Please, Do Tell

National Day on Writing. Information Overload Day. Domestic Violence Awareness Month. October 20th is holding a lot — and so is this episode.

Ronnika and Jeffrey dig into why writing matters, what it preserves that nothing else can, and who in the Black writing tradition deserves their flowers. They get into Information Overload Day with full acknowledgment of the irony. And they close with the October conversation that needed to happen — domestic violence in Black communities, the silence around it, and the resources that are available right now.

Someone listening to this episode needs the number below. Please share it.

💜 National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 | Text START to 88788
💜 loveisrespect.org — resources for young people experiencing dating violence
💜 UJIMA Inc. (resources for Black women): ujimaboston.com
💜 If you are in immediate danger: call or text 911

✍🏾 Write something today. It’s National Day on Writing. Put something on the page.

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG

We don’t do Columbus Day here. What we do is October 13th — National Face Your Fears Day, Family History Month, Own Business Day, and Pet Peeve Week. All in one episode.

This is the follow-up to two weeks of heavy October conversations. We talked about the stories Black families don’t tell. We talked about seasons changing and walking away from what’s toxic. Now the question is: what are you afraid to face right now? Not existentially. In your actual life. In the 4th quarter of this year.

Name your fear. Know your history. Own your business.

😤 Pet Peeve of the week — DMs are open
📜 Family History Month: what question are you asking before October ends?

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG

October is National Archives Month. And the archive that matters most is not in a government building. It is in the memory of the person sitting across from you at Thanksgiving — the one who changes the subject when you ask certain questions.

This episode is about the stories Black families keep locked away. Family secrets. Mental health struggles that got called something else. Financial shame. Colorism inside the home. Addiction. Generational trauma. Six categories. Six honest conversations. And the question underneath all of them: what are we losing while we wait for the right moment to speak?

This month — find someone who carries a story you haven't heard. Ask them. That is the archive.

🌿 Story Salon — preserving history, creating legacy, engaging community in Benton Harbor, Michigan
[Insert Story Salon website and social handles]

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG

Ninety-three days left in 2026. The 4th quarter is here.

This is the check-in. Not the highlight reel — the honest one. Where are you vs. where you said you'd be? What got done in the first nine months and what is Q4 going to require? And on World Heart Day, with October two days away — what does it actually look like to protect your heart as the year's hardest stretch begins?

The 4th quarter is not about shame. It's about showing up for the last 90 days the way they deserve.

 World Heart Day resources: world-heart-federation.org
 Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins October 1 — Sisters Network Inc. (Black women's breast cancer support): sistersnetworkinc.org

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG

Football is back. The shows are back. And Ronnika and Jeffrey are fully in their TV era.

This episode is the fall premiere celebration — Jeffrey breaks down his NFL season, they walk through what's premiering this fall (Grey's Anatomy S23, Abbott Elementary S6, The Voice S30 and more), give the milestone anniversaries their flowers (Fresh Prince, Martin, Moesha, The Wire, Scandal), and spend real time on the shows that ended and never got replaced.

The TV that raised us. The shows we still miss. The games we still watch. All of it — on the first day of fall.

📺 What show would you bring back tomorrow? DM us
🏈 Super Bowl prediction? Tell Jeffrey — he wants to know

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG

Recorded on the 25th anniversary of September 11th. We took a moment — then we talked about what that day has always taught us about time and seasons and knowing when something is over.

This episode is about the seasons that change in your own life. Knowing when a chapter is finished. Knowing when something is toxic and you are done — not quitting, done. The signs you ignored, the cost of staying, the courage it takes to go, and what's waiting when you finally do.

This one is for everyone who already knows but hasn't said it yet.

🌎 Premiering September 15 — the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month

💜 Resources in show notes for anyone who needs support
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988
Crisis Text Line — Text HOME to 741741
Therapy for Black Girls — therapyforblackgirls.com
Therapy for Black Men — therapyforblackmen.org

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG

Labor Day is behind us. Summer is officially closed. And Episode 126 opens fall the way it deserves — with the no-white-after-Labor-Day storytime that nobody asked for but everybody needed, and a real conversation about what September is asking of two people stepping into year seven with full intention.

The fashion stories are funny. The fall intentions are real. This is Please, Do Tell putting summer away and pulling fall out.

🤍 Did you wear white this Labor Day weekend? Tell us the story — DMs are open
🍂 What is your fall intention? Share it with us and make it real

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG

International Dog Day. The last episode of summer. The close of Black Business Month. All in one episode — and the fur babies opened the show and honestly almost didn't give it back.

Ronnika and Jeffrey talk about their dogs, close out Black Business Month with one final shoutout, and send summer 2026 off the right way — with gratitude, a little nostalgia, and the specific feeling of the last hour of a really good season.

September starts tomorrow. We are ready. Are you?

🐾 Show us your fur baby — post them and tag Please, Do Tell
🖤 Last call: name one Black-owned business before August ends

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG

August 25, 2001. Twenty-five years ago this month, the world lost Aaliyah at 22 years old. This episode honors her — her music, her legacy, and what she meant to a generation that grew up watching her become something rare and then grieve her far too soon.

Alongside the Aaliyah tribute, Ronnika shares where her transition has landed. Something has shifted. And in an episode rooted in the past and in loss, there is also a thread of clarity and what becomes possible when you finally stop long enough to see it.

This is Please, Do Tell sitting in the full weight of a moment. Come ready to feel it.

💜 For everyone who still has One in a Million in rotation — this episode is for you.

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG

August is Black Business Month. And the first full month of year seven of Please, Do Tell opens right here — with the real conversation about what it means to build something as a Black person, in a Black community, for a Black community.

Ronnika tells the Story Salon story from the inside. Jeffrey speaks as someone who has watched Black businesses rise and close his whole life. And together they open it up to the bigger conversation — the Black dollar, the ecosystem, the capital gap, and the businesses that deserve their flowers right now.

This is not a 'buy Black' checklist. It's an honest reckoning with what building actually requires — and what the community owes the people doing it.

🏘️ Support Story Salon — preserving history, creating legacy, engaging community in Benton Harbor, Michigan
thestorysalon.org and @thestorysalon

🖤 Name a Black-owned business that deserves support right now — drop it in the comments

Please, Do Tell — because every story deserves to be heard.

Host: Ronnika W. & Jeffrey B 

Music: Wallflowers by Bad Snacks 

Connect with Ronnika: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ronnikawilliams⁠⁠⁠ 

Connect with Jeffrey: @mrfantasticworld on IG