Check out this blast from the past! In honor of Throwback Thursday @ImJustJoslyn finally decided to come on back to the podcast streets, and this time she’s talking about grief! Don’t worry everyone it’s definitely her shortest episode to date, so you won’t be in your feels for too long. This is a special episode with only her talking around grief that she’s experienced personally, as well as breaking down the different stages of grief and loss. So sit back, relax, light some candles and even some sage or palo santo, grab a sip, whatever you need to do in order to tap in to your feelings for a bit! It will be quick don’t worry!

Call to Action

1. For this week just have grace with yourselves! I challenge all of you to say 5-7 amazing things about yourself and the grief you have experienced for the next week Monday-Sunday. Even if you’re repeating those 5-7 positives each day that’s okay. Find the good in your grief.

2. Some book recommendations for this episode are:

◦ Grieving While Black: An Antiracist Take On Oppression And Sorrow by Breeshia Wade

◦ Notes on Grief by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie

◦ The Pain We Carry by Natalie Y Gutierrez

3. Podcast recommendations:

◦ Small Doses “Side Effects of Healing After Loss” (with Maya Jaye) and host Amanda Seales

◦ The Friend Zone ep 375 “The Fifth Member” with hosts HeyFranHey, HeyAssante and Dustin Ross

◦ Can’t Afford Therapy Podcast with hosts Antoinette, Josh, and Savon

Music
1. Know That You Are Loved by Cleo Sol
2. Don’t Hurt Yourself by Beyonce
3. If You Let Me by Sinead Harnett
4. One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men
5. W.A.Y.S. by Jhene Aiko

Research article credit:

The Stages of Grief: How to Understand Your Feelings (healthline.com)

On this episode not only is it @ImJustJoslyn’s birthday, but she is joined for the first time ever by the lambent, lovable, licensed clinical Psychologist Lee Thompson! They talk about what drove her into Psychology as a profession, she explains the difference between a psychiatrist, psychologist, and therapist, and gives her perspective on whether or not racism is a mental illness! Given its mental health awareness month Lee drops gems on how to search for a mental health professional, the different resources you can use to afford it, and how to practice good mental health hygiene. You don’t want to miss this one! 

Call to Action

2. Book recommendations for this episode: 

3. Podcast recommendations:

Music 

In this episode @ImJustJoslyn is joined by another one of her amazing friends @somecallmesam aka the Smart, Sophisticated, Spectator! They talk about basketball culture in the wake of the NCAA crowning their 2023 women’s basketball champions! LSU has claimed the first title for their program and did it with a lot of swag! However, some people are not celebrating this high-level win for these young ladies and are greeting them with slander and vitriol. The rising star Angel Reece is at the center of the discourse due to her showmanship that was a little too much for fans on the opposing side that were expecting a different outcome to the game! 

@Somecallmesam talks about her history with sports, how she became an avid basketball watcher, gives a spectacular analysis on the game leading up to the championship, and lastly sheds her thoughts on what basketball culture means to her as it pertains to women ballers! 

Call to Action:

Music 

@ImJustJoslyn is back with another episode after a 2-week break for personal care and healing. Her special guest this week is a brilliant, proud, humble, cultured, Dominican American woman that is the first guest whom is part of @ImJustJoslyn's chosen family. We have the pleasure of listening to the fascinating and lovely @ALatinasguidetotennessee as she opens up and takes us through what it's like being and identifying as an Afro-Latina. She talks about the stereotypes, the challenges, but most importantly the beauty of being a Dominican woman in America.

@ALatinasguidetotennessee also has a personal mission of healing communities and has a call of action of her own! She is calling all female/female identifying daughters across the diaspora to be willing to be interviewed by her in a focused conversation centered around Parentification, Involuntary Responsibility, Intergenerational Trauma, and Familial Pressures. Reach out to move the discussion forward, as you may be spotlighted in her upcoming book!

Call to Action

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeHtTBUc44Ww8M6DzCSn2lqlwza352-oZqJxl6SLjmI1zej-g/viewform

2. Explore the pages of books written by or about Black, Dominican/Latinx authors. Book recommendations for this episode are as follows:

3. Take a listen to another podcast hosted by the amazing Angie Martinez, who is Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican. Podcast recommendation:

Music

In this episode @ImJustJoslyn sits down with her first cousin aka twin @HillJ09 to discuss the "racy" photo of Jonathan Majors and Michael B. Jordan that has been circulating the internet for the past couple of weeks. You get a chance to hear @HillJ09's thoughts around the photograph and whether or not he found it sexual or vulnerable. He also talks about his personal relationship with his best friend, and how sometimes holding back tears can be all too much for a strong Black man. Later, you get a chance to hear @HillJ09's definition of what he considers a good Black man to be! 

Plan of Action:

1. Open yourselves up and identify Black/Brown boys or men that you confide in or would like to build a relationship with. If you admire them from afar, if your paths cross everyday or from time-to-time, and even if you currently consider them a friend, try sitting down with them an expressing your love for them. Ask them how they are really doing, and let them know how you are really feeling. Most importantly, tell them if you want to start having more real conversations with them, or even if you want to begin a strong relationship. It can all start from a simple compliment, and then just watch how it makes you feel.

2. Find a book centered around Black/Brown boys/men friendships. The book recommendation for this episode is "Boys Don't Cry" by Malorie Blackman. 

3. Take a listen to another podcast that dissected their thoughts around the Jonathan Majors and Michael B Jordan photograph. Try adding the podcast "HIGHER LEARNING" with hosts Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsey to your cue! 

Music:

1.  Hear Me by NLE Choppa

2. Clique by Big Sean feat. Jay-Z, Kanye West

3. Father Time by Kendrick Lamar

4. Die Hard by Kendrick Lamar

In this episode for 1 hour and 30 minutes, @ImJustJoslyn had the pleasure of finally getting her mother, @RosaHiggins4, to take a break from her busy life, have a seat, and indulge in a conversation around growing through segregation. Please understand it was no easy feat to get @RosaHiggins4 to sit down for this long, because she's always either helping family or friends, cooking for them, or on the phone talking to them, so it was a great treat! 

@ImJustJoslyn took last week's homework and actively found time to discuss with her mother, the challenges, fortitude, and resilience she embodied to be able to grow through that time in her life, and they are hoping that the listeners can sit back and take a ride down memory lane to understand not only how amazing @RosaHiggins4 is, but if they find a little time to do just a little digging, they can uncover how amazing their loved ones are too.

Plan of Action:

1. Connect with your loved ones around music, it could be a song that brings back happy memories, or an event like a family reunion where music was playing, and everyone got up to do their favorite line dance together. Just take time to revisit gleeful moments with those you care about. 

2. Check out a book written by a Black or Brown author. My book recommendation for this episode is called: "BET ON BLACK" by Eboni K. Williams.

3. Try out the socially conscious and entertaining podcast: HIGHER LEARNING with hosts Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay. 

Music:

1. Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel by Tavares

2. It Don't Have to Change by John Legend

3. Family Reunion by Jill Scott

In this episode @ImJustJoslyn and @MsLovelyLea discuss their experiences growing up Black. As they spent their summers in a small town in South Carolina, and the remainder of their time in New Jersey, they talk about how their childhood molded them into the women that they are today. Having to grow through different realizations of their blackness, they stand proud in the lessons and the richness of their culture that was mostly rooted in the south. They uncover learning about the Gullah and Geechee communities in which they were immersed, and now have come to appreciate and take pride in the brilliance and resilience of their ancestors. 

Plan of Action

Music