Talking Liberation & Creativity with Spoken Black Girl (in honor of Women's Herstory Month)
Release Date: 03/31/2023
Special Episode - Black Maternal Health and Spoken Black Girl Magazine (Motherhood Edition) with Yaa Abbsensetts Dobson, Michele Evans, and Dr. Shameka Poetry Thomas
Pray With our Feet
In this special episode of Pray with our Feet podcast, Mom and I chat with Yaa Abbensetts-Dobson, Michele Evans and Dr. Shameka Poetry Thomas, about the latest issue of (which focuses on the Black motherhood experience) while also uplifting Black Maternal Health Week (April 11-17) founded by . We dive into the urgent need for community care, creating safe spaces for Black mothers and their children, resisting the suffocation of our wombs by oppressive systems, and the vital need for rest, mindfulness and radical self care in the tradition of Audre Lorde and June Jordan; each of these...
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Healthcare Is a Human Right with Kelly Smith, Non-Violent Medicaid Army
Pray With our Feet
In this moment when all of our rights are under attack within the U.S., we are all fighting multiple battles simultaneously. But there is one area which unites us - health care; each of us needs it, and far too many people do not have access. I caught up with Kelly, an organizer with the which is “a growing, politically independent force of the poor and dispossessed, united across identities, regions, races and issues, modeled after MLK's 'nonviolent army of the poor' from the first Poor People's Campaign of 1968.” NVMA “is not a coalition or a campaign but a network of...
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How Friends of the Congo is Creating Change & Raising Awareness Globally
Pray With our Feet
An artisanal miner carrries a sack of ore at Shabara artisnal mine near Kolwezi, DRC, on October 2022. Junior Kannah/ AFP via Getty Images The pain of our Congolese siblings powers our cell phones and electronic devices. “Approximately six million people have been killed since 1996, and more than six million people remain internally displaced in eastern DRC, " journalist Shola Lawal, writes in . Mom and I caught up with , co-founder and Executive Director of , a non-profit based in the Washington D.C., and founded in 2004; FOTC supports Congelese-led organizations working on the...
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Trauma Informed Activism & Radical Self Care with Kimberly Brazwell
Pray With our Feet
As activists and folks of faith, particularly in these challenging times, we must simultaneously commit to inner revolution and collective liberation. Prioritizing healing from these oppressive systems is also “the work.” bell hooks reminded us often: "Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion." Last year I sat down with a two-time TEDx speaker, author, CEO and founder of KiMISTRY for our Move It Forward Monday IG Live series to discuss trauma-informed activism. And it feels like a powerful moment to revisit this conversation. We...
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Season 5, Ep. 10, part 2 - Dr. King’s Vision & Resisting the Rise of Global Fascism with Yaa Abbensetts-Dobson of Spoken Black Girl and Avril Somerville
Pray With our Feet
As we honored Dr. King yesterday, we sit with the weight of this moment - stepping into another Trump presidency. Many of us remain committed to working towards a country rooted in collective liberation. In part two of our conversation, Mom and I chat with writer and author (), editor, entrepreneur and founder of , and host of , and writer, poet, and author of . Throughout both conversations (), we unpack building beloved community, why the church must divest from the false ideology of white supremacy, continually organizing for collective liberation, decolonizing,...
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Dr. King's Vision & Resisting the Rise of Global Fascism - Part 1, Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft of Middle Church and Raising Imagination
Pray With our Feet
As we honored Dr. King yesterday, we sit with the weight of this moment - stepping into another Trump presidency. Many of us remain committed to working towards a country rooted in collective liberation. Mom and I decided to root our discussion around Dr. King legacy, and his last book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? In this two part conversation, we chat with three phenomenal women, , writer, organizer, speaker, and Consulting Minister for Justice & Community Organizing at the founder of , writer poet, and author of and writer and author (), editor,...
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REWIND: Reclaiming the Faith with Dr. Obery Hendricks, Jr. author of Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith
Pray With our Feet
On the anniversary of Jan. 6th we are revisiting our conversation with . and the discussion of his book - (Beacon Press, 2021). Across the country, far too many church leaders are pledging allegiance to the false ideology of white supremacy, American nationalism, toxic greed and exclusion of folks living on the margins. In Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals are Destroying our Nation and our Faith, he writes - “Trump’s evangelicals carried a pernicious message directly counter to the faith they profess: that it is acceptable to commit...
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Rooting in Soul Care Practices for Hard Times
Pray With our Feet
We are living through unprecedented times; as each of us continues processing the election, and moving through waves of grief, disappointment, overwhelm, etc., it is vital to remain rooted in God, and come into beloved community with one another. Mom and I share a few of our thoughts post-election (check out two recent Instagram posts, and ), drop into discussing what soul care is, why it matters, and share two soul care practices you can lean into for support - breath prayer and meditating on verses of scripture. Breath prayer helps us to focus on a short phrase (God, Give me...
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Putting our Faith into Action with Lindsey Krinks of Open Table Nashville
Pray With our Feet
When we put our faith into action and center justice, fighting for the rights of everyone, particularly those most marginalized, we embody Christ. Mom and I caught up with Lindsey Krinks, Advocacy Director and co-founder of , a non-profit and interfaith community based in Tennessee whose work includes four core pillars: “, , a , and with our friends on the streets.” Throughout this episode we discuss Lindsey’s spiritual journey and embrace of liberation theology, and how it led her to the work she does now through Open Table Nashville (OTN) which focuses on...
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Building Intersectional Church & Community with Jonelle Brown of Young Prophets Collective
Pray With our Feet
Church hurt is widespread, and there are still many congregations which remain closed to Christians living on the margins because of sexuality / gender identity, disability, race / ethnicity, class, education level, etc. Young Prophets Collective, a growing online church and community, founded by JJ Warren, is working to shift this through building an affirming and intersectional space which welcomes all, and excludes none. I caught up with Jonelle Brown, an active member of Young Prophets Collective. Throughout this episode we discuss - ...
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Before Women’s Herstory Month comes to a close, we’re sharing our conversation about Spoken Black Girl magazine Issue 4: The Freedom Issue 2023. Mom and I chatted with Rowana Abbensetts Dobson, founder and author (Departure Story), along with contributing writers Lillie Watson, Reign, and Adrienne Prather.
We delve into the multiple ways Black women claim our liberation (collective and individual), the daily challenges we’re navigating, why we must remain uncompromising in defining our freedom for ourselves and more! Check out the issue here. And connect with the poetry of Reign, “Free,” Adrienne Prather, “What Freedom Means to Me?,” and Lillie Watson’s essay, “Black is Free.”
Learn more about Reign, Adrienne and Lillie below:
Reign is a Philadelphia native who now resides in New Mexico. It is her place of fresh new inspiration. She has been writing poetry and essays since the age of 8 years old. She is a published poet, published essayist, mixed media artist and short filmmaker. She writes to honor the ancestors' voices. Stay connected - Instagram: @i_am_reignthecreator, YouTube: Magic Little Movies (short films for healing and meditation), and purchase Reign’s poetry book, The Beauty of Dead Roses
Adrienne Prather is a writer, author and educator. She is a published author, and has written 3 books, Reflections of Love an Inspirational Poetry Book, Encouragement Cafe Self-Help, and Grace Finds Peace Children's Book. Adrienne enjoys writing and inspiring others. Ways to Stay connected - Instagram: @tmialuv and on Facebook: @AuthorAdriennePrather.
Lillie Watson is a writer based in Tucson, Arizona. She is a passionate reader and book lover, who believes in book accessibility and putting Black, Indigenous, POC, and LGBTQ+ representation and voices to the forefront of literary spaces. She has stories and poems published in SandScript Art and Literature Magazine’s 2016 and 2017 issues, and a personal essay published in Spoken Black Girl Magazine Issue 4: The Freedom Issue 2023. She works as a manager at a local bookstore, and volunteers at a local literacy non-profit, as she determines where she’d like to take her love of all things writing and reading related.
Ways to Stay Connected - Instagram: @lilliemarie221b and Twitter: @lilliemarie221b .
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Special thank you to my husand Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.