She Been Ready! The Podcast

Dr. Wendi is joined by Nadia Lopez and Precious Stroud, two guests of She Been Ready! The Podcast and reviewers of her new book, Black Women at Work: On Refusal and Recovery.  In this LIVE Episode of She Been ReadyI The Podcast the tables are turned and Dr. Wendi is joined by two sister-friends and colleagues who know a thing or two about being Black women at work and whose work centers supporting Black women (and others) to traverse problematic workplace dynamics.  about

Ashanti Branch is a good brother.  We met twice.  Once, as I was seeking support to begin a podcast.  So you all have him to thank for it. And during that time, I learned that he was an alum of the teacher preparation program of the school I was running.  As an educator, he wanted to understand what was happening with the boys in his school. The boys who were super smart, but distant and did not allow his lessons to permeate their bravado. Those boys in working-class and poor communities of the East Bay (Oakland, San Leandro, and San Lorenzo) who attended the schools he taught in.  Ashanti understood that the absorption of constrained (not toxic) masculinity plagued his students. This is what inspired his work with them. Well, to understand a problematic thing, one must also learn its antidote. Tragic masculinity has a kryptonite. It is the divine feminine. And it is from this space that Ashanti and I engage in this conversation. Follow the Ashanti's work with Everforward and get involved in the global #MillionMaskMovement; a movement to help our young people, adults, and community gain a deeper understanding of how much we have in common by inviting people from around the world to participate in an activity of self-reflection and deep connection. Learn more from Ashanti from his TedXMarin Talk, The Mask We All Wear, and the conversations he hosts on his podcast, Taking off the Mask. Follow Ashanti on Instagram @branchspeaks.

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Jamor Gaffney and Nia Martin-Robinson of For the Culture.  Jamor and Nia are culture shifters. Along with their colleague, Sabrina Lakhani, they work with individuals and organizations to make changes in their organizational cultures that are for the culture. The DEI space has gotten quite crowded. In this episode, we delve into this work from the perspective of two impressive practitioners whose positionality as Black women shape their leadership in this space. Our Guests. Jamor Gaffney is an experienced consultant and organizational strategist with deep expertise advancing equity in K-12 education and the nonprofit industry. For over 10 years, she has turned her passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into programs and events that seed transformation. She serves as an educational consultant designing K-12 curricula covering film, TV shows, and other cultural works. Nia E. Martin-Robinson, is a queer, femme, Black woman, born and raised in Detroit. Her values and approach to anti-racist equity work are rooted in Black Feminist theory and a deep desire to be in service to all Black people, particularly women, girls, and femmes. Throughout her almost 20-year career as a facilitator, trainer, and convener, Nia has shown an unwavering dedication and commitment to challenging racism and inequities in mainstream social movements and large non-profit organizations, such as the Sierra Club and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Learn more about the work of For the Culture at their website and follow them on Instagram @shiftyourculture and their Beyond: Conversations Series in which they encourage a deeper dive into traditional observances.

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Shri Deihl.  Shri Diehl (she/her) is a certified yoga teacher (E-RYT 500, YACEP) and recipient of the Yoga Alliance Advanced Training Scholarship. Her additional training in trauma-informed wellness complements how she facilitates. Her inspiration comes from living yoga beyond the postures and she is dedicated to being authentically present in all of her endeavors. She studied yoga and Ayurveda in Rishikesh, India, and has been teaching in cities across the United States since 2007. She gives much respect to her teachers and circle of elders who have given invaluable lessons about being well. Shri practices yoga to reaffirm her body and spirit. She teaches yoga to hold space for others as they navigate their own wellness journey.   Shri's current work involves co-leading in the healing collective, In Her Power,  which is dedicated to supporting self-generating wisdom for Black women using yoga, sound baths, and resource sharing.  She is also the founder of Yoga for Abundant Bodies, which are yoga spaces open to larger-bodied people who want to practice fully without the discriminatory gaze of most yoga spaces.  The wisdom of her teaching practice has been featured in The Shadow League and other publications and can be followed on Instagram at @grierdiehl.

Welcome to Season Two of She Been Ready! The Podcast. In this brief season intro, Dr. Wendi shares a bit of what drives the focus of the conversations this season.  While continuing to invite a diverse group of Black women leading in a range of circumstances and contexts, this season Dr. Wendi is in conversation with guests whose work has allowed them to lead with and alongside Black women.  We know you will enjoy the conversations this season so tune in and remember. You don't have to get ready when you stay ready. And you can trust in the leadership of a Black women because She Been Ready!  

In the final episode of season one, Dr. Wendi hands over the reins of the podcast to her trusted friend, Diane Wiltshire. Belovedly known as Fury by her friends and loved ones, of whom Dr. Wendi is one but refuses to call her outside her given name (another story for another day), it is, for this reason, she may be the best person to close out our first season of She Been Ready! The Podcast by interviewing our host about her leadership journey, the reason for the podcast, and why ferocity is a good thing (and anything else she wants to talk about). it is only a matter of time before Diane is back to discuss her work and leadership, but for now, you can follow her on Instagram @hell_hath_know-fury. 

The Body is the Portal Kharyshi Wiginton Khayastar@gmail.com Dr. Wendi is in conversation with her long-time friend and co-conspirator, Kharyshi Wiginton.  All their lives, Kharyshi has been a bit of a firecracker and truth-speaker. Audacious really and in ways that were discouraged primarily because of her body. In our conversation, Kharyshi shares her relationship with her body in the context of familial and societal fat phobia and racial uplift. Educator, artist, auntie, activist, and friend, Kharyshi's leadership and wisdom have been disseminated in schools, on stage, and through her consultation practice.  Whether coaching women on awakening the power of their wildish-natured woman or shepherding groups of young people and organizers to South Africa (and other destinations across the globe), Kharyshi’s work builds the solidarity necessary with clients and audiences alike.  Her one-woman show, “Two Much Woman for this World” allows her to tell her story and her podcast, The Sexy Side of Size, elevates the stories of others. Currently, she is the Special Programs Manager for the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO) and co-author on a recent article in Yes! Magazine, Finding Freedom in Black BDSM, a great read making the critical links between some of the topics discussed in our lengthy conversation. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I enjoy this phenomenal woman’s friendship. To learn more about what Dr. Wendi is doing and thinking about, follow her at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865 Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

NOTE. Please be aware that the sound quality is a little shaky but accessible.  Enjoy the conversation. Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Dr. Margo Okazawa-Rey, scholar, activist, dancer, DJ, and overall phenomenal human and lover of life. Young at heart, our ongoing joke is that though she is retired and contributed to the Combahee River Collective Statement published the year I was born, she is the little sister. Margo and her sistren blazed a trail for me and other Black women to live within an expansive definition of feminism that can hold our whole Black womanhood at the intersection of race, gender, class, sexuality, and across transnational boundaries. In this interview, Margo and I crack jokes and speak truths about what real solidarity between and among Black women looks like and why a transnational perspective is essential to advancing a vision for liberation. Learn more about Margo on her Wikipedia page (she has one) and her co-authored book, Gendered Lives: Intersectional Perspectives.  Follow her public conversation on Twitter @okazawarey. Follow Dr. Wendi at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865  Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Lurie Daniel Favors, Esq. Lurie is a sister-friend from way back and a solid companion in the struggle to bring thoughtful, engaging, and liberatory critique to assess the state of Black America.  We met as her work-centered community-based education in Brooklyn, NY where she co-founded, Breaking the Cycle Consulting Services, and Afro State of Mind a book and blog highlighting the travails and triumphs of living life in a Black body and with Black hair. A central element of Lurie’s work has been an unrelenting tethering between those of us strolling across the earth, those yet to be born, and those who blazed a trail for us to be here now – our elders and our ancestors. In this episode, I talk with Lurie about this orientation to justice-centered work and the reasons why a connection to those who have come before us shapes her leadership. Learn more about Lurie Daniel Favors, Esq. on her website at http://www.afrostateofmind.com/lurie_speaks/. Follow her insightful analysis of Black culture, politics, education, and more on her radio show, The Lurie Daniel Favors Show on Sirius XM’s Urban View.  You can also follow her witty banter and wicked sense of humor on Twitter @afrostateofmind and Instagram @luriedanielfavors. Follow Dr. Wendi at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865  Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Rachelle Rodgers-Ard, a colleague and friend who has translated her experience and expertise as an educational leader into teachable moments for the wider public. Rachelle has centered the concept of authenticity in her work, drawing connections between one’s capacity to be and accept their whole self while leading in order to do so effectively and competently. In our conversation, Rachelle articulates myriad gems. We discuss the foundational role of authenticity in leadership and her book on the subject, as well as the impacts of inauthenticity on one’s leadership practice and themselves.  Rachelle shares her perspective on the importance of making a pivot and how to do so with grace when necessary. Throughout our conversation, we experience the deep value of care Rachelle demonstrates for herself and others that inspires her work. Learn more about Dr. Rachelle Rodger-Ard’s work on her website at https://www.rachellerogersard.com/. There you can follow her podcast conversations, learn more about her critical race leadership consultation, perhaps work directly with her, or read her text, Black Educational Leadership: From Silencing to Authenticity. You can also follow her on Twitter @ebavdir and Instagram @dr.rachellerogersard. Follow Dr. Wendi at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865  Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Dr. Robyn Fisher. Robyn is President and C.E.O. of R.T. Fisher Educational Enterprises, Inc. (RTF). Since founding RTF in 1999, Dr. Fisher has subsequently co-founded and chaired a number of initiatives directed towards academic excellence in the Bay Area’s communities of color, including The African American Regional Educational Alliance, Inc. (AAREA), and The Choose College Educational Foundation, Inc. (CCEF), of which she is President of the Advisory Board. I invited Robyn to the podcast to discuss her rationale for grounding her educational consultation connecting to the teaching and learning of Black students to the African Diaspora. Whether it be grounding STEAM educational experiences in slave revolt contextualized curriculum, shepherding educators in African Diasporic educational exchange experiences Learn more about Robyn’s work on her website https://www.rtfisher.com/rt-fisher-and-associates-educational-consulting/about-us/ and the work of the AAREA at their website https://www.theaarea.org/ and follow their online conversations on Twitter https://twitter.com/choose_college and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/choosecollege. To learn more about what Dr. Wendi is doing and thinking about, follow her at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865  Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Precious Stroud. Precious founded the Black Female Project https://www.blackfemaleproject.org/) and began her consulting firm, PJS Consultants (https://pjsconsultants.net/), to positively impact the wellness and professional experience of Black women and to provide marketing communications services to organizational leaders who want to #dogood. I invited Precious to the podcast because of the mission she crafted for The Black Female Project. Centered on Black women’s empowerment in workplace contexts, Precious turned the lemons of her own workplace trauma into possibility, connection, and healing for Black women across diverse sectors. Her story is one we can all connect with and her decision to transition from a recipient of intersectional microaggressions at work to creating a sanctuary for Black women to process negative work experiences is a living model of Black women’s liberatory leadership praxis. In our conversation, I talk with her about the mission and the importance of relationships and work with and for Black women, including a very special project she did in collaboration with the Black Teacher Project centering the experiences of Black teachers, Teacher Truth. Learn more about Precious at her website http://preciousstroud.com/ and follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PreciousStroudLiving/ and Twitter @pjsconsults.  Learn more about The Black Female Project at https://www.blackfemaleproject.org/ and tune into the project’s podcast at https://soundcloud.com/blackfemaleproject, including the conversation Teacher Truth (https://soundcloud.com/blackfemaleproject/2021-conversation-with-black-teacher-project?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing), we reference in this conversation. To learn more about what Dr. Wendi is doing and thinking about, follow her at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865 Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Dr. Leeja Carter. Leeja is a dear friend and much more. She is a psychologist and an expert on inclusive and equity-focused practice in sport and health. I purposely invited Leeja to this conversation about the complexity of relationships between women and especially Black women in the context of our work and leadership experiences.  Touchy, yes, but we are able to handle it. We have the relationship strength to hold this conversation. In this episode, we talk about relationship ruptures between Black women, how to heal them, and the personal values and priorities in work and relationships that make healing possible. Leeja’s work and reach are phenomenal. As her friend, I have been so proud of how she has crafted the current iteration of her career. Realizing the breakdown of the social contract between the food service and restaurant industries and the food insecure at the start of the pandemic, Leeja developed what would become The Hunger Project of the Coalition for Food and Health Equity (https://www.coalitionequity.org/), a not-for-profit organization linking the food insecure on the NJ side of the Hudson Valley with the perishable food and empty restaurants in the area. The Coalition has raised significant public and private funding and was named a model program that continues to provide for a critical need during this desperate time in our nation. Leeja’s expertise at the intersection of Black feminism and sport has also been sought after in the wake of Naomi Osaka’s and Simone Biles’s refusal to perform their athleticism in the midst of their mental health challenges at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been featured on various news and podcast outlets discussing the topic, and her edited book, Feminist Applied Sport Psychology: From Theory to Practice (See link: https://bookshop.org/books/feminist-applied-sport-psychology-from-theory-to-practice/9781138483071) was the best resource for the moment. Learn more about Leeja at her website https://www.leejacarter.com/ and follow her on Instagram at @drleeja and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LeejaCarterPhD.  Also, learn more about and donate to support the works of the Coalition for Food and Health Equity at https://www.coalitionequity.org/ and follow their work on Instagram @coalition_equity and on Facebook @CoalitionforFoodandHealthEquity. To learn more about what Dr. Wendi is doing and thinking about, follow her at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865  Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Dr. Nadia Lopez, who is been lovingly called Ms. Lopez by innumerable young people and their families who attended Mott Hall Bridges Academy, the school she founded in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. In her TedTalk (https://www.ted.com/talks/nadia_lopez_why_open_a_school_to_close_a_prison?language=en), she says she opened a school to close a prison. In this episode, we discuss her path and experience as an educational leader and her decision to leave the profession to heal mentally and physically.  Nadia’s good work was made very public when one of her students named her as one of the most important people in his life in a Human’s of New York feature (see link: https://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/108838763416/a-couple-days-back-i-posted-the-portrait-of-a). Nadia’s impact on the lives of her students and the staff at her school was huge and unfortunately, it came at a cost to her health. In our conversation, she shares her experience and the alchemy she’s performed turning the professional pain she’s endured into powerful lessons learned that she now shares with educational leaders through her consultation.  Whether it is her Sunday support series, “Tea With Me”; organizational, individual, and group coaching consultation, or the development of her curriculum, The Blueprint (https://www.elevatedblk.com/the-blueprint), Nadia walks alongside her clients and community to find wholeness and wellness as they engage critical work for youth, schools, and communities. And most recently, Nadia launched a podcast, Detention (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/detention-with-dr-nadia-lopezpodcast-episode-1/id1614518774?i=1000554139618)  in which she invites disruptors and rebels in conversation about how to change the field of education for the better. Learn more about Nadia at her website http://www.thelopezeffect.com/tle/ and follow her on Instagram and Twitter @TheLopezEffect. To learn more about what Dr. Wendi is doing and thinking about, follow her at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865  Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Mutale Nkonde.  Mutale is the founder and CEO of AI For the People (AFP; https://www.aiforpeople.org/). AFP is a non-profit communications agency that aims to eliminate the underrepresentation of Black professionals in the American technology sector by 2030. In this episode, we discuss her decision to launch AI for the People and the work she’s done to address race-based dis-and misinformation which was featured in an article, “Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weaponization of breaking news” in the Misinformation Review published by the Harvard Kennedy School (see link:  https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/nkonde_disinformation_creep_ados_20210118_retracted.pdf. The article was later retracted. She has also discussed her work on several podcasts and media outlets including on Farai Chideya’s Our Body Politic which we mention during this episode (see link: https://our-body-politic.simplecast.com/episodes/our-body-politic-january-1-2021-BDZUuAIq_) In this episode, we also discuss her foray into film-making and the inclusion of her film, Blackness Unbound: Afrofuturism and the Revolutionary Imagination (see link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqXIR6BPxlk&list=PL6RlkQnoCx_XI6uS8ZuR_fvx8ZrCaWPan&index=22), which was included in the Smithsonian Afrofuturism Series, a collaboration between the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture (@NMAAHC ), and the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Mutale is a fascinating artist and human. Follow her and the work of AI For the People on Twitter at @mutalenkonde and @AI4thePPL, respectively. To learn more about what Dr. Wendi is doing and thinking about, follow her at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865  Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Introducing She Been Ready! The Podcast. A conversation about Black women’s liberatory leadership praxis. Follow Dr. Wendi at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865  Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com