Season 5, Ep. 10, part 2 - Dr. King’s Vision & Resisting the Rise of Global Fascism with Yaa Abbensetts-Dobson of Spoken Black Girl and Avril Somerville
As we honored Dr. King yesterday, we sit with the weight of this moment - stepping into another Trump presidency. Many of us remain committed to working towards a country rooted in collective liberation. In part two of our conversation, Mom and I chat with Yaa Abbensetts-Dobson, writer and author (Departure Story), editor, entrepreneur and founder of Spoken Black Girl, and host of The Healing Entrepreneur Podcast, and Avril Somerville, writer, poet, and author of A Journey Of Life On PURPOSE.
Throughout both conversations (listen to part 1 here), we unpack building beloved community, why the church must divest from the false ideology of white supremacy, continually organizing for collective liberation, decolonizing, resisting the rise of global fascism, standing in active intersectional solidarity with all who are oppressed (because of race, disability, sexuality, gender, gender identity, etc.) the importance of soul work, and the many ways our faith in God, and creativity can propel us forward (Micah 6:8).
Action Steps -
Check out Spoken Black Girl’s Book Club which meets Saturday, Feb. 1, 1pm EST to discuss Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Sign up here.
Connect with the Poor People’s Campaign in your state today!
More about Yaa (Rowana) Abbensetts-Dobson -
Rowana Abbensetts- Dobson (She/her/hers) is a wordsmith and editor from Brooklyn, NY. She holds a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Kenyon College. As a lifelong writer, she has made it her mission to help women heal through telling her own story and inspiring others to do the same. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Spokenblackgirl.com, a publication designed for women of color to share mental and emotional holistic wellness experiences.
Rowana’s journey into digital entrepreneurship has given her a specialized skill set that includes web content writing, editing, event coordination, and web design. When she’s not making waves on the web, Rowana writes short stories and is the author of Departure Story, published by Spoken Black Girl Publishing in June 2021. She enjoys performing readings of her work as well as speaking at events and panels about women’s empowerment, wellness, and mental health. Her fiction and poetry have been published in Obsidian Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, Moko Magazine, Free Verse, Late Fee, and many other publications.
More about Avril Somerville -
Avril Somerville is a writer and published author of A Journey of Life on Purpose, a collection of personal essays and poetry about creativity, love, womanhood, community, race and identity. She is currently querying her first work of fiction, How Dare You Say Goodbye, but she is most proud of her devotion as a wife and mama of three. For Somerville, writing is healing. As such, she hopes others will find the courage to write their own. Ultimately, she writes to extend and preserve Black literature forever. Connect with her more on her website.
Soul Care Resources:
>>> Two FREE downloads guiding you through breath prayer and meditating on scripture - prepared by Mom and I.
>>> Check out our past episode - When It Feels Heavy, Connect to the Power of Prayer and Meditation
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Special thank you to my husband Keston De Coteau, for podcast production; he is an award-winning videographer and photographer.