In 1995, in the last scene of Stolen Ground (racism towards Asian Americans), I asked each of the Asian men in the cast: What if you were facing an all-white audience … what would you say to them? There was a prolonged silence and eventually tears intertwined with a deep sense of sadness, anger and

My group experience as a community therapist and facilitator has taught me that whenever there is denial and/or defensiveness, there is also a fear and need to protect something or someone. I think that the general reaction of most whites is that when the subject of racism comes up, they will be scapegoated and blamed by BIPOC, and that the focus of discussion will be on how they have continued to perpetuate racism.

As I’ve grown older, life seems to be filled with so many deja vu moments: some joyous and others painfully familiar. Such is what happened recently when I read about a sheriff’s department in Mississippi under investigation after a series of disturbing reports of violent interactions with Black men, including two that were fatal and

I remember that when my film, The Color of Fear, was released in 1995, so many in my audiences (particularly BIPOC) asked, “Why is up to us to spend three whole days to convince one white guy about the injustice and pain of racism?” It was a fair question then, as much as it is now,

This one statement and many others like it by whites, keeps us (BIPOC and whites) apart and in constant fear and hesitation to fully get to know each other. Let me share how and why. Recently, in one of my workshops, Mary, a participant shared that as a white woman, she’s afraid to ask questions

Recent uproars about asking the above questions have many pundits labelling this type of persistent questioning by whites: racism. My experience tells me that this will probably be followed up by a variety of reactions from whites: a.) Deciding to never ask this type of question again for fear of being publically humiliated or expelled

by Lee Mun Wah Recently, a white man shared that whites would be more receptive to looking at their own racism and privilege if they only knew how much BIPOC cared about them. Everyone in the room was white except for me and I could see how moved they were when they heard this. Once

In the film, Seabiscuit, a horse that is broken comes back to win in a major race. At the end, the rider shares: I know that many think we helped bring a broken horse back to life, but I think it is, we, who were brought back from our broken lives…and in the process we

As I’m about to turn seventy-six on October 25th, so many thoughts come to me about life and what it’s all about. As was shared in one of my favorite films, Letters to Juliet: “There are two words what and if. Separately, they have different meanings, but put together, what if…they represent a longing of