I’ve been in proximity to Black music, and especially African music, for most of my life. Over time, that proximity has invited me to examine how my racial identity shapes the way I experience that music.
The true motivation behind these transmissions is healing. I believe that our internal psychic landscapes are reflections of the collective. As the saying goes, as above, so below.
WHY I’M SHARING THIS PUBLICLY
I want to be honest. A part of me feels ambivalent and scared about putting these reflections out into the world. And at the same time, a deeper part of me wants to share my healing journey around racial identity programming.
Not because my journey is complete. It isn’t.
But because I hope it can serve as a point of attraction for others who also want to heal from the supremacy we’ve been socialized into seeing as normal in this country.
DISCERNMENT AND RESPONSIBILITY
In this day and age, discernment feels more important than ever. I can only speak from my own lived experience, and it’s up to you to decide what resonates.
You get to take what serves you.
You get to leave what doesn’t.
And I want to add an important qualification to that.
We’ve been deeply socialized into unconsciousness when it comes to race. One of the clearest ways I’ve found to locate my own unconscious patterns is by noticing where I become defensive or triggered.
So if you feel defensive or triggered by something we talk about here, I invite you to sit with that feeling.
In the past, I often dismissed discomfort by calling it discernment or saying I didn’t want to be around negative energy. Over time, I’ve learned that those moments were often invitations, not warnings.
There’s a saying that’s stayed with me:
The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of understanding.
That’s my disclaimer.
I’m Erich, and this has been White People, Black Music, and Liberation.
If this speaks to you and you want to be part of the journey, visit whitepeopleblackmusic.com.
Let’s build a world where liberation is for everyone.