The Celebration

This week’s guest on T.H.E Celebration is Isoke Luqman, founder and CEO of Gardens For Life. Her company is an Atlanta based organic, pesticide-free vegetable garden service that aims to create equitable and sustainable food networks in the city.

Isoke is a Racial Equity Fellow of Partnership for Southern Equity, a non-profit that advances racial equity and shared prosperity for all in the American South. The depth of the work she’s done allowed us to dive into discussions on environmental justice and the nuances involved with gentrification and environmental racism. We also talked about religion, race and the ways Gardens for Life has powerfully been using equity to create a more just society.

Isoke is a Geoscience graduate from Georgia State University, and her passion about the unique relationships people have with their environments really shines through.

You can follow Isoke on Instagram.

Check it out!

This week’s guest is our Expression Session feature - poet, actor and womanist Jessica Raquel.

Jessica is a proud 2018 Florida A & M (FAMU) graduate. She is passionate about genuinely telling the narratives of Black Women through acting and poetry and has performed in venues across the world - most recently at Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

During our time together Jessica shared about womanism, her wonderful experiences at her HBCU, the groundbreaking work they did in Edinburgh, and having courage and purpose with the work we create.

Jessica also performed 3 inspiring poems during our interview - they will especially appeal to our lyricist followers.

And we’re excited to hear even more from her when she features at Sunday’s Expression Session.

Her new album “Sample” is available on soundcloud

You can also follow Jessica on Instagram.

Our guest this week is trailblazer and representation activist Michón Neal. In Michón’s own words ze is “ an autistic BlaQueer impossible alien Othergender Dragon what tattoos trees with the queerest most sinister ink and hurts all over, all the time.”

Michón shared on a wide range of personal topics with me; we talked about hir projects in the Metanoiac portal, Cuil Press and the importance of media representation, as well as the imagination and how it ties into trauma.

Michón is a Public Speaker and Accountability Counselor at Postmodern Woman, Sensitivity Editor and Founder at Cuil Press, and Trauma-informed Domme, Builder of Communities of Care and Educator at The Metanoiac Portal.

You can follow Michón via hir website or listen to hir podcast.

In this week’s episode, I interview workplace drama researcher, international leadership speaker and consultant Cy Wakeman. Cy’s philosophy is grounded in reality, and she’s helped organizations and individuals all over the world learn to ditch the drama and turn excuses into results.

We talked about how you can bypass your own ego and really see your privilege. We also discussed going beyond the Kumbaya part of diversity and inclusion, and really getting the heart of the things that matter. I love how Cy brings together deep research and authentic experience to create steps, resources and tools you can use to remove the drama from your life and be an authentic leader.

Perhaps this is why Cy Wakeman was named one of the Top 30 Global Leadership Gurus in the world, and she is also a New York Times best selling author.

On this week’s episode I interview actress, comedienne and my good friend Travina Springer. Travina is hilarious, so we spent most of the interview cracking up. But that didn’t keep us from really exploring our inner lives - in between my learning how to say the word comedienne, we talked about loving yourself, our creator, and Travina's 'love' of being single.

I am a huge fan of the way Travina authentically uses social media to story tell. She shared her insights and reflections on how she is able to show glimpses of her life on social without letting it become overwhelming.

She also shared her origin story of becoming an actress and comedienne.

Travina’s stand up is featured on the reboot of BET's Comic View, while her recent acting roles include Life in Pieces, Unfair & Ugly, and Booty Candy.

If you like your interviews to have both heart and humor, you'll enjoy this episode a lot - check it out.

Dennis Amadeus is a writer, educator, performance artist and community organizer. With his passion to teach and inspire young people, Dennis has travelled across the nation performing and conducting art-based workshops.

Led by his activism, Dennis has also organised community fundraisers and book drives to support many causes, including sending 1000 Books to Swaziland, Africa to build a community library.

In this episode we talked about about feminism, activism and growth, and Dennis told the story of how he connected with his purpose and Faith. Dennis also performed two new poems and the title track from his new poetry album ‘Waiting on the Bus’ - which is out now.

Listen with faith and purpose to Dennis’ latest feature performance in THE Celebration.

You can also follow Dennis on Instagram and Facebook.

Cielo Oscuro aka Kiki from Kiki and the Mxfits is a non binary trans femme based in South Central Los Angeles.

Cielo’s focus on style means that she’s been able to shine a spotlight on QTPOC from different social and economic backgrounds, and created a more inclusive space in mainstream fashion.

Cielo’s short film about being Trans in High School - Kiki and the MXfits - went viral, and re-ignited some much needed conversations about making High School safe for Trans youth.

In this week’s episode, we talk about her own experiences as a Latinx Trans youth, fashion, creativity, representation and the importance of QTPOC being visible in society.

You can follow Cielo on Instagram and also help with their transition here too.

Check it out!

Koi Core is a Woman of Color and a dedicated Yogini, who absolutely believes that representation in Yoga matters

In this week’s episode we have a deep and spiritual conversation about yoga, connectivity, community, misconceptions and being your better self.

Settle into a comfortable position of strength as you enjoy this week’s episode of THE Celebration.

In this week’s episode I interview Brittany Chung, the CEO and Founder of the nonprofit Elevation Society. Elevation Society works to unite humans to solve issues like bullying, depression and suicide, through showing every individual their life is worth living.

During my interview with Brittany I learned that suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for young people between the ages 15-24. I always knew that talking about bullying and suicide was important, but this really emphasized for me the urgency of this conversation. Elevation Society has also helped girls who were saved from sex trafficking, elderly, homeless, children in hospitals, domestic violence victims, orphans, children and adults with special needs, and so many more.

Dive into this important and inspiring conversation with Brittany Chung, for another formidable episode.

In this week’s episode I interview Syrian American author and poet Dania Alkhouli. Dania is also the feature for this Sunday’s Live and Online Expression Session.

Dania’s second book “Oceans and Flames” was published last year and paints moving images of being a survivor of Domestic Abuse. Dania tapped into her resilience and overcame the violence, and now she speaks out on the significance of empowering women and men to break the cycle.

In this episode, Dania shares 3 powerful poems from her book and talks about the Non Profit and traveling exhibition she founded with her mother - ‘A Country Called Syria’. The non profit showcases the history and rich culture of her country, and helps local communities connect with its rich heritage and resilient people.