In ‘The Lens: Living Diverse’, Ben, Neisha, and Vivi explore the many facets of intersectionality from a blind, partially sighted and Deafblind perspective. Hear from special guests and witness honest and frank conversations about sight loss, diversity, equity, inclusivity, and our shared experiences. Listen and learn how gender, race, religion, and sexuality all play a crucial role in shaping one’s identity.

The Lens – Living Diverse

In The Lens: Living Diverse, Neisha Mitchell and Ben Akuoko explore the many facets of intersectionality from a blind, partially sighted and Deafblind perspective. 

In Episode 1, hosts Neisha and Ben discuss why they decided to create the podcast, upcoming guests, and why it’s important to celebrate diversity within the blind, partially sighted and Deafblind community.

The Lens: Living Diverse – First Looks

*Content warning: This episode discusses trauma and abuse and contains graphic details of verbal and physical assault. Content may be distressing to some listeners. Listener discretion advised.*

In The Lens: Living Diverse, Neisha Mitchell and Ben Akuoko explore the many facets of intersectionality from a blind, partially sighted and Deafblind perspective. 

In Episode 2, Neisha sits down with “one of the strongest women I have come across in my life,” Jewel. Hear Jewel’s powerful story detailing her experience with blindness due to a physical assault and what it's like as a Black mother encountering discrimination in the child welfare system. 

Jewel hopes to spread her message of perseverance, which she would like to convey to other women who have gone through similar situations that she went through. 

DAWN Canada - Resource list of Crisis Hotlines
https://www.dawncanada.net/issues/crisis-hotlines/

The Lens: Living Diverse – Jewel's Journey

In Episode 3 of The Lens: Living Diverse, Vivi Dabee joins Neisha and Ben for a lively discussion about diversity in media. As a performer, playwright, and audio-description consultant for Vocal Image Ensemble Winnipeg (VIEW), Vivi shares insights to diversity and inclusion within the theatre, television, and film industry. They also chat about intersecting identities in media, representation, descriptive services, what they like to watch, and more.

CNIB Diversity & Inclusion website: cnib.ca/en/support-us/advocat…inclusion-we-are-cnib

The Lens: Living Diverse – Taking the Stage

In this episode of The Lens: Living Diverse, Ben and special guest, Ali Khalil, take a closer look at racialized masculinity. Ali reflects on his journey adjusting to sight loss as a Middle Eastern Muslim male and the expectations he experienced from his family and culture alike. Ben and Ali dissect the challenges of having to be tough, societal expectations, vulnerability and other topics pertaining to racialized men with sight loss. 

CNIB Diversity & Inclusion website: https://cnib.ca/en/support-us/advocate/diversity-inclusion-we-are-cnib

The Lens: Living Diverse – Examining Racialized Masculinity

June is Pride Month and The Lens: Living Diverse is celebrating with special guest hosts, TerriLynn and Lucie. 

Hear their personal stories and reflections about coming out, cultivating relationships, involvement in the 2SLGBTQ+ community, intersectionality, and more. 

This episode was recorded during International Lesbian Visibility Week.

Show notes:
Toronto Trailblazer Tandem Cycling Club 
https://www.trailblazerstandem.org

Toronto Dragon Boating
Contact: Myra Rodrigue at myrarodrigues@rogers.com
 
Socacize Fitness 
https://socacize.com
 
Meetup
https://www.meetup.com

The Lens: Living Diverse – Pride Magnified

In this episode of The Lens: Living Diverse, Ben chats with Sophia Alexander – a future social worker, passionate advocate, and proud Black woman of Grenadian descent. Sophia opens up about her experience being diagnosed with glaucoma and the impact of meeting other Black individuals with sight loss for the first time. She dives into the complexities of navigating vision loss in her personal life, career, and community, as well as the intersection of her many identities. Through vulnerability and strength, Sophia talks about how she came to embrace her sight loss and what self-acceptance looks like today. Tune in as Ben and Sophia celebrate resilience, representation, and the dynamic force that is Sophia – changing the narrative in every space she enters.

You can find Sophie on:
TikTok: @SophiaDynamic  
Instagram: @SophiaDynamic

The Lens: Living Diverse – Embracing Identity and Vision with Sophia Alexander

The CNIB Podcast Network is a collection of audio programming designed to give a voice to people across the CNIB community as they share their personal stories of life with sight loss. Listen to the episodes on any of the platforms listed below. If you enjoy what you hear, subscribe!

The Lens: Living Diverse – Embracing Identity and Vision with Sophia Alexander

CNIB / INCA