Racial Trauma and Decolonial Thinking

In this re-released episode first published on 17th November 2025 Guilaine reflects on how, seemingly paradoxically, when Black people (and other marginalised groups) are idealised in the workplace it can put them at risk, and result in their denigration and/or devaluation.She begins by looking an an example, a Black doctor mentioned in Black Skin, White Masks by Franz Fanon: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/313127/black-skin-white-masks-by-fanon-frantz/9780241396667She expands on this concept to detail the ways that this doctor might be exceptionalised and idealised due to being a competent and skilled person from a group that is not seen to have those qualities. And how this sets them up to fail when any mistake is made on their part resulting in a pendulum swing where they are often seen as betraying the person or institution that was idealising them.Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Simone reflects on some research work that looks at AI hiring algorithms. They begin by looking at an article on how AI creates bias when screening resumes because it is designed to generalise (ie stereotype). They continue by looking at a study of racial bias and systemic rejection in AI hiring tools, and some other articles around this topic. The conclusions they come to from all of this is that these algorithms don’t just regurgitate the racism from within their programmers, and the culture that surrounds them, they also create bias as part of how they function. These algorithms and the tools that use them are "pervasively adopted, highly consequential and opaque to the public”, and whilst they are presented as objective and neutral that is very much not the case.References:AI is more likely than humans to form biases when hiring by Michelle Kim https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/20/1140655/ai-biases-hiring-humans/AI Hiring Tools Can Yield Racial Bias and Systemic Rejection https://hai.stanford.edu/news/ai-hiring-tools-can-yield-racial-bias-and-systemic-rejectionAI is reinventing hiring — with the same old biases by Emilio J. Castilla https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/ai-reinventing-hiring-same-old-biases-heres-how-to-avoid-trapSubscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine shares some news about changes and developments for the Race Reflections Foundation Course in Group Analysis & Racial Trauma (IGA Approved) ahead of the launch of its next iteration.There will be an Open Day/Launch Event on 14th September at 4pm UK Time to cover the updated course: https://racereflections.co.uk/events/launch-event-foundation-course-in-group-analysis-racial-trauma-iga-approved/Here is a Curriculum Overview:  https://racereflections.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Curriculum-Overview-2027-PDF-1.pdfThese are previous podcast episodes about the course from last year:Introduction to the certificate in working with racial trauma and race based injuries using the foundation of group analysis https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/episodes/15148619Opportunities for support within Race Reflections Foundation Course in Group Analysis that centres racial trauma https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/episodes/17930974Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine reflects on why the absence of thinking and theorisation around injustice and psychological distress/racial trauma troubles her.She begins by thinking back to when she began her training and she was taught that within CBT expectation of justice is considered dysfunctional. Although she found this troubling in ways she couldn’t articulate at the time it got her thinking, and since then she has spent time coming up with more thoughts around this and some alternatives to it. Which is what she covers on the rest of this episode.Article on the Race Reflections website: On Injustice and Racial Trauma: https://racereflections.co.uk/on-injustice-and-racial-trauma/Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine shares some news about changes and developments for the Race Reflections Foundation Course in Group Analysis & Racial Trauma (IGA Approved) ahead of the launch of its next iteration.There will be an Open Day/Launch Event on 14th September at 4pm UK Time to cover the updated course: https://racereflections.co.uk/events/launch-event-foundation-course-in-group-analysis-racial-trauma-iga-approved/Here is a Curriculum Overview:  https://racereflections.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Curriculum-Overview-2027-PDF-1.pdfThese are previous podcast episodes about the course from last year:Introduction to the certificate in working with racial trauma and race based injuries using the foundation of group analysis https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/episodes/15148619Opportunities for support within Race Reflections Foundation Course in Group Analysis that centres racial trauma https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/episodes/17930974Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Dave reflects on their lived experience as a white person navigating school life and the things that might be able to tell us about schools as a sight of patriarchal, hetronormative and racialised violence.Dave’s past work around patriachy and masculinity:What About the Men? Mansplaining Masculinity: https://soundcloud.com/standuptragedy/sut-presents-what-about-the-men-mansplaining-maculinityLiberating Men: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07x5vshWhat is Masculinity? Why Does it Matter? And Other Big Questions by Jeffrey Boakye and Darren Chetty (which Dave contributed a chapter to): https://www.hachetteschools.co.uk/book/what-is-masculinity-why-does-it-matter-and-other-big-questions/Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Simone reflects on the class action taken by indigenous former employees of IOGC alleging systemic racism, abuse of power and workplace misconduct at this federal agency.Discrimination class action lawsuit against Indian Oil and Gas Canada dismissed by Federal Court by Matteo Cimellaro https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/class-action-lawsuit-indian-oil-and-gas-dismissedSubscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this re-released episode first published on 7th October 2024, Guilaine reflects on White Liberals, and on her past inclination to take people straightforwardly based on the words they write and the face they present to the world. She considers how experiencing the duality and complexity of people presenting as anti-racist publicly who in their personal interactions reveal themselves to be anti-black, has led to her trying to be more cautious about her tendency to trust people.She thinks about her lived experience, widens it out to consider how people can understand and even agree with the theory but fail consciously or unconsciously to enact the practice. And she also ties this duality to her own experiences visiting the Congo.She concludes by considering how this duality and complexity impacts the workplace and encourages people, particularly in relation to tribunals, to remember and consider this when addressing issues around race where for example a white person accused of race discrimination may be presenting as polite, reasonable and an outstanding member of the community.The episode "Reflections on a trip to the Congo" is referenced in this podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1623760/episodes/14947769If you would like to send us a question, query or dilemma that we could reflect on and respond to on the show please email [email protected] or [email protected] Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In today's episode Guilaine, who is in the writing up stage of her PHD thesis, reflects on her journey and the reasons why she is launching a new Race Reflections space to explore racial trauma and decolonial thinking. This will be a semi open monthly meeting that takes place online, the current start date planned for it will be 28th September at 6.30-8pm UK time.More info: https://racereflections.co.uk/new-reflective-groups-on-racial-trauma/Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this re-released episode first published on 6th May 2024, Guilaine reflects on her (then) recent trip to the Congo. This topic was asked for when she polled people on twitter/x to find out what they wanted her to speak on for this episode.She begins with some context, first for her and then for the country and region in general. Covering how she was born in Bastille and grew up in inner city Paris and is of Congolese descent, specifically descending from Congo-Brazzaville. She then gives a brief overview of the history of colonialism, slavery, war and genocide experienced by Congo-Brazzaville and The Democratic Republic of the Congo.Then she talks about her experience there, being confronted by this paradox of death and life, beauty and horror, poverty and people thriving, learning more about the colonial atrocities that were committed but also at the same time being exposed to the pure beauty of the landscapes. She explores the complexity of these powerful dualities and contradictions, the paradox of life and death almost intertwined and dancing, the invitation to ask how do we hold these dualities at the same time, remembering the pain of the past but imagining alternative futures, the abundance and wealth of nature contrasted with the poverty of neocolonialism. It invites you to be deeply reflective about the possibility of life.She finishes by thinking about her writing and research around trauma and transference and how when talking to people on her travels and looking into cosmologies and autologies of the region she realised that a lot of what she had been writing corresponded with the thinking and cosmologies of this land. And so brings her back to her question of “what we know without knowing?” And to issues of ancestral communication and memory and how echoes form between generations, particularly within the African diaspora, particularly when it comes to issues of thinking about African consciousness in the context of Black suffering, and thinking about all of this within the Kikongo frame, Kikongo being the language, people and culture of the Congo.Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.To send us your queries, questions and dilemmas please email [email protected]