WHITNEY ALESE| Woke Mama

Congratulations to Whitney Roberts, your 2024 Top Healing Voice in Intersectional Mental Health! Whitney, an award-winning writer and creator, is the powerhouse behind the Instagram platform @thereclaimed . Through her work, she’s passionately advocating for intersectional mental health and raising awareness about the unique challenges faced by marginalized communities.🧡 With a focus on intersectional feminism and uplifting the Black community, Whitney has become a vital voice in promoting mental wellness that acknowledges and celebrates our diverse experiences. ✨ Join us in honoring Whitney’s impactful work in creating a more inclusive and understanding space for mental health. 💬 Drop your congratulations in the comments and celebrate this acknowledgment with us🫶🏾 #HealMagazine #HealingVoices2024 #IntersectionalMentalHealth #Feminism #healingforall #bipoc #intersectional

Two for Two! Yall, we done won again. Kindred by @parents won another @folio_mag Eddie & Ozzie award for its Black Joy Digital Issue, and your girl had TWO stories in that issue. Thank you to @ocaelo for being one of the first places to accept this crazy girl’s work and much love to the entire team of @kindredbyparents There is NOTHING like this publication and I am deeply honored to write for such a needed, vital space.

What a day. Thank you so much to the NAACP for this immense honor. Thank you to my community, in person and digitally, for all of the support. And thank you to my beautiful family for the support. Speaking of family, interestingly enough, my great aunt received this same honor from the Knoxville NAACP. Learning that really touched my heart. She was one of the brilliant women who taught me the love of reading (and made me want to be a Delta!) I’m glad we connected this way too. My heart is full of gratitude and joy. What a day.

Another Sunday Sermon. Another reminder to my fellow Christians that we can, we need to, we must do better. John 13:34-35 says “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We are to be known, not by symbols, not by cruel stances, not by red hats, but by our LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER. Amen.

Sixty years ago, civil rights activists crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama demanding something foundational: The right to vote without fear, violence, or suppression. Many were beaten. Some never made it home… Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot by state police while protecting his mother during a voting rights protest. Reverend James Reeb was murdered after answering the call to stand with marchers in Selma. Viola Liuzzo, a white mother of five and civil rights ally, was killed by the Ku Klux Klan while helping transport activists after the marches. Their deaths became part of the pressure that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Today, a new generation marched across that same bridge peacefully. The next movement has begun… Civil rights and women’s rights have always been connected. The rise and fall of both in the U.S. at the same time is not coincidence. Both challenge systems that decide whose voices matter, whose pain is dismissed, and who gets full access to power, protection, opportunity, and representation. Selma is not just a bridge. It is a reminder of what ordinary people were willing to risk so future generations could have a voice. 🎥: @ib2_real ➡️ Isaac G. Bryan serves as Vice Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus and is known for work focused on civil rights, racial justice, voting rights, housing equity, criminal justice reform, and education access.

WOW. Y’all are just outstanding. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. This is gonna be LIT, pun intended!

To everyone going to protest for our voting rights today: Make it back home family

All Roads Lead South

Y’all, I’m just🥹🥹🥹 This was so kind. If you missed my interview with Senator Kelly, it’s up on my profile. He had A LOT to say about the moment we are in right now. Go take a listen.

This week’s Why You Should Care Weekly is now live! Y’all know where to go🔗

Diversity. It’s not rocket science. I got to ask somebody who knows something about both. In these times when people are watching identity be increasingly weaponized, @senmarkkelly shared with me his hope for the nation and why diversity not only matters, but it’s vital. Thank you @captmarkkelly for sharing with me.

I’m not going to name that influencer who went on that tirade against a person who lost their job during the Spirit Airlines closure. I will highlight that food insecurity is on the rise. Housing insecurity is on the rise. Unemployment is on the rise. People are using credit to pay for basic groceries. SNAP & WIC are being cut People are having a hard time. The least we can do is be kind.