Lessons from Liberation | Episode 1: The Surrender The Freed Black Girl Podcast

Lessons from Liberation is a mini episode series on what I’ve learned about what comes after freedom.

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In this first episode of Lessons from Liberation, I open a new chapter of The Freed Black Girl Podcast by reflecting on what comes after the stage of healing—when you’ve left the cave, but the world feels loud & unfamiliar.

This episode is centered on surrender: learning how to get still, make space, and listen for what’s trying to reach you. Drawing from a blog post I wrote in real time last year on The Freedom Pages blog, I share:

• What I learned after stepping away from a familiar career

• How stillness unlocked creativity, play, and ancestral memory

• Why freedom requires space

• And how surrender became a practice, not a collapse

This episode also includes reflection questions for you—whether you’re still fighting your way through the cave or emerging into a new world of possibility.

Journal with me:

• What is your relationship with stillness?

• How do you avoid being alone with your own thoughts?

• What might be trying to reach you if you made more space?

✨ New episodes of Lessons from Liberation drop weekly.

What does it mean to truly remember our teachers? On this special bonus episode and season 2 preview, we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his evolving vision for freedom, community, and justice as we reflect on his powerful 1967 speech, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” Through excerpts from his words, we delve into the radical clarity he held in his final years and explore what his lessons mean for us today.

Season 2, coming in March 2025, invites us to reconnect with our teachers—those who came before us, who dared to dream beyond the white patriarchal gaze. Our ancestors dared to imagine a world that transcended oppression, one rooted in love, joy, and community. They persisted against unimaginable violence and grief. How did they sustain themselves? What can we learn from their resilience to guide our path in navigating these current times?

It’s not just about survival—it’s about creating something entirely new. A new way to live. A new way to love. A new way to be free.

www.freedblackgirl.com

You all are in for a treat with this Season 1 Finale. I knew when I started this podcast I wanted to end the season speaking about Joy. When working with my coaching clients to explore their niche in their business, I always start with the question “what brings you joy, that solves a problem/ fills a need for other people, that you’re good at & that they’ll pay you for?

They would be able to come up with 3 out of 4, but the first one got them stuck, the joy. What is joy? Where does it come from? What does it feel like? Why is it scary? I still ask myself these questions as well, beyond my work, but in who I am, and in just being. I'm so grateful to have the author of Black Joy on to dig in!

As a writer and thought-leader, Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts offers those who read her work and hear her speak an authentic experience; an opportunity to explore the intersection of culture, identity, and spirituality at the deepest levels. She is the founder of HeARTspace, a healing community created to serve those who have experienced trauma of any kind through the use of storytelling and the arts.

Tracey has published 25 books including several collaborations with numerous high-profile authors. Calling herself a “literary midwife,” Tracey is a highly sought-after ghostwriter/collaborator whose work includes two New York Times bestselling books by Tabitha Brown, Better Not Bitter by Yusef Salaam, Sideshow by Rickey Smiley, and many others. In 2021, Tracey became one of 20 writers who contributed to the groundbreaking book, You are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience edited by acclaimed researcher, Brene Brown, and founder of the MeToo Movement, Tarana Burke.

In 2022, Tracey's critically-acclaimed book, Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration was published and won the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Instructional and has received rave reviews from celebrities like Kerry Washington and media outlets like Good Morning America, Essence Magazine, and USA Today. Her dynamic journal/ daily devotional, The Black Joy Playbook: 30 Days to Intentionally Reclaiming Your Delight released on October 29, 2024.

#joy #blackjoy #innerchildhealing #collectiveliberation

This Election Bonus episode channels our best School House Rock, and discussing the mechanics of Election Day. From not automatically expecting immediate results and tuning out the noise trying to drive chaos. As well as where to turn if you run into any issues at the polls. Nothing beats anxiety like information!

Double check registration and FAQs: https://www.vote411.org Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE

Marcia Johnson, Esq. is the Chief Counsel for the League of Women Voters. She leads the organization's advocacy and litigation teams. Before joining the League, Marcia worked as the co-director of the Lawyers’ Committee’s Voting Rights Project, where she led the organization’s work convening the nationally recognized Election Protection, a nonpartisan voter protection coalition.

The coalition’s goals include ensuring that voters have any support needed when casting a ballot. Marcia has also done extensive work researching the history of discrimination in voting, advocating for legislation reform to improve access to voting, and advocating for the full restoration of the full protections of the Voting Rights Act.

Marcia’s work throughout her career has profoundly impacted the nation. She played a pivotal role organizing two national commissions that researched the record of discrimination in voting within the United States. Commission findings were a significant part of the record that Congress pointed to when it reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 2006.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy. They empower voters and defend democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation, at the local, state, and national levels.

#vote #informationispower #shirleychisholm #collectiveliberation

Coming out later in life can feel like finding parts of yourself that have been hidden in plain sight. In this episode, we explore the lack of affirming visibility for Queer Black Women especially and its impact on our identity development. Also how our minds and bodies-through somatic responses —keep us safe by not allowing us to see ourselves, even subconsciously. Because belonging is a human need for survival. It's a journey of unlearning, self-acceptance, and finally embracing who we've always been.

One of the biggest things that l've become more deeply aware of since coming out is just how much patriarchy is hurting all of us, especially when it comes to living the fullest expression of authentic ourselves. Most people are extremely repressed when it comes to relationships and sexuality because we are all trying to fit into the same mold, and the very real dangers associated with realizing you are your own blueprint & stepping outside of what is deemed the norm.

Today's guest, Victoria D. Stubbs, LICSW, LCSW-C, RMT, is a therapist, educator, wellness coach, writer, reiki practitioner, psychic medium and the founder of Inner Truth Psychotherapy and Wellness, LLC. Victoria’s practice combines her over 20 years of social work and teaching experience with her intuitive abilities to offer a space for healing and growth to all who seek it.

Her areas of practice include coming out later in life, sexuality & gender identity, anxiety, trauma, relationships, life transitions and stress. She also offers clinical supervision & consultation as well as mediumship sessions. Victoria has co-authored several peer reviewed journal articles, is a contributing writer for QueerPsych.com and is the author of Untangled: A Black Woman’s Journey to Personal, Spiritual and Sexual Freedom.

https://www.innertruthllc.com/

Discussing My early lessons on the power of people, collective liberation, and our upcoming election.

As a kid, I heard stories about my maternal grandmother hosting friends like Dick Gregory and other civil rights leaders in her home when they were in town. Or about how my mother was involved in the Black Panther Party when she was a teen/ young adult in the 60s & 70s. I remember growing up with a poster of Malcom X on the wall by our front door. The image of him looking out the window with a shot gun.

My first protest was at age 11 for a grocery store in a neighborhood that I now know as a food desert. This continued to and through college, and beyond. In this next episode of the podcast I talk about these early lessons of our power to collectively push for a different future. I also discuss reconciling the feelings of my desire for the liberation of ALL people and the potential of our first Black Woman President.

This episode is about embodying the change we seek. Are we ready to receive our dreams or are we asking for things we haven’t demonstrated the capacity to hold? Are you feeling like leaving your old way of living behind and starting out in a new direction? Maybe something you've never seen personally before up close?

We are in a loneliness epidemic. Connections are surface level or non-existent, and in the solitude we often disregard the power of being in community with nature as well.

I'm grateful for @highvibebyonose and @we_bewalkin for the communities they've created here in Washington, DC and expanding. I am even more grateful for the people they are, healers by training & nature, who saw a need along their own healing journey and how they've transferred their skills into this work for our collective good.

Brittney is the co-founder of We BE Walkin’, a Black-led, queer women led initiative dedicated to re-introducing nature's healing powers to Black, Indigenous and other communities of color. With a passion for wellness and a commitment to diversity in outdoor spaces, We BE Walkin’ organizes community walks and nature experiences that foster, community, connection and health.

Esthanette is also the founder of Etta’s Embrace specializing in menstrual equity, community health, and birth preparation. Etta's Embrace provides evidence-based information and resources through written work, workshops, webinars, and individual support.

Onose began sharing High Vibrational events to do in DC as a way of rediscovering herself through fun activities, seeking community and social spaces that resonated with her. Onose is a dynamic content creator with a passion for community building, evoking emotions through storytelling, and cultivating connections. As a mentor, she empowers aspiring creators to achieve success.

Beyond the digital realm, Onose extends her love for community to real life through her "Friends In" series. Born out of the need for community and connection, and curate intentional spaces where individuals can forge meaningful friendships, be deeply understood, and cultivate lifelong connections. Their mission spans across the globe, beginning with Washington, DC.

#communalhealing #collectiveliberation #community #highvibeevents #friendship