Writing Black Joy

Karen Walrond - Rebelling through joy

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My guest today is Karen Walrond - and here is a bit more about her.

Karen Walrond is the author of Radiant Rebellion and The Lightmakers Manifesto.

She is a public speaker, lawyer, leadership coach. and activist. Karen and her work have been featured on Brené Brown's Unlocking Us podcast. PBS, Huffington Post, CNN.com, and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Karen holds a Bachelor of Science In civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center, remaining an active member of the State Bar of Texas. All of these skills, combined with her passion for empowering others toward self- determination and leadership helped her become one of 2016's 40 Over 40 Women to Watch, as well as one of YWCA-Houston's 2016 Outstanding Women of the Year.


She is also a sister from the Caribbean, fellow mango lover and sooooooo much more!


Karen and I focus in on the joy part of Writing Black Joy and we had so much fun discussing:

  • Why she chooses the lens of joy for her writing, and also what she thinks Joy is.
  • Understanding that while your anger can be a spark for change, you can still fuel this actual change through joy.
  • How growing up in the Caribbean and her heritage has shaped her view of the world - and the gift of being from a small island
  • Rituals and places of commonality and connection that we have found in the places we have lived and traveled
  • How she cultivates Joy through gratitude - and specifically daily gratitudes
  • What she does with her own anger and how she honors it - and on a whole balancing anger with the actions that we take - particularly in the realm of activism
  • Her spiritual practice and how it has changed over the years.


    • She even gave us a sneak peek about the book she is currently working on.

    You can find Karen at https://www.chookooloonks.com/

    You can follow her over on instagram https://www.instagram.com/heychookooloonks/

    And she is over on substack as well! https://chookooloonks.substack.com

    And you can follow the Writing Black Joy podcast:

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

    Substack: https://writingblackjoy.substack.com/


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    Writing Black JoyBy Safiya Robinson