#RootsoftheSpirit Podcast is excited to introduce you to Destiny Mabry!!! Educator, motivational speaker, activist, rapper and comedian actress from #Bronx, #NewYork. She has been featured on #MTV News, #BET, #NationalPublicRadio and #NYCMedia. Destiny is passionate about facing social issues head on. She feels it’s important for everyone, especially the youth, to know they have the #power to be a #catalyst for #change within their communities, and themselves. She currently works as a Community #Educator, facilitating workshops to youth throughout the city. In addition, she performs comedy and rap throughout the TriState. 

 Take a listen to this inspiring conversation in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month - Available now on Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud!

 Check out Destiny on Instagram @ Destiny.Mabry. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

RootsoftheSpirit #applepodcast #newpodcast #soundcloud #identity #race #racism #socialjustice #socialjusticewarrior #littlerocknine #legacy #growth #intergenerational #honesty #truth #passionista #change #changemaker #activist #courageousconversations #authenticity #authenticityhaslongevity #passion #courage #bethechange #keepingitreal #authenticspirit

My very special guest on today’s podcast is my older sister, Morning Star Trickey. When thinking of guests to honor for Women’s History Month, Morning Star came to mind right away. I have looked up to her and admired her since day 1. When I was coming of age and she was entering her 20’s, I worshiped her like no other. Morning Star has been singing as long as I can remember. My little sister, Leila and I would beg to hang out in her room with her friends, listen to music and watch them rehearse. Her voice is magical and stops me in my tracks every time I hear her sing. I remember being mesmerized when I watched her outstanding performance in the musical Hair when I was only 10 years old. She is my favorite singer of all time.

Besides being a charming older sister and gifted singer, Morning Star is a phenomenal women in many other ways. I’m most grateful and proud that she has chosen to share her journey with the Roots of the Spirit community...of growing up experiencing racism, her drive to become a singer and surviving a near fatal car accident which resulted in her becoming an amputee, and subsequently a disability rights advocate. Most notably, Morning Star is the fabulous mother of my beautiful, bright and charismatic nephew, Thelonious.

Morning Star is currently a member of the City Soul Choir, a secular Vancouver community choir led by music director Brian Tate.

Extending immense gratitude to award-winning composer, musician, choir director, and educator, Brian Tate for granting me permission to use his stunning song, Hold On, Don’t Let Go featuring soloist, Morning Star Trickey on the podcast. 

The content and discussion in this podcast will necessarily engage with racism, ableism and experiences of emotional and physical trauma. My intention is to provide a platform from which we can engage bravely, empathetically and thoughtfully with difficult content.

Roots and Love,

Spirit

Roots of the Spirit welcomes 2019 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, Stacey McAdoo and her vivacious 17-year-old daughter, Jamee McAdoo – senior at Central High School and 2019 Miss Heritage’s Outstanding Teen.

This beautiful mother / daughter duo graced the Roots of the Spirit podcast by sharing their respective experiences of being a teacher and student at Little Rock Central High School, in addition to their life’s work and passion as community leaders, activists, artists, and trailblazers.

Take a listen to this inspiring intergenerational conversation in honor of Women’s History Month!

Check out Stacey McAdoo's Blog. 

Roots of the Spirit Podcast welcomes Dr. Todd Allen, Special Assistant to the President & Provost for Diversity Affairs/Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.  

Dr. Allen is the founder of The Common Ground Project, a community based non-profit dedicated to promoting an understanding of the Civil Rights Movement, and over the past 18 years, has led one of the longest operating Civil Rights Movement tours in the nation, “Returning to the Roots of Civil Rights."

**Please note that the N-word is used once in this episode in a historical context**

Reverend Clark Olsen was a white minister who responded to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's call for clergy to travel to Selma, Alabama in 1965 in support of voting rights.

Once in Selma, Olsen joined other ministers who had come to support the cause. As he and colleagues were walking to Brown Chapel, his friend Reverend Jim Reeb was attacked by white supremacists and died 2 days later. Rev. Olsen testified at a trial in which three men were acquitted by an all-white jury.

According to the NY Times, "the killing shocked the nation and helped President Lyndon B. Johnson push forward with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was signed into law that August."

"In his talks and writings about the killing, Mr. Olsen often noted with dismay that it seemed to take the death of a white minister to spur action on the Voting Rights Bill — not the killing of a black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, the month before." NY Times. 

Listen as two of Rev. Olsen's friends, Jeff Steinberg - Executive Director of Sojourn to the Past and Minnijean Brown Trickey, member of the Little Rock Nine talk about his contributions and legacy of the movement. 

Spirit Tawfiq launches Roots of the Spirit podcast by speaking truthfully about her experience as the daughter of Little Rock Nine member, Minnijean Brown Trickey who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Born and raised in Canada, she grew up totally unaware of her mother’s major role in U.S. history. But upon learning became voraciously passionate about uncovering the truth about this tragic and victorious story. Spirit’s journey back to her roots ignited a deep passion for social change and excavated her calling as a changemaker and storyteller.