It Takes A Village!
Thoughts and Tea is a blog with a corresponding podcast driven by the saying “it takes a village”. Thoughts and Tea seeks to facilitate cross cultural education and social awareness by engaging Black people in Africa and America on social and cultural issues. Thoughts and Tea is a platform to facilitate learning and education in a way that is easily digestible for the everyday Black person. This section is made up of some of selections of blog posts with their corresponding podcasts. (The rest of the blog posts can be found under the “blog” section of this website).
I singlehandedly create, produce and manage every aspect of the podcast from finding guests, song selections, post production and promoting the content as it airs. I chose these specific episodes to showcase how I engage on sensitive issues that will help facilitate community between Africa and the diaspora as well the sensitive issue of suicide which shows my ability to find professionals in subject areas to share insight and educate on topics with a lot of stigma.
Reconciliation !
Officially the whole world is under lock down. Many of us have been finding creative ways to retain our sanity amidst this shackling madness! Over the last few weeks, i have touched on topics which i deem important, especially with the current state of affairs. We cannot ignore our most vulnerable.
I am a black woman. I have a roof over my head. I have food in my belly. My bank account is sad as hell, but i am blessed! When i think of my brothers and sisters who lack these necessities, my heart bleeds. My heart bleeds for them, but my heart also bleeds for …US. Yes the black, browns and all other colors considered “inadequate”.
Roughly a week ago…ish. Two french doctors volunteered Africa as a lab rat, waking us up again to the horrors that have befallen and continue to rain on us as people of color.Why this took? I presume it is because they see black and brown people as weak. Why won’t they?
When a carefully orchestrated Divide and Conquer strategy has been used; for centuries, to minimize our expression of self, abilities and power.
Date Published: 4/12/20
This bold delivery towards Africa is no different from the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments, the fumigation of Mexicans at the Mexico/USA borders in Texas using poisonous chemicals, the display of Sara Baartman’s mutilated body parts after parading her as a circus act…In short… our struggles are similar and so will our triumphs be.
They germinate from one core, they just take different forms.Why then is there an unsettling discrepancy among ourselves. My focus for now is on the silent cultural divide between Africans on/from the continent v. our brothers and sisters in the diaspora.
This phenomenon nourished by our mutual ignorance and separation from each others experiences cannot be reconciled until it is addressed.
As a people we need to grieve each others past, we need to balm each others wounds and then we need to MOVE! We WILL NOT get to where we are going until we understand the “why” behind those differences. Happily though, some effort is being made on both sides of which last years “Year of Return” proved very pivotal in pushing this conversation to the forefront.
My conversation with Professor Mwatabu Okantah in the underlying podcast; a poet who specializes in Pan-African and American Diasporas Studies, discusses this topic. We talk about ways we can achieve this reconciliation. In no way is it expected to happen overnight, but collectively, we have to put in the effort. Every black and brown voice needs to declare its willingness to at least try. That is the only way!
Stay safe, wash your hands, sanitize and for crying out loud… sit your A** at home. :)
Reconciliation 2 !
Olla sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers and everyone in between. I am sure that you are probably cuddled up in your bed or somewhere in your home as you read this blog post (I hope you are. You better be staying at home ((if you can help it)) to reduce the spread of COVID-19).
Thank you for being here with me another week as we conclude the second part of our “Reconciliation” talk with the amazing Prof. Mwatabu Okantah (WWW.MKEPOET.COM - his website)
As tensions rise all across the globe, the pressure on us black and brown people escalates at a mind boggling rate. Its almost as though the word has been machinating against us. Lets start with our brothers and sisters in America.
Many are dying from this virus. Yes, it affects gravely, mostly people with compromised immune systems but if we are being honest, the poorest parts of America are inhabited by black and brown people.
Date Published: 4/19/20
African, brothers and sisters in the diaspora, Native Americans, LatinX and everyone considered “underrepresented and indigenous.
We have less access to proper nutrition and health care among other things. We eat what we can afford and that in turn makes us sick which makes us vulnerable to infections (such as Covid), which is now killing us. Now when we take a mental trip to China, our black and brown brothers there; mostly African, are being faced with such inhumane treatments yet no one is making noise about it.
People have been evicted from their homes for being black, they are not allowed to enter malls for being blacks, they are kept out of restaurants for being black. This is modern day segregation and if we think the Chinese government or the rest of the world gives a **** about us, we better think again. To many, we are dispensable!
But do not fret, we are in this together. Our struggles are similar and so will our triumphs. However they will ONLY happen when we unite. They will only happen WHEN we clean up our homes and by that I mean we fix ourselves and acknowledge the work that needs to be done. We ARE the majority and let no one tell us otherwise. We have been scattered and that explains our vulnerability but as we embrace that unity, our strength is going to 360 the phase of this place we call earth.
Stay safe, wash your hands, sanitize, LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER, do not stay silent. Enjoy the podcast…sit your a** at home and I will Tea u later…clink!!
Self Slaying 1
Good morning beautiful people. I won’t start talking about Covid because honestly, I am not really sure if any of us even know what is going on with this virus.However I will go on a very short rant about the wests’ resistance towards Madagascars herbal tonic to help combat the disease. If you follow me on any of my social media pages (which is honestly just one active page... haha), I mentioned it there. It is just ridiculous that when the slightest chance presented itself that Africa might hold the key to a global pandemic, egos came to play.
With that being said, I know you might be wondering what this topic “self-slaying” is about. And no, I am not here to shame slay queens because who cares what anyone chooses to do with themselves so long as they are happy? On that note, STOP SHAMING PEOPLE FOR THEIR CHOICES OF LIVING! None of us is a saint!
To be honest however, you probably have noticed I have been beating about the bush for the last two paragraphs but that is because this weeks topic is so heavy I had to find a way to down the heading so I don’t freak people out.
Date Published : 5/23/20
Nonetheless, it is a very important topic which we don’t talk much about especially in the black community.
With the blessing of the intellect of Dr. Kamesha Spates, this weeks subject is the first in a two part talk about suicide in black communities particularly. SHIEESSHH RIGHT! Such a grim topic but lets be real. It happens! I am sure we either all know someone or know of someone who knows someone who committed suicide. Irrespective of how we know, we cannot say we are not affected by it.
SO why then do we not talk about it if it had this much impact. LISTEN!!! Even though we are the global majority as black people, those of us living in western worlds have to constantly fight systems that were put in place 400 plus years ago which STUPIDLY have barely been amended to meet our needs. All I am saying is life is hard already and we cannot keep keeping quiet about real things that we need to openly speak about for get remedies for.
Look, I don’t know who is reading or who will be listening but I love you. Did you hear me? I said… I LOVE YOU!!! So please, join me listen to Dr. Kamesha Spates as she educates us on this rather uneasy subject. AGAIN… I …LOVE… YOU… and if you every think you cannot deal with this world anymore, just remember… this too shall pass!
And if you ever need someone to talk to, please feel free to reach out to me via email at Tamaklo.art@gmail.com and I will respond (I promise I check them frequently). Life can be shitty… but it also has so much to give.
Self Slaying 2!
Hello lovely people, I would like to take this time to first apologize for the “somewhat” long hiatus before putting up this blog post. Its rather unfortunate that our already messy situation just got more crap dumped into it and like many other people, I had to take the time to prioritize and process what all of this means.
Nonetheless, thank you for joining me again on another episode and even reading this blog post. I cannot begin to describe what your loyalty means to T&T and of course me. I would be a terrible homo sapien if I just left you all hanging after the first podcast with Dr. Kamesha Spates. If you remember, we spoke about suicide particularly in black communities and if I am being honest with you, nonsense like this going on in the country and in this world can drive people to that point of no return.
Date Published : 6/7/20
