Diversity is Cool with Antonio Sacre

In today’s episode of the “Helping Families be Happy” podcast, host Dr. Carla Marie Manly, a practicing Clinical Psychologist, Wellness Advocate, and Author based in Sonoma County, California talks with Antonio Sacre, an American Author, Solo Performer, and Storyteller. Antonio speaks about his book ‘My Name is Cool’. This book is about what it is like to be in between two cultures and languages, and how do we celebrate and survive that. This book teaches children to be proud of their heritage and the things that make them different. This is inspired by Antonio’s personal history growing up as a Cuban-Irish-American.

 

 

Episode Highlights

• 01:00 – Antonio mentions, that his father comes from Cuba and his mom is an Irish American, so on his Cuban side of the family, they have all of these nicknames. He is called various names by different people.
• 04:12 – Antonio was in between two cultures and was never quite sure, how and where did he fit in there.
• 06:10 – One summer when Antonio was a kid, he went through every single novel and read them twice and from there began his deep love affair with books. 
• 08:56 – We are those people who are in between cultures, languages, and parents, states Antonio.
• 10:20 – For years, Antonio has been making a living by telling stories to children in classrooms, libraries, and festivals.
• 12:02 – There are two women from the Familius group that are helping him with the book coming out next year and one of them is from Korea, and he wrote it specifically thinking of families who speak Spanish. 
• 14:30 – This book tells us about what we do and how we do it when somebody is different from us.
• 16:10 - Antonio wants kids to go home and investigate, why they have that middle name? Why were they named after for whom with they named after?
• 18:34 - If you're embarrassed by your nickname and you don't want to share it, you don't have to, says Antonio.
• 23:02 – There's something fun in that other language, says Dr. Carla Marie Manly.
• 25:45 – Antonio has been working with teachers on a district level, how they can use the power of storytelling, and oral tradition to help their kids learn reading and writing.
• 28:00 – Parents should talk to their kids about who they know, there are 100 people in their family that their kids don't know about, mentions Antonio.
• 31:36 – Antonio is trying to remind parents of this simple thing that is just such a huge part of who we are as humans. 
• 33:09 – Dr. Carla says she believes that so much healing takes place when we actively listen.
• 35:07 - These stories of our power or the power of our ancestors are fought can be formative, says Antonio.
• 37:50 – Talking with children about the hard things is helping them grow.
• 39:06 – We can't prepare our kids for every scenario, says Antonio
• 41:57 – Antonio suggests to all the parents who have adolescent kids that right now, they must be feeling like they have the worst kid in the world but they're not. 
• 44:09 - If you're in trouble right now find a mentor, says the Antonio.
• 46:01 – Dr. Carla states that we all need mentors because if we don't have mentors, we struggle unnecessarily. Also, if we don't have mentors, we don't learn.

 

Three Key Points

1. Antonio is the reader that then led to the writer and he is also that person who lives in that blended world of two cultures. So, he has that to offer.
2. Antonio is writing for one specific audience member that little girl whose parent comes from Mexico and the other comes from Germany. And she's having the same thing he had. And then obviously, he hopes that it reaches the universal. There are a lot of kids who are going to feel different ways and he wants them to be proud of how they feel.
3. We do want to protect our children and the little ones in our lives, but we also want them to know that they have the power to move forward in life despite the obstacles that come our way.

 

 

Tweetable Quotes

• “Years later, from all those years of reading and years of the journal, journal keeping, I now can say that I am a writer.” - Antonio Sacre
• “I want kids and families as they're reading that book out loud to be laughing for sure.’ – Antonio Sacre
• “There were kids who would make fun of my dad in a way that was funny.” – Antonio Sacre
• “It's very hard for someone who doesn't speak the language to be able to speak the language in a way that sounds good to the language speaker.” – Antonio Sacre
• “Well, tell me about you or tell me how I pronounce your name or how do you prefer to be addressed, right?” - Dr. Carla Marie Manly 
• “I was named after my dad who was named after his dad who was named after his dad, so you can see it's the Cubans.” - Antonio Sacre
• “I'm named after a man I never met. I'll never meet who was my dad's best friend whom he never saw again.’ – Antonio Sacre
• “Well, it's cool, and we are all cool. Despite our differences because of our differences. If we take the time to slow down, we are all pretty darn cool people.” - Dr. Carla Marie Manly 
• “You bring classrooms and assemblies the gift of laughter and heart and connection and understanding through the power of a name.” - Dr. Carla Marie Manly 
• “If stories don't always have happy endings, we can use them as learning opportunities.” - Dr. Carla Marie Manly 
• “One of the biggest gifts we can give as parents are to show you know here are the boundaries.’ - Dr. Carla Marie Manly 
• “If we don't have mentors in our lives, then we stop evolving and transforming.” - Dr. Carla Marie Manly 
• “A podcast can be a mentor, a best friend who has wisdom in an area could be a mentor somebody a co-worker or a partner.” - Dr. Carla Marie Manly 

 

Resources Mentioned

• Helping Families be Happy Podcast Apple
• Carla Marie Manly Website LinkedIn Twitter Instagram
• Antonio Sacre: Website Instagram        Twitter
• Podcast Editing