It’s my birthday today!!! Yay! My blackalicious, melanoid magnificent, 48th earthday! Yes, I did say 48, and yes, I know my melanin is on fleek and I don’t look my age! #mytoyboydaysareover lmao! Ok, ok, laughing aside on a serious note, I’m incredibly grateful for another colossal year of growth, opportunity, and abundance. Whilst i’ve experienced some incredibly painful shifts in my personal life and as I’ve built this business, the experiences have seeded some rich layers of vulnerability and strength which have allowed me to connect with my delicious little plantain (Zuri), and my community at a much deeper level.
I just want to have some fun with ya’ll today, so I’m doing a little personal Q & A which you may find interesting or scroll on past. Either way, it’s my birthday so I’m going to be talking about myself for a change, tee heee. That was my professional cue to start talking about the importance of self love, etc but no. Today, I’m feeling very cheeky so I’m just going to bomb some random questions and answers to amuse myself and entertain you for a few mins. 🙂
I will run from….
Cockroaches! When I was 7, I went to Jamaica with my dad. At my grandmas house, there was an outdoor toilet in the yard. The seat was a plank of wood with a hole cut into it, but as I sat down to do my business, I felt something touching my bottom. When I stood up and looked to see what it was, the inside was crawling with cockroaches. I ran screaming from toilet and from that day, I just can’t..
My funniest parenting moment is…..
On Sunday’s I like to do a Jamaican soul food roast dinner with rice and peas, plaintain, apple crumble etc (yes, I know crumble is British before you message me!). Anyway, this one Sunday I wasn’t feeling well, so the dinner was basic and stripped of the cultural elements with the peas etc. When I served it up, my daughter gave me her disappointed screw face, and proceeded to tell me that the dinner was ‘white’. I’m still cracking up as I’m writing this!
A secret folks don’t know about me is…..
I’m actually an introvert! It’s still a struggle for me at times to be visible and connect with people, but I’m challenging myself daily to take bigger emotional risks. I am currently working on some podcasts and would love to do some public speaking in the future. I’m starting to get asked to do this kind of work a lot more recently so watch this space!
My 15 mins of fame is……
I worked as a professional model for 5 years and loved it! I had the opportunity to travel, do catwalk, magazines and music videos. It was an awesome experience, but what I also learned is that external validation is temporary and self esteem can only be built from the inside. That said, it’s still really cool looking back at my 15 mins. Recognise anyone?
I am most proud of……
My recovery journey hands down. Most of my past relationships were addictive, codependent and very destructive, but as I worked through the layers of shame, denial and rage, I found and rebuilt my broken self. In finding the courage to now practice racial intimacy, not only do I have more self esteem, but I am able to connect with my daughter and others in a way I never thought possible.
I got into this work because…….
As a third generation Jamaican slave descendant (born raised in the UK), I inherited an inter generational pathology of unexpressed, recycled trauma. After I passed my Psychotherapy foundation year, I hit another rock bottom after writing my dissertation which explored the consequences of slavery, attachment and intimacy in my life. Whilst the paper gifted me with a distinction, I was overwhelmed with the reality of how much racial trauma was still destroying my life and those I love. My rage at white supremacy and the pain of feeling powerless is what got me started.
What drives me is…….
Every time I feel like I want to give up, my daughters delicious brown face reminds me of what needs to be done. Seeing her grow, learn and thrive is what drives me. When I crawl through the grief layers of leaving those still committed to acting out their pain, I remember the importance of service, compassion and wisdom. I must pay my sobriety forward to those who want it and stop torturing myself trying to rescue those I think need it. What motivates me, is seeing the benefits of teaching counter racist behavior and practicing racial intimacy. What drives me is seeing my people win!
My shero is……
Dr Francis Cress-Welsing. A third generation physician who devoted her life to understanding the system racism (white supremacy ) through her book The Isis Papers. My work is about honouring her theories and building a safe platform around it for people to understand and process the difficult feelings which accompany living inside this abusive system. I hear alot of people saying that the answer to our liberation is self knowledge through studying our history, many say that it’s economic empowerment. These are valid pieces to the puzzle, but I believe our authentic freedom begins with facing AND feeling the truth of our traumatised history. We must find the courage to process the loss of our blackness, so we can rebuild our self esteem which will in turn nurture our communities at a deep level as a natural consequence.
I am now working on……..
The Isis Papers book study course which will be released in 2017. I can’t wait to share it with you. Register for updates at www.theisispapersbookclub.com
My vision is……
Black people have absorbed so much racial pain over the years, that our very blackness has become the trigger that disconnects us. My vision is to build something that will help us find each again and love fearlessly the way RA intended in the beginning.
Thank you for sharing my birthday and being part of my journey. Please pray for me as grow and continue to live in my purpose. I pray that you will also find the courage to become an active part of the movement for our healing through emotional empowerment, racial sobriety and fearless change to produce justice in our communities.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Till next time, your Sista in truth,
June xx
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