Let's Talk Bruh

Without a doubt this is the most personal LTB episode yet. And you could say this episode took 33 years to make. I could never say my dad and I had a bad or unhealthy relationship, however I always knew I wanted to be closer, always desired something deeper. But I wasn't sure how to go about it and wasn't sure if he wanted the same thing. Years of therapy, years of conversations, years of tears, years of (released) resentment have led to this moment.    Coming back home in 2020, I was eager to work on the relationships with my parents. When met with some (intergenerational) roadblocks, I realized that what I was trying to work through was built on foundations of trauma passed down from parents, grandparents, great grandparents, well you get it. When speaking with my dad, I realized that he and I share many of the same fears, anxieties, thought patterns, behaviors and that my story mirrors his in many ways.  My frustrations with him are similar to what he experienced with his own parents. A lack of communication, lack of guidance at times, lack of emotional closeness. For so long I can recall feeling empty when it came to the relationships with my parents. I don't feel that way anymore.    Seeing my dad as a man, trying to figure out his own life, and not just as a dad eased some of the resentment I felt and created the opening for empathy and understanding. Seeing him own his healing journey and being willing to listen to me and have some of those difficult yet necessary conversations healed parts of my inner child that were perhaps unseen or unheard for so long.    So here it is. Sharing a piece of our journey with yall. Documenting this moment in time for the two of us and for whoever comes next.   The Long Way Home. A return to ourselves.    Thank you for listening.

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Watch Episodes 1-3 of the Final Season on YouTube:

• Ending the Gender Wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsgrbm3BkqI
• We Outside - Black Men in Nature: https://youtu.be/ymyvVyNtRdQ?si=XWxdmXp8n66RCkPb
• Healing Across Generations at Lee's Barbershop - The Shape Up w/ Starting with Today: https://youtu.be/RPMDLOBLGog?si=1rMulcHcdz2oKWG6

 

 

 

 

Watch the first two episodes from the final season on YouTube: We Outside - Black Men in Nature | Let's Talk Bruh Healing Across Generations at Lee's Barbershop -The Shape Up- Let's Talk Bruh x Starting With Today

 

 

Yep, it's time yall. Let's Talk Bruh (the podcast) is ending. Been a hell of a ride and it's time to say goodbye....

Join us at Lee's Barbershop for the Shape Up, in collaboration with Starting With Today, this Saturday July 22nd at 11AM EST: https://bit.ly/3QiaNGP

 

Instagram Live on 9/25/22

LTB is back with the help from a couple of our good friends Bemo Brown, Nalo Zidan and Quay Weston.

We discuss Jay-Z's recent comments about words like "capitalist" being made up, full quote below:

In response to a question from Rob Markman about his verse, Hov said, "We not falling for that tricknology, whatever the public puts out there now. Before it was the american dream, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, you can make it in america. All these lies that america told us our whole life and then when we start getting it they try to lock us out of it. They start inventing words like capitalist and things like that. We've been called nigger and monkey. So those words yall come up with, yall gotta come with stronger words."

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Watch The State of Black Masculinity Pt. 2 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ue16pZoVeTs It's been a minute since we hit yall with the State of Black Masculinity Pt. 1. 2 years ago to be exact. In many ways it's a completely different world. As we enter year 3 of the pandemic, our lives, to varying degrees, have been flipped turned upside down. But in some ways, Black masculinity and the livelihoods of Black folks have remained unchanged.    In today's episode we talk about living through the pandemic, the impact of white supremacy and state violence on us and we discuss a few names you may or may not have heard about from Boosie, to Dave Chappelle to Kevin Samuels.    We close the show talking about what divesting from patriarchy looks like for us. We've all been indoctrinated into a system of patriarchy and toxic masculinity, but what does it look like to imagine alternatives for Black men? What does that work of unlearning harmful behaviors and replacing them with new ones look like? What lies on the other side of patriarchy for Black men?  

Subscribe to the Let's Talk Bruh YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsa2wXlKMWlpAER8v16zXZw

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Join our Men's Facebook Group here: Let's Talk Bruh Facebook Group

Watch Black Men Talking About Mental Health on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obTLAA1B6w4

Fellas, are you happy? Are you good? You sure bruh?

No foreal, let’s sit with this for a minute. Patriarchy at an early age forces us to lie. Lie to others of course, but the first lie we tell is to ourselves. We say we’re good when we’re not. We suppress our feelings and emotions. We minimize both our pain and our joy and find it difficult to name our feelings when they even come up. Point blank, patriarchy teaches us to deny our own humanity and suffer in silence because that’s” just what it means to be a man” and “that’s what men do”

But what if we could reclaim our feelings, emotions and the fullness of our humanity? What if instead of "boys don’t cry" we told each other “you are enough just the way you are” or "your emotions and feelings are valid bro." In this episode we take a look at how patriarchy and toxic masculinity has impacted our mental health.

We talk about why Black men have a suicide rate 3 times higher than other demographic groups. We also discuss how we can heal the wounds from patriarchy and reclaim our humanity.

Subscribe to the Let's Talk Bruh YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsa2wXlKMWlpAER8v16zXZw

Follow Let's Talk Bruh on Twitter & Instagram

Join our Men's Facebook Group here: Let's Talk Bruh Facebook Group

Watch Black Men Talking About Love on YouTube

Part 1 - Brotherhood Between Straight & Queer Black Men https://youtu.be/xj4P5mFGQdc

What do we mean when we say brotherly love? Who are we including that phrase? Are all Black men included or only some? This episode explores what love can look like between Black men.

We also unpack how homophobia has prevented us from establishing deeper connections with each other as Black men. And for those of us who are straight, what has that unlearning process looked like and how has it shown up with our other straight male friends?

Patriarchy and toxic masculinity require us to do and be several things, but love is rarely part of that equation. So what happens when we make love a requirement for ourselves as Black men and boys?

Part 2 - Are You Good at Being Vulnerable? https://youtu.be/NPuT_t_Nx8U

What does it mean to be vulnerable? Are you good at it? Do you like being vulnerable? For many of us, embracing vulnerability is a foreign concept. It's uncomfortable and frankly at times it can be scary as hell. As men, we've been taught to reject vulnerability. It's looked at as a sign of weakness or softness. But we know that's not true. To be vulnerable is an act of courage. To be vulnerable is also an act of self love. It's an act of self acceptance.

This is Part 2 of our conversation, "Black Men Talking About Love" and we also unpack what love means for us. We share what our self love game looks like. We attempt to define what love is. We live in a world where Black boys and men aren't typically associated with love so we try to envision a world that makes love a requirement for Black men and boys instead of patriarchy.

In the first 20 minutes of today's episode we tackle a few Black Card Revoked Questions along with some questions from the My Therapy Cards for Black men deck.

Subscribe to the Let's Talk Bruh YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsa2wXlKMWlpAER8v16zXZw

Follow Let's Talk Bruh on Twitter & Instagram

Join our Men's Facebook Group here: Let's Talk Bruh Facebook Group

Black men, when was the last time you felt completely free during a sexual experience?

It’s okay if you’ve never felt that way. Patriarchy teaches us to prioritize power, control and performance in sexual experiences which can lead to wack sex at best and harmful consent at worst. 

But when we divest from patriarchy, we can begin to focus on pleasure instead of performance.  Connection instead of control. Vulnerability / intimacy instead of power. Let's get free...

Watch Black Men Talking About Sex on YouTube

Part 1 - Black Men, What Does Sex Mean For You? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIzZYBRYii4

Part 2 - Black Men, Who Taught You About Sex? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQnNYVv1Czc

Part 3 - Black Men, How Do You Connect With Your Body?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKnNNmZtTA8

Part 4 - Dropping October 29th on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsa2wXlKMWlpAER8v16zXZw

Subscribe to the Let's Talk Bruh YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsa2wXlKMWlpAER8v16zXZw

Follow Let's Talk Bruh on Twitter & Instagram

Join our Men's Facebook Group here: Let's Talk Bruh Facebook Group