Crazy Black Girl

This week on the Crazy Black Girl Podcast, I’m sharing a story I’ve carried for a long time.

For years, I tried to prove a painful moment from my teenage years wrong through achievement. On paper, I had everything I was supposed to want. But I wasn’t living. I was performing a version of myself that convinced everyone, including me, that I was okay. Then, in a therapist’s office, one question stopped me: “Who are you without all of your achievements?”

In this episode, I talk about the difference between achieving and healing, how success can become a place to hide, and why your worth was never rooted in what you can accomplish.

Because achievement can change your circumstances without changing the way you see yourself.

So I’ll ask you what she asked me: who are you without your achievements?

Read the written version on the Storymend Journal: https://storymendcreativeco.substack.com/p/i-wasnt-healing-i-was-achieving

Visit www.storymendcreative.com and subscribe.

You Knew Me Then, Not Now | Featuring Bee

Sometimes it takes losing your freedom to discover what it truly means to live.

This week on the Crazy Black Girl Podcast, I'm joined by Bee for a raw and unapologetic conversation about choices, consequences, gratitude, and becoming someone different from who you used to be.

Before serving 18 months in prison, Bee was drawn to the fast life. But what happens when the life you thought you wanted leads you somewhere you never imagined?

For Bee, those 18 months became a turning point. She came home with a different perspective, a deeper appreciation for life, and a newfound sense of gratitude.

We talk about owning your past without allowing it to define your future, finding purpose beyond your mistakes, and the reality that transformation doesn't always happen under the most comfortable circumstances.

Because accountability and growth can coexist. Your past may explain where you've been, but it doesn't have to determine where you're going.

You may have known her then, but you don't know the woman she's becoming.

Connect with Bee:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_beethestarr

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@houseofbeeconjure

Stay connected with Crazy Black Girl Podcast:

https://crazyblackgirlpodcast.com

Crazy was never the insult they thought it was.

When a young man is accused of something terrible, who gets to be somebody's son first, and who is a monster before the sentence is finished? This week I put the Cornell fraternity case next to the Central Park Five and look at how each story was told: the photos, the ages, the past, and who got to speak. This isn't about guilt or innocence. It's about how the first telling sets the verdict before the facts arrive, and what narrative repair looks like when we notice it.

Tell me about a time you heard the same story told two different ways.

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I almost gave up on Crazy Black Girl Podcast.

Not because I had nothing left to say, but because life changed and so did I. I wasn’t sure this podcast still fit the woman I was becoming.

Turns out, it didn’t need to.

In this comeback episode, I’m talking about where I’ve been, what happened when I found myself an emotional wreck, and why I decided it was time to bring Crazy Black Girl back.

The conversations are growing with me. Mental health, identity, healing, life, and all the things Black women are expected to carry quietly we’re talking about it.

Crazy isn’t the insult it used to be. Welcome back. 💜

On Monday, a grand jury decided no one will be charged in the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells. His cause of death is still undetermined, and his family still doesn't have answers.

In this episode, I talk about what this news brings up for me as the mother of a Black son, why stories like Nolan's fade from the headlines, and what it does to us to keep living through the same ending. I also talk about how to carry this kind of grief without going numb.

Say his name: Nolan Xavier Wells.

Read the full essay in the Storymend Journal: https://storymendcreativeco.substack.com/p/say-his-name-even-now

If this episode is weighing on you, you can call or text 988 anytime.

I was driving to Waffle House with Whitney Houston playing, already knowing I was about to order the All-Star Special, and my hands would not stop shaking.

The accident was over. But apparently, my body didn’t get the memo.

A few weeks earlier, my car hydroplaned on a two-lane road in North Carolina. My sister was in the passenger seat, and for a second, I really thought that was it.

I walked away with a sprained ankle, a seatbelt bruise, and a totaled car.

And then I did what I think a lot of us do.

I got up. I went back to work. I kept moving. And I told myself, Girl, you’re fine.

Except…I wasn’t.

This episode is really about that space between moving on and actually healing. Because those are not always the same thing.

It’s about the stories we rewrite because sometimes the truth is just too heavy to sit with. The things we minimize. The things we convince ourselves “weren’t that bad” because acknowledging how much they affected us would mean we actually have to deal with them.

But I also want to talk about the other side of rewriting our stories—the part nobody really wants to talk about.

What happens when you were the one who caused the damage?

Because healing can’t only be about what happened to us. Sometimes it also means being honest about what we did, who we hurt, what we got wrong, and what we're responsible for now.

And I don’t have some perfectly wrapped-up lesson for you at the end of this.

What I have is this:

It happened.
It affected me.
There are things I’m responsible for.
And there are things I want to do differently moving forward.

All of those things can be true at the same time.

So if something comes up for you while you’re listening to this episode, you don’t have to fix your whole life tonight. You don’t have to have the perfect explanation for it.

Just start by telling yourself the truth.

That’s a start.

From Atlanta’s Trap Museum to a quiet conversation with God, this episode is about survival, surrender, and everything in between.

I came home from culture, music, and community to a flu, a kidney infection, and a wake-up call. Somewhere between dehydration and overthinking, I realized I’ve been carrying backup plans for my backup plans trying to outthink the future before it arrives.

This is a conversation about anxiety that feels real, even when faith says trust.

About trauma that teaches you to control everything.

About transitions that don’t come with a full blueprint.

What do you do when you can’t see the whole picture?

What do you release when control has been your comfort?

What if it actually works out?

We talk gratitude as an anchor.

We talk reading to expand your worldview.

We talk Jesus, therapy, medication, and honesty.

We talk about learning to cast your cares instead of carrying them alone.

If you’re in between survival and surrender… this one is for you.

In this special episode of the Crazy Black Girl Podcast, I’m joined by my very first guest — my daughter, Naomi. We share a candid, heartfelt conversation about life, academics, entrepreneurship, and the lessons she’s learning as a young girl navigating her own path. She offers honest advice for girls her age, and I couldn’t be more proud or excited to have her on the mic with me. This episode is full of wisdom, love, and real talk you don’t want to miss.

In this episode, I share a personal experience about an opportunity I deeply wanted but didn’t receive and how that disappointment led me into a season of depression. Over time, I realized that what I wanted wasn’t what God had planned for me.

This conversation explores how missed opportunities can actually be moments of divine redirection, not rejection. We talk about trusting God’s timing, learning discernment, and understanding that preparation doesn’t always mean possession.

If you’ve ever questioned your worth because a door didn’t open, this episode is a reminder that God’s path may look different but it’s always purposeful and intentional.

A tough but necessary conversation on sexual assault. In this episode of Cracy Black Girl, we talk about how to better support survivors with compassion, empathy, and truth. We end with a message just for victims: you are seen, you are heard, and you are not alone.

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses sexual assault