Diva talks about her adult son going no-contact and the steps she took to hold space for his return while feeling the loss and maintaining her peace and joy. Diva brilliantly shares details of her journey while dropping parenting and life gems for our listeners. In addition to being an amazing mom, Diva is an author of "Get Off Your Ass, Get On Your Feet," (www.livingwithdivatude.com) a life coach and a TikTok influencer (@GradSchoolGramma). Let's get free!

Danica continues bravely sharing details of the abuse her child suffered while at Abington Friends School. She details events of racism that followed her 7 year old daughter being forced to dig in a dirty toilet by the schools nurse, Susan Harris. Danica also shares with the audience that her daughter was subsequently expelled from AFS, as cited by head of school, Rich Nourie due to an incident that is described in this episode when Andrea Emmons, lower school director, physically attempts to put her hands on Danica after Danica calls out racist treatment. Susan Harris' abuse was not reported to child protective services, nor investigated to learn of any other harmful incidents of child abuse. Danica, her daughter, family and community continue the road to healing and recovery.

Danica welcomes you back to season 2 with an exploration of her experiences with racial trauma. In this episode, she talks about how trauma has re-appeared in her life, but this time, her daughter was the target. Danica bravely shares a story of her daughter being abused by a white nurse at Abington Friends School. She details a horrid account of the white nurse, Susan Harris, forcing her then, 7 year old Black daughter to dig in a dirty toilet. Danica details her experiences of being targeted and harassed by school staff due to her activism around racism. This leads her to believe that the abuse of her daughter was retaliation. What has been reinforced for her is that Black women's voices are routinely ignored, but Danica knows all to well that "if you're quiet about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it." (ZNH) Join her as she uses her voice and truth in pursuit of justice and healing.

In this episode, Danica shares another moment where she was able to re-parent her inner-child while parenting her daughter in real time. The lesson that she learned and is teaching her daughter is that she does NOT have to be nice. Danica shares that if her mother had taught her to be kind instead of nice, she would have suffered less fools and had fewer touchpoints of trauma.

Founder of RISE (Resources in Independent School Education), Gina Collins Parker joins Danica to talk about tools that she has shared with Black families who enroll their children at PWI's (predominantly white institutions). Gina gives tips on how to advocate, protect and help students and their families navigate commonly experienced issues. She supports students and families in partnering with schools in a way that does not cause them to shrink or alter who they are.

In honor of National Mental Health Month, we talk about how critical it is for Back women to know that they are entitled to do what is necessary to heal without the attachment of guilt. Danica shares the A,B,C's of healing including, Awareness, Boundary-setting, and Choosing to Change!

In this episode, Danica introduces the other "F" in the collection of trauma responses. In addition to fight, flight, freeze and face---there's Fawning. Fawning is a type of compulsive people pleasing that is often used to avoid being harmed, but can develop into a personality trait that silences one's own thoughts, self-value, beliefs and etc... Fawning can be used to keep one safe while at the same time, used to hurt others. It certainly begs to be examined and corrected so that healing can take place.

A quick chat/video think piece on workplace trauma

We talk with Dr. Vanessa Frierson Freeman who is a licensed psychologist, about what it took for her to learn to prioritize her mental health and wellness by unapologetically making difficult decisions.

Kathy Freeman Bowen is the first guest in the debut episode of the Elderberry Series! This is a portion of the podcast where an Elder in the community shares their wise lessons and words about what they have learned to not be quiet about over time. Sister Kathy is a brilliant social and political activist, avid reader, retired social worker, mom and grandma! She talks about leaving violent work spaces, finding a role in making our community better and prioritizing joy.