No. 78: Ancestral Veneration + Why It's Important + How to Get Started.

belong anymore. It's as natural as the wind and rain. So cry if you need to scream if you must, but never lose sight of what it really is, a thunderstorm that clears the air. I love it. I love that, and you know what, I love it because I think it's a perfect way to describe grief. And I know a little bit about grief, indeed I do. Let's go ahead and uh, get this poorty stored in. I can't see the path that. Okay, what's up, y'all? Welcome to

him and my personal podcast. I am Mimi Walker, and I'm gonna be your forever host each and every single time you tune into this podcast, So go ahead and get comfortable, get yourself a glass of your favorite beverage, whether that's blueberry lemonade seltzer, which I found one by a brand and it's absolutely delightful, or some hot apple cider because it's still cold and hot apple cider makes us feel good. Or a tall frosted glass of pale Ale,

my favorite kind of beer to sip on. After that, go ahead and light yourself a candle, some incense or burn some stage and just get ready to chill out and have yourself a good time. What's up friends in Ken? It's me me, Resident Auntie Supreme, here at hand, me my purse, the podcast, and today I am sipping on a hot cup of green tea with Moroccan mint tea. I'm a fan of mint tea, particularly Moroccan mint tea.

And this year I have vowed to myself to be more disciplined about getting back to drinking more green tea and water consistently, because those two things are the bevies that are gonna heal my body, okay, and I owe it to my body to be more mindful about what I'm drinking or putting into it. So green tea is what is going down today with some irocan mint tea. That's what I'm drinking today, friends again, and I want to know what are you sipping on? Tell me? Oh yeah.

So for today's gam it is a song I think I've mentioned before. One of the artists I've definitely mentioned before, and I told you that she is one of my favorite artists. But the song is by a woman called Geminil. I'm sure that's some kind of play on Gemini and the word el, which is a girl or not girl she I think in French, but anyway, maybe she's says she a Gemini, but it's gem and l plus my absolute faves who happens to be named em on Europe. One of her songs was the Jam a couple months ago.

And then there's also a dude on here named fat Ron and the song is called Divine Assignment. Okay, And in the song there is a prayer and I happened to and being intentional, I wrote the prayer down. But the song is so inspirational. It's one of those like Mantra inspirational affirmation type songs, which Ammon Europe is definitely

known for. But this song is a bop. So not only is it inspirational and it's good for you, it makes you feel good, but it also sounds amazing, sounds amazing, feels amazing, and it is a way to be very intentional. And I'm a fan of that. So there's a prayer. Hold on, I'm going to read it to you. Okay, let's get into it. And what I'm reading is an actual prayer in the song, and this is Emmon Europe's part, so of course I would like it. But it says, Dear Lord, thank you for the love from above and

the purpose that you placed on me. Thank you for the gifts. In the midst of the shifts, I can still feel your presence on me. I'm praying for the strength and the courage and the wisdom to birth which you placed in me. You trust me with assignments. I'm walking in alignment. You're bringing out the best in me. If it's for me, let it stay. If it's not, I let it go. If it's gonna get in my way, I don't want that no more. If I'm blind, and help me to see if I'm wrong, then help me grow.

Take your time with me. I only want what you want Chah when I tell you that, I can already tell you on the front end that when I get my Spotify unwrapped for twenty twenty four, this is going to be in the top five. I love it. I love it. It sounds good, it makes me happy, it makes me feel warm. You know what. It feels like a hug from the inside out, Like something is inside of me and it's hugging me and holding me. It's

so inspirational, and it really makes you think. You know, God placed a divine assignment in me and on me, and it is my job as a human on this planet to fulfill my destiny. So I need to get to it no matter what, by any means necessary. I got to figure out how to get on the divine path that God has carved out for me, specifically, not pacifically specifically. I hope you enjoyed the song. It's amazing. The whole album that its on is amazing. But this

song is a bop and a prayer. Amen. So today, friends and ken, in honor of my grands parents, I'm coming out the gate saying stuff wrong. I'm so tired.

I don't know why. All of a sudden, I just get really sleepy, but I am going to get focused for you guys anyway, Like I was saying in honor of my grandparents' transition from this realm or from this earth back in twenty twenty and then last year in twenty twenty one, I want to talk a little bit about ancestral veneration or honoring our ancestors or our ancestral lineage.

So ancestral veneration, which going forward I will refer to as honoring ancestors or earning your ancestors, my ancestors, whatever. It's a cultural practice where individuals honor and pay respect to their ancestors. Real simple it off involves rituals making or giving offerings and ceremonies to connect with and express

gratitude toward those who came before us. And this tradition is found in many, many, many, many cultures in societies across the world, and they show up in various forms, and they hold significance in understanding your heritage and your cultural identity. It's rooted in the belief that we should be maintaining a connection with and showing respect to the people that were here before us that made our lives

so for us Okay. Again, it's rooted in the belief that we should be maintaining a connection with and showing deep respect to the ones who came before us, that were here and that actually made it and made it so for us. A few examples of different cultures that practice honoring their ancestors is Chinese are excuse me, there's Chinese ancestor worship and what they do is they make offerings of foods, different incense and other items at their

own ancestral altars. And what's an altar? You say, google it please. Ancestor worship is often performed during specific occasions and festivals. Then there's a Japanese Obohm festival right in Japan. The Obam festival is a time when families honor their ancestors. They clean graves, light lanterns, and make offerings at home alters. It is believed that ancestral spirits return during this festival. Mexico you have Dia delos Mouertos Dia delos Mouertos, which

means Day of the Dad. I know you've seen the sugar skull drawings, especially around Halloween and single Demayo, which is a man made, a man crafted holiday that kids don't nor adults really need to be celebrating. But they have Dia delos Moritos and it's celebrated in Mexico. And this holiday honors your deceased loved ones, and families create what's called oriandas, which is altars adorned with pictures, candles, and favorite foods of the departed ones to welcome their

spirits back in. There's also Ghanaian, and or There's so many. I don't know much about other cultures as far as this is concerned, but I know in Africa a lot of countries and cultures engage in ancestral veneration, lots of them. But for what I was looking for when I was reading, this is what I found. Gunan ancestor veneration consists of pouring libations as a form of communication with your ancestors,

and this is done during ceremonies, rights, or family gatherings. Lastly, ancestor veneration is also really deeply rooted as a practice among many American Indian tribes. I prefer to say Native American cultures before their gatherings, which could be a tribal meeting of powwow or sweat lodge ceremony. Offerings made of sage or cedar are presented with prayers and honoring your ancestors, asking them for blessings, and also asking for guidance from

your ancestors. That's another important one, not just about blessings but asking for guidance. So it's interesting that these practices all demonstrate so many diverse ways in which different cultures express respect and maintain connections with their ancestors. And that's important, and it's important for so many reasons. One is important for your cultural identity and cestral wow. Ancestral veneration reinforces

cultural identity. It connects individuals to their roots, traditions, and heritage, and it helps preserve, excuse me, and pass down cultural values, cultural norms, customs, and even just wisdom through generations. Right recipes, these ways to dress, ways to wear your hair, smells or fragrances, to keep in the family, so many things. It gives you a glimpse into how your ancestors lived.

It also gives you a sense of belonging because it helps you recognize and honor your ancestors, which helps you to foster a sense of belonging and continuity. It provides us with historical contacts so that we have a reference point, and it connects us to a broader community in a shared past, bigger than our immediate or even extended family.

It also teaches us gratitude and respect. Ancestral veneration is a way of expressing gratitude and respect for the sacrifices, all of the wisdom, the contribution, you know, and just the downright existence of those who came before us. It acknowledges the foundation that they laid for us. And I know, for me, this part is really really big for me because I want the people who came before me to know how grateful I am for them, and I want

them to know that. I always talk about on this show that for the black community, Like, I don't know if we take enough time to sit in the fact that we are descendants of people who made it through the Middle Passage. That is huge, That is so major. We are the descendants of people who were kidnapped and in slaved, but still they made it. They made it

through it. To you, the pride that I take in that I'm so proud to be a descendant of somebody who made it through that, Like, that's a different kind of perseverance and resilience, and to know that that is in my blood and in my bone marrow sometimes it makes me feel like I can do anything. Another way that it is important is through spiritual connection. And a lot of cultures, the belief in a spiritual connection with your own ancestors is really, really, really at the forefront

of the culture. Honoring them is seen as a way to seek guidance, protection, blessings, and wisdom from the spiritual realm. And we're going to talk a little bit later about how uh for some religions like that's frowned upon or looked down on. Another one is family unity. Honoring your ancestors involves creating or celebrating family rituals, traditions, gatherings, and

just promoting all around unity amongst your family members. It reinforces and solidifies the importance of the familial bonds that you share, and it encourages you, guys to have like a collective sense or responsibility not just to one another, not just to the kids who come after you, but to the people who came before you. And it just snatched you up sometimes. And that goes into the next one, ethical and moral values. Ancestral teachings often carry some form

of ethical or moral lesson. By honoring our ancestors, we reinforce these values that we have learned or earned rather and it promotes a sense of integrity, responsibility, and a moral compass within your family that is important. In my family, we talk a lot about how we won't let like, we're not gonna let another one be down bad, like if somebody was like down on their luck and like had nowhere to live. No, no, no, no, no no, you ain't doing that on our watch. We help each other out.

And my elders always talk about how my great grandmother Mary, may she rest peacefully basically used to say, CMB, we all we got like we all we got so, y'all gonna stick together. Y'all gonna fight together, y'all gonna love together, y'all gonna be together. Y'all gonna go on vacations together. Y'all gonna have holidays together. Y'all are gonna be close. Like it was overly reinforced in our family that you will be close, and as a result, we're hell fucking close.

We is together. We are together. I'm never alone. I'm never alone. I have My family is always there, whether they are far away from me in California, in Atlanta and North Carolina, or they are very close to me right in Baltimore, DC or one of the surrounding counties. We is together. Another way or another way that it's

really important is it helps to continue on traditions. That continuity of traditions is important because by honoring your ancestors, of the people who came before you, you ensure the continuation of the traditions that they created. And that helps us to prevent the loss of cultural practices because that happens a lot. It happens a lot. It helps to maintain a sense of continuity in the face of times that are changing, in the face of adversity. It's so important,

so important. Ancestral veneration or honoring your ancestors serves as a bridge between what happened before, what's happening now, and what's going to happen tomorrow, and it helps to cultivate a really deep sense of like I said, cultural, familial, and personal, that personal continuity, keeping it going, keeping it going, because one day we're going to be ancestors. And I pray that the work that I do here on earth, is respected, is honored, and continued. Something as simple as

me planning my family's reunion. That's come on, ma'am. That was a way of me honoring my ancestors, particularly my great grandmother's on my father's side. Listen when I tell you together, even not opposite or opposing sides, but my father's mother and my father's father's family, they was together too. They would come together. My two great grandmothers used to go on vacations together and spend time together, and they

were like night and day, night and day. One was a spicy she was ajvegnetto pepper, and the other one was as cool and calm as ice. But they was together. And I like to believe that they were honoring their ancestors by teaching my grandparents that you keep your families together and you keep them close. And as a result, because I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, I learned it. And so as a result, when it was time and I got old enough, I took up

the reins of planning our family reunions. Because we're gonna stay together. We're gonna be together, and we're gonna stay together. And you spell that da ge v a together. What's I just dit? Ye? So anyway, it's important to do this, and I've really been thinking about it because I'm coming up on the anniversaries of both of my grandparents transition right, it's two days apart, my grandpa and my grandma, and

so i've been thinking. If you can think back a couple of months ago, I had Gina from the Bedroom Bartender Bartender on the show, and we talked a little bit about this, and I just asked her for some help in what are some ways that I can start doing this? And we talked a little bit about it about it. Excuse me, I want to say that was episode maybe seventy two or seventy three, And if it's not seventy two or seventy three, it's seventy one. Excuse

my voice. It's a little like scratchy. I don't know what that's about, because I'm drinking tea. The tea is cold now all so I don't know. I do know. We had a basketball game to day and I went with my girls, of course, because they can't go by without me. But I was screaming because my team, the basketball team for my school, they did not win, but they fought hard. They were down twenty four and by the end of the game they closed the gap and they lost by seven. Shout out to the varsity boys

basketball team at my school. Hard work and perseverance, it always pays off. You may not have won this one, but that hustle might be the key to your next one. Back to my ancestors, So I'm trying to find ways to honor my grandmother and my grandfather. And I remember when my grandfather first passed away four years ago. My therapist I was just starting to work with her, and she said three years ago. He passed away four years ago. But the first anniversary of his death, I was like,

this is too much. I cannot handle it. And traditionally, let me just say this, I feel like Black people historically, like there's too much fucking prompt and circumstance around death. And I don't think that people realize how traumatizing it is and re traumatizing it is, but there's a lot of pomp and circumstance around it. Anyway, I went to his gravesite that first year, because you know, that's what they tell us we should do or what that's important

to do. Blah blah blah, and it was so emotionally depleting. I talked to her and I was like, I cannot do that ever again. My mind, my soul, in my body has not been a cut up. Excuse me for that. And she said, you don't have to ever do that ever again. You don't have to go if you don't want to. And I was like, I don't want to. Sometimes I do go, especially if you know my cousin is in town. My cousin Randall likes to go when

he comes to town. And I take my grandfather a coke zero, and I take his favorite potato chips and I leave some of them on his He was a veteran, so I leave them on his headstone and I pour out some coke zero. And that's what I do. But I don't go often, and I'm not gonna start going often. I haven't even visited my grandmother's gravesite yet. I can tell you right now, SIS ain't ready for that. Nope, not at all, not ready. And I don't know if

I'm ever gonna be ready. I say what I said, No, that one might be too much for me, or it is right now? One year later is still too much for me, but that's what I do sometimes for my grandfather. But my therapist told me something that was really important.

She said, find a way to celebrate them that also makes you feel good, whether they're singing their favorite song, or eating their favorite meal, wearing their favorite color, something to that effect, drinking their favorite drink, getting some ice cream that they like. And so I try to do that. I don't really know how I'm going to tackle this grandma thing, but I'm going to figure it out. I figured my grandfather out, so I figure I'll figure my

grandmother out. It's not it'll work. I do want to say that it's interesting that some religions see the practice of honoring your ancestors as evil work or they believe it goes against what they've been taught in their religion. And to that, I say, it's silly, That's what I say. And I read online about this pastor of a church that introduced ancestral veneration to his congregation, and here's what he had to say about it. Before every worship service

and meeting. He said, ancestors are honored and symbolically called forth through a ritual pouring of libations. That's essentially what I do when I visit my grandfather and I poured out that coke zero. It's the ritual of pouring libations. The ritual involves pouring water a symbol of the infinity of life, on a plant representing Mother Earth, to honor ancestors starting from the first God. Or he used another word, which is the African word for God. But that's so broad.

What the hell do they mean the African word for God. They're fifty four countries in Africa, and in those countries there are all different fucking cultures and ethnic groups or as colonizers say, tribes and villages. What do you mean it's an African word for God. But anyway to the more immediate. So, when this pastor introduced the African ancestral rights, because that's what they're called to his church, and his

church is a Christian Denomination church. Back in nineteen ninety two, he said he lost most of the five hundred members that attended the church. And then he went on to say this, which is interesting. Basically the whole place emptied out. He said, we've been so brainwashed that most upper middle class folks have not even wanted to identify with Africa. That makes me upset. Let's say, how do you not

want to identify with Africa? We are Africa. Africa is us, regardless of what anybody says, regardless of what any Africans say, any Europeans say, Asians, Latinos, nobody can say anything about us and our connection with Africa because we are connected to Africa, whether we want to admit it or not. And it makes me so sad and disappointed when I hear people say things like I don't want to go to Africa. What the hell do you mean? Esh? Anyway,

let's move forward honoring our ancestors. It can be a very meaningful, powerful and personal journey toward healing for us. And here are some ways that you can get started. First of all, start researching your ancestry. Learn about your family history and your ancestors. Get information about their lives, stories, how they contributed to the family, how they contributed to the world. And this research can help you understand your roots a little better. Talk to the elders and your family.

They got the keys to the streets. They know everything. They know things that twenty three and me don't know. They know things that a census can't tell you, so talk to them. One of my family members, my elders, who is now an ancestor, shout out to my cousin Liz that A also called an aunt Liz, who never pronounced my first name correctly intentionally, she didn't pronounce it correctly. To my cousin Liz. She cussed like a sailor and

wore big black sunglasses. And I was just like, I want to be like her when I grow up and lo and behold, I've adopted a lot of her traits, particularly the cursing one. Anyway, you can also create an ancestral altar. What does that look like? It is just a dedicated space in your house or in your home where you honor your ancestors. That it could be an altar with just photos. You could have candles, items, candles on them, different items to help represent like the things

that they like or their culture. It's just a focal point for honoring them. You can create it and do whatever you want with it. Another thing you can do is make offerings and rituals, and you can do that with food, flowers, and scend as a symbol of respect. You engage in rituals that feel authentic to you. Don't go doing some shit and you don't know what you're doing, because spirits are real and I'm gonna leave that right there. Don't fuck around and find out because spirits are real.

Just do what feels natural, genuine, organic, and authentic to you, whether you do it regularly or you only do it on certain occasions or like holidays. The next thing is that you can visit grave sites. That's not really my ministry, but if I want to, I will, and if possible, visit the grave sites of your ancestors, clean their graves, leave flowers for them, spend some time reflecting or meditating on and around their existence when they were in this

realm and on this planet. This is a very powerful way to connect with them, especially the reflection and the meditation. Also celebrate ancestral holidays, like what I talked about Diadelos Moritos. There's also a festival called the King Ming Festival. I want to say it's Vietnamese. Don't hold me to that, but some cultures have festivals dedicated to celebrating their ancestors.

Learn the practices of your ancestors, find out if you can if your ancestors had specific rituals or practices, consider incorporating them into your life. And this could be anything from traditional recipes or crafts making things. But that recipe thing is real because everybody has a recipe in their family that's been handed down for eons, in decades and centuries.

Here's one that I want to bring up. Black Americans don't realize that a lot of the things that we do are technically considered what's called who do now voodoo? Who do something as small as small but powerful as the New Year's tradition in Black American culture, which is on New Year's Day, you need to eat some black eyed peas and you need to eat some creams. Whether it's kale, spinach, collar greens, whatever. Most of the time it's collar greens. But if you think about it, our

ancestors may not have had cali greens. They may have had kill that season, or a spinach or while dandelion greens. So whatever you get, just make sure you eat something green and leafy, and that is known to bring new prosperity, luck abundance. That is a hoodoo practice that is also an ancestral practice. It is a practice that our ancestors practiced during slavery and even after slavery, and it was passed on and passed down and passed down and passed down and passed down. And now we do it. I

know I do it every year. I don't care if I gotta buy a can of black eyed piece and figure it out. I definitely did it. A few days ago. My cousin Mayson black eyed Peace. Shout out to my cousin Julia. Then black eyed peace as good as a mug sis. And I didn't cook, no CALLI greens all night, no cook, no kill all night. I had a bag of a shredded organic kill in my freezer. I took it out. I used some onions, I used a little bit of butter, and I saw tade them and that

was it. And I seisoned them and it was great. They served their purpose, which was for me to do my New Year's Day ritual, which is an ancestral practice, not only to bring luck, abundance and prosperity into my life in this new year, but to honor my ancestors, because that's really what I was doing. Another thing you can do is to keep the stories of your ancestors alive by sharing them with other family members, passed the

stuff down our ancestors. They didn't have typewriters, they didn't have freaking iPads, they didn't have talked to text, they didn't have laptops, they didn't have iPhones. They talk to each other. Tell the stories of your ancestors, pass down lessons and experiences and understandings and wonderings. This oral tradition helps to preserve your family history. I'm so infatuated and

obsessed with learning about my family history all sides. Keep sharing the stories, and please talk to the elders in your family. And last, but not least, expressing gratitude. Take a moment on a regular basis to just express gratitude for the wonderful things in your life that have been influenced by your ancestors. Acknowledge their resilience. I already said this. I just said this. Acknowledge their resilience, their values, their morals,

their contributions to your family, their contributions to society. Acknowledge that perseverance. If you are a Black American, you should express gratitude to your ancestors on a regular basis. Because they made it, It did not break them. That says so much and understanding and an open dialogue can really help to foster that understanding or the knowing in your family about the importance of ancestral veneration. Everybody may not be into it like you do. You got to ease

them into a baby. You got to slow welcome because they might be like, eh, it is the devil's work, is it? Though? These are people, not even the devil's work. Shut up, you sound stupid, slow welcome. And so while some of these things may seem weird to people at first, or they may be against it because it may seem, like you know, it goes against their religious practices. You got to talk to them. Have conversations with your family, help them to understand and develop a mutual respect for

different people's spiritual and cultural traditions and practices. And remember that honoring your ancestors is a personal and ever evolving process. Find the practices that are aligned with your belief system, your morals, and your preferences. Remember it should be organic and authentic, and the key is to create a connection that feels authentic and meaningful to you. Because your family might be doing something you might not be with it. Don't do nothing. If you don't want to do it.

If it doesn't feel authentic, don't do it. It's really important for us to recognize the diversity of different cultural and religious practices related to ancestral veneration to avoid generalizing and sounding stupid. I'm gonna say that I hate when people say dumb stuff. It makes my ass itch when people say stupid, especially stupid stereotypical stuff about people's culture and

their race and their ethnicities. Just shut up read Because every culture or religious context has its own special way of expressing respect and connection to their ancestors. So I implore you, friends and can to find ways that feel natural to you wherein you can honor your ancestors. What will you do? You might already be doing something realistically, like going to the grave site, cleaning it off, taking flowers, pouring libations. You know what you know, tupacs song, pour

out a little liquor. That's ancestral veneration. That's pooring libations. Maybe that's honoring your ancestors, honoring the people that have gone on before you. It is so find something that is natural to you, and it doesn't have to be what everybody else does, because most of the people in my family go to grave sites. It ain't my jam. It takes me down and it puts me in a really dark, dark dark place. So I opt out and maybe one day I'll be ready to do it. And

if I'm not, I don't feel bad about it. I don't feel guilty. You just got to do what works for you. But you need to do it. And I don't usually say make statements like that, but you need to do it because your ancestors, we owe it to them. They deserve respect. They deserve to be exalted. They deserve to be respected. They deserve to be honored and cherished because on some real shit, without them, we would not be we would not So get your life, figure out,

do some research. I gave you a whole blueprint of things you can do, but do your own research because self knowledge is the best knowledge. Shout out to my father for that one. Self knowledge is the best best knowledge. Do your own research, figure out what works for you, and get to get in. I love y'all, all right, friends, and he frustrate facts. Let's get into it. I have

a friend who has always had a victim's mentality. She recently went back to school and has had a difficult time in general, she just was not faring well with any of her writing classes. She would call me to vent often and I would listen, not saying much in any way of agreeing or disagreeing with her and her reasons why she wasn't doing well sidebar none of those

reasons wherever her a her being accountable. Excuse me now, in light of all the current state of our country this is written with particularly over the past few years of the era excuse me, that's a hard word to say, era of Donald Duck, assuming she means Donald t. She has blamed her poor performance in her most recent class on racism because her professor is white and has talked about reporting him. Basically, this chick is just a crummy writer. Damn.

She called her friend a karma writer. This chick is just a crummy writer. And I don't think it's okay to potentially risk a person's employment with a false allegation of racism. He may be a racist, but that ain't why she flunk the class. Should I say something to her? And that is from Ayisha of Richmond, Virginia. Tysha, if you listen to this show, you should already know what I'm gonna say, yes, you should talk to her, But two,

you sound really judgy. So before you talk to her, figure out how you're going to talk to her without judging her. Because I can promise you if she's a CREMEI writer, she knows she's a Gremie writer, and if she knows she's a Gremmi writer, she doesn't feel good about being a Gremmy writer. Don't make her feel worse. But you can tell her you can walk through this with her so that in the end there's nothing for her to do but take accountability unless she blatantly and

intentionally opts out of taking accountability. Ask her some open ended questions, but ultimately she's gonna do what she wants to do because she's an adult. You know the saying you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. But I definitely think you should talk to her about it, because as her friend, it's your job to hold her accountable. You can say it once and if she ain't receptive, leave it where it is.

But I do think you should say something. A good friend would say something, because a good friend doesn't want her friend not taking responsibility for her fucked up writing skills. I'm just saying for today's we got to do better segment. I found a quote from an auntie who is now an ancestor, and that is Auntie Cecily Tyson, and she said, healing, as I see it is not the absence of pain. Rather,

it is a gradual reduction in the ache. The lessening of that hurtally makes room for fond memories to surface. She in my business, and I like it a little bit one more time for your mind. Healing, as I see it is not the absence of pain. Rather, it is a gradual reduction in the ache. The lessening of that hurt eventually makes room for fond memories to surface.

Shout out to Auntie Cecily Tyson. The first thing that I want to do is say thank you to God, because God is supreme, and I recognize and appreciate the grace, mercy, love and all around protection that God extends to me every single day of my black ass life. And I want to also say thank you to my ancestors. Thank you for surviving, thank you for thriving, thank you for staying, thank you for making it, thank you for making it through the middle. Passage because I'm telling y'all, y'all don't

really sit in that. If you read the description of it, it is a wondering of mine how we made it through because it is really heavy when you read about it. I want to say thank you to you guys, to each and every one of you that have been here with me since March the first of twenty twenty day one, thank you. And I also want to say thank you to all of you who just started listening in twenty twenty four or in twenty twenty three. I appreciate you too.

Y'all are my people too. I'm grateful. Either way you cut it up, I'm grateful. I'm thankful for my family. I love them, thankful for my friends. My friends are really just an extension of my family. My friends are the people that I chose that I already loved because they were my friends that I have chosen to bring into my family. My friends have gone on vacations with my family. My friends that have helped me heal from traumas that was family related. Like, my friends are my family,

but they're an extension of my family. They're the family that I got to actually select all of y'all, my friends and kim My supporters, and of course, most importantly the ones who listen to the show. I love y'all big time. I love y'all real band, And it's an honor and a privilege to share my time and my energy with you. Particularly if you keep coming back to listen and spend time with me and share energy with me.

That's major for me and I cannot wait for the next time that we get to do this with one another.

So before you go ahead and click out of this whatever streaming service you're using to listen to this show, stop what you're doing and click on a subscribe or a follow button if it's an option, then I want you to go over to Instagram and follow me at Handy My Purse Underscore podcast, and then follow me on x also known as Twitter at HMMP Underscore podcast on threads, which you can find on my Instagram profile and on

Facebook just search hand Me My Purse podcast. If you listen on a streaming service or medium that allows you to do so, please rate the show, and God please place it on their hearts to leave me a review if they can. It only takes a couple of minutes. People. I love reading your reviews and sometimes I read them

on the show. Also, friends and can be sure to share hand Me My Person your friends, your loved ones, and even your enemies, because the best way for people to find out about this show is by you guys telling them all about it. So tell a friend to

tell a friend to tell a friend. Please submit your questions for the straight Fact segment by clicking on the link in the show notes that says submit a question for straight Facts, or click the link in my Instagram profile and look for the button that directs you to submit a question. And who knows, your question may be featured on an upcoming episode of hand Me My Purse. Also remember that show notes are always available in the

episode description. Wherever you're listening to the show, be sure to take a look at the show notes because that is where I put all of the links and other information that I mentioned during the show that you may want to check out, in addition to some stuff I just want to share with you. Also, just so you know, the music for Handing My Purse is provided by none

other than West Baltimore's own Gloomy Tunes. Last, but not least, I want to give a big old shout out to my producers that would be Evan and Taylor, and with me we are Rando Banjo and the Dirty Throats. Shout out to Rando Banjo in the Dirty Throats. I look forward to you guys, looking forward to listening to Hanmy My Purse the podcast each and every single Tuesday. And I'm out this bitch. Peace. Pray for me. Hand Me

my Purse is a production of iHeart Podcasts. For more shows from iHeart Podcasts, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.