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S2, E41: Tameshia Found More of Herself Living Abroad

Entrepreneur and traveler, Tameshia Ridge started her international life like many millennials: she did a study abroad program that placed her in East Africa. In this episode, she explains how her ambition to eventually become a diplomat shifted once she had spent some time interning with the Rwandan government. Having connected with No Thanks: Black, Female and Living in The Martyr-Free Zone, Tameshia shares that the questions which propelled Keturah to move abroad were the same questions that inspired her to leave Rwanda and relocate to the west side of Africa. Noting that much of the book resonated with her, Tameshia focuses on the theme that unlike what many assume, working in Africa wasn’t transformative, missionary work. She expresses how ridiculous such an assumption is, particularly, when you are an educated American expat. “You end up trading one system of oppression (racism) for another. In Africa, that’s classism.” Being honest about the western privilege many Black American expats won’t talk about, Tameshia explains that she’s been able to accomplish so much overseas because of her passport privilege. To further her mission to debunk myths about being Black and American in Africa, she is candid when girlfriends ask her about moving to the continent to find their African king and get citizenship. “I only have my story about dating and what I know is factual about Ghana’s right to abode laws.” Tameshia also probes Keturah about a sentence in No Thanks in which she refers to her time abroad better equipping her for “self-salvation.” This leads into an insightful discussion about how it becomes easier to own your truth when you are constantly confronted with a culture that challenges who you are at your very core. Tameshia thanks Keturah for writing No Thanks, stating, “If I had this book eight years ago when I first moved to Africa, it would have made my landing a bit easier. I would have had the language for what I was feeling and experiencing.”

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S2, E36: Ola Curates a Library For Free Black Women

Artist, reader, black feminist and self-described “book fairy,” Ola Ronke started the Free Black Women’s Library four years ago. With the impetus of wanting to create a space for black women to share and read works by other black women, she began collecting books and reaching out to friends for donations. On this episode, Ola boasts that she stopped counting the books once they reached 1200. She has books from different genres, different writing styles, different world perspectives. The only common link between each book is the author is a black woman. Each month, the library is at a different location in New York City (mostly in Brooklyn) and Ola curates discussions, workshops and author talks when the library makes its next stop. In addition to enhancing the literary lives of the readers who follow the library wherever it goes, Ola feels taking on this labor of love has given her so much as well. She talks about how it expanded her reading palate and opened her up to genres of literature she never even considered exploring. She feels it lights a fire in her to see through her 1200 books just how diverse in experiences and talents black women are. Running the Free Black Women’s Library has also forced Ola to become bolder and more assertive, which were not a part of her personality four years ago. She’s emailed some of the leading authors of today, asking them to come and speak at the library. Most of them graciously take her up on the invitation. Ola also talks about her mission in life and how it fits with what she is doing with the library and her work as an artist. She wants to create and celebrate beauty. She describes creativity as her super power so “I am fueled to create beauty, joy and love. And sensuality and pleasure are part of that creation as well.”

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S2, E35: Montyy is Comfortable with Not Being Included

Host of the bold and unapologetic podcast, Comfortably Excluded, Montyy Taj grew up often being the “only one.” She was bussed into a “better” school district and enrolled in Advanced Placement courses so she became used to being the Black kid who was excluded from the social network whiteness and middle class status bring. In addition to her podcast, Montyy is also working on a documentary, Running with My Girls, about women of color in Denver who are campaigning for political office. In this episode, Montyy explains how the idea for her podcast was born out of her journey to get comfortable with not being included in spaces that were unwelcoming to her. She brings on guests who have found a way to create thriving lives for themselves in spaces where they are not organically included and also shares her perspectives on pop culture happenings. Her goal is to move the show in a slightly different direction, featuring the voices of Black Denver residents, specifically, whose presence in the city is often invisible as white power structures actively seek to erase them. Montyy also shares her frustration with the silence surrounding the invisibility of Black queer and transwomen. Since she grounds her own work in the Black community, it is difficult for her to reconcile the community’s allegiance to the safety and humanity of the heterosexual male with its indifference to the record number of murders of queer and transwomen. She connects this apathy to how deeply engrained patriarchal structures are in every aspect of society – its grip on socially conservative Black folk especially tight. This truth makes Montyy all the more aware of how difficult it is for a Black woman to claim freedom. “It is a moving target, an ever going, uphill battle – especially for the Black woman,” she says. “But, I find freedom when I take back my narrative and give myself permission to find my own way.”

Listen to the episode below and then subscribe to the show wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

S2, E34: Phoenix Stopped Caring and Started Creating

31-year-old Phoenix Williams dropped out of college seven years ago to follow her dream of becoming a fulltime author. Having now published many books and established a platform as a speaker and lecturer, she has no regrets. On this episode, she talks about giving herself permission to live her truth. She writes for black women who are still stuck in what they “should” do or “should” be, hoping that the characters she creates will give these women the courage to stop caring about all the “shoulds.” Readers of her erotica often comment on how the stories helped them embrace their sexuality and be honest with their partners about what they wanted. Getting her readers to be more honest with themselves is part of Phoenix’s mission. In one of her most popular series, she makes sure there is at least one character who is going to therapy and is supported by friends and family in their decision to do so. She wants to destigmatize seeking out mental health services in the black community. She also wants her characters to get her readers to be more honest with the people they love. “I am living my best life right now,” Phoenix laughs. “But sometimes you need help to live your best life. You need to actually be honest with the people you love, too.” Since many read to see themselves in the stories that authors tell, Phoenix has been intentional in showing her loyal followers Black women who are being authentic and bold. Characters who are connected to people and resources who will help them be the best versions of themselves. It is Phoenix’s wish that her readers model their example.

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S2, E33: Cole Travels the World Alone and With Sisterfriends

Travel Enthusiast and Accidental Entrepreneur, Cole Banks started Sisters Traveling Solo as a Facebook group. It was her response to an internet debate that discouraged Black women, particularly, from traveling the world unaccompanied. In this episode, Cole talks about the overnight success of that Facebook group. She had to quit a good job (that she enjoyed) unexpectantly when she went from hosting five trips in one year to putting together a team that organized twenty before the year ended. Cole shares that Sisters Traveling Solo is now much more than a Facebook group and successful business. It is a platform for Black women to share their joy exploring the world on their own and to build community for when they want to be in Peru with twenty other Black women in addition to sightseeing in Spain alone. She says that the fear family and friends often project onto single women when they get wanderlust is not allowed in the Facebook group that now boasts 70,000 members. She and her team have worked hard to create a space where statements like, “I am afraid to go here” don’t pop up in threads. Instead, the group has an abundance of “I took my first solo trip and I loved it!” posts that garner hundreds of support responses and impromptu trips among the members. In addition to sharing how much joy she gets from watching total strangers become best friends over the course of a week-long trip, Cole is honest about the amount of time and work she has to do to make sure her customers never see or feel how much has gone into their seamless trips. She talks about the realities of having this new good job (that she enjoys) in which she is “on vacation” more times than she is at home. While she is filled with gratitude for how well her business is doing, she admits she’s trying to find balance between organizing others’ memorable vacations and having enough free time to go on her own, even if it’s just to relax without a phone or laptop for a few days. All in all, she is content with her choice to leave her cushy job. “I don’t ever forget I have the life many people dream of,” Cole states. “I set my own schedule and make my own rules. I am always having a new experience in a different part of the world. I know that is no small thing.” It is also no small thing that she has turned this dream job into a million-dollar company in only three years.

Listen below and then subscribe to the show wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

S2, E25: Chana Unlocks The Woman She Wants to Become

From a “cheeky” brunch series in honor of Michelle Obama, Chana Ewing has grown her passion for women’s empowerment into a business that features black women sharing their strategies for maintaining balance and wellness. In this episode, Chana talks about the road to establishing Geenie Box and the concept behind a different woman each month curating a gift box of the things that sustain her. She also shares her mission as an entrepreneur and consultant: to change the narrative of black womanhood from simply surviving to thriving. She admits that Geenie Box is just as helpful to her as it is to her customers. She learns from each curator and listens as they share routines and strategies that have helped them grow personally and professionally. Chana reflects on the growth she has undertaken since she started her brunch series ten years ago. She sees herself unlocking the woman she wants to become and enjoying the process along the way. “I am sick of this fascination with the destination,” she says. “I feel like we should enjoy where we are now because if we don’t, even when we get to whatever the destination is, we still won’t find peace.”

S2, E24: Evita Builds Community Through International Travel

Eight years ago, Evita Robinson started the Nomadness Travel Tribe as an online community of about 100 black millennials who shared the common interest of travel. Today, Nomadness is 22,000 members strong and in addition to orchestrating epic tribe trips to all corners of the globe, Nomadness also has regular meet ups and partnerships with travel brands that are just now catching on to the black travel movement. It has also spearheaded its first conference dedicated to the needs, interests and passions of its largely black female members. In this episode, Evita shares how her popularity in high school combined with her natural affinity for planning large scale parties sparked her mission to bring communities of like-minded people together. With the help of her mother, she nurtured her talent for throwing fun, respectful and well-executed events that people looked forward to attending each year. She also talks about how what was once a burgeoning movement a decade ago is closer to becoming the norm for many Black Americans. Since the fresh-faced young professionals who joined the tribe at its infancy are now becoming parents themselves, this next generation of “junior nomads” will have grown up with travel as such an every-day part of their lives that it will be only their parents who can appreciate what a privilege this luxury of collecting passport stamps is. Evita also speaks about the importance of taking trips that go beyond just flossing for the ‘gram. “I think every two years you should take a trip that humbles you,” Evita says. The key to finding freedom in any trip outside of American borders is to make sure she comes back “not complaining about the same shit as I was when I left.”

Listen below and then subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

S2, E23: Yaba is a Professional Black Girl

Of Ghanaian heritage, but born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr. Yaba Blay has devoted her scholarship to the nuances inherent in women of the African diaspora claiming their freedom. She explains how the concept of her popular web series, Professional Black Girl, grew out of her intentional choice to explore beauty politics and how Black women engage with their bodies as a result of it. Originally intended to be a fun documentary about her and her sistafriends’ obsession with a large beauty supply store in North Carolina, Professional Black Girl now has become a series of videos of Black women sharing how committed they are to their grooming process and celebrating the aspects of beautifying one’s self that are exclusive to Black girl culture. Yaba intends the series to be a celebration of Black women’s beauty and fashion choices, regardless of what those choices are. As the series goes into its second season, Yaba reflects on how simply creating and producing Professional Black Girl has helped her unchain herself from the notion of what it means to be “professional.” Like many Black women with careers in academia, she once committed herself to sounding and looking like what white supremacy decided was “professional.” She accepted positions at universities that were overwhelmingly white and acted accordingly. Now, with PBG reflecting her love of black girlness, she has no interest in the performance of whiteness that passes for professionalism. She has become unapologetic in choosing to live in only black ass cities and spend her time doing black ass things. “Blackness is at the forefront of my identity,” Yaba says. “There is no place where I can thrive if my love for my people and my culture are not fed.”