2021 We Are Setting Boundaries: Boundaries Over Everything!

 Homework/Self-Reflection/Journaling Time: What are your boundaries and limitations?

Not ya Mama and ‘em boundaries, if they have any, however, what are your boundaries and limitations?

What areas in your life that is causing you to constantly have meltdowns and breakdowns? If you identified it, you didn’t create a boundary for it. It’s, time to create a healthy boundary so you can protect yourself and your holistic peace.

Understand that we are human and flawed and we can’t be everything to everyone! We have to place boundaries and limitations so we don’t constantly exhaust and overextend ourselves to people, places, and things that aren’t serving us.

Today’s challenge: Be authentic and transparent with yourself about your boundaries or lack thereof and write down ways you gave away your power by being a people pleaser. On the other side of the paper, write down how you are going to protect yourself, your peace, your magic, your neck (ode to Wu-Tang), and energy by recreating and setting boundaries to protect you and the people around you.

The grown folks will be alright and the users and abusers will take flight!


Yes, you are going to piss people off once you tap on and create those boundaries and reinforce them! 

Self-Love Sunday: Surrender the Pretty Lie

What pretty lie do you need to surrender in order for you to live your best & real life?

Keep It Simple, Sis For the New Year

Happy New Year, Tribe! It's been a minute since I've posted because I've been going through the holistic struggle of 2020 like everyone else. I had to take a deep assessment of myself and take time to heal by throwing myself in therapy, take time away from coaching, and took a solo trip, which I will blog about another time. I am back in full effect, and we got some dope things on deck for 2021. 

But here are some things that  I have decided to do. I've decided to keep my life very simple after dealing with a complicated and complex year(s) added to my invisible scars. This year I have decided to tap inward and reconstruct and unlearn things that weren’t serving me. Things I’m finally letting go of: 

👸🏾Perfectionism 

👸🏾Living A Pretty Lie 

👸🏾Escaping reality and feelings by throwing myself into projects and work 

👸🏾Self-Sabotaging and Self-sacrificing to uphold an individual and collective image

I’m over it. Surrendering it. Releasing control. I’m holistically exhausted, but at peace with my decisions. Healing sucks. Healing is scary. Healing is liberating. I’m up for the challenge, and it’s onward and upward from here. I may ugly cry my way through the healing process, but I have to evolve for me. I am too dope to stay unhealed. 

What are your personal intentions for the New Year?

Much love and light to the Tribe!

Drea

Tapping into your bounce back magic!

 

Mental Health Monday: Survival of the Fittest

Understanding Grief and Loss

We are collectively experiencing grief and loss whether you have personally or indirectly been affected by the loss of a beloved one, employment, health, and the pandemic of racism. Check out the video to understand what you are experiencing holistically and some coping tools.

Much love, prayers, healing, and light to you.

www.browngirlfromboston.com

A Black Girl From Mattapan

When I tell people I am from Boston, people usually look puzzled because I am a Black Woman. When people think about Boston they usually think about the Kennedy's (who are actually from Brookline, a city outside of Boston), Irish people, eccentric but strong accents, The Boston Tea Party, Cold and Harsh Winters, Professional Sports and racism and liberalism.  Many are unfamiliar with the beautiful,  ugly and dark history and ongoing struggles of Black Bostonians. 

Here are some truth bombs about Boston:

• Black People indigenous to Boston or Southern Blacks who migrated to Boston are only worth $8 .  Boston was one of the last major cities to integrate the beloved Boston Red Sox.
• Bill Russell caught hell playing for the Boston Celtics despite being one of the winningest Basketball players and coaches of all time
• Boston busing and desegregation of schools occurred from 1974 to 1988 
• Introducing METCO: Busing to White Cities and Towns 
• The police brutality/slave patrol from the 1st African slave arriving in Boston to Charles Stewart lying on an entire community of Black Men of the Mission Hill Projects to having two Bostons (White Boston exist and the other Boston where Black folks, Hispanics, and Asians live) 
• Police Relations and Racism in the Black Boston Community

Since we are living in perilous times in which people are trying to wrap their minds around racism, systemic racism, and policies. I decided to share a glimpse of my reality as a Black Bostonian and my journey to why it is important to share your reality and story to educate, advocate, and liberate others to do the same. 

As I look back on this photo above, I realized how White flight and racism was alive in the 80s but in a covert way. Growing up in Mattapan, a neighborhood that was occupied by Jewish folks that slowly transitioned to Southern Blacks and Caribbeans occupying the neighborhood. I got to experience, firsthand of White Flight within my neighborhood and Elementary School.  I remember the three White students who I attended elementary school with participated in White flight by either relocating to White areas in Massachusetts or attended exclusive private schools.

 

As a child/grandchild/great-granddaughter of sharecroppers and slaves from Atmore, Alabama. My parents migrated to Boston, MA for “better” opportunities, escaping lynching, racism, redlining, and oppression. Come to find out they faced covert racism, job discrimination, and a slew of other systemic and institutionalized racist policies. Being Native/ADOS (indigenous to America due to slavery) Black in America whose ancestors built this country for free, no one should be telling us how to feel, grieve, and navigate this interesting and surreal experience. From Slavery to Sharecropping to Jim Crow to Covert Racism to Social Worker to Professorship my duty and life mission are to continue to educated, enlightened, and advocate for Native Black women, men, and children. Why have all this knowledge and not done anything collective with it?

I don’t understand why people are shocked about the system of White Supremacy, segregated schools in 2020, lack of accessibility of resources to the Black Community, redlining, the vicious cycle of poverty, food, and medical apartheid, violence, broken political system and more. Nothing truly changed since my parents graduated from Escambia Training High School in 1969 and 1970. Things are progressively turning for the worse for Black people. This pandemic truly showed us how it can devastate an entire community collectively due to our ongoing mental, physical, and spiritual stress. Lack of wealth, quality of health care, and the infant mortality birth rate. If we collective sit back and allow individualist gatekeepers to hoard all the resources and dictate our faith, we are truly doomed. 

Share your thoughts on how we can advocate for tangible results? What resources do we need to access or create? Share your thoughts, experiences, and opinions in the comment section.