Nurah Speaks: Recent Episodes
Nurah Speaks
Nurah Speaks is a weekly podcast that tugs at the soul and consciousness of the black community. Nurah Speaks listeners will hear unique perspectives on topics such as education, youth empowerment, women's impact, community engagement, youth violence prevention and more.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog: http://nurahmuhammad.com/blog.html
Follow Nurah Speaks on Facebook and Instagram @NurahSpeaksPodcast.
Ultra Processed foods are linked to increased risk for: Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular and Heart Disease, Dementia, Alzheimers, Depression, Anxiety and a host of other conditions. These ‘food products’ pose serious health risks and have long-term health implications for consumers. But do we know the difference between real food and food products when we browse the store aisles? Real Food (Whole Foods) are foods that come from nature, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds, are considered real. These foods have no artificial additives: such as preservatives, colorings, or flavor enhancers that alter its quality or nutritional value. Food Products are non-real food including items that have various degrees of processing. They contain artificial ingredients considered “not real” and contain artificial ingredients, additives, or substitutes created to imitate the flavor, and texture of natural foods. They lack the nutritional density and have undergone extensive processing. Knowing the difference and choosing wisely will safeguard our health and wellness. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
There is no biblical commandment directing us to SPEND-SPEND-SPEND to honor the birth of sweet baby Jesus. However, year after year, the season has become less religious and more commercial. Clever advertisers know the perfect strategies to persuade us to buy. So then what should we do in this season of spending? This episode I share tips that will benefit your wallet and your community.
If you enjoy Nurah Speaks, please share the podcast with friends, family, and colleagues. Every time you share, you help the show’s growth.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Did you know that more hair care products containing toxic ingredients are sold to Black women and in low income communities? Did you know that 50 percent of products advertised to Black women contain chemicals health hazards compared to only 7 percent of products advertised to white women? Did you know that Black women develop the most aggressive breast cancers and have the highest breast cancer death rates? Did you know that parabens, phthalates and formaldehyde contained in these ‘beauty products’ are not only linked to cancers but other chronic health conditions such as diabetes, infertility, preeclampsia, cardiovascular disease and obesity? What changes will you make, now that you know?
To learn more: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/dangerous-hair-products-more-commonly-sold-in-black-low-income-neighborhoods/https://www.safecosmetics.org/chemicals/https://www.cancer.org/research/acs-research-news/breast-cancer-death-rates-are-highest-for-black-women-again.html If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
When we are out of touch with nature or misunderstanding the inherent qualities of what makes us who we are, our decisions and behaviors will be misguided. Black women have been trained to perceive reality through a lens that falsely colors truth and gives us permission to act based on what we ‘want’ truth to be, rather than what truth actually is. This has been the cause of many errors and miscalculations that we simply cannot afford to make.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This election showed what others are prioritizing as their interests…it is time that Black Women do the same as we are long overdue. Let us re-center our attention and energy on self, which includes our men and our communities. Truly it is a shame that it comes on the heels of a political disappointment but perhaps this is the wakeup that we have been needing.
We must: 1. Reassess our collective needs 2. Establish our agenda 3. Work collectively 4. Stay unified
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
My belief demands that I think five times before speaking. This principle is a marvelous tool when under a barrage of hateful written and verbal attacks. It commands one to pause and perform an assessment of the worthiness of one’s antagonist and the substance of the attack. It also serves as a prompt for one to be critical and self aware of one’s own language, behavior and reactions. And ultimately one must determine what, if any, retort is advised under such circumstances. Often, in the critical analysis, one finds responding in kind levels the playing field and puts one on par with characters and personalities that may be quite unlike your own. It is better to be discerning, disciplined and say nothing than to impinge one’s own character by responding in kind to individuals whose only gain is in spoiling one’s reputation. There is discipline in silence. It is a skill that is practiced by the wise. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I am pleased to welcome Councilwoman Cindy McCoy to Nurah Speaks. Councilwoman McCoy is on a noble mission to end hunger in her community and she is working on that via her non profit ‘McCoys Stop the Hunger Food and Mobile Pantry’.
McCoy's Stop the Hunger is a 501(c)(3) organization functioning as a food and mobile pantry that works with the community to address food insecurity and provide nutritious options to residents in need. Councilwoman McCoy will be hosting her first Walk/Run-a-thon November 9, 2024 to not only bring the community together but also fundraise to continue the work. On episode 244 of the podcast, Councilwoman McCoy shares how she first began working in service to her community and her upcoming event.
To learn more about McCoys Stop the Hunger Food and Mobile Pantry and to register for the Walk/Run-a-thon see the links below:
Walk/Run-a-thon: Donate:https://go.dojiggy.io/stop-the-hunger/Campaign/Details Location: Cooper River Park, Intersection North Park & Airport Drive, Pennsauken, NJ 08109. Date: November 09, 2024 @ 09:00am – 1:00pm
McCoys Stop the Hunger Food and Mobile Pantry: https://mccoys-stop-the-hunger-food-and-mobile-pantry.webnode.page/
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
In the absence of unity, we have no control or ability to establish a direction for our community. Rather than directing ourselves, we are directed by those who do employ unity to materialize their goals and agendas. And they return to us every few years using our persistent challenges as their platform to petition for our votes and endorsements. But since we are not self determining in any substantial sense, we remain in the vulnerable position of need and dependency. We are so much more empowered by the power of our unity and actualizing our needs. With unity, we can set our own agendas rather than be a mere agenda item for those who really practice unity. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This 2024 election season, one thing is guaranteed and that is the flood of propaganda penetrating via television ads, punditry and social media. Not unlike that which occurred during the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, the information reaching us will be, in large part, manufactured deception to sway our ideas and leanings. In this time, it is important for us to stay anchored to what we know is the truth via our own experiences so we are not riding a wave of propaganda ourselves. We must be intellectually curious, rational and very discriminating from who and where we take in information. If the revelations about Cambridge Analytica has taught us anything, it is that things may not be truly as they seem. Visit this link to learn more: (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html) If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This is the concluding episode in the series: Unity, Faith & Leadership. I have heard more than now than ever, conversations by our people, rejecting the need for leadership. As social beings co-existing in the world, not only must we work cooperatively, but we should also recognize there is a natural requirement for leadership. The observation of nature demonstrates just how ordinary it is that there is leadership amongst bodies or group. The sun leads the planets, the silverback leads the troop and the bee hive is centralized around the queen. Our dismissal of leadership is a miscalculation we cannot afford to make. Our needs are too great and the change we need is too massive that we dismiss the ordinary convention of leadership. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Of our greatest handicaps are our lack of unity and faith in ourselves that we can effectively tackle the most significant needs of our people. Confidence and the fervent belief that we can change the conditions of our people for the better is a must if we are going to take a serious look at improving the lived experiences of our families and communities.
Without faith in ourselves, we are hopeless to do better. It is an essential quality for establishing a promising future and achieving any goals we set for ourselves.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Improving outcomes and the conditions of our people requires Unity, Faith and Leadership. Unity as a concept is easy to understand if we are discussing sports, music and social (status) organizations. But Unity is very difficult for the most of important of missions including family, education and changing our communities. Individualism is the antithesis of Unity and is an impossible tool for success. Our bodies are a perfect example of Unity. The heart does not work in separation and selfishness from the other organs of the our body. The heart pumps blood to the other systems that is returned to it oxygenated by the lungs. Without our lungs functioning, our heart fails. If our heart fails, our kidneys fail. Our body is a system of co-dependent organs working collectively in service of the whole. Individualism is not a tool to make the greater body of our people successful. Unity is always the basis for success. But we also must rid ourselves of the barriers to Unity-jealousy, suspicion, laziness, selfishness, self hatred. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Reading beyond the headlines, also known as ‘ClickBait’, is necessary in the age of sensationalist news and misleading links. The reasonable expectation is that the headline is a snapshot of the article’s content and context but this is not always the case. Now it seems more often than not, it is teaser that absolutely contradicts the article itself. In other cases, the accuracy of the article is a crap shoot. Truth can easily be lost in the political and social interests of the writer and publication. Wise advice for us all is to study the author. Before reading any book or article and listening to any speaker, pundit or podcaster-first study the author. What is his background, mission, position, affiliations? What is she from, what else has she written, what is her expertise and what does she value? Knowing the author can give a hint at where the writer or speaker is leading us. One should hope to be acquainted with truth when reading or viewing reputable news outlets but even then it is prudent to seek out other sources and always hold onto a little skepticism. Understand that this is what this outlet or writer wants me to think but what has been edited, omitted or misstated? If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
If you are chasing your haters you are moving in the wronnnng direction! Make your Lord your exclusive object! Fear only the Lord and serve Him with truth!
By however you define the Perfect Universal Ruler, that is of Whom we should be seeking our guidance and our favor. Chasing anything else like adoration or fanfare can be a distraction. And keeping up with your haters and persecutors is a misdirection.
Those of you in the trenches of service, those of you doing work making meaningful change in the lives of people, those of you sacrificing time, resources and energy and rest-it is not for praise and glory. Rather, love of your people and your commitment to your diety compels your work.
So! Be not weary in well-doing!
Doing good work has it challenges and its critics but faint not for in due season, you and those you touch shall certainly reap!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
The principle ‘Clean Glass, Dirty Glass’ teaches us that we do not need to condemn a dirty glass. Instead, set a clean glass next to the dirty glass and the people can make their own choice based on the evidence we put before them.
This principle is intended to make us understand that condemnation of what we believe to be an inferior program, an ineffective methodology or an inadequate leadership, teaching, coaching, parenting or business model is really unnecessary.
Where we are really challenged is in demonstrating what we say others should be doing. Talking is always the easy part. Establishing the superior results others can see, feel, touch and experience is something else. In fact, this is the real work.
Unless we have something to show, our talk alone cannot lead anyone to anything.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This episode is dedicated to the imprint that my Aunt Beauty has made on my life and the way we can impact the young people adjacent to us.
I walked into a library recently and was flooded with the nostalgia of my first library visit as a very young child. Aunt Beauty had taken me, my brother and cousin and I absolutely LOVED it. To this day, I still love the library and I continued the tradition of visiting the library while raising my own children.
This was just part of her impact on my childhood. This and other memories still resonates with me even decades later and forces me to consider way ways that I impact the young people who are around me.
It is something of which we should all be mindful.
What do we want our influence or persuasion to be in the lives of youth that they can extract years later in who they will become?
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Reciprocity is a principle that supports the courteous elements of society. The mutual exchange of kindness, support and manners establishes trust and balance in all interpersonal relationships.
Reciprocity is not keeping score but it is giving back in equal or similar measure that which has been given. When reciprocity is withheld, an imbalance can manifest that can create mistrust and destroy bonds.
It is a principle that we all should understand and practice and we teach our young people the same.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
An abundance of good comes from giving. And with so many ways to give, we have no excuse to forgo making meaningful impacts in our community.
Whether it is time, skills, or resources-giving has a way of helping the giver just as much as the person(s) being helped. Your confidence and self esteem will grow, you’ll have more joy in life and you will have more gratitude.
Charity is a universal principle across most religions and philosophies because there is just something very right and rewarding about being unselfish.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
“Kill kill kill, pill, pill, pill, money for sex, sex for money, money over love, money over love!”
Music for urban listeners can be summed as explicit content containing harmful language promoting violence, drug use, and the objectification of individuals. Since music has the ability to influence attitudes and behaviors, one should question why lyrical content exposing drug and alcohol abuse, self hatred and violence is produced en masse for the urban listener.
If you enjoy Nurah Speaks, please share it with friends, family, and colleagues who could benefit from our content. Every time you share, you help the show’s growth.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Most discussions on mental health seem to focus on how to improve our mental health, ways to heal, ways to cope and manage. What I see often ignored is what contributes to the erosion of our mental health. And frankly, normalized aspects of our own culture degrade the mental wellness of our people.
If we take a careful inspection of our media, our families and our education, we find aspects of each that create anxiety, grief, fear, alienation and insecurity. Couple this with the availability of degenerate food, drugs, alcohol and toxicity in our air and water, we must accept that there is more than a person’s singular traumatic experience that impact the mental welfare of our communities.
The saying goes, ‘That an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We should apply this idiom to our mental health. So let us identify the causes of mental strain as we promote healing. In a future episode I will talk about some of the preventative measures we can take to support our mental health.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
How do Black people measure their own progress in America? What metric are we using; what is our gauge to assess progress? This can be a difficult assessment if there have been no clearly established markers.
All of this and more are explored in this REWIND episode of Nurah Speaks.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This REWIND episode was inspired by a conversation that I had with my own son. We were discussing the dysfunction of accepting substandard results and outcomes.
In areas of health, family, educational outcomes and finances-Black Americans lead in most negative statistics. Whether through mental conditioning or suppression, we are not generally positioned for successful outcomes.
In consideration of our condition, we should rethink the standards by which we are living and rejecting mediocrity and inferior circumstances.
I would suggest that we raise our standards and habituate ourselves to those standards. If we accustom ourselves to the basic principles of success, success will then become the norm.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
In this REWIND episode of Nurah Speaks I share five key takeaways that I have learned from being misunderstood. I share them here with hope that listeners will find them useful in their own journeys.
- The way others perceive is influenced by the culmination of their life experiences, personality and expectations.
- No one is exempt from being misunderstood.
- Tell the truth and get out of the way.
- Always make clarity, not ego, the goal.
- Misunderstanding may occur due to your own failure in communication.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
The prom is a billion dollar industry. Custom gowns and suits, luxury cars, ostentatious grandeur and extravagance are exhibited by a people who have the least net worth in the nation.
King for a day and broke for a lifetime is not acceptable. In their ‘coming out’ we permit excess in our children's celebration and in many cases mothers promote the excesses themselves.
We are doing our young people and their future no favors with the modern prom culture we help them to indulge in. In general, not just with prom, we are people without money trying to appear to be what we think people with money look like-to our own detriment. But we can do better!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Love of others is predicated on love of self. Respect and trust of others is also based on that which we have for self.
We may testify as if we love ourselves though our language and behaviors prove differently. And others quickly recognize this fractured confidence and esteem in our own people and take advantage of it.
As descendants of American chattel slavery, we must accept that we have been made distinctive by virtue of that experience and love who we are in spite of the cruelties we have endured.
By putting others on a pedestal before yourself, by seeking allegiance with others before yourself and by pursuing trust of others before yourself shows the depths of our destruction.
There is a healing that must occur for our people and it begins with knowing and accepting who we are after our shared experiences.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Retailers know how to induce consumer spending because they understand our psychology better than we know ourselves. They design our seasonal spending habits employing sales tactics that increase their bottom lines and increases our consumer debt.
They understand the use of rapport, scarcity and other psychological principles to get consumers emptying their wallets and having them think it was their idea.
But what good is this for consumers and their families? Companies want us to spend, - not think, just spend. I say think before you spend. Do not be an April’s fool.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Before Social Media, how did we gain concepts about life: religion, politics, values and self worth? They were demonstrated by our parents and extended family, school classrooms and playgrounds, through direct interaction, engagement, face to face and person to person interaction.
Now we have our heads down in smartphones impeding our communication, taking up the space meant for us to learn how to occupy time and communicate with others. We now have generations coming behind us who have had smart phones in their hands since age three and four.
How will their social deficits impact the society designed for us to live, work and play together when their attention is concentrated in the palms of their hands? What sort of future can we expect and how can we mitigate the potential for stunted social and intellectual growth created by social media consumption?
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Laughing it off when others ridicule you is not an indication that you are a good sport. It is a sign of weakness, insecurity and/or a need to fit in. There is no social club, job, appointment or team that should require mockery at your own expense.
We are often tested by others in this way to determine if we will participate in our own humiliation and mockery. Doing so does not garner acceptance nor trust. In fact others with manipulative tendencies will recognize you as someone they can control and will return again and again in their bullying and harassment.
It is true that you must standup to a bully, regardless to the cost. Nothing is more valuable than your self worth.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
A couple weeks ago when out for a walk, I saw several police officers surrounding a young Black man in the park. I disrupted my walk routine so that I could be in somewhat proximity of the activity without causing a nuisance to the officers but near enough that I could be an independent observer while still walking.
I knew that if my son was interfacing with law enforcement and another black woman observed that, I would want her to remain in the vicinity to be able to provide a report should things go horribly wrong. This got me thinking about other ways we should support each other sons when, as mothers, we are not around to do it ourselves.
I hope this episode will encourage a sense of community to develop for listeners with our neighbors, community members and those who we have actual no relationship with. If we truly envisioned ourselves as brothers and sisters, we would truly be a better people and have safer, more successful communities.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Last month Charlamagne tha God, apologized to Mo’nique for mocking her and dubbing her ‘Donkey of the Day’ on The Breakfast Club during her legal fight with Netflix over unfair compensation. There is a lesson in this for us.
When one of our people is fighting for justice or fairness-unless we are lending support-we should stay out of it.
Uttering our own public condemnation or mockery of our people shows our ignorance and disunity.
Not only does our own people see this, but the entities and corporations see our lack of support and backing of our own. What sense does it make to pile on and cause our folks to have to turn and fight us too?
Whether we agree, or disagree on the issue or method, we should not enter into the public discourse with our own castigation of our own people.
The link to his apology is here: https://youtu.be/uriZs1w-ZzQ.
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“There are some efforts to celebrate a so-called ‘Negro History Week,’ and some of my people will participate. The planning of that week to teach the slave a knowledge of his past is not complete, sufficient or comprehensive enough to enable my people to learn the true knowledge of themselves.
It is important that my people learn the true knowledge of self, as it means their salvation….The American Negro is without knowledge of self. You are a so-called Negro because you are "not" a Negro. ”
“There is much misunderstanding among us because of our inferior knowledge of self. We have been to the schools where they do not teach us the knowledge of self. We have been to the schools of our slave-master’s children.
We have been to their schools and gone as far as they have allowed us to go. That was not far enough for us to learn a knowledge of self.
The lack of knowledge of self is one of our main handicaps.
It blocks us throughout the world. If you were the world and you were a part of the world, you would also turn a man down if he did not know who he actually was. If we, the so-called Negroes, do not know our own selves, how can we be accepted by a people who have a knowledge of self?” Excerpts from ‘Message to the Blackman in America’, by Elijah Muhammad
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PLEASE READ the show notes to this episode.
I caution the listener against hearing this episode as an attack on Marc Lamont Hill. I believe the points wherein I disagree are important and bear sharing.
However anyone who has followed Nurah Speaks understands that I do not take shots or make personal attacks on this show. Nor is it my intention to ‘be in men’s faces,’ so to speak.
I do encourage healthy debate and exchange of ideas and I believe the principles shared in this episode are valid and valuable. But we do not do messy at Nurah Speaks.
For context: Marc Lamont Hill posted a video on YouTube titled "Cam'ron Gets Strong CLAP BACK From Marc Lamont Hill For Rejecting African American Identity". That episode is in response to Cam’ron choosing Black rather than African American as his identity.
While I disagree with Marc Lamont Hill, this episode is not a ‘Clap Back To The Clap Back.’ I do believe it is an important subject as it relates to the linkage of Black people throughout the world and I share my perspective on the topic.
I do look forward to our feedback on the episode.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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One thing the Katt Williams Club Shay Shay interview proved is that our tabloid appetite is strong as ever.
Our penchant for scandal shows our character leanings to rumor and propaganda. And unfortunately sleaze sells and we are its ever faithful buyers.
I challenge us to resist sensationalism and direct our minds towards that which edifies, instructs and nourishes. Growth demands that we filter and focus on that which gives life and turn from that which corrupts both our virtue and intellect.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Truth is that which is factual, real. It need not be convenient to be truth. It need not be accepted to be truth. And truth is truth regardless to our opinions or how we feel.
While our modern society plays fast and loose with truth, if the mathematics do not add up, it is not the truth.
Failing to speak or acknowledge truth shows ignorance, delusion, fear, deception or a mashup of these. Regardless, truth is like sunshine and as Shakespeare wrote, “Truth will out!” And when truth is revealed it may testify for or against us.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Setting goals is important for progress in all areas of life. It is essential we set goals effectively to produce the best outcomes and give ourselves the greatest chance of success.
This episode I share S.M.A.R.T. goals, an effective guide to goal setting. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
Listen to this episode to enhance your productivity and achieve personal and professional progress.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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This episode shares six areas of focus for achieving or increasing workplace success. Concentrating in these areas is applicable to any field.
They are:
•Preparation
•Communication
•Professional Courtesy
•Honesty
•Attitude
•Organization
Improving one’s skills in each area can enhance workplace relationships, improve one’s own professional image and position one for career advancement.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a poignant example of a man standing on faith and principles, regardless of the risks, discomfort and persecution.
In his work of pressing the United States government for civil rights of the nation’s ex-slaves and in his anti-war stance on Vietnam, he made an enemy of the FBI and the U.S. President and his companions in the Civil Rights Movement deserted him.
He was a man standing on principle, refusing to sit in spite of threats and public disgrace because he believed he had truth and justice on his side.
Questions that his example compel us to ask ourselves:
What will we stand for?
Will we remain standing in the face of criticism and threat?
What is the cost to our souls, consciousness and freedom if we do not?
The excerpts in this episode is from Dr. King’s speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church November 5, 1967 titled, ‘But If Not’.
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How possibly does one measure and repair the harm that has been done to a people enslaved and destroyed physically, spiritually, morally? Our ancestors had their religion stripped, language stripped, cultural customs stripped, pride, ambitions, self love and self worth stripped through the most heinous brutality.
We, their descendants, continue carry the burden of this devastation and it is apparent in our habits and behaviors. Therefore, before reparation is issued, rehabilitation must occur.
What good will it do for a people who are destroyed, lacking love and knowledge of self, a real identity and group ambitions to receive reparations?
What happens to anyone who is irresponsible, aimless and destructive that receives a windfall? Instead of just being an addict, he is a rich addict. Instead of just being an immoral woman, she is a rich immoral woman. And in a few short days, neither will be rich and often in a worse condition.
The reparation conversation requires serious insight and we cannot be so eager to ‘get ours’ that we diminish the harm inflicted upon our ancestors and without real consideration of our current condition. So-called African Americans, the American descendants of slavery, are a uniquely destroyed people and we cannot be too hasty to put our hands out before understanding what freedom really means.
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Here I continue the mention of fathers and the significance of fathers in the lives of children.
The Center for Disease Control reports that 90% of all homeless and runaway youth, 71% of high school drop outs and 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
In part, this episode discusses the way fathers impact the development of identity in boys and the mental health and self esteem in girls. It should be obvious to us that fathers strongly impact identity and behaviors in our boys and the mental wellness of our girls. However, since fatherhood is not celebrated and often undervalued, these are facts of which must be discussed in this podcast.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Moderns laws and culture undermine the value of fathers even though research and data demonstrates how invaluable involved fathers are.
The Center for Disease Control reports that 90% of all homeless and runaway youth, 71% of high school drop outs and 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
Additionally, research shows that the presence of fathers improves childrens’ communication skills, resiliency, emotional and behavioral stability and a child’s overall achievement.
In general, a father’s presence is an enhancement to a child’s development and no less valuable than the presence of the mother.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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There is no biblical commandment directing us to SPEND-SPEND-SPEND to honor the birth of sweet baby Jesus.
However, year after year, the season has become less religious and more commercial.
Clever advertisers know the perfect strategies to persuade us to buy. So then what should we do in this season of spending? This episode I share tips that will benefit your wallet and your community.
If you enjoy Nurah Speaks, please share the podcast with friends, family, and colleagues. Every time you share, you help the show’s growth.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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We are celebrating the Sixth Year Anniversary of the podcast and there has been so much shared and so much learned in this journey.
I am grateful to all who has joined me on this journey, the incredible guests, the faithful listeners and the loyal supporters.
This podcast was borne from a suggestion by a dear Brother who has since passed away but whose legacy continues to inspire, Brother Munir Muhammad. I received additional encouragement by my own minister, Brother Minister Wasim Muhammad who co-signed the suggestion and established a foundation locally for intelligent and thoughtful conversation.
However, the greatest support I have had is from my own husband who gives me the freedom to be myself and fulfill my own purpose of service.
I am forever grateful for the kindness and dedication to all who champion the podcast.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Social Media is a recurrent topic on Nurah Speaks because of the frequent misuse of the medium and the opportunity it provides us to publicize our most private moments or thoughts, regardless if appropriate for public consumption.
We see the pictures folks post of themselves in their beds and bedrooms and even their hospital beds. Folks post information compromising of themselves, their relationships and even their safety.
We post indiscriminately when we should exercise discernment with what we share on these platforms. We should be encouraging our friends, family, children and anyone we care about to do the same.
Unfortunately, social media became a mechanism that allows us to disclose our low self esteem, attention seeking behavior or worst thoughts and behaviors.
It can absolutely be an amazing tool, but it can be a weapon of sure disgrace and degradation in the hands of a fool.
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Overcoming negative messages that we are not ‘enough’ is a very necessary thing for our women. We have long been inundated with messages that challenge our worthiness and esteem as Black Women. However, once we have accepted that we are indeed valuable and worthy, we should also know that we are still accountable to growth, learning, correction and guidance.
Being ‘enough’ is just not enough. It does not absolve us from receiving correction and critique in areas that we fall short. We are still responsible to be well learned, well trained, well cultured and strong in character and devotion.
Being enough is not ‘enough’.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I do not believe women should dim their light. I believe women should know how to use their light.
We are in a time wherein the light of our men has been all but snuffed out totally. This is evidenced in the current state of the Black Community and our men specifically. The natural leadership, creativity, character and dependability of our men is not present. They are yet to show us and themselves their potential and many are frustrated. And we are frustrated. The scriptural representation of ‘kill the male, spare the female’ is manifest today and without understanding the implications, we misunderstand the dynamics at play.
But Sister, you do not need to dumb it down. Just understand their condition and act accordingly. Use your intelligence, your knowledge to be a help, not hinderance to our Brothers and our society.
Do not dim your light, USE your light. But first, we must understand.
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A parent striving to ingrain character, family values, morality and justice in children have a hard job in modern America as cultural norms ebb and flow. In media, legislation and even education, the parental role is being minimized, challenged and threatened.
Active parenting is needed more now than ever. That would include having our children in a community with likeminded individuals. That could be a church or religious community, a friend community, an ethnic or cultural association, etc wherein your children are exposed to others who share your values. We should also be constantly talking and listening to our children. Explain what is happening in the world around them, how it impacts them and what your opinions are. Ask them questions and listen to their perspectives, challenge them, encourage them to be critically aware. Lastly, gain their trust by showing how much we value their insights and how important they are to the family and community and demonstrate this to them.
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If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Not having a healthy self awareness can frustrate us and others and lead to unproductive interactions and prohibiting our success.
We may have all met someone who has a problem or negative run in in nearly every environment they enter. We may have experienced being in a board room where that one person or leader blurts something that is offensive to the group, something off topic or of no real value to the issue at hand.
And we can tell that the person in question has no idea how they are being perceived or how their comments impact others. This is often a result of low EQ (emotional intelligence) and self awareness.
To help us increase self awareness it is helpful to try two things.
When we find ourselves missing the mark in communication, getting results or inspiring our team, ask can ourselves ‘what' questions. The default is often to ask ‘why’ however 'why' questions tend to lead to negative thinking or landing on answers that may feel right but not be right.
'What' questions push us to be more aware by promoting exploratory thinking. For example, instead of asking “Why do I keep hitting roadblocks with this person” try asking “What can I do to help us make progress?” 'Why' may inspire pointing out blame whereas 'what' inspires creative thinking and problem solving.
The second tip to help increase our self awareness is to ask a trusted person about ourselves. It is important that we receive this criticism from one of our ‘champions’ meaning someone who wants us to win, rather than someone who may have jealousy or want our place. A trusted person will be honest in their remarks because they want us to improve and achieve our potential. Once receiving honest criticism we should sit with it and determine what steps may be necessary to get to the next level.
The more self aware we are the better our interpersonal and business relationships and ultimately the greater our chances at achieving success.
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“Independent Black Woman”
I believe this is a phrase, perhaps not coined by us, but one repeated by us as a salve to ease the distress of being unloved, unprotected and unprovided for.
Let’s define our term:
Independent -not needing another, not reliant on another
How is this a healthy means to live? More to the point, is it even possible to exist without relying on others? I should say it is not.
We take WIC (Women Infants and Children) a federal program giving us food for our babies.
We use our state’s Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to obtain healthcare.
We use food banks and take advantage of school nutrition programs.
We take federal student loans to get educated.
We take bank loans for cars and homes.
We take subsidized housing to offset rental costs.
Where all the independence that we are so proud of?
If we are honest, we will admit that we use the term independent pretty much in relation to black men and and relationships. Because it is too painful to say, “I am lonely” or “I want companionship” or “I want love” we boast of our independence because we can pay our own bills.
While that may be true, our education cannot protect us, our corner office won’t love us and our boss babe hustle will not nurture our children.
I think this is part of the conditioning we have had to manage our disappoints and hurts as it relates to not having our fathers and the fathers of our children present. I also believe we have to break the shackles of this conditioning that puts us against ourselves and against our men.
We and our Black men are in fact two halves of a whole.
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Some identify slavery as the destruction of the black family. During this atrocity in American history, were not permitted formal marriages and the sacredness of our ties (and our bodies) were broken anytime the slave master wanted to have his way with the woman, girl or even our boys. Yet we still tried…though how difficult it must have been to be a man and endure the abuse of his woman and girls. How difficult it must have been to be a woman or a girl and live without the safety of a father’s, brothers husbands protection. Besides this, the selling and buying of black children during slavery further broke the bonds of familial ties.
Some suggest that feminism played a role in increasing single mother led households by suggesting that marriage or the nuclear family was male domination or patriarchy.
We have witnessed the intrusive policies of social welfare systems that promoted the single woman led homes. Additionally, poverty by way of jobs moving away from black dominated communities contributed to the deterioration of families as did criminal justice policies leading to mass incarceration.
There seems to be more systemic strategies that foster broken families within the black community than promote two parent households. While we can point out all the various attacks to the Black family, we as a community, yet do not promote marriage and family amongst ourselves although it is the single basic unit to all civilizations.
Therefore our children are beginning their lives with a broken foundation. They exit their front doors into broken communities and join up with other children with broken foundations.
We should want more and we should want better. There is no social program or policy that can contend with the benefit of a two parent household.
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A wise teacher once said that we, black descendants of American slavery, have been made ‘a degree below nothing.’ Harsh as it is to say and hear this, the truth yet resonates in the statement and relevant to us in our community and especially to us, Black women.
As a modern collective of women, we find ourselves loudly and proudly celebrating our savage behavior including parading nearly nude in public, using foul and vulgar language, costuming ourselves in wigs, weaves and makeup and not to mention the free and liberal way in which we engage in sexual relations.
And not only do we heap generous praise on our sisters in doing so, but we also viciously attack any who dare encourage us to be virtuous.
We think being humble is weak, being modest is repressive and we misidentify our value in sex or 'hustle.'
We have been made to be a degree below nothing because we do not know ourselves so we misappropriate behaviors, thoughts and attitudes that do not align with the great intrinsic value of a black woman.
This present condition was planned and is the result of intentional actions taken by our former slave masters. Take for example Henry Berry’s statement while speaking in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1832 when he said,
“We have as far as possible, closed every avenue by which light may enter the slaves’ mind. If we could extinguish the capacity to see the light, our work would be complete; they would then be on a level with the beast of the field and we should be safe.”
In other words, should they destroy all civility, all refinement, all integrity within our people, they, our slave masters would be safe. As it stands today, they are safe indeed.
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It is natural to seek acceptance from one’s peers and social group. This is a normal part of life that even very independent people need.
Interpersonal activities and relationships were the means of achieving external validation before the advent of social media. Now, in this social media/virtual world, the pursuit for external validation has hit overdrive.
But do clicks, follows and likes from individuals actually alien to us have any real meaning? Have we abandoned interpersonal for the virtual?
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I had the recent privilege to participate in a mental health forum facilitated by young community leaders. I wanted to continue that conversation here because it is simply impossible to say everything in a limited timeframe when sharing the stage with other fascinating speakers.
I find that most discussions on mental health focus on how to improve mental health, ways to heal, ways to cope and manage. However what I see often ignored is what contributes to the erosion of our mental health. And frankly, I observe normalized aspects of our own culture degrading the mental wellness of our people.
If we take a careful inspection of our media, our families and our education, we find aspects of each that create anxiety, grief, fear, alienation and insecurity. Couple this with the availability of degenerate food, drugs, alcohol and toxicity in our air and water, we must accept that there is more than a person’s singular traumatic experience that impact the mental welfare of our communities.
The saying goes, ‘That an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We should apply this idiom to our mental health. So let us identify the causes of mental strain as we promote healing. In a future episode I will talk about some of the preventative measures we can take to support our mental health.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Nurah Speaks is a podcast in service to the Black Community. The aim of the show is to remind and inform our folks of the value that we have to ourselves and the world. However without this knowledge of self, knowledge of our capability and knowledge of our responsibility, we surrender our obligations to others to serve our needs and repair the damage done to our people.
Nurah Speaks is in service to the Black Community and if one listens you will find a message here unlike that which mainstream broadcasters convey to their listeners. There is no apology offered for the message nor for the show’s objective, to resurrect the consciousness of our people. For we, the descendants of American slavery, are a very special people, with specific needs and warranting a specific message. Nurah Speaks podcast will continue in service to and addressing these distinct needs.
If you would like to watch a video of the podcast, visit my Youtube page.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Child predators wear many faces. They are not only the creepy neighbor or leering street vulture. They are also the respected leader, esteemed clergy, youth group leader and praised honors student. So - since we cannot rule anyone out, we must employ appropriate safeguards, limit others access with them and be especially communicative with our young folk.
This means telling them about appropriate and non-appropriate conversations, behaviors, touching and proximity. It involves, letting them know that they have permission to disobey in circumstances they feel are uncomfortable. It also includes teaching them not just about 'stranger danger' but also of the potential for hazardous acquaintances and being offered foods or beverages that can be laced.
And just as important, we must assure them that we love them and accept them and that they can tell us anything, even the things that are hard to hear and even harder to say. It may also prove beneficial to advise them, that even if they are afraid to come to us, that they can find an ambassador they trust to divulge their confidences who can give them support and speak on their behalf.
It is a must we do this for the preservation of our children’s peace and personal sovereignty.
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If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions or topic suggestions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
The experience of Black descendants of American slavery is far more American History than African American History. Though Black Americans have impacted and been impacted by this nation, we have never set the course of this country. That has always been the responsibility and right solely of White Americans.
It is in fact American History, rather than African American History, that our fore-parents were purchased, traded and used like merchandise. This is as much African American history as it is the mule’s history when it was rigged up to plow the farmer’s field. Both our fore-parents and the mule were mere objects used for the desires of the master in the development of this great nation. In other words, the achievement of the slave is truly the achievement of his master.
Therefore, what proponents of African American History or AAAP (African American Advanced Placement) curriculum want established in schools is simply American History. The lessons about the resilience and determination of African Americans in their pursuit of civil rights, justice, and equality IS ALSO the lesson about the opposition by Whites (those with and without power) to civil rights, justice and equality. Relegating this as African American History often provides a one-sided narration as if it is only relevant to Black students.
Just as Black students learn aspects of this nation’s history that did not directly involve African Americans, the efforts by Blacks to achieve equity in fact does includes Whites as it was their active resistance, systems and laws created and maintained by them that Civil Rights leaders contested. As such, this history should be in the broad lessons of American History.
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Modern urban music is peppered with hate speech but not the hate speech you think I’m referring to.
“Kill kill kill, pill, pill, pill, money for sex, sex for money, money over love, money over love!”
Music for urban listeners can be summed as explicit content containing harmful language promoting violence, drug use, and the objectification of individuals. Industry experts understand that music has the ability to influence attitudes and behaviors. One should question why lyrical content expousing drug and alcohol abuse, self hatred and violence is produced en masse for the urban listener.
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If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Nurah Speaks is BACK from an extended hiatus and it is so great to be back in action. Accept my sincere gratitude to the loyal listeners who patiently waited for the show’s return. Your support means the world.
During the break, I reflected on what changes were necessary for the show’s ongoing success and how this new chapter can benefit the show’s listeners. In this episode, which is the 200th episode of the show (WOW) I share what listeners can expect from the podcast moving forward.
Your input matter to this show. If you have specific topics or questions you'd like addressed, please reach out on social media or send me an email.
If you enjoy Nurah Speaks, please share it with friends, family, and colleagues who could benefit from our content. Every time you share, you help the show’s growth.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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‘Pink In Da Hood’ is the passion project of Evita Ali, breast cancer surviver and thriver. In this great conversation, Evita opens up about her own experiences with the diagnosis, the ensuing conversations and the subsequent decisions that all patients must confront.
She discusses medical self advocacy as the patient and as a caregiver, the importance of knowing our family medical history and the cultural habits that interfere with this. We also discuss the challenges family and friends have in relating to cancer patients and conversations that most patients simply do not want to have.
Evita is transparent, charismatic and assertive and one could presume that these traits aided her recovery. She was fortunate to have great support throughout her diagnosis and recovery and she founded ‘Pink In Da Hood’ to support other women who are experiencing the same. This October 1st she is hosting the 3rd Annual Pink In Da Hood Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness. On Facebook visit @PinkInDaHood or email Evita for more information: PinkInDaHood@gmail.com.
Join me in supporting this great effort with these easy ways to Donate: Cashapp $Buttons3 Zelle: PinkInDaHood@gmail.com.
Evita is also a member of CROE, Coalition for Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad. You can follow CROE on Facebook @Croetv. To purchase the books she discusses, 'How To Eat To Live Book I' and 'How To Eat To Live Book II' visit: https://muhammadmen.com/product-category/books/.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Many of us have experienced the feeling of 'being stuck' - and this can relate to so many things in our lives including:
Writing an Paper
Starting a Book
Getting Out of Debt
Organizing Our Homes
Getting Fit
We may have the goal in mind but there is a wide gap between the idea and the outcome and that gap can be filled with positivity such as: strategic effort, activity, study, confidence, optimism. Or that gap can be filled with negativity: worry, procrastination, doubt, anxiety and distractions.
So what do we do when we get stuck? In this episode I share several strategies to get unstuck and get productive!
____________
“I think America is doing a lot of good for you and I and then I think doing a lot of harm. They take and give to you soup if you do not have work; they give to you bread if they don’t have work for you. They know you are lazy. They know you don’t think for yourself. They know you depend on them to think for you. So since you are so in love with them and trust and have so much confidence and trust in them they give you a little soup until they can give you a little work. But I say that is not yet good. They should teach you to be yourself. They should teach you how to get on the road to self and become an independent nation like all the other nations.”
Food for thought with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
____________
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Real ‘Juvenile Justice’ is having a culture that promotes stability and wellness for our most vulnerable population, our children. The injustice is that the modern norms of our culture promote dysfunction that we expect social workers, clinicians, judges and juvenile justice staff to repair.
Studies show that most children within the juvenile justice systems have experienced adversity in their childhood as evidenced by ACEs (Adverse Childhood experiences) surveys. Adverse Childhood experiences are preventable. But unless we promote stability and safety to the families in our communities we will keep relinquishing our children to the care of the state to fix what could have been prevented by advocating for strong families.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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In an era popular with youth task forces and social programs serving ‘at risk’ youth, we must ask what we can do to head off delinquent behaviors in our young people.
In this episode, I suggest that ‘Family Is The Best Social Program’ and I have research that I share to support this assertion. The research indicates that, “Children born to unmarried mothers generally receive lower human capital investments because the contractual partnership between the parents is less stable, and sometimes nonexistent (Becker, 1981).”
In other words, we increase the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes for our children when we do not anchor them in families to provide them the needed moral, social and economic supports. Frankly, we cannot reasonably expect to make a healthy community when a large segment of our children are conceived by people who neither parent likes or desires to create a family with.
Families are the beginning of life lessons that cultivate us to interact within our broader community and nation. So if we are diminishing the value of family, we diminish the possibility for our community.
And as the Black community is diminishing the value of traditional family, our youth are still seeking the natural structure and balance that a family provides. Therefore, some youth are finding their family in gangs. Some are finding their family in pimps and traffickers. Some are finding their family in drugs. And some are finding their family in prison.
We just cannot get around basic needs. Children need to know that they belong. Children need to know that they are valued. We cannot continue ignoring their inherent needs and wonder why youth are delinquent after we’ve deprived them of a solid foundation.
We do not need another government funded program as much as we need strong families.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Patriotism is a great quality to have and experience. National Pride. National Affection. National Devotion-everyone should have this for their own nation. It is unnatural to not.
Blacks in America are in a strange ‘in between’ in which some of feel American patriotism, some exhibit Pan Africanism, some are just indifferent and some others regard American patriotism or national pride as racism.
In this episode I discuss what I think is our misunderstanding of patriotism and the entitlement of white Americans to their national pride.
“If you had known the history of yourself you would not have been made a slave. And you won’t be a slave now if you have a knowledge of yourself. It’s hard to enslave a person who has equal knowledge as you. You just can’t do it.”
Food For Thought With The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
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There is nothing normal about social media wherein children have access to millions and millions of people and ideas all in the palm of their hand. No reasonable parent would acquiesce to their child entering the homes of random strangers at will. And no reasonable parent would permit their child to entertain strangers or allow them in and out of their children’s bedrooms.
However this is exactly what social media is.
It is a mechanism that creates access to any ideology, predator, media or lifestyle and all with a simple click. And beyond all that - we do not have the depth of what our children are accessing (and who are accessing them) because apps have technology to prevent parents from surveilling their children’s online activity.
Social media puts our youth at risk to
- Increased irritability.
- Increased anxiety
- Diminished self-esteem
- Cyberbullying
- Online Predators
- Sharing of Personal Information
- Dangerous Viral Trends
- Developing Tics/movement disorder
Even cigarettes comes with a warning label!
Smart phones are not the only option if we want to stay connecting to our children, there are services that sell no-contract, no-data phones. One such company is Tello. However, even if we do put a smart phone in a child's hand, we must counsel them regularly on appropriate and inappropriate use, content and connections because these devices and apps come with such risk.
“Devote our minds and hearts to self! This will eliminate our desire for help from others. We must create confidence in self and kind. We have no confidence in self. We must create that with right guidance.”
Food For Thought with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Social media, podcasting, blogging-each provides a platform to be heard and seen. But what qualifiers have entitled us to a platform? What problems have we solved, what have we accomplished, what foundations have we built that justifies us having an audience?
In an age where just anyone can be a coach, speaker and social media ‘influencer’ we should not bypass the process of growth. Before we speak, we should listen. And after we speak, we should listen again and continue listening. The learning is in the listening. And if we want to have longevity and a firm foundation, we will need to input more than we output.
“The lack of knowledge of self is one of our main handicaps. It blocks us throughout the world. If you were the world and you were a part of the world, you would also turn a man down if he did not know who he actually was. If we, the so-called Negroes, do not know our own selves, how can we be accepted by a people who have a knowledge of self?”
Food For Thought with The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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What is the metric by which we measure progress in Black America? What is the gauge and how would we define our progress or success?
It can be difficult assessment to make if there are no clear markers.
In Episode 194 I explore these questions and how we can compare the way we analyze an adult's success in using his skills, knowledge and means to live an independent life with the ongoing conditions in Black America.
What are your thoughts? How would you say that our progress should be measured?
“What I want to get over to you is this: due to the lack of the knowledge of truth, you feel satisfied today to be here and satisfied to remain here while your fathers were not satisfied in coming here nor even to stay here. What has made you to be well-satisfied to be here and to remain here? It is this: the destruction of the knowledge of yourself and your God, your religion and your kind by the slavemaster has now made you satisfied in what the slavemaster says is his , while you have nothing whatsoever that you can be secured in of your own.”
Honorable Elijah Muhammad
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Episode 193 continues as the second part of a two-part series of guidance that we should share with our girls and our adolescent women. This part addresses 'Speaking and Language' and 'Education and Career.'
In this installation I share ways that we can support our girls and adolescent women to be successful by enabling them to be effective communicators, understand how to manage the work environment and understand the connection between education and their future aspirations.
We certainly cannot exhaust the wisdom that we must share with our young women but we should exhaust ourselves in our efforts to enlighten them.
Remember to pick up or order your copy of Barracoon by Zora Neal Hurston. Be sure to support Black-owned book retailers. Here are a few below:
LaUnique Bookstore - Camden, NJ
Uncle Bobby’s - Philly
Ida’s Bookshop - Collingswood, NJ
Harrietts Bookshop - Philly'
“You are too proud.You have your diploma and your education and you think that you should be white. You are too proud. The white man’s education has made you too proud, so proud until you hate yourself and your own kind. I say you need to be re-educated into the knowledge of yourself and your kind now. Learn something about your own black people.” Honorable Elijah Muhammad
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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There are some key life skills that our girls and young women should know before leaving our homes. If when we see them, and they are not showing a capacity to manage basic care tasks, it is a sign that we need to continue our training of them, or begin the process. We cannot fault them for what we have not taught them.
“Help us to make our beautiful young girls that which they should be. You are the most beautifulest women there is on earth and I saw several girls and women out of the nations over in Asia and Africa. And I have not found any of them as beautiful as you are. On a whole, you are the most beautifulest people there are. You don’t think so, but you are.”Honorable Elijah Muhammad
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Do we notice how they insert our adverse economic, health or educational outcomes whenever the leaders of this nation have a new political argument?
For the COVID 19-vaccine-they said we should be vaccinated because the Black Community has substandard health outcomes due in part to the poor access to quality care.
For the abortion debate-they said restrictions are an unfair penalty against Black women because Black women do not have the same means to take time from work to travel out of state to receive an abortion like white women do AND that additional children will cause additional economic hardships.
These same pundits make no argument to tackle the root causes of our health and economic disparities.
So I question, do Black women really matter except to exploit our condition to advance a political or social agenda?
There certainly is no argue over the cultural influences that help maintain these disparities. They are just another mechanism that promotes these same conditions but our mainstream so-called allies are silent on that.
"If our forefathers had the power of life, to speak from their graves, they would condemn you for wasting your time and life -- after being freed -- and not availing yourself of this freedom. They were forced into slavery against their will, but you are now forcing yourself to remain in slavery by trying to force the white man to allow you to remain with him and provide for you as he has always done." Food for thought with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad from 'Message to the Blackman In America'
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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This episode is dedicated to exhibitionistic oversharing being masqueraded as transparency and that has become the norm in our culture.
Where have we gotten the idea that making our personal lives an all-access event is a virtue?
There is still great value in privacy and boundaries. Don’t let social media and reality television convince you otherwise.
“The worst kind of crime has been committed against us, for we were robbed of our desire to even want to think and do for ourselves. We are often pictured by the slave-master as a lazy and trifling people who are without thoughts of advancement. I say, this is a condition which the slave-master very cleverly wanted and created within and among the so-called Negroes.” Honorable Elijah Muhammad from the book Message To The Blackman In America.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Consistent, collective activity is our best means to achieve change in a meaningful way.
We are mistaken to believe our emotions are a compelling force. Activity, not anger is what compels change.
We should be concerned with entities that give us platforms for our emotionalism rather than our collective action.
“I say, you should have your own Black police who have a Black heart like yours-a feeling for yourself; not a beast like heart who depends on nothing but a nightclub loaded with iron or lead to crack your skull. Don’t want that kind. I say, you should demand Harlem to be policed by Black policemen. You should also work to become your own mayor. You should not never accept…I say we should always choose your own representatives for the city government, or the county, state and for the U.S. state. I say, we should choose our own representative-vote for him ourself…!” Honorable Elijah Muhammad
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“Where have you been Nurah?”
For some time now I have had the feeling that something was missing from the podcast but I could not quite put my finger on it. I had a dissatisfaction, a nagging if you will that the podcast was incomplete. So stepped away to figure things out. And what I discovered is that I was not including a vital part of my foundation in the show, and that is the words and wisdom of Elijah Muhammad.
When I began this podcast, it was not an ego driven project. In fact, I was nudged and nearly nagged to expand my audience so that the message I shared regionally in workshops, trainings, and keynotes could be heard by a broader listenership.
In my introductory episode I shared a bit about myself with listeners so that the audience could know who I was: A wife, a mother, a Muslim follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, a community organizer, civically engaged, etc. However as I proceeded with the show, I did not include the key to what has made me successful and that is the wisdom of Elijah Muhammad, directly from himself.
You see, it was never my intention that this be a religious show, a Muslim show or one to proselytize. That is not my jam, plus I know that the name of this great man has been dragged through the mud and most have been given a misperception of him. What I wanted was a show that shared principles that would edify my people to help us improve the outcomes within our communities. And that is what Nurah Speaks is. But! By not including his own words-words that help me to succeed and grow-I realized I was not giving the audience the best that I had to offer and what makes my foundation rock solid. And I value my audience too much to hold that from you.
So now, moving forward each episode will include a short quote from Elijah Muhammad-not because I want to make converts, but because I desire to be as enlightening with my people as possible. Episodes will either have a clip from an interview or speech or an excerpt from an article or book he’s written.
I am emptying my pockets of all that I have and giving you the best that I’ve got.
I thank you all for your patience and enduring the interruption while I worked through this. It feels so good to be back!
“Love yourself and your kind. Let us refrain from doing evil to each other, and let us love each other as brothers, as we are the same flesh and blood. In this way, you and I will not have any trouble in uniting. It is a fool who does not love himself and his people.” Elijah Muhammad, from the book ‘Message To The BlackMan In America.’
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Businesses that have once been sure hires for our young people are not so sure anymore.
Hiring managers do not want to deal with the hassle that comes from dysfunctional youth who are not able to follow instructions, who do not arrive to work on time and prepared for their shifts and who lack the capacity to navigate petty isms amongst colleagues.
Our young people must possess the functional life skills required to perform successfully in the workplace. And it is our responsibility to equip them.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
More and more I am see social media posts of mothers disparaging ‘The Village’ during their family’s crises with thier out of control children. My question to that is, “Are ‘you’ a part of the village? Have you been volunteering or are you a member of a social organization, church, mosque, civic group?”
It is easy to condemn the village as inaccessible when we live in silos or in isolation. It can be an unfair criticism when we take no part.
I encourage parents to always be involved in their community in some way and the good news is that there are all sorts of ways to be plugged in. Schools, sports and other extra curricular programs can be a place to volunteer as well as community service groups and reputable non profit agencies. Churches, mosques, temples are also places where parents have membership and a natural built in support system. Municipalities and law enforcement agencies also host community events that families can be involved in.
We need to wait for a crises to get involved in ‘The Village’. It is always better to make a withdrawal when you have already made deposits through your own efforts and support.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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There is so much good that comes from giving. And there are so many forms of giving that we have no excuse to forgo making meaningful impacts in our community.
Whether it is time, skills, or resources-giving has a way of helping the giver just as much as the person(s) being helped. Your confidence and self esteem will grow, you’ll have more joy in life and you will have more gratitude.
Charity is a universal principle across most religions and philosophies because there is just something very right and rewarding about being unselfish. Experience it for yourself
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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The gender war in which we are currently engaged is doing harm to us, our young people and our community. On countless podcasts and YouTube channels Black women and Black men are ripping each other apart, saying the vilest of things and criticizing one another in the harshest of manner.
Few discussions lend to a productive contribution to the culture. These programs are mostly fodder for entertaining viewers who align with the attitudes and opinions of the hosts.
The continual fragmentation of the Black community is evident by this content and the promises of our future become casualties of this gender war.
We need a more compassionate approach that recognizes the horror of our collective lived experiences if we will ever hope to have peace with one another.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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This episode challenges the ways that we segment ourselves into sub-demographics and how those divisions impede our collective progress. This installment specifically addresses Black Feminism and encourages listeners to broaden their understanding of the fullness of harm done to our people (Black Descendants of American Slavery) and how we manifest that harm through our interactions within the Black community.
I’d love to hear your take on this subject and this episode. What are your thoughts?
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Black creators are among those removing their content from Spotify. Artists and podcast hosts are concerned about COVID and vaccine misinformation they say is allowed on the platform. The boycott was kicked off after attention was brought to Joe Rogan’s podcast.
I am in disbelief that Black creators are mobilizing around the tenor of content produced by Joe Rogan rather than that produced by Black artists for an overwhelmingly Black audience.
Scrolling through Spotify, I find Snoop Dogg, Kodak Black, Travis Scott, Megan Thee Stallion, Pop Smoke and Nicki Minaj among countless other Black artists who have content that degrades Black women, promotes drug abuse, uses abusive language, promotes rape culture and killing within our community.
Joe Rogan and COVID and vaccine misinformation are THE WRONG THINGS and Spotify should be the least on our list to boycott.
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Regulators are monitoring and governing the language used by high profile entertainers.
Parents and legislators are monitoring and governing the language used in text books and school curriculum.
Who is going to monitor and govern the language record executives are dumping in the minds of our most impressionable?
Are we so insignificant that we not concern ourselves with the enthusiastic invitations to pills, prostitution and other destructive endeavors projected at our youth?
C’mon Black Community-our apathy is showing!
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Infants born during the pandemic scored lower on developmental skills as compared to those born before the pandemic. Suicide attempts spiked for youth ages 12-17 during the pandemic…and are still rising.
Had the nation’s health experts considered the impact of COVID-19 public health strategies on our youth? Did they consider the mental health toll that their language and use of morbid imagery could have on our most vulnerable?
In episode 180 I share distressing statistics concerning our infants, children and adolescents that have been reported over the last two years. And, who, if anyone can be held accountable?
NOTE: This episode makes mention of suicide and may be triggering for some listeners. Suicidal thoughts or actions, even in very young children, are a sign of extreme distress and should not be ignored. If you or someone you know needs immediate help, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or the Crisis Text Line by texting “home” to 741 741.
Check out the links below for additional information on issues discussed in this episode:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2015/09/16/obama-nudge-government/?sh=14334f6c2c99
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00027-4
https://evidencenotfear.com/grossly-unethical-government-nudge-unit-accused-of-scaring-the-public-over-covid-the-telegraph/
https://psyarxiv.com/y38m9
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/psych/articlepdf/2764584/jamapsychiatry_reger_2020_vp_200017_1603916109.97897.pdf
https://www.rt.com/news/547579-most-uk-covid-admissions-incidental/
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/882722/25-options-for-increasing-adherence-to-social-distancing-measures-22032020.pdf
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/youth-suicide-attempts-soared-during-pandemic-cdc-report-says-n1270463
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/research-highlights/2021/understanding-the-characteristics-of-suicide-in-young-childrenIf you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Stay alert to the divisive language employed by talk show pundits and political leaders concerning the COVID-19 vaccine.
Don Lemon called the unvaccinated stupid and idiots.
Howard Stern said the unvaccinated should not be admitted to hospitals for treatment but instead ‘go home and die.'
Our community cannot afford to widen rifts that already separate us and we do not need more reasons to be at odds with one another.
Regardless of our vaccination status, we have common concerns that we must be united in addressing without standing in judgment and condemnation of each other. Let's not add more reasons to be divided.
Here are a few links to information that I shared in this episode:
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s0730-mmwr-covid-19.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/people-harmed-by-coronavirus-vaccines-will-have-little-recourse-11602432000
https://rumble.com/vrkgip-flashback-rachel-maddow-vaccine-stops-covid-and-prevents-further-transmissi.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfxnKgCN3OY
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Maya Angelou will be the first black woman featured on a U.S. quarter. These quarters will be ready for distribution late January, early February of 2022.
Years ago, the Obama administration announced that Harriet Tubman will be the face of the next twenty dollar bills. Yet insider.com has reported that the Tubman twenties may not be produced until 2030.
Blacks in America have graduated from being literal currency to being featured on currency. Still, the question must be asked: what value will this redesigned money have on the lives of Black people? Will it contribute to meaningful change or will these solely be symbolic gestures?
Certainly symbolism has its place but we are beyond symbols and monuments that do not move the dial forward in our possessing and exercising civil rights.
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Social etiquette is culturally accepted set of standards and protocols that help us function harmoniously with others.
They are guidelines for behavior that support healthy relationships and boundaries and when honored, demonstrates respect for others and ourselves.
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Our social media following is not a true measurement of our significance or our relevance. That is better measured by the impact or change that we can make in the lives of those who are closest to us in the ‘real world’. It is certainly a tool that can be used to amplify the work that we are already doing however.
We must substantiate ourselves with a local footprint first before we seek a broad following because the question can easily be asked…what have you done? And without the ability to point to your real world wins, you are not operating on a firm foundation.
Social media can help us detach from reality. But we must work beyond the 240 twitter characters to truly authenticate our real world value.
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Why is the young black woman’s artistic expression saturated with sexuality?
Dry humping, grinding and gyrating on stage is not a display of talent yet this is the route of so many.
And whether we realize it or not, we propagate a plantation-like mentality in which our bodies are the product brought to market more than our actual talents.
As it was then, it remains today that we are the most unprotected and unprovided for women that we are now trading our dignity for followers, clicks and dollars. Let us pause to consider what are we producing in the hearts and minds of our future generations.
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Richard Williams is a genius. He produced the gods who ruled over tennis and changed the game forever. He is a brilliant black man. FULL STOP.
Some of the press for the film depicting his life as a father and tennis coach is highlighting our culture’s disdain and scorn for Black men. We know Richard Williams because he gave us Venus and Serena. However, recent articles published with the release of the film deals with his alleged failings as a husband.
One such article ‘King Richard' And The Delicate Dance Of Exalting A Flawed Black Man puts attention on the conflicts in his marriage suggesting the film is idealized and lacking authenticity for not addressing his and Oracene’s marital issues.
Can a Black man, can this Black man be celebrated without qualification? “He did great, but…”
The title, '...the delicate dance of exalting a flawed black man….is written as if you can find any man without flaws. There needs not to be a delicate dance to exalt a flawed man because all men - and women - have flaws. It should be no great effort to praise this black man, or any black man, especially when the world is witness to the majesty produced from his very own vision.
The article’s byline 'Tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams' dad, Richard, gains a hagiographical profile in the new film' tells us that the writer thinks this is an idealized biography. All parts of one person’s story does not have to be told in a film for it to be authentic but in particular, this film is about a poor father who used unconventional methods to change the world of international sport. He was unorthodox, misunderstood and hated for not being a weak and pliant Black man.
And after all that he has given us, we still cannot celebrate him? God forbid we honor a Black man without qualification!
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Enjoin one another to good. Persuade one another to do their best, be their best and seek our the best.
In our current ‘I do as I please’ culture, it can be unpopular to promote virtue and accountability.
Yet based on the current trend of the Black community’s outcomes, we need an intervention today!
Let’s start with you and me. When we see our friends and family making choices ill suited for success, love them enough to tap them on their shoulder and encourage a different conclusion.
There will be no community improvement without an improvement in the people.
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No one likes being misunderstood. Misunderstandings can lead to conflict, disappointment, sadness, resentment and conclusions much, much worse.
How you and I manage being misunderstood will be the difference between keeping or losing our own peace of mind.
In Episode 172, I share five key takeaways that I have learned from being misunderstood myself. I share them here with hope that listeners will find these takeaways useful in their own journeys.
- The way others perceive is influenced by the culmination of their life experiences, personality and expectations.
- No one is exempt from being misunderstood.
- Tell the truth and get out of the way.
- Always make clarity, not ego, the goal.
- Misunderstanding may occur due to your own failure in communication.
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The pig is a sick animal that consumes garbage, animal excrement and decaying flesh. Its tissue is riddled with mucous, worms, parasites and viruses that impact the health of its eater.
Even the World Health Organization has concluded that processed pork is a contributor to cancer. It is simply not a meat fit for human consumption.
It is time we follow the science and cancel the swine from our diets.
This episode includes detailed information about the pig and how our bodies are impacted when we eat it.
Below I have included links to books, articles and videos that will educate you more about pork and why we should abstain from this damaging meat.
https://muhammadmen.com/product/how-to-eat-to-live-book-1/
https://muhammadmen.com/product/how-to-eat-to-live-book-two/
http://www.friendsofsabbath.org/Further_Research/Health/The%20Adverse%20Influence%20of%20Pork.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALCizrpQNpc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQg0VRawBHs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNAuhtZuuDM
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-pork-bad
https://draxe.com/nutrition/why-you-should-avoid-pork/
https://www.silverdoctors.com/gold/gold-news/yes-the-scientific-evidence-says-that-eating-pork-does-cause-cancer
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We have acclimated to a mediocre and inferior means of living- in nearly every aspect of our existence in North America.
From areas of health, family, educational outcomes and finances-Black Americans lead in most negative statistics. Whether through mental conditioning or forced enslavement, we are not generally positioned for successful outcomes.
In consideration of our condition, we must rethink the standards by which we are living. If we take a close examination, many of us are conditioned to mediocrity and subpar circumstances.
I would suggest that we raise our standards and habituate ourselves to those standards. If we accustom ourselves to the basic principles of success, success will then become the norm.
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Grammy’s and academy awards are no qualifiers for leadership. Our entertainers are not the authority in matters of national, political, governmental, education and societal affairs. Why then are they sought to speak on behalf of the Black community when there are those who are qualified among us to address these matters?
Celebrities (athletes and entertainers) are paid to play games, dance, play make believe and amuse us in general. How then do we accept their insights on signifiant matters of state when we have those on the ground doing the actual work of promoting change?
Let the comedians make us laugh. Let the singers make us dance. Let the athletes make us cheer. And let the leaders, whose experience qualifies them, speak for us.
No other group like the Black community permits their performers to address matters of importance as if they are authorities in those fields. Why do we?
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We must not let the frustrations of our past mistakes stain the joy our young people have in pursuing their own dreams and ambitions.
We unfairly place the burden of our errors at their feet and pour out a cascade of our grief and regrets. It is selfish and unjust of us to do.
Instead of discouraging our children with a litany of our failures, lift them up and push them towards what’s possible for their lives.
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Propaganda is the systematic dispersion of information (truth or untruths) to persuade opinions, attitudes and ultimately the behavior of people.
It is a tool used in education, retail marketing, religion, entertainment, politics and healthcare. Strategists use propaganda to create followers, manipulate emotions, behaviors and the financial investment of its targets.
This episode shares ways to manage propaganda to get at the truth in all matters.
We cannot afford to be intellectually lazy in this day or we can fall victim to those who are skilled manipulators for the purpose of their own agendas.
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More and more I see requests on social media for followers to post pictures of the interior of their homes and for games which require followers to insert information that could be used for fraudulent purposes.
Episode 166 features ten social media best practice tips for listeners to employ to protect themselves, their property and their loved ones.
1 Refrain from posting the interior of your home
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Be conservative with your posts
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Do not post intoxicated, either from substances or strong emotions
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Do not play the games that ask you to list key details about yourself or family that could also be used to hack your accounts.
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Use strong passwords such as sentences, phrases and use two factor authentication.
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Protect your children by refraining from posting them in their bathing suits, beds and bedrooms and with identifying information such as their school or sports team.
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Know your employer’s social media policies.
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Do not accept every friend request.
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Refrain from posting your personal fears and insecurities.
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Refrain from posting yourself in compromised positions such as when receiving medical treatment, hospitalization, in your bed, bedroom, bathroom and other circumstances where strangers would not be invited.
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To every extent possible we must exert control over that which influences our young people. They are too valuable and our future too precious to defer the responsibility and direction of their lives to outside persuasion.
If we want a future of prosperity, longevity and security-the work is ours to do today to make sure that happens.
Parenting and guidance of our young people is an active - not a passive - job.
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Standard Bearers are those who uphold values or ideas. They are those who champion the values and ideas in which they believe.
They possess the strength to endure changing trends; they have the discipline to remain consistent and on message and the fearlessness to speak to that which is unpopular or unfavored by the masses. If you want to be a leader and be successful, you must possess the qualities of a standard bearer.
In this episode, I share a staunch example of a steadfast sister, Sharazhad Ali, a bold woman speaking on behalf of the Black family for over 30 years. She epitomizes what it is to be a standard bearer. You can find links to videos featuring her here:
https://youtu.be/nG8H4Jyd_no
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9XQ4ia2j0k
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When we conduct ourselves without standards, we devolve into chaos - as evidenced by the outcomes in our community. There must be some acceptable standard for language, dress and behavior - especially in public.
We are so worn down that we’ve acclimated to our substandard conditions and argue with those who encourage us to do and be better. It makes the words of Henry Berry true:
“We have as far as possible closed every avenue by which light may enter the slave’s mind. If we could extinguish the capacity to see the light, our work would be complete; they would then be on a level with the beast of the field and we should be safe.”
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Do not mistake correction for condemnation, they are not the same. To receive correction is to receive guidance when we have erred. We need not assume any judgement has been made upon us.
Too many of us are uncomfortable, agitated and distrustful when receiving counsel that does not align with our attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. I have personal experience with working youth and some adults who perceive instruction as aggression and correction as an attack
One remedy to this is rearing our children to respect authority and habituating them to training and coaching in their youth. Those who have not are easily identified by employers, teachers, mentors and coaches. They are often the most difficult to train and the least receptive to guidance.
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A New Jersey school principal told her faculty that pajamas, do-rags and bonnets are ‘their culture’, referring to the school's black pupils. If this would upset us, what argument do we have with Mo’nique?
She is giving no less than what I received growing up from the women responsible for shaping and cultivating me into womanhood. The rearing, training and chiding (when needed) that I received in my youth conditioned me to appreciate mentorship and guidance as an adult.
It is simple. We need to do better and stop hating the person giving the correction. We may want to ‘do as we please’ but if what we please defies decency and etiquette then we ought to be challenged.
We should want more for ourselves than forcing society to accept our regressed attitudes and behaviors. This is not our culture. It is emblematic of our fall from grace and our own self regard.
These words can be tough to hear for women who are so encouraged to ‘live your life’ and ‘do what makes you happy’. We are being misguided and are misguiding our young folks with this ‘do you’ lifestyle.
I am interested in your feedback. Be sure to email me Nurah@NurahSpeaks or drop me a comment on social media.
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Juneteenth, also known as ‘Freedom Day’, ‘Emancipation Day’ and ‘Liberation Day’ is the day that marks the enforcement of the freedom of slaves in Galveston, Texas.
It was on June 19, 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger enforced the freedom of slaves still held in bondage despite the January 1, 1863 signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the congressional passing of the 13th Amendment on January 31, 1865.
On June 16, 2021 Congress passed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday and President Joe Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021.
This episode is a recording of remarks I gave at a Juneteenth event June 19, 2021, an event facilitated by the Black & Brilliant Events Team in Glassboro, New Jersey. My subject is ‘Priority’. What are our priorities in this day and how do we address them?
Be sure to share your thoughts and comments on this episode. Remember to subscribe to Nurah Speaks and share it with family and friends.
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Nurah Speaks is back with another fresh episode, this time talking about the ‘I Got It’ mentality?
Don’t know what that is?
It is the compulsion of us Black women to reflexively say, “I got it” when offered assistance or support.
We say, “I got it” sometimes without even assessing if help is warranted for the given circumstances. Some of us are so in the habit of not needing anyone that we turn away aid when we could actually use it.
This episode examines why we do that and the implications of this behavior.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Nurah Speaks is a catalyst for change. It is a conversation piece, an information center, inspiration, guidance and love in words. Nurah Speaks listeners are informed, conscientious and committed community members on the front lines of change.
I am grateful for all of the listeners and subscribers of the podcast and especially to those who have commented, rated the show, sent emails, provided critical feedback, contacted me on social media and those who have pulled me aside to share their thoughts on the show.
I am thankful that the podcast is meeting its intended goal of tugging on the soul and consciousness of our people. There is so much work that needs to be done and ‘if we each do a little, no one has to do a lot.’ Those were the words spoken by Judge Charles Dortch, a guest on the show. I have had the honor of featuring the great Judge Dortch and so many other wonderful folks doing incredible work in their communities. I urge you to listen or ‘re-listen’ to the those interviews because there is so much we can learn from the experiences and journeys of others.
I encourage you to keep doing the great work that you are within your community. Continue to be informed and encouraged with the Nurah Speaks podcast and let the show contribute to your work in any way you see fit. If I could be of assistance in any way please do not hesitate to contact me.
Nurah Speaks is for all of us. Should there be any topics or issues you would like to hear about or guests you would like to hear from, let me know.
I pray that the Most High continues to bless each of us.
Keep giving. Keep striving. Keep leading with love and we will not exhaust the good that we have to give. I appreciate you all!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
It is with pleasure that I welcome Mandene Muhammad to the Nurah Speaks audience. Brother Mandene is the founder of Legacy Men’s Boutique, a store providing high end men's clothing and accessories at affordable prices located in the heart of Bronzeville Chicago.
Additionally he is a member of the Coalition for Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad (CROE) and a producer at CROETV studios. He also hosts a weekly radio show ‘Elevated Talk’ on the historic WVON ‘Talk of Chicago’ every Tuesday evening.
Brother Mandene and I discuss many subjects in this episode including his journey from behind the camera and working off stage to now sitting before the microphone hosting his own weekly radio show and being center stage in his business. He speaks to the need of abandoning one’s comfort zone for the sake of personal and professional growth.
This was a conversation long time in the making and I appreciate Brother Mandene for joining me in this episode. His efforts in providing quality media and his acts of service via his boutique are triumphs that must be celebrated and emulated for the good of our people. I hope that after listening to this episode you come away with inspiration and motivation to find your place in the 'work' to improve the condition of our people.
(Please note, this interview was published after the annual Founder's Day fundraiser mentioned in the show. However, you can still make your donation to this great organization by visiting CROE.ORG.)
If you are in the Chicago area, visit Legacy Men’s Boutique located at 107 E. 47th Street Chicago, IL 60653 or call (872) 228-1871.
Visit online at LegacyMensBoutique.com and follow Legacy Men’s Boutique on Facebook and Instagram!
Listen to ‘Elevated Talk’ every Tuesday @10pm EST on WVON streaming on IHeartRadio.
Continue to support CROE.ORG and follow CROETV on Facebook.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Episode 156 challenges our unhealthy tie to dysfunction and deprivation within our community. We have accepted these unfortunate conditions within our community as norms and we ingrain these in our children and the cycle continues.
We have to confront these unhealthy norms and challenge our thoughts and behaviors if we want better for our coming generations.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
We are wrapping up Women’s History Month with this week’s guest Wendy Tabor. Wendy is the President of the Tri County section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). She’s also a Registered Nurse, Entrepreneur, a dedicated community servant and an overall beautiful soul.
Wendy and I touched on a variety of topics in this interview including:
- How her upbringing influenced her path in leadership and entrepreneurship
- The history of the NCNW and the Tri County chapter’s community service goals
- Her experience with the COVID 19 Vaccine
The NCNW was founded in 1935 by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and for more than fifty years, Dr. Dorothy Height served as president. Currently Johnnetta Betsch Cole serves as the elected chair.
This was a great conversation with a woman who is passionate about service.
If you would like to get involved or lend your support, you can contact Wendy by email: NCNWTriCounty@gmail.com.
Follow the NCNW Tri County chapter @NCNWTriCounty on Facebook and Instagram.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
A boss says, “Go.” A leader says, “Let’s go!”
There are important delineations between a leader, someone in charge, and a boss, someone who is also in charge. The delineations lie in the perspective they have of their role, how they operate within their authority or power, how they relate to their members/employees and how they take responsibility for the outcomes of the operation.
In episode 154, I share key differences between bosses and leaders and important ways those in authority can help and support the team members that they lead.
Here are some examples:
A boss takes credit. A leader gives credit.
A boss commands. A leader influences.
Bosses hold others accountable. Leaders hold themselves accountable.
Remember, every boss is not a leader and every leader is not a boss. Take a listen to this episode and let it inform how we engage with those with whom we work - whether on the job, in a civic organization, a family or your church or temple.
Let me know what you think of this episode by sending an email or posting a comment on the podcast's social media pages.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Earlier this month a mother reported her 13 year old son was severely bullied and forced to drink urine at a school mate's sleepover. It is alleged that a video of the incident was circulated among his classmates. The story is unbelievably horrific and difficult to read. The trauma this child experienced and the anguish of his mother is unimaginable.
Bullying and cruelty among children is not uncommon. We must take steps to protect our children from the sort of abuse that becomes nightmares. The greatest control that we have is in the protection we provide within our own homes.
Sleepovers are fun, exciting and a great way for children to bond. They are also means for perpetrators (other children or adults) to victimize children.
I encourage parents and guardians to think very carefully before allowing their children to spend the night outside their homes. A link to the story follows with links to other incidents of abuse at sleepovers. Please be advised, the content in some of these links may be triggering to some. Please advance accordingly.
https://theblacknewsreport.com/2021/03/07/texas-police-investigating-after-mom-alleges-13-year-old-son-was-attacked-with-bb-gun-forced-to-drink-urine-from-a-cup-by-white-peers-at-a-sleepover/
Other stories:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9357477/Mom-sexually-assaulted-daughters-friends-sleepovers-gave-alcohol-pot-gummies.html
https://whyy.org/articles/rethinking-sleepovers-in-the-face-of-sexual-abuse/
https://dreamindemon.com/community/threads/dad-sexually-abused-daughter%E2%80%99s-friends-during-sleepover-at-his-house.116715/
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
We are back with another LIVE streamed episode of Nurah Speaks with this week’s guest Dr. Nicole Muhammad, founder of Sew Elevated. Sew Elevated is a luxury women’s fashion brand created to empower and elevate the women who wear her designs.
In this conversation Dr. Nicole Muhammad discusses developing a consciously driven brand, the diverse partnerships needed to launch her line and a behind the scenes look at developing Sew Elevated.
She shares important insights that will benefit listeners no matter what their vocation, interests or goals. This episode was streamed live on Facebook and can be viewed on the Nurah Speaks Facebook page.
Be sure to follow Sew Elevated on Instagram @SewElevated and Facebook to stay up to date with the brand and definitely visit the website SewElevated.com.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Angela Lewis is this week’s phenomenal guest on the Nurah Speaks Podcast! Angela hails from St. Louis and is a former pro basketball player, championship coach, international speaker and author.
Angela is the founder of Ignite Her Game Academy where she teaches girls about more than basketball. She delivers life skills using the game as an analogy for life. As basketball opened a world of opportunities for Angela, she wants the same for the girls in her programs.
She has been featured on the Black News Channel, in the St. Louis Business Journal and on over 20 podcasts. Angela is committed to helping prepare the next generation of young women to lead the next and she started Ignite Her Game Academy to ensure they have the life skills to conquer any challenge.
Visit her website angelarlewis.com and follow Angela on Twitter and IG @angela_r_lewis and on Facebook @angelalewisbasketball.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Jamil Muhammad is the Executive Producer and Host at C.R.O.E. Television Productions, based in Chicago, Illinois. He hosts the signature programs Muhammad & Friends and the Munir Muhammad Show.
C.R.O.E. Television Productions was created by the Coalition for Remembrance of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad (CROE), a non profit organization whose aim is to deliver informative political, social and economic programming to the public. Jamil Muhammad walks in the footsteps of his father, Munir Muhammad, a previous guest on the Nurah Speaks Podcast and co-founder of CROE. Brother Munir served as the Executive Producer and Host for nearly 30 years.
C.R.O.E. TV has programs that air daily in Chicago and Jamil Muhammad can be relied upon to share relevant and meaningful content with viewers. He welcomes guests with insights in various matters including local and national politics, policing and mass incarceration, physical and mental healthcare, business and economics, education, international relations and so much more.
I was eager to host Jamil on the podcast to share the unique history of CROE, the Nation of Islam’s impact on the Black Power movement and to provide an accurate history on the legacy of Malcolm X. We discussed the current social and political climate and our best next steps to achieve justice and equality.
This is an insightful conversation and one that you will not find in the mainstream platforms. You can view this interview in its entirety on my Youtube channel. Be sure to follow Jamil Muhammad on Facebook and watch CROETV livestreams.
You can view CROE TV streaming live every Sunday at 3:30pm est and every Wednesday at 7pm est. Follow on Facebook @CROETV and subscribe to CROETV on YouTube where you can view archived shows. Visit CROE.ORG to learn more.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Welcome to the Black History episode that nearly wasn’t! I decided right after the new year, I would not be doing a 2021 Black History episode. Frankly, I really dreaded another month coming in where we pretended at having cultural pride in our Blackness.
Coming from a year of national unrest following the tragic killings of countless Black men and Black women by state actors, we have asked for little more than love from those who so obviously object to our very existence.
Our tactics include demonstrable outrage, eloquent chiding, drafting of legislation and extreme affection. Yet none of these has been convincing to halt the exclusion of us from civil freedoms and the withholding of our human rights.
Instead I propose we cease with our vain efforts and direct this unconditional love to ourselves, where the real change needs to start. If we want genuine respect and true freedom, justice and equality, it will only be ours once we enjoin love and unity with self.
Love and honor from others is not possible until we love and honor ourselves.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This week’s Nurah Speaks guest is Sister Colette Muhammad of ‘Canning with Colette.’ Sister Colette is a registered member of the Nation of Islam and learned the proper canning of foods in the Sisters’ class and now she provides these classes to others.
In this episode, Sister Colette shares why canning is an important food preservation technique that benefits both our physical and financial health. Her mission is to take away the stigma, anxiety and fears associated with canning in the black and brown community specifically. She wants others to embrace this skill not only as a necessity as it relates to the time and what must be done, but also as a joyous experience of self accomplishment in doing for self.
This was an informative conversation especially in light of the recent pandemic and economic hardship of many across this nation.
Be sure to follow Sister Colette on Facebook SisterColette Muhammad and Instagram @SisterColette and visit her website KitchenSplendor.co where you can register for her canning classes and purchase her ebook.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Although racism is a terrible and cruel thing, it is not the most pressing of our present challenges. Our greatest and gravest issues since Emancipation and Jim Crow have been a destructive and self deprecating mindset that inhibits our desire to meets the needs of our people.
Our tee-shirts and caps claim “Black and Proud,” however a great measure of our political and social activism does not demonstrate pride and confidence in our own abilities which makes the sting of racism that more painful.
Racism would be much less a factor in our lives if we capitalized on our skills and know-how and the trillions of dollars passing through our hands annually.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I am joined this week by Sister Aquila Ali. Aquila is a member of the Coalition for Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad (CROE) and is an integral part of their media production team. Unfortunately for black women in media, the bar has been set very low in terms of image and content. However Aquila continues to endure as an example of character and integrity
In this conversation, Aquila chronicles her journey in becoming a member of CROE and a student of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, her role within the media production team and she shares what she believes black women must understand about the root of our confidence.
You are going to enjoy this conversation and it will surely enlighten listeners to the unexplored prominence that women have in the Nation of Islam.
To learn more about CROE and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad visit CROE.org. Make sure you watch and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC--UCt5LqFF3IW5fLn5lH2g and follow on facebook @CROETV. Email your inquiries to croe@Croe.org
You can view CROETV streaming live every Wednesday at 6pm(cst) and every Sunday 2pm(cst).
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
On this MLK Day of Service be reminded of the fullness of Dr. King’s movement. We cannot let him be another figure we memorialize in distortion. He was more than his passive resistance. He was a fierce opponent of injustice, standing in full defiance to racism, poverty and unjust war.
On this 26th MLK Day of Service, 53 years after his tragic assassination, be reminded that the justice he sought then, we still seek today. The work must continue and it must continue with us.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
In an era popular with youth task forces and social programs serving ‘at risk’ youth, we must ask what we can do to head off delinquent behaviors in our young people.
In this episode, I suggest that ‘Family Is The Best Social Program’ and I have research that I share to support this assertion. The research indicates that, “Children born to unmarried mothers generally receive lower human capital investments because the contractual partnership between the parents is less stable, and sometimes nonexistent (Becker, 1981).”
In other words, we increase the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes for our children when we do not anchor them in families to provide them the needed moral, social and economic supports. Frankly, we cannot reasonably expect to make a healthy community when a large segment of our children are conceived by people who dislike their child's other parent or with whom they do not want to create a family.
Families are the beginning of life lessons that cultivate us to interact within our broader community and nation. So if we are diminishing the value of family, we diminish the possibility for our community.
And as the Black community is diminishing the value of traditional family, our youth are still seeking the natural structure and balance that a family provides. Therefore, some youth are finding their family in gangs. Some are finding their family in pimps and traffickers. Some are finding their family in drugs. And some are finding their family in prison.
We just cannot get around basic needs. Children need to know that they belong. Children need to know that they are valued. We cannot continue ignoring their inherent needs and wonder why youth are delinquent after we’ve deprived them of a solid foundation.
We do not need another government funded program as much as we need strong families.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
References:
**https://phys.org/news/2010-07-crime-linked-out-of-wedlock-births.html
**https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/8031/1/MPRA_paper_8031.pdf
In this week’s episode we hear from Dr. Sandra West. Dr. West is an optometrist having over 27 years of practice. She also happens to be my own personal physician.
I met Dr. West several years ago when I scheduled a routine vision exam and to my surprise and pure delight the doctor was a Black woman. Interestingly enough, when I attended a business conference in New Orleans several months later, we found ourselves meeting again as attendees of the same conference.
I invited Dr. West to the show not because she is my personal physician but because of what I knew she could offer Nurah Speaks listeners. Not only does Dr. West explain when we should begin vision checks, but also what our doctors are checking for and some of the latest technology aiding optometrists today. Additionally she shares insights into her own childhood, how she was raised by dynamic parents and what parents can do today to prepare children for future success.
Dr. West is an advocate for STEM and vocational training and she is a motivational speaker. This was an informative and inspiring conversation for me and I hope it will be for you too,
Follow Dr. West on Instagram @sandrawest_speaks. You can email her at stwestod@gmail.com.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Some may wonder why I close each show with the words ‘Stay in peace!’ As peace is literally my religion and my way of life, it is also my message. And in such a trying time as this-it is more important than ever that we focus on efforts to increase or maintain our peace by focusing on self care.
So - as we close out 2020 with Episode 146, I share ways in which we can attend to our own self care needs.
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Manage Your Stress-Take on COVID stress with activities that can give you relief and enjoyment. Be sure to avoid increased alcohol consumption and never use it to manage stress. If you need to, seek professional counseling. You are not alone.
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Do Not Overtax Ourselves or Our Children with Remote Learning-Remote learning certainly has its challenges for parents who are either working outside the home or inside the home. If there are concerns or limitations, be sure to communicate with your child’s teacher or school administrators, if necessary. In cases where you see your or your child’s stress rising - just unplug for a bit and step back. Be patient with yourself and your child.
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Create A Daily Routine-Routines are great for us and our children. It is especially good to eat on schedule and avoid the ‘grazing’ that leads to weight gain.
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Tackle New Home Projects-Since we are spending more time than ever at home, make sure it is as comfortable as possible. Organize that closet, clean the garage or spruce up your home office. You can give your rooms a fresh look by adding a coat of paint, a few houseplants or other simple and inexpensive alterations.
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Get Your Medical and Dental Checkups-Now is not the time to put off our checkups. Stay on top of your annual visits including imaging and routine labwork as indicated by your physician. Be sure to inform your doctor of any changes or concerns you have regarding your health.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
When the world settles into its new normal, Nurah Speaks will still be here! Therefore, I am actively preparing for the 2021 season of the podcast. I have several goals for the upcoming year including: featuring 13 insightful guests, refining the podcast, increasing listener engagement, and more.
If you have ideas, show topics, or guests you'd like featured, please feel free to email me info@NurahSpeaks.com. If you have questions, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
We cannot be on the fence forever being neither this nor that, never having made a commitment or obligating ourselves to one direction or another.
Indecisiveness is obstructive to our personal development. It is time now to make a choice.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Real ‘Juvenile Justice’ is having a culture that promotes stability and wellness for our most vulnerable population, our children. The injustice is that the modern norms of our culture promote dysfunction that we expect social workers, clinicians, judges and juvenile justice staff to repair.
Studies show that most children within the juvenile justice systems have experienced adversity in their childhood as evidenced by ACEs (Adverse Childhood experiences) surveys. Adverse Childhood experiences are preventable. But unless we promote stability and safety to the families in our communities we will keep relinquishing our children to the care of the state to fix what could have been prevented by advocating for strong families.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Do not let your guard down with COVID-19. Although we are nearing a year with this pandemic, it is no less severe an illness. We should continue employing the preventative measures to maintain our protection from the virus.
•Wear a mask
•Maintain physical distancing
•Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water
•Avoid crowds and confined spaces.
To learn more about COVID 19 visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.htmlPrevention
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Today marks the third anniversary of Nurah Speaks!
I am extremely humbled and grateful to have been blessed with such a special opportunity for the last three years.
Although my studio has had some changes, my equipment has changed, the goal of this production has not. Love is still the foundation and the goal remains to tug on the soul and consciousness of the Black Community.
In these quick three years, I have learned so much and I hope that you, my listeners, have been learning along the way with me. “Thank you” for all of your support and encouragement. It has been an honor to serve you in this way and I am eager for what the next three years will bring.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
What a clever, clever trick it was to convince the dominant that the dominant is recessive and that the recessive is dominant! And as a result, we witness the dominant having with a recessive mindset and functioning with recessive behaviors.
What is the evidence of our recessive mindset? Low Self Esteem. Insecurity. Dependency. Apathy. Self Hatred.
If we do not unlock our latent genius for the purpose of self love and self service, our progress will forever be limited. It is through education and learning the knowledge of self that we will recognize our own excellence and begin functioning with the distinction that is rightfully ours.
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Now that we have decided who is going to Washington D.C., let’s get to the business of solving problems closer to home.
What is our agenda? What plans are we making for our own communities? Have we given this any thought?
In whatever plans we make, I believe we should begin with these four steps:
Love One Another:
We need to discharge of ego and self hatred and return to Black Love.
Clean Up:
We should throw away the garbage that distorts our reality, physically and mentally.
Create Institutions that serve our Common Good:
We need healthcare providers who care, listen and treat us with dignity. We need schools wherein we are not concerned that our children are learning to be inferior.
Support One Another Economically:
We should be conservative in our spending and do business with each other. We shouldn't look for others to do for us what we can do for ourselves.
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Gossip is toxic and impacts the growth potential of your organization and its members. If you want your organization, company or group to flourish, you must root out gossip.
In this episode, I share four reasons why people gossip. Understanding a gossip's motivation can help leaders target the character building a member needs to become an essential agent rather than a source of disruption. However, since character is an inside job, a leader can only have so much impact.
At some point, a gossip must be isolated from doing irreversible damage to the group's overall success.
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Some say, “I am not my ancestors!” Often this suggests weakness or complicity in our ancestors in their own suffering. However, I say, you are right - you are not your ancestors because in fact some of us are our ancestors’ worst fears come true.
In projecting their thoughts to the future, surely they’d never have imagined the complacency some of us have in our condition, our willful assassination of our own, our disunity, our selfishness or our manifest self hatred.
I imagine they'd expect the pain of our existence to eventually end but who could have predicted we would be the greatest source of our own harm?
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It obstructive thinking to assume that someone whose success you admire could not relate to your own struggles. Do not let the polish that someone has, likely from years of refinement and training, put you off from opportunities to learn and grow into who you wish to become.
Do seek help from those who are where you want to be. Their talent and their polish is the testament that qualifies you to seek their wisdom and their guidance. Don't let your own fears and insecurity get in the way of your personal and professional growth.
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Megan Thee Stallion and other Black entertainers give mixed messages when pushing for social justice and protection of Black women while singing lyrics and showcasing behaviors that promote the exact opposite.
These are conversations we must have.
We must call out these dichotomies because them saying one thing but promoting and profiting from the other is disingenuous and misleading.
Choose a lane. We cannot be for Black women’s empowerment and protection yet degrade Black women at the same time and say that we want what’s best for Black women.
Our actions are telling a different story.
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Gentrification is a frequent topic of social justice conversations among academics, urban planners and social activists. In short, gentrification is the upgrading of dilapidated property and deteriorated neighborhoods which often results in the displacement of lower income residents.
Often, it is white and affluent suburbanites returning to cities after the white flight of the 60’s and 70’s when whites moved out of cities to outlying suburbs.
When whites left, there was also a major depletion of industry, jobs, property values and in general local investment. This resulted in unemployment, poverty and spikes in crime rates.
In this episode, I question if there was anything that Blacks could have done differently in urban centers to prevent the deterioration of our communities.
As we are now facing the reclamation of cities by middle class, affluent and mostly white investors, are we now being confronted with our own lack of action resulting in this current vulnerability?
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None more than black folk use the phrase, “I’m just doing me.” However there are limits to individualism. Individualism restricts growth and minimizes progress. While group activity is a necessary part of life, it is essential for the function of society.
Group activity and associations can enhance our communication skills, broaden our perspectives, improve character and so much more.
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Is urban media representing a culture that values the worth of black women? Is it time yet in our 'cancel culture' that we pull the plug on the degradation of our women? Or will we continue to go along to get along supporting entertainers who imprint degenerate standards in the minds of our youth?
If we do not put in the work to counter the barbaric narratives targeting our young people, we really should be more concerned than we already are for our future.
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“Let every Leader be Swift to hear, Slow to speak.”
Our community needs our leaders to be wise and guided by truth and not their (or others’) emotions. When the People want our immediate reactions, Leaders must always be discerning and responsible-swift to hear and slow to speak.
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Organizing is incremental and organizing with any group of people has its challenges.
However organizing Black people has its very specific and unique challenges due in large part to the trauma of the Black American experience.
If we do not understand the psychology of our people, we are easily frustrated, overly critical and very quickly burned out.
If one is not willing to lead with love, one cannot lead Black people.
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There is so much we can do to make our communities great and decent places to live. BUT decent communities do not only require accountability of the mayor or city council. It also requires that we be good neighbors to each other!
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EVERYONE COUNTS!
Every 10 years the U.S. Census Bureau counts the population in the United States and five U.S. territories.
The results of this count will impact school breakfast programs, highway planning, special education grants, low income home energy assistance programs, SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program), Head Start and so much more.
You Count.
Complete and return your census questionnaire so that federal funds, YOUR TAX DOLLARS, can serve the community where you live.
You won’t get another chance for 10 years!
To learn more about the 2020 Census and what it means to you, listen to Episode 128 of the Nurah Speaks Podcast.
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This is not an “either or” scenario. We can and must address community violence and police brutality at the same time as both are issues of great importance.
We should not be persuaded that we have to quiet down about police brutality because we have an ongoing issue with so-called 'Black on Black' crime. The presence of one issue does not disqualify us addressing the severity of the other.
Let’s also be careful with the alarmist narrative about community violence as if Black people are the only ones killing their own kind. Violence is generally committed against someone by someone of the same racial class.
For example, in 2018 of 3,315 white murder victims, 2,677 white perpetrators were identified, roughly 81%. In the same year, of 2,925 Black murder victims, 2,6000 perpetrators were black, roughly 89%. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-6.xls.
This does not mean that we give our own community violence a pass-it is never acceptable. But we do need perspective on the issue.
Regarding police interactions, statistics show that Black people have more fatal interactions with law enforcement, although accounting for only 13% of the population.
“The rate of fatal police shootings in the United States shows large differences based on ethnicity. Among Black Americans, the rate of fatal police shootings between 2015 and June 2020 stood at 31 per million of the population, while for White Americans, the rate stood at 13 fatal police shootings per million of the population.” https://www.statista.com/statistics/1123070/police-shootings-rate-ethnicity-us/
There is a general devaluing of Black life conceived at the genesis of this great nation. We do not have to choose which issue to address. Both are of such urgency that they must be confronted now!
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In the rise of entrepreneurship within the Black community, we have neglected the most important businesses that makes communities successful.
•Family
•Education
•Remembrance of God (Church, Mosque, Temple)
We cannot be about the business of business while neglecting that which anchors our community most.
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Our language and choice of words matters a great deal when discussing the history of this nation. This week’s episode is an examination of common language usage and how our words influence that on which we focus.
Episode 125 gives the listener a grammar lesson reminiscent of that which we received in elementary school.
For example: “Teachers teach.”
Here you are presented with a subject and verb. In this sentence, teachers are the actors.
“Teachers teach students.”
This example shows us the object of the teacher’ actions. The object in this sentence is ‘students’. The students are being acted upon by the teachers.
Often in review of American history, specifically that deemed “Black History,” we are presented with something like the following:
“Blacks were enslaved.” “Blacks were lynched.” “Blacks were killed.”
The subject in each of the sentences is “Blacks.” The sentences informs us that Blacks had something occur to them. But, the picture is incomplete without naming an actor.
However the sentence, “Whites enslaved Blacks,” gives us a fuller picture. “Whites lynched Blacks” does as well.
These sentences not only inform us that blacks were enslaved and lynched but it also informs us WHO the enslavers and lynchers were. Here we are presented with the subject (Whites) who are the actors and the object (Blacks) of their actions.
This brings us from a narrow focus to a broader focus. (Imagine looking a picture that is all but concealed except for a small area.)
By excluding the actor in these discussions, our attention naturally shifts to the object of the actor. However, including the actor permits us to analyze much more than the object-we are now able to analyze the actor and his actions. (Now the whole picture visible!)
Therefore, as we are having socially conscious conversations wherein Blacks are deputized in explaining the part of American history designated as ‘Black History’, we should refrain from putting the emphasis on ourselves.
Rather, we should put emphasis on the actors who were the deniers of liberty, the actors who constructed systems of ongoing oppression, the actors who were practitioners of death.
That context is important.
Wherein, historically, we have highlighted our own experiences and the effect systemic abuses had on our own people - we were limited to only a self examination. Redirecting or at least sharing emphasis with the actor allows us to analyze the character and nature of those who would enact such atrocities upon us.
Language matters.
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They removed the statues. They’ve rename the streets. Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “Black Lives Matter.” So now what?
How do these symbolic gestures measure up in the absence of broad reaching meaningful change?
Do not count your chickens before they hatch Brothers and Sisters! And do not make more of these gestures than the real consequential changes that must be made.
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It is no secret that Black fathers and Black men, in general, are undervalued and unappreciated in this country. Because of that, and in celebration of Father's Day, I am sharing excerpts from previous interviews with Haidar and Qahhar Muhammad, my own sons.
In this episode, not only do they share lessons they've learned from their father, but also the value that fathers play in the lives of their children.
Despite media promoting single parenting in the Black community, the souls of our children are crying for the stability that families create. Our children need fathers or key male figures in the absence of their fathers.
We are imbalanced without them.
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We have their attention, now what? What are we asking for?
Whatever the ask, our demands should be Actionable, Measurable and Permanent.
We have been assuaged for too long with sentiments and empty platitudes that do not create substantive change. This go round we should be smarter and more sophisticated.
We must no longer accept temporary measures when what is needed most is indelible and fundamental reform.
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Dissatisfaction produces change. The greater the dissatisfaction, the greater the change.
The people have spoken and they are dissatisfied with the unjust killing of Black people by law enforcement. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, John Crawford, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Atatiana Jefferson are among those who have been killed during interactions with police. This tragic list unfortunately goes on to include many, many more.
As demonstrators have taken their protests downtown, there are many commentators who are unhappy with the nature of the demonstrations. Among the mostly peaceful protests has been looting, arson, vandalism and property destruction.
It is important to note that there has been organized right wing and left wing militants responsible for property damage, fires and much of the chaos. Oddly placed pallets of bricks were spotted in many cities in non-construction or non-work zones. There has also been coordinated groups breaking store front glass and lighting fires in retail districts. But among these destructive actors are also lawless local opportunists taking advantage of the chaos.
The protestors have been disruptive, loud and inconvenient to political leaders, businesses and law enforcement. The nature of any protest is to be disruptive. The people are at a tipping point and the chaos that has ensued in America is symptomatic of America’s sickness.
Rebellions are not civil. They are not passive. They are not convenient. Radical change in this country was never born from polite movements. That is the price of injustice.
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In many ways, I don't need to record another podcast episode to talk about what's happened in Minneapolis. You can go to the Nurah Speaks archives. The last episode, ‘Action Is The Defining Measure Of Revolution’ talks about what's happened to our brother and to too many other brothers and too many sisters and too many families and communities across this nation.
We need guidance, we need leadership. And as someone who has this platform, I know that it is my responsibility to be dignified, civilized and truthful.
I also know that the truth will sting some and inform all.
And that is the purpose of this message- to deliver the truth, to share information that is not going to just inspire us to feel good-but that's going to inspire us to take action.
We cannot keep wait for others to stand up and to speak the loudest on issues that affect us the most.
We have to give the energy and effort that is going to equal the change that we say that we want and that we need.
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Revolutions are defined by the actions we take to produce radical change. In 2020, the Black community is still petitioning for justice, fairness and equity within a country founded on unimaginable crimes committed against humanity.
We have marched; we have sat in, we have stood, we have sang, we have boycotted and we have been ignored.
In spite of our efforts we remain outside of the gates of justice.
Our mistake has been putting the burden of change on the patron of our pain. The burden to change is our own. This includes extreme adjustments in our behaviors and performance as a people.
If all we want is to talk about the problem of injustice, we can continue to demonstrate. But if we truly want a revolution, our actions must be commensurate to the changes we want to generate for our people.
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Not all are celebrating Mother’s Day in the same way. Some are celebrating without their mothers and some mothers are celebrating without their children. In honor of this Mother’s Day, I want to share an interview with a mother who I admire greatly, Sonja Prince.
Sonja is the Executive Director of the Kwesi Prince Foundation, a pediatric cancer organization dedicated to providing support to families suffering the devastating effects of Childhood Cancer with a focus on brain tumors. The foundation is named in honor of Kwesi Prince, Sonja’s son, who was diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumor in 2010 when he was just 7 years old. After multiple brain surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and a bone marrow transplant, Sonja lost Kwesi in 2014.
Listen as Sonja shares their journey and the amazing work of the Kwesi Prince Foundation.
This conversation with Sonja is informative and listeners will learn:
-how friends and family can support caregivers of children with cancer
-the extreme need for increased funding for pediatric cancer research
-why it’s important that caregivers optimize their own health and wellness
-what Kwesi’s journey helped her learn about life
Learn more by visiting the KwesiPrinceFoundation.org. Listen to the Kwesi Prince Foundation Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kwesi-prince-foundation-podcast/id1437749605.
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Leadership can be more pain than glory and few truly appreciate the demands of a good leader. Anyone seeking to be in leadership (or those already leading) should ask themselves the following important questions:
Who - Who are you- Who do you want to lead-Who has lead you-Who is leading you now?
What - What are your qualifications that validates your desire for leadership?
Where - What is your ultimate destination for those whom you wish to lead? What is your end-goal?
When - Will you serve only when it’s convenient? Are you a 9-5 leader? Or will you serve when it is not easy or convenient, when the cameras are not rolling, when the crowd is not large, when your allies are not present?
Why - What is your why and motivation? Are you leading for clout, ego, vanity or personal access? Can your 'why' make you vulnerable?
How - How will you lead? What is your leadership style?
How Much- How much are you willing to give and how much are you willing to endure?
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Liberal media using Donald Trump as the scapegoat for American racism is a distraction. Sure, his language may be deemed incendiary to some and insensitive to others. However, we have to be clear that he is not the author of bigotry or prejudicial behavior in this country. There is a four decades long track record of racism in the American fabric that existed well before Trump’s business endeavors or presidency.
We can easily become distracted when pundits, cable news anchors or commentators scream “Racism” each time Trump says or tweets something outrageous. Before major news outlets were following his tweets, we, Black people in America, faced racism in the housing markets, in education, in healthcare, in the criminal justice system, and so on. If our attention is diverted from breaking down inequities in these structures each time someone screams about Trump, what progress would we make?
Here is an example…
I read an article recently which recounted racist slurs and insults directed towards an American fencer and USA Fencing’s sports performance manager, both of whom are black. The author writes that the athlete and her teammates were being honored via a Zoom conference for winning a title at the 2018 championships when a disruptor joined and typed the hateful language in the chat throughout the program.
She wrote, “That anyone feels emboldened or entitled enough to utter those slurs is reprehensible though, sadly, unsurprising. Racism and discrimination are cornerstones of President Donald Trump’s administration, and Trump never misses an opportunity to make people of color feel unwelcome in a country where we nearly everyone of us were an “other” at one point.”
The writer includes Trump in the piece as if he is relevant to the incident. What does the President or his administration have to do with someone disturbing a celebratory event? He is not the author of racism. That is a distraction and we are too behind to lose focus.
Instead allowing media to shift our attention to the antics of Trump- we must understand that the American institution is honeycombed with policies to deprive us of civil and human rights. We must remember that there are networks which sustain and benefit from them and that those networks include individuals from all sides of the ideological landscape.
I encourage you to stay focused. Donald Trump is only a scapegoat commentators use to deflect from what has always been inherent in the foundation of this nation. But he is not the author of racism. No, he is only a symptom of it.
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References for this week's episode:
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/Publications/pdf/HUD-514_HDS2012_execsumm.pdf
https://www.thoughtco.com/racism-in-health-care-still-a-problem-2834530
https://www.bustle.com/p/this-is-proof-that-institutional-racism-is-still-very-much-a-problem-43610 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2020/04/25/zoom-us-fencer-subjected-racist-abuse-call-gets-little-support/3023301001/
Recently, Dr. Terry Mason, former Commissioner of Public Health for the City of Chicago, was a guest on CROE-TV discussing how we can stay healthy during the coronavirus pandemic. He shared four key steps that should implemented for good health during our current crises and at any time:
1. Manage Stress
When our stress is high, our the stress hormone cortisol is released into the blood stream. Cortisol increases our heart rate, blood pressure, constricts our blood vessels and increases blood glucose levels.
These health impacts over an extended period of time can lead to significant health issues like heart disease, heart attacks, stroke and diabetes.
2. Get Proper Sleep
Poor sleep can increase inflammation, blood pressure, insulin resistance, cortisol, weight gain, and cardiovascular disease, as well as decrease blood sugar regulation.
Less than five hours sleep per night on a regular basis is associated with higher mortality, and having less than seven hours sleep for three nights in a row has the same effect on the body as missing one full night of sleep.
3. Drink Water
All of the organs, tissues and cells in our bodies require water for proper functioning. But remember you do not just have to jug a gallon size bottle of water, if we are eating fresh fruits and vegetables, they too contain water.
Water is also good for bowel motility, joint health (the cushioning agent of joints and discs of the spine – consists of about 80 percent water),hair and skin.
4. Eat Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Dr. Mason advises us to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, especially those deeply colored. These foods have antioxidants which protects our blood vessels. It is essential that we intake nutrients and minerals from their original sources (fruit and vegetables) so that they are more likely to be absorbed and used by the body
Dr. Mason's interview can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ccWQOrKV4E. Dr. Mason continues to be a leading expert in health and wellness and was most recently the chief operating officer for the Cook County Department of Pubic Health.
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If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Fasting has such great benefits for our health. But it contradicts with our American culture that promotes an overindulgent lifestyle wherein we are encouraged to do, say and be whatever we want.
However, as we are confronted now more than ever with our mortality in the wake of COVID19, we really have to examine our thoughts and habits around food-and the impacts on our health.
Fasting is the foregoing of food for a specified period of time and it has several benefits including:
•cleanses impurities from the blood
•causes the body to eliminate toxins from previous meals
•allows the body to rest
•clears the mind
•regulates the mood, promotes a humble spirit
If you are challenged with high blood pressure and high blood sugar consider changing your eating habits. Three, four, six times a day to eat puts a lot of tax and strain on the digestive system.
I encourage you to research the benefits of fasting for yourself. If you want to try fasting, I would encourage you to begin eliminating meals. For example, if you eat three meals a day, only eat two meals daily. If you eat two meals per day, reduce down to one. Then when you are in the habit of eating once every 24 hours, take it to 48 hours.
Remember, feeling hungry won’t kill you and hunger pangs pass. Plus, you will enjoy the rewards of setting a goal and sticking to it.
Get a copy of the book How To Eat To Live and try to eat as it prescribes. Your body and your mind will thank you.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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We know about the disparities in healthcare. We know of the inequities in access and treatment. Therefore, the best choices we have are to create optimal wellness through good lifestyle choices and begin development of a healthcare network of our own.
Though some may say that developing our own healthcare system is a long ways away, good choices are ours to make today. If there is anything that the COVID-19 pandemic is showing us is that in a national emergency we will continue to suffer the most and suffer the worst. What will we do differently so that when the next crises comes, we will be a much less vulnerable population?
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Let’s create a lifestyle for ourselves that supports good physical and financial health. This way, if we live in a state of readiness, we will be better prepared when life’s next disaster strikes.
Healthwise-
Don’t smoke, drink and abuse drugs. Eat nutritiously. Practice fasting. Get plenty of exercise, at least 20 minutes daily.
Financially-
Create a rainy day fund and stash it in a high interest savings account. Set up recurring deposits.
Consider what you wish you had now. Greater savings? Self employment? Home based business? Better health. Survival kit? Write it down and in this moment of forced stillness, consider what you can begin to do to make this your reality.
In the episode, I share briefly how my lifestyle of 20 plus years has helped me to be prepared for straiter times as a tenuous food supply and economic instability. The links below can explain more on the benefits of navy beans and eating one meal a day as is customary in my culture and religion.
https://www.top8homeremedies.com/health-benefits/17-health-benefits-of-navy-beans/
https://www.lifetimedaily.com/navy-bean-nutrition-facts/
“Eat a single meal a day, no matter what anyone says. If your doctor says that you should eat more than one meal a day, ignore him with a smile and eat only once a day. If he tells you he eats three meals a day, tell him that his length of life is about the same as his patients. Then, tell the doctor to try eating one meal a day.
The more idle our stomachs are, the longer they will last. The more we tax our stomach, the
sooner it ears out.” From How To Eat To Live Book 1 https://www.amazon.com/How-Eat-Live-Book-1-ebook/dp/B005IT99FA
https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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We are in unprecedented times.
•World Wide Pandemic
•National Crises
•State of Emergency
•Social distancing
•Executive Orders
•Mandatory Curfews
In all of this confusion and uncertainty, I want my Nurah Speaks family to know that, "I am in this with you!" And I believe that by being smart, safe and informed-we can keep our sanity as this crises passes.
In this episode, I share tips to help you protect your physical and emotional wellness and that of your loved ones. Think of all those times that you didn't have time to do what you wanted or needed to do…
•Start that home project
•Start that new book
•Master new recipes
•Get your exercise in
•Spend time loving on your spouse and children
To help maintain your spirits- rise early, get dressed and do your hair. Just because you may be stuck inside, do not neglect attending to your personal care and grooming. It also is not ideal to spend all day in the clothes that you slept in.
While you may not need to put on your business suit, you can still put on something that looks great on you. How we appear to ourselves is connected to how we feel about ourselves.
However, if for some reason we must leave our homes...
•Use protective gear: gloves, masks
•Follow guidelines from your state and local officials
•Vigorously wash hands often and for at least 20 seconds
•Use hand sanitizer when washing is not possible
•Maintain a safe distance from others
•At all possible, sanitize packaged items brought into the house, especially items for the pantry and refrigerator
In closing, use these general tips:
•Eat to Live
•Maintain a full tank of gas
•Have some emergency cash on your person
•Stay up to date with news from 'legitimate' sources
•TURN IT OFF-once you are adequately informed, shut it down!
Holding vigil, watching all of the latest news reports can increase anxiety in an already difficult time. Protect your physical and mental wellbeing by moderating what and how much we consume.
I pray this episode helps to steady you and yours in this difficult time.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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As the saying goes - “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
No matter how progressive one thinks himself to be, it is not truly proven until he or she works collectively in group operations with others.
Organizational Success requires commitment, sacrifice, humility and maturity. Organizational success requires us to grow beyond seeing our people as economic opportunities and mature into the actual service of our people that creates long term activity and success.
Last weekend I spend time visiting an organization in Chicago, incorporated 33 years ago by three men. The Coalition for Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad was founded by Brothers Munir Muhammad, Shahid Muslim and Halif Muhammad.
At their 33rd Founders’ Day celebration, it was their first without Brother Munir Muhammad who departed this life last year. Yet despite the loss of this charismatic leader, the organization continues to move forward in service of their long ago established guiding principles. Therefore, the remaining co-founders and the current members continue to work with vigilance in service to those principles.
This is organizational success.
It is good that so many of our people are entering business and enterprise. Entrepreneurship is good. But unlike those who suck the economic blood of our people in urban centers wherein we dominate in numbers, we must see our people for more than the economic opportunity that we are. We must look to the needs of our community and work diligently and collective in service of those needs.
The shop owners in our communities often do not live in our communities. They receive our economic wealth through our consumption and spending and bring those resources to their own organizations and communities in service of themselves.
We cannot change the condition of our communities alone as individuals. We must work collectively.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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In Episode 110 I share with listeners what I think is so great about podcasts.
For one, podcasting democratizes media and the ability to communicate to a broad base. Podcasting makes communication accessible even to those without deep corporate backing. It lends opportunity for everyone-not just those mainstreamed to the top of the charts. And it allows alternative voices a platform to be heard.
Another thing that is great bit about podcasting is that it is inexpensive. There are free hosting platforms and the only equipment you really need to start is a smartphone. You do not need to invest big dollars to make a worthwhile project.
Something else that I love about podcasting is the huge variety in shows and topics! There are podcasts about news, politics and crime and justice. There are non fiction works that are like television shows (minus the visual input). There are shows on or by entertainers. There are podcasts for used car salesmen, thrift store lovers, butterflies, home buying, financial literacy, religion, bikes, travel and in any of these topics you could even find sub topics. There are limited running shows and shows 700-1000 episodes deep. And if there is a topic that you cannot find that interests you-you can create the show and build a virtual community with others who share your interests.
Here are some podcasts that I really enjoy (listed in no particular order) although you know my favorite two shows are the ones I produce, Nurah Speaks and Lead Teach & Style!
Nothing But Elijah - CROE Radio (blogtalkradio.com)
Happy Black Woman - Rosetta Thurman
Behind the Brilliance - Lisa Nicole Bell
Side Hustle Pro - Nicalia Matthews Okome
Redefining Wealth - Patrice Washington
Trailblazers Fm - Stephen A. Hart
Know Thy Self Radio - Yosef Ben Asiel
Brown Ambition - Mandy Woodruff and Tiffany Aliche 'The Budgetnista'
Broke-ish- Amber and Erica
Business Shet- Mimi G.
The Confidence Factor - Carol Sankar
Snap Judgement - Glynn Washington, WNYC
In The Dark-APM network
Fresh Air - Terry Gross
How I Built This -Guy Raz
The Drop Out - ABC News
The Clark Howard Show - Clark Howard
Earhustle - Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods/ Radiotopia
Dr. Death & Over My Dead Body - Wondery network
Just the Tip from Your Podcast Performance Coach - Tim Wolhberg
Money Talk with Tiff - Tiffany Grant
Support Is Sexy with Elayne Fluker
Buy Black Podcast - Gerald Jones
School of Greatness - Lewis Howes
Impact Theory - Tom Bilyeu
Terms - Airship/Wondery
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Here to discuss vision health and more is this week’s guest Dr. Sandra West. Dr. West is an optometrist having 27 years of practice. She also happens to be my own doctor.
I met Dr. West several years ago when I scheduled a routine vision exam and to my surprise and delight the doctor was a Black woman. Interestingly enough, when I attended a business conference in New Orleans several months later, we found ourselves meeting again as attendees of the same conference. We talk a little about that in this episode.
I asked Dr. West to be a guest on the show not because she is my personal doctor but because of what I knew she would offer Nurah Speaks listeners. Not only does Dr. West teach us when we should begin vision checks, but also what our doctors are checking for and some of the latest technology aiding optometrists today. Additionally she shares insights into her own childhood, how she was raised by dynamic parents and what parents can do to prepare children for future success. Dr. West is an advocate for STEM and vocational training and she is a motivational speaker.
This was an informative and inspiring conversation for me and I hope it will be for you too,
Follow Dr. West on Instagram @sandrawest_speaks. You can email her at stwestod@gmail.com.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Several months ago I came across an article titled, ‘Black Women Can No Longer Afford To Save Broken Black Men.’
Now you ‘know’ this is something I had to discuss on Nurah Speaks!
Not only do I find that some Black women have a misplaced 'savior' complex, but often we assign responsibility to men for many of our own ill advised choices.
For example:
•Who decided we are supposed to save or capable of saving any man?
•If a man is broken, why are we entering a relationship with him?
•Why would we give a man our resources, time and even our bodies if they’ve demonstrated no commitment and worthiness?
These questions must be raised in a discussion such as this that condemn broken black men and sanctify the black women who get involved with them.
That said, this episode is not meant as a ridicule of the sister who penned the article. However, I believe that we must be cautious of the messages funneled to us, as well as the intent and potential hazards of those messages.
The article appeared in an online publication for African American women that purports to provide information on a variety of topics including relationship advice. However, writings as these labeled advisory are actually divisive and unconstructive. In this episode I share my take on the conversation and where our responsibility lies.
After listening to this episode be sure to read the article for yourself. I’d be interested in your thoughts so be sure to share them. https://madamenoire.com/1087680/black-women-can-no-longer-afford-to-save-broken-black-men/
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This episode was inspired by actual events. Several months ago, I saw a black mother curse out and slap her teen son in public for absolutely no reason other than her own gratification. I describe the incident in this episode and another that was captured on cell phone video that went viral in late 2019.
The brutish language and treatment we mothers render to our black boys is shaping the men they will eventually become. We often seem to forget that our children are people like us who are deserving of respect, compassion and love.
They will grow to be adults required to function in the world. So we must ask ourselves, is our mothering preparing them to function as:
•Confident and Compassionate Men
•Timid and Insecure Men
or
•Brutal and Bullying Men?
We must find the patience, admiration and love required to shape our sons to grow into great men.
The original video mentioned in the episode has been removed from YouTube. However, you can use the following link to view the video on the Tommy Sotomayor News Raw show with his commentary at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PODehvdICDQ.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Pictured from the back. Lewd poses in sexually suggestive photos.
Deceptive messaging is encouraging our young women to believe their power lies in their sex appeal when attraction is naturally occurring with no significant effort on our part. It is already installed in the human nature.
But the real and genuine power is in the ability to influence peace or war, create harmony or strife, generate love or hatred and in general shape the future.
We help our young women cheat themselves of their great potential when we teach them to misdirect their value.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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In an era popular with youth task forces and social programs serving ‘at risk’ youth, we must ask what we can do to head off delinquent behaviors in our young people.
In this episode, I suggest that ‘Family Is The Best Social Program’ and I have research that I share to support this assertion. The research indicates that, “Children born to unmarried mothers generally receive lower human capital investments because the contractual partnership between the parents is less stable, and sometimes nonexistent (Becker, 1981).”
In other words, we increase the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes for our children when we do not anchor them in families to provide them the needed moral, social and economic supports. Frankly, we cannot reasonably expect to make a healthy community when a large segment of our children are conceived by people who neither parent likes or desires to create a family with.
Families are the beginning of life lessons that cultivate us to interact within our broader community and nation. So if we are diminishing the value of family, we diminish the possibility for our community.
And as the Black community is diminishing the value of traditional family, our youth are still seeking the natural structure and balance that a family provides. Therefore, some youth are finding their family in gangs. Some are finding their family in pimps and traffickers. Some are finding their family in drugs. And some are finding their family in prison.
We just cannot get around basic needs. Children need to know that they belong. Children need to know that they are valued. We cannot continue ignoring their inherent needs and wonder why youth are delinquent after we’ve deprived them of a solid foundation.
We do not need another government funded program as much as we need strong families.
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References:
**https://phys.org/news/2010-07-crime-linked-out-of-wedlock-births.html
**https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/8031/1/MPRA_paper_8031.pdf
I am joined this week by Sister Aquila Ali. Aquila is a member of the Coalition for Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad (CROE) and is an integral part of their media production team. Unfortunately for black women in media, the bar has been set very low in terms of image and content. However Aquila continues to endure as an example of character and integrity
In this conversation, Aquila chronicles her journey in becoming a member of CROE and a student of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, her role within the media production team and she shares what she believes black women must understand about the root of our confidence.
You are going to enjoy this conversation and it will surely enlighten listeners to the unexplored prominence that women have in the Nation of Islam.
To learn more about CROE and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad visit CROE.org.
Make sure you watch and subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC--UCt5LqFF3IW5fLn5lH2g and follow on facebook @CROETV.
Email your inquiries to croe@Croe.org
You can view CROETV streaming live every Wednesday at 6pm(cst) and every Sunday 2pm(cst).
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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On this MLK Day of Service be reminded of the fullness of Dr. King’s movement. We cannot let him be another figure we memorialize in distortion. He was more than his passive resistance. He was a fierce opponent of injustice, standing in full defiance to racism, poverty and unjust war.
On this 25th MLK Day of Service, 52 years after his tragic assassination, be reminded that the justice he sought then, we still seek today. The work must continue and it must continue with us.
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When contending with others for a political seat, position or job remember that you are only opponents. You are not enemies and you do not need to respond as such.
Do not let policy, platforms or party affiliation make us enemies to each other and conduct ourselves on the campaign trail in a manner lacking integrity and pride.
I cannot say how many times I have seen others hostile, emotionally inflamed or personally affronted when challenged for the same position.
Taking a challenge personally speaks to the character and maturity of the person seeking the opportunity. And how one reacts speaks of the same.
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To be progressive, a good rule of thumb is, "Beware of unhappy people!" You know the sort of people I’m talking about who have a problem for every solution or a sad story to tell every - single - time you encounter them.
For the purposes of this episode, I reference them by first and last name: Bad News Barry, Whispering Wilma, Gossiping Gloria, Negative Nancy and Gloomy Glenn.
If you want to be supported in your goals or if you simply just want live a pleasant lifestyle, you have no place for them in your life. Instead, you have to yoke yourself with others who share in the objectives you have for your marriage, career, education, health and fitness or lifestyle goals in general.
Unhappy people love to create converts. Listen to this episode to learn how to avoid becoming one of them.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Closing out the Nurah Speaks 'Buy Black' series is Dr. Nicole Muhammad, Founder and CEO of Sew Elevated. Sew Elevated is an online boutique of fabulously stylish garments.
Sew Elevated designs have been described as alluring, elegant and fashion forward. Featured in both Philly Fashion Week and Chicago Fashion Week, these garments are created to make a statement.
Start your New Year in style. Visit SewElevated.com.
Follow @SewElevated on Instagram and Facebook.
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If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Yosef Ben Asiel is the force behind ‘Black Royalty Wear’ sports apparel and is this week’s feature in the Nurah Speaks Buy Black series.
Black Royalty is a premier athletic clothing line made from cotton and bamboo. Whether you're in the gym or doing daily chores, Black Royalty Wear provides you the most comfortable fit possible. Order yours today!
Visit BlackRoyaltyWear.com.
Follow Yosef on Instagram and Facebook @ NaskiYosef and be sure to listen to his weekly podcast, Know Thy Self Radio!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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When you find a good thing you run out and tell others right?!? That is why Essential Nutrientz, an all natural hair care line, is next up in my 'Buy Black Series!'
Sulaiha Turner, founder of Essential Nutrienz, created this line specially formulated to produce highly moisturized, healthy and beautiful hair. Sulaiha feels that this should be achieved without hormone altering chemicals or synthetic oils.
Since trying this product, it has become the only one I use in my own hair care routine. It’s not heavy and greasy and I totally love the scent. So I suppose in a way, this is also my own testimonial.
Try Essential Nutrientz for yourself and I’m sure you’ll agree.
Listen to learn how Sulaiha’s own health scare prompted her search for an all natural hair care product and how her journey finally compelled her to create her own.
To learn more about Essential Nutrientz, visit www.EssentialNutrientz.com. Follow Essential Nutrientz on IG: @EssentialNutrientz_he and on Facebook @ Essential Nutrientz. Contact Sulaiha at EssentialN1.info@gmail.com.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Nisha Blackwell, founder of Knotzland is featured first in my Black Business Series. Knotzland produces artisan bowties made from 98.9% reclaimed fabric ad materials.
I learned about Nisha and Knotzland from a google commercial detailing Nisha’ journey from unemployed to entrepreneur. Her story is both intriguing and inspiring and demonstrates the sort of possibilities available to us all.
Support this Black woman led company as she supports her community and the environment through reclamation of discarded textiles used to produce these elegant and exquisite bowties.
Visit knotzland.com to learn more.
Follow Knotzland on Instagram and Facebook at @knotzland and you can follow Nisha on twitter @Naturalknotz.
To see Nisha’s google commercial, click here: youtu.be/6R8euQeU-Fc
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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There is no biblical commandment directing us to $PEND-$PEND-$PEND to honor the birth of sweet baby Jesus. However, year after year, the season has become less religious and more commercial.
This episode I share tips that will benefit your wallet and your community.
So what should we do in this season of spending? For starters, I advise us all to be aware of the clever campaigns retailers use to incite our excitement to spend. We should be sober and buy what we need, when we need it. There is no sudden urgency wherein a large flat screen tv is needed. The jewelry, apparel, appliances now set at ‘markedly reduced’ prices can wait.
Advertisers know the perfect strategies to persuade spending. Here are my five tips for to help you this season:
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Don’t!----Just don’t spend. Save your money. Invest your money. Refrain from making the rich even richer.
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Buy Black!----If you like the tradition of holiday shopping, buy black. Identify black business with which you can spend. Buy black in brick and mortar stores or shop black online. Just buy black.
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Buy Local!----Shop in YOUR neighborhood. These are the businesses investing in your community. Support them. It is hard for many of our mom and pop shops, startups, independent owners and small businesses to compete with the big box stores and retail chains. But they are right in your community sharing your interests in wanting your community to thrive.
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Buy From People You Know!----Check your network. There are people within your network of friends and family with whom you can shop this holiday season. There are artisans, designers, small business owners, etc. If you don’t know the owners of the stores in your local community, introduce yourself to them. Expand your network and theirs. There is something special and unique in shopping from someone with whom you have a relationship. But not only that-it helps create a unique story with your gift-giving when you know your seller.
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Buy Small!----Resist the push advertisers give us to spend, spend, spend. Buy what you need. Know in advance what you want or need and only buy that. Make a list or put a note in your smart phone.
There is no reasonable need to trample, snatch, push and fight over retail items. Be responsible. You work hard for your money. Keep as much of it as you can.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
It is such a blessing to have reached 100 episodes of Nurah Speaks! When I started this podcast, I had no other goal in mind except reaching the ears and hearts of my people with a message that vibrates within our souls. And now, after 100 episodes under my belt I feel that I have just gotten started.
I am humbled and grateful for the support of great listeners and exceptional guests who have lent their wisdom and insights to the podcast. This work continues as it remains imperative that our people are enlightened with what we can do to improve the outcomes for our communities.
I am blessed to be joined in this episode with previous guests and my great friends Chabree Muhammad and Dr. Nicole Muhammad. The tables are turned as they pose their questions to me and allow me to reflect on this amazing journey.
We also take the opportunity to announce our newest endeavor and an amazing collaboration. In January 2020, we will launch our own show, ‘Lead, Teach & Style” which will be a show sharing the news and views of the Black Community from our own perspective.
As Chabree Muhammad is an educator, Dr. Nicole Muhammad is a clinical psychologist and fashion designer and I am an inspirational speaker, writer and podcast host-we are joining our talents and perspectives to drive a new conversation that will be insightful and impactful to Black Women.
There is so much that needs to be done. There are so many conversations that must be had. And we want to do our part to make a contribution.
Standby as more will be announced in the coming weeks.
Please note, episode 100 will be the concluding episode for 2019 as I take a brief hiatus to make preparations for 2020.
I am excited for the future of Nurah Speaks and what is to come for listeners!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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As I near episode 100 and the two year anniversary of Nurah Speaks, I reflect on this incredible journey. Achieving such a milestone could only have happened if I was unwavering and consistent in my efforts with the podcast.
That does not mean perfect. Nor does it not mean exact. I knew I only needed to be dedicated and unwavering in my goal to provide insightful and engaging content to my listeners.
What a milestone!
We learn so much about ourselves no matter our journeys. Time will always expose our strengths and weaknesses, our talents and handicaps. If we pay attention along they way, we can capitalize on these lessons.
I encourage all who listen to this podcast to mark your own milestones with celebration and appreciation of your own achievements as well!!!
THANK YOU to my listeners! I am grateful to you and I thank you for your support over these last two years!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This week I welcome fashion designer, Dr. Nicole Muhammad, to the podcast. Nicole is the founder and CEO of Sew Elevated, a modest fashion brand. She is also a clinical psychologist by education and training.
In this episode, Nicole explains the psychology of fashion and how fashion affects our thoughts and feelings about ourselves and how what we wear impacts others.
This is a very sober and thoughtful conversation with Nicole explaining her intention to use fashion to elevate women’s ideas about fashion and their ideas about themselves.
Visit sewelevated.com and follow Nicole on social media @SewElevated on Instagram and Facebook. You can email her at Nicole@SewElevated.com.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Sellout is a term often tossed about to neutralize the adoration of someone who has made significant achievements in life. Our low expectations and limiting beliefs are causing us to be traitors to our own promise!
•What about those from among us who are recruiting our children to illicit lifestyles for personal profit?
•What about entertainers getting rich promoting killing and drug abuse?
•What about those influential adults who enable the delinquency of our youth and interrupt their promise?
Let's rethink what we hear and give definition to the word, "sellout!"
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Chabree Muhammad is back on the podcast sharing her perspectives on educating the Black child. Hers is a perspective not heard in the mainstream so this is a great opportunity to introduce an unorthodox voice.
Chabree understands the science of education and why conventional education misses the mark with our children. As you listen to this episode, have a pen and pad nearby to take notes and re-listen to this once or twice for anything you might have missed.
And please, be sure to share this episode with anyone you know involved in the development of our children. The gems Chabree shares in this discussion are impactful and her ideas are universally applicable in any arena our children enter.
To learn more about Your Educational Consultants and Services, Inc. visit yecservices.com. You can contact Chabree Muhammad by calling 856-966-1722 or by emailing her at chabree@yecservices.com.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
We are so frequently accosted in these ‘living while black’ incidents wherein someone calls the police on us as we engage in normal, non-criminal activities in our own communities, sometimes in our own homes. And nearly as often during these incidents, the accused begins explaining his occupation, salary or education as a means to suggest why the accusation is a complete implausibility.
But I say, “We have to stop explaining ourselves!”
Neither our income, our educational attainments, the cars we drive, nor the size of our homes should dictate the level of respect to which we are entitled. We are qualified for respect by our very personhood, by the breadth of life within our bodies. And if someone chooses to respect us based on some false qualifier such as our degree, membership or salary-they are in fact not respecting us at all. And neither are we in having such an expectation.
I am passionate about this issue as listeners will hear in this episode. We cannot continue to waste time and energy pleading for something that others refuse to give us. In fact, what we ask of others, we should give to ourselves.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
With unchecked vanity, leaders or would-be leaders may appear bullying, arrogant, selfish and insecure. Too much is required of a good leader to allow pride to interrupt progress.
A remedy for vanity ‘gone wild’ may include being reminded of the bigger picture, getting attuned to the needs of others and being grateful for the opportunity to serve.
Being in the mind of the greater good can alleviate the stumbling block of conceit.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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This week’s guest is Vallrie Dorsey an attorney, entrepreneur and a newly minted host of the podcast, ‘When We Get Out.’ Vall’s podcast will discuss the challenges facing our second chancers as they re-enter society, search for employment, re-connect with friends and family and more. The podcast will feature ex-offenders, advocates, attorneys, judges and the family of ex-offenders.
Vall’s extensive knowledge and interest in this area stems from her experience as a criminal defense attorney, a juvenile prosecutor and the partner of an ex-offender. ‘When We Get Out’ launches this month so be sure to follow Vall on Instagram @whenweget.out and @valldorsey. You can also connect with Vall at www.valldorsey.com to learn more about her professional coaching services.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This episode will help listeners navigate their career, social and familial circles by identifying into which categories those around us fit. ‘Friends, Foes and Phonies’ highlights the features of each of these people and explains why knowing them is a protection for us.
How do you deal with foes and phonies? Have you learned that someone you thought was a friend actually is a foe or phony? I am curious about your experiences. You can share with me by emailing me at Nurah@NurahSpeaks.com.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Without order, there is chaos. And our diminished self consciousness and self control has damaging impacts on our community.
If we do not restore restraint and discipline to our language and behavior, how can we grow? How can our families be successful? And how will our communities improve?
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I am excited to welcome Kimme Carlos to the podcast.
Kimme is the Founder and Executive Director of the Urban Mental Health Alliance: Advocating for Healthy Minds in Urban Communities. She is a a certified instructor for Mental Health First Aid and author of the published book The Window of Grace: Living in Recovery through Christian Faith.
I asked Kimme to be a guest on Nurah Speaks to discuss her work with the Urban Mental Health Alliance because she understands how to have a conversation about mental health in a culturally credible way. She also recognizes the intersection of social injustice and mental health concerns.
As a listener, I guarantee you will come to understand mental health in a way that you hadn’t before.
Kimme is a consultant, speaker and facilitator of programs on mental health, addiction & recovery and wellness & self-care. She has received numerous awards for her nonprofit and volunteer work.
Follow Kimme on Facebook @KimmeCarlos, on IG @KimmeCarlos and visit her website KimmeCarlos.com.
Please be sure to keep up with Urban Mental Health Alliance on Facebook @UrbanMentalHealthAlliance and stay up to date on their schedule by visiting UrbanMentalHealthAlliance.org.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
We treat our ‘smart’ devices in many ways as a retreat from the world around us. But what happens when we spend more time distracted in our escape than we do our reality?
In episode 89, I share five key areas of our lives affected when we are distracted by our smart devices.
What has been your experiences? I look forward to your feedback and observations.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
There is no joy without gratitude!
This episode was recorded while I watched the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean.
In moments like these gratitude can come easy. But are we grateful even in life’s mundane or even challenging moments?
This episode is a reminder to us all to be grateful in all of the moments.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Mother is the first teacher, doctor, nurse…mother in many ways is a child’s first god. That is why the saying goes, “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.”
I read an article recently in which a woman discussed having hired a wife which resulted in her legal career flourishing. By her own admission, she could not be a great attorney and a great mother at the same time. So she enlisted a part time caregiver for her children wherein she was no longer boggled down with the minutia of motherhood. School pickups, extra curricular activities, dinner, clothes shopping-she was free from these and other “time sapping chores” (her words not mine) because she had a proxy in her place to perform these tasks.
This episode is not an attack on the article’s author but it is a defense of motherhood and the need children have of mothers. Society has declined so much that we terribly devalue both. However, motherhood is a not a trivial responsibility that we can hire out without there being collateral impacts.
Children need their mothers because mothers are irreplaceable.
I wonder what a child’s perspective would be on mom making the choice to kill it at work instead of home and be relegated to a substitute or a series of substitutes. I appreciate what one commenter wrote:
“I sure wish kids were more loved and valued in society.”
You can read the article using this link: https://medium.com/@chrismorgan_1657/i-hired-a-wife-and-my-career-took-off-16dc8ae481fe?source=linkShare-f5bc743471e-1566776564
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Many corners of America are reluctantly acknowledging the 400 year anniversary in which the first slaves were brought to the New World colonies in 1619.
But very few historians will concede that the actual import of the first slaves to North America by Sir John Hawkins occurred in 1555.
This episode explores the true history and why the 64 Hidden Years were ever concealed from conventional knowledge.
Revisionist historians have whitewashed American slavery as an unfortunate moral misstep in American history when it was something far greater with further reaching consequences than we can begin to imagine.
You can read more on this subject by clicking this link: http://nurahmuhammad.com/blog/1619-and-the-64-hidden-years
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
There is a destructive trend in our community that prevents us from celebrating the good that comes to our brothers and sisters. Think about it! Have you ever payed to attention to the ways in which we diminish the shine coming to those among us who are successful?
“He always gets lucky but that so and so ain’t...” “She sold out, that’s how she got in office.” You’ve witnessed this hardship that we heap on our peers who 'make it.' Our efforts to explain away their success is a weak attempt to negate their achievements despite their sacrifice, effort, study and expertise.
Jealousy and self hatred are bitter diseases that we must get under control lest they eat away at the fabric of our families, communities and our own personal well being.
What has been your experience? Have you been on the receiving end of this treatment or have you in fact been the one laden with feelings of jealousy yourself? How did you handle it?
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
“You better wake up and smell the real flavor/Cause 911 is a fake life saver!” If you remember the classic Public Enemy hit song, “911 Is A Joke” then you remember this line.
This is the song that came to mind when I overheard a conversation about religion and our youth’s rejection of it. I do not actually think that religion is a joke-I am being facetious with the title of this episode. But I do think that our young people see it that way.
I’ve often heard older folks lamenting about our young people, “They won’t come to the church” “What’s wrong with them” or “This is a lost generation!” I’d suggest that our young people are in fact a reflection of the generation that produced them and if they don’t see any value in religion, it is because we have not shown them the value of religion.
Scripture teaches us that, ‘Faith without works is dead.” I also say, “Talk without works is dead” and if our young people hear our talk but don’t see the rewards in our practice we won’t keep their attention. If we want them to value religion, we have to be the examples of the benefits of faith. And that will only come through the application of our faith’s principles.
Simply put- our young people see religion as a fake life saver because they don’t see it saving our lives.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
“I found it dehumanizing that there’s some segment of white America that still see us as N’s no matter how much money we make, no matter where we live. So to me, it was a wake up call that the good ol' boy network still exists.”
This was the comment from Jerrick Jackson, a Black patron at J. Alexander’s in Bloomfield, Michigan who claims he was discriminated against in the restaurant. He also says that he was called the n-word and had food thrown at him when he came to the aid of another black patron who was also confronting apparent discrimination at the same time in a separate incident.
Mr. Jackson says this experience was for him, a ‘wake up call.’
In 2019, if we are still asleep to the challenges of equity and justice than we have a much deeper problem than the one he had in the restaurant.
Read more in my blog: https://nurahmuhammad.com/blog/managing-expectations-in-400-years-of-domestic-violence
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Yosef Ben Asiel is the host of the ‘Know Thy Self Radio' podcast and is this week’s guest on Nurah Speaks. Yosef, who hails from Chicago, has an interesting background. His late mother was a student and follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and his father is Prince Asiel Ben Israel, the International Ambassador of the Hebrew Israelites.
His exposure to both the Hebrew Israelites and the Nation of Islam - plus the moral and spiritual contributions of both parents - has uniquely positioned him to challenge the social conditions impacting young blacks in this nation and abroad.
Yosef has made it his personal mission to use the knowledge and talents he’s gained to uplift his community. His podcast 'Know Thy Self Radio' is based on the teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Inspired by his late mentor Munir Muhammad and the Coalition for Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad (CROE), he dedicates the podcast to be an extension of the Munir Muhammad Show, to combat lies and deception which have been placed on the the black man and woman in America and throughout the world. (*Munir Muhammad is a past guest of Nurah Speaks.)
Without a doubt, Yosef is manifesting the wisdom he’s gleaned from the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad through entrepreneurship with his clothing line, Black Royalty (BlackRoyaltyWear.com) and Vegan Now where patrons are served meals that satisfy the palate and the body’s nutritional needs without compromising health.
Follow Yosef on Instagram and Facebook @NaskiYosef
Follow Black Royalty Wear @BlackRoyaltyWear on Instagram.
Get your royal apparel at LiveBlackRoyaltyWear.com and enjoy a nutritious meal at Vegan Now: 131 N Clinton St, Chicago, IL 60661!
Email your questions and comments of support to Yosef: KnowThySelfRadio@gmail.com
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.
Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com
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This week’s episode of Nurah Speaks is a special tribute replay in honor of the recently departed Munir Muhammad. Brother Munir was the business manager and co-founder of CROE (Coalition for the Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad). He is also known to be the chief archivist and historian of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam.
This interview was recorded on December 9, 2017 during a film showing of the movie ‘The Nation’, written and directed by Junie Smith.
In this interview Brother Munir explains:
•how Elijah Muhammad impacted him personally •why time dictated the establishment of CROE •why Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam is misunderstood by many
I feel it is important to note the significant impact of the work of Brother Munir. He was a man who single handedly performed the work of many men. He was an archivist, a journalist, an investigative reporter, a facilitator, a radio host, a television host, a leading media figure, a husband, a father, a successful businessman and so much more.
On set in the CROE television studio, he interviewed prominent politicians, judges, notable civil rights figures, renowned actors and actresses, singers, song writers, community organizers, Senators and Congressman, religious leaders, celebrated authors, respected businessmen and business women. Additionally, Brother Munir interviewed leaders of other esteemed nations and offered us a global perspective on world affairs.
On my podcast, when I mention my own personal mentors who have inspired and encouraged me to begin this journey-Brother Munir was always one of my strongest supporters.
There are countless men and women who we learn little to nothing about but who have worked tirelessly to resolve issues impacting our people. Brother Munir Muhammad was one of those men whose impact has not only been national but UNIVERSAL!
I honor him. I honor his legacy. And it has been a personal privilege to know him and join him on his television shows remotely and in person on so many great occasions. He will continue to be an example to be emulated in the work for the true liberation of our people.
Enjoy this tribute replay of my interview with my mentor, big brother and friend, Munir Muhammad.
Learn more about CROE by visiting CROE.ORG and CROETV.COM. CROE is located at 2435 West 71st Street (CROE Lane) Chicago, IL 60629. You can contact them at 773-925-1600 or CROE@CROE.ORG.
Viewers can watch CROE live each Wednesday at 7:30est and Sunday at 3:30est on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC--UCt5LqFF3IW5fLn5lH2g or on Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/muhammad-and-friends. Be sure to check out CROE’s archived episodes as well!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
In order for us to prevent child abuse, we must recognize the antecedents and take proactive measures to protect our children.
This episode shares seven proactive measures we can take to safeguard our children and guard the wellbeing of our communities.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com
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This episode is the conclusion of my conversation with Denise Poole, Founder and CEO of Heart 2 Heart Services.
If you did not listen to the first part of our conversation, I advise you to go back and listen to episode 79.
Be advised that this conversation may be triggering for some.
Heart 2 Heart is a nonprofit agency providing education on Sex Trafficking in the United States as well as outreach and support services for survivors.
Learn more about Heart 2 Heart Services by visiting https://www.heart2heartservices.net/ and follow Heart 2 Heart Services on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/heart2heartservices/, https://www.instagram.com/heart2heartservices
You can contact Heart 2 Heart Services by email heart2heartsvcs@gmail.com or calling (856) 352-5424.
If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, call now: National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1 (888) 373-7888
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Denise is a wife, mother of three adult children and grandmother of five grandsons and a great-granddaughter. With experiences that span more than twenty years, Denise has worked in the field of social services, child and youth development and has been employed as a therapist for the adolescent population.
Denise has endured and victoriously overcome personal challenges during her own formative years. These challenges have served as a catalyst for her to render counseling services to other women as she has ministered in women’s groups, women’s retreats, churches, and conferences. She has served as a strong advocate to assist women in being empowered to face life’s obstacles at shelters and prisons. Offering support and locating resources for women has positioned her to take action during this season in her life, thus the organization of Heart 2 Heart Services.
She holds the belief in treating everyone with dignity and helping others advance emotionally, spiritually, and physically, realizing their self-worth and self-value which will enable them to live the life that God intended for them, before the foundations of the world. Denise holds a Master’s degree in Human Services: Marriage and Family Counseling, a Master’s degree in Professional Counseling and is a Licensed Associate Counselor. One of her many favorite scriptures is: Lamentations 3:21 “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.
Denise R. Poole is an International Speaker, Author, Therapist, Workshop Presenter, and Founder/CEO of Heart 2 Heart Services, Inc. With experiences that span more than twenty years, Denise is considered an expert in the field of social services and child and youth development. Denise established Heart 2 Heart Services, Inc. with a mission to educate and provide outreach to services linked with providing a safe home for youth who are victims of human trafficking. (scroll down for Denise’s full bio)
Did you know that New Jersey ranks as the 13th state in the nation with calls regarding child sex trafficking?
Did you know that sex trafficking was the 2nd largest criminal enterprise in the nation?
Denise shares these stats and other important information in this episode of the Nurah Speaks that most of us do not know about Sex Trafficking in the United States.
•••Disclaimer this episode may be triggering for some!). This episode is Part I of II.
Learn more about Heart 2 Heart Services by visiting https://www.heart2heartservices.net/ and follow Heart 2 Heart Services on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/heart2heartservices/, https://www.instagram.com/heart2heartservices
You can contact Heart 2 Heart Services by email heart2heartsvcs@gmail.com or calling (856) 352-5424.
If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, call now: National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1 (888) 373-7888
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Denise is a wife, mother of three adult children and grandmother of five grandsons and a great-granddaughter. With experiences that span more than twenty years, Denise has worked in the field of social services, child and youth development and has been employed as a therapist for the adolescent population.
Denise has endured and victoriously overcome personal challenges during her own formative years. These challenges have served as a catalyst for her to render counseling services to other women as she has ministered in women’s groups, women’s retreats, churches, and conferences. She has served as a strong advocate to assist women in being empowered to face life’s obstacles at shelters and prisons. Offering support and locating resources for women has positioned her to take action during this season in her life, thus the organization of Heart 2 Heart Services.
She holds the belief in treating everyone with dignity and helping others advance emotionally, spiritually, and physically, realizing their self-worth and self-value which will enable them to live the life that God intended for them, before the foundations of the world. Denise holds a Master’s degree in Human Services: Marriage and Family Counseling, a Master’s degree in Professional Counseling and is a Licensed Associate Counselor. One of her many favorite scriptures is:
Knowledge affords the knowledgeable the ability to solve problems, breach barriers, overcome resistance and make progress.
Many can testify that in our individual lives as well as collectively, we are not as progressive as we should be.
In the 156 years post the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, we are still asking government for equality and justice. Yet we have more educational attainments than ever in our history in America.
What then has our education rendered if we are unprogressive and absent of universal rights?
I think of the scripture’s teaching, “The truth will set you free!”
If we are not enjoying the benefits of progress and true freedom, we must re-examine our application of knowledge or the veracity of the education itself!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This episode concludes my series of conversations about the role Black women - in particular - have in impacting our community. This episode touches on the impact that we have in shaping the strength and the weaknesses in our boys and men.
It is not always easy to do a critical self examination and identify those areas in which we have not supported our boys and men as they need. I salute the sisters who do so and perform this audit on an ongoing basis. We have to challenge ourselves to be 'woman enough' to course correct when it is required for the improvement of our families and communities.
If you have not listened to the preceding episodes in the series (Ep 74 and 75) I urge you to do so. Please let me know what you think about this conversation.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
In too many urban areas across this country, un-informed leadership have taken to patterning themselves after a certain beggar named Lazarus who laid at the gate of the rich man desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table.
These leaders amplify the role of corporations and politicians to reduce crime rates and gun deaths in our communities while diminishing the role of the actual community.
They scapegoat by creating a ‘bogeyman mythology’ laying fault at the politically or economically elite and deflect accountability from where it should fall first and that is in our homes. Parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, coaches, counselors, mentors and preachers should be scrutinized first, even ahead of law enforcement.
It is putting ourselves in a subordinate role to suggest that companies and politicians are responsible ahead of families in creating safe communities. This is a childish, immature and embarrassing assertion and shows a lack of accountability and true leadership.
While it may be easy to hold our hands out towards the golden palace, the real and sustainable changes requires families in the community to be accountable and intentional. Change is made when ‘we’ decide we want it.
We have to divest from this Lazarus-type behavior and get up and get it for ourselves! Stop thinking we are so unworthy and incapable that we seek to beg instead of build.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
There are consequences for children and communities when children are born to fractured homes. The discussion in this episode shares some of those consequences and the considerations we need to create better outcomes for our families and communities.
This is episode is part 2 in a short series of conversations especially for Black women to help us realize the impact we have in shaping our communities. Because a Nation will rise no higher than its woman, it is crucial that we value and take seriously our contribution in shaping our people’s future.
To read my blog, "Putting Marriage in Motherhood" click this link: https://nurahmuhammad.com/blog/putting-marriage-in-motherhood
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: https://NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Truth hurts but it can also heal if we allow it. This episode is part one in a short series in which I discuss sensitive issues regarding black women. This installment calls on us to be accountable for our choices, particularly those involving reckless sexual behavior resulting in unintended pregnancies…and single parenthood.
As I say in this episode, this discussion is shared with love, not judgement. But if we do not take responsibility for poor choices we have made, we may continue making them unaware of how we diminish our own potential to create the future we desire.
Take a listen and let me know what you think about this discussion. I am interested in how this conversation resonates for you.
You can also read my blog post on this subject here: http://nurahmuhammad.com/blog/victors-or-victims-of-our-own-choices.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
“Somebody needs to do something!” This is a familiar refrain in response to events and conditions outrageously offensive to the general public. Gun deaths. Educational deficiencies. Youth delinquency. Drug abuse. Gang violence. Unscrupulous police activity. Neglectful parenting. Food insecurity.
It is true that 'somebody' needs to do something and that 'somebody' is you!
We do not need to look over our shoulders for the answer to come from someone else. WE are the answer that we have been waiting for and needing. The only thing missing is our activation.
Well, this episode’s message is intended to be just that, activation.
This installment of Nurah Speaks continues the show’s theme of challenging listeners to do their part to tackle issues in their communities and neighborhoods and to Be The Movement!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Cher McCall is this week’s guest on the Nurah Speaks podcast. She is a licensed social worker who works primarily with the adolescent population.
Cher has extensive experience serving youth who’ve endured physical, mental, emotional and spiritual trauma. She shares her insights into practical approaches in helping youth manage their pain and fostering hope in what seems to them as a hopeless reality. This episode dives deep into the real mental and emotional labor of social work and the implications for the service recipient and provider.
Cher tells the audience how she came to find herself in social work, the rewards of social work and how others can get involved to ‘Be The Movement.’
Cher can be contacted at CherMcCall@gmail.com
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This was an insightful conversation with Judge Charles Dortch Jr. and the takeaways from this episode are abundant.
A key takeaway is the lesson of entitlement embedded in him by his parents. He understood at an early age that he was entitled to be his best and do his best. And the encourages the youth who come before him to do the same.
Judge Dortch’s impact on youth and families extends well beyond the courtroom and he has been an extraordinary asset to the Camden County New Jersey community.
•••NOTE: This conversation is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult your personal attorney for counsel. •••
To learn more about Camden County Family Courts visit: https://www.njcourts.gov/courts/family/familyvicinage.html#camden.
To learn more about the JADI (Juvenile Alternative Detention Initiative)visit: https://www.aecf.org/blog/new-jersey-becomes-first-state-to-implement-jdai-statewide/
To learn more about New Jersey bail reform visit: https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/editorials/2019/04/03/editorial-nj-bail-reform-law-continues-show-its-effectiveness/3345843002/
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This is Part 2 of my series for ‘National Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day.’ This episode features my other son Qahhar Muhammad.
In this episode Qahhar shares thoughts on mentorship and his experiences with the criminalization of childhood that is impacting children and families nationwide.
Qahhar is a member of Camden’s New Jersey’s Youth Leadership and Readiness Program, Camden Men’s Wrestling and Track and Field Teams and he is a sophomore at Muhammad’s University of Islam 20.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Since it is ‘National Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day’, I have brought my two sons onto the podcast to hear their thoughts on life. This week’s episode, Episode 70, is part one of a two-part series and features my son, Haidar Muhammad.
Haidar shares his thoughts on fear, leadership, 'Dad Talks' and being reared in a two parent household plus so much more. He is a member of Camden New Jersey’s Youth Leadership and Readiness Program, Camden Men’s Track and Field Team and a junior at Muhammad’s University of Islam 20.
This was definitely an interesting episode having Haidar speak on behalf of his generation and contribute his insights to the Nurah Speaks audience.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Jealousy is one of those social cancers that eats at the fabric of our community and the sanity of the individual bearing the jealousy. In this episode I discuss five common components of jealousy and how jealousy is manifest.
Be sure to read the accompanying article to this episode which shares those five components in even greater detail by using this link: https://nurahmuhammad.com/blog/jealousy-destroys-from-within
Here is an excerpt of that article:
“The bearer of jealousy may enjoin all of this-the hatred, the assumptions, the disregard and the campaign-yet without so much as showing an inkling to the person of whom they are jealous. He may appear as the greatest cheerleader all the while masking his contempt and working behind the scenes to sour the opinions of others. Therefore it is incumbent upon anyone who has experienced personal and professional triumphs to continually take inventory of those closest to her. She should pay attention to the sudden or gradual shifts in the attitudes and behaviors of those around her including those in the innermost, the outer and still more distant circles. If discerning, she can identify the source of the disruption.”
Subscribe to the Nurah Speaks podcast and leave a comment, review and rating. Let me know what you think about the podcast.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
We are fooling ourselves if we think we do not need a strategy to capture the attention of our youth. Corporations and organizations (legitimate and illegitimate)are competing for the minds of our young people. And they are very strategic in their solicitations.
There are lessons we can learn from these strategies and this episode explores them and what we risk if we do not recruit our young people.
Let me know what you think about this episode. Leave a comment, rating and review and be sure to subscribe on your streaming app.
To read my blog on this subject, use the following link: https://nurahmuhammad.com/blog/recruiting-our-youth.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
In an instant broadcasters, social media influencers and entertainers can define our attitudes and perspectives on trending issues. We can often find ourselves immersed in the overwhelming and repetitive coverage of trending topics while matters much closer to home are left ignored.
This episode is a reminder to stay vigilant; stay woke!
We had better because while we are swept up in the distracting whirlwind of national issues fed to us in broadcasts and social media, our attentions remain diverted from actual issues that we can and should change to improve our daily lives and our communities.
Read my blog on this issue with links to articles that deserve our attention.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Since there is no maximum capacity to learning, it is great to keep an open mind. Doing so avails us the great potential of learning new and useful information and applications to improve our lives.
But we block those blessings, so to speak, when we make roadblocks of pride, fear or even guilt, preventing our accessing solutions to many of the problems we face.
In this week’s episode, I discuss our unconscious habit of shooting down advice without any attempt to use or even consider it. This is often an inconspicuous thing and without someone bringing it our attention, we may never notice it.
This episode is a reminder for each of us to stay openminded, even when thinking objectively is a major challenge. Take a listen and share your thoughts!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
The political season is bearing down upon us. Candidates will soon be stomping in your town seeking your vote. But what considerations do you have when choosing your elected officials?
Choosing our elected officials, especially at the local level, is one of our most important acts of civic engagement because it is these electeds who will be voting on legislature that will directly impact our families and our communities. These are the folks who will be in the closed door rooms when decisions are made affecting us. We want to have folks in these rooms who will advocate staunchly on our behalf, not capitulate to access, money and prominence.
Therefore, let's consider the following:
• 1. Do they sacrifice consistently of their persons and resources, even in the absence of an ‘important’ title?
• 2. Do they practice what they preach?
• 3. Are they dignified and do they respect the dignity of others?
• 4. Are they solution-oriented?
• 5. Are they ‘big meeting members' or consistently active?
• 6. Are they qualified?
This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but a good start.
Read more here: http://nurahmuhammad.com/blog/when-choosing-leaders.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
It’s been a while since I’ve done a ‘Drive Time’ episode and this week’s 'Drive Time' conversation is about our Facebook habits. The content that we post online says a lot about our values, our character and our discipline.
Take a listen to this episode as I discuss:
•Why we should treat Facebook like Main Street •Content that is not good to share on Facebook •Policies your employer, organization or school may have regarding social media •Online practices to protect yourself and your children from predators •Why it is good to think five times before you post
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If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Negative thinking is not only an impediment to personal and professional growth but also to our health and wellness. We must learn how to prioritize the good over the bad by ‘settling on the best part’ of our lives, of our families, of our communities and of ourselves.
Why is it so important to settle on the best part and avoid persevering on the negative?
Inclining to negative thoughts and attitudes can increase our stress levels. When our stress levels are increased, especially on a chronic basis, we cause our bodies to maintain high levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
This hormone can impact the body in a variety of ways including depressed immune system, cardiovascular disease, digestive issues and increased blood sugar levels. These health impacts over an extended period of time can lead to significant health issues.
Cortisol is the same hormone that is released when we are in a fight or flight situation. This hormone prepares us to react quickly in emergencies by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, constriction of our blood vessels and increased blood glucose levels. This is helpful in a short term emergency but detrimental over an expanded period of time.
This episode will explain more about how negative mindsets impact us and what we can do to amplify the positive aspects of our lives.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
It was an honor to sit with this week’s guest, Andrea Lawful-Sanders. Andrea is many things. She is a writer, a wife and a mother, a child and family advocate, a mentor, a columnist, a radio show contributor, an executive director and so much more.
And in all that she does, one words resonates loudly: authentic. Andrea lives her life authentically and she challenges others to do the same.
Listen to this episode to learn how she is impacting students, parents, organizations and corporations in the Philadelphia region with her straight-no chaser-message of authenticity and truth.
Andrea can be heard regularly on the Michele Speaks Radio Show and you can find her column in the Philadelphia Sun.
Learn more about Andrea by visiting her website: www.alawfultruth.com and be sure to follow her on social media: Facebook: @ALawfulTruth, Twitter: @ALawfulTruth and on Instagram: Instagram: @islddva.
Be sure to purchase your copy her book of affirmations “A Lawful Truth-Words of Affirmation: Simple Truths for Everyday Living”
This episode was recorded on location at Andrea's third office: Uncle Bobbie's Coffee and Books. For cool people, dope books and great coffee be sure to visit Uncle Bobbie’s the next time you're in Philly! (unclebobbies.com)
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Temporary responses to the permanence of racism is getting us nowhere. As it is the cycle, once the offenders of racism issue their apologetic platitudes, we are soon thereafter pacified back to neutral.
We are too easily placated with interim damage control in the form of sensitivity forums, promotional opportunities and temporary access. Our short term memory of the sustained offenses against our humanity has been an ongoing problem in our community.
We fail ourselves with acceptance of these cosmetic fixes.
In this episode, I share six steps that we can and should take immediately. We must start the internal work of self examination and start the corollary work to create sustained change. Otherwise we will remain vulnerable to the damaging effects of racism and the clear disregard with which others have of us.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog by clicking this link.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
There is a stark contrast in what a Community Activist is and what some may consider a Community Terrorist.
In general, activism is lobbying special interests, confronting inequities, challenging governmental dysfunction and persuading social change, sometimes through protest and otherwise through affirming new social norms.
For purposes of this conversation, I will define community terrorism as: intimidation, character assassination, violence (or the threat of) and/or extortion in confrontation with local leaders and government officials.
Community Activists activate. Community Terrorists terrorize. Activists are solutions oriented. Terrorists are often problems oriented.
Personal attacks and verbal assaults interrupt the good that can be derived during public debate. We should understand how to instigate change through social engagement that is effective and advantageous.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog: https://nurahmuhammad.com/blog.
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Black History in America is American History. Separating Black History as an elective, optional subject for teachers and students disadvantages not only Black students but all students. This creates misunderstandings and ill informed, conflict-ridden relationships.
Just look at how many current cases are popping up of prominent lawmakers, entertainers and government officials who engaged in some racially offensive language or behavior because, ‘they didn’t know’ the pain they’d cause.
It is silly that black, white, asian and hispanic students could sit in classrooms next to each other elementary through high school, but cultural and historical knowledge of only one group would be highlighted. I believe that the struggles, achievements, innovations and contributions of Blacks in America are a part of the American context no less than those of the Europeans who ‘settled’ on this continent.
Therefore in art class, black American artists should be discussed right along with Norman Rockwell. In science class, black American scientists should be discussed right along with Alexander Graham Bell. To exclude the contributions, trials and triumphs of American blacks in the general education and to exclusively highlight those of European descendants suggests we are irrelevant. But what we know is that we are not irrelevant to this great nation. In fact, we are as relevant as the settlers and founders themselves. Therefore it is an absolute absurdity that only “1-2 lessons or 8-9% of total class time is devoted to Black history in U.S. classrooms.” (https://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/articles/se_810117014.pdf)
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Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
“…if people can’t understand the implications of a white woman yelling at me and trying to badger me into saying what she says - even if I wanted to say it - I wouldn’t have said it the way in which she was speaking to us” Tamika Mallory
Tamika Mallory is not new to activism or criticism. But she has been under a new sophisticated attack since she has been co-chair of the Women’s March. These recent aggressions, charges against her character and dismissal of her self determination has really exposed just how powerful this woman is.
Tamika is the first black leader - woman or man - that I have witnessed not humiliate herself by succumbing to the paternalistic treatments to which other ‘so-called leaders’ have succumb.
There is much we can learn from her resolve and her commitment to her values. In this episode, I elaborate on just four lessons learned during these attacks.
•Define Yourself •Honor Your Relationships and Your Work •Only Concern Yourself with Those Who Want to Know You, Not Control You •Don’t Allow Anyone To Infantalize You
You can also find links below to the interviews which I reference in this episode:
Tamika Mallory on The View https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRzOS7SNKmY
Tamika Mallory on Roland Martin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc5RLIcG2Ig
Tamika Mallory on The Breakfast Club https://youtu.be/HO9Mwx4Eb6Q
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Over 77.3% of black births were to unwed mothers in 2015 according to the National Center for Health Statistics. In Episode 57 I challenge us (the black community) to confront our staggering rate of unwed births and the social challenges that often result.
To be clear-this is not an episode about unwed mothers-it is about unwed mothers AND fathers and the need of putting Marriage ‘back' into Parenthood.
I know this can be a controversial issue and somewhat sensitive for many. As stated in the show, there is no condemnation or indictment on anyone within our community in this condition. But this episode does push us to have different conversations and even difficult conversations surrounding the behaviors and lifestyles we have accepted as normal.
I have included a few articles about the issue below and I encourage your feedback.
For more information:
https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/sites/fragilefamilies/files/ff_fact_sheet.pdf
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/77-black-births-to-single-moms-49-for-hispanic-immigrants
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-out-of-wedlock-births/
“The research found that children born to unmarried parents are disadvantaged relative to children born to married parents in terms of parental capabilities and family stability. Additionally, parents’ marital status at the time of a child’s birth is a “good predictor of longer-term family stability and complexity, both of which influence children’s longer-term wellbeing.”
“The Columbia and Princeton report found that father involvement declines over time for out-of-wedlock births. By age 5, only 50 percent of non-resident fathers have seen their child in the past month. While formal child support from non-resident fathers increases over time, informal cash support and in-kind support (such as buying toys or clothes) declines.According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, children who live without their biological fathers and are, on average, at least two- to three-times more likely to be poor; to use drugs,;to experience educational, health, emotional, and behavioral problems; to be victims of child abuse; and to engage in criminal behavior, than their peers who live with their married, biological (or adoptive) parents. In contrast, children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, avoid high-risk behaviors, and exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior.”
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog: http://nurahmuhammad.com/blog.html
Nurah Speaks can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahSpeaksPodcast and on Instagram and Twitter @NurahSpeaksPodcast.
To bring Nurah to speak at your next event, email info@NurahMuhammad.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Sonja is the Executive Director of the Kwesi Prince Foundation, a pediatric cancer organization dedicated to providing support to families suffering the devastating effects of Childhood Cancer with a focus on brain tumors. The foundation is named in honor of Kwesi Prince, Sonja’s son, who was diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumor in 2010 when he was just 7 years old. After multiple brain surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and a bone marrow transplant, Sonja lost Kwesi in 2014.
Listen as Sonja shares their journey and the amazing work of the Kwesi Prince Foundation.
This conversation with Sonja is informative and listeners will learn: -how friends and family can support caregivers of children with cancer -the extreme need for increased funding for pediatric cancer research -why it’s important that caregivers optimize their own health and wellness -what Kwesi’s journey helped her learn about life
Learn more by visiting the KwesiPrinceFoundation.org. In our conversation, Sonja also mentioned Caring Bridge which is a social media platform in which parents of sick children can share real time information and updates to family members and friends. Learn more about Caring Bridge by visiting CaringBridge.org.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com and reading her blog:http://nurahmuhammad.com/blog.html.
Follow Nurah Speaks on Facebook and @NurahZ20 on Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email Info@NurahMuhammad.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
“All things will remain the same until the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than the pain of change.” Reverend Chris Collins
I am joined in this episode by Reverend Chris Collins, Founder and CEO of the Anointed News Journal. The Anointed News Journal is the nation’s premier weekly faith based and professional publication for winners - with a 24 year running.
This was a great conversation with Reverend Collins as he shared his journey of resilience, faith and perseverance.
In this episode you will learn: -how personal trials can bring us face to face with purpose -why the Anointed News Journal is thriving while many local and national print newspapers are fighting to survive -what Reverend Collins has overcome that’s positioned him as a local leader and inspiration to many -so much more
Listen closely to this interview, grab a pen and pad and prepare to be inspired!
To connect with Reverend Collins, support the Anointed News Journal or submit your advertisement, visit: AnointedOnline.Net, call 856-904-9429 or mail your donations to P.O. Box 309 Camden, New Jersey 08101.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To bring Nurah to speak at your event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
“It is so important that a teacher feels that child’s vulnerability so that they can give them success at the end.… And that’s what’s rewarding!” Chabree Muhammad
This episode is why I created the Nurah Speaks Podcast!
Chabree Muhammad is a passionate educator, director, teacher of teachers, child advocate and parent advocate. Her passion for youth and families resonates in this interview and it was my pleasure to have her on the program.
In this conversation, you will hear a perspective on education that is not -but should be- part of the mainstream discussion.
We enjoyed ourselves so much and the content was so dense that we realized we must have a part two of this interview. But for now, enjoy this part one.
If you are an educator or a parent of school students and have questions for Chabree, you can email her at Mui.ChabreeMuhammad@ymail.com.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To bring Nurah to speak at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This REWIND EPISODE of Nurah Speaks features Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell, Esq., CPA, CCLC. One of my favorite quotes from her is, “Just because you are good at something doesn’t mean that’s what you’re supposed to be doing.”
Lynita is a Top 100 National Attorney, CPA, and Certified Christian Life Coach. She is the CEO of the Leading Through Living Community and Bold Favor Media Group which produces highly acclaimed TV and radio shows. She is also the Executive Director of the Emerging Leaders Institute.
Lynita’s complete bio is extensive and you can learn more about her on her website www.LynitaMitchellBlackwell.com.
Lynita is a LeadHership Champion! As CEO of the Leading Through Living Community, LLC, Lynita manages a multi-faceted organization that includes publishing bestselling inspirational and motivational books, as well as several magazines including the 2016 “ATL’s Hottest Magazine” under LTLC’s subsidiary BOLD Favor Media Group; produces the #1 leadership awards show “The BOLD Awards”, highly acclaimed TV and radio shows, and the PLUS-tacular full-figured calendar; serves as Executive Director of the leadership training and professional development non-profit The Jewell Jackson McCabe Emerging Leaders Institute; and loves coaching women business owners and entrepre-DO-ers!
Lynita is a Top 100 National Attorney, CPA, and Certified Christian Life Coach who lives by the motto: “When you wake up early in the morning, don’t roll over, roll OUT. Your mind is ready, get your body set, and let’s GO!”
Learn more by visiting: www.LynitaMitchellBlackwell.com EmergingLeadersNow.org
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
What consumes our minds controls our lives.
It is imperative that we monitor what we allow beyond our (mental) borders to impact our thinking and feelings. Since the television, music, social media and foods we consume will invariably affect our mindset and behavior-we should be always be watchful of our consumption.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Let's not take for granted that confidence is developing in our youth without intentional and deliberate guidance on our part as parents, mentors, coaches, teachers and counselors.
I believe that we must be unrelenting in aiding the belief and esteem that our young people have in themselves. One way to help advance the development of self confidence is teaching them about: STAACK.
What is STAACK?
STAACK is their Surroundings-Thoughts-Actions-Appearance-Competence-Knowledge.
In this episode I break down how each component hinders or hastens the developing self confidence of our young people.
I urge you to share this when working with our youth to empower them to develop security in themselves. Being self assured will help protect them from seeking validation from unworthy people and means.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To have Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
It is never too soon to encourage our youth to start mapping out their life plan. However, they cannot be expected to chart the course of their lives on their own. We must help them plan, organize, strategize and steer their lives towards the goals that they ultimately set for themselves.
This starts with a simple conversation. Let's ask them the following questions and have them write their answers:
••What outcomes do they want in their lives? What do they want their lifestyles, careers, families to be like? Be specific! What car do they want and how does the leather smell? What are their vacation destinations and how does the ocean breeze feel on their skin? And how's the water? What does their home look like? What color paint is on the walls?
•••What can catalyze their outcome(s)? What can you do to ensure achieving your outcome? What actions need to be taken? For example, to purchase a first home by age 25, earnings will need to be saved, credit will have to be built, income needs to be steady. How can you become a nurse? Choose a nursing program? What is required for admission? (GPA, course study, entrance exam, etc?)
•••What can delay or prevent the outcome? What events, behaviors or thinking can get in the way of achieving the outcome? Experimentation with drugs and alcohol, teenage pregnancy, criminal record, poor grade point average, poor credit, reckless spending…
•••What can you do to avoid barriers to your outcomes? Stay around positive people, recognize what your barriers may be, make good choices, strategize, stay focused on outcomes, break your long term goal into smaller short term goals to prevent overwhelm, etc.
This is actually a great exercise at any age especially as goals can change during our lifetime. It helps young people realize that they are in control of their future and that their results will always be determined by the choices that they make.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To bring in Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This episode marks the One Year Anniversary of the Nurah Speaks Podcast! I am so grateful to all who've listened, subscribed and shared the podcast over the last year. Special thanks of course to the great guests who have joined me to share their work and insights with the Nurah Speaks audience.
This anniversary episode was LIVE CAST on Facebook! That was a new and unique experience for me as a podcaster! In this episode, I share many of my wins, hurdles, next steps and more. I am so proud of this incredible journey and I am even more blessed that you have joined me on it!
If you have not already, please rate and leave a review or comment. Let me know what you think of the podcast and be sure to share it with others.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To bring Nurah to speak at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
There is no biblical commandment directing us to $PEND-$PEND-$PEND to honor the birth of sweet baby Jesus. However, year after year, the season has become less religious and more commercial.
This episode I share tips that will benefit your wallet and your community.
So what should we do in this season of spending? For starters, I advise us all to be aware of the clever campaigns retailers use to incite our excitement to spend. We should be sober and buy what we need, when we need it. There is no sudden urgency wherein a large flat screen tv is needed. The jewelry, apparel, appliances now set at ‘markedly reduced’ prices can wait.
Advertisers know the perfect strategies to persuade spending. Here are my five tips for to help you this season:
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Don’t!----Just don’t spend. Save your money. Invest your money. Refrain from making the rich even richer.
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Buy Black!----If you like the tradition of holiday shopping, buy black. Identify black business with which you can spend. Buy black in brick and mortar stores or shop black online. Just buy black.
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Buy Local!----Shop in YOUR neighborhood. These are the businesses investing in your community. Support them. It is hard for many of our mom and pop shops, startups, independent owners and small businesses to compete with the big box stores and retail chains. But they are right in your community sharing your interests in wanting your community to thrive.
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Buy From People You Know!----Check your network. There are people within your network of friends and family with whom you can shop this holiday season. There are artisans, designers, small business owners, etc. If you don’t know the owners of the stores in your local community, introduce yourself to them. Expand your network and theirs. There is something special and unique in shopping from someone with whom you have a relationship. But not only that-it helps create a unique story with your gift-giving when you know your seller.
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Buy Small!----Resist the push advertisers give us to spend, spend, spend. Buy what you need. Know in advance what you want or need and only buy that. Make a list or put a note in your smart phone. There is no reasonable need to trample, snatch, push and fight over retail items. Be responsible. You work hard for your money. Keep as much of it as you can.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To hire Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This interview with Terina Nicole, founder of Jypsea Leathergoods was so much fun! This is one of those episodes that will have you smiling from beginning to end. Terina is one of those bright, joyful and energized souls who makes you feel happy just being around her. Just listen to this interview and you’ll see!
Terina is a creative, interior stylist, modern leather artisan, product designer, diy instructor, design blogger and so much more. She has been featured on and in NBC, ABC, HGTV, Centric, Essence, Upscale, Philadelphia Magazine and more.
Terina is the cofounder of DIY MakersCon which is an annual one day conference for women which celebrates, educates and gives a platform to creative entrepreneurs.
On this coming Black Friday 2018, Terina will be hosting the Independent Designer Showcase: Pop-up Shop & Fashion Show. Get your tickets here: https://independentdesignersshowcase.eventbrite.com/.
Terina continues to create platforms for designers and would-be designers and she actively facilitates opportunities for us to support them. She embodies the phrase ‘Be The Movement’ in her work and personal life. She is an inspiration for all.
Visit TerinaNicole.com to learn more and make sure you follow Terina on her socials- Facebook: Terina Nicole, IG:TheTerinaNicole
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com.
Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To hire Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
"Cowards Quote the Revolutionary but Do Not Revolt Themselves!" Nurah Muhammad
This is harsh language-I know- but I believe that the power of Malcolm X's language is used to enhance the speech of many without the many emulating Malcolm's activity.
How many times have we heard someone using impassioned words of Malcolm to push their argument but have no evidence of organizing others and creating real sustaining change themselves? We have taken to entertaining one another by how many leaders we can quote.
As a member of the Nation of Islam, as a student of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad-Malcolm X engaged in real work-not just speeches to improve the conditions of our people.
But today, we have folks claiming to be so-called Malcolm X experts who quote the man-but have not and will not walk the walk of Malcolm that made him great.
I claim not to be a Malcolm X expert, however I recognize his wisdom to be that of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the work which produced the solutions to our problems.
My suggestion-Quit Quoting Malcolm until you engage in the long, hard, tiring work of re-engaging our people with the truth of our nature and history-by organizing, creating and building.
In other words-do the work.
*Here is Sister Ilyasah's interview wherein she states that the Nation of Islam did not kill her father: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-stx5wf1Gw.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To hire Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
WARNING! This episode may be triggering for some…
Protection of our youth should be paramount in the minds of parents and all adults responsible for the welfare of children. Unfortunately, we live in a culture wherein children are the prey of sexual predators. And these predators not are not only targeting girls, but also our boys. They are after our infants, toddlers, prepubescent children and beyond. There is no exemption of victim or victimizer. Perpetrators are fathers, mothers, teachers, preachers, coaches and doctors. In so many cases, they are the most trusted members of our society.
We are shown news story after story that the worst is happening to our children -sometimes for years- unbeknownst to parents. To protect our children from the ungodly intentions of these people, we must not be reckless with whom we leave our children alone. And we must be proactive.
Unfortunately, some of what I relate may be upsetting because I believe in very strict boundaries. I do not believe we should leave our young children alone with any male- that’s right-not ANY male- father, grandfather, boyfriend, uncle, brother, cousin. Additionally, we must be extremely limiting and selective with, women because vile intentions and sexual exploitation are not only the actions of men alone. Women engage in these indecencies as well.
I am a firm believer in risking a personal offense rather than therapeutic reparation of innocence lost to sexual abuse.
We can start protecting our children by realizing their value and our responsibility to them. Anywhere we go, with very few exceptions such as work, our children should be able to come with us. Otherwise, we might want to reconsider if it means leaving our children with a sitter.
This episode is not one intended to create suspicion in households and families. But it is one urging mothers and fathers to recognize the potential for abuse in any situation and a reminder that most abuse occurs with someone close to the family or a relative.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To hire Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
To be Relevant one must possess Character, Capacity and Function. Without these, we find ourselves useless, irrelevant or only useful for inconsequential things and people
Character is dignity, decency and ethics. Having character is choosing right over wrong, honesty over dishonesty.
Capacity is the ability to a complete task, perform a duty, endure circumstances or produce results.
Some people are high capacity individuals. To develop capacity, one must train, study, practice, endure without quitting and with the goal to improve ourselves. Capacity is not developed on the sidelines. It is gained in the field of endeavor.
Function is the activity, role or natural purpose of a person-it’s why something exists. To be functional means that one can operate competently within the world. It is having the ability to get things done.
I cannot tell you how excited I am to present this week’s guest, Nisha Blackwell. Nisha is the Founder and CEO of Knotzland Bowties.
Knotzland is a company that sources the discarded waste from upholstery and textile manufactures to create unique hand sewn bowties.
And Nisha's journey? Just Remarkable!
But let me tell you how I learned about Nisha. One random, lazy Sunday I was watching a morning news program when an amazing google commercial caught my attention.
The ad was about a young black woman (Nisha) who found herself unemployed-but after attending a child's birthday party-she was an entrepreneur.
I kid you not!
But I won't tell the whole story here-you'll get the journey as you listen.
Still, this episode is full of wisdom that Nisha shares from that journey. When you listen, you'll learn about the challenges black women led startups face, gentrification and urban renewal and how being open to new challenges can take you to places you'd never expect.
Her message to anyone with a dream- 'Just Go For It!'
To learn more about Knotzland, visit Knotzland.com and follow Knotzland on Instagram and Facebook @knotzland and you can follow Nisha on twitter @Naturalknotz.
To view Nisha’s google commercial, click here: https://youtu.be/6R8euQeU-Fc
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com.
Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog. Follow Nurah on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To hire Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This episode comes in response to Bette Midler’s recent tweet, “Women are the n-words of the world.”
We are witnessing the absolute co-opting of the historical trauma and terrorism sustained by Blacks in America . We are a people who’ve endured American slavery, sharecropping, Black codes, Jim Crow and today, we experience modern day lynchings.
As others are hijacking our suffering to illustrate their hardships, we cannot ignore their implicit devaluing of our humanity.
But I wonder - what will WE do to value ourselves and our interests?
Below you will find Bette Midler's full tweet as well as partial lyrics from the song ‘Woman Is The Nigger Of The World,’ by John Lennon. This is the song which she references in her tweet.
Bette Midler’s tweet: “’Women are the N-word of the world’ Raped, beaten, enslaved, married off, worked like dumb animals; denied education and inheritance; enduring he pain and danger of childbirth and life IN SILENCE for THOUSANDS of years…They are the most disrespected creatures on earth.”
Partial Lyrics from John Lennon’s “Woman Is The Nigger of the World” Woman is the nigger of the world Think about it, do something about it We make her paint her face and dance If she won't be a slave, we say that she don't love us If she's real, we say she's trying to be a man While putting her down we pretend that she is above us Woman is the nigger of the world, yes she is
Nurah Speaks is a weekly podcast that tugs at the soul and consciousness of the black community. Nurah Speaks listeners gain unique perspectives on topics such as education, youth empowerment, women's impact, community engagement, youth violence prevention and more. Host Nurah Muhammad welcomes guests who have demonstrated capacity in these areas and so much more.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This week's guest is Taylor Ali, founder of Brown Girls Nirvana. Brown Girls Nirvana is an organization striving to empower and restore sisterhood between brown girls of all shades and ages. It is her goal to create a safe space for brown women to thrive and flourish.
Taylor hosts the monthly women's groups 'Queens Court' which provides women the opportunity to decompress from the world that expects so much from them. Taylor continue to develop both Brown Girls Nirvana and Queens Court to provide encouragement and support for brown women.
On November 10, 2018 Taylor hosts 'I Like My Coffee Black' a women's empowerment and networking conference. This conference will empower, inspire and equip attendees through conversation and networking with an amazing panel of women speaking on real life issues! I am grateful to be a panelist at this great event!
To learn more and get your tickets to "I Like My Coffee Black" use the link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/i-like-my-coffee-black-tickets-49876245192?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing.
Follow Taylor and Brown Girls Nirvana: Instagram @brown_girls_nirvana Facebook @browngirlsnirvana nirvana.empowerment@gmail.com
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
In this episode of the Nurah Speaks Podcast, I share with listeners some of the lessons I have learned in my study of life, in my podcast journey and in my community and public service. These 8 lessons that I share here have benefited me well and I know they will benefit listeners too.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Sheila Joyner, Founder and CEO of Your Care At Home is my guest.
Your Care At Home is a person centered non medical in home care service for the handicapped, elderly and intellectually disabled.
Sheila has been in the healthcare field for over 30 years as an employee. In our conversation, she describes her perspective from her recent years as owner/operator and what she has learned about herself in this journey.
Your Care At Home tells you where services are provided but the full depth of services are remarkable…including patient and family education, scheduling and attending medical appointments, companionship, housekeeping, grocery shopping and much more. She is licensed and insured and all members of her team have the essential background screenings.
I am very grateful to have Sheila as a guest.
As a disclaimer…parts of the audio may be sketchy…we recorded this podcast while Sheila was literally enroute from a visit…but she was insisted that we proceed anyway…
Learn more by visiting: YourCareAtHome.Info Call: 267-242-8742 (phone) or fax 267-335-4143. You can also email Sheila at: YourCareAtHome@Gmail.com
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I loved this conversation with this week’s guest Jasmine Moore, a self described Purpose Parter and author of ‘'Because No One Told Me'.
Jasmine is a motivational speaker, youth advocate and the founder of MooreThanHelpLLC. She joins me to discuss her journey to finding her purpose, her work with young people and 'I Like My Coffee Black' her upcoming Women’s Empowerment and Networking Event.
Jasmine is invested in her work and empowering others with the wisdom she has gained from her own life experiences. Follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JasmineJMoore/.
Get your ticket to 'I Like My Coffee Black' using this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/i-like-my-coffee-black-tickets-49876245192?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.
Be sure to get your copy of her book 'Because No One Told Me' from Amazon or Barnes and Noble today! To contact Jasmine, email her here: moorethanhelpllc@gmail.com
(More About Jasmine) Jasmine J. Moore is a Motivational speaker, philanthropist, and youth advocate that has been working with youth for over 10 years. She is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and mentor to many young woman who she identifies with in many unique ways.
Currently Jasmine serves as the Program Director for a Homeless and at-risk youth program in Camden City, Chairperson for the Southern NJ Youth and Education Committee, and she has also worked as a social worker for Covenant House in her hometown of Atlantic City.
Growing up, she would often see different things occur that she just knew one day she would have the power to change. Her change started with her education; she was a first generation family member to attend college where she pursued her Bachelor’s degree in Law and Justice and Masters in Public Administration. Jasmine is currently preparing to take her LSAT to be admitted to Rutgers Law School in Camden as a Social Justice Scholar where she will be working as legal counsel on issues such as homelessness policies, human trafficking, and access for disenfranchised communities. Within the past year Jasmine has published her first book, moved into leadership at her church (Victory in Christ Christian Center), mentored young girls in her hometown with the In My C.A.R.E Mentoring program, and has also assisted the founder with opening a chapter for girls in Camden City. Jasmine is so excited, blessed, and grateful for the purpose that God has for our lives because anything is attainable with God!
Everything we want is on the other side of fear. Too often, fear hampers us from engaging in the personal development and decision making that will move us to the next level.
This episode encourages us to move forward ‘through’ the fear.
What do we fear? We fear ridicule. We fear failure. We fear the absence of quick success. We fear loneliness. But moving forward to a better reality requires us to accept the discomfort that comes with self improvement.
Either way, when we desire more for (or of) ourselves-we are either going to be uncomfortable with the same old sameness or uncomfortable in the progressive newness. I say, it is better to be uncomfortable moving forward than staying the same old person who has denied their dreams.
I want this podcast to be the encouragement you need to help get yourself unstuck and choosing to win. I must honestly say, this episode is as much for me as it is for you. So let’s go and let’s win together!
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
This episode is one of my most favorite to date! Today’s guest is the insightful and witty Toni Moore.
Toni is an author, speaker and the legal visionary of Legally Chic Services, a boutique law firm that offers savvy business and legal strategies to individuals, business owners, and nonprofit visionaries.
Toni is personally committed to empowering as many as she can, whenever she can AND however she can with much needed business, lifestyle and legal knowledge. In doing so, she strengthens others to live more victoriously in every aspect of their lives.
Prior to launching Legally Chic Services, Toni spent more than 20 years as a civil trial attorney, a domestic relations attorney, an adjunct professor, a legal coach and as a Senior Financial/Business Fraud expert with the U.S. Department of Labor. You can learn more about Toni at legallychic360.com or follow her on social media @MSToniMoore.
Purchase her book, Handle Your Business, on amazon or from legallychic360.com.
About the book: "Handle Your Business shares basic information you need to create, build and protect your dream business. Throughout each chapter, you are provided with clear, concise and specific guidance to help your own power, monetize your brilliance, protect your assets and uplevel your success."
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks Podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
It is our duty to provide a competing message to our young people that challenges the nonstop barrage of marketing streaming at them 24/7, 365.
We have to help them develop confidence based on who they are, not what they can buy, wear or drive. This episode explains why. It is our duty to provide a competing message to our young people that challenges the nonstop barrage of marketing streaming at them 24/7, 365.
We have to help them develop confidence based on who they are, not what they can buy, wear or drive. This episode explains why.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To hire Nurah for your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This episode features Kathyrn Muhammad, a Master Teacher educating children in Camden, NJ.
I invited Kathryn to the podcast because of her expertise in education, in particular, educating the black child.
As you will hear in this episode she is passionate about teaching and she recognizes that learning involves more than academics. It also involves the love of children and the will to help them succeed.
Kathryn and I recorded this episode on the road in my new favorite coffee spot and you can view the video using this link: https://youtu.be/X_OC-Cpe8Wo.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
In this episode, I answer a question that was posed to me a short while ago. Essentially, the question is, “How was I able to establish myself in the area of youth services?”
So I thought the best way to answer that question is to share my own journey. That is what I do in this episode.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I am excited to welcome Sulaiha Turner to the Nurah Speaks Podcast. Sulaiha is a professional hair stylist and owner of Essential Nutrientz, an all natural hair product line.
In this episode Sulaiha explains: -how Essential Nutrientz was born -the impact hair products can have on general health -what consumers should look for in shampoos and conditioners -the benefits of investing in a business coach -how serving others is crucial to overall success -much more
Sulaiha’s Essential Nutrientz Philosophy:
“I believe in making products combining natural butters and oils that infuse the hair and skin with nutrients and vibrancy producing shiny healthy hair and glowing skin. My belief is that healthy products don't have to smell herbal in order to be considered nutritious to the hair and skin. My hair care products were designed to give people a healthy option for moisturizing and caring for their hair while they are away from the salon. The Essential Nutrientz Hair Care Line contains ingredients that are designed to increase shine, moisturize, stop breakage, stimulate growth, and protect the hair from split ends.”
To learn more about Essential Nutrientz, visit www.EssentialNutrientz.com. Follow Essential Nutrientz on IG: @EssentialNutrientz_he and on Facebook @ Essential Nutrientz. Email Sulaiha: EssentialN1.info@gmail.com.
You can also find Sulaiha and her hair product line at the upcoming EmpoWer Your Business Conference hosted by DaVita Garfield on August 12, 2018. To reserve your spot in the room, visit EmpowerYourBusiness.com.
If you would like to engage with the podcast submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
The woman is the first teacher, the first nurse, the first doctor…therefore her wellness in all aspects of life is essential to the wellness of our communities.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Let’s talk about our use of the term “woke” and what it really means to be woke.
For those who may not know, the term “woke” refers to being consciously aware and understanding the nature of social, economic and political injustices.
But what good is being woke if our awareness does not translate into action?
In this episode, I break down how our wokeness must move beyond awareness:
*Woke means WORK! - we must actively create the change that we need and recognize that laziness is the enemy of progress
*Woke means SUPPORT! - we must vigorously patronize establishments and back leaders who reflect our needs and goals
*Woke means SACRIFICE! - we must be willing to give something up to create a new reality
*Woke means COURAGE! - we must be willing to challenge traditions and powerbrokers who disapprove of or interrupt our efforts to freedom, justice and equality.
I filmed myself recording this episode so if you would like to view on Youtube, visit my Youtube page: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCDBHsYsvrdxbdWn8LWZpzkg
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
verb ed·i·fy \ ˈe-də-ˌfī \ Uplift, Enlighten, Dignify
If Black women are the most educated group in America... If the Black community controls $1.2 trillion annually… If Black people have the most significant influence on pop culture…
Why are we still confronted with century’s old dilemmas?
Considering that in 2018 we are in the age of Barbecue Becky, ID Adam, mass incarceration, unarmed police shootings and systems that socioeconomically marginalize black people-much has not changed for us.
In this episode I assert that our degrees, dollars and influence will only be advantageous when we bond them with inward efforts, collective action and group operations.
Until we do that, and ONLY until we do that (because all else has failed) we will be neither uplifted nor dignified. But the good news is, there is still time.
What say you?
For additional insight, see the links below:
http://www.kentwired.com/ksubuzz/article_f03c57b0-ac01-11e4-8e93-4304b37bd948.html
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/time/5134486/how-to-slay-black-fashion-influence
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2018/black-impact-consumer-categories-where-african-americans-move-markets.html
https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/beyond-bls/the-unexplainable-growing-black-white-wage-gap.htm
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I am so proud of this episode and of this week’s guest Youth Leader, Haafiz Muhammad. Haafiz joined me to discuss the impact he’s made in his community and ways we can empower young people to tackle issues that confront them daily.
Haafiz has been instrumental in Camden, New Jersey’s efforts to mitigate violence impacting youth through his participation in the Department of Justice’s National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention. As a delegate representing Camden in such arenas as Cities United (a collective of mayors working to halt the loss of life in cities throughout America - CitiesUnited.org) Haafiz has represented on the national stage and on the front lines of change.
Haafiz shares how his heritage as a Muslim and member of the Nation of Islam makes him distinct and a role model for his peers. I am thankful for Haafiz taking time to share his perspective on current events and popular trends that affect the Black community.
This was a profound discussion and Haafiz will leave the listener encouraged that our youth are recognizing their right and responsibility to transform the world in which they live.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I love this couple and you will too!
Terrence and Brandy White were my guests during their recent visit to Camden, New Jersey to feature the acclaimed book Terrence co-authored, ‘Doing Time With My Son.’
The book features his journey of incarceration, recovery and re-entry to society. We discussed why the book is necessary, why their story needed to be told, how to cope when your loved one is incarcerated and so much more.
Terrence and Brandy are a dynamic couple who have endured much individually and together within their marriage. Terrence credits writing for the book as the beginning of his awakening.
To learn more or purchase your copy visit: DoingTimeWithMySon.com.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Emotions make for good servants but poor masters. This is a truism of which we should stay mindful. Because while feelings go away, actions fueled by feelings can have permanent consequences and detrimental ramifications on decisions and relationships.
Too many of our men and women (young and old) are experiencing this first hand from their jail cells. Lives have been lost, families destroyed and potential has been squandered from hasty decisions not lead by logic and reason.
We have to always allow ourselves time to get to the other side...because if we keep breathing and allowing time to work on us; we may find ourselves grateful for not jumping into action without the benefit of clarity and a clear mind.
Share this with our children....feelings - go - away! The pain of a breakup, the fear of a new challenge, the embarrassment of a public mistake...we can overcome anything if we endure to a new day.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I came across a horrendous meme recently which stated, “The Smartest Thing A Woman Can Learn Is To Never Need A Man.” Seeing this let me know that the time has come for us to start speaking up for our men, for ourselves and AGAINST the barrage of misinformation sent our way.
In this episode I share my take on this devaluing, divisive and denigrating language and share what I believe is the smartest thing a woman can know.
I also question our role in the Feminist or Women’s Movement, the role it plays for us and if the movement truly tracks and takes action on the issues Black Women face.
I believe we must control our message and determine our own narrative. Otherwise we unwillingly (or willingly) take up a narrative that perpetuates confusion and dysfunction.
I would love to hear your take on the subject discussed in this episode. Am I taking this to seriously? Do you agree? What are your thoughts?
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Welcome to episode 28! I am happy to share my interview with Ms. Mona Pryor, business consultant and the manager of the Market Street Group. At the Market Street Group., Mona manages the company’s Tax Preparation Service, Business Planning and Financial Planning Service, Hoarders Express Cleanup Service and the Original Cafe and Bistro.
What interests me most about Mona is the impact she makes on others, particularly those whom others deem are beyond help. Whether one is a recovering addict, an ex-offender reentering society or homeless in need of permanent housing-Mona has the ability and the will to assist. As a second-chancer herself, Mona recognizes the hardship society puts on those who are looking to make a fresh start. Therefore, they are able to find a fresh start with her.
Having survived reoccurring aneurysms and 8 brain surgeries, she knows she has a purpose greater than herself. Mona is a story of resilience and generosity. And it is my pleasure to feature her here on Nurah Speaks.
To learn more about the Market Street Group visit http://529marketst.com. If you are in the Camden, New Jersey area, be sure to visit the Original Cafe and Bistro located at 529 Market Street in downtown Camden, New Jersey.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This was an extremely fun conversation with Nichelle Pace, owner of Brand Enchanting Media. Not only was it an informative dialogue but I also got to bask in 80’s and 90’s culture with a fellow Gen-X’er.
In this episode you will hear Nichelle describe her journey into media and marketing and why there have been so many prominent ads recently getting it all wrong. We delve into her family’s tie to the Civil Rights movement and her efforts to empower her community.
I found talking with Nichelle easy and delightful and as you will see as our interview opens, we get right into it! You will enjoy this episode.
About Brand Enchanting Media and Nichelle Pace: Brand Enchanting Media is spearheaded by integrated marketing expert, Nichelle N. Pace. With extensive lifestyle marketing and big advertising agency background from New York to Chicago, Nichelle has been a steward for many global and domestic brands’ integrated and digital marketing efforts including: Procter & Gamble, Estee Lauder, Jones New York, Stoli Vodka, Dell, and Sharp Electronics. Nichelle has been a featured panelist at prominent marketing, business and social media events, including: Social Media Week New York, Internet Week, Blogher Conference, NYC 3-Day Start Up, Mashable Social Media Day, and the Independent Fashion/Lifestyle Bloggers Conference.
Nichelle’s experience and leadership in the marketing community firmly laid the foundation for Brand Enchanting Media to form in 2016. BEM now serves as the parent company of STYLEMOM.com (founded in 2009), Small Biz Digital BootcampTM, and a soon to be released group of online publications. Creatively led, and strategically driven, Brand Enchanted Media takes the guesswork out of developing inclusive advertising and marketing plans that incorporate multilevel experiential, social media, and full-service digital executions.
You can learn more by visiting brandenchanting.com or by following Nichelle on social media: https://twitter.com/nichellenpace and https://instagram.com/nichellepace.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don't just join the movement, BE THE MOVEMENT!
Chabree Muhammad is this week’s guest on Nurah Speaks! Chabree is the Director of Muhammad’s University of Islam 20 (MUI) and M.E.L. Childcare Center Inc. in Camden, NJ.
More than that, Chabree is a leading expert in educating Black Children!
Let's set the stage. Camden is one of the most challenged cities in the nation. The city struggles with poverty, crime, literacy and educational attainments. In the midst of all of this is Chabree. In the childcare center, she guides her employees to nurture the infants, toddlers and after school children who attend the center. At MUI, she leads her teachers, reminding them that school-age students require nurturing as a necessary component in education.
This show is a must for parents, teachers, school administrators and anyone interested or involved with children or education. If you are serious about the success of children-you will want to listen to this episode.
Chabree is a passionate educator, director, teacher of teachers, child advocate and parent advocate. Her passion for youth and families resonates in this interview and it was my pleasure to have her on the program. We enjoyed ourselves so much and the content was so dense that we realized we must have a part two of this interview. But for now, enjoy this part one…
Oh, please let me add…the Nurah Speaks studio (aka, my home office) is in close proximity to the local regional trauma center. In the background you can hear helicopters flying to and from but I felt that Chabree was on such a role, it didn’t seem warranted to take a break. I believe her content is well worth the minor background noise.
M.E.L. Childcare Center serves infants, toddlers and after school children and is located at 1131 Haddon. Avenue Camden, New Jersey 08103. Muhammad’s University of Islam 20 serves pre-K to 12th grade students and is located at 1157 Haddon Avenue Camden, New Jersey 08013. You can contact Chabree by calling 856-966-1722.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Youth are highly perceptive and they spot sincerity as easily as they spot phoniness. Therefore it is essential that when working with them in capacities such as teachers, mentors, clinicians or coaches we must always:
Be Loving
Be Non-Judgmental
Be a Role Model
We must remind ourselves that it is a privilege to be positioned to impact the potential within our young people. Being reckless, judgmental or self promoting can damage how they see themselves and their possibilities in our world.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I thought this subject worthy enough to have a part 2. In this episode, I share the benefits of eating less, avoiding non-nutritive food items, fasting, eating fresh fruits and vegetables and being mindful about our food choices.
*Train our stomachs and retrain our appetites.
*Eat less-the more we eat, the more wear and tear we put on our stomachs and digestive system.
*Fasting-Fasting gives our bodies an opportunity to rest and purify. Not only is fasting a natural mood stabilizer, it also helps with clarity of thinking.
*Eliminate or minimize unhealthy. BUT STOP EATING PORK!!! The hog is a four legged garbage disposal! I explain more in this episode.
*Choose fresh fruits and vegetables and incorporate them into each of our meals. Avoid fruit juices that are high sugar content minus the fiber that helps regulate blood sugar levels.
*Be mindful about our dietary decisions.
Read ‘How To Eat to Live” and “How To Eat To Live Book 2”.
Eat to Live!
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Blacks suffer from chronic diseases at increased rates and have the highest cancer death rate of any group. Most of our chronic health conditions are diet related and therefore preventable when we make appropriate dietary choices.
We must know what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat. This conversation is just a start at tackling this necessary subject. Follow Dr. Terry Mason on Facebook and elsewhere online.
Eat to Live!
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This ‘Drive Time” episode comes on the heels of the Starbucks controversy in which two black men were arrested while waiting for their associate.
Here, I confront us with our responsibility to ourselves and the indignities we suffer when we neglect them. Also, do we have the will to use our trillion plus in buying power to establish our own economic base? Or will we remain at the Rich Man’s Gate?
If you’ve seen the footage, the protests of today in 2018 resemble much of what we’ve seen in the 60’s. What have WE done differently in the 50 plus years since? Are we tired yet? And what measures have we taken to avoid such encounters?
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Build your own table before demanding a seat at the table of another.
For decades we have petitioned to be treated with equity by white America; but have we enjoined equal labor, commitment, investment, love and governance among our own?
This conversation challenges us.
What have we done amongst ourselves, FOR OURSELVES - except sport and entertainment - that would urge others to welcome us into their society? We must study the successful operations of other groups-and model their self service and self interest.
Equality is right-but it is not enough to demand equality without doing an equal duty to ourselves, as others have done for themselves.
We will only be respected outwardly when we demonstrate viability inwardly.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I am joined in this episode by Reverend Chris Collins, CEO and Editor of the Anointed News Journal. The Anointed News Journal is the nation’s premier weekly faith-based and professional publication for winners - with 24 years in circulation.
I was very delighted by this conversation as Reverend Collins sat with me to share his remarkable journey of resilience and faith.
In this episode you will learn: -how personal struggles can bring us face to face with purpose -why the Anointed News Journal is thriving while many local and national print newspapers are battling to survive -what Reverend Collins has overcome that’s positioned him as a dedicated leader and inspiration to many -so much more
Listen closely to this interview, grab a pen and pad and prepare to be anointed by his powerful message!
To connect with Reverend Collins, support the Anointed News Journal or submit your advertisement, visit: AnointedOnline.Net, call 856-904-9429 or mail your donations to P.O. Box 309 Camden, New Jersey 08101. You can also follow the Anointed News Journal on Facebook!
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Win, Rock & Rule is the 'MUST ATTEND' New Jersey networking event. Win, Rock & Rule is presented by Dr. Dee C. Marshall, Founder of Girlfriends Pray.
This year’s event featured an abundance of incredible women including:
Janaye Ingram-one of the organizers of the Women’s March and Camden, New Jersey’s own
Sonia Lewis, the Student Loan Doctor,
Maddie Brooks, Prudential Financial Manager,
DaVita Garfield, founder of EmpoWermentNOW and
Michellene Davis Esq, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer another of Camden’s Finest.
And this is the short list!
BUT! We cannot just be IN the room with great women; it’s what we DO when in the room that will make a difference.
In this episode, I share the importance of Dr. Dee C. Marshall’s Win, Rock & Rule, others’ takeaways of the event and tips for successful networking.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog. Follow Nurah on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I’m trying something new this episode so I’m calling this one, ‘Drive Time Thoughts: Monique and Netflix.’
In this episode, I question our public response to the Monique/Netflix issue. What does it mean to ‘Support Black’? And should ‘Support Black’ exclude personally disparaging our own in the public?
This episode was recorded during my commute; I thought it’d be a cool idea to share my ‘Drive Time Thoughts’ with listeners. The audio isn’t as great as when recording in my studio office but I’ve thought of ways to improve that moving forward.
Be sure to tell me your thoughts on this topic and don’t forget to leave a review and rating on iTunes or SoundCloud and please share with friends.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
In this episode of Nurah Speaks, I share three ways in which we can empower our youth.
Remember that, just like us, our young people are searching for Purpose, Power and Importance. And although social media provides a means to instant response and recognition; it can also foster a false sense of reality. Therefore, we must equip youth with life skills necessary to find purpose, power and importance to operate within the real world - in a healthy and productive way.
The three tips I share in this episode are:
- Love Them
- Challenge Them
- Refrain from Rescuing Them
Listen as I expand on each of these and how we can ready our young people for the world that awaits them.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This is a PHENOMENAL conversation with my sister from the U.K., Rita Gayle. Rita is the author of the compelling book ‘Friend Across the Water: A personal journal inside Black America’.
Formerly of the BBC, Rita is a journalist, author, academic and lecturer. She has a broad knowledge of global affairs which she demonstrates expertly in this conversation. In our interview, Rita discusses the moral obligation that Black Americans (former slaves) have in sharing our experiences with our Brothers and Sisters who live abroad. She talks about the risks of not doing so when Hollywood and others are presenting their own versions which often fall short in accuracy.
Rita also discusses the conditions of Blacks living in Europe and the struggles they face which have both similarities and unique distinctions from our own in America. This interview was recorded live at CROETV studios in Chicago, Illinois while we were both there to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Coalition for Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad (CROE).
To get your copy of Rita’s book ‘Friend Across the Water: A personal journal inside Black America’ visit http://a.co/1FLBafS.
To listen Rita’s 2012 lecture ‘Friend Across the Water’, listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/friend-across-the-water.
You can also use this link https://youtu.be/E3rBlCAf47M to see Rita featured on the Munir Muhammad show.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I wanted to share my 6 takeaways after watching and rewatching the blockbuster movie Black Panther! This movie was amazing on so many levels and there were many lessons to be learned from the onscreen and off screen action.
Nurah Speaks is a weekly podcast that tugs at the soul and consciousness of the black community. Nurah Speaks listeners will gain unique perspectives on topics such as education, youth empowerment, women's impact, community engagement, youth violence prevention and more. Host Nurah Muhammad welcomes guests who have demonstrated capacity in these areas and so much more. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.
Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Sonja Prince is Kwesi Prince’s mother and was his primary caregiver. Kwesi was only seven years old in 2010 when he was diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumor. In that year Kwesi had two brain surgeries, radiation and high dose chemotherapy. After 15 months of remission, he relapsed in 2012. He had another surgery, chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. In 2013 Kwesi relapsed a second time and in 2014 he passed away but left his spirit in those who knew and love him.
Sonja remains a fierce childhood cancer advocate and is dedicated to fight for all pediatric cancer families until a cure is found. She's served as a member on the Family Advisory Committee at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and has spent many years mentoring young girls and volunteering at her local Ronald McDonald Family Room.
Sonja is the Executive Director of the Kwesi Prince Foundation which is a pediatric cancer organization dedicated to providing support to families suffering the devastating effects of Childhood Cancer with a focus on brain tumors.
She has over 19 years experience working in the banking industry and holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration.
In this episode of Nurah Speaks Sonja shares with listeners that pediatric cancer is vastly different than adult cancer and that pediatric cancer receives only 4% of government funding. (And a small percentage of that addresses brain cancers.) Sonja shares how friends and family can support caregivers of sick children or what she has learned about herself in her journey with Kwesi. She encourages listeners to fight for increased research funding for cures and prevention of childhood cancers. She also suggests volunteering or donating to your local childhood cancer nonprofit organization.
The Kwesi Prince Foundation is dedicated to: 1. Providing education for holistic lifestyles 2. Providing assistance for bereaved families 3. Funding innovative research for less toxic treatments for children 4. Supporting parents and caregivers through the ‘tranquility tote’ program 5. Spread awareness of childhood cancer and effects on the entire family
Learn more online by visiting www.KwesiPrinceFoundation.com and on Facebook www.facebook.com/KwesiPrinceFoundation/. In our conversation, Sonja also mentioned Caring Bridge which is a social media platform in which parents of sick children can share real time information and updates to family members and friends. Learn more about Caring Bridge by visiting CaringBridge.org.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog.
Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
“A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” Proverbs 18:16
If you’re doubting your dreams; if you’re re-thinking your goals as too lofty, if your New Year’s resolutions are already faded memories if you’re feeling impatient that your “It” hasn’t happened yet… this episode is for you!
This episode is YOUR cheer section! Brief but impactful, this episode reminds you to outlast doubts, fears, hurdles and reminds anyone who has a goal to stay the course. As it is written, “Your gift will make room for you!” But as with anything worth having-effort, investment and perseverance are essential to bring the goal from an idea to a reality.
Stay encouraged. Stay patient. Use your gifts in the service of good and the Universe will amplify you!
Nurah Speaks is a weekly podcast that tugs at the soul and consciousness of the black community. Nurah Speaks listeners will gain unique perspectives on topics such as education, youth empowerment, women's impact, community engagement, youth violence prevention and more. Host Nurah Muhammad welcomes guests who have demonstrated capacity in these areas and so much more.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To hire Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
“The thought of the inferiority of the Negro is drilled into him in almost every class he enters and in almost every book he studies.” Carter G Woodson
This episode is my first of Black History Month! Black History Month is the expansion of Negro History Week established by historian Carter G Woodson in 1926 with the goal to acquaint 20th century Black youth with the history and accomplishments of their ancestors.
In this episode I encourage listeners to examine if we are fulfilling the visions of the great figures that we commemorate during this month. I also discuss how the exclusion of Black history from general American and World history negatively impacts all students, white, black or otherwise.
Carter G Woodson’s concern with the education of Black youth stemmed from his understanding that when you control a man’s thinking, you’ve established control of his actions. I encourage us all in our celebration of Black History Month to continue educating our youth of the genius of their ancestors but also helping them tap into their own unique genius.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Bettye L. Blaize is this week’s guest on Nurah Speaks. She is co-author of the timely and touching book, “Doing Time With My Son”. Essentially, this book is a memoir of a mother and son’s enduring love through incarceration and is a realistic look at a struggle which is now a national crises. In this interview you will learn how Bettye advises loved ones to support those who are incarcerated and why staying hopeful is always the best course.
Bettye is a mother of one son, grandmother of two, and great-grandmother of three who resides in Baltimore, Maryland. She was educated in Baltimore City Schools and continued her education at Strayer Business College, where she studied accounting. She started her career at Holiday Inn as a desk clerk and proudly worked her way up to the position of manager. She retired from the Holiday Inn after 29 proud years of service.
Throughout her life, Bettye has had a passion for working with and encouraging young people, and it was this passion that led her to re-enter the workforce after retirement as an administrative assistant with the Urban Leadership Institute in Baltimore. In this role, Bettye managed many daily operations of the company and assisted co-founders David Miller and Dr. LaMarr D. Shields in their work in schools and non-profits throughout the country.
She currently serves as the chief administration assistant for the Cambio Group, where she travels nationwide and contributes to the Cambio Group’s mission of affecting change at both the individual and systemic level in schools, non-profits, and government agencies. Bettye also works with the SPARK Center for Professional and Personal Renewal, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping teachers, social workers, and other change agents reignite their passions for their professions. When she’s not working or traveling, Bettye loves nothing more than spending time with her incredible family in Baltimore. You can get more information on her website www.DoingTimeWithMySon.com, you can email her directly at BettyeBlaize@yahoo.com and you can follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bettye.Blaize.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Welcome to episode 10! What a mini milestone in the history of Nurah Speaks (I celebrate ALL victories and strongly encourage you to do the same!) Thanks to the listeners for your continued support!
In this solo episode I question what it means to be a natural---well, for me at least. I’ve been told (more times than I can count)that I am a ‘natural’ public speaker. But if you knew me years ago (or were in my 8th grade English class), this might seem the furthest from the truth.
Listen in as I describe the hard work it takes to be a ‘natural’ in any field you are pursuing. This episode covers:
My 8th grade public speaking disaster Why I dislike the phrase ‘fake it til you make it’ The necessity of practice How taking risks can bring us face to face with our gifts Ways to improve our public speaking How having un-empowered language and thinking create an un- empowered reality The importance of reviewing our past work
Be sure to tell me your thoughts on this topic and don’t forget to leave a review and rating on iTunes and share with friends.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
This Nurah Speaks episode was recorded on the 2018 MLK Day of Service. This day calls for Americans from all walks to work collectively in creating solutions to the most urgent of national problems.
In this episode, I reflect on Dr. King’s legacy of social activism and servant leadership. I discuss how modern day activists can emulate his example to increase the effectiveness their leadership in their local communities. Dr. King is one who embodied ‘Being the Movement’ in his quest for freedom and justice in America and it was an honor to be of service to my community in his memory.
Nurah Speaks is a weekly podcast that tugs at the soul and consciousness of the black community. Nurah Speaks listeners gain unique perspectives on topics such as education, youth empowerment, women's impact, community engagement, youth violence prevention and more.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
I am excited to present this episode with guest Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell, Esq., CPA, CCLC. Lynita is a Top 100 National Attorney, CPA, and Certified Christian Life Coach. She is the CEO of the Leading Through Living Community and Bold Favor Media Group which produces highly acclaimed TV and radio shows. She is also the Executive Director of the Emerging Leaders Institute.
Lynita’s complete bio is extensive and you can learn more about her on her website www.LynitaMitchellBlackwell.com.
Lynita is a LeadHership Champion! As CEO of the Leading Through Living Community, LLC, Lynita manages a multi-faceted organization that includes publishing bestselling inspirational and motivational books, as well as several magazines including the 2016 “ATL’s Hottest Magazine” under LTLC’s subsidiary BOLD Favor Media Group; produces the #1 leadership awards show “The BOLD Awards”, highly acclaimed TV and radio shows, and the PLUS-tacular full-figured calendar; serves as Executive Director of the leadership training and professional development non-profit The Jewell Jackson McCabe Emerging Leaders Institute; and loves coaching women business owners and entrepre-DO-ers!
Lynita is a Top 100 National Attorney, CPA, and Certified Christian Life Coach who lives by the motto: “When you wake up early in the morning, don’t roll over, roll OUT. Your mind is ready, get your body set, and let’s GO!” Learn more by visiting: www.LynitaMitchellBlackwell.com EmergingLeadersNow.org
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Nurah Speaks welcomes Aneesah Parker, a high school senior, youth leader, student mentor, filmmaker and photographer. In this episode, Aneesah talks about how she transitioned from a shy student to a youth leader, how becoming a peer mentor has affected her and how a class assignment at the University of Islam 20 changed the direction of her life.
Aneesah's goals are to become a professional filmmaker and make an impact on other's lives while doing so. This is a refreshing conversation and Aneesah is a beautiful example of what it looks like when we truly empower our youth and nudge them beyond their comfort zones.
You can visit her website neesahfilms.wixsite.com/neesahfilms and follower her on Instagram @neesahs.pics. Also, view her short films on her Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQzm5McLDptMWz410hykPvw.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Every group has the responsibility to advance their interests. But are we advancing ours? This conversation is necessary because:
-our neighborhoods are a reflection of what we think of ourselves.
-our communities should not be a place from where our children (and we) want to make it out.
-education is for function, not status.
-working cooperatively works.
-we must help self, first, before helping others.
-we must end dependency.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog. Follow Nurah on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
As a speaker, author and empowerment coach, DaVita Garfield credits the many life experiences and obstacles that she has overcome as the driving force behind her God-given assignment to support other women by encouraging them to become amazing-On Purpose. She founded her company, empoWermentNOW, LLC to provide empowerment and coaching support for women to help them identify and reach their life goals, despite their circumstances.
DaVita’s number one role is being a mother to her 13-year old daughter and her most recent accomplishment includes the release of her self-published book, ‘Tell the Whole Story: Embrace Your Journey to be Amazing on Purpose. Learn more about her work at www.DaVitaGarfield.com; www.getempowered4success.com; Facebook: EmpowermentNOWDaVitaGarfield; Instagram: @davita_empowermentNOW Twitter: @DaVitaGarfield
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Munir Muhammad is thought to be the chief archivist and historian of the Nation of Islam and Honorable Elijah Muhammad. In this interview, he explains how and why the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad are misperceived by so many.
Munir Muhammad is the business manager and co-founder of CROE (Coalition for the Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad). CROE serves as the archives of the Nation of Islam and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. In this interview Brother Munir explains how and why the Nation of Islam is misperceived and how the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has impacted him personally. Listeners can learn more about CROE by visiting CROE.ORG and CROETV.COM.
CROE is located at 2435 West 71st Street (CROE Lane) Chicago, IL 60629. Call 773-925-1600 or email CROE@CROE.ORG. Watch CROE live each Wednesday at 7:30est and Sunday at 3:30est on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC--UCt5LqFF3IW5fLn5lH2g.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog. Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Cher McCall is this week’s guest on the Nurah Speaks podcast. She is a licensed social worker who works primarily with the adolescent population.
Cher has extensive experience serving youth who’ve endured physical, mental, emotional and spiritual trauma. She shares her insights into practical approaches in helping youth manage their pain and fostering hope in what seems to them as a hopeless reality. This episode dives deep into the real mental and emotional labor of social work and the implications for the service recipient and provider.
Cher tells the audience how she came to find herself in social work, the rewards of social work and how others can get involved to ‘Be The Movement.’
Cher can be emailed at CherMcCall@gmail.com.
If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20.
To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
Nurah Speaks is a weekly podcast that tugs at the soul and consciousness of the black community. Nurah Speaks listeners will hear unique perspectives on topics such as education, youth empowerment, women's impact, community engagement, youth violence prevention and more.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!
In this episode of the Nurah Speaks podcast, Nurah challenges to consider prayers of our enslaved fore-parents and if our actions today are an answer to those prayers.
This episode features clips of United States Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey wherein he addressed the legacy of slavery in Camden, New Jersey and the U.S. at large. Over 800 slaves arrived in Camden via three waterfront locations and slave markers were placed this week at each location by the Middle Passage project. New Jersey is recorded to having as many as 12,000 slaves.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/27/nyregion/slavery-memorial-marker-camden-nj.html
Nurah Speaks is a weekly podcast that tugs at the soul and consciousness of the black community. Nurah Speaks listeners will hear unique perspectives on topics such as education, youth empowerment, women's impact, community engagement, youth violence prevention and more.
If you would like to engage with the show, submit your listener questions to questions@NurahZaheerah.com. Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: http://NurahZaheerah.com and reading her blog: http://www.nurahzaheerah.com/blog Nurah can be followed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NurahZaheerahMuhammad and on Instagram @NurahZ20. To book Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email support@NurahZaheerah.com.
Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!