It's so good to be back! This episode starts SEASON NINE! I apologize for my absence as life and technology made things complicated. Yet, with all the upheaval in the world...I needed to remind myself that I'm not helpless. I'm a writer. A Black writer at that!Excuse the dust as I get everything settled for this season!All love notes can be sent to [email protected] 2025 BLT (Black Like That) -https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/69697269/black-like-that-january-2025January 2025 YLTMT (Your Life The Mixtape)-https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/69679798/your-life-the-mixtape-mag-o-issue-20-january-2025February 2025 YLTMT (Your Life The Mixtape) -https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/69999433/your-life-the-mixtape-mag-o-issue-21-february-2025

With the cycle BOOK 7 of the Traditional Women Storytelling Project happening in September 2024, this prologue will be in the completed essay A WOMAN LIKE MY MOTHER (October 2024). Ruthless Flexing here: RUN THE NUMBERS- since 2021 1586 stories/videos 26 episodes 18 playlists 6 anthologies 3 social media platforms (TT, IG, FB) 1 short story collection 1 Christmas edition 1 podcast 1 reflection essay I couldn’t have done this without yall. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that

What a way to end SEASON 8 of this platform than with a professor at Texas Southern University. Professor Jennifer Julian is a scholar, writer, and a visible Black woman. For our time together, we talk about why it is the work of representation is on-going and why we can’t get tired now. Works mentioned: ALL BLACK GIRLS ARE ACTIVISTS (Ebony Janice Moore) and POETRY IS NOT A LUXURY (Audre Lorde). Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that

Levar Burton will ALWAYS be part of THE CULTURE! Netflix has decided to have me in all my feelings and do a READING RAINBOW documentary…and I barely, BARELY, made it. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that

At the time of this show, there are 1,586 stories to TRADITIONAL WOMEN STORYTELLING PROJECT. While this platform is not dedicated to this project (I NEED THE VELMAS PODCAST is), I believe more than a little celebration is warranted. The link to BOOK 6 is here: Paperback: https://a.co/d/09R1er02 and Ebook: https://a.co/d/0eS4m02j. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that

Sometimes the hardest thing is to focus. But — focus is a must and a muscle. Both have to be developed. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that

bell hooks said, “People are hungry for descent.” Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why the writer, the artist, will never go away! We are needed… And necessary. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that

Writers are responsible for re-creating humanity in a world by which may not see our own. In the world of diversity equity inclusion that we are in, and fight to remain in… It is easy to be swept up in the argument of diversity versus representation. Note: If this title looks familiar, it is the title of a book of poetry by Audre Lorde.

In May 2019, I started this podcast with my adopted brother, the Anchor app, a pink notebook, and 45 minutes before work at a rehabilitation hospital. This is STILL cause for celebration. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that

If I wasn’t a writer, what would I be? Writing is what I do. I can’t imagine doing anything else. Can you? Link to LEARNING TO BREATHE FIRE: Learning To Breathe Fire: The Collected Works During 30 Days Of Jaye 2019-2023 https://a.co/d/12Noxh5. AMERICAN MASTERS - ROD SERLING: https://youtu.be/T4ALNnImsmU?si=EFJOME6RmZTYvChT. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that