What does sunshine have to do with family history? Well, besides helping our plants and vegetables grow, sunshine has a profound effect on our bodies. One of those effects is melanin production. Melanin is a dark pigment in our hair, skin, and iris of the eye, that protects us from the sun’s radiation. Tragically, throughout history, some have used melanin to create caste systems that determine social status, ultimately affecting our family history. In this episode, Dr. David-James Gonzales discusses how these caste systems and resulting colorism began and the impact they still have on us as we seek to learn more about ourselves and our ancestors.

What does sunshine have to do with family history? Well, besides helping our plants and vegetables grow, sunshine has a profound effect on our bodies. One of those effects is melanin production. Melanin is a dark pigment in our hair, skin, and iris of the eye, that protects us from the sun’s radiation. Tragically, throughout history, some have used melanin to create caste systems that determine social status, ultimately affecting our family history. In this episode, Dr. David-James Gonzales discusses how these caste systems and resulting colorism began and the impact they still have on us as we seek to learn more about ourselves and our ancestors.

Love Your Lineage is a multi-faceted, friendly, and shame-free approach to family history. Our hosts, Michelle Franzoni Thorley and Miyamoto Loretta Jensen, help us see beyond finding missing names and show us how everyone, no matter what our background or family situation, can make deep and powerful connections to our ancestors. This podcast is centered in the BIPOC family history experience, although we invite all to listen and find and claim their space.

Love Your Lineage is a multi-faceted, friendly, and shame-free approach to family history. Our hosts, Michelle Franzoni Thorley and Miyamoto Loretta Jensen, help us see beyond finding missing names and show us how everyone, no matter what our background or family situation, can make deep and powerful connections to our ancestors. This podcast is centered in the BIPOC family history experience, although we invite all to listen and find and claim their space.

Love Your Lineage

The Impacts of Colorism (with Dr. David-James Gonzales)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/61af0f78-644a-4500-9792-a89500ea78e5/clips/bee385c3-97d3-4ba7-9951-af880170906f/transcript

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