Hoodoo Plant Mamas

In this episode, we discuss what happens when your spiritual practice changes. We get into struggling with your purpose when the world has gone to shit, integrating Hoodoo in all aspects of our lives, and the need to tap into local plant medicine. 

RESOURCES

• Apocalypse Still by Leah Nicole Whitcomb
• "Get your spirit right with podcast host and Osun Priestess Juju Bae" by Danielle Buckingham. BlackJoy x Reckon
• Banning Blac...

In this episode, we tackle US propaganda and how it's causing spiritual warfare. We get into the illusion of choice, media censorship, increased militarism, and how all of our oppression is interconnected.

RESOURCES

• Apocalypse Still by Leah Nicole Whitcomb
• "Meta is limiting how much political content users see. Here's how to opt out of that" by Rachel Treisman. npr.
• "Obama Administration Defends Israeli Airstrikes but Caution...

In this episode, we're joined by Ghrey Mbenza, a neurodivergent occupational therapist who works with marginalized communities. Ghrey talks with us about neurodiversity, what it means to be Black and neurodivergent, as well as the trauma and necessary healing work from growing up as undiagnosed Black neurodivergent kids.

Tasha “Ghrey” Mbenza (they/she/he), more recently known simply as Ghrey, is a black, queer, and autistic occupati...

After an extended hiatus, we're back. While Dani moved away from Mississippi, Leah moved back so we talk about loving, leaving, and returning to Mississippi. Dani visited Senegal, and Leah is publishing a book. 

RESOURCES

• SeaSalted Honey Residency
• "A Night at Fontaine's" by Leah Nicole Whitcomb
• Pre-order Apocalypse Still by Leah Nicole Whitcomb
• "Episode 202: Reclaiming my Dream" Dreaming in Color with Nancey B. Price.

//SPOILERS FOR LONG DIVISION//

Mississippi author Kiese Laymon joins us for our season finale. We discuss the revised version of his novel Long Division, explore themes of freedom, language, and timelessness, and talk about creating art separate from the white imagination.

Kiese Laymon is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon is the Libby Shearn Moody Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. L...

We're joined by Starr, founder of Reckon's Black Joy. In this episode, we discuss the highs and lows of healing, leading when you feel unqualified, and Black joy as our birthright.

Jonece Starr Dunigan (She/her/hers) is a journalist who gives the microphone to communities that are often ignored by mainstream media. Guided by empathy, her reporting centers the stories, movement work and voices of Black, brown and queer people. Her wr...

In this episode, we're joined by Veronica Agard as she discusses her educational project, Ancestors in Training. We think about what how to honor our ancestors, what we want to leave our future descendants, and how to best utilize our time here on Earth.

Veronica Agard (Ifáṣadùn Fásanmí) (she/her) is a poet, writer, community educator, and connector at the intersections of Black identity, wellness, representation, and culture. S...

Are you ready to feel more energized, focused, and supported? Go to zen.ai/hoodoo and add nourishing, plant-based foods to fuel you from sunrise to sunset.

In this episode, Leah needs a literary agent, and Dani needs help finding affordable housing in DC. We discuss our experiences with Black excellence and how it's overrated, steeped in capitalism, and ultimately ruins art.

RESOURCES

• "Where the Parents" Medium. Leah Nicole Whit...

In this episode we're joined by Nancey B. Price of the Dreaming in Color Podcast. We discuss her work, Black people's relationships to dreams, our childhood nightmares, and how daydreaming influences our creative process.

Nancey B. Price is a self-taught collage artist, writer and storyteller with an appreciation for all things Black, Southern and imaginative. In all of her creative pursuits, she seeks to build worlds in which Black...

We're back y'all! For our Season 6 premiere, we're talking about how we conjure alternate realities in our writing. We discuss the documented gaps in the historical lives of Black people, our resistance to writing about the past, as well as how to honor our ancestor's stories. We think about the timelessness of the South, the optimism in current afroftuturist work, and the purpose of dystopian stories. 

RESOURCES

• Long Divi...

In this episode, we go over our Spotify Wrapped, recap our personal highs and lows of 2022, and discuss our hopes for 2023.

RESOURCES

• Levar Burton Reads podcast
• WNBA Authentic Voices Fellowship
• Courage to Write Grant
• "Sometimes It Works Out but Sometimes It Don't" Leah's newsletter.
• "These Black Witches Are More Magical Than Halloween Myths Would Have You Believe." MadameNoire. Leah Nicole Whitcomb
• "Won't You Celebrate You...

Let's get real about therapy! Dr. Money joins us to discuss "Ep 27 When Therapy is Not Enough." We get into Black Femininst Narrative Therapy, what it is, and how Dr. Money uses it in her practice. We discuss systemic suffering masquerading as mental illness, the ethics of involuntary hospitalization, and how everyone thinks they're sicker than they actually are. Dr. Money also answers your listener questions!

Dr. Montinique "Money"...

It's the end of the world...as we know it. We talk with Cherise Morris about her work, our anxieties and frustrations around the end of the world, and the hope we need to build a better future.

Cherise Morris is an award-winning writer, interdisciplinary performance artist, ritualist, spirit worker and healer born and raised in rural Virginia and living in Detroit, MI.

RESOURCES

• "MEMO: It's Almost the End of the World" Substack....

In this episode we're joined by the lovely Sirene Wata. We discuss African water spirits and deities, water as a tool of enslavement and liberation, and the many ways water has showed up in our lives, writing and work.

CONTENT WARNING: Mention of Suicidal Ideation 19:25-21:22

Sirene Martin is a multimedia artist hailing from south central Kentucky. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Pan-African Studies from the University of Louisville...

In this epsiode, we discuss non-traditional, community, and personal altars. We get into how our relationships with our altars have changed over time as well as the offerings we can give to our ancestors and to our community.

RESOURCES

• Hess Love's Altar Tweet
• "Divinity in Disability with Jade T. Perry" A Little Juju Podcast
• "Ancestor Demons?" Hoodoo Plant Mamas
• "HOW TO SET UP AN ANCESTRAL ALTAR" Ehime Ora

BE A PATRON...

CONTENT WARNNING // SEXUAL ASSAULT

Hey y'all! For our Season 5 premiere, we tackle sex, relationships, and romance under capitalism. We get into how capitalism ruins everything, how romance should be fulfilled by communities instead of individuals., and how our friends are our lovers.

References

• "Nine Ways That Capitalism Is Ruining Sex" by Breanne Fahs. Boston Review
• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
• Ismatu &nbs...

It's our season finale and we wanted to end it by talking about our inner child/teen healing. We get into what initiated  our healing, what our inner child/teen needs from us, and the fact that this work is lifelong.

Visions of the Evolution: The Revolution Will Be Magical is a film and a ritual! It’s a prayer, a spell and an invocation that opens us all to the transformations we need to make to bring forth the revolution...

In this episode, we discuss call-out culture on social media and whether it's effective in holding people accountable for their words and actions. We also tackle Black leaders, elitism among Black academics, tussling with Gen Z, and how to hold space for young people who are still learning.

SPONSOR: Let's Make Art

Let’s Make Art is a crafting company that aims to help everyone channel their inner artist–whether 3 or 63! Let’s ...

TRIGGER WARNING // SUICIDE & SELF-HARM

What do we do when therapy is not enough? We discuss our therapy journeys, which types of therapy we've done,  as well as the success and limitations of therapy. We also get into some alternative forms of healing because help should be accessible to all of us.

SPONSOR: Let's Make Art

Let’s Make Art is a crafting company that aims to help everyone channel their inner artist–w...