Episodes Archives - Shades of Strong

The mother wound — the festering  wound that we MUST heal in order to fully experience the joy of being in relationship with our sistas.  Sistahood is the container where we GET to surrender to deeper levels of support, deeper levels of love and accountability, but it is virtually impossible to experience such deep connections when your mother wound is lingering in the unhealed crevices of y...

    Welcome to another feature in our Black from the Past™ segment. Today’s feature is Willie (Big Mama) Thornton, blues singer and song writer from Montgomery, AL. Quick Facts:   Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton’s career lasted from the 1940s until the 1980s  Earned the name “Big Mama” at the Apollo Theatre in New York Best known for her recording of Hound Dog rele...

Sistahood, the bond that keeps Black women together… …until it doesn’t, right? Contrary to what mainstream media would have you believe, Black women are the original GIRLFRIENDS — the original sistahood. Seriously, NOBODY has your back  like Black women do.  But the reality is, whether intentional or unintentional, Black women DO hurt Black women. …and it’s time to have a c...

    Welcome to our first Black from the Past™ highlight of the season where we’re shining a light on Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first Black woman to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States.   Quick Facts:    Born in Boston, MA to freed slaves  Worked as a nurse in the early 19th & 20th centuries Started working at the New England hospital for women &#...

Black women have been rocking the Black superwoman cape since we were little Black girls. Don’t believe it? Check out Shirl’s “Red Rover” story in this first episode of Season 4.  Tune in  as Shirl and Natty give you a behind the scenes look at what caping, masking and hiding looks like for them, how it all started, the NUMBER ONE thing the cape is costing them and how they...

Sis, aren’t you tired of rocking that Superwoman cape?  Aren’t you tired of letting “them” tell you how to do life, how to do strong?   If you answered yes, season four is just what you need to start the journey to uncaping.   The theme for this season is “Things We’ve Lost to the [Superwoman] Cape” and we’re talking about ALL THE THINGS the cape is...

It’s time to heal the little Black girl behind the strong Black woman. The life you long for, the deep connections you desire are buried inside the little Black girl behind the Strong Black woman. The little Black girl who was conditioned to never cry, ask for help or need anyone, the little Black girl who was taught to mimic happiness even when her heart was breaking,    the little Black gi...

Rest is NOT just another four letter word.  Your body is your temple, your temple is your strength, and sometimes your strength gets tired. When that happens, it’s time to explore the temple to determine which part of this sacred space needs rest. The goal here is to have a calm, stable energy throughout the day everyday and the only way we can get there is to take care of the temple.  ...

There’s a difference between doing something because you have to or because you don’t have support and doing something because you don’t trust anyone else to do it, because you don’t want to relinquish control, or because you don’t want to owe anyone anything. That’s the FINE line ladies. Often we allow our lived experiences to unconsciously push us to the that “Too independent space. You get to b...

Being a Black woman often means that our words and our emotions are weaponized and used against us. We’re compared to pit bulls when we speak up using a tone that demands respect, while our white counterparts are seen as passionate and brave for doing the exact same thing.   But being strong doesn’t mean biting your tongue, suppressing your emotions, OR succumbing to the myth of the angry black wo...

One of the primary reasons Black women often avoid vulnerability is because we’re a part of a culture that stigmatizes being vulnerable. In this episode Shirl talks about what vulnerability is, what it is NOT and offers some simple things we can do to begin to give voice to our needs, feelings and emotions and while withholding the pieces of ourselves that we're not ready to share with the world.

How many times has something happened in your life and you find yourself staring in the mirror mouthing the words... I shouldn’t be feeling this way. Why am crying about this? Suck it up, girl. You’re stronger than this! Get your sh** together NOW. When you do this, you invalidate your feelings. You have a right to feel whatever you’re feeling in any given moment. Why are you depriving yourself of...

As Black women we are born nurturers,  but because of life’s circumstances we have a skewed perception of what that means; but even more that life’s circumstances, our perception of what it means to be nurturers can be greatly contributed to learned behavior dating back to childhood.  And that learned behavior dates back to the days of slavery.  The slave owners and their wives taught us that ever...

Many are talking about how problematic it is how it may be time to retire the Strong Black Woman label. Tarij P. Henson in particular has been very vocal about her discomfort with the label Strong Black Woman. In an interview with Essence she talked in detail about how “many of us [Black women] proudly take on the “strong Black woman” identity not realizing that we’re sending the message that we c...

The running theme for 2020 has been EXHAUSTED for a lot of us, but most of us are still finding ways to maintain our sanity in the midst of it all. In this episode Natty and I give listeners a sneak peek into some of the revelations we've encountered during this time of uncertainty and some new healthy and life changing practices that we've taken on for the sake of our mental and emotional wellnes...

    It’s been a few weeks since we’ve released an episode because you know…….LIFE! Let me just tell ya, homeschooling/virtual learning with elementary age children is NO EASY FEAT! Chile!!! I’m struggling over here. In this short bonus episode I share the struggle with y’all and invite you help Natty and I level up by answering a few questions to help...

In this week’s minisode of Black from the Past™ we’re shining a light on the breathtakingly beautiful and amazingly talented Phyllis Hyman.  Phyliss Hyman was a Philadelphia native best known for her contributions to the music world during the late 1970s through the early 1990s.  She had this sultry, velvety and smokey gorgeous voice that absolutely could not be mistaken. In her own wo...

    Welcome to the very first minisode in our  Black from the Past™ series.  Black from the Past™ is our contribution to preserving and normalizing Black history. Here’s where we shine a light on Black women who are often forgotten,  but have most certainly made an impact on the Black female culture. Today’s spotlight is shinning bright on Margaret Garner , who in one heart wrench...

    The sexualization of Black women and girls has its roots in slavery and racism and heavily contributes to rape culture internally and externally.  And  to add insult to injury, mainstream media has been oversexualizing the Black female body for years, for CENTURIES. Well, y’all know Natty and I are ALWAYS down for a good session of disrupting the madness because… We are of the...

      Hey y’all!  What is up!  What is happening!  We are back and we are ready to get back to dropping the dopeness and realness that is Shades of Strong episodes.  We appreciate your patience AND loyalty as we took some time to rest, regroup, and strategize for the remainder of the season. In this episode Natty and I tell you what we’ve been up during the hiatus and re...

ALL OF IT!   I'm happy to see so many Black People on the front lines fighting against racism even while we're in the middle of a global pandemic. A number of changes have already taken place because Black People are refusing to be silent.  We are demanding to be seen and heard.  But, here's the deal. Although I recognize that PAUSING FOR THE CAUSE is essential for change to happen, I also recogni...

People pleasing wears many faces, but the one we’re undoubtedly most familiar with is saying yes when we REALLY want to say no even when we know we’re already stretched beyond capacity.  But did you know that people pleasing comes out of a perfectionist mindset, AND that the perfectionist mindset that gives birth to people pleasing is born out of white supremacy? I know, right?  CRAZY!! Listen, I...

For years Black People have blindly celebrated July 4th as if were our independence day, but today we PROUDLY celebrate JUNETEENTH. #stillbreakingchains #blacklivesmatter This Public Service Announcement is brought to you by Sippi Fam TV. To view the video version of this announcement please visit Sippi Fam on YouTube.

It’s been nearly three months since Breaonna Taylor's murder & all we have is a total disregard for Black life & an incident report filled with lies. Is it not enough that Breonna Taylor was shot EIGHT times while sleeping in what was supposed to be the safety of her OWN HOME? Is it not enough that the city of Louisville has been and STILL is extremely elusive and downright dishonest about the cir...