Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause

“As a culture worker who belongs to an oppressed people my job is to make revolution irresistible.”

Toni Cade Bambara

When my sister and I were little girls, we developed a skill set to be present in rooms with my mother and her best girlfriends without being detected. If we could be quiet and not make any quick movements, we could have access to the world of older Black women and bear witness to the magic of their friendship and sisterhood. We called it ear hustling. The ear hustle was a skill that improved with age and was also foiled quite often by the super human listening and motion detecting powers of the adults in our lives. My sister and I couldn't wait to be old enough to sit in that space, with these women we loved and be full participants in conversations around life. 

We are so excited for the first episode of Season 3 of the Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause to be an intergenerational conversation co-hosted by Aja Taylor and Cherizar Crippen! In this episode, Aja and Cherizar interviewed social justice advocate and activist Makani Themba and I about our experiences with menopause, sexual expression, intimacy and getting older. This intergenerational conversation, provided a space for exploration, connection, laughter and reflection. 

Meet our Co-Host!

Aja Taylor is a facilitator (of processes, mischief, meetings and magic), freedom dreamer, aspiring sex educator, Advocacy Director at Bread for the City and one of the co-founders of Two Brown Girls Consulting Cooperative. She enjoys long walks on the beach talking about consent, helping folks reimagine their relationship to the erotic, ruining the day for politicians who think they won't deliver on their promises to Black people, and working with organizations seeking to really live up to their professed missions and values. IG: @HeyAjaGirl Twitter: @HeyAjaGirl

Cherizar Crippen is a Black + Indigenous bisexual troublemaker, mother to several plant babies and one very resilient fish. As a youth organizer, healer, and artist her current work includes facilitating intimate emergent spaces with social justice focused groups, introducing BIPOC youth and adults to ancestral healing practices, and divination. Cherizar is particularly invested in earning the respect of future generations by fostering the leadership development of our youngest freedom fighers. She is Sag Sun, Cancer Rising, Pisces Moon protected by the Ase’ of Iemanja, Ogum, and a legion of ancestors. IG: @alltheabove15 

Meet our Guest!

Makani Themba is Chief Strategist at Higher Ground Change Strategies based in Jackson, Mississippi. A social justice innovator and pioneer in the fields of change communications and community-led, justice-centered policy development, she has spent 30 years supporting organizations, coalitions and philanthropic institutions in developing high impact change initiatives. Higher Ground Change Strategies provides her an opportunity to bring her strong analytical skills, organizing knowledge and institution building expertise in support of organizations working to make powerful, transformative, vision-based change. IG: @hgchange Twitter: makani_themba

To take advantage of the discount form this episode's sponsor, KINDRA, click ourkindra.com/omi20

To Learn More about Us: www.blackgirlsguidetosurvivingmenopause.com