Her Story Speaks

In part three of this bonus podcast series where we are paying tribute to Black motherhood, I am joined by Marcie Alvis-Walker, Patricia Taylor and Nya Abernathy as they discuss the Black Motherhood in Media. Not only do they share their own experiences growing up and the Black mothers in media that influenced them but also share their passion for having more representation of Black women and girls in media today. They talk about raising daughters under the heavy influence of whiteness all around them and the very real struggle they face as Black mothers keeping their children’s dignity fully intact. Book bans, censorship and teaching our children more accurate history is also discussed.

In this bonus podcast series we are paying tribute to Black Motherhood. For this episode I am joined by historian Lettie Gore, Marcie Alvis-Walker, and Nya Abernathy as they discuss the The Imprint of Black Mothers on our Country. The women discuss everything from our country's Founding Mothers, to Black domestics raising white children, to Black mothers shaping American Politics. (please note, some content may be triggering.)

In this bonus podcast series we are paying tribute to Black motherhood during the month of February in honor of Black History Month. I hand over the mic to a group of  phenomenal Black women as they bring their voices and expertise to talk about all aspects of Black motherhood. In this episode I am joined by historian Lettie Gore, Marcie Alvis-Walker, Cha Barefield, Nya Abernathy, and Dr. Quantrilla Ard as they discuss the History of the Black Womb. Please note that the content of this episode may be triggering for some and the language may not be for young ears. As always the goal with sharing these stories and true history is not to create more trauma but rather to acknowledge the trauma done to Black bodies in this country thus to bring more Black women’s stories out of the darkness and into the light.

In this episode, I sit down for a conversation with my 20 year-old daughter, Grace Kingsley Miller, for one of the most vulnerable conversations I have had to date.  Grace shares her story of struggling with mental illness starting at the age of 14. She shares about some of her childhood trauma that impacted her mental health as battled self harm and depression for many of her teenage years. At the age of 19, Grace was finally diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, and she shares openly about coming to terms with and accepting this difficult diagnosis. We talk about the stigma associated with mental illness and bi-polar disorder especially and the importance of having real conversations about it. Grace also shares her journey of finding effective treatment and help and just how challenging that can be. Finally she shares about her recent experience with ketamine assisted therapy and how promising and effective it has been for her treatment. This episode is for anyone who has struggled with mental health and for family members that love them through it or want to learn to do better in helping them.

Karen González is seeking to see and love her neighbors as God does. She is a speaker, writer, public theologian, and immigrant advocate, who herself immigrated from Guatemala as a child. Karen is a former public school teacher and attended Fuller Theological Seminary, where she studied theology and missiology. For the last 15 years, she has been a non-profit professional, currently working for an organization that serves asylum seekers. She wrote a book about her own immigration story and the many immigrants found in the Bible: The God Who Sees: Immigrants, The Bible, and the Journey to Belong (2019). Her second book Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in Our Christian Response to Immigration seeks to elevate the discourse in the church beyond just hospitality to immigrants. In our conversation we talk about her new book and why the traditional approach to immigration ministries and activism is at best incomplete and at worst harmful. Karen lives in the heart of Baltimore, Maryland, where she enjoys cooking Guatemalan food, traveling, watching baseball, studying the Mayan language Kaqchikel, and writing while her tabby cat Oscar naps beside her.

Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt is an imago dei enthusiast, sacred space maker and paradigm shifter with a passion for liberation. She’s the lead pastor of Peace of Christ Church, a radically loving community in Round Rock, Texas. Named by Sojourners as one of “Ten Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2022”, Aurelia is also the author of A Brown Girl’s Epiphany: Reclaim Your Intuition and Step into Your Power and the co-host of the Nuance Tea Podcast.  In this episode Aurelia shares her story of growing up as a brown girl in mostly white spaces.  She talks about overcoming people pleasing, perfectionism and imposter syndrome on her journey to liberation.

Rev. Kyndall Rae Rothaus (she/her) is an award winnng preacher, spoken word artist, feminist theologian, spiritual director, and preaching coach. She is the author of Thy Queendom Come: Breaking Free from Patriarchy to Save Your Soul (2021) and Preacher Breath (2015). She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Nevertheless She Preached, a national, ecumenical preaching conference designed to elevate the voices of folx on the margins. Kyndall also spent eight years as a Senior Pastor at a Baptist church in Texas, where, among other things, she left a legacy of fighting for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church before leaving institutional church work to start her own business, Kindle Your Soul Fire, working with individuals to heal from religious trauma and re-imagine their spirituality. Kyndall is a queer woman and the single mom of two adopted children who are the biggest joys of her life.  In this conversation Kyndall shares her story of growing up in a conservative Christian home in Oklahoma. Despite being taught to believe that women could not be pastors, she followed her calling and went to seminary to become a pastor.  She shares about her experience in seminary, what led her to create "Nevertheless She Preached" and her passion for helping others who are deconstructing their faith and healing from religious trauma.

Myisha T Hill is a mental health activist, speaker, and entrepreneur passionate about mental wellness and empowerment for all.  Myisha runs the advocacy site Check Your Privilege with over 700K followers on Instagram. Her newest book, “Heal Your Way Forward”, is the book her followers have been waiting for—a marriage of her personal story, antiracist handbook, and an emotional plea for all people to start healing themselves today so we can heal the world of tomorrow.  In this episode Myisha shares her own story with mental illness and how her biggest breakdown led to her greatest breakthrough. We also talk about the value of white tears and grief and coming back to the work after the great white awakening.

Quantrilla Ard, PhD, is a recent transplant to the Atlanta area along with her husband and three littles. A passionate creative at heart, she has answered the call to encourage women in all stages of life and of various backgrounds through empathy, transparency, and love. Quantrilla is a faith-based personal and spiritual development writer, dynamic speaker, and people-connector who believes in the power of collective strength, community, and fellowship. She recently graduated from Walden University with a PhD in Health Psychology and is an advocate for social justice with a focus on Black maternal and infant health and mortality. She currently shepherds stories as a literary agent for Embolden Media Group. In this episode Quantrilla shares her story of her first pregnancy that nearly resulted in tragedy, but instead propelled her journey forward to be an advocate for Black women’s maternal health. She talks about her view on the recent Roe v Wade decision as a Black woman, Christian, and advocate for women’s health. You can find her sharing stories of triumph at www.thephdmamma.com.

Mindy Corporon was the CEO of a successful wealth management firm, when an unimaginable tragedy struck. Mindy’s father and oldest son were murdered by a white-supremacist intent on killing Jewish people.  In a split second, Mindy’s life purpose changed from guiding people financially to helping people find space to learn about their differences and discover commonalities.  With compassion and forgiveness Mindy shares her experience of loss as a daughter and a mother, a wife and co-worker both nationally and internationally. Mindy’s endeavors include writing her memoir, Healing a Shattered Soul (2021), where she takes readers inside her family’s struggle and her commitment to courageous kindness. In addition, along with her family, Mindy started SevenDays® Inc., a foundation dedicated to overcoming hate by promoting kindness and understanding through education and dialogue.