Accepting Yourself No Matter What with Kevin Hofmann - a podcast by Jessica Sun

Kevin is a writer, speaker, and consultant on diversity and adoption. His memoir Growing up black in white recounts his story of being adopted by a white family as a child of a white mother and a black father in Detroit. He writes about his struggles to define and embrace his own identity as he grew up. Through a lifetime of contemplation and self-analysis, he has come to recognize that we can define ourselves not through the racism and judgments of a challenging society, but through our own sense of self-respect and personal identity.

Quotes to remember: 

“I went through all of this for a reason. A reason that’s so much bigger than me.”

“Vulnerability is necessary.”

Takeaways:

• Your identity shifts over time, and that’s a good thing
• Race is something to discuss with people you have a relationship with
• You can make your own boundaries clear very simply; everyone has the right to be who they are
• We need to recognize our talents as gifts

What you’ll learn:

• How to identify your tribe
• What it means to accept the past and even the unfairness, and use the scars to benefit yourself and others
• Kevin’s thoughtful response to those who say “I don’t see race”
• The biggest lesson we can learn from discussing race, no matter what color
• How the process of writing his memoir brought healing to Kevin, plus a personal story about his grandmother who had difficulty accepting his skin color

Mentioned on the podcast: 

• Growing Up Black in White - Kevin D. Hofmann
• A Christmas Story

Links:

• https://www.growingupblackinwhite.com/
• Instagram

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