DIDIHOOD ~ Issue 37

Author

The Didihood
February 26, 2024

Happy March! We can't wait for spring and the warmer weather ahead. Sending lots of love and gratitude to you, for reading our newsletter and for your ongoing support in everything that we do.

 For this month's Meet The Didi we spoke to Harpo Mander creator of Brown Girl Guilt (BGG).

Meet The Didi: 
Harpo is a passionate homegirl. She is a brown girl who adores being a brown girl. She’s navigating and unpacking her own brown girl guilt, while continuously exploring what a world without that guilt looks like for herself and her Didis. She loves conversations, creating space, taking space and cultivating space. A space she really loves exploring is the third space in which hybrid, bicultural identities thrive and survive.
You’d probably catch her at any moment nose deep in a book, curating the perfect playlist or drinking red wine. Harpo is also quite the smartie pants, with a bachelor of arts in sociology & gender, sexuality and women’s studies from Simon Fraser University and a master of arts in education & society: gender and women studies from McGill University. 

Why did you create Brown Girl Guilt?

I created Brown Girl Guilt to invite my fellow sisters into my own healing journey, in hopes of inspiring them to also return back home to themselves. I wanted to create a strong sisterhood and community where, as Didis, we could all learn from one another, express vulnerability, and explore what it might mean to truly love ourselves.

You create a lot of content online. Is there a particular topic/subject that people have resonated with?

What's resonated most with my audience is the exploration of the third space that I occupy as a hybrid identity. As someone with a hyphenated identity - Punjabi Canadian - there are a series of challenges that I experience. Coupled with my gender identity, there is a very niche experience that I embody. Sharing the challenges that come with this hyphenated, bicultural identity is what I find most folks resonate with because it gives them a framework to understand their own challenges, but also vividly points out that they're not isolated in their experiences. 

Do you have any advice for younger Didis who want to do what you're doing?

Just go for it! We often get caught up in a strive for perfection, imposter syndrome or a lack of support system. If there's anything I've learned from most of the roles I've occupied in my journey, it's that you have to start to get better at something. And trust me, every experience is a stepping stone, whether it ended up being highly successful or a terrible mistake. You just have to trust that no matter what the outcome, it brought you closer to who you truly are.

What's next for you and BGG?

I'm focusing on really excelling at and mastering the craft of podcasting. I want to work on my voice and on-mic persona and to practice discipline with my spiritual journey. The more I focus on my own alignment and loving myself, the stronger my purpose and the intention behind BGG becomes. 

I'm also dedicated to imagining a dynamic BGG community in the current climate of the world. I've always wanted to host workshops, panels, speaker series - the whole nine yards. I'm curious about what that might look like in this current pandemic world. 

See you next month! 

— Roohi Sahajpal

Issue 37
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