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September 23, 2025 • 26 mins

On this solo episode, Michelle brings listeners up to speed on a whirlwind few weeks filled with music, purpose, and powerful moments on the global stage. From singing the national anthem for the Raiders in Las Vegas to joining Andra Day and thousands of musicians at the United Nations Foundation’s Better Together event, Michelle reflects on what it means to stand for peace, unity, and hope in today’s world. This heartfelt check-in is part inspiration, part vulnerability, and part celebration of life’s opportunities—reminding us that even in heavy times, we can rise up, stay grounded, and find joy in connection.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Checking In with Michelle Williams, a production of
iHeartRadio and The Black Effect. Hey, everybody, I missed y'all
so much, but if you stay tuned, I'll let you
know what's been going on. Hello, everybody, How I missed

(00:28):
y'all so much over the past week. It has been
an extraordinary past two weeks, including an incredible opportunity that
I will talk with y'all about in a few So
thank y'all for bearing with me, and thank you for

(00:51):
your patience. I could not wait to get back on
this microphone to check in, to check in and just
see how y'all are doing, and tell you what's been
going on with me all as well. Again, it has
been a busy, productive couple of weeks, feeling like, you know, thriving.

(01:19):
But I can't say that I have done what I
have instructed us to do. The last episode, I talked
about taking your days, making sure you're resting well. Because
of these crazy opportunities that have come, I have not

(01:42):
been able to take my days. I've just had to
kind of like, wait, did I take a day? I did?
I took half a day. I did take half a day.
So let me start with today. No no, no. Let
me start with last week in Las Vegas. That opportunity

(02:04):
came to me a few months ago, and I have
sang for the Raiders like it would have been three
years in a row. I just wasn't able to do
it last year because of freshly opening death becomes around Broadway.
But since twenty twenty two, I have sang for the Raiders.

(02:27):
I've done the national anthem, and the Raiders that organization,
the people that work for them, everyone down to people
who produce the moments of entertainment have turned into family.
So I got the opportunity and said yes right away,

(02:51):
and then feeling torn because of recent happenings in the country.
First of all, there has been great, how do I
say this, great thought being put into whether or not
you okay, let me just let me just not sugarcoat it.

(03:17):
There has been things said about black people singing the anthem,
and how we should not be singing the anthem, why
we shouldn't be singing the anthem, listen to the lyrics
or look at the lyrics, and so out there. There
was great, great, great concern there, but at the same time,

(03:41):
making sure that you do things that I guess, align
with purpose and align with values. And then to me
who that organization is and the raiders, I don't know,
they have my heart. Now is the first time I
believe I've sang that national anthem, and they did not win.

(04:03):
But I thought about my niece, who just she she
she decided to join the army, and so many of
us were concerned, you know, I wanted her to join
a different branch of military. But she is so brave,

(04:26):
like she loves doing things like jumping out of airplanes
and going camping, like real camping, like tents like she
is that girl. So she's so brave, and I immediately
thought of her and tears just I said, keep it together.

(04:46):
I thought of her. I thought about my grandfather, who
I've got to get got got to get the facts
straight with him. Of him, but I believe he served
in the Korean War and or World War two. Let
me let me see what years those were. But he did,
in fact serve. I have an uncle I think I've

(05:09):
told this story who will not fly to this day
because of a war plane that he was flying. The
landing gear did not correctly deploy, like it didn't the
landing gear just the landing gear failed and they had

(05:31):
to do a crash landing. So out of my five uncles,
two of them served have served in the military, and
so I just began to think about, Oh my gosh,
close to losing life, and I thought about them, and

(05:57):
I think too while think. What made me think of
them too is seeing some of the soldiers walking out
onto the field before it started, like I'm not. I
talk a lot of game, but I'm not brave, Like ooh,

(06:17):
God bless my niece. I Lord, just do something with
our world and our land so that there does not
have to be ooh bloodshed and war. Just it's it's
so yeah. So that was an amazing opportunity I think

(06:38):
I had. Oh, I did the show Sunday, flew to Vegas. Monday,
did the anthem, flew right back here to New York
to be right back on stage at seven pm. Y'all know,
I don't play about my death becomes her family like
I don't play. So it was cool. It was cool.

(06:58):
It was cool today.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
However, y'all today, today, today, today, today, How do I
talk about today? How do I talk about today?

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Shout out to Evet Noel, Sure, just shout out to Evet.
Matter of fact, give her a round of applause. Shout
out to Evet, Noel Shure and my management Jonathan A. Zoo,

(07:48):
Sabrina Thomas of Culture Collective. So I get this opportunity
like a couple days ago, like two days ago. Regard
the United Nations Foundation. Their mission is to reach to

(08:09):
solve global problems at a time when collective action is
needed more than ever. And what I love about them,
The theme for this year is Better Together. So if
you are in New York right now, the eightieth Session
of the U and General Assembly open September ninth in

(08:33):
New York. But I think right now the High Level
General Debate literally kicks off today. It kicks off today,
and I got the chance to do something absolutely beautiful.

(09:00):
I sang Rise Up with Andra Day, Madam Day. We
sang with a band called Rockin' one thousand. It is
a band put together by many, many people from around

(09:22):
the world. Could you imagine two hundred drummers, probably two
hundred guitarists, two hundred singers, two hundred bass players, two
hundred keyboards, like thousands of people. We sang Rise Up together.
And then I did, Hey, Jude with the band. I

(09:43):
was so nervous and I was like, I don't want
to butcher her song, but we're gonna do it together.
But I was like, I should this is her song.
Why am I singing this song with her? It's her song?
Like she could carry this song on her own. She
don't need me. It was absolutely, it was incredible. I

(10:11):
hope you guys get to see some of the footage
maybe towards the end of this week. And Andre is amazing.
She loves God. When I tell you, we connected in

(10:34):
a way, I thought I've known her forever, and if
I'm not mistaken, we've only done panels together but over zoom,
you know, and I felt like I met a new sister.
I stay to myself if your name ain't Beyonce or Kelly,

(11:00):
I stay to myself because you just don't know how
people are gonna be and vice versa. People probably can
think that of me, so you kind of stay in
your own little bubble with you know. You arrive to
events with people you know, and it's like I don't
want to get embarrassed or I don't want to be

(11:20):
let down by how somebody might act. But y'all, we
connected instantly, instantly, absolutely beautiful. So we were able to
kick off something before the high level General debate starts.

(11:43):
We toured where the General Assembly actually takes place. What
a powerful room. This marks the eightieth year where global
leaders are here in New York City. According to Unfoundation
dot org, they convene in New York City to build

(12:07):
consensus and confront complex global change challenges. The UN remains
the only place on Earth where countries can gather to
work through their differences and find common ground, shaping our
shared future. So when we say things or when we

(12:32):
see things like oh, that ain't none of my business,
that's that country's business, well, actually they come here to
try to work through their differences, shaping our shared future,

(12:54):
because what goes on in certain countries can also affect
the country you live in, i e. Tariffs right, it
shaping our shared future. Disclaimer, my podcast is not a

(13:15):
political podcast at all, because I'm learning. I'm a student
of all of this today. I am not an expert.
It really was an honor. It really was an honor, y'all.
The high level security, all the checkpoints, but to see

(13:37):
so many leaders gather brushing shoulders with people who are
gonna sit together and figure some stuff out. So when
we you know, I've seen footage even from as young
as a little girl, I'm like, what are all these
people doing? Matter of fact, Beyonce said, I was here

(14:02):
at the United Nations when in twenty eleven or twelve,
someone in here knows. Yeah, so that has been my
two weeks. I tried so hard to get out of

(14:22):
this event today and me and Andre, our schedules are crazy.
We're busy. And again I was like, I don't want
to mess up this girl's song. So she did the
first verse in her chorus. I did the second verse
chorus into the bridge or second person into the bridge,

(14:45):
and then we just let it rip. So I can't wait.
I hope I think this we never know. It could
open up the door for more collaborations because she is
absolutely amazing. So yeah, that's what we did today. World
leaders gathering to engage under the theme Better Together eighty

(15:08):
Years and More for Peace, Development and Human Rights is
where heads of state and government and ministers will explore
solutions to intertwine global challenges to advance peace. Woo y'all.
There was one room that we stood in. I won't

(15:29):
go into everything, But I felt like I was standing
on holy ground, something sacred and something so serious. I
think I just want to encourage people. Don't think that
caring about your country has to start when you're like

(15:54):
fifty or sixty, seventy years old. We start every now
and then daily as much as you can to because
it's a lot to digest, y'all. My spirit has been grieved.
I have been so sad because I'm like, what world

(16:19):
do we wake up in every day? Now? And a
part of me is like, has it always been like this?
Because I've been wanting to be in my own bubble.
I have been wanting to believe. I've been in denial.
I have just been wanting to believe. When I tell
you the best about everybody and in Mama, you and

(16:40):
to I want people to believe the best about me,
and hoping that you know that what I say on
this mic is what I really live. It's what I
really mean, It's what I'm really about. I am about love,
I am about joy, I am about peace. I'm about
having fun. I'm about people taking care of themselves, doing

(17:03):
what they can to live an amazing quality of life.
I am about how can I be a mouthpiece for
God if I'm not necessarily quoting a scripture, But how
can I like show what the teachings of Christ are
about in the way that He gives it to me

(17:26):
to share? So I have just been kind of I
don't know if y'all what about you, like in a
posture of prayer, even just walking down the street. My
thoughts are just with everybody in this world and all
the concerns that people have, and to the point where

(17:51):
it can weigh on your mental health. Sometimes waking up
like nothing is going on with me personally, nothing is
going on that I would feel in my family or
close friends that I'm privy to that would make me
wake up feeling so heavy. I will say my aunt

(18:16):
passed away and her funeral was Saturday, and before the
show started I was okay, I wasn't able to make
her funeral, And before the show started I busted out
in tears because I was like, how many more moments
am I going to miss? I was so saddened. But

(18:43):
I'm also my heart is heavy for our nation, feeling
like some of our stories, some of our plights, have
been overlooked, wondering are we in like two different Americas.

(19:10):
I don't know if y'all feel the same way, and
what are you doing to like combat the heaviness and
the sadness that you're feeling or are we to sit
in it for a while, because sometimes I think sitting
in these thoughts are sobering, and hopefully it pushes all

(19:35):
of us to some type of action. I didn't mean
to go here, but hopefully it pushes us into some
type of action to your ability and capacity. So I

(19:56):
just pray for our leaders and everybody that's gonna be
here at this high level week here the United Nations.
So it's like I grew up within five hours today.

(20:17):
I grew up. Wow. So that has been my past
few weeks. And I hope that you all are taking
care of yourselves, taking care of your mental health. We

(20:38):
are coming up on World Mental Health Day. World Mental
Health Day is Friday, October tenth. It's a national international
day for global mental health, education, awareness, and advocacy against
social stigma. So take care of yourselves, take care of yourselves.

(21:04):
On a lighter note, Cardi B's album, I think I'm
gonna have to get her on the podcast. Literally, as
we speak, I am reaching out right now, Yes, Cardi B.

(21:25):
I'm emailing right now. I'm emailing it right now, y'all
hold up, I'm emailing. I am emailing them right now.
My producers. Can we get Cardi B to check in?

(21:47):
Don't judge me. I was like Cardi got it, Cardi
Oh and then so one of my favorites. Okay, her
song safety? O MG? Can we talk about Cardi B's album?
Can we talk about her role out? She actually had

(22:12):
organic like she it couldn't have been better the trial
and then like two weeks later, your album comes out.
It couldn't have been a better time like she didn't.
You don't know lots of times when you're gonna actually

(22:32):
go on well you know when you're gonna go on trial,
but like to know how it was gonna pan out
her authenticity. She's gonna win more in life just by
being that. Y'all can say whatever y'all want to say

(22:59):
that album. I met her when did we meet Coachella?
And I did not realize how shy she is. So
this big personality that y'all see, it's because she's around

(23:21):
safe people, safe people, But oh MG, true, introvert, true,
just very kind, very sweet and so yeah, that was cool.

(23:45):
I had to bring the the I had to lighten
up the episode to talk about Cardi B's album, like,
how amazing, congratulations, it's already certified platinum. So yeah, other

(24:07):
than that, it's been amazing. It's been a week where
I've got some got more shows if death becomes her
this week, and y'all continue to do well, rest and

(24:28):
I will be back checking in. So basically, this episode
was just an update of what I've been doing, and
I'm excited to bring more guests. I'm excited to do
more solo episodes. I just just love y'all so much,
and thank you for checking in with me this week

(24:49):
and letting me ramble a little bit about what's been
going on lately and your day. I love you, love you,
love you, love you so much, and I will talk
to y'all soon. Thank y'all so much for indulging me

(25:12):
and my shenanigans. Hopefully there's some footage that surfaces of
me and Andre Day's rendition of fries up and yeah,
y'all have an amazing week. Listen to some good music,
eat some good food, pray, take care of yourself. St
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Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams

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