Red Lips & Eyerolls

In this episode I sit down and chat with Michelle Cassandra Johnson. Michelle is a social justice warrior, author, dismantling racism trainer, empath, yoga teacher and practitioner, and an intuitive healer. With over 20 years of experience leading dismantling racism work and working with clients as a licensed clinical social worker, Michelle has a deep understanding of how trauma impacts the mind, body, spirit, and heart. Her awareness of the world through her own experience as a Black woman allows her to know, first-hand, how privilege and power operate. 

This week's guest is Kalilah Wright!Kalilah Wright, born in Jamaica W.I., migrated to the United States at the tender age of 4 and was raised in Brooklyn, NY. She is the Founder and CEO of expressive brand Mess in a Bottle. As an accomplished designer and trained architect, she used her Masters degree from Morgan State University and Bachelors of Arts from Penn State University to establish the brand in January 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. Mess in a Bottle allows you to put messages on t-shirts and are packaged in reusable bottles.The Mess in a Bottle brand was established to evoke change, question Kalilah’s audience and allow individuals wearing their messages to be vocal without saying anything at all.Each item is designed and printed at her Baltimore in-house studio space. Kalilah has participated in multiple pitch competitions and won the Wells Fargo Business Pitch competition in 2016 and the 2018 iFundWomen pitch competition in conjunction with the Baltimore Ravens. Mess in a Bottle has collaborated with numerous brands and created limited edition capsule collections with Warner Brothers Studios for their movie The Kitchen, YouTube, Roc Nation artist Rapsody and most recently Target for their Black History Month collection. Celebrities such as Viola Davis, Serena Williams, Luvvie Ajayi, Lena Waithe, Yvonne Orji and more are all proud supporters of Mess in a Bottle.

In this episode I chat with Corinne Rice-Grey Cloud about her life and her passion to educate people on Indigenous culture and the importance of dismantling systems of oppression. Corinne Rice-Grey Cloud is Mohawk and Lakota, and lives on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Mission SD. She is a journalist with Powwows.com, the Executive Director of the Buffalo Project, and was previously the Program Coordinator for the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition under their Federal Sex Trafficking grant. She currently provides education nationwide on culture and Land Back movements and has spoken at Google, Facebook, Walmart and Universities across the nation. She is a voice in the community working to raise awareness on Human Trafficking in Indian Country, and has spoken on Human Trafficking panels regarding MMIW. She’s 34 years old and she and her fiancé Greg Grey Cloud live on a small ranch with their two kids Hunter and Emma.

In this episode I chat with Dr. Christena Cleveland, we dive into a beautiful conversation about Black liberation and the sacred feminine. We talk about her 400-mile walking pilgrimage across central France in search of ancient Black Madonna statues, and how she examines the relationship among race, gender, and cultural perceptions of the Divine.Christena Cleveland Ph.D. is a social psychologist, public theologian, author, and activist. She is the founder and director of the  Center for Justice + Renewal, a non-profit dedicated to helping justice advocates sharpen their understanding of the social realities that maintain injustice while also stimulating the soul’s enormous capacity to resist and transform those realities. A weaver of Black liberation and the sacred feminine, Dr. Cleveland integrates psychology, theology, storytelling, and art to stimulate our spiritual imaginations. She recently completed her third full-length book, God is a Black Woman (HarperOne), which details her 400-mile walking pilgrimage across central France in search of ancient Black Madonna statues, and examines the relationship among race, gender, and cultural perceptions of the Divine. Dr. Cleveland holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California Santa Barbara as well as an honorary doctorate from the Virginia Theological Seminary. An award-winning researcher and author, Christena is a Ford Foundation Fellow who has held faculty positions at several institutions of higher education — most recently at Duke University’s Divinity School, where she led a research team investigating self-compassion as a buffer to racial stress. Though Dr. Cleveland loves scholarly inquiry, she is also a student of embodied wisdom. She recently completed the Art & Social Change intensive body wisdom training for millennial leaders, and is currently deepening her mind-body-spirit integration in a year-long life practice program for BIPOC. A bona fide tea snob, lover of Black art, and Ólafur Arnalds superfan — Christena makes her home in the wild high desert of northern New Mexico.Enjoy the episode!

This week's guest Rachel Gilliam chats with us about her amazing work and her online reset that is led by Black women for all women. Rachel Symone Gilliam runs an online platform centered around owning her grief and encouraging others to live their best life on purpose. As a young widow and bone marrow transplant survivor, she is no stranger to heartache, loss, or hard seasons and invites you along in her own journey to self to help you open the door to your personal healing. She lives life in Dallas, TX and is all about self-care, wellness, and rosè. As the host of the Rosè with Rae podcast, founder of Unapologetic Womxnhood, and creator of Daily Rae, a daily encouragement text -- she has made it her mission to live her best life on purpose and to invite you to do the same.https://unapologeticreset.com/ (use code KATARA10 to get $10 off ticket)https://www.instagram.com/rachelsymonegilliam/ 

This week's guest McKensie Mack chats with us about how they are impacting the world toward radical transformation. McKensie Mack is a trilingual anti-oppression consultant, facilitator, educator, researcher, and the Founder of McKensie Mack Group (MMG) and the Creator #BoundaryWork. McKensie holds more than 10 years of experience helping organizations, community groups, governing agencies, and healthcare organizations expand dialogues of power, identity, and equity across race, gender, class, disability, and LGBTQ+ identity with clients based in the U.S, the UK, India, France, Germany, Spain, Peru, and more.Their consulting group, MMG, has partnered with communities nationally and globally to develop equitable and anti-oppressive communications strategies and cultures that identify and dismantle social inequity while giving people the tools to better their lives and communities. McKensie's work has been featured in the NY Times, Refinery29, Chicago Tribune, BlockClub Chicago, El Pais, and The Guardian. Their entire body of work is defined by a singular core belief: We are all born worthy.Follow McKensie Mack on Instagram @mckensiemack 

Excited to have Blair Imani on the show! Blair is a critically-acclaimed historian, outspoken advocate and activist, and dynamic public speaker. The author of two historical books: Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History (2018) and Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and The Black American Dream (2020), she centers women and girls, global Black communities, and the LGBTQ community. She takes education further on Patreon and provides publicly accessible weekly lessons on Instagram. Blair has appeared on Fox News and MSNBC, presented at colleges and universities, spoken at conferences around the world, and delivered powerful talks for organizations and brands including TEDx and GLAAD. Blair and I sit down for a great convo about her work. Enjoy the show!Check out Blair on Instagram @BlairImani

Louiza "Weeze" Doran is our guest on this week's episode. Weeze is a coach, advocate, podcast host, agent of change, strategist, and educator. She holds a BA in Sociology from Berkeley (Class of 2008!), having parents that were born into Colonial Africa, it is a field that she wanted to study since she was radicalized from a young age.Weeze worked in music and professional sports all the while taking notice of the ways that Black and Brown bodies and culture were used and commodified in popular culture/America. After years working in the corporate and non-profit realms she quickly realized that in order to alter our social reality as a whole, we as people had to shift and thus she began her coaching and educating practice with two distinct branches: Anti-racism & decolonization and empowerment & authentic alignment.Listen in as we chat with Weeze about how anti-racism is a state of being. Follow Weeze and access her resources on Instagram @accordingtoweeze 

This week we sit down with Christine Platt, aka the Afrominimalist. Christine is a Storyteller, Advocate, and Managing Director of the Antiracism Research and Policy Center at American University in Washington, DC. In our convo, we chat about how she has embraced her own evolution and how it led to the work she is doing today. We also talk about what being an Afrominimalist looks like, her books that serve as mirrors and windows for young readers, and the exciting FREE webcast for K-12 educators and parents seeking guidance and new resources to prepare for conversations on race and racism. Register for FREE Empowering Educators webcast happening August 19th. Register today at this link https://american.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9KpvFjj81wGjY33

I sat down with the lovely Monique Melton for a great conversation about her work and how her own internal excavating was a crucial part of her stepping out to do what she feels called to do. We also discuss the imperative work of learning how to talk to your kids about race and her resources for parents. Monique Melton is an anti-racism educator, published author, international speaker, and host of the Shine Brighter Together podcast. She is also the founder of Shine Brighter Together, which is a community dedicated to healthy relationships & diverse unity.She travels the world speaking at conferences and events on topics related to anti-racism, personal growth, diversity, and relationships. She’s been published in magazines, featured in blogs and podcasts, and has touched the lives of people all over the world.She is a natural big-bold dreamer and a deeply rooted woman of faith.She is a proud Navy wife to her high-school sweetheart, and she is a loving mother to two little ones.She has a BA in social science with an emphasis in sociology & psychology and two years of graduate school education in Clinical Counseling from Johns Hopkins University.She believes it's not all about your comfort, but it's about your growth.Check out her services and offerings here https://www.moniquemelton.com/

In this episode, I sat down with Rebekah Borucki and chatted about her book series for little readers and her mission to get mental health resources to children. We also discuss why she uses her voice and platform to speak to racism, the crucial work of anti-racism, and what practicing allyship looks like. More about RebekahRebekah “Bex” Borucki, founder of BEXLIFE® and the BLISSED IN® wellness movement, is a mother of five, meditation guide, birth doula, and author of books for big and little readers. She has taught meditation as a profound act of self-care that can be executed effortlessly and effectively to hundreds of thousands of individuals online and in live workshops and public events. Rebekah’s mission is to make mental-health support and stress-management tools accessible to all. Most recently, Rebekah launched her own publishing imprint, Wheat Penny Press, and her non-profit, the Wheat Penny Press Little Readers Big Change Initiative, which provides free books and mental wellness tools to elementary school students in need.Check out her book series for children here https://www.bexlife.com/zara/Her website here https://www.bexlife.com/

On this week's show we hang out with Shontay Lundy. Shontay is the Creator and Founder of Black Girl Sunscreen, a revolutionary brand that bridges the gap of sun care protection in the Black community. In this episode, we explore Shontay's journey to becoming a business owner and the obstacles that became opportunities that led to her success as a Black female entrepreneur.   Check out Black Girl Sunscreen herehttps://www.blackgirlsunscreen.com/

In this episode we chat with Arlan Hamilton about her newly released book "It's About Damn Time". Arlan is an unapologetic Gay Black Woman that built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She has invested in more than 130 startup companies led by underestimated founders–People of Color, LGBTQ & Women. We talk about why she has chosen to invest in these underestimated founders and her journey to building her business, Backstage Capital. Arlan Hamilton built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a fund that is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT. Started from scratch in 2015, Backstage has now raised more than $10 million and invested in more than 130 startup companies led by underestimated founders. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio which launched four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London. Arlan was featured on the cover of Fast Company magazine in October 2018 as the first Black woman non-celebrity to do so, and her new book "It's About Damn Time" was released on Penguin Random House's business imprint Currency in May 2020.

In my chat with Rachel Ricketts we discuss the imperative work of anti-racsim and how if you are not practicing anti-racism or just getting started glad you're here, but you're late. Because so many are late we need all hands on deck now. Let's get to work!Rachel Ricketts is a thought leader + outspoken champion for Black and Indigenous womxn+ and our healing. As a racial justice educator, spiritual activist, changemaker and author, she educates white folx on their role in perpetuating white supremacy, helps folx of color heal from internalized oppression and helps everyone end global oppression in all forms. Rachel hosts online and in-person workshops including her renowned Spiritual Activism series which promotes racial justice and offers practical solutions for all hue-mxns to dismantle racist cisheteropatriarchy. She has helped numerous global brands with anti-racism including Google, WeWork, CreativeLive, Lululemon and TELUS and was named one of well+good’s 2020 Changemakers. Rachel’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, Hello Giggles, BuzzFeed, Mindbodygreen, 21Ninety, Black Girl in Om and Thrive, and she's presented at international conferences including SXSW and me Convention in Stockholm. She loves donuts, dancing and all things metaphysical.  Learn more at www.rachelricketts.com and @iamrachelricketts 

I sat down with Camille Dundas for a chat about her work, mission, passion, and online magazine ByBlacks.com ranked #1 Black online magazine in Canada.Camille shares her story and drops some wisdom on how our efforts for equity for women, must include the intersectionality that Black, Indigenous, Women of Color, and LGBTQIA+ face. These women must be included in our efforts for equity, and we can no longer put them on the back burner.Camille Dundas spent almost 10 years working as a journalist in national television news. In 2017, she leaped into the tech industry, becoming a consultant with Hootsuite. Camille is also the co-founder and editor-in-chief of online magazine ByBlacks.com, ranked as the #1 Black online magazine in Canada. From this vantage point, Camille has become a public speaker on the topic of equity and inclusion. She is known for dropping disruptive truths - on stage and online - about why inclusion without intersectionality creates a space where good intentions go to die.Check out Camille at https://camilledundas.com/  Her online magazine https://byblacks.com/

In this episode I share my "WHY", my mission and purpose for this podcast and why is taking a shift. 

Layla F. Saad, New York Times best selling author is on our show this week to discuss her book Me and White Supremacy. I invite you to listen as she shares the importance of dismantling systems of oppression and what it looks like to be a good ancestor. Check out Layla's Masterclasses, Good Ancestor Podcast, Good Ancestor Podcast Live at www.laylafsaad.com 

In this episode I sit down with my friend Megan Gilmore for a chat about how she is cultivating cultures of belonging in places and spaces that she shows up in. We talk about how she's had to begin dismantling white supremacy in her own life and how she is learning to be a better advocate, ally and amplifier for People of Color. Resource List: Me and White Supremacy by Layla F SaadSo You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeumo OluoWhite Fragility by Robin DiangeloI'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness4) Read as much as you can from Rachel Ricketts Anti-Racism Resources https://www.rachelricketts.com/antiracism-resources

In this episode I give you some tools and techniques I use to keep me grounded. In this time of uncertainty I wanted to share how you too can experience groundedness. Stay safe and may you access your peace!

In this episode I chat about my challenge between having a lack and scarcity mindset/perspective verses having an abundant mindset/perspective.  I have struggled for as long as I can remember with my default perspective being lack and scarcity and I'm over it!  Join me as I share some practices that have helped me live with more of an abundant perspective.