You all are in for a treat with this Season 1 Finale. I knew when I started this podcast I wanted to end the season speaking about Joy. When working with my coaching clients to explore their niche in their business, I always start with the question “what brings you joy, that solves a problem/ fills a need for other people, that you’re good at & that they’ll pay you for?

They would be able to come up with 3 out of 4, but the first one got them stuck, the joy. What is joy? Where does it come from? What does it feel like? Why is it scary? I still ask myself these questions as well, beyond my work, but in who I am, and in just being. I'm so grateful to have the author of Black Joy on to dig in!

As a writer and thought-leader, Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts offers those who read her work and hear her speak an authentic experience; an opportunity to explore the intersection of culture, identity, and spirituality at the deepest levels. She is the founder of HeARTspace, a healing community created to serve those who have experienced trauma of any kind through the use of storytelling and the arts.

Tracey has published 25 books including several collaborations with numerous high-profile authors. Calling herself a “literary midwife,” Tracey is a highly sought-after ghostwriter/collaborator whose work includes two New York Times bestselling books by Tabitha Brown, Better Not Bitter by Yusef Salaam, Sideshow by Rickey Smiley, and many others. In 2021, Tracey became one of 20 writers who contributed to the groundbreaking book, You are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience edited by acclaimed researcher, Brene Brown, and founder of the MeToo Movement, Tarana Burke.

In 2022, Tracey's critically-acclaimed book, Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration was published and won the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Instructional and has received rave reviews from celebrities like Kerry Washington and media outlets like Good Morning America, Essence Magazine, and USA Today. Her dynamic journal/ daily devotional, The Black Joy Playbook: 30 Days to Intentionally Reclaiming Your Delight released on October 29, 2024.

#joy #blackjoy #innerchildhealing #collectiveliberation

This Election Bonus episode channels our best School House Rock, and discussing the mechanics of Election Day. From not automatically expecting immediate results and tuning out the noise trying to drive chaos. As well as where to turn if you run into any issues at the polls. Nothing beats anxiety like information!

Double check registration and FAQs: https://www.vote411.org Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE

Marcia Johnson, Esq. is the Chief Counsel for the League of Women Voters. She leads the organization's advocacy and litigation teams. Before joining the League, Marcia worked as the co-director of the Lawyers’ Committee’s Voting Rights Project, where she led the organization’s work convening the nationally recognized Election Protection, a nonpartisan voter protection coalition.

The coalition’s goals include ensuring that voters have any support needed when casting a ballot. Marcia has also done extensive work researching the history of discrimination in voting, advocating for legislation reform to improve access to voting, and advocating for the full restoration of the full protections of the Voting Rights Act.

Marcia’s work throughout her career has profoundly impacted the nation. She played a pivotal role organizing two national commissions that researched the record of discrimination in voting within the United States. Commission findings were a significant part of the record that Congress pointed to when it reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 2006.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy. They empower voters and defend democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation, at the local, state, and national levels.

#vote #informationispower #shirleychisholm #collectiveliberation

Coming out later in life can feel like finding parts of yourself that have been hidden in plain sight. In this episode, we explore the lack of affirming visibility for Queer Black Women especially and its impact on our identity development. Also how our minds and bodies-through somatic responses —keep us safe by not allowing us to see ourselves, even subconsciously. Because belonging is a human need for survival. It's a journey of unlearning, self-acceptance, and finally embracing who we've always been.

One of the biggest things that l've become more deeply aware of since coming out is just how much patriarchy is hurting all of us, especially when it comes to living the fullest expression of authentic ourselves. Most people are extremely repressed when it comes to relationships and sexuality because we are all trying to fit into the same mold, and the very real dangers associated with realizing you are your own blueprint & stepping outside of what is deemed the norm.

Today's guest, Victoria D. Stubbs, LICSW, LCSW-C, RMT, is a therapist, educator, wellness coach, writer, reiki practitioner, psychic medium and the founder of Inner Truth Psychotherapy and Wellness, LLC. Victoria’s practice combines her over 20 years of social work and teaching experience with her intuitive abilities to offer a space for healing and growth to all who seek it.

Her areas of practice include coming out later in life, sexuality & gender identity, anxiety, trauma, relationships, life transitions and stress. She also offers clinical supervision & consultation as well as mediumship sessions. Victoria has co-authored several peer reviewed journal articles, is a contributing writer for QueerPsych.com and is the author of Untangled: A Black Woman’s Journey to Personal, Spiritual and Sexual Freedom.

https://www.innertruthllc.com/

Discussing My early lessons on the power of people, collective liberation, and our upcoming election.

As a kid, I heard stories about my maternal grandmother hosting friends like Dick Gregory and other civil rights leaders in her home when they were in town. Or about how my mother was involved in the Black Panther Party when she was a teen/ young adult in the 60s & 70s. I remember growing up with a poster of Malcom X on the wall by our front door. The image of him looking out the window with a shot gun.

My first protest was at age 11 for a grocery store in a neighborhood that I now know as a food desert. This continued to and through college, and beyond. In this next episode of the podcast I talk about these early lessons of our power to collectively push for a different future. I also discuss reconciling the feelings of my desire for the liberation of ALL people and the potential of our first Black Woman President.

This episode is about embodying the change we seek. Are we ready to receive our dreams or are we asking for things we haven’t demonstrated the capacity to hold? Are you feeling like leaving your old way of living behind and starting out in a new direction? Maybe something you've never seen personally before up close?

We are in a loneliness epidemic. Connections are surface level or non-existent, and in the solitude we often disregard the power of being in community with nature as well.

I'm grateful for @highvibebyonose and @we_bewalkin for the communities they've created here in Washington, DC and expanding. I am even more grateful for the people they are, healers by training & nature, who saw a need along their own healing journey and how they've transferred their skills into this work for our collective good.

Brittney is the co-founder of We BE Walkin’, a Black-led, queer women led initiative dedicated to re-introducing nature's healing powers to Black, Indigenous and other communities of color. With a passion for wellness and a commitment to diversity in outdoor spaces, We BE Walkin’ organizes community walks and nature experiences that foster, community, connection and health.

Esthanette is also the founder of Etta’s Embrace specializing in menstrual equity, community health, and birth preparation. Etta's Embrace provides evidence-based information and resources through written work, workshops, webinars, and individual support.

Onose began sharing High Vibrational events to do in DC as a way of rediscovering herself through fun activities, seeking community and social spaces that resonated with her. Onose is a dynamic content creator with a passion for community building, evoking emotions through storytelling, and cultivating connections. As a mentor, she empowers aspiring creators to achieve success.

Beyond the digital realm, Onose extends her love for community to real life through her "Friends In" series. Born out of the need for community and connection, and curate intentional spaces where individuals can forge meaningful friendships, be deeply understood, and cultivate lifelong connections. Their mission spans across the globe, beginning with Washington, DC.

#communalhealing #collectiveliberation #community #highvibeevents #friendship

In this episode we talk all things abundance and taking control of our own lives through our passions & gifts. If you have struggled with money issues, or a history of not having enough— this episode is for you. Or if the source of your money issues are a mystery to you. Also if you are an entrepreneur or ever wondered about entrepreneurship, we have some real talk for you too!

Aja Evans is a board-certified therapist, speaker, and writer specializing in financial therapy. Armed with eternal optimism and a passion for helping others, Aja has been in the mental health industry for over a decade. After going through her own financial awakening, Aja made financial therapy a pillar of her work. Aja is determined to help more people break the taboo of keeping money and emotions secret.

She strives to create a safe, comfortable, judgment-free place to begin working towards a better you. In addition to her practice, Aja is the president-elect on the Financial Therapy Association board and the author of Feel Good Finance , which is coming this December. Aja is on a mission to get more people engaged in living their best lives while attuning to their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around money.

Nakeia L. Drummond is an award-winning leader, entrepreneur, and educator with nearly 20-years of diversity equity & inclusion (DEI), organizational and project-based strategy and change management expertise. She views her career as a tapestry of experiences that have unlocked her purpose. After nearly a decade in public education management, Nakeia founded NLD Strategic, an equity-centered management consulting firm that supports strategy development, implementation, and measurement in social impact organizations and businesses.

Experiencing and hearing other Black women’s challenges in starting in scaling businesses, she built the membership network, The Women Entrepreneur Leadership Lab, (The WELL). In 2023, she became the Founding Executive Director of She’s WELL Networked, Inc with the mission to radically shift and deepen investment in Black Women entrepreneurs by creating spaces where we can heal, tell our stories and invest in our own assets. https://www.thewellnetwork.us/

#unboughtandunbossed #entrepreneurship #abundance #moneytrauma #financialtherapist #blackwomenlead #collectivehealing

This episode explores how I deepened my spirituality through healing, and reconnected to my ancestors along the way.

+ expert interview with spiritual consultant, educator, researcher, filmmaker and writer, Verona Spence- Adofo. She is the co-founder of Ancestral Voices; an educational initiative spanning over a decade with the sole purpose of documenting and disseminating research-based knowledge about African sacred cosmologies, their spiritual philosophies and practices.

Over the past 14 years, Verona has accumulated a wealth of spiritual and healing wisdom from working with different healers, medicine people and scholars across the globe, deepening her own spiritual understanding and cultivating her gifts to assist others.

Website & Social Handles

Website: www.freedblackgirl.com Instagram: @freed_blackgirl_podcast

Website: www.ancestralvoices.co.uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AncestralVoicesFilms Twitter: @AncestralVoices Instagram: @ancestral_voices