The Freed Black Girl Podcast

Lessons from Liberation; Compassion & Self- Parenting

Lessons from Liberation | Compassionate Self-ParentingThe Freed Black Girl Podcast
Lessons from Liberation is a mini-episode series on what I’ve learned about what comes after freedom.
In this episode, I reflect on compassion as a practice of self-parenting — especially for those of us who learned early that love was conditional, tied to performance, achievement, or being “easy” to love.
Building on last week’s conversation about taking off the mask and welcoming our gifts, this episode explores what can arise after that moment of awakening: shame, urgency, pressure to be healed, and the belief that we must be perfect to be worthy of what’s next.
I share a personal story and visualization that helped me realize I had been rushing ahead in my healing, dragging my inner child along, instead of slowing down and holding her with care.
This episode is about choosing compassion over shame, devotion over discipline, and presence over perfection.
In this episode, I explore:
What compassionate self-parenting actually looks like
How shame disguises itself as “self-improvement”
Why numbing behaviors are often signals, not failures
The difference between healing with pressure vs. healing with care
How compassion can unlock creativity, safety, and forward movement
Journal with me:
How was compassion modeled for you growing up?
How do you speak to yourself when things get messy?
What does a compassionate mother or father feel like to you?
Where are you still waiting to be perfect before you allow yourself to receive?
How might your life change if compassion — not shame — led the way?
✨ New episodes of Lessons from Liberation drop weekly.
Leave a comment, like & subscribe, and leave a 5-star review wherever you listen.Visit www.freedblackgirl.com to learn more about Liberation Coaching, production services, the podcast, and the shop.
 

Lessons from Liberation; Gifts on, Masks off. The Integration.

Lessons from Liberation | Episode: The Integration — Gifts On, Masks OffThe Freed Black Girl Podcast
Lessons from Liberation is a mini episode series on what I’ve learned about what comes after freedom.
Leave a comment, like & subscribe. Leave a 5 star review everywhere you get your podcasts. Visit: www.freedblackgirl.com for more about my Liberation Coaching, production services, the podcast merch store, and more.
In this episode of Lessons from Liberation, I reflect on what it means to stop fragmenting ourselves to survive and begin living as our whole selves. Drawing from my blog post on The Freedom Pages, I explore the idea of “integration” — releasing the masks we’ve worn for safety, approval, and belonging, and choosing instead to exist as all of who we are at once.
This episode is centered on self-trust and wholeness: understanding the difference between masks and boundaries, honoring our intuitive and ancestral gifts, and learning how to move forward without leaving parts of ourselves behind.
Drawing from reflection and ancestral memory, I share:
• Why wearing different masks for different spaces keeps us from evolving whole• The difference between boundaries and hiding• How survival shaped the versions of ourselves we learned to be• Why integration is both liberating and scary• How our spiritual and creative gifts are part of our purpose• What it means to be seen without abandoning yourself
This episode also includes reflection questions for you—especially if you’re in a season of shedding old identities and learning how to trust who you really are.
Journal with me:
• What parts of yourself have you kept on the shelf to feel safe or accepted?• Where in your life are you ready to stop splitting yourself in pieces?• What gifts are you done hiding or running from?• How do you know when you are setting a boundary versus wearing a mask?• What would it look like to move forward as your whole self?
✨ New episodes of Lessons from Liberation drop weekly.

Lessons from Liberation; The Game of Life

Lessons from Liberation | Episode 3: The Game of LifeThe Freed Black Girl Podcast
Lessons from Liberation is a mini episode series on what I’ve learned about what comes after freedom.
Leave a comment, like & subscribe. Leave a 5 star review everywhere you get your podcasts. Visit: www.freedblackgirl.com for more about my Liberation Coaching, production services, the podcast merch store, and more.
In this episode of Lessons from Liberation, I reflect on what happens after the leap—when you’re in a new space, feeling unsure, and looking for a map that doesn’t exist. Drawing from my blog post The Game of Life on The Freedom Pages, I explore what it means to realize the answer was never meant to come from a map.
This episode is centered on trust and movement: getting out of the menu and into the game, remembering that our ancestors already walked this terrain and left wisdom for us to use now.
Drawing from reflection and ancestral memory, I share:
Why the path only appears as you move
How fear keeps us frozen instead of playing
What it means to be guided instead of directed
Why our ancestors want to be in relationship with us
How their courage still teaches us how to live, love, and choose
This episode also includes reflection questions for you—whether you’re feeling isolated in a new chapter or standing at the edge of something unknown.
Journal with me:
What examples do you have in your lineage of your ancestors’ courage and bravery?
If you don’t know those stories, who can you ask?
What would you try if you knew you couldn’t fail?
How do you define failure? Is it failure if you learn and move forward?
What permission are you waiting on to begin your new journey?
Where do you feel fear in your body when you think about the unknown?
✨ New episodes of Lessons from Liberation drop weekly.
 
 
 

Lessons from Liberation: Quantum Leaping

Lessons from Liberation | Episode 2: Quantum LeapingThe Freed Black Girl Podcast
Lessons from Liberation is a mini episode series on what I’ve learned about what comes after freedom.
Leave a comment, like & subscribe. Leave a 5 star review everywhere you get your podcasts. Visit: www.freedblackgirl.com for more about my Liberation Coaching, production services, the podcast merch store, and more.
In this second episode of Lessons from Liberation, I reflect on what comes after surrender—when the path disappears and you’re asked to leap anyway. Drawing inspiration from the show Quantum Leap, I explore what it means to wake up in a new timeline while still remembering your old life.
This episode is centered on release and trust: letting go of old identities, survival strategies, and scripts that no longer fit so you can fully enter what’s next.
Drawing from a blog post I wrote in real time last year on The Freedom Pages, I share:
What it feels like to leap without a map
Why freedom requires releasing who you used to be
How we often wait for others to tell us who we are
What it means to trust yourself, Spirit, and the unknown
Why you’ve likely leapt before—and can do it again
This episode also includes reflection questions for you—whether you’re standing at the edge of a new beginning or already mid-leap.
Journal with me:
When have you leapt before, even when you were afraid?
What old identity or attachment is it time to release?
What comfort is that attachment providing?
What would it look like to choose evolution instead of repeating the same cycle?
What is the best that could happen if you let go and fly?
✨ New episodes of Lessons from Liberation drop weekly.

Lessons from Liberation; The Surrender

Lessons from Liberation | Episode 1: The SurrenderThe Freed Black Girl Podcast
Lessons from Liberation is a mini episode series on what I’ve learned about what comes after freedom.
Leave a comment, like & subscribe. Leave a 5 star review everywhere you get your podcasts. And share with someone you think would benefit. 
Visit: www.freedblackgirl.com for more about my Liberation Coaching, production services, the podcast merch store, and more.
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.

Remember Our Teachers™; MLK & the Dream of a Revolutionary

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

Ep.12 Freed Joy; The world didn't give it, the world can't take it away!

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 BestThing: 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

Ep. 11 Freed Vote; Protecting our rights & fighting misinformation

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.orgElection 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

Ep. 10 Freed Identity; Who Do You Love? Are You For Sure?

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/

Ep. 9 Freed Power; Origins of a Radical Black Girl

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.