The DOC is an amazing space for many of us; real-life T1D’s connecting on social platforms to share their story, motivate, and educate, creating a chain reaction of inspiration and confidence for the newly introduced to do the same.
While we often think about and highlight advocacy and education in the community, race, culture, and background aren’t always discussed as much as they should be. Today’s guest, Ariel Lawrence, or as you may know her, Just A Little Suga’ (@justalittle_suga on Instagram), shares her passion for bringing to light the underrepresentation of people of color in the diabetic online community.
Ariel shares her diagnosis story and we discuss how interesting the event can be. We break down the idea of diagnosis and how it can become three separate moments; the first diagnosis (diagnosis by a doctor), the second (the moment of acceptance), and third (diagnosis from an activism/advocate standpoint). The conversation continues as we chat about topics such as: parents overcoming their children living with diabetes, T1D children learning to be resilient from such a young age, and to always looks for the silver lining.
Ariel’s creation of Just A Little Suga’ began after the passing of her grandmother (a type 2 diabetic) as she wanted to find a community of diabetics who could empathize with her grief and help her take better care of herself, but found that voices of people of color were few and far between. Just A Little Suga’ takes that issue head, motivating herself and others to be resilient in the face of diabetes and to enlighten the friends and family of diabetics so they’ll be encouraged to better support them.
Ariel Lawrence + Diabetics Doing Things = One incredible episode