We Flesh

In this final episode of the season, we talk about emboldening our young Black youth to love their bodies, to be in their bodies. Guest Thokozani Ndaba guides us through her work of maneuvering through the objectification and over-sexualization of Black bodies, and together we learn how she turns that mess into treasure. How can we own our sexuality while also realizing that we live in a dangerous world for Black bodies? Let us start by finding our own voices. For more content for Black women, by Black women, visit tarryingplace.org.    Our Guest Today: Thokozani Ndaba is the founder and executive director of Ntethelelo Foundation in Alexandra, Johannesburg. The trained drama and theater practitioner activist and facilitator uses theater methodologies and techniques to facilitate healing, empowerment and support within vulnerable communities, creating safe spaces that enable dialogues and social change, empower youngsters, and break the chains of abuse, poverty and control. “Ntethelelo” means forgiveness and the core values of Thokozani and her work are about healing, personal growth and self-love and self-respect.

Beauty, grace, and stillness. Ericka Huggins, a founder of the Black Panther Party joins us today to discuss the journey of slowing down, sitting still, and breathing. She shares her stories of developing a meditation while incarcerated, including a period of solitary confinement. We also explore the importance of telling children the truth, the journey of being with joy, and the battalion to uplift and reflect love on one another in community. Plus, the power of healing through writing poetry, finding hope in the hardest places, and the tragedy of the American prison system. This week's offering: The poetry of where you come from and the words you live by. For more content for Black women, by Black women, visit tarryingplace.org. Our guest today: Ericka Huggins is a human rights activist, poet, educator, Black Panther Party leader and former political prisoner. For the past 36 years, she’s lectured throughout the United States and internationally. Her life experiences have enabled her to speak personally and honestly on issues relating to the physical and emotional well-being of women, children and youth, the incarceration of men and women of color, and the role of the spiritual practice in sustaining activism and promoting social change.

Using art to reveal truth...today we talk with Michelle Browder: artist, activist, and artivist who creates art commemorating Black women in joy and love. Michelle describes the inspiration and process in building The Mothers of Gynecology monument, as well as purchasing the building at the site of Dr. Marion Simm’s experiments, reclaiming it as a space for the maternal health of Black women, and changing the medical profession through her art. Offering:  Letting the spirit of a Black woman emanate in your space. For more content created for Black women, by Black women, visit tarryingplace.org. Our guest today: Michelle is a native of Denver, Colorado. At the age 7, Michelle and her family moved to rural Verbena, Alabama in the late 70’s. Michelle experienced bullying through racial bias at an early age. Out spoken as a child, Michelle began combating her attackers through physical confrontations leading to multiple suspensions. During her last suspension,  Michelle’s father gave her an ultimatum, “Prison or Art.” He challenged her to seize the moment to be creative. At the age of 13, Michelle harnessed her entrepreneurial spirit and started a hand painted T-shirt business. After graduation, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia and attended the Art Institute of Atlanta studying Graphic Design and Visual Communications. For nearly 35 years, Michelle has used art, history, and “real talk” conversations to mentor marginalized and disfavored students through visual arts and spoken word. She has created and branded art diversion programs used by juvenile detention centers in Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama. Michelle’s art has been shown in galleries across the country notably the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. She has painted for Tyler Perry, Denzel Washington, and countless other stars. She opened a gallery and restaurant called PJR’S FISH AND BBQ RESTAURANT that employed high school students, returning citizens, and the homeless. Michelle has traveled across the country speaking and motivating our children to be More Than a statistic, generalization, or stereotype. She challenges all children and students to defy the odds of victimization. Today, Michelle is the founder and director of I AM MORE THAN... Youth Empowerment Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. She owns and operates More Than Tours, a social business providing educational tours for nearly 10,000 underserved students in marginalized communities of color. Michelle’s mission is simple,“Exposing Our Children To The Truth, Will Give Them Access To A Seat At The Table.” The 2023 Anarcha, Lucy, Betsey Second Annual Day Of Reckoning  

Today, Black Women Be Managing!!! Susan Callender, business leader, consultant, and coach, joins us to talk about how Black women can own their own businesses and not just survive, but thrive. We explore manifesting security that is based in our own agendas, and how to BE the person who sets the agenda and scale, but not at a harmful cost to the self. Other topics include the necessity of taking care of ourselves first, even while trying to support the liberation of others. This week's offering: Tea Time. For more content created for Black women, by Black women, visit tarryingplace.org.   Our Guest Today: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) were once considered obligations by many firms, given no more than lip service, with doubtful or non-existent impact on the bottom line. Susan Callender not only makes it her mission to demonstrate the dynamic value of DEI but has the real-world experience to prove it. As a respected business leader and consultant, she can claim what few business coaches can—clear results. She’s enabled multiple companies to achieve over $1 million in revenue since initiating her consultancy over ten years ago, but her most impactful decision came in 2019 when she accepted the role of Chief Operating Officer at Epoch Education, Inc. Susan has built a career leveraging her experience as a corporate litigator and consistent success as an entrepreneurial investor and executive to serve as a mentor and guide to start-ups and emerging businesses. Her background provides the perspective and knowledge that it’s possible to embrace DE&B and use it as a clear competitive advantage. Susan Callender believes that instituting a responsible culture of belonging is both motivational to employees and impactful to a company’s growth.

Oh, the power that story and song give to Black Women to heal and thrive! Dr. JoAnne Terrell joins us to share her journey of singing, playwriting, and  transforming lives with music and theater. Plus, the not-so-hard leap from preacher to actor, the importance of being a beginner when one, and how we can all be artists and embody art in any medium, and the need for a singer to sing in order to be. This week's offering: Rock and Breathe and Hum And Drum…and may you be blessed. For more content created for Black women, by Black women, visit tarryingplace.org. Our guest today: Dr. JoAnne Terrell is a womanist scholar, a theologian, an artist. She received her PhD at Union Theological Seminary and is the Kenneth B. Smith Sr. Professor of Public Ministry at Chicago Theological Seminary. Professor Terrell’s current research interests are interreligious in scope, and focus on soteriological principles in Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity, the genre of spiritual autobiography, and the power of the visual and performing arts to effect personal, social, and cosmic transformation. She is also the mother of Jada, the dog-mommy of Shiloah, and a dear friend.   “Despite the wretched conditions humankind continuously faces, I believe in the beauty that is, and it is my scholarly and pastoral duty to pursue and find it.” JoAnne Terrell

Welcome, Beloveds, to our new podcast! On this inaugural episode, hosts Lisa Anderson and Amikaeyla Gaston explore it means to be in conversation and relationship with another Black woman, what Toni Morrison may have meant when she said “We Flesh” and how that might resonate with Black women, now. Plus, finding joy in a moment that feels apocalyptic, how spirituality affects us both in and out of The Church, excitement about upcoming conversations, and what parts of “The Color Purple” makes us cry. We also explore rituals that ground us, what we love about being Black women, and songs we carry with us. For more content created for Black women, by Black Women, visit tarryingplace.org.