Truth Be Told: Time to Thrive

One of the highlights of this show was having the late famed poet Nikki Giovanni on as a guest. It felt like we were all sitting at the dining room table, soaking up her wisdom. Giovanni tackled a challenging and important question: what do you do as a nonbinary person if the place that made you doesn’t exactly accept who you are? That dilemma came from our former editor, CMD+JAZMINE, who explores their identity and faith with Giovanni. In this conversation, Giovanni shares some of her most intimate truths with CMD+JAZMINE, including her challenges with the institution of the Black church. GUESTS: CMD+JAZMINE Nikki Giovanni LINKS: deartbt.com Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

Ozempic and other weight loss drugs have opened up a new conversation about our nation’s obsession with thinness. This episode from 2022 delves into our nation’s refusal to acknowledge that the ideal, at its core, is racist. How do we get beyond the belief that bigger Black bodies are a problem? And instead, allow ourselves, no matter what size, to take up space? GUESTS: Sabrina Strings, Ph.D., scholar and author of Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia. Carvell Wallace, author and memoirist. Mozell Ward, trainer at Radically Fit. INSTAGRAM: @carvell_wallace LINKS: deartbt.com Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

How do we raise Black children who feel free? One way, conscious parenting coach Yolanda Williams says, is for caregivers to face their own childhood trauma. Yolanda sat down with host Tonya Mosley in 2022 to offer some actionable tips on how to raise “free-thinking Black children” - and stop the tradition of spanking as a form of discipline. We gained so much insight from Yolanda in this episode, and you will, too. GUEST: Yolanda Williams, Parenting Decolonized INSTAGRAM: @prntgdcolonized LINKS: deartbt.com Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

Trauma is a word we throw around so often these days it has lost its meaning. Healer, trauma specialist, and author Resmaa Menakem reorients our understanding of complex trauma, how it manifests in our body and how to move through it to move beyond it. GUEST: Chef Kristi Brown, co-owner of Communion Resmaa Menakem, somatic therapist, author of the new book The Quaking of America INSTAGRAM: @thatbrowngirlcooks @resmaamenakem LINKS: deartbt.com Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

As of the reairing of this episode, 13 states in the US have a total abortion ban. 7 states ban abortion at or before 18 weeks' gestation. 21 states ban abortion at some point after 18 weeks. In the weeks before the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, we sat down to talk about what body autonomy and reproductive health will look like for us in a post-Roe vs. Wade world. The stress of racism and barriers to care–including abortion care–are part of a downward spiral in reproductive justice. Too often, those stressors play out in our wombs as fibroids and cancers. We talk about seeking justice and liberation with our guests. GUESTS: Anoa Changa, journalist and writer of “What’s Next for Roe v. Wade?” Dr. Ashley Davis, Gynecologic Specialist at the Fibroid and Pelvic Wellness Center of Georgia Omisade Burney-Scott, healer and host of Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause INSTAGRAM: @thewaywithanoa @ashleydavis_md @omisadeburneyscott LINKS: deartbt.com Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

We’re talking about therapy a lot more than we were when we taped this episode five years ago, but there’s still a lot more to talk about. Black men are still four times more likely to die by suicide than Black women. This week’s episode revisits our powerful 2020 conversation that delves into this question: Why is therapy so taboo in the black community, especially amongst black men? Poet and writer Prentice Powell kicks off the episode by performing a poem he wrote in 2014 after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. GUESTS: Karamo Brown — Talk show host and host of Netflix’s Queer Eye. Bakari Sellers — attorney, politician and author of “My Vanishing Country: A Memoir” Ron Finley — artist, designer and gangsta gardener INSTAGRAM: @karamo @bakarisellers @ronfinleyproject LINKS: deartbt.com Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

What are the words - when there are no words? In the face of violence, death, and heartbreak, we revisit minister and writer Danté Stewart’s 2022 conversation about what he calls “little experiments of liberation.” GUEST: Danté Stewart, minister, writer, and author of Shoutin’ Into The Fire: An American Epistle. INSTAGRAM: @stewartdantec LINKS: deartbt.com Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

In 2020, Truth Be Told producer Isa Mendoza shared her truth about the painful impact her father’s deportation has had on her life. We are revisiting this powerful conversation in light of President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to deport undocumented immigrants who are primarily from Mexico and other South American countries the moment he gets into office. For this episode, we called up Adriana Alejandre, a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) and founder of the Latinx Therapy podcast, who offered advice to Isa and tools we can all use to help those we care about who have and will experience family separation. The episode ends with a powerful conversation between Isa and her father. A heartfelt thank you to Isa for sharing her story with us. GUESTS: Isa Mendoza Adriana Alejandre, licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of Latinx Therapy podcast INSTAGRAM: @latinxtherapy LINKS: deartbt.com Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

Every new year, we play the same game, compiling a list of resolutions to be more productive, pushing ourselves to the limit to attain some version of ourselves that will be better than the last. This year, host Tonya Mosley is taking a different approach. Instead of giving more to the world, she plans to give more to myself. And that starts with revisiting this powerful 2022 conversation with Nap Ministry founder Tricia Hersey. Hersey says it’s time we treat our bodies not as hustle machines but as living, divine beings that need rest. GUEST: Tricia Hersey, Author and Founder of The Nap Ministry INSTAGRAM: @thenapministry LINKS: deartbt.com Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

"Truth Be Told: Time to Thrive" revisits nine of host Tonya Mosley's favorite episodes, exploring crucial topics that resonate deeply with our current times. From challenging societal norms around rest and productivity to addressing the impacts of deportation, racial trauma, and body image, this collection offers profound insights and conversations with thought leaders, activists, and experts. Each episode provides a unique perspective on personal growth, social justice, and the pursuit of a more equitable world, inviting listeners to reflect, learn, and ultimately thrive.

We’re back with another special bonus episode for you. The EmbraceRace Podcast brings you the best and latest advice on how to raise kids to have healthy attitudes and behaviors when it comes to race. In their first season, they counter myths about race and dive into what we actually know about how kids learn about race and what that means for how we raise them. We’re excited to share the first episode of the EmbraceRace podcast, Myth #1: Young kids (especially babies) don’t see race. If you’d like to listen to additional episodes or learn more about EmbraceRace you can visit embracerace.org

We’re sharing a special episode in the feed this week of the APM Studios podcast What Happened in Alabama? What Happened in Alabama? is a series born out of personal experiences of intergenerational trauma, and the impacts of Jim Crow that exist beyond what we understand about segregation. Through intimate stories of his family, coupled with conversations with experts on the Black American experience, award-winning journalist Lee Hawkins unpacks his family history and upbringing, his father’s painful nightmares and past, and goes deep into discussions to understand those who may have had similar generational - and present day - experiences. What Happened In Alabama? confronts the cycles of trauma for Lee, for his family, and for Black America. If you’d like to hear more episodes from the series, you can find What Happened in Alabama? wherever you get podcasts.

In this final episode of the She Has A Name series, we take you behind the scenes to delve into the making of the show and what we’ve discovered since the show launched. Learn more about our efforts to talk with the person of interest in Anita’s murder investigation. And we answer your burning questions.

Tonya and Antonio join native Detroiter Candice Fortman to talk all things She Has A Name before a live audience at the community space Spot Lite Detroit. We hear from people involved in the story as well as listeners feeling the impact of the podcast. We want to hear what you think about She Has A Name. Please help us out by filling out a short audience survey: https://www.apmstudios.org/survey

Throughout this podcast, we’ve told Anita’s story through the words of her family and friends. Now it’s Anita’s turn. Through a journal she left behind, we explore the last months of Anita’s life, narrated by her granddaughter and namesake, Anita Brown. We want to hear what you think about She Has A Name. Please help us out by filling out a short audience survey: https://www.apmstudios.org/survey

After decades of searching, Anita’s son Antonio has just learned the very gruesome details about how his mother was murdered. As he grapples with what he’s learned, he and Tonya ask, what’s next? In this episode of She Has A Name, the two take you inside their intimate therapeutic session with Dr. Robin L. Smith, co-author of The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power. They delve into the illusion of closure and how to move forward. We want to hear what you think about She Has A Name. Please help us out by filling out a short audience survey: https://www.apmstudios.org/survey

Who killed Anita? Did her involvement in the drug game somehow lead to her murder? A serial killer? Or maybe the man her family says used and abused her was somehow involved? In this episode of She Has A Name, we delve into four theories, parsing out the details from the original fire report and crime scene documents, witness accounts, the family’s knowledge, and interviews with the lead detective. We want to hear what you think about She Has A Name. Please help us out by filling out a short audience survey: https://www.apmstudios.org/survey

What does a boy hold on to when he realizes his mother is gone? The ways she taught him to survive - and the creation of falsehoods, omissions, and a version of the truth he’s created to make it through each day. In this episode of She Has A Name, Tonya discovers something about Antonio’s past she never knew before - one that mirrors his mother's life in the years before she disappeared. The discovery opens up insights into the depths of Antonio’s pain and the life he yearns to create as he moves toward healing. We want to hear what you think about She Has A Name. Please help us out by filling out a short audience survey: https://www.apmstudios.org/survey

How could Tonya, Anita, and Antonio go almost a lifetime without knowing each other? We explore the tangled roots of this family tree and the man Tonya, Anita, and Antonio all have in common – O.C. Hill. We want to hear what you think about She Has A Name. Please help us out by filling out a short audience survey: https://www.apmstudios.org/survey

In the late seventies and early eighties, things were looking up for Anita. She was in her early twenties and coming out of a low point in her life with the death of her mother. Antonio remembers a stable home life, a step-father that he loved and not really wanting for anything. Until Anita's life takes a downward turn with the return of a childhood friend who comes home from prison. We want to hear what you think about She Has A Name. Please help us out by filling out a short audience survey: https://www.apmstudios.org/survey