Just A Thought

Y’all ready to hear your co-host, Leila Ellis-Nelson, Psy.D. (Dr. Ellis-Nelson if you piss her off), talk about her dissertation?! Well if ya ain’t, best get ready. She’s an advocate, activist, scholar, homie from the way back, consultant, license eligible psychologist, and gives 0 fucks about your privileged feelings.

The Effects of Internalized Racism and Family Values on Higher Education Degree Attainment for African Americans was defended and passed in April of 2014, by Dr. Leila Ellis-Nelson. This was an academic showcase focused on the enduring impact of slavery, systemic oppression, microaggressions, and disparate treatment towards the Black community and its impact on how some see themselves as whole cultural beings, and how it impacts their career and educational opportunities as they progress through life. Like our other guests, this is definitely sequel worthy, but be ready to learn, empathize, and be in yo feelings when we drop our latest episode this Sunday at noon!

Dawn Demps, mother, crusader, organizer, speaker, artist and life student, is a Flint, MI native that has been involved with community advocacy since 12 years old. She utilizes her own lived experiences as a young girl from the projects, high school dropout and single mother of three, to connect with students and parents to promote tools for self-advocacy, structural reforms and strives to champion the concerns of these populations.

Dawn developed her own youth initiative called Eyes on the Prize (EOTP) that used the fine arts to reach out to resource denied young people in urban communities to help them reach their full potential academically, emotionally, and creatively. Over 10 years, EOTP served over 2500 at-promise youth. 8 years after dropping out of high school, Dawn entered a community college and continued on to complete her studies at the University of Michigan-Flint as a double major in Africana Studies and Social Sciences. While working towards her undergraduate degree, Dawn noted the profound effect education was having on her life and knew others from her community also needed this access. She started a campus club called The Shariki Group, dedicated to serving as a bridge between academia and the citizens of Flint.

Dawn served as the Executive Director of Leadership Development In Interethnic Relations (LDIR), an organization dedicated to nurturing citizen leaders equipped to navigate the complexities of -isms that separate individuals in an effort to build strong intergroup collaborations. She was Director of Youth, Education and Community Projects for the Urban League of Flint and served nearly 400 youth and families every year through afterschool and summer programs, parent workshops and community advocacy trainings. She was the Executive Director of the Urban Center for Post-Secondary Access and Success (UPASS) which helped students successfully navigate high school and tackle postsecondary challenges and opportunities.

If they gone talk about you it better at least be accurate. Let @valor_love (IG) help you understand the importance of telling your OWN story, reclaim YOUR history, and encourage you to keep yo foot on they necks at all times when it comes to putting some respek on the history of OUR people. #JustAThought

@leilaellisnelsonpsyd @chukwu__1906 @justathought_el

Check out her work while you’re at it:

www.valenciaclement.com

Poetry collections are available on the site at the following link:

https://valenciaclement.com/poetry/books-by-valencia/

Pale. Pa Ale: Speak. Don't Leave https://www.amazon.com/Pale-Pa-Ale-Speak-Leave-ebook/dp/B07M66DJBZ/ref=pd_sim_351_2/133-8151446-3728660?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07M66DJBZ&pd_rd_r=ea5f107d-1937-48f0-8105-68cf64f6a9df&pd_rd_w=3tUHL&pd_rd_wg=XcCgW&pf_rd_p=9fec2710-b93d-4b3e-b3ca-e55dc1c5909a&pf_rd_r=ZYKVVJK3ZZZMNXAHJ7VZ&psc=1&refRID=ZYKVVJK3ZZZMNXAHJ7VZ

Sonje: Take your medicine. Tell your truth.: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WVTBB5D/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1

Atansyon: The Colonizers Have Brown Skin" https://www.amazon.com/Atansyon-Colonizers-Have-Brown-Skin/dp/B0851M4DFR/ref=sr_1_1dchild=1&keywords=atansyon&qid=1587234438&sr=8-1

Beginning in 2016, and centuries before, there has always been a question of ‘who is American’? In a place where the idea of being patriotic is inextricably linked with being While, what space is there for patriotic African-Americans? Is being a patriotic Black person an oxymoron and is it harmful? About our guest - Marquez Wilson, MA (they/them) is a doctoral candidate at Adler University (Chicago) and currently working at the University of Nevada, Reno. They were born in the Great State of Louisiana. They’re research interests are focused on patriotism, African-American well-being, and the decolonization of queer desire. In the future, Marquez hopes to becomes a diversity and inclusion office for a larger university.

Here’s a little info about our guest and her work: Kamryn Morris is a second year doctoral student in the Family and Human Development PhD Program at Arizona State. Kamryn is from Los Angeles, California and received her undergraduate degree from San Diego State University as a Presidential Scholar. Kamryn’s research interests focus on the radicalized experiences of Black youth. Specifically, her research examines protective factors related to the school context that promote resilience despite youths’ experiences with racial discrimination stress and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Kamryn is a Diversity and Inclusion Science Fellow committed to research and community engaged work that investigates how to best serve underrepresented and minoritized youth.

Look, the whole, “What happens in this house, stays in this house!,” mentality is LITERALLY killing us. This episode, we’ll unpack the impact of domestic abuse and violence within Black relationships, the impact it has on the community as a whole, and what we as a people can do to cut that shit out. Learn about healthier ways to process, the reality of the safety implications for folks in this unfortunate circumstance, and how to give yourself permission to treat yourself with kindness as you find peace in understanding. Here’s a little about our special guest, Shavonne Fuller, MA: Shavonne R. Fuller is a student at Adler University in Chicago, IL (her home town) pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology. Shavonne has clinical experience in community mental health but has a passion for working with students within college counseling settings. Currently, Shavonne works at University of Houston at Clearlake as a Contract therapist where she provides individual and group counseling, case management, and crisis services. Shavonne’s clinical and personal interest are exploring messages that have contributed to the perpetuation of domestic violence within the black women population. Her goal is to help develop more culturally appropriate interventions and programming to help eradicate this phenomenon tackling legislation, policy, and community barriers.

Sit a little, and learn about how ecology impacts the Black community from the dopeness that is Sarra Tekola. Sarra is a PhD Student getting her doctorate in Sustainability from the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. Sarra is also a climate and racial justice activist. She is the cofounder of Women of Color Speak Out, a group that works to help the environmental movement become more accessible to people of color. Her activism has been featured in Democracy Now, CNN, Rolling Stone and was named by Outside Magazine as one of the “30 under 30” in 2016.