Podcasts about black girl's guide

Dr. Paris Woods returns to take us on a financial empowerment journey that goes beyond her triumphs to become your guide to financial literacy and independence., We discuss the FIRE movement and the importance of understanding the "why" behind each financial decision. We also share our investment missteps and the wisdom we gained from them, dissect common financial pitfalls, and emphasize the crucial role of emergency funds. We delve into the unique challenges families face, particularly within black households, stressing the necessity of increasing income and diving into the intricacies of investments, from cryptocurrencies to index funds. Finally, we celebrate the transformative effect of financial literacy and encourage you to pass on these lessons. Our discussion is about embracing our collective responsibility to ensure everyone can achieve a legacy of prosperity. So plug in, absorb, and share because we all advance when one of us grows.Click on the links below to learn more about Dr. Paris Woods and purchase her book: The Black Girls Guide to Financial Freedom.https://pariswoods.com/https://www.amazon.com/Black-Girls-Guide-Financial-Freedom/dp/1737606607https://youtube.com/channel/UCLHtabwKhqgLCr6CehorJMA

Embark on a transformative journey with Dr. Paris Woods, author of "The Black Girl's Guide to Financial Freedom," and financial advisor Ashley Bailey, as we uncover the secrets to achieving Fiscal Freedom. With Paris's inspiring story as our guide, we travel from her humble beginnings in a single-parent household in St. Louis to a life of purpose and financial wisdom. Our conversation exposes the critical role of education and deliberate planning in breaking the chains of debt, and we challenge you to consider the financial norms that may be holding you back. Throughout the episode, we dissect proven debt repayment methods like the snowball and avalanche approaches, sharing not just theories but also our personal triumphs and stumbles with these strategies. We confront the societal expectations of car ownership, urging you to rethink what liabilities and assets truly mean in your pursuit of financial freedom. Our discussion is a genuine reflection on the delicate balance between trimming expenses and boosting income, exploring side hustles and the art of amplifying your earnings without sacrificing your soul.Finally, we chart the course for navigating higher education and investment options with a critical eye, weighing the costs and returns of graduate degrees and the prestige of alma maters. Dr. Woods and I demystify the investing landscape, starting with the low-hanging fruits of 401(k)s and index funds. The episode wraps with an invitation to carve out your unique financial destiny, armed with the insights and strategies shared by Paris, a beacon of financial empowerment whose wisdom can be further tapped into at ParisWoods.com. Join us for an episode that promises not just to inform but to equip you with the tools for a financially savvy future.Support the show

Menopause seems to be cloaked. It's the conversation we all want to have. There is a lack of information around how non-binary, Black women, and femmes are experiencing aging. Omisade Burney-Scott is here to talk about her new book, Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause, and give non-binary, Black women, and femmes a healing space to share their journeys.

Menopause seems to be cloaked. It's the conversation we all want to have. There is a lack of information around how non-binary, Black women, and femmes are experiencing aging. Omisade Burney-Scott is here to talk about her new book, Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause, and give non-binary, Black women, and femmes a healing space to share their journeys.

When New York Times Magazine staff writer Susan Dominus began reporting her cover story on menopause, she was surprised by the number of women she met who had resigned themselves to a life of hot flashes, poor sleep, brain fog and depression, all of which are common symptoms of menopause. There was a near universal acceptance that this was their new reality. But in fact, there are medically accepted therapies, like hormone treatment, to address these symptoms. Yet few women seem to be offered this relief. Why is menopause, a normal biological condition that over a million women in the U.S. will enter each year, so misunderstood? And are women conditioned to tolerate suffering such that they don't seek help for menopausal symptoms? We'll talk to Dominus and experts about menopause and hear from you: What have you been told about menopause that you have come to question? Guests: Susan Dominus, staff writer, New York Times Magazine - Dominus wrote the recent New York Times Magazine article "Women Have Been Misled About Menopause" Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director, North American Menopause Society; director of the Center for Women's Health, Mayo Clinic Omisade Burney-Scott, creator of the "Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause"

Writer Carlton Holden has a heart-to-heart with Digital Creator and Owner of Black Girls Guide Jasmine Ballard. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/carlton-holden/support

Kayla is joined by feminist, mother, and healer, Omisade Burney-Scott, who has a mission to make the topic of aging and menopause more commonplace and accessible. All bodies, all ages, and all identities are welcome to this important conversation. Follow Omisade Omisade's Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/blackgirlsguidetomenopauseCheck out the Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-girls-guide-to-surviving-menopause/id1462589097Follow Us:Instagram: www.instagram.com/candicekayla/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/CandiceKayla Website: www.candicekayla.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  Welcome again to another episode of Engineer Your Success! Today, our special guest Dr. Malika Grayson. Dr. Malika is a Program Manager where she leads technology investment and long-term strategic value creation to help enable teams to achieve above-plan growth through their projects. Over the past few years, Grayson has had industry experiences in systems engineering, software development, R&D portfolio management, IT management, and strategy. Grayson earned her Batchelor's in Physics from Adelphi University and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.   Grayson also founded STEMinist Empowered LLC, which focuses on empowering Women of Color who pursue graduate degrees through application consultancy and graduate program mentorship. A global speaker and bestselling author, Grayson has given dozens of workshops and keynotes and is the recipient of many honors including the Zellman Warhaft Commitment to Diversity Award, National Society of Black Engineers – Mike Shin Award for Distinguished Member of the Year, Adelphi University's Top 10 Alumni Under 10 and BEYA STEM's Modern Day Technology Leader.   She was named one of Trinidad and Tobago's 40 Under 40 Youth Influencers by the country's Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs based on her work in STEM. She also authored the best-selling book Hooded: A Black Girl's Guide to the Ph.D. and has been featured in several publications. Grayson's keynotes and workshops are based on her experiences in academia and industry, with titles such as Networking for Mentoring, Canceling Imposter Syndrome, Navigating the Impossible, and Success through Resilience – ABCs to STEM Success.   Grayson's passion for increasing the number of women through the STEM pipeline motivated her to create ASPIRE STEM, which provides financial assistance to young women from high school and secondary school who aspire to pursue STEM at the university level. She also belongs to external organizations including the DiscoverE Board of Directors, the STEMNoire Planning Council, and Cornell University's Committee on Alumni Trustee Nominations.   Let's know more about Dr. Malika with no further ado Let's dive in!   [00:31 - 09:23] Opening Segment Who is Dr. Malika Grayson? She  is a Physicist by trade and a Mechanical Engineer She is also a Managing Software Engineer, a Program Manager by day, and an Author by night. She's originally from Trinidad and Tobago and is a Trinity girl at heart. She went to the US to pursue her physics degree at Del University and then went on to get her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering with a focus on wind energy at Ithaca University. Now she's a manager of software engineering at Northrop Gring Corporation, where  she's focused on managing a portfolio of projects that help the company move forward. Dr. Malika shares her experience in transitioning from being a Physicist to becoming a Program Manager. She shared that being an engineer it is natural for her to take a look at every detail, but as a project manager its way harder to join in every single technical meeting Given her situation, she adds, that it's important to build an effective team that you can trust.  As a manager, she learns to step back, trust her team's process, and focus on solutions to help her team progress.   [09:24 - 16:37 ] Working in your Field, Achieving goals, and Still Being Authentic  Dr. Malika shares that to maintain her career whether it's a passion project or in the industry, she learned that you really need to be authentic.  She started writing and started a blog for Black Girls Guide to Grad School. When she was starting she realized she was leading a double life. A person that focuses on getting the job done. but also a person that wants to impact the world by sharing her story.  Her manager called her and was interested in her blogs Her manager connected her to a person with an HBCU initiative. Dr. Malika adds that most people that start in all careers are so afraid that they don't want to lose their job that they stop doing what they love doing outside work, Whereas In reality, there are managers who work to help you build your bio.   [16:38 - 24:03] Working in your Field, Achieving goals, and Still Being Authentic The industry has changed during the pandemic, some people don't want to be in the office.  But also some find the office as their escape from home. Give your people options in a hybrid approach that makes everybody happy.    [26:04 - 34:19] Black Women in STEM Pursue Success The industry is facing challenges due to the post-pandemic workforce. A lot of people are trying to use their old playbooks during the pandemic, which is not going to work. Companies are having to find a new way to manage their teams, which is difficult. There is a need for more black women in STEM fields. The road to success is not easy, but it is possible with resilience and flexibility. [34:20 – 35:48] Closing Segment   Parting Notes Learn more about Dr. Malika Grayson by following him on LinkedIn Sponsors: Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive. BanowetzMarketing.com/James Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product. If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success! Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions. Let's connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I'd love to hear from you. You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.   Important Resources to Note: Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast   Tweetable Quotes: “Show up as yourself, have courage and show up authentically it will pay off in the end because you won't be fighting against yourself  - Dr. James Bryant “ When you're not being your full self, it's hard for you to be 100% in any part of your life when you're trying to be somebody else in different parts of your life.”  - Dr. Malika Grayson  

  Welcome again to another episode of Engineer Your Success! Today, our special guest Dr. Malika Grayson. Dr. Malika is a Program Manager where she leads technology investment and long-term strategic value creation to help enable teams to achieve above-plan growth through their projects. Over the past few years, Grayson has had industry experiences in systems engineering, software development, R&D portfolio management, IT management, and strategy. Grayson earned her Batchelor's in Physics from Adelphi University and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.   Grayson also founded STEMinist Empowered LLC, which focuses on empowering Women of Color who pursue graduate degrees through application consultancy and graduate program mentorship. A global speaker and bestselling author, Grayson has given dozens of workshops and keynotes and is the recipient of many honors including the Zellman Warhaft Commitment to Diversity Award, National Society of Black Engineers – Mike Shin Award for Distinguished Member of the Year, Adelphi University's Top 10 Alumni Under 10 and BEYA STEM's Modern Day Technology Leader.   She was named one of Trinidad and Tobago's 40 Under 40 Youth Influencers by the country's Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs based on her work in STEM. She also authored the best-selling book Hooded: A Black Girl's Guide to the Ph.D. and has been featured in several publications. Grayson's keynotes and workshops are based on her experiences in academia and industry, with titles such as Networking for Mentoring, Canceling Imposter Syndrome, Navigating the Impossible, and Success through Resilience – ABCs to STEM Success.   Grayson's passion for increasing the number of women through the STEM pipeline motivated her to create ASPIRE STEM, which provides financial assistance to young women from high school and secondary school who aspire to pursue STEM at the university level. She also belongs to external organizations including the DiscoverE Board of Directors, the STEMNoire Planning Council, and Cornell University's Committee on Alumni Trustee Nominations.   Let's know more about Dr. Malika with no further ado Let's dive in!   [00:31 - 09:23] Opening Segment Who is Dr. Malika Grayson? She  is a Physicist by trade and a Mechanical Engineer She is also a Managing Software Engineer, a Program Manager by day, and an Author by night. She's originally from Trinidad and Tobago and is a Trinity girl at heart. She went to the US to pursue her physics degree at Del University and then went on to get her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering with a focus on wind energy at Ithaca University. Now she's a manager of software engineering at Northrop Gring Corporation, where  she's focused on managing a portfolio of projects that help the company move forward. Dr. Malika shares her experience in transitioning from being a Physicist to becoming a Program Manager. She shared that being an engineer it is natural for her to take a look at every detail, but as a project manager its way harder to join in every single technical meeting Given her situation, she adds, that it's important to build an effective team that you can trust.  As a manager, she learns to step back, trust her team's process, and focus on solutions to help her team progress.   [09:24 - 16:37 ] Working in your Field, Achieving goals, and Still Being Authentic  Dr. Malika shares that to maintain her career whether it's a passion project or in the industry, she learned that you really need to be authentic.  She started writing and started a blog for Black Girls Guide to Grad School. When she was starting she realized she was leading a double life. A person that focuses on getting the job done. but also a person that wants to impact the world by sharing her story.  Her manager called her and was interested in her blogs Her manager connected her to a person with an HBCU initiative. Dr. Malika adds that most people that start in all careers are so afraid that they don't want to lose their job that they stop doing what they love doing outside work, Whereas In reality, there are managers who work to help you build your bio.   [16:38 - 24:03] Working in your Field, Achieving goals, and Still Being Authentic The industry has changed during the pandemic, some people don't want to be in the office.  But also some find the office as their escape from home. Give your people options in a hybrid approach that makes everybody happy.    [26:04 - 34:19] Black Women in STEM Pursue Success The industry is facing challenges due to the post-pandemic workforce. A lot of people are trying to use their old playbooks during the pandemic, which is not going to work. Companies are having to find a new way to manage their teams, which is difficult. There is a need for more black women in STEM fields. The road to success is not easy, but it is possible with resilience and flexibility. [34:20 – 35:48] Closing Segment   Parting Notes Learn more about Dr. Malika Grayson by following him on LinkedIn Sponsors: Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive. BanowetzMarketing.com/James Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product. If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success! Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions. Let's connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I'd love to hear from you. You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.   Important Resources to Note: Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast   Tweetable Quotes: “Show up as yourself, have courage and show up authentically it will pay off in the end because you won't be fighting against yourself  - Dr. James Bryant “ When you're not being your full self, it's hard for you to be 100% in any part of your life when you're trying to be somebody else in different parts of your life.”  - Dr. Malika Grayson  

There is a new webseries that has been all the buzz on Instagram, and its called Black Girls Guide to Fertility, created, written, and based on Sonhara' Eastman's own battle with infertility. Black Girls Guide to Fertility tackles infertility in a profoundly intimate way that's both dramatic and comedic without ever feeling rigid. It focuses on Ava, a 37-year old romance novelist, who faded into obscurity after finding love–and now finds herself on the rise again after self-publishing a diary detailing her fertility woes. Each episode is a recreation of Ava's diary entry, adding a unique and compelling touch to the everyday struggle of infertility. I had the pleasure of prescreening the first two episodes and when I tell you, you do not want to miss this webseries. In this episode we discuss Sonhara's vision, her personal infertility battle, and what is next with Black Girls Guide to Fertility. Become a Sisters in Loss Birth Bereavement, and Postpartum Doula Here Living Water Doula Services Book Recommendations and Links Below You can shop my Amazon Store for the Book Recommendations You can follow Sisters in Loss on Social Join our Healing Collective Online Support Group Join the Sisters in Loss Online Community Sisters in Loss TV Youtube Channel Sisters in Loss Instagram Sisters in Loss Facebook Sisters in Loss Twitter You can follow Erica on Social Erica's Website Erica's Instagram Erica's Facebook Erica's Twitter

Since we launched the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause, I have learned quite a bit about how Murphy's Law plays a role in what we produce. We are all familiar with Murphy's first law; if anything can go wrong, it will. However, I don't think many of us know that there are two other laws; nothing is as easy as it looks, and everything takes longer than you think it will. If I were to offer a podcaster's version of Murphy's law, I would posit: There's no such thing as stable Wi-fi. If your computer/tablet/cellphone battery can go dead mid-interview, it will. Sometimes what you think you've recorded vanishes into thin air. As much as there is a craft to the audio storytelling podcasting, there is also a realization that you control nothing but the good intentions you enter the conversation with. A moment of honesty for our listeners... We entered into our conversation with our Season 4, Episode 3 guest, Satana Deberry, with excitement and a plan. Satana is not only one of the most progressive district attorneys in the country, but she is also a dear friend. Murphy, whomever Murphy is, decided to make a guest appearance on this episode and dematerialize the first 8 minutes of our conversation. Eight minutes of introduction and witty banter went like "puff"! Lucky for us and our fantastic listening audience, we pressed forward, editing the remaining parts that were in no way diminished by the podcast fates. Satana and I were able to discuss: Our mothering journeys. Unlearning old parenting models. Sexual expression and intimacy. Being special just because you are you. Enjoy! Episode Notes:  Satana Deberry  IG: @satanadeberry Born and raised in rural NC and educated in the Ivy League, Satana has spent her career trying to dismantle the systems of power that keep us from being free. Whether that's the threat of ongoing economic inequality or black respectability. As the parent of young women, she is also trying to be her whole self with them rather than creating a myth of motherhood for them to dismantle later. Her current day job is as the elected DA of Durham, but her long-time passion has been being in community and sisterhood. "Say More"! The Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause, in partnership with Kindra, co-designed “Say More,” a collection of conversation and journaling prompt cards filled with thought-provoking questions, personal storytelling prompts, and creative ‘wild cards' that empower people to support themselves and loved ones through menopause and aging. The goal of Black Girls Guide and Kindra in creating these cards is to ignite a supportive community that can surround people going through this crucial stage in life with resources and love. “Say More” is a beautifully-curated deck of discussion cards broken down into elemental categories—earth, wind, fire, and air. Each card explores themes like pleasure, grief, rage, play, creativity, identity, sexual expression, and healing for people on a menopausal midlife journey.  BGG2SM listeners can use the code "OMI20" to get 20% off their "Say More" purchase at https://ourkindra.com/ https://www.patreon.com/blackgirlsguidetomenopause Produced by Mariah M. Hosted by Omisade Burney-Scott Theme Music by Taj Cullen Scott We are excited to have our local NPR station, WUNC, North Carolina Public Radio, as a sponsor for Season 4 of the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause https://www.wunc.org/

Losing a loved one is never easy, especially when you think you have more time. In their season finale, Shalikah discusses how suffering the loss of her mother has impacted her life and what steps she's taking to cope. *TRIGGER WARNING* This episodes discusses substance abuse, depression, and death. If you or anyone you know may be struggling with Substance Abuse or Mental Health please contact: SAMHSA National Helpline Confidential free help, from public health agencies, to find substance use treatment and information. Learn more 1-800-662-4357 Listener Confession Line: (562)485-9535 Email: cafeconfessionspodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @cafe.confessions.podcast @astoldby.shalikah @bree.not.cheddar Tik Tok: @cafe.confessions.podcast @bree.not.cheddar

Listen to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast: https://therapyforblackgirls.com/podcast/Visit the Therapy for Black Girls Directory to find a Therapist near you: https://providers.therapyforblackgirls.com/Join the Therapy for Black Girls Sister Circle: https://community.therapyforblackgirls.com/Download the Therapy for Black Girls Guide to Getting Started With Therapy: https://therapy-for-black-girls-llc.ck.page/1836b6b894Dr. Joy's Twitter - https://twitter.com/hellodrjoyDr. Joy's Website - https://hellodrjoy.com/Therapy for Black Girls Twitter - https://twitter.com/therapy4bgirlsTherapy for Black Girls Website - https://therapyforblackgirls.com/Maya Elious - https://www.mayaelious.com/Yung Pueblo - https://yungpueblo.com/Nedra Glover Tawwab - https://www.nedratawwab.com/Brené Brown - https://brenebrown.com/Dare to Lead with Brené Brown - https://brenebrown.com/podcast-show/dare-to-lead/Sorry NOT Sorry by Omerettà The Great - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IvchaA0B3Y

Creator/Host of Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause™ and Author of Messages from the Menopausal Multiverse, Omisade Burney-Scott, joins Lurie to discuss reproductive justice work, menopause, sex after 50 and more! Follow Lurie Daniel Favors @LurieFavors on Twitter and listen to her live M-F, 10 a.m.-noon ET on SiriusXM, Ch. 126.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Bree & Shalikah discuss all things psychedelic. Listen as they discuss their first impressions of plant medicines, like magic mushrooms, to their own experiences. Let's just say, you're in for a real trip. Email: cafeconfessionspodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @cafe.confessions.podcast @astoldby.shalikah @bree.not.cheddar Tik Tok: @cafe.confessions.podcast @bree.not.cheddar

The Black Girls' Guide To Surviving Menopause   Read Omi's Zine!   Follow Omisade on instagram.   Watch Omi's interview with Stylikeu.   Other Inquiries: decolonzingthecrone@gmail.com    About Omisade: Omisade Burney-Scott is a Black southern 7th generation native North Carolinian feminist, mother and healer with decades of experience in nonprofit leadership, philanthrophy, and social justice. She is a founding tribe member of SpiritHouse and previously served as a board member of The Beautiful Project, Village of Wisdom, and Working Films.  Omisade is the creator of The Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause, a multimedia project seeking to curate and share the stories and realities of Black women and femmes over 50. She is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, the proud mother of two sons, and resides in Durham.   Transcript: Sophie Shiloh   You're listening to the codependent millennial podcast with Sophie Shiloh episode 49 Omisade Burney-Scott on being sweet to your damn self Hello, my love. So nice to be talking to you so happier here right now. Today's episode is a treasure. It's a conversation I had with a woman named Omisade Burney-Scott. I want to read to you the words that she uses on her website to self identify. But I think powerful introductions are about so much more than someone's bio resume or a list of all their most notable accomplishments and she has many. But I think it's really important when introducing someone to emphasize the impact they've had on your life. And so that's what I want to do here in this intro as well because while I've only known that Omisade exists for like, two weeks, she really has had an incredibly profound impact on my life. I learned about Omisade and her multimedia project called the Black Girls Guide to surviving menopause a few weeks ago on YouTube, I was watching those amazing style like you interviews and one really stood out there was this radiant, gorgeous woman on the thumbnail. She just looked electric. She was radiating. And then I saw the title. It said my body was screaming at me how depression saved Omisade Burney-Scott's life. And that's my story. So immediately, I was just like, Okay, this is a human that I need to learn from immediately. It was such a moving interview, but I was left with so many questions. So I went to her website started devouring podcast episodes, started seeing all of the incredible things that Omisade is doing out in the world and I was just overwhelmed and inspired and enlightened by her work. So go to the shownotes to find everything that she has going on because there's a lot and it's all really good. She has a zine called messages from the menopausal multiverse. She has an amazing podcast called The Black Girls Guide to surviving menopause. She has essays on grief and love and liberation and so much more. Her website is Black Girls Guide to surviving menopause calm. Her podcast is Black Girls Guide to surviving menopause and you can find her on Instagram at oceans sweet and sour, sweet and sour ocean sweet and sour. I'm seriously so honored that these women that I admire and appreciate and call on as guides want to talk to me. My intention with that statement isn't to belittle myself at all. But after the conversation with John on the last episode and this conversation with Omisade and with a couple of other things that I have in the works like I'm just blown away, really by this huge web of a community that you don't even realize exists before you dip your toe in. Please don't wait a single moment or talk yourself out of it when you feel the spark of wanting to get in touch with someone even if your brain tries to tell you that they're too important and smart and busy and powerful and cool to talk to you. I just recorded interviews with two of my heroes in the span of 30 days so you can literally do anything. Trust me. Trust me. Before I roll this interview with her I'll read to you her own words about who she is and what she does. Omisade Burney-Scott is a black southern Seventh Generation native North Carolinian feminist mother and healer with decades of experience in nonprofit leadership, philanthropy and social justice. She's a founding tribe member of spirit house, and previously served as a board member of the beautiful project village of wisdom and working films. Omisade is the creator of the Black Girls Guide to surviving menopause, a multimedia project seeking to curate and share the stories and realities of black women and femmes over 50. She's a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, the proud mother of two sons and resides in Durham. Now, without making you wait another moment, please enjoy this conversation that I had with Omisade. Omisade Burney-Scott, you are amazing. I want you to give a little bit of an introduction. I'm going to introduce you of course before this, but I want you to tell my audience who you are what is really important that people know about you. Omisade   That's a great question. And thank you for having me. So I think the things that are really important to me, that I want your listeners to know is not what I do, but who I am and who I'm trying to be. So who I am. I am a seventh generation North Carolinian so I'm southern who I am As I'm A I, my parents daughter, and my parents or ancestors have been deceased now for almost 20 years or more. So, I move in the world as somebody whose child but not somebody who's here physically anymore. I am a sister. I have older siblings and a younger sister. I'm mom to two spectacularly beautiful black boys, who aren't boys anymore. My oldest son will be 30 next month, my youngest son will be 14 in October. But they they've taught me so much about like, how to love and how to love myself and be more soft and open and gentle with them and with me. I am an Aries. Me Sue. Yeah, but with a Leo moon and Leo rising. So I am fire fire in fire. Sophie Shiloh   Incredible. That's so powerful. Omisade   I think that's important for folks to know. Sophie Shiloh   Yeah, exactly what they're getting into, Omisade   you know, just just be prepared. And I'm a really passionate person around healing. My own healing, and the healing and safety of my people, black people. Healing of our country, healing of our culture is my my thing. I think that liberation and radical love, like is at the core of healing. So that's really important to me. And like who I'm trying to be, it's just a really happy, vibrant, safe, joyous, young person. That's who I'm I'm trying to be? Sophie Shiloh   Can I ask you to elaborate a little bit about radical love and what that means to you how you embody that how you use that in your relationship with you? Omisade   Yeah, so I think, you know, I had a very traditional kind of view of what love is, I have older parents, who were both born during the Great Depression, and raised in Jim Crow South. And so a lot of the ways that I experienced love from my parents was, you know, providing you something, right, like you have a home, you have a safe place to live, you have a safe place to lay your head, you you are going to school, you'll get to go to college. You're safe, like your physical safety, in terms of like stability was like a really important thing. But kind of emotional vulnerability was not something that was always available to them. And I understand why. And I also feel like for me, I didn't think that I could be as sensitive as I am emotionally, I felt like that was problematic. So I started to try to figure out like how to mask my emotions or mask my sensitivity, not very successfully, honestly. And so as I've gotten older, and also have been on a pretty consistent journey around my mental health and my wellness, radical love looks like me actually allowing myself to be much more curious and open to my authentic self. Like, who is she? What does she want? What does she desire? What does softness look like? What does intimacy and vulnerability look like? In all relationships, I choose to do have access to that, because I don't think that everybody should have access to it. I think boundaries are really important. But I think that the radical part of it is like, what does it mean for me to be vulnerable to myself, and allow myself to have whatever kind of thoughts I might have? And be curious about the origins of those thoughts without shaming or being embarrassed? Or if I am feeling some embarrassment for a thought or if I am feeling some shame or whatever, for thought to allow that to just be released from me in his time, you know, and not like you're failing you have to hurry up and get over this thought, like no, I'm not feeling I'm like this thought has is here for a reason or this feeling is here for a reason. And so I think the radical part of that is like, working everyday to suspend judgment working everyday to sit to alleviate shame, working every day to be more open to who I am in who I allowed to have access to my authentic self. So. Sophie Shiloh   So that is a beautiful lead into just me saying just for a second about how I discovered you, because I found out about you five minutes ago, essentially. And I really, I saw your style, like you interview and I was immediate. I'm like, I'm done, like, so I'm done. It's, I was blown away. And so I haven't had the chance yet to like, listen to quite every single podcast you have. But I just dove in immediately and started gobbling them up. So the the thing you said the phrase you said, that kind of hit me and just told me that I had to reach out to you and talk to you and learn everything you have to say. And all of that was you talking about just being sweet to your damn self. And part of that, you know, includes not coming to yourself with judgment and shame, like you just mentioned, which is amazing. I want you to talk more about that. But that there are so many ways for us to be sweet to our damn selves. And you also had an interview with blue now, who was that interview? Everyone has? That's just, it's prerequisite information for like, a woman on earth. You know what I mean? Omisade   I think so too. She was a absolute hoot when we interviewed when he was in her night dress, like she was actually like, anybody gonna see this? I was like, no, no, I'm in my pajamas. As it's fine. I'm in blue. Now it's fine. Sophie Shiloh   For her to just show up so much as her that she didn't even check before. Like, that's just so powerful. And so. So this concept of being sweet to your damn self, talk a little bit about that, because coming out of, you know, a childhood, where you're describing you were shown certain kinds of love, and you were probably not shown how to love yourself in other various important ways. So like, what is what does it mean to you to be sweet to your damn self? Now? How do you do that? How have you learned that over the course of you know, having kids experiencing menopause? This simple question should only take, you know, one or two sentences to answer. It's no big deal. Omisade   Maybe maybe 12 or 13. But um, so I want to say something, you know, I my parents worked really, really hard, really hard. And my, my mom was super lovey. And like a huge cheerleader of anything that my younger sister and I wanted to do in terms of like, extracurricular activities, if we wanted to do dance, if we wanted to, whatever she was like, yes, let's do it. Let's make it happen. And I think that was born out of her not having access to so many things as a kid, like they were really, really, really poor. The thing that I didn't see my mother do was take good care of herself. She was always extending that out to other people. Are you good? Are you hungry? Are you cold? Are you sleepy? Let me take you here. Let me take you there. I didn't see my mom rest until my mom gets sick. And that that felt like a really, really important part of my framing of like, what does it look like to take care of yourself? What does it look like to be sweet to yourself? What does What does rest with this care look like? She just did not read. And she wasn't the only one that I observed doing that inside of our family? Like, none of the black women inside of my family? Didn't know. Yeah, that they were always in Sophie Shiloh   the concept was just like, foreign entirely. You know, Omisade   the concept is foreign. Because it's not a luxury that black women are afforded in many ways. It's definitely that generation. Right? Like I said, my parents were not boomers. My parents were the greatest for Sophie Shiloh   Yeah, so that was not even a question. Omisade   Absolutely. What do you do you work hard? Yeah. And you take care of your family. And you're in constant motion, you're cooking, you're taking someone to this class or someone to this club, there's always something going on. And so my relationship with rest to me is like an exemplar of a place where I wasn't I didn't know how to be sweet to myself, like rest to me is such a really important part of my sweetness practice now. And I think that what are the unintended outcomes of the pandemic, is that it allowed me to lean in more deeply into the fact that I don't know I don't know how to rest. I still struggle sometimes even working remotely even still working primarily from home Like carving out times in my day, where I'm just in a place of just rest and ease, and not in motion. Even inside my house, you know, I teased that, you know, the virtual world that we kind of operated now I feel like I'm in a long hallway and I'm running from one Zoom Room to the next, you know, Oh, are we on Zoom? Are we on Google me? Are we on Google meet? Are we on Skype, and I'm just running around in this virtual space. And like, giving myself an opportunity to stop in this virtual space and go outside and get to stop and to lay down even if I'm not taking a nap. Like if I don't close my eyes to go to sleep, but just to, to recline. Yeah, and let my body soften and be quiet and just settle in. I listened to music all the time anyway. But to put on some music that just lets me just like time travel or relax? Yes, time travel. Yeah, all the time, all the time, whatever it may be. So the being sweet to myself, right now primarily looks like the ways in which I allow myself to rest. And I think it's still a journey of figuring out these things, and unlearning a lot of what I saw growing up as a kid. Yeah. Sophie Shiloh   So unlearning. Let's pause there for a minute, the undoing you mentioned that in your interview with Dr. Jenn from decolonizing therapy, you talk about the undoing of so much of what we were taught, the disguises that we put on ourselves in order to survive and the, you know, just the various habits of either not resting or telling yourself that you're not allowed to not giving yourself permission to do all of this. Like, I think it relates also to sovereignty, having sovereignty over your own body in your own life. Literally just living it as if it is yours because it is it is so tell. Tell talk a little bit more about what you have to undo what you have to unlearn in order to be a happy woman. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like, that's really the essence of it. Omisade   I mean, you know, I want everybody to be happy people, however, right? Cis, hetero woman, whoever's listening to your podcast may not identify that way. Exactly. Everyone who listens to you to know that what hat for me, the undoing or the unlearning? Absolutely kind of exists inside of these constructs that we live in, in this country. Right? So capitalism tells you gotta be like producing, producing, producing, producing, I'm a genetics kid, right? So it's like, Where is the evidence that you are a valuable person? In? Did you go to college? Where did you go to college? You know, there's always the bar of like evidence of your legitimacy. Or if you're fraudulent, like, it feels like it's like one of those kind of like Whack a Mole situations like you can never actually get it right. So it's like, okay, inside of a capitalistic construct, what does success look like? You got to go to college, you got to go to a particular kind of college. You got to have a particular kind of degree or a particular kind of job, but you got not just have any job. What's your title in your job? What do you do? What are you responsible for? Are you a supervisor, like how many people use provides? Do you have a budget? Well, how big is your budget? Like it's always like, Sophie Shiloh   proof and also the competition of how much do you overwork this masochistic competition? Omisade   masochistic competition of like, I literally put in 65 hours, I'm killing myself. Yeah. Right. And if you being like, Oh, my God, I put in 80 hours last week, and then they're like, but I'm getting to go to Cabo. So I feel so much better about it. So it's like, Well, why do you have to do that? Yeah, like, it's very bizarre way in which we're in the hyper productivity, hyper, you know, hyper speed of work, like you have to prove your worth. Yeah. And I you know, and because I operate with an intersectional identity of someone who is a black who's black, who's a woman who sits who's heteros college educated, who I feel like has been pretty successful and being able to take care of myself most of my adult life, not all of my adult life. Most of it, yeah, you know, you you move in a way where you're like, you also realize how much white supremacy and patriarchy is like jacked you up. Sophie Shiloh   Yeah. And that hits you and then you're like, Omisade   Alright, and so the unlearning is why am I doing this? Yeah. Am I actually really happy don't want to do this. Well, if I stopped doing this what what will I lose? Am I'm willing to lose whatever that is? Like cuz some But what I think I will lose is like, actually not real anyway. So like, how do I give myself permission? To be very clear, I've never worked in corporate America. I've always worked. I worked in higher ed. And I've worked. I've worked in social justice in the nonprofit sector. And so in the US think, Oh, well, that doesn't happen inside of the social justice nonprofit. That's not true. Sophie Shiloh   Yeah. Oh, god. No, I mean, ya know, Omisade   the hyper hyper work that exists inside of nonprofits is to me again, an example of like, how capitalism and white supremacy work ethic, like, what have you working seven days a week? Every Dragon, I Sophie Shiloh   come from that world to it, Omisade   and I'm talking to you, so drag, my oldest kid is to drag him to every single meeting every single action, every single protest every single phone game, you know, every single board meeting, you know, he, for the longest time, che was always the only kid in the room. Yeah. You know, and, you know, there was some, you know, I don't know, honor in being like, oh, yeah, right. Sophie Shiloh   Yeah. Which I mean, it honestly, that does make sense. Because like, fuck, yes, you're raising this incredible aware child who's engaged and who sees the impact of how he and how his mom walks in the world. But then there's like, what you what you're saddling yourself with, when you allow yourself to live only in that way. There's, there's no rest, there's no connection with hand, there's, like, Omisade   no rest, and there's no there's no boundary, right? There's no boundary, there's no like, somebody could call me at nine o'clock or 10 o'clock at night. And when, especially with Che, because my boys are 16 years apart. Yeah. So Jay, you know, focus, disrupt whatever time that I should have been really dedicated to being in mommy mode with him. Yeah. And be like, Listen, I need to talk to you about this, or I'm working on X, Y, and Z. And, you know, he just learned to go with the flow with it and be like, you know, snuggle up underneath me while I'm working, um, or, you know, take care of himself and be in his room. And you know, both my boys are very, Loki, chill, chill as kids. So I'm very blessed in that way. But I also know that the way that I sometimes showed up for him, I won't do that with Taj. I've changed with Taj. And I think that, and che sees that we've talked about it, too. We've talked about that, as he's an adult, and what that was like for him. And, you know, talk about that with ties, you know, and I'm very clear with people who are working with me now, like, I'm, I'm not available to talk to you after a certain time. Yep. And I will not allow that time to take away from ties. Yeah, it's very important to me now, I'm, I'm divorced. I've been divorced now, for nine years. And so it's really important to be in a healthy co parenting relationship with his dad. And it's really important to be in a healthy relationship with both my boys as I'm still parenting an adult child and a teenager. Yeah. And so those boundaries became even more clear to me with my depression around really needing to take care of myself and really needing to be at home and comfortable with my kids and math and my family and allowing them to take care of me and be be open to that. Sophie Shiloh   Yeah. So one of the most challenging things for women to do, I think, just based on observational and, and personal experiences, receiving love, receiving care, not only from ourselves, but from others as well. So, how have you been able to really sort of surrender to that and say, No, I'm not going to be a martyr anymore. I'm not going to, you know, base all my worth on how much I'm willing to sacrifice anymore. I'm not going to play this masochistic competition game of how much can I suffer? How much can I work? How much can I sacrifice? Um, you know, talk a little bit about your experience of just saying no, I'm, I'm going to allow myself to exist and exist beautifully and exist with joy. Omisade   Hmm. Well, the first thing is I don't have any illusions of perfection. What's that quote? that perfection is the thief of joy. Yeah, so I don't know. Sophie. I'm still figuring that shit. Yeah. Like I legit. Don't know. Like, fully. Like, I'm just I know what I do know is I'm committed. Yeah, I know that. It's a practice for me. And so I know that every day I'm like, I wantOmisade to be happy. I want Omisade to be whole. I want Omisade to be safe. I want Omisade to be creative. I want Omisade to be committed. But I, every day, I am trying to disrupt any illusions of perfection. And some days I feel really good at it some days I suck the entire. Yeah, some weeks, I sucked the entire week where I'm just like, oh, this was just like, pushing a boulder up a hill all week long around all of my imposter syndrome, all of my ways in which fraudulent even at almost 55 years old. Yeah. All the ways where I feel like I'm still in my own little anxious attachment style, dancing as hard as I possibly can to get people to be like, aren't you just the sweetest little lovable thing, right? And then that doesn't happen and be like, dance faster, dance harder, be more shiny, you know? And then maybe someone will be like, Oh my God, did you see this person over here, just dancing, and sweating profusely? Let's give them all the love that they need. Let's protect them. Let's Let's offer them resource. So they can feel really, really good about themselves. And so I don't have a perfection. I don't have a way that I will say to someone. This is this is the life hack. Here, look, here's the plot twist. Sophie, there is no life hack. Yeah, there is no life hack. I think the life hack is if you decided that the way you've been moving in the world is detrimental to your spirit, to your soul, to your happiness to your heart to your mind. And you just got to figure out ways to cut that shit out. Just cut just figure out everyday, how am I gonna disrupt this? What's a real simple thing I can do to disrupt this today? How can I disrupt tomorrow and just be in a constant place of oh, if something pops up, and I realized that I'm dancing again. I'm dancing really hard. And you're like, What are you doing? Oh, are you tired? Are you? Um, does this feel like a familiar scenario? You feel like you're time traveling right now back to Yeah. Sophie Shiloh   Like where'd you go? What happened? urge you go, Omisade   come back, come back, come back. You can actually breathe. Take a moment. Like I need a moment. Let me hit you. All right back. Take a break. Take a walk, take a nap, drink some water. chill out for a second. And then decide what you need. Like yesterday, I was on a call with some folks that I work with. I trust so much. I've trust them, respect them. I love them so much. And I was feeling really crispy and tired. And so I asked for support, which is not something I would have done. Previously, I would have likely just been sitting on the zoom with pinched eyes. Mm hmm. Oh, and like, headache brewing behind my eyes. And they would say, Oh, me, so are you cool to do that? I'm like, sure. Yeah, no problem. I'll get something to y'all tomorrow. And yesterday, I was like, Y'all, I cannot I need someone else on this team of people who I believe in and trust and nor fully capable to take this piece for the next couple of weeks. I can't do it. I have too much on my plate. And I will not only will I not do it. Well, I'll be resentful if I have to do it. And they were like, nice. Thank you for being honest and asking, of course, we can take that for you. And I was like, thanks. I really appreciate that. Sophie Shiloh   so valuable. That honesty, that self awareness to self knowledge. Yeah. And I just want to also honor how and thank you for doing that. Because when when women who younger women like me look up to do that. It really does. I know, blah, blah, blah permission is something you can only give yourself, you know, whatever but but it's also not, you know, it is really really valuable and helpful for us to see. strong, capable, confident, beautiful women or genuinely people of any gender identity, none of this matters, you know, etc. But seeing you do that knowing that you have that experience of doubting yourself in that moment saying no, I really should over extend. No, I really do want to bend myself until I break here but you don't. And that gives us permission not to as well. It's just I just want to thank you. It's really powerful. Omisade   It is so important. Yeah, love is it is so important and I think that we often see people in front was we see them doing it, we can we can see bear witness to folk engaging in the back bend in the breaking in the hype speed in the hyper productivity. And we also we watch, we are bystanders, yeah, in order for there to be reciprocity in this healing in this unlearning, where we actually extend ourselves to the folks that we care about in the book that we're working with are being created with and say, Listen, I'm noticing that you've been really doing a lot of work. Are you taking care of yourself? Is there something I can take off your plate, you know, and it's really ironic I, you modeling that will transform how you show up in the world, and also the next generation. Case in point. A couple of weeks ago, I was working, I had a really, really long day, working with a client with my consulting practice. And I had been in my little office space all day long. And Taj came home from school, and I was still here and I said, Listen, I'm just going to be a long evening, so I'm going to actually just ordered some food and he was like, no problem. Then he came back upstairs. He said, Is there anything that I can do for you? And I was like, um I don't know. He said, Is there anything around the house that you need done that I could just take care of for you? And I was like, what the kitchen cuz you some support. He was like, considerate that. He's 13. Oh, like, Consider it done. So this kid goes downstairs. Oh, me. It should. Anyway, that's his job. But we got there, cleaned the kitchen, took the trash out. Just and then I ordered the food. He unpackaged the food put on a play. It gave me some sugar. And was like, wow, I was like, I love you too sweet. And that that's a big deal for me. Because this this kid was like, I know she's got some stuff. She's She's committed to I had a deadline and I couldn't like yeah, wiggle out of that. Yeah. So he was like, was there anything I can do to take something off? You're Sophie Shiloh   like, we're on the same team. Mom, you're going to pull an all nighter? What can I do? Yeah, I got you. Yeah. Omisade   I think is important for us to extend that kind of care to the folk who are in our lives. Yes. We're doing work with to be able to say to someone, look, Sophie, I see you're working really hard. Sweetie. Is there something I can take off your plate? As opposed to just watching you burn? Yeah, we watch each other burn all the time as as women we watch each other burn. We like who she is just, she's gonna crash and burn. Don't stand there and observe Sophie Shiloh   dad there. Yeah. witness to that and then be like something. I knew you were gonna crash Omisade   and burn. I was I was concerned. Were you really not Sophie Shiloh   helpful? Were you really? Yes. Omisade   Really? Like, that's a big Aflac. Sophie Shiloh   I didn't hear from you. Omisade   I was like, stretched out to you like I was concerned. But I figured if you was doing it, you knew what you were doing. Sophie Shiloh   Like, I told you to reach out if you needed anything like, yeah. Omisade   Which is another thing that we do when we see somebody in kind of in a grief cycle. Yes, exhibiting their their post traumatic stress are their trauma responses. And so we just watch, Sophie Shiloh   don't wait for them to ask for help. Yeah, you cannot do that. And you know, it's so trendy for people now to talk about being trauma informed. You can't be trauma informed. If you talk about relying on this hyper individualistic method of healing. It's just Yeah, I know that we could just rant on that forever. Really Omisade   good. You really could I think that, you know, some of the ways in which I feel like people are talking about trauma informed work, or trauma informed activism, sometimes feels very passive where you're watching someone and you're like, oh, what I'm observing right now is their trauma. So I'm just gonna have their trauma, as opposed to, oh, what I'm observing right now, is this person operating in their trauma? And that can activate me to speak to this person and say, I'm observing some things. I'm curious about some things. Are you open to us having a conversation about it? And also, this is what I'd like to offer you. Are you open to that? Like it's always to me like, I don't just want you to be curious and observing the from a kind of like an anthropological study. Sophie Shiloh   Yes. A voyeuristic kind of No, Omisade   no, I want you to actually be engaged and invested. So I know I can't expect that from every thought, everybody. I'm not gullible enough to think that that's available to everybody. But the people who actually say that they are down for me, and I'm down for them, I would prefer if they see me operating from a place of my trauma to be like, Oh, me, I have noticed. Yeah, last couple of months or the last couple of weeks, XYZ. You want? Can we talk about that? Do you feel open to talking about this with me? And is there something I can do for you? This is what I'd like to offer. And I'm always that person. When I'm talking to folks that I work with, or that I'm in relationship with us? I will. What do you need? Do you need me to listen? Do you? Would you like me to reflect when I'm hearing? Yeah. And can I offer you something? Yeah. So you know, I'll say, Would you like to take a walk this weekend? I'd love to walk with you? Or would you like to have some tea? We'll have tea outside? Or do you feel comfortable having tea inside? And want me to send you a playlist? You know, I think I'm a DJ Sophie, I'm the you know, people. I'm a curator of vibes. Sophie Shiloh   I was gonna ask you for your music earlier. And I was like, I don't know if she'd give me her personal Spotify, but I'm gonna need Omisade   it and I will send you my Spotify. Curator of vibes and I will say to someone you want me to make your playlist? Sophie Shiloh   Um, that's, that's like a special kind of love. Omisade   That's deep. That's like a 21st century mixtape? Are you kidding me? That's, Sophie Shiloh   that's intensely special. If someone does that for you, Omisade   if somebody thinks enough of me to curate a playlist for me, I think we go together. I think you want to say yeah, like, do you want to do that? Sophie Shiloh   Yeah. Are you like, what's going on here? What do you what kind of messages are you sending? Yes, but this, this is huge. You also talk about music like that. That is, okay. So when you ask someone, how do you want me to support you right now? How can I show up for you? So many times, we don't know how to ask, we don't know what to say we don't know, like, especially if you're at the very beginning, like clients, when I first start working with someone, oftentimes, they don't know what they like to eat. They don't know what kind of music they like, they've lost themselves, they've abandoned themselves for so many years. They just they don't know. But for you to say, hey, here are some of the ways that I like to, to connect to nature to my self, that I like to ground. Let me let's do some, like that's extremely helpful for people who just have gone so far off the path of self love that they do not know how to care for themselves. They need like, let me show you how to do this. Let me like, yeah, it's a, you need Wayshowers I think, Omisade   though, you need Wayshowers. And you need wayfinding tools like to get back on your path. You know, and it's sometimes you're, when you're off your path, it can feel really scary and isolating it to have someone look at you and say, I'll go with you. Yeah. And you're like, you will be like, Yeah, sure. I'll go, let's go, let's go. Sophie Shiloh   Let's go, this path is one that you can walk, it's not going to kill you. It's gonna, it's gonna be the best thing that ever happened to you this actually. Okay, let me ask you this question. Because that reminds me so much of the language that I use for this question be being afraid of something and it actually working out beautifully. So, um, oh, okay. So what do you wish you could tell your pre menopausal self yourself in your 20s or 30s or 40s? yourself during your most confused or uncomfortable? So like, when you were on your path, and you were the most confused or the most discouraged, the most lost from yourself? What do you think helped bring you back? What were your wayfinding tools? What helped you bring or come back to yourself? Does that question make sense? Omisade   It does. Yeah, I have I, you know, I'm having this visualization right now of, you know, times, especially in my 20s and 30s. My, you know, my parents passed away in my early 30s. And I felt very much like wow, like, how am I moving in the world now, without parents like, this is such a hard thing. I still have so many questions and so many things I want to know and I'm, and I'm grateful that I actually developed it and started practicing African traditional religion that allowed me to develop a really deep relationship with my ancestors. And so, one of the things if I could time travel back to myself in my early 30s, I would say you can slow down, slow down for a second. I have a seat at the seat. Here, drink some cool water. Take a couple of breaths. I'm holding your stomach and let your stomach just before. Just relax, soften your belly, soften your jaw, relax, your ancestors are all around you, your parents are all around you. They might not be here with you physically, but you can still talk to them, you can still have a deeply loving relationship, you can still heal with them. And you're going to get to know them better. Now that they're not physically here, you're going to be surprised by some of the things you learned about them in the next 20 years. And it's true, there have been things that have been revealed to me, inside of our family about my parents, in particular about my mother that I didn't know, until, like you before last, during the big things brought to my attention, things were revealed really important things. Yeah. Understand her more as a woman, not as my mom. Yeah. But as a woman. Sophie Shiloh   Right, that distinction is everything, I think, Omisade   is the complexity of who we are as people. And when we get relegated to a one dimensional or two dimensional identity of just like, oh, well, they're a mother or their partner or their XYZ, like your your, we engage in a ratio all the time. Oh, yeah. All the ways that wait, the people show up. And so I would want to time travel back to myself and be like, you're getting ready to find out some things that are gonna help you understand yourself better. All of who you are, what makes you tick, what you need, what you deserve, what you actually want, and give yourself permission to say out loud what you want. Without hesitation. Right. And so, I do think that it is an ongoing journey of returning to yourself. I used to be in this place where I felt like if I was evolving as a person, I was leaving parts of myself behind, which also in you know, if I'm being honest, I was like banishing parts of myself. Yeah. It's like, oh, I'm evolving. And so it was like hateful. Oh, it was just like, Oh, she was so problematic. 16 Ooh, she was so messy of 25, blue sheep, or whatever, at 30. As opposed to being like, Oh, I kind of understand why the 16 year old did this, or why the 25 year old this or why the 30? Or the 35? Did this. All of the avatars, all of the versions of myself were invested in keeping me safe? Yeah. And some of the ways that I tried to keep myself safe. Were like, ill informed. Yeah, or immature. Right. And so Sophie Shiloh   they were the highest capacity that you had at that time, at that time. Omisade   And so what I get to do is engage in reunification of all my avatars. Listen, I love the 16 year old. I love the 25 year old. I love the 30 to 35 to 40 to 50 year old, I love all the versions of myself, and I have like, invited all of myself to be the CO conspirators of me being happy and safe and unhealthy and whole. And when I get peaked, or trauma response shows up and that 15 year old Omisade shows up and she's like, bout it bout it. I'm like, listen, you're actually safe. It's not a real thing. Is not 1982 You don't have a right. You can you can just show this. Okay? That's that was 40 years ago, I get why you were doing that. You don't have to do that. Yeah, what's wrong? Let's talk about it. Let's drink the water. Just walk outside. And then I'm not and I'm not mad at you. And I'm not putting you out. And I'm not pushing you away. I'm actually inviting you in. And then the 15 year old gets to relax. And be like, Oh, this is cool. Okay, you know, you're not bad for almost 35 year Sophie Shiloh   old version. Yeah, she learns that you're not going to punish her not gonna punish Omisade   her. I used to punish her. You have to apologize to her because I was punishing all these younger versions Sophie Shiloh   of mine and abandoning them and yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay, so you brought up two really important things. This for unification. I want to ask you about what or whom you've had to walk away from in order to choose you in order to walk towards you, you know, what you've had to walk away from in order to walk closer to yourself. And also you mentioned stating what it is that you want when you when you finally admit to yourself and say out loud in no uncertain terms what you want. There's obvious power in that and I want you to talk about that. And you know, because we don't so often or we don't for years, or we do it very indirectly in a very apologetic way. So yeah, I mean, take all of that and run with it. Omisade   Right? You know, the thing that I, I definitely feel like the thing that I had to walk away from it wasn't a person, it was a belief or a mindset. And the mindset that I had to walk away from that I'm still walking away from is that I don't inherently deserve love or care unless I am performing. Unless I'm sparkly, unless I'm producing something that's so amazing that you can't find someplace else. And so this like anxiousness that gets attached to the performing the anxiousness that gets attached to producing that anxiousness that gets attached to, I got to do it better than anybody else has ever done, I got to do something that's like spectacular, because if I don't, at some point, so whoever I'm engaged with, whether it's a co worker, whether his collaborator, whether it's a lover, a partner, or an ex spouse will look at me and be like, you know, you're not that great. You know, I changed my mind. I don't mind appealing. I actually don't love you. I don't think you deserve my love. I don't want to keep you safe. Right? So this this mindset was like, Oh, shit, well, let me just keep doing this, you know, Glamour you to glamour myself to glamour, these folks. So that way, they're always like, wow, there's just a whole lot of activity going on here. Oh, my goodness. Oh, let me shut is just so fantastic. And she's so bright, and she's so sparkly. She's got this big personality, and she does things big. And so Oh, cool. Oh, my goodness. It's just like, overwhelmed with all the stimulation that I'm providing right on the stimulation, new sexual stimulation as well. Like, Sophie Shiloh   oh, yeah, all kinds of stimulation. Yeah. Oh, she's right. She got it all. Omisade   I'm trying to keep you distracted. So you don't see me? Sophie Shiloh   Yeah. Yeah. Omisade   Really see me? Full Face. No makeup. No judging. No mask? Yeah, no dancing. No sexy. No Sophie Shiloh   performance, no performance. No amazing Omisade   speaking, or training or facilitation or whatever that I'm engaging in. And you just looking at me? Straight on, that you won't find me wanting that you won't look at me and say, Oh, I don't know if I'm bad. Nevermind, change my mind. Onto the next thing. Good luck. Right. And so that had to be the thing that I was willing to walk away from. And also the thing that I needed to be willing to turn to which was my more authentic self, right? To know that it is okay for me to remove the mask. You know, there's some masks I'm gonna hold on to because I'm a black woman live in this country? Yes, yes. Yes. Look like me here. So there's a max that I do keep that I will always keep? Yeah. You know, I would I wish I could say that in my lifetime that that mass Osco also could be discarded that I could be like, Oh, I can move in this, this world in this country and feel safe as a black woman. But I don't know if that's actually going to be a true statement for Sophie Shiloh   me. Yeah. I mean, we're not going to be alive. Long enough for No, that's Yeah. Omisade   Right. So there are some that are very functional. Yeah, I understand. But there are also some masks that were just really choking the air out of my body. Yeah. Was not allowing me to see myself fully and also the folk that I would actually like to see me fully. You know, once you want, yeah. I get to choose who my enemies are. Yeah, I can choose who I want to expose, reveal. Lean into with my vulnerable, authentic, soft open heart itself. Right. And so the decision to know that oh, you know, that I am sparkly, I think naturally. And then that's an Sophie Shiloh   obvious like emanates, you know, Omisade   I appreciate that. And I also am I have a very strong performative mask, and so like to be able to really level down into a more authentic place has been such a beautiful, hard, generous journey for myself. I feel like I'm extending myself a lot of generosity in this space, a lot of grace. Sophie Shiloh   A lot of respect, you have to be courageous, Omisade   like Yeah, like very scary thing to be like, Oh, here you go, this is just look, this is me, here I am, when I'm going to write this thing, oh, when I'm feeling really good about myself, and also when I've messed up, like, you know, to be able to be like, that was not okay, I need to fix this, I need that I need to apologize, I need to take responsibility be culpable for situation, Sophie Shiloh   or now that you know how to treat yourself without shame. And you don't approach your own self with derision and hatred anymore. You can take accountability and take responsibility and apologize in like a restorative way, in a collaborative way, you know, it doesn't feel horrible or like an indictment of who you are. Omisade   It doesn't feel like an indictment. But it can still feel hard. I had a recent situation where somebody shared with me some really important things that they experienced with me that was hurtful to them. It was hurtful. And I'm grateful that they were honest with me. I'm grateful that they were vulnerable with me. And I felt it in my chest. I felt sick. I was like, Oh, I cannot believe that I did that. Right. And my initial reaction was to be defensive. And to be like, well, that's not what I meant to do, or that's not that's not that's not what I really feel like. But that's not useful. And it doesn't actually matter. Yeah. So it doesn't matter. Sophie Shiloh   It doesn't matter. Omisade   So like me centering my feelings, exactly. Who was courageous enough to say to me, Oh, me, there's something that you do that's hurtful to me Sophie Shiloh   doing it? And what a friend. That's powerful. Omisade   Right, which lets me know that this person actually loves me. Yes. Right. Like they have our relationship and they want our relationship to be stronger, more Sophie Shiloh   unlike guess what, oh, me, I love you. And I love our relationship, even when you do something that hurt me, like, Omisade   invite you to stop doing it. And I want to talk with you about it. So the first thing I did was, you know, give myself permission to feel my feelings. You know, like, I kind of walked around, you know, I needed to get myself together. And then I responded and was like, Thank you. Yep. And I'm sorry. And I take responsibility. And I'm committed to fixing this. And we can talk about this when you're ready. I got there's work I gotta do. Sophie Shiloh   Yeah. And that's so simple. Omisade   It's so simple. I was all the rage of emotions. I felt like crying. My heart was just racing, shaking. And, you know, I also was trying to be very, very vigilant in my response. I was like, I want them to know that this is not a knee jerk reaction. Take your time. Take your time. Take your time. This is important. Like, again, there is no perfection, we will hurt people. Yeah. We will mess up. People will hurt us. They will mess up. And like they this person model for me how I can also let people know when I feel harmed by someone's actions or words to say, Listen, I really care about you. And I care about this relationship. There's some things that you've done that really hurt me. Yeah. And I'd like for us to talk about Sophie Shiloh   I think that having those kinds of conversations, in friendships and relationships and in, in professional relationships with colleagues is becoming more normalized and more accepted. And I think that's so exciting because you can have, we don't have to have relationships anymore that feel like putting on a mask for 30 years. Omisade   Right? Right. Or waiting for you know, part of my my shadow side of my fire is I would allow myself to get angry. And then my main three will be the fuel for my honesty. Sophie Shiloh   Yes. Yeah. I mean, as an Aries. Literally you're just speaking my soul. Yes, Omisade   I know lighter as all the way up. Like I was like, wait until I am like looking like Jack Jack from the incredible. Yeah. And then I'm gonna let you have it. Yeah. And I was I'm gonna be honest, like brutally honest and say, everything that I've been holding on to, as opposed to like giving myself permission all along. To be like, that was not okay. I'll feel good about that. You know, Sophie Shiloh   when I was always open, and Omisade   anger and rage is a real emotion that I also don't want to deny myself or act like I'm not exclusionary. Yeah. And also that that gives me more information again, about where I'm at what's going on with me. I'm experiencing your rage, which I think is scary to not scary about It's been problematized like, yeah, Sophie Shiloh   if you are, it's been pathologized. And yes, of course, Italy has Sophie. So like, if you are, I cannot even Yeah, it's it's horrific like for, for me to talk about, like how I'm like healing my relationship with anger. It's one thing but I'm like, I cannot even understand a black woman or healing her relationship with anger, like, when you've been told by everyone in in all areas, you're not allowed to have this. If you do, it will be like we said, pathologized and you'll be legalized. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Omisade   The indictment is really intense. And the punishment is really intense is just like, what, Sophie Shiloh   if you're going to actually punished for having emotion Omisade   actually be punished for having emotions that happen generationally? Sophie Shiloh   Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that is a lot to overcome. So you know what, let's, I know, we're like at the end of the hour. Um, and as far as I know, you're not free for the rest for the next eight hours of the day to keep. Omisade   I'm, like, be like, let's go get some tea, and come back and continue this conversation. And don't be like, get some wine and continue this conversation. Sophie Shiloh   Let's just keep going and going, seriously, I love talking to you. Um, but I do want to, like in the in this next transition to the end of the conversation, where I want you to tell everyone how they can find everything from you, and learn from you and all of the things that you have to offer. But also just, this is gonna be where we started the conversation, but it wasn't in discussing decolonizing, menopause, and decolonizing, healing and decolonizing what it means to just be a person in the world. What, tell us tell us a little bit about what how you'd like to end this conversation on that note. Omisade   Mm hmm. I think that, you know, a lot of people have been using the moniker of decolonization as it relates to a lot of constructs that we move inside of, in our culture, right. So people talk about decolonizing fitness, they talk about decolonizing aging. But the decolonizing construct was first introduced to me by my indigenous brothers and sisters who talked about the decolonization of an of an indigenous mine and an indigenous land indigenous bodies, right? It's like, what does it mean for someone who is not a part of your culture, who did not originate from the land, the space, the region are, who you are, to come in, Co Op, and take your land, and then also engage in the erasure and the genocide of your, of your people? Like intentionally, right? So the decolonization systematically Sophie Shiloh   intentionally for centuries? Yeah. Omisade   So the decolonization language was first introduced to me through indigeneity. It's like, what does it mean for indigenous First Nation people to be engaged in the decolonization not only of the land, but of their culture and their people, right. And that requires deep study in history. It requires a deep understanding of constructs and systemic oppression. It requires a commitment to this radical liberatory healing and love and what is possible in terms of reunification and really understanding who you are. And so when I talk about decolonizing, menopause, I really begin by thinking about what has been the journey of women, women identify people or gender expansive people's bodies, in our culture, and how our bodies have been problematized? In particular, black bodies, right. So what's been our experience with not having agency over our bodies? What's been our experience of not being believed about how we're experiencing our bodies, whether that is pain, right, where the best is comfort with an S concern or fear, and being told, well, that couldn't possibly be true. That's not you can't be experiencing that amount of pain. You're Yeah. You're fine. And the implications can range from like, just real confusion and discomfort to death. Yes, of course. Yeah. No, the outcome can be death. Yeah. And so if we are decolonizing, menopause and aging, it kind of lives inside of this rubric of like, what does it mean for you to have agency over your body? And what were you told about your body? Who told you that? Where did the message Yeah, about your body? What your body can do as your body continues to evolve. Your body is always changing and evolving. From the moment you take your first breath to the moment you take your life. And in between all of those moments, we have been told as black people as black women, that your body is a problem. Your body is a problem the way is shaped, your size, your sex, your sexuality, Sophie Shiloh   your, your hair, every everything, Omisade   everything is a problem. And so that you find yourself in at this stage of your life where you're aging, your body shifting and changing again. And then people are telling you what menopause is the whole shit show. Sophie Shiloh   You're going to be hot problems get different and worse. Omisade   It's going to awful awful in your your vagina is going to dry up and then you're going to die. Sophie Shiloh   Yeah, that's it. No one's gonna ever love you again. And Omisade   absolutely not. You were not lovable. You weren't lovable to begin with. But now you're Sophie Shiloh   now you're extra disgusting. Yeah. Right. Omisade   And so the decolonising have added the deconstructing of that and pulling the pulling apart and looking in. I'm always I'm always a student of history. I love I love history, I'm a student of culture, I pay attention to the way culture moves, and the way we treat each other and what we value what we don't value. And then so the framing of decolonizing, menopause, decolonizing aging decolonizing. The Crone is to deconstruct through my understanding of history, and contemporary constructs, what we believe about our bodies and our value and our ability to have agency our ability to choose our ability to evolve, and love and heal and be safe, and experience, pleasure and joy, all those things. Sophie Shiloh   So let's end with talking about the word beautiful, because when I hear you speak, and when I read your words, and when I look at you, that word just flashes in front of me, I mean, so unbelievably, unspeakably beautiful. But you mentioned in your style, like you interview which everyone should go listen to that that's not a word you use to describe yourself. So and I'm also obsessed with, with women and, and female bodied people finding value in finding identity and things that have nothing to do with physical beauty. You know, for so many reasons, we could talk about that consumption, etc. But how do you describe yourself? What are the words that you love to use to describe? Only Shodai? Omisade   I do think I have a beautiful heart. I think I have I call myself lionhearted. Because I think I'm very courageous. I think I'm very generous. And I think I'm very protective of the people that I love. So that's definitely one of the first things that I would describe myself as. I also think I'm funny as hell, like, I think I'm a hoot. And I have a quick, quick body sense of humor. So I enjoy that I enjoy the quips that I can pull out to bring levity to the situation or just just enjoy and be raucous. Yeah, I have a rock if the sense of humor, I think I'm also very sensual person. Enjoy touch. I enjoy being touched, and I enjoy touching people. I like the sensory experience of pleasure. So smell and touch and music. So I think that I'm not always I don't always say it in that way. But I do think I'm a very sensual person. You know, as far as my aesthetic is concerned, I still wouldn't say that I'm beautiful in terms of what people would see physically. I think I'm striking. I think that I sassy, sexy, even, um, but not Not, not beautiful. I think there's someone will look at me like, Oh, she's striking, but not like, Oh, she's really beautiful. You know, I don't know why that still feels that way. I'm still committed to exploring that and being open to seeing myself beautiful inside and out. Yeah. I think that I am a very emotive, emotionally sensitive person. So, you know, a lot of people these days are using the language of Empath, or empathic, or empathetic. I think I have a certain sensitivity to energy. And so when I see someone struggling, I want to understand what's going on. I want to be helpful. If I see somebody happy or excited, I want to be excited to be like, This is so good. We should talk about this. I want to celebrate, like I'm definitely like, we should share that. Yeah. Yeah, I definitely my mood can be affected by the people who I really care about in their, in their, their joy and in their sorrow. I have a particular sensitivity in that way and I'm a lucid dreamer. So I Eve in the spirit realm. I'm very spiritual. I have a deep spiritual practice. And I know that I sometimes receive messages through my sleep, that I know our dreams. And I'm a lucid enough dreamer that sometimes I'll even talk to myself in a dream and say you should pay attention to this part of Sophie Shiloh   this. Yeah. Well, that's helpful. That's convenient that you have that. It is helpful it like pay attention. Omisade   But sometimes it doesn't lend itself to actually restorative deep sleep because I'm just busy all night long. Sophie Shiloh   All night long. Yeah. Is with myself. Yeah, that is true, then you'll wake up and you're like, I just I was at work all night. Right. And I was getting shit done. Omisade   getting stuff done. And I need to think about what I was getting done. And I need to figure out what this means. Sophie Shiloh   Right? Yeah. Seriously? Oh, that is so funny. Yeah. Completely. Oh, my goodness. Well, I cannot thank you enough. I think that this was a really important conversation that I wanted to have. And I really wanted you on my podcast because when I think about it, I I have to be obsessed with what is going to help my clients stop wasting their 20s on people pleasing and start being alive and start loving their lives free from codependency free from all the codependent bullshit, not having boundaries, feeling insecure, not living life as fully as it wants us to live it. And so you were the perfect person I was like she has to come on my any of the millennial women who are struggling with codependency needs to hear about how Omisade is done fucking around, not living a beautiful life that you savor all the time. And I again, I cannot thank you enough for your example, in that. And for all the guidance you've given us. Everyone has to go listen to your podcast. It's genius. And I want you to tell us where we can learn from you. Tell everyone your offerings now please do that. Omisade   I appreciate Sophie so much being able to have this conversation I absolutely enjoy the relationships I have with the millennial women and women identify people in my life. I learned so much from them. Yeah, well, you can check us out on our website is WWE dot Black Girls Guide to surviving menopause, you can listen to the first three seasons of the podcast wherever you listen to your podcast, whether that's on Apple, or Stitcher or Spotify or wherever we are about to launch season four in March. So we're really excited about that. And we just had our first interview episode interview for season four is going to be so juicy overview I Sophie Shiloh   cannot wait. Omisade   Oh good. Um, yeah, and you can follow us on social media. You can follow me at Oshunsweetnsour that's Oshunsweetnsour or you can follow Black Girls Guide at Black Girls Guide to menopause on IG So yeah, that's where you can check me out. Sophie Shiloh   And regardless of your racial identity or your age, I want every you know tiny little like Chinese 16 year old high school student to listen to Black Girls Guide to surviving then it's like your everybody is welcome. Everyone who has a child, anyone who has a daughter like everyone has to listen to it. It's genius. Oh me thank you so much for today. I hope you have a beautiful day and I'll talk to you soon. Omisade   Absolutely Beloved. Thanks so much. Sophie Shiloh   Bye gorgeous. Thank you so much for listening. If you love this episode, which I don't know how you couldn't go find everything Omisade related in the show notes. Go follow her on Instagram at Oshunsweetnsour. Go listen to her genius podcast Black Girls Guide to surviving menopause and you can also find all of her work and how to hire her and connect with her at Black Girls Guide to surviving menopause.com To learn more about me and the work that I do with my clients to heal their codependency and to apply for one of the last few spots in my next group coaching round. Find me on Instagram at codependent millennial, or visit my website at codependent millennial.com. You can also text me at 216279 4035 And yes, it's really me, I promise. Until next time, have a really, really lovely time being alive and I'll talk to you very soon. Bye Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Durham City Council member Pierce Freelon is an accomplished Hip Hop/soul/electronic musician and Emmy-award winning producer, director and professor from Durham, NC whose work has been featured on the https://www.today.com/video/pierce-freelon-performs-with-daughter-on-children-s-hip-hop-album-91266117697 (TODAY Show) and at https://www.npr.org/2020/08/01/896920635/pierce-freelon-on-his-childrens-album-and-the-legacy-of-his-creative-black-famil (NPR), https://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/music/musician-celebrates-black-fatherhood-with-new-family-hip-hop-album/ (Parents Magazine) and more. He is the co-founder of the Emmy Award winning PBS web-series Beat Making Lab- an and has taught in the departments of Music and African American Studies at the University of NC at Chapel Hill.  Pierce is the writer, composer and co-director of an animated series called History of White People in America, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival. As the founder of Blackspace, a digital maker space, he has mentored dozens of youth, teaching digital storytelling through music and film. Pierce is the frontman of critically acclaimed Jazz/Hip Hop quartet The Beast and has toured internationally and released a series of albums, EPs, and mixtapes. His debut children's book, Daddy Daughter Day is set for release in 2022. He is the son of famed Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, and the late preeminent architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Phil Freelon. Pierce lives in Durham with his wife and their two young children. More at http://piercefreelon.com/ (piercefreelon.com) What You Will Hear: Pierce's early childhood environment, influences and lessons What happens when you merge the world of art with activism Ancestry, spirituality and community Nurturing mental health in the black community White supremacy  Navigating through movement work, politics and activism Tools of the oppressor Musical and creative inspirations Blackspace White institutions vs black institutions Racial caste system and the creation of the black and white divide Changing the narrative Quotes: “‘Lift as you climb” “No is a love word” “We don't just carry ancestral trauma, we also carry our ancestral resilience” -Omisade Burney-Scott “There is no check that you can cut that is worth me devaluing my soul.” “I wanted that university caliber of resource to be available and accessible to black children at all times…..that's what they deserve, that's what we deserve.” “Everything you touch you change, everything you change, changes you.” - Octavia Butler “God is change.” Mentioned: Social Media @PierceFreelon Omisade Burney-Scott  Black Girls Guide to Menopause https://www.piercefreelon.com/b2tf (Black to the Future) http://theblackspace.org/ (Blackspace) Octavia Butler

Are you an impulsive spender? In this episode, we cover the major blocks enabling your impulsive spending habit, and key tips to resolve this once and for all! Get your copy of The Black Girls Guide to Financial Freedom! Buy Now Read my story: http://pariswoods.com Stay connected: Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - YouTube

This episode Queen is back after some time off after her father's passing. Naturally, this episode is all about grief and mourning, and if you're not in the emotional space for it, wait for a new episode, or listen to an old one

Listen to this interview as the ladies recording person and speak about their experience getting cute together, and what that process did for us. Be warned we laugh, we joke and we cackle as only sista friends can do!!

“There is no face of menopause. Why are there no celebrities and personalities out there really promoting menopause? It's not a one comment conversation. It is not a one-time acknowledgement issue. It's not a fad. This is a fact of life. And there's nobody willing to take it on because frankly, I think they, it makes them feel old past their prime. Unfuckable. I don't care about that. Someone who has been in the public eye needs to start fighting to not normalize this conversation, but to optimize this conversation.” Stacy London I am so excited about this conversation I got to have with Stacy London around her menopause journey, aging, her business, The State of Menopause, relationships and what it means to be a white Ally in normalizing menopause for all people. Like many people who are familiar with Stacy's career, I have been a long time fan of her aesthetic and the energy she brings to her craft. It was a breath of fresh air to realize that the energy she exudes on camera--a strong wit, curiosity, honesty, a sharp mercurial mind, thoughtful and being smart as shit, holds true in what we call "real life". Stacy London is one of America's foremost style experts. She is best known as the co-host of TLC's iconic show, “What Not to Wear.” Following that success, she hosted and executive produced 3 seasons of “Love Lust or Run.” Stacy has written two books, Dress Your Best, which was published to stellar reviews, and The Truth About Style, a New York Times bestseller. In 2020, she hosted a podcast discussing mental health, Could Be Better, tbh, in collaboration with the Crisis Text Line and The Jed Foundation (JED). In 2021, Stacy became the founder and CEO of State of Menopause, a holistic product line for women which addresses the symptoms associated with menopause and perimenopause. In this new phase of her career, Stacy is doing what she has done her entire career as a stylist: help people from suffering silently, raise their confidence and self-esteem by alleviating external symptoms, and removing the shame that surrounds them. Stacy's symptoms started around age 47. She experienced every single symptom associated with menopause from body aches and insomnia to memory loss and mood swings. She thought she was going crazy and even consulted a therapist to see if she had Alzheimer's disease. Over the last five years, Stacy has been creating and pitching content and stories about women in their 40s but consistently was told that ‘it wasn't sexy' and no one would watch. When she was approached to be a beta-tester for this product line, it finally felt like a brand was talking to her. The opportunity to take over the company was her way of pivoting in middle age to speak to and evangelize the audience she was told she could not reach in any other way. As CEO of SOM, Stacy is doing what she has done her entire career as a stylist: help people from suffering silently, raise their confidence and self-esteem by alleviating external symptoms, and removing the shame that surrounds them. And that's why, when she got the chance, she went from being one of a hundred peri-menopausal beta-testers for these products to running the company. There are a lot more cool conversations and programming coming your way from BGG2SM and State of Menopause, so stay tuned! To learn more about Stacy London and the State of Menopause, click https://www.stateofmenopause.com/ To learn more about The Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause, click https://blackgirlsguidetosurvivingmenopause.com/ To become a Patron of BGG2SM via our Patreon, click https://www.patreon.com/blackgirlsguidetomenopause

How is it that a plant that is so ancient with origins in Africa and Asia still persist in modernity? How can it be both a musical instrument and bowl...a water vessel and medicine? It persist because it is not just one thing and it has been cultivated to adapt to the needs of the user. The artist, the fisherman and the medicine woman all know that the calabash is more than a hollowed out shell. It is evidence of the beauty, power and healing in the mundane should you open your eyes wide enough to see what's in front of you. Dr. Sunyatta Amen, the owner and operator of Calabash Tea and Tonics knows that our plant world holds the same power and as a trained 5th generation herbalist, she is committed to cultivating healing through ancient African and Caribbean technologies. She is a quintessential market woman shapeshifter who has learned from the adaptability of the calabash gourd of Africa how to adapt, taking the shape necessary to heal her people and community with beauty, resilience and practicality---just like her ancestors.Dr. Amen is the founder and Tea-EO of Calabash Tea & Tonic in Washington D.C. Amen is a Cuban/Jamaican 5th generation master herbalist, naturopathic doctor, and vegan chef. She grew up vegan, the daughter of activists (her mother was a Black Panther) that owned a health food shop, Pyramid Tea & Herbal, in New York City. This was the prototype for Calabash Tea & Tonic and where she learned the medicinal value of global teas, foods, and spices. Later, she would study biology and other sciences, combining her ancestral and western knowledge that she now uses to help heal city dwellers. Calabash's extensive tea menu is the result of Amen's schooling and the time-tested formulas belonging to her Jamaican grandmother. In this episode, she shares with us her journey as a healer, business owner and community activist.

How is it that a plant that is so ancient with origins in Africa and Asia still persist in modernity? How can it be both a musical instrument and bowl...a water vessel and medicine? It persist because it is not just one thing and it has been cultivated to adapt to the needs of the user. The artist, the fisherman and the medicine woman all know that the calabash is more than a hollowed out shell. It is evidence of the beauty, power and healing in the mundane should you open your eyes wide enough to see what's in front of you. Dr. Sunyatta Amen, the owner and operator of Calabash Tea and Tonics knows that our plant world holds the same power and as a trained 5th generation herbalist, she is committed to cultivating healing through ancient African and Caribbean technologies. She is a quintessential market woman shapeshifter who has learned from the adaptability of the calabash gourd of Africa how to adapt, taking the shape necessary to heal her people and community with beauty, resilience and practicality---just like her ancestors.Dr. Amen is the founder and Tea-EO of Calabash Tea & Tonic in Washington D.C. Amen is a Cuban/Jamaican 5th generation master herbalist, naturopathic doctor, and vegan chef. She grew up vegan, the daughter of activists (her mother was a Black Panther) that owned a health food shop, Pyramid Tea & Herbal, in New York City. This was the prototype for Calabash Tea & Tonic and where she learned the medicinal value of global teas, foods, and spices. Later, she would study biology and other sciences, combining her ancestral and western knowledge that she now uses to help heal city dwellers. Calabash's extensive tea menu is the result of Amen's schooling and the time-tested formulas belonging to her Jamaican grandmother. In this episode, she shares with us her journey as a healer, business owner and community activist.

Before we jump in: a note on our content for this episode.  "The Sweetest Taboo" episode is a candid conversation with Sexologist Goody Howard about sexuality and sexual expression. It is created for adult audiences only. We advise listener discretion for graphic conversation about sexual expression, frank portrayal of sexuality, discussion of sex toys and products; and some strong language. We hope you enjoy this frank, funny and very information conversation about sex and aging, but if you need a breather—we've got your back. Whenever you're feeling ready and able: we hope you'll join us for this liberatory conversation around sex and aging.Let's begin, shall we?

Before we jump in: a note on our content for this episode.  "The Sweetest Taboo" episode is a candid conversation with Sexologist Goody Howard about sexuality and sexual expression. It is created for adult audiences only. We advise listener discretion for graphic conversation about sexual expression, frank portrayal of sexuality, discussion of sex toys and products; and some strong language. We hope you enjoy this frank, funny and very information conversation about sex and aging, but if you need a breather—we’ve got your back. Whenever you’re feeling ready and able: we hope you’ll join us for this liberatory conversation around sex and aging.Let's begin, shall we?

It's my birthday y'all!  So grateful for another rotation around the sun. So grateful for this 54 year old body that continues to carry me and teach me about how to love, heal and take risk to be more of who I am meant to be. I can't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday with our podcast listeners than to share this delicious bonus episode! My dear brilliant and super talented sister of the heart, Lana Garland*, is a filmmaker, producer and the curator/director of the Hayti Heritage Film Festival (see website below). She invited me to moderate a conversation between the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause and show writer Shannon Houston and award-winning actress Aunjanue Ellis of HBO's Lovecraft Country for this years festival. WLana also gifted me with the audio from this conversation that I want to gift to you to say "thank you" for your support of this podcast platform that unapologetically centers Black voices and stories as we navigate menopause and aging. You are so appreciated!Lovecraft Country, the tv show, is based on a book of the same name written by Matt Ruff and book is considered dark fantasy. The name Lovecraft is derived from an early 20th century horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, who was also a self professed white supremacist. It's set in 1955 Chicago and begins with inviting us to join a quest. This quest is being led by the male lead character, Atticus played by Jonathan Majors (also known as Tic), who has recently returned home from the Korean war. He is searching for his father and seeking to learn and reclaim his birthright...access to and dominion over the magic that exists in his bloodline--his ancestral legacy. The entire show is stunning and it is the storyline of Hippolyta Freeman performed so impeccably by Aunjanue, Tic's aunt and episode “I Am” that took my and the breath of some many others away.

It's my birthday y'all!  So grateful for another rotation around the sun. So grateful for this 54 year old body that continues to carry me and teach me about how to love, heal and take risk to be more of who I am meant to be. I can't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday with our podcast listeners than to share this delicious bonus episode! My dear brilliant and super talented sister of the heart, Lana Garland*, is a filmmaker, producer and the curator/director of the Hayti Heritage Film Festival (see website below). She invited me to moderate a conversation between the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause and show writer Shannon Houston and award-winning actress Aunjanue Ellis of HBO's Lovecraft Country for this years festival. WLana also gifted me with the audio from this conversation that I want to gift to you to say "thank you" for your support of this podcast platform that unapologetically centers Black voices and stories as we navigate menopause and aging. You are so appreciated!Lovecraft Country, the tv show, is based on a book of the same name written by Matt Ruff and book is considered dark fantasy. The name Lovecraft is derived from an early 20th century horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, who was also a self professed white supremacist. It’s set in 1955 Chicago and begins with inviting us to join a quest. This quest is being led by the male lead character, Atticus played by Jonathan Majors (also known as Tic), who has recently returned home from the Korean war. He is searching for his father and seeking to learn and reclaim his birthright...access to and dominion over the magic that exists in his bloodline--his ancestral legacy. The entire show is stunning and it is the storyline of Hippolyta Freeman performed so impeccably by Aunjanue, Tic’s aunt and episode “I Am” that took my and the breath of some many others away.

It's my birthday y'all! So grateful for another rotation around the sun. So grateful for this 54 year old body that continues to carry me and teach me about how to love, heal and take risk to be more of who I am meant to be. I can't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday with our podcast listeners than to share this delicious bonus episode! My dear brilliant and super talented sister of the heart, Lana Garland*, is a filmmaker, producer and the curator/director of the Hayti Heritage Film Festival (see website below). She invited me to moderate a conversation between the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause and show writer Shannon Houston and award-winning actress Aunjanue Ellis of HBO's Lovecraft Country for this years festival. We talked about rage, shrinking, shame, power, control, love, healing and choices. What an honor! Lana also gifted me with the audio from this conversation that I want to gift to you to say "thank you" for your support of this podcast platform that unapologetically centers Black voices and stories as we navigate menopause and aging. You are so appreciated! Lovecraft Country, the tv show, is based on a book of the same name written by Matt Ruff and book is considered dark fantasy. The name Lovecraft is derived from an early 20th century horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, who was also a self professed white supremacist. It’s set in 1955 Chicago and begins with inviting us to join a quest. This quest is being led by the male lead character, Atticus played by Jonathan Majors (also known as Tic), who has recently returned home from the Korean war. He is searching for his father and seeking to learn and reclaim his birthright...access to and dominion over the magic that exists in his bloodline--his ancestral legacy. The entire show is stunning and it is the storyline of Hippolyta Freeman performed so impeccably by Aunjanue, Tic’s aunt and episode “I Am” that took my and the breath of some many others away. Learn more about HBO's Lovecraft Country Here: https://www.hbo.com/lovecraft-country "The “I AM" episode of Lovecraft Country gave viewers quite a shock. Never in the history of TV had they seen a liberatory presentation of mature Black womanhood quite like this. Audiences took a journey with the character Hippolyta, played masterfully by Aunjanue Ellis, and we got to experience the glorious revelation of a full 360 degree woman. In this session Omisade Burney-Scott, creator of the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause, talks with LoveCraft writer Shannon Houston and the award-winning actress Aunjanue Ellis about why this became one of the most popular episodes of the series." --2021 Hayti Heritage Film Festival https://haytifilmfest.org/ *Check out Lana's interview with BGG2SM during our first season here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1qtixwI1pAOOSt4lv9UM4I?si=ceha3VqER9y_PsHVwpQ-ZA Aries Season Birthday Love Offerings Are Welcome! Cashapp: $omitutu Venmo: @omisade5 To learn more about the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause, check out our website! We've got merch and our zine "Messages from the Menopausal Multiverse" available too! https://blackgirlsguidetosurvivingmenopause.com/

“As a culture worker who belongs to an oppressed people my job is to make revolution irresistible.”Toni Cade BambaraWhen my sister and I were little girls, we developed a skill set to be present in rooms with my mother and her best girlfriends without being detected. If we could be quiet and not make any quick movements, we could have access to the world of older Black women and bear witness to the magic of their friendship and sisterhood. We called it ear hustling. The ear hustle was a skill that improved with age and was also foiled quite often by the super human listening and motion detecting powers of the adults in our lives. My sister and I couldn't wait to be old enough to sit in that space, with these women we loved and be full participants in conversations around life. We are so excited for the first episode of Season 3 of the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause to be an intergenerational conversation co-hosted by Aja Taylor and Cherizar Crippen! In this episode, Aja and Cherizar interviewed social justice advocate and activist Makani Themba and I about our experiences with menopause, sexual expression, intimacy and getting older. This intergenerational conversation, provided a space for exploration, connection, laughter and reflection.

“As a culture worker who belongs to an oppressed people my job is to make revolution irresistible.”Toni Cade BambaraWhen my sister and I were little girls, we developed a skill set to be present in rooms with my mother and her best girlfriends without being detected. If we could be quiet and not make any quick movements, we could have access to the world of older Black women and bear witness to the magic of their friendship and sisterhood. We called it ear hustling. The ear hustle was a skill that improved with age and was also foiled quite often by the super human listening and motion detecting powers of the adults in our lives. My sister and I couldn't wait to be old enough to sit in that space, with these women we loved and be full participants in conversations around life. We are so excited for the first episode of Season 3 of the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause to be an intergenerational conversation co-hosted by Aja Taylor and Cherizar Crippen! In this episode, Aja and Cherizar interviewed social justice advocate and activist Makani Themba and I about our experiences with menopause, sexual expression, intimacy and getting older. This intergenerational conversation, provided a space for exploration, connection, laughter and reflection.

Guest: Author Lindelwa Skenjana  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we welcome film and television director Crystle C. Roberson to the Studio Noize podcast. Crystal has been cutting in the director's chair for a long time. Lately, she brought her talents to Greenleaf and Ambitions on the OWN Network. We learn about Crystle's philosophy when it comes to making a movie, what it's like working on a big-time production like Greenleaf, and how she's helping mentor the next generation of film makers with CCR Storyhouse. We learn all about making movies today on the Noize!Crystle C. Roberson was awarded by HBO, Chase, and Kodak for her short film Next Dods Next (2009), and has directed dozens more indie projects since - including Private Garden with Idris Elba, The Black Cage with Mykelti Williamson, The End Again with Columbus Short and most recently Black Girls Guide to Fertility with Raney Branch. Between films, she directs an urban improv comedy troupe performing live shows around the South East. Crystle is a proud member of Yale University's Storytellers in Modern Media Program. A 2018 Sony Pictures Director Program Participant, Crystle is a member of the Directors Guild of America and has already directed 6 episodes of television in the first 6 months of 2019.See more: www.ccroberson.com + @ccroberson_Check out Crystle's Vimeo pagehttps://vimeo.com/clarityjaneFollow us:StudioNoizePodcast.comIG: @studionoizepodcastJamaal Barber: @JBarberStudioSupport the podcast https://www.patreon.com/studionoizepodcast

Periods are one of the many taboo subjects rarely covered in traditional African and South Asian cultures - Amika George talks about the outdated myths and superstitions surrounding the impurity of a girl who's menstruating - whether it's the prohibited entry into temples or the more extreme banishment into designated huts in rural communities in Africa and South Asia. Menopause is talked about even less, but as women, we will all go through it. We want to talk about why it's such a taboo, and how the cultural taboos contribute to period poverty both in the UK and the wider world.We are joined by Vice UK's executive editor and author Zing Tsjeng, and founder of Menopause Whilst Black, Karen Arthur, to unwrap cultural taboos about female menstrual health.Unpretty Podcast https://www.instagram.com/unprettypodcast/ https://twitter.com/unprettypodcast Karen Arthur https://www.instagram.com/thekarenarthur/ https://www.instagram.com/menopausewhilstblack/ https://twitter.com/thekarenarthur Zing Tsjeng https://www.instagram.com/miss_zing/https://twitter.com/misszing United Zingdom Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0863v08/episodes/downloads Menstruation ReadingVice: Zing Tsjeng's period poverty documentary https://www.vice.com/en/article/qv4z7m/the-activists-making-sure-kids-dont-miss-school-because-of-their-periods Galdem: We Need to Talk About Periods More https://gal-dem.com/period-organic-company/ Women's Health: Why Are Tampons Taboo in Some Communities of Colour? https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/health/a33403057/tampons-bame-communities/ ELLE UK: Rupi Kaur And Amika George talk period shame https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a27507537/rupi-kaur-and-amika-george-two-teen-icons-taking-on-the-world/ Two Twos Podcast: 'I didn't think Trans Men had periods' with Kenny Ethan Jones https://open.spotify.com/episode/29rdqnzR6sNt5hhyBQ1l7X?si=u4X2Ilg1TqiH9R4sh0yjBAMenopause ReadingBritish Vogue: Karen Arthur Interview: https://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/article/karen-arthur-interview New York Times Menopause Stories: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007490980/menopause-stories.html Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause: https://blackgirlsguidetosurvivingmenopause.com Black Ballad: Why Black Women Should Be Talking About Menopause Earlier: https://blackballad.co.uk/views-voices/black-women-and-menopause *Stop Asian Hate Reading and Resources*British Vogue: Asian Women’s Bodies Are Not Playgrounds For White People by Zing Tsjeng: https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/atlanta-shootings-racism Grazia: Susie Lau on the importance of the Stop Asian Hate Campaign: https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/stop-asian-hate-campaign-movement-susie-lau/ Refinery29: The Stark Reality Of Racism For East and South East Asian Women In The UK: https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/asian-women-hate-racism-uk Besea.n: A grassroots movement shining a light on the experiences of British East and South East Asians https://www.besean.co.uk/ , https://www.instagram.com/besea.n/ End the Virus of Racism: Ethnic Disparities and Inequality in the UK among ESEA communities https://www.endthevirusofracism.com/inequalities-report See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Historically (and, let's face it, currently) society hasn't done a great job of valuing and centering women and women's issues.  This lack of care and attention is compounded when the woman in question is older, Black or of color, LGBTQ+, disabled, trans, or at the intersection of two or more of these identities.  Omisade Burney-Scott is changing that. Her website, Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause, is a sort of Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret for an older demographic -- intended to be a safe space for Black women to ask questions, get and give answers, and explore identity at any age. In a society that values youth over age and rewards "anti-aging" over aging naturally, Omisade's site, podcast, and events are opportunities for women to individually and collective take back their power and identity.  In this podcast, Omisade speaks with Gennev CEO Jill Angelo about women's obligation and honor to teach younger generations about aging and menopause. As Omisade says, it's important "to see the trajectory of someone's lived experience" and understand "there's no shelf-life on evolving." Older women have important information to give, about the experience of menopause, and so much more. It's up to us to find opportunities to pass that information along.  About Omisade Burney-Scott:  Omisade Burney-Scott is a 7th generation Black Southern feminist, creative and social justice advocate. Over the past 25 years, her “work” has been grounded in social justice movement spaces focused on the liberation of marginalized people, beginning with her own community. This commitment to liberation has manifested through advocacy work, philanthropy, community organizing and culture work. She is the creator/curator of The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause, a multimedia project that curates the stories of Black women as well as Black femmes and gender non-binary people who are perimenopausal, menopausal or post-menopausal. This project is a direct result of Omisade finding herself and her peers living at the intersection of social justice movement work, creative healer identities and aging. She has chosen to use the medium of storytelling to disrupt the erasure of Black women's voices as they age through sharing their first person narratives and lived experiences. Omisade is a member of the 1999-2001 class of the William C. Friday Fellows for Human Relations, a 2003 Southeastern Council on Foundation’s Hull Fellow and founding member NGAAP, the Next Generation of African American Philanthropy. She has served on various nonprofit boards including stone circles, Fund for Southern Communities, Spirithouse NC, Village of Wisdom, Working Films and The Beautiful Project. She is a 1989 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and the proud mom of two sons, Che and Taj. She resides in Durham, North Carolina.  Learn more about Omisade Burney-Scott on her website. If you're looking for more information on menopause and taking care of yourself in midlife and beyond, be sure to visit Gennev. 

On this week’s episode, we talk about climate change. With nearly 70% of the country covered in snow, this seems like an appropriate time to talk about climate change. Texas is seeing unprecedented snow and ice causing more than 4 million people to be without power, many of them being Black and brown people. We’re seeing now more than ever that environmental justice is aligned with racial justice.

Please check out the original blog post here: http://ablackgirlblogging.com/2017/12/26/getting-rid-clothes-no-yard-sale/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this last episode of Season 2 of The Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause, I had the great pleasure to interview Karen Arthur who lives in the UK and Monika Odum who lives in Germany. Karen is an ex teacher now Fashion Creative, private sewing tutor, stylist and speaker who has been sewing for over 40 years. In the past few years she has focused on creating beautiful clothing for women who appreciate hand crafted care and slow fashion. She has just started a new podcast “Menopause whilst Black” that centers the experiences of Black women in the UK in a bid to diversify this topic. Monika Odum is 50 years old with her roots growing from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Germany where she was born, raised and lives. She has a 33yrs plus work life as a nurse in a variety of backgrounds, mostly on the ICU and is currently teaching at a nursing school. She is a firm believer in ancestor wisdom and writes because she loves it. She dares to be average, as she thinks of the black superwoman stereotype as a form of oppression. She is also a guest/contributing writer for Rosa Mag. 

In this last episode of Season 2 of The Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause, I had the great pleasure to interview Karen Arthur who lives in the UK and Monika Odum who lives in Germany. Karen is an ex teacher now Fashion Creative, private sewing tutor, stylist and speaker who has been sewing for over 40 years. In the past few years she has focused on creating beautiful clothing for women who appreciate hand crafted care and slow fashion. She has just started a new podcast “Menopause whilst Black” that centers the experiences of Black women in the UK in a bid to diversify this topic. Monika Odum is 50 years old with her roots growing from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Germany where she was born, raised and lives. She has a 33yrs plus work life as a nurse in a variety of backgrounds, mostly on the ICU and is currently teaching at a nursing school. She is a firm believer in ancestor wisdom and writes because she loves it. She dares to be average, as she thinks of the black superwoman stereotype as a form of oppression. She is also a guest/contributing writer for Rosa Mag. 

When I was in my late 20s, I felt like I was going through a tremendous identity shift and growth spurt. The shift was from a more conventional aspirtationally bougie identity of my early 20s to one that was seeking to find my authentic self. The self at home in this body and understanding the origins of my culture beyond these shores. I was a single mom, working full time in the non profit sector, had stopped relaxing my hair (i.e. cut off my hair and was growing my first set of locs) and was seeking a spiritual path and practice that was more African in nature. From the outside looking in, old friends and some family members were perplexed, confused and some were concerned. I can tell you that my mother was worried about me. What was I doing? Why was I changing in a way that looked so different? Who was I becoming and would there still be room for our connection and love? I assured her that this growth was not an abdication of my love for her, our family or our community. It was just more me trying to find and love more of me. All of me.

When I was in my late 20s, I felt like I was going through a tremendous identity shift and growth spurt. The shift was from a more conventional aspirtationally bougie identity of my early 20s to one that was seeking to find my authentic self. The self at home in this body and understanding the origins of my culture beyond these shores. I was a single mom, working full time in the non profit sector, had stopped relaxing my hair (i.e. cut off my hair and was growing my first set of locs) and was seeking a spiritual path and practice that was more African in nature. From the outside looking in, old friends and some family members were perplexed, confused and some were concerned. I can tell you that my mother was worried about me. What was I doing? Why was I changing in a way that looked so different? Who was I becoming and would there still be room for our connection and love? I assured her that this growth was not an abdication of my love for her, our family or our community. It was just more me trying to find and love more of me. All of me.

When I was in my late 20s, I felt like I was going through a tremendous identity shift and growth spurt. The shift was from a more conventional aspirtationally bougie identity of my early 20s to one that was seeking to find my authentic self. The self at home in this body and understanding the origins of my culture beyond these shores. I was a single mom, working full time in the non profit sector, had stopped relaxing my hair (i.e. cut off my hair and was growing my first set of locs) and was seeking a spiritual path and practice that was more African in nature. From the outside looking in, old friends and some family members were perplexed, confused and some were concerned. I can tell you that my mother was worried about me. What was I doing? Why was I changing in a way that looked so different? Who was I becoming and would there still be room for our connection and love? I assured her that this growth was not an abdication of my love for her, our family or our community. It was just more me trying to find and love more of me. All of me.In this episode, we explore identity, healing, pleasure and activism with Ignacio Rivera.Ignacio G Hutía Xeiti Rivera, M.A. who prefers the gender neutral pronoun, They, is an Activist, Writer, Educator, Sex(ual) Healer , Filmmaker, Performance Artist and Mother. Ignacio has over 20 years of experience on multiple fronts, including economic justice, anti-racist and anti-violence work, as well as mujerista, LGBTQI and sex positive movements. Their work is influenced by their lived experience of homelessness, poverty and sexual trauma. Ignacio’s work is also driven by the strengths of identifying as a survivor, transgender, Yamoká-hu/Two-Spirit, Black-Boricua-Taíno and queer.

When I was in my late 20s, I felt like I was going through a tremendous identity shift and growth spurt. The shift was from a more conventional aspirtationally bougie identity of my early 20s to one that was seeking to find my authentic self. The self at home in this body and understanding the origins of my culture beyond these shores. I was a single mom, working full time in the non profit sector, had stopped relaxing my hair (i.e. cut off my hair and was growing my first set of locs) and was seeking a spiritual path and practice that was more African in nature. From the outside looking in, old friends and some family members were perplexed, confused and some were concerned. I can tell you that my mother was worried about me. What was I doing? Why was I changing in a way that looked so different? Who was I becoming and would there still be room for our connection and love? I assured her that this growth was not an abdication of my love for her, our family or our community. It was just more me trying to find and love more of me. All of me.In this episode, we explore identity, healing, pleasure and activism with Ignacio Rivera.Ignacio G Hutía Xeiti Rivera, M.A. who prefers the gender neutral pronoun, They, is an Activist, Writer, Educator, Sex(ual) Healer , Filmmaker, Performance Artist and Mother. Ignacio has over 20 years of experience on multiple fronts, including economic justice, anti-racist and anti-violence work, as well as mujerista, LGBTQI and sex positive movements. Their work is influenced by their lived experience of homelessness, poverty and sexual trauma. Ignacio’s work is also driven by the strengths of identifying as a survivor, transgender, Yamoká-hu/Two-Spirit, Black-Boricua-Taíno and queer.

Oh just two black women in their fifties talking about menopause. No biggie! A lil' swerve. Fashion Creative Karen Arthur chats with Omishade Burney-Scott founder of The Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause and social activist about Fire signs, moving out of debt, late motherhood and the onset of Peri-menopause. We talk about her elders and their kitchen conversations, raising politically aware sons during the USA election race and Covid concerns. We also cover dating as an older woman and I learned what a 'charley horse' is the hard way! We hope you find something that resonates. Remember to consult a qualified health professional before trying any of the steps mentioned within this episode. Opinions are speaker own. Thank you for listening. Linkage and references: Omi's website Black girls guide to surviving menopause Instagram @blackgirlsguidetomenopause @oshunsweetandsour Podcast Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause on all platforms. Edited by: me. Artwork: Kareem Arthur. Music: Garden State by Audiobinger  Follow @Menopausewhilstblack here or on Instagram and dance to our playlist featuring lovely guests favourite tunes on Spotify. Email thekarenarthur@mail.com but not if you can't be nice. Finally, please subscribe, rate and review over on iTunes so that we can reach the people who need to hear us. Be gentle with yourself, won't you? x

Black Girls Guide to meditation lists the major health issues affecting black women in America and ways they can use meditation to improve their overall health . #mentalhealthawareness #blackgirlmagic #blacktherapists #blacktherapy #meditation #mindfulness #wellness #stressmanagement #stress #aromatherapy #blackauthorsmatter #heal #healthyliving

The way we communicate and find love has forever been changed by technology. For Black women, the process of dating has become particularly challenging and the idea of lifelong partnership far more unrealistic. Nita Miller, wife of Morge and the creator of “Black Girls Guide to Atlanta” joins the podcast to discuss the challenges of dating and red flags women often ignore. Listen as the cast provides a male perspective into navigating the dating scene.

In this episode, we explore the healing journey of Karen Rose. Trained in Eastern and Western Herbal Medicine, Master Herbalist, Karen M. Rose created an outlet for her teachings and healing modalities with the opening of Brooklyn-based Sacred Vibes Healing and Sacred Vibes Apothecary in 2002. Her inspiration for this work began as a child in her native home of Guyana, where she was exposed to how African, Caribbean and Latin American traditions profoundly influenced plant medicine and community healing. The legacy of these lands is the foundation of Karen’s spiritual and healing practice. 

Omisade Burney-Scott creator of "Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause" podcast and "Decolonizing the Crone," multimedia events and stories of women over 50. She is an activist for social and reproductive justice. Ms. Burney-Scott is a birth & death doula, public speaker, has appeared on NPR, and received many awards for her activism and philanthropy work. Engaging, wise, and real, Omisade shares stories and counsel on aging, dying, depression, challenges for Black women during menopause and living in America, grieving during the pandemic and so much more. Fun, deep, bawdy, bold, intelligent, fabulous! Theme music by Isaac McMurry

We are at the half way mark of the year!! This is not the time to abandon your goals, but to get refocused on your intentions!! Sylvia is here to share with you how to REVAMP and get ready to boss up on your goals.   Some times you need to edit your vision, but never abandon it. Make sure you follow us on IG   Sylvia @pure_empowerment Tavia @thecommunicationschic The Black Girls Guide to the Pivot @theblkgirlsguide2thepivot

Have you heard of a family mission statement? does you family have a vision of where you want to go and be? This podcast episode helps you refine your vision for you family and implement key intervention to support health growth.   Make sure you find us on Facebook under The Black Girls Guide to The pivot

Grab your cup of Tea and listen to Host Tavia and Co-Host Sylvia share the details about creating a vision board and gaining clarity. Sylvia's tips, personal and professional experience leads the listener on a journey of growing and developing clarity in their vision. To download the Virtual Summit click the link below to register to receive the secret sauce!https://www.theblackgirlsguidetothepivot.com/the-black-girls-guide-to-the-pivot/ To join the Squad find us on facebook here!https://www.facebook.com/groups/1112013145799139/