Dear Mamas & Magic Makers What if I told you the collision of declining birth rates in the U.S., the rise of anti-intellectualism, and the rollback of reproductive rights are having a profound impact on your child’s potential college experience? How do we help prepare our children for the future when the world we know is crumbling before our eyes? In this episode, we talk with one of our favorite kiki partners and Associate Vice President for Equity & Community Inclusion at San Francisco State, Dr. Frederick Smith, about the changing landscape of higher education, the challenges, and strategies for Black families navigating the college experience for their teens. We discuss the importance of support systems, financial literacy, overcoming barriers like making friends and advocating for oneself, and we explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted students' social skills. AND MAMAS what you should be thinking about if you’re considering returning to college. We dive into: Parental transitions & creating critical thinking opportunities for our children Importance of the college experience beyond the classroom Anti-intellectualism, mental health & the impact on higher ed The number one challenge new college students face PLUS - Our LISTENER LOVE EPISODE RECORDING, where we invite our listeners to come on to the podcast, will take place on November 13th. In our Black Mama Say segment for this episode, where we put our twist on sayings from Black mamas, and the saying we're twisting this episode is “I Ain’t Forgot.” ABOUT DR. FREDERICK SMITH Dr. Frederick Smith's research and professional interests focus on higher education and include: co-curricular learning experiences; the role of ethnic studies and cultural centers in student identity development and confidence building; campus climate experiences of historically marginalized and minoritized communities; retention and graduation of students of color in higher education; and collaborations between student affairs and academic affairs units for student success. Smith has served twice as president of the California Council of Cultural Centers in Higher Education (CaCCCHE) and he is active with the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE). Outside of higher education, Fred enjoys reading and writing fiction. He’s written and published several novels – In Case You Forgot (2019), Play It Forward (2015), Right Side of the Wrong Bed (2009), and Down For Whatever (2005) – that focus on queer people of color characters. He earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership for Social Justice at Loyola Marymount University. Connect with Fred Smith: Instagram | Website IMPORTANT CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS: Listener Love Episode Recording: Thursday, November 13th, 1pmET If you'd like to join us complete this form: https://bit.ly/dbmbeourguest 💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck: Card #22 “My motherhood is rooted in creativity” 💗 Episode Companion Playlist EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Episode 26 In Case You Forgot with Chad Lamar & Frederick Smth 🎙️DBM Episode 51: When It All Falls Down, Finding Freedom & Transitioning to Conscious Parenting w/ Domari Dickinson 🎙️DBM Ep 61: Joy & Black Motherhood 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas: Instagram | YouTube | Email List 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Please share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us, or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. To expand knowledge and combat misinformation and disinformation, we create a syllabus (s/o to Melissa Harris Perry), a list of references/sources for our listeners to dive into. This list includes any books, videos, podcasts, etc. that we've mentioned in the episode or that will help you gain a well-informed perspective. For our complete syllabus, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What if I told you much of the growth our children may need to show up in the ways we’re nurturing them to show up comes through falling in love? When we tell our children not to focus on love, are we parenting out of fear? What message does that send to our children about the priority to place on intimate relationships, and what generational impact does that have on our culture? How do we raise children who know how to love? In this raw and reflective episode, we take a deep dive into the Netflix series 'Forever,' using it as a powerful springboard to unpack the complexities of Black motherhood, teenage love, and generational parenting. We’re talking parenting fears, the tightrope between nurturing and protecting our babies, and the real-life challenges that come with raising Black teens in a world that doesn’t always love them back. Y'all know us! So honest storytelling, aha moments, and of course, plenty of laughter and love. We also get into: ✨The roots of catastrophic parenting styles and the fear of raising fuck boys ✨How generational trauma shows up at the dinner table (and in the group chat) ✨Teaching our children vulnerability & letting go ✨Why was Keisha’s Daddy so triggering PLUS - Crystal gives a s/o to Mara Brock Akil for putting text on the screen, NeKisha questions Crystal is good at training real dogs or Ques, and Thea offers advice on how to live like we'll survive this moment in time. In our Black Mama Say segment for this episode, where we put our twist on sayings from Black mamas, and the saying we're twisting this episode is “Let Me Hush Though.” EPISODE PAUSE FOR THE CAUSE: "Imma keep it 100. I don't raise f*c? boys. I don't wanna raise men who women have to manage." - Crystal Tennille Irby IMPORTANT CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS: JOIN US for Talk Back: Black Keisha, Black Mamas & Forever - We'll be watching & discussing the scenes that made you TALK BACK to the screen. REGISTER NOW! 💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck: Card #15 “Fuck Fear. An Affirmation.” 💗 EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 51 When It All Falls Down, Finding Freedom & Transitioning to Conscious Parenting w/ Domari Dickinson DBM Ep 71 Companion Playlist 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas: Join Our Email List | Instagram | YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Please share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us, or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. To expand knowledge and combat misinformation and disinformation, we create a syllabus (s/o to Melissa Harris Perry), a list of references/sources for our listeners to dive into. This list includes any books, videos, podcasts, etc. that we've mentioned in the episode or that will help you gain a well-informed perspective. For our complete syllabus, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What if I told you the saying, “real gs move in silence is killing your dream? What if I told you to tell everyone and anyone you know what you want to do? What if I told you your notes app and Evernote are the keys to the manifestation of your dreams? What if I told you every time we tell our stories, we reclaim what was stolen? Every time we create, we declare: We are still here. These are our takeaways from our conversation with prolific children’s book author, Alliah Agostini, who wrote The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States & one of my favorite children’s books, Great Idea Malia. In this episode, we explore the intersections of Black motherhood, creativity, community, and freedom. Alliah provides invaluable insights for other Black mama creatives, encouraging them to trust their journey and to navigate the world of storytelling with authenticity and courage. Her experience is a testament to the power of community and culture as a treasure trove of inspiration. We get real about: ✨Complexities of Black culture ✨The importance of always telling our stories, but especially right now ✨Handling critique and nurturing creativity ✨Building community and managing ideas PLUS - If you’re looking for some hope right now. We got you. In our Black Mama Say segment, where we put our own twist on sayings from Black Mamas, we talk about what’s giving us hope while this country is on fire. ABOUT ALLIAH AGOSTINI Buffalo, NY native Alliah L. Agostini has marketed everything from iconic brands to scrappy start-ups, but motherhood helped her return to her first love: children's literature. She writes to spread joy, truth, and to help more children see themselves reflected on the page. Alliah is the author of 10 books for children including Junior Library Guild Selection BIG TUNE: Rise of the Dancehall Prince (starred reviews, Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly, NYPL and Chicago Public Library Best Picture Book of 2023), Black KidLit Award-winning The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States, Great Idea Malia, and recently released Scarecited on the First Day of School. She and her work have been featured on Oprah Daily, Essence.com, TODAY with Hoda + Jenna, Morning in America, Good Housekeeping, CNN, and NPR. Connect with Alliah: Instagram | Website IMPORTANT CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS: Collection Plate Cause: Learn more about & donate to Creators Well, a nonprofit founded by Crystal for Black girls living in South Carolina intersted in writing and performance. 💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck: Card #19 “I Honor My Child's Divine Path” 💗 Episode Playlist: Black Mama Creatives Episode Playlist 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas: Instagram | YouTube | Email List 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Please share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us, or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. To expand knowledge and combat misinformation and disinformation, we create a syllabus (s/o to Melissa Harris Perry), a list of references/sources for our listeners to dive into. This list includes any books, videos, podcasts, etc. that we've mentioned in the episode or that will help you gain a well-informed perspective. For our complete syllabus, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What if I told you your mess tells a story, and your clutter can block your clarity? What if I told you to reframe cleaning as a way to express gratitude, practice self-care, and create a sacred space where your spirit can operate effortlessly and creativity flows freely? What have you put down that you need to put away? What items are you holding onto that no longer serve you? These are the questions our guest professional organizer, Kendra Littlejohn of Organized by Kendra, brought to the forefront. In this episode, she gently stepped on our toes and helped us reframe our approach to organizing our creative space. We dive into: ✨Accepting and honoring the season you're in ✨Clarity and how Mamas can reclaim or create space for themselves ✨And the plot twist we didn’t know we needed, how reducing laundry ✨PLUS Kendra is offering a free, yes FREE Virtual Space Audit to the first three people to sign up & use the code: demblackmamas ABOUT KENDRA Kendra Littlejohn is the founder and Chief Organizing Officer at Organized by Kendra, a premier home organizing and styling firm based in Southaven, MS, and serving the greater Memphis metropolitan area, and beyond. With her background in corporate finance experience, Kendra brings a unique blend of business acumen, creativity, and passion for helping ambitious professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives cancel clutter, optimize space, and create systems that seamlessly balance aesthetics with practicality. Being laid off after 20+ years in corporate finance became the catalyst for Kendra to lean into what had always come naturally—turning disorganized spaces into peaceful, functional environments. Since launching OK, Kendra’s insights have been spotlighted in prominent publications like ESSENCE, REAL SIMPLE, and SOUTHERN LIVING. Kendra specializes in customized organizing solutions that create ease and enhance both function and beauty. Connect with Kendra Littlejohn: Instagram | Website 💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck: Card #13 “Black Mama Creative = Dream Doula” 💗 EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 68 All About Annie, Sinners and Black Motherhood 🎙️DBM Black Mama Creative Episode Playlist 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas: Instagram | YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Please share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us, or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. To expand knowledge and combat misinformation and disinformation, we create a syllabus (s/o to Melissa Harris Perry), a list of references/sources for our listeners to dive into. This list includes any books, videos, podcasts, etc. that we've mentioned in the episode or that will help you gain a well-informed perspective. For our complete syllabus, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mamas & Magic Makers, Lissen yall Sinners was all about Annie for us! We ain’t gon hold you with our normal intro. In this episode we dive into: Annie, power, and Black motherhood Loss, longing, and sex Black humanity, spirituality, and grief in Ryan Coogler’s films Black migration & the resurgence of Southern Roots PLUS - we have social proof that a Black mama would have made a COMPLETELY different decision than Grace. And we’re excited to have some listeners on The Muthaship, live inside the Black Mama Magic room for this episode. We welcome: Clem the Doula, doula and creator of The Gift: A Breastfeeding Journey in Black, a cultural care circle for Black families navigating feeding, healing and identity. Stacey Allen, founder of Nia’s Daughters’ Dance Collective Stephanie Ghoston Paul, founder of Cultivated Sense, where she helps movement makers embody their joy while operating as their freest selves. 💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck: Card #4 “Take Up Space Boo” 💗 Episode Playlist: All About Annie, Sinners & Black Motherhood Companion Playlist IMPORTANT CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS: Black Mama Creative Week: June 24th - June 30th One-on-One Joy Immersion Sessions with Thea Monyee In an effort to expand knowledge and combat misinformation and disinformation, we create a syllabus (s/o to Melissa Harris Perry) which is a list of references/sources for our listeners to dive into. This list includes any books, videos, podcasts, etc. that we've mentioned in the episode or that will help you gain a well-informed perspective. For our full syllabus, check out our website: demblackmamas.com EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 61 - Joy and Black Motherhood 🎙️DBM Ep 62 Grief and Black Motherhood ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Pre-Show Shenanigans✨ 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas Email List | BluSky | Instagram | Patreon | YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. For all links, full show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What if I told you Black mamas aren’t superheroes, that the cape is choking us, and our backs are brittle? What if I told you motherhood ain’t killing us, though, but the narratives we buy into hook, line, and sinker are? What if you had the option not to be the primary custodial parent? Would you decline out of obligation to the belief that a good Black mama would never choose to leave their children in the care of others, even the other parent? How does a Black mother respond when what’s best for her or her destiny clashes with cultural norms? In this Mother's Day episode, we speak with Erica Michelle Freeman of Sisters In Loss Podcast about the complexities and challenges of non-custodial parenting and Black motherhood. When Erica and her husband decided to divorce, they also agreed to shared custody. Each parent would have primary custody for 3 years of their son Maxwell who was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy 10 years ago. We dive into: ✨Confronting societal norms and cultural stigmas ✨Navigating health and care decisions for children with special needs as a noncustodial parent ✨Historical trauma and Black motherhood ✨Renegotiating Black motherhood PLUS - Crystal and perimenopause are NOT friends, especially under the current administration, and Thea is in search of Jill Stein. In our Black Mama Say segment for this episode, where we put our twist on sayings from Black mamas, and the saying we're twisting this episode is “Oh, you got time for dat.” ABOUT ERICA M. FREEMAN Erica M. Freeman is the Founder and CEO of Sisters in Loss, is a savvy, creative engineer, known for her results-based, no-fluff approach as a podcaster, grief educator, and motivational speaker. Sisters in Loss provides pregnancy, birth, postpartum, bereavement doula, and grief services to help women step beyond anxiety and fear and into trust and peace after loss. Its self-titled award-winning podcast spotlights resilient Black mothers who share intimate details of their journey to motherhood through painful, but inspirational loss and infertility stories. Sisters in Loss has been featured in Forbes, BBC News, Black Enterprise, Women's Health, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and The White House. Connect with Erica M. Freeman: Instagram | Website IMPORTANT CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS: Black Mama Creative Week: June 24th - June 30th Sign Up for our email list for details. 💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck: Card #8 “Share Your Inspiration” 💗 Episode Playlist: Black Mama Magic Playlist EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 56: Menopause, Black Women & Spiritual Ritual with Omisade Burney Scott 🎙️DBM Ep 33: Haitian American Mama w/ Stepha LaFond ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Pre-Show Shenanigans✨ 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas: BluSky | Instagram | Patreon | YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Please share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us, or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. To expand knowledge and combat misinformation and disinformation, we create a syllabus (s/o to Melissa Harris Perry), a list of references/sources for our listeners to dive into. This list includes any books, videos, podcasts, etc. that we've mentioned in the episode or that will help you gain a well-informed perspective. For our complete syllabus, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, How do we resist the urge to rescue when we’ve been taught our whole lives to be saviors? How do we set boundaries when the world is burning? What do we do when we’ve been deemed the backbone of the community, but our backbones are brittle and breaking? Since the election, these are the questions and conversations black women have been having online and, especially, in group chats. So, we decided to explore what this line in the sand means for Black mothers in the midst of state-sanctioned brutality. In this episode, Thea and I explore the parallels between domestic violence relationships and Black mothers' relationship with America. We dive into: ✨Why it’s more important than ever that Black mothers set boundaries ✨The role cultural coping plays in Black mothers ignoring their needs ✨Vulnerability & why Black mothers feel we must do it all ✨What Stevie Wonder songs reflect this moment PLUS - Thea shares a testimony about getting a new mattress, and I’m excited to share the details of our next virtual event, Down By the Riverside, during our Church Announcements, Praise Reports, and Prayer List Requests segment. In our Black Mama Say segment for this episode, where we put our own twist on sayings from Black mamas, we do something a little different this time. Instead of a Black Mama Say, we’re choosing theme songs to carry us through this moment. IMPORTANT CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS: Black Maternal Health 2025 kicks off on April 11th REGISTER NOW for Down By the Riverside Sunday, April 13th, noonPT/3pm ET. Space is limited. To expand knowledge and combat misinformation and disinformation, we create a syllabus for each episode (s/o to Melissa Harris-Perry), a list of references/sources for our listeners to dive into. This list includes any books, videos, podcasts, etc., that we've mentioned in the episode or that will help you gain a well-informed perspective. For our full syllabus, check out our website: demblackmamas.com 💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck: Card #21 “My Motherhood Is Rooted In Liberation” 💗 Episode Playlist: The 92%, Boundaries & Black Motherhood Companion Playlist EPISODES MENTIONED/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 61 Grief and Black Motherhood 🎙️DBM Ep 54: Birth Justice, Liberation & the Power of Black Midwives w/ Jamarah Amani & K.Sanderson ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Pre-Show Shenanigans✨ 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas: BluSky | Instagram | Patreon | YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Please share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us, or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. For all links, complete show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What do Telvin Osborne, Black marriage, generational wealth, Altadena, data as currency, the TV show Paradise, and white women in Idaho have in common? We cover them all in this episode. Yup, it’s hot topics, and we got hot takes well, not hot takes. We got Black Mama takes on all the above. In this episode, we talk: ✨How Telvin Osborne is relevant to Black women resting ✨The real problem when it comes to marriage & Black folx ✨Why Paradise gets kudos & white women in Idaho don’t PLUS - we talk all things Black Maternal Health, Roberta Flack, Thea taking on individual clients, and I share a big praise report regarding my nonprofit Creators Well during our Church announcements, praise reports, and prayer list requests segment. In our Black Mama Say segment for this episode, where we put our twist on sayings from Black mamas and the saying we're twisting this episode is “Let me put it to you like this.” 💗Black Mama Magic Deck Card: Card #25 “Motherhood Is Not the Graveyard of Dreams” 💗 Donate to Creators Well. Founded by Crystal Tennille Irby, Creators Well is a series of FREE interactive writing retreats and writing and performance classes for Black girls/ femmes/ non-binary/gender-expansive youth ages 12-21 that teaches and affirms the power of their voices, pen, art, and individuality. Thea Monyee, aka the Secretary of Joy, has nine spots available for one-on-one joy exploration and three spots for couples. Contact Thea for more details. EPISODES MENTIONED/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 61 Joy and Black Motherhood 🎙️DBM Ep 54: Birth Justice, Liberation & the Power of Black Midwives w/ Jamarah Amani & K.Sanderson ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Pre-Show Shenanigans✨ 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas: BluSky | Instagram | Patreon | YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us, or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. AND share this episode with at least one person. Sharing is not only caring; sharing builds community. For all links, full show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What does it mean to make it home, to create a place of rest and reprieve, joy and sanctuary, an archive of your children’s treasures? What happens when you can’t make it home, return to your place of rest and reprieve, joy and sanctuary, a reflection of your taste and intention? What happens when the archive of your children’s treasure, what they left behind to be kept safe, is incinerated, covered in ash and your community physically fractured? In this episode, Staci Mitchell, a mother of 3 who was born and raised in Altadena, CA, and our very own Thea Monyee recount the night the Los Angeles fires ravaged their community, watching their city burn, and the creative rebirth they’ve experienced in the wake of this nightmare. In this episode, we talk: ✨Mothering through displacement ✨Gentrification and anti-blackness amid natural disaster ✨The expectation of normalcy while healing from trauma precious commodities PLUS: We meet Thea’s new dog, Remy, have a church meeting during our Church announcements segment about boycotting and Black women minding their Black business, and in our Black Mama Say segment, each of us shares the word that will guide us through the year. 💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck: Card #16 “Impossible You” 💗 ABOUT STACI MITCHELL: The Fierce Creative With Healing Tendencies; Pan-African Studies Scholar, Theatre & Performance Artist born in LA and raised in Altadena, California. Her epistemological and pedagogical focus balances on womanism and the complex of Black\woman identity and its performativity. Staci has performed on and written for the Los Angeles theatre stage, been featured in independent film, on television, voiceover and audiobook narration. Staci is also a certified Ayurvedic yoga teacher specializing in meditation. She approaches all of these practices with deep appreciation and acknowledgment of her Afrikan ancestors who helped shape the science. Help Staci Rebuild EPISODES MENTIONED/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Episode 42: Honoring Your Body, Creativity, and Embracing Motherhood on Your Own Terms featuring Staci Mitchell ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Pre-Show Shenanigans✨ 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas: Email List | BluSky | Instagram | Patreon | YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. For all links, full show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What if I told you I didn’t start a business because I wanted to be a boss? I started my business because I wanted to be free, because I saw no other path to fully realizing my dreams, and according to a 2022 article, I’m not alone in finding entrepreneurship on my liberation journey. In the article entitled Why Black Women Are the Fastest-Growing Group of Entrepreneurs, Erica Thompson writes, “As the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs, Black women say they are seeking more freedom, opportunity, fulfillment and stability. They also are escaping from discrimination and other barriers in the workplace.” In this episode, we have a raw and vulnerable conversation about Black motherhood and our entrepreneurship journeys. Through this honest discussion, we aim to illuminate the real experiences behind the facade of 'glamorous' entrepreneurship and provide insights for others on a similar path. In this episode, we talk: ✨The spiritual and sometimes lonely journey of entrepreneurship ✨The pressure we put on our dreams to provide ✨Building a business in the margins as a mom when time, mental wellness, and money are precious commodities PLUS - We ponder what white people were doing in the 90s. 💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck Pull: Card #8 “Share Your Inspiration” 💗 Donate to Creators Well. Founded by Crystal Tennille Irby, Creators Well is a series of FREE interactive writing retreats and writing and performance classes for Black girls/ femmes/ non-binary/gender-expansive youth ages 12-21 that teaches and affirms the power of their voices, pen, art, and individuality. Episode Playlist: Black Healing Playlist curated by Dem Black Mamas on Spotify EPISODES MENTIONED/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️ DBM Ep 61: Black Motherhood & Joy 🎙️DBM Ep 15: Black Mama Creative 🎙️Shaping the Shift: We Are Eternal with Renee Marie ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Pre-Show Shenanigans✨ 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas: BluSky | Instagram | Patreon | YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. For all links, full show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What if I told you to offer grief a seat at the table? What if I told you grief has no other duties except to be with you? It has nowhere to be and is not bound by time. Grief is patient. Grief is relentless, and as Akilah S. Richards, our guest for this episode and a DBM fave, says, “Grief is not something to be fixed but something for you to learn to be more skilled at processing.” Akilah is a mother, partner, liberationist and author of Raising Free People: Unschooling as Liberation and Healing. She is now diving deep into grief work and in this episode we talk: ✨Grief, language and the body ✨Grief and generational shifts ✨Grief and creative projects ✨And of course grief, Black women and the political landscape Plus Thea uses a Negro spiritual to describe Black women’s current mindset and Crystal is learning sign language and attempts to teach Thea. 💗Black Mama Magic Card: Card #25 - Motherhood is not the graveyard of dreams💗 EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 61: Black Motherhood & Joy 🎙️Shaping The Shift: The Wild Body With Jessica Schafer ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Pre-Show Shenanigans✨ ABOUT Akilah Richards: Akilah S. Richards is a mother, partner and liberationist. As founder of Raising Free People Network and author of Raising Free People: Unschooling as Liberation and Healing Work, Akilah S. Richards partners with co-conspirators to challenge and encourage social justice-minded people to explore privilege and power in their relationships with personal leadership and all relationships. These days find Akilah tapped into the wisdom she gathered from her family’s transition from schoolishness to confident autonomy. She is savoring her life’s lessons after nearly a decade of location independence, and eight years of being invited into various conversations about intergenerational community care across the U.S., Southern Africa, and Jamaica (where Akilah is from). She guides discussions about how unschooling skills and other forms of decoloniality are shaping families and other cultures of leadership, change-work, and love. In addition to private coaching and public speaking, she facilitates trainings, small-group experiences, and consultations that help resolve the ways that unexamined experiences with bias and oppression disrupt families’ and organization’s capacity to sustain cultures of belonging. Connect with Akilah: Grief Circle | Community & Support | Instagram Connect with Dem Black Mamas: YouTube | Email List | Patreon | Blusky 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. For full show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What if I told you I didn’t think I had the words for the intro of this episode because we recorded it before the election, and after November 5th, joy was THE LAST THING I wanted to talk about? I wish I could say thinking of our ancestors pulled me through, but the truth is reaching forward in time helped me more than reaching back, and now more than ever, we are going to need joy not to feel happy but because, as Thea Monyee, one of the cohost of this podcast, who will be guiding us through the Joy Assessment, says "Joy makes things clear," and we, particularly Black mothers, need to get REAL CLEAR RIGHT NOW and being committed to joy, being centered on joy requires us to tell the truth to ourselves, about our relationships, about what is real and what is not, what is serving us and most importantly how we are not serving ourselves and that allows us to get really, really clear about what we are supposed to be doing, how to mind our business and what business we should be minding, and focused on in the time that we are about to enter. In this episode we delve into the social-political barriers of joy and how accountability intersects with the pursuit of personal joy. Thea Monyee introduces the groundbreaking "Joy Assessment," created with the Blacker The Brain cohort, as a tool for Black folx to reclaim joy as a means for liberation. In this episode, we talk: ✨The groundbreaking Joy Assessment ✨The difference between joy and happiness ✨Radical honesty and spiritual bypassing ✨Joy as tool of parenting from a place of liberation and not fear 💗Black Mama Magic Card: Card #10 - Lay Your Burdens on the Altar of Love💗 Episode Playlist: Blackest Holiday Playlist Eva curated by us on Spotify EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 59: Black Motherhood, Myths & Matrescence w/ Stepha LaFond ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Pre-Show Shenanigans✨ ABOUT THE BLACKER THE BRAIN: Thea Monyee aka the Secretary of Joy and the founder of The Blacker the Brain which is an ongoing campaign, conversation and cohort created to make mental health inclusive and expansive for Black bodies by teaching practitioners to unlearn harmful ideas, practices, and policies, and empowering potential clients with language, a full understanding of their rights, and a joy centered framework for their healing within in an oppressive society. Connect with The Blacker The Brain: Instagram | Website Take the Joy Assessment 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas Instagram Patreon YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. For full show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, There’s no deep intro for this episode. In this episode, we talk: ✨Which version of "All Cried Out" is best, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam or Allure & 112 ✨Election 2024 ✨How God blessed us with Morris Chesnut's rise from Ricky to Cory Cash WE HAVE RANGE! The way we move from levity to depth, Thea breaking down Joe Biden's scorpio tendencies to NeKisha connecting COVID to Zoom organizing to Crystal invoking Stokely Carimicheal’s definition of a revolutionary, is DEFINITELY a reflection of the times we are living in. And the truth is we were with more questions than answers: 👉🏾What does it mean to burn it all down, and who will be the ashes? 👉🏾What does it mean to be an activist? 👉🏾No matter the election outcome, what are we committed to building? What we know for sure, though, is MORRIS CHESNUT continues to bless us, and we are GRATEFUL! & OF COURSE we got that #BlackMamaMagic #ElectionPlaylist 💗Black Mama Magic Card for this episode: Card #48 - Time Is Always Divine💗 EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 1: Meet The Mamas 🎙️DBM Ep 2: Michelle 4C LaVaughn Chocolate Robinson 🎙️ DBM Ep 18: Deez Black Votes 🎙️DBM Ep 36: Election Shift - DBM + Shaping The Shift Mashup 🎙️DBM Ep 52: Black Women Organizing Hoes That Ain't Loyal Spiritual Political Cycles ✨MERCH OF THE MONTH - Black Mama Magic Card Deck ✨ If you really wanna watch us on our Blackest behavior, get on The Mothership & come inside the Black Mama Magic Room aka our YouTube Channel. 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas Instagram YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. For full show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, What if I told you there’s no such thing as snapping back after giving birth, only expanding into? What if I asked you to imagine Black motherhood without suffering? Could you do it? Have we made suffering a rite of passage in Black motherhood? Have we shrouded Black motherhood in self-sacrifice as opposed to sacred sacrifice? These are the questions we explore in this episode about matrescence. Coined by reproductive psychologist Dana Raphael, matrescence is the process of becoming a mother, including the physical, psychological, and emotional changes that occur during pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period. Lissen yall, this episode drove us Thea to drink! So we’re glad to have one of our favs Stepha Lafond of Unlearning Motherhood, ridin’ shotgun with us who provides context to all the things we know and feel about transitioning to and in motherhood but didn’t have the language for. ✨Much like adolescence, matrescence involves ongoing shifts that shape our identity and understanding of ourselves. ✨How self-forgiveness sets the tone for your motherhood journey ✨Why setting the strong Black women free is essential for us and our children ✨Normalizing not doing motherhood alone 💗Black Mama Magic Card for this episode: Card # 39 - My Children Are My Teachers💗 EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Episode 51: When It All Falls Down, Finding Freedom & Transitioning to Conscious Parenting w/ Domari Dickinson 🎙️DBM Episode 33: Haitian American Mama w/ Stepha LaFond 🎙️Meditations By Mamas: Full Moon/Shedding Meditation featuring Stepha LaFond ✨MERCH OF THE MONTH - Black Mama Magic Card Deck ✨ ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Grounding lead by Thea: “If I surrender to the air I can ride it” - Toni Morrison✨ ABOUT OUR GUEST: Stepha is a Life Coach, Mentor, and Speaker, dedicated to helping moms navigate the space between who they were and who they’re still becoming. As a mom of two young children, she knows firsthand the struggles of juggling the demands of motherhood, career, and life. She started her practice out of a desire to put moms at the center of the conversation, with an emphasis on shifting the narrative on modern motherhood to one that allows space for mamas to grow, heal and take care of themselves at all stages of their journey. Her work on Matrescence- the transition into motherhood- invites her clients and spectators to explore and hold space for this common but rarely discussed phase of development, whilst taking a critical look at the unjust systems and power structures impacting motherhood and creating necessary shifts towards liberation. Connect with Stepha LaFond & Unlearning Motherhood: Instagram 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas Instagram YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. For full show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama, Who is the girl the woman who survived in the belly of the boat that brought you here? Where did she come from? How do we find our way back to that place? Why should we find our way back to that place? In this episode, WE JOURNEY & Dr. Gina Paige, co-founder of African Ancestry is ridin with us! Along the way: ✨Thea shares the profound impact of tracing African roots through DNA had on her ✨NeKisha reveals the impact Dr. Paige’s business model had on her journey as a tech innovator ✨Dr. Paige reminds us that the ancestors are a cloud of witnesses always working in our favor with a beautiful story about Chadwick Boseman. But the road isn't always smooth. We delve into some tough terrain when Crystal shares a personal story about her trip to South Africa that brought her face to face with the complexities and idealizations of her African Heritage. 💗Black Mama Magic Card for this episode: Card # 39 - My Children Are My Teachers💗 EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️DBM Ep 4: How I Made It Ova 🎙️DBM Ep 27 The Upper Room ✨MERCH OF THE MONTH - Black Mama Magic Card Deck ✨ ✨PATREON BONUS CONTENT - Issa Black Thang: Default Oven Temperatures✨ ABOUT OUR GUEST: Dr. Gina Paige, co-founder of African Ancestry, Inc. (AfricanAncestry.com), is a pioneering luminary known for revolutionizing African lineage tracing through genetics. Starting her entrepreneurial journey at age 8 with a magazine to fund family trips. Before AfricanAncestry.com, she led GPG Strategic Marketing Resources. Paige travels globally to demystify African roots, promoting Black identity empowerment through ancestral connections. She has traced the ancestry of prominent figures like Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, and Chadwick Boseman. A sought-after speaker and partner for corporations like Netflix and Nike, Paige collaborates with community and faith-based organizations worldwide. Featured in Time Magazine and on platforms like PBS' Finding Your Roots, Paige co-hosted African Ancestry Radio and appeared on MSNBC and CNN. She holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and received an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy. Connect with Dr. Gina Paige: Instagram | Website Grab an African Ancestry Test Kit 🔗 Connect with Dem Black Mamas Instagram Patreon YouTube 🗣️Engage: This is a conversation. Speak back to us! Share your thoughts about the episode using the hashtag #DemBlackMamas, DM us or email us at magic@demblackmamas.com. For full show notes & transcript, check out our website: demblackmamas.com
Dear Mama You are worthy to rise each day and dance in your dreams with your children by your side. You are worthy of serenity in birth. You are worthy of joy while holding your children. Join Midwife Jamarah Amani of Southern Birth Justice in partnership with the WNBA for a meditation experience to remind you: You are complete. You are not alone. You are magic. Meditations by Mamas are led by Black mamas to help us maintain alignment with healing, creativity, and liberation to manifest joy and abundance. We’re coming to LA on September 3rd!!! Early bird has been EXTENDED TIL SUNDAY, AUGUST 20th. Get on the mothership & ride with us LIVE! GET YOUR TIX NOW>>>https://demblackmamas.com/events/ For more about Jamarah visit the shownotes for this episode on our website: https://www.demblackmamas.com/podcast
Dear Mama, What if I told you understanding menopause was a matter of life and death? In her 2022 book You Got Anything Stronger, Gabrielle Union went into deep detail about how in her words, “the surge and retreat of hormones” during perimenopause and menopause caused her to have passive suicidal ideations and pointed out that science has focused on hiding symptoms or treating the symptoms of menopause that have mattered most to men like vaginal dryness. The part of Union’s book that made me pause (see what I did there) was when Union stated, “According to a 2020 CDC study, the suicide rate among women is highest for those ages 45-64” and calls out how women’s depression is often linked to men or their children, focusing on the external features of women’s lives and not the internal. That’s when I knew we had to do an episode about Menopause and I knew just who turn to Omisade Burney Scott s creator of the platform Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause which includes a podcast of the same name. Black Mama Creative Week is the perfect time to drop this episode. Burney-Scott is a trailblazer in this field and roots her work in her spirituality producing creative projects such as Messages From the Menopausal Multiverse. In this episode, we talk: 👉🏾Listening to your body 👉🏾Menopause & spirituality 👉🏾Deciding to have the best sex of your life 👉🏾Bonus Content: The greatest story Nekisha ever told & why her Daddy is a REAL ONE! So thanks for coming inside the Black Mama Magic Room. If you’re a new listener, welcome to the ride. Remember Black Mama Creative Week kicks off Saturday, June 24th & we’re hosting a workshop on podcasting called Ask Us Anything: Composing Dynamic Questions to Create Compelling Interviews and one for entrepreneurs and Black Mama Creatives called Being the Blueprint: Tools to Help Black Mama Creatives and Entrepreneurs Design a New Path. To sign up go to www.demblackmamas.com/events . CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS It's Black Mama Creative Week! Come celebrate with us on Instagram all week! INVEST IN US Sign up for our Black Mama Creative Week Workshops. Share us with one other person. Become a Magic maker by getting on The Mothership (aka our newsletter). For full show notes check our website. ✨💗✊🏾
Dear Mama, Our hope for you today is: ✨ For you to honor the truth of your motherhood journey ✨ Space to heal from harm, disappointment & trauma ✨ Rest in your being to release yourself from attaching your worthiness to doing In this special mother’s day episode we celebrate Black Motherhood through poetry, imagination and meditation with a poem by me Crystal Tennille Irby, Image a new world with NeKisha Killings and a Liberation Meditation from Thea Monyee. Celebrate your whole self. It all belongs. Happy Mothers Day Black Mamas & don't forget Black Mama Creative Week kicks off Saturday, June 24th! ✨💗✊🏾 SHOW US SOME LOVE Share us with one other person. Become a Magic maker by getting on The Mothership (aka our newsletter). Join our Patreon Full transcipt and timestamp breakdown on our website at demblackmamas.com/podcast
Dear Mama, Dream with me. Can you imagine a world with a Black midwife in every family, in every community, easily accessible, at our fingertips, a world in which birth choices aren’t controlled by capitalism, a world in which the birth practices that Black women used to literally birth this country are honored, a world in which they are revered, a world in which Black midwives could practice the full scope of reproductive health and reproductive choices are respected, a world in which Black mothers don’t fear death in the midst of giving birth, experience it with fully joy and bodily autonomy. It’s Black Maternal Health Week and we are grateful for the opportunity to sit with two people invested in building that world: Jamarah Amani, founder of National Black Midwives Alliance & cofounder of Southern Birth Justice Network & filmmaker K. Sanderson In this episode we’re talking: 👉🏾Harriet Tubman & midwifery (Yeah we ain’t even know) 👉🏾Why the medical system fears Black midwifery (I mean we know why but still) 👉🏾The fight & journey to answer your calling (chiiilllleee this got deep) 👉🏾Their documentary series Legacy Power Voice: Movements in Black Midwifery (cause WE KNO what happens when other people tell our stories) ✨💗✊🏾 ✨MERCH OF THE MONTH - MAGIC EVERMORE BOX ✨ The intention of this box is for Black Mamas to honor the light within themselves. The items inside the Magic Evermore box will prepare Black mamas to soak up all the energy of the sun all summer and remind them of the importance of documenting themselves, the power to manifest the life you want, and to soften and pour into yourself when your mothership hits rough waters. Items inside: ✨Full Black Mama Magic Card Deck ✨Manifestation Crystals: Citrine, Pyrite, Rose Quartz, Blue Apatite ✨Incense from Smell Good Spa ✨Mama Magic: Evermore Picture Frame ✨Postcards ✨Gratitude Jar ✨Herbs: Jasmine, Eucalyptus, & Lavender ✨An investment in yourself and in Dem Black Mamas Podcast. When you invest in us, you are investing in a platform curated by three women actively creating spaces of healing, creativity & liberation. ABOUT OUR GUESTS Jamarah Amani, LM is a community midwife who believes in the transformative and healing power of birth and that every baby has a human right to human milk. Her mission is to do her part to build a movement for Birth Justice locally, nationally and globally. Jamarah is the architect of the Birth Justice framework, the Black Midwives Model of Care and the Birth Justice Bill of Rights. Jamarah identifies as Black, Femme and Queer. A community organizer from the age of sixteen, Jamarah has worked with several organizations across the United States, the Caribbean and in Africa on various public health issues, including HIV prevention, infant mortality risk reduction, access to emergency contraception and access to midwifery care. As a birth worker and activist, Jamarah has been tackling issues of racial justice, including the epidemics of Black maternal and infant morbidity/mortality for over fifteen years. She is currently the Executive Director of Southern Birth Justice Network, (https://southernbirthjustice.org/) a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working to expand the Birth Justice movement and to make midwifery and doula care accessible to marginalized communities. She is also the co-founder of National Black Midwives Alliance, (https://blackmidwivesalliance.org/) the only national professional association in the U.S. specifically for midwives of African descent, and a founding member of the Queer and Transgender Midwives Association. Karyl-Lyn Sanderson (they/them), affectionately known as K, is a non-binary visionary, artist and entrepreneur with over 20 years of work experience as a digital media producer. K’s mission is to shift societal paradigms while enriching and advancing the lives of those they serve. With their daring and joyful spirit, K takes on projects that bring greater exposure to causes and issues of importance. For over a decade, K created groundbreaking media as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Limitless New Media, an independently operated creative studio that designed a wide array of original content for community, educational and faith-based initiatives. K is an alumni of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Film and Television Production program. OTHER IMPORTANT LINKS History of Florida Midwife & 1965 Medicaid Legislation The Woman King Michelle Browder Mothers of Gynecolgy All other links mentioned in the episode & full show notes on our website at demblackmamas.com/podcast Thanks for coming inside the Black Mama Magic Room. If you’re a new listener, welcome to the ride. If you’re a newbie or an OG, order our intentionally curated Our Magic Evermore Box which is our Merch of Month by May 1st and receive it in time for Mother’s Day. ✨💗✊🏾
Dear Mama, There are two things that happen to everyone in this life that we don’t talk about - birth and death - both can challenge and transform everything we believe in. They can be messy and uncomfortable roads to travel and sometimes art can help us through. In Black Panther Ryan Coogler proved he is a master at guiding us through uncomfortable conversations & in this episode we are joined by one of our faves Michele Foss of The TV Doctor Podcast to talk about how Coogler guides us through grief in Wakanda Forever. We can’t think of a better way to kick off Women’s History Month than talking about a film held together by Black women & centers the mother daughter relationship. May we never forget and ALWAYS celebrate their work. In this episode we’re talking: 👉🏾The impact of Black grief 👉🏾The return of Kilmonger in that white sweater with NO SHIRT 👉🏾What surprised us 👉🏾A new film rating system based on Angela Bassett. ✨💗✊🏾 ✨MERCH OF THE MONTH - PATREON FREE FOR THE 30 DAYS UNTIL MARCH 31st ✨ We’re unlocking our Patreon for the next 30 days. If you love to laugh, if you want to nurture your creativity and imagination, if you want a wild ride, then THIS IS THE SPOT FOR YOU! Check the perks>>> patreon.com/demblackmamas ✨BEST PART - Investing in Black women who are committed to and actively creating spaces for Black folx rooted in creativity, healing, and liberation ABOUT OUR GUEST Dr. Michele Foss (she/her) challenges us all to reconsider our relationship with television. She is the creator, producer, and host of The TV Doctor (https://www.thetvdoc.com/), a podcast in which she uses her training, instinct, and empathy to “prescribe” the very best TV show to heal your emotional ailments. When she’s not “making the rounds” as a speaker and podcaster, she is Professor of Rhetoric and Media at Sacramento State University, where she teaches classes including Television Criticism, Rhetoric and Social Influence, and Media Aesthetics. You should feel free to greet her with the Vulcan salute or a few words of Klingon; she is also fluent in RuPaul’s Drag Race-isms and lyrics from ‘80s music. She is an advocate for social justice, an activist for anti-racism, and a firm believer in putting “DONE” items on your “TO-DO” list, just for the pleasure of crossing them off. Show Michele some love and follow her and her podcast on IG: @thecuriouscaseofmfoss @theteeveephd EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE: 🎙️YouTube Live w/ Dem Black Mama & Michelle Foss, The TV Doc 🎙️DBM Episode 11 Live at Cal State LA: Black Panther & The Best Mama Advice All other links mentioned in the episode & full show notes on our website at demblackmamas.com/podcast INVEST IN US Don’t just listen, subscribe and follow us on all social media platforms @demblackmamaspodcast Talk back to us email us (magic@demblackmamas.com), engage with us through social media comments, your reviews, and SoundCloud comments. Share us with one other person. Become a Magic maker by getting on The Mothership (aka our newsletter). Attend our Magic Makers Fall Workshop & purchase a Magic Evermore Box ✨💗✊🏾
Nitin Garg
This is Nitin, I also like to write for an education blog www.cleariitmedical.com - This is an online blog for students who want to prepare for India's most difficult entrance exams - IIT JEE and NEET This is a free blog and provide free study material, quiz and notes to those who can't afford to pay hefty fees of coaching institutes. I write free of cost for the good cause. I know you must be busy with your work but if you could take out some time from your busy schedule and have a look at it. I saw a good collection of articles. If you only write a few words about this blog then it can help a lot of students out there. Thanks!"
Nitin Garg
This is Nitin, I also like to write for an education blog www.cleariitmedical.com - This is an online blog for students who want to prepare for India's most difficult entrance exams - IIT JEE and NEET This is a free blog and provide free study material, quiz and notes to those who can't afford to pay hefty fees of coaching institutes. I write free of cost for the good cause. I know you must be busy with your work but if you could take out some time from your busy schedule and have a look at it. I saw a good collection of articles. If you only write a few words about this blog then it can help a lot of students out there. Thanks!"
Preeti Sharma
Very nice article! I'm Preeti, I write for educational blogs. I make a collection of wonderful educational blogs from where I could take inspiration for writing. This article really inspires me though it is a little different from my domain but nonetheless it is a good writing. I sometime write for a education site blogs www.clearexam.ac.in Let me know your thoughts if I could contribute to your blog too.Very nice article! I'm Preeti, I write for educational blogs. I make a collection of wonderful educational blogs from where I could take inspiration for writing. This article really inspires me though it is a little different from my domain but nonetheless it is a good writing. I sometime write for a education site blogs www.clearexam.ac.in Let me know your thoughts if I could contribute to your blog too.
Preeti Sharma_Career guide
Very nice article! I'm Preeti, I write for educational blogs. I make a collection of wonderful educational blogs from where I could take inspiration for writing. This article really inspires me though it is a little different from my domain but nonetheless it is a good writing. I sometime write for a education site blogs www.clearexam.ac.in Let me know your thoughts if I could contribute to your blog too.