This week’s episode of UTSB is an entryway into Spring, its complexities, and how it invites change. While appreciating the vibrant blooms, we’re also looking at the turmoil that had to take place in order for Spring to arrive—this equates to change within the body, life changes, and how change impacts personality and identity. 

Walk, sit back, grab a snack. There’s poetry, old memories of Spring, hopes, and even a steer off into faith (and what it means to develop one’s own healthy God concept) that somehow tied into this week’s episode. This stemmed from recently watching the well-known film 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,' starring Racheal McAdams. 

NOTE: This episode of UTSB was filmed three months ago and serves as a chance to reconcile with times in life where things do not go as you imagine, but as it should. At the time, I was reading "Gather Together in My Name" by Maya Angelou, and felt so connected to her relationship to her dreams, and how the happenings in her life had brought her discouragement. I was in awe of the way she described this chunk of her life, and let it be the driving force of this episode. Following, I read an old interview of Josephine Baker recalling her time touring and was inspired by the way she described an intrusive rainstorm as a bath!

Anyone with the gift of dreaming and vision understands how it feels when things transpire in ways out of your control, and this week is all about how Maya Angelou's story inspired me to keep on through discouragement. This process is still in motion today, and the episode speaks for my today in many ways. 

If you have something that you see for yourself, some positive things that feel on the brink, yet so far away, and your reality doesn't reflect it yet, please take a moment to listen to this. It could be a positive experience for you. 

This week's episode is a "cross-over" with my web series, A little for the World, which is a series of virtual conversations between myself and fellow bipoc artists. This week, I got to speak to Shadiyah Jai, a music pedagogy, vocal coach, singer-songwriter, and vocalist of Letters from the Basement, a band based in Georgia that exceeds the containers of genres. 

This hour of moments touches my heart in such a profound way, and is very inspiring to me. I hope you enjoy!

How does age, roles, and diflecting prevent us from connecting to our older relatives on a deeper level? Recently, I re-watched "Seventeen Again" starring Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry-Housley, and I was surprised to have such a sentimental reaction to specific scenes. 

Having not seen the film in years, I remembered it as fun and simply a Disney classic. However, as a more experienced person, watching it now, it was able to reach me in a deeply emotional place, and I really wanted to share the themes I detected in it. Such as: Generational healing, redemption, destiny, and getting the chance to "go back" for something that was always meant to be. It's as timeless as it is set in a time, specifically the early 2000s, and the theme of generational healing plus the element of jazz was a chef's kiss to my heart. Let's get into it. (This is NOT Spoiler free). 

This week's poem is called Where There's Faith, written by Darrell, with the intention to self-soothe. I hope it can be a resting place, a reminder, or a conduit for you. Maya Angelou used to say that listening to the quiet is very important, and I take her words to heart, especially in today's noise. Let's breathe.

This week, I've had the pleasure to sit down with my friend, Jessica Hariprasad (She/her), an incredible visual artist, teacher, reader, and lover of the arts, to discuss our times spent with a really special book. Sit with us as we dive into our experiences reading "Into The light" by Mark Oshiro (This is NOT a spoiler free experience!), and reflect on the central theme of queerness and identity throughout this beautifully told story, and what it means to the both of us as individuals. 

Mark Oshiro (they/them) is an award winning Atlanta based author who's creations include a span of heart-touching books like: "Anger is A Gift," "Each of Us A Desert," "The Sun and the Star: A Nico Di Angelo Adventure," and more.

This week, I'm exploring/recalling my times spent with five special books that have served as "lanterns" in my life so far this year; Feelings by Manjit Thapp, Speak by Tunde Oyeneyin, Finding Me by Viola Davis, I Did a New Thing by Tabitha Brown, & You Matter-a poetry book by Instagram writer Dhiman. These books have held me and encouraged me to stretch from feelings, and toward being my bridge. As I revisit what these reads mean to me, I recall the synchronicities, revelations, and nuggets I experienced during each time. They've supported me during a huge period of inner exploration. Maybe one of these books can do the same for you along your journey! <3 

What do we do when the world feels like a heavy weight, larger than life, and intrusive? Where do we go to hear our thoughts? Where do we go to quiet them? If you are in a season of your life that feels hard, lonely, or you can feel change tugging at your chest by an invisible string, so is Darrell (all of these things). There is an album titled  "Love Walks Through Rain" by pianist Ann Sweeten and it sounds like it is about resilience. You are love, even as you may be walking through rain. Let's talk about this, and hear some tender, affirming poetry to brighten our paths.

Have you ever felt like you've been put in a box, put yourself in boxes to be understood, or find yourself constantly trying to dismantle other people's ideas of you? If so, sit down with Darrell as he expresses his journey, so far, in not only stepping out of the box, but doing the work to STAY OUT of the box. After all, this is a podcast about identity. Let's also get into the archival of queer identities in black families, and other environments, and what recovering from feeling othered may be like.