Please be advised this episode is about grief and healing. 

Whenever I am struggling with something personal people in my life tend to say to me, “but we are so proud of you”. Or more specific to this moment, we say “Just remember how proud of you your mother is, and keep going.” I want to take a pause from this narrative. For the ways it can reiterate to us, Black folks, to just keep climbing and we will be okay. I now have experienced more than a few instances in my life where climbing and achieving the success that this narrative is usually referring to has not saved me from pain, trauma, grief and guilt of achieving such things that those who got me here won't get to do. On this episode I unpack some of these feelings and more with my dear friend, Jackie. 

Jackie Lawrence is a Black woman from the South. She is a social worker by trade. Jackie is a dreamer, doer and a strategist when it comes to working with the community to assess socio-emotional wounds of oppression. She is also a new wife and mother. All of her identities are used for the highest good and mental wellness her self and her culture.

Helpful links

*Please know that Black Mental Health Awareness week is happening in Richmond, Oct 4-Oct 9. 

*Interview referenced in the show: The Urgent Need for Compassion ft: ALOK

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Primary Beat by Johannas Barfield