Nurah Speaks

It is natural to seek acceptance from one’s peers and social group.  This is a normal part of life that even very independent people need. 

Interpersonal activities and relationships were the means of achieving external validation before the advent of social media.  Now, in this social media/virtual world, the pursuit for external validation has hit overdrive. 

But do clicks, follows and likes from individuals actually alien to us have any real meaning?  Have we abandoned interpersonal for the virtual?

If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website:  NurahSpeaks.com.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

I had the recent privilege to participate in a mental health forum facilitated by young community leaders.  I wanted to continue that conversation here because it is simply impossible to say everything in a limited timeframe when sharing the stage with other fascinating speakers.

I find that most discussions on mental health focus on how to improve mental health, ways to heal, ways to cope and manage.  However what I see often ignored is what contributes to the erosion of our mental health.  And frankly, I observe normalized aspects of our own culture degrading the mental wellness of our people.

If we take a careful inspection of our media, our families and our education, we find aspects of each that create anxiety, grief, fear, alienation and insecurity.  Couple this with the availability of degenerate food, drugs, alcohol and toxicity in our air and water, we must accept that there is more than a person’s singular traumatic experience that impact the mental welfare of our communities.  

The saying goes, ‘That an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  We should apply this idiom to our mental health.  So let us identify the causes of mental strain as we promote healing.  In a future episode I will talk about some of the preventative measures we can take to support our mental health.

If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website:  NurahSpeaks.com.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Nurah Speaks is a podcast in service to the Black Community.  The aim of the show is to remind and inform our folks of the value that we have to ourselves and the world. However without this knowledge of self, knowledge of our capability and knowledge of our responsibility, we surrender our obligations to others to serve our needs and repair the damage done to our people.

Nurah Speaks is in service to the Black Community and if one listens you will find a message here unlike that which mainstream broadcasters convey to their listeners.  There is no apology offered for the message nor for the show’s objective, to resurrect the consciousness of our people.  For we, the descendants of American slavery, are a very special people, with specific needs and warranting a specific message. Nurah Speaks podcast will continue in service to and addressing these distinct needs.  

If you would like to watch a video of the podcast, visit my Youtube page.

If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website:  NurahSpeaks.com.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Child predators wear many faces.  They are not only the creepy neighbor or leering street vulture.  They are also the respected leader, esteemed clergy, youth group leader and praised honors student.  So - since we cannot rule anyone out, we must employ appropriate safeguards, limit others access with them and be especially communicative with our young folk. 

This means telling them about appropriate and non-appropriate conversations, behaviors, touching and proximity. It involves, letting them know that they have permission to disobey in circumstances they feel are uncomfortable. It also includes teaching them not just about 'stranger danger' but also of the potential for hazardous acquaintances and being offered foods or beverages that can be laced.

And just as important, we must assure them that we love them and accept them and that they can tell us anything, even the things that are hard to hear and even harder to say. It may also prove beneficial to advise them, that even if they are afraid to come to us, that they can find an ambassador they trust to divulge their confidences who can give them support and speak on their behalf.

It is a must we do this for the preservation of our children’s peace and personal sovereignty.  

If you enjoy Nurah Speaks, please share the podcast with friends, family, and colleagues. Every time you share, you help the show’s growth.

If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website:  NurahSpeaks.com.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

The experience of Black descendants of American slavery is far more American History than African American History.  Though Black Americans have impacted and been impacted by this nation, we have never set the course of this country.  That has always been the responsibility and right solely of White Americans.  

It is in fact American History, rather than African American History, that our fore-parents were purchased, traded and used like merchandise.  This is as much African American history as it is the mule’s history when it was rigged up to plow the farmer’s field.  Both our fore-parents and the mule were mere objects used for the desires of the master in the development of this great nation.  In other words, the achievement of the slave is truly the achievement of his master.

Therefore, what proponents of African American History or AAAP (African American Advanced Placement) curriculum want established in schools is simply American History.    The lessons about the resilience and determination of African Americans in their pursuit of civil rights, justice, and equality IS ALSO the lesson about the opposition by Whites (those with and without power) to civil rights, justice and equality.  Relegating this as African American History often provides a one-sided narration as if it is only relevant to Black students.  

Just as Black students learn aspects of this nation’s history that did not directly involve African Americans, the efforts by Blacks to achieve equity in fact does includes Whites as it was their active resistance, systems and laws created and maintained by them that Civil Rights leaders contested.  As such, this history should be in the broad lessons of American History.

If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website:  NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Modern urban music is peppered with hate speech but not the hate speech you think I’m referring to.

“Kill kill kill, pill, pill, pill, money for sex, sex for money, money over love, money over love!”  

Music for urban listeners can be summed as explicit content containing harmful language promoting violence, drug use, and the objectification of individuals.  Industry experts understand that music has the ability to influence attitudes and behaviors. One should question why lyrical content expousing drug and alcohol abuse, self hatred and violence is produced en masse for the urban listener. 

If you enjoy Nurah Speaks, please share it with friends, family, and colleagues who could benefit from our content. Every time you share, you help the show’s growth.

If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website:  NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Nurah Speaks is BACK from an extended hiatus and it is so great to be back in action.  Accept my sincere gratitude to the loyal listeners who patiently waited for the show’s return. Your support means the world.

During the break, I reflected on what changes were necessary for the show’s ongoing success and how this new chapter can benefit the show’s listeners.  In this episode, which is the 200th episode of the show (WOW) I share what listeners can expect from the podcast moving forward. 

Your input matter to this show. If you have specific topics or questions you'd like addressed, please reach out on social media or send me an email.  

If you enjoy Nurah Speaks, please share it with friends, family, and colleagues who could benefit from our content. Every time you share, you help the show’s growth.

If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website:  NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

‘Pink In Da Hood’ is the passion project of Evita Ali, breast cancer surviver and thriver. In this great conversation, Evita opens up about her own experiences with the diagnosis, the ensuing conversations and the subsequent decisions that all patients must confront.

She discusses medical self advocacy as the patient and as a caregiver, the importance of knowing our family medical history and the cultural habits that interfere with this. We also discuss the challenges family and friends have in relating to cancer patients and conversations that most patients simply do not want to have.

Evita is transparent, charismatic and assertive and one could presume that these traits aided her recovery. She was fortunate to have great support throughout her diagnosis and recovery and she founded ‘Pink In Da Hood’ to support other women who are experiencing the same.  This October 1st she is hosting the 3rd Annual Pink In Da Hood Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness.  On Facebook visit @PinkInDaHood or email Evita for more information: [email protected].

Join me in supporting this great effort with these easy ways to Donate: Cashapp $Buttons3  Zelle: [email protected].

Evita is also a member of CROE, Coalition for Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad.  You can follow CROE on Facebook @Croetv.  To purchase the books she discusses, 'How To Eat To Live Book I' and 'How To Eat To Live Book II' visit: https://muhammadmen.com/product-category/books/.

If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Many of us have experienced the feeling of 'being stuck' - and this can relate to so many things in our lives including:

Writing an Paper

Starting a Book

Getting Out of Debt

Organizing Our Homes

Getting Fit

We may have the goal in mind but there is a wide gap between the idea and the outcome and that gap can be filled with positivity such as: strategic effort, activity, study, confidence, optimism.  Or that gap can be filled with negativity: worry, procrastination, doubt, anxiety and distractions.

So what do we do when we get stuck? In this episode I share several strategies to get unstuck and get productive!

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“I think America is doing a lot of good for you and I and then I think doing a lot of harm. They take and give to you soup if you do not have work; they give to you bread if they don’t have work for you. They know you are lazy. They know you don’t think for yourself. They know you depend on them to think for you. So since you are so in love with them and trust and have so much confidence and trust in them they give you a little soup until they can give you a little work. But I say that is not yet good. They should teach you to be yourself. They should teach you how to get on the road to self and become an independent nation like all the other nations.”

Food for thought with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

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If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Real ‘Juvenile Justice’ is having a culture that promotes stability and wellness for our most vulnerable population, our children. The injustice is that the modern norms of our culture promote dysfunction that we expect social workers, clinicians, judges and juvenile justice staff to repair.

Studies show that most children within the juvenile justice systems have experienced adversity in their childhood as evidenced by ACEs (Adverse Childhood experiences) surveys. Adverse Childhood experiences are preventable. But unless we promote stability and safety to the families in our communities we will keep relinquishing our children to the care of the state to fix what could have been prevented by advocating for strong families.

If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to [email protected].  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.

Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email [email protected].

Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!