Amina Jama >> black lives matter, black joy, inner strength, and learning to love yourself all over again

Takeaways: 

1. Joy. In this case Black Joy and specifically Amina style joy. I hope you soaked up some of the priceless joy in this episode. I hope it hit you. I hope you laughed. I hope your spirits got lifted. I hope it helped you move deeper into this work that we are all confronted with now. Of course we can move through these moments with anger, passion, ferocity, love, solidarity and even violence if necessary. But we can also move through these moments with joy. It helps open the heart, lighten the load, and keep us moving towards this work that must be done. It’s ok to laugh, remember to laugh.    
2. The image Amina shared at the top of the episode, the one of the plastic bag over her head and not being able to breathe the same air as white people is etched in my head. I don’t know if that stayed with you but it definitely did with me. It gave a new meaning to the saying “I can’t breathe”. As non-Black folx some of what we do can poke holes in that bag to help a sister in need breathe. But what would it look like to remove the bag completely? This is why there is so much talk about defunding the police, abolishing the police, and creating a new system for public safety. We don’t need to cut a bigger hole in the bag, we just need to get rid of the bag. Reform isn’t enough. Defunding is a good start. Abolishing the police the answer. We’ve gotta get rid of the bag around Amina’s head. Standing behind that is some real love. Consider standing behind abolition. 
3. Supporting Black people in this movement at the most intimate levels can be incredibly powerful right now. Did you hear what an impact her mother’s support gave Amina? True support to Black family members, chosen family, or friends could mean the world right now. Potentially a tremendous act of love. Especially if you’ve never given support in this way before. Show up for your people and stand behind them! A side note here is that support doesn’t mean “help me understand”. That’s the opposite of support because it’s emotional labor and Black people are already emotionally taxed right now. Simply show support, love, and care behind their actions, voices, and opinions. To be clear I’m talking about personal relationships here which is the focus of this podcast. My point is that personal support behind Black people in your life can help immensely while they tackle systemic change. It can even help you navigate how you personally show up to fight systemic oppression. 
4. Face that one thing that you’re afraid of. It could change your whole life. Remember what Amina said, “you’re the only person who can stop you from true growth. You’re also the only person who can confront your own fear. So do it. There are gifts waiting for you on the other side.
5. Injustice, trauma, and pain are passed down in families just as easily as wealth and good fortune. We run into them in our relationships and family all the time. These patterns are good to be aware in order to navigate your own personal worlds. In this moment in history we have the opportunity to heal centuries of trauma, pain and injustice for our country, institutions, and the whole of society. However, we also have the opportunity to end generations of trauma with ourselves, our families, and our intimate relationships. Help heal all of it.  
6. The phrase “keep it moving” kept coming up throughout this interview. Did you hear all the ways Amina kept it moving with incredible strength?! Life demands that we all keep it moving, but the question to me right now is what can we do to make it easier for Black people to keep it moving. Both personally and systemically. 
7. If you say things like “They’re not ready. People aren’t ready. The world isn’t ready”  Maybe the real person who isn’t ready is you. I was really struck by how Amina talked about this. 
8. Going out to protest will make you happy. Like Amina said, it might make your heart smile. Not only that, but there’s a great chance your visibility will help Black people in your life feel supported. If anger doesn’t motivate you maybe love and happiness will. 
9. No matter where you’re at with social justice work, it feels like everyone is leveling up right now. As you heard, Amina has been protesting for decades now. But only now did she get the courage to get on a mega phone, start some chants, and even sing. It’s so clear to me that her voice is amplifying greater and so is her heart. How are you leveling up in regards to social justice right now? It might just bring some more love into your life. 
10. I love Amina’s love of food. She said there’s no limit to her creativity with food. Part of me thinks it’s simply because she loves it so much. She also said food has saved her in dark times more than men. It reminds me to not rely on all our love coming from other people, but also by what we do in life. So, what do you love? How can you dive head first into what you love? 
11. Not everyone is looking for love. Sometimes the pain of heartbreak is so large we don’t want to open that door again. Or we simply may not be ready. Or we may just be looking for sex. There’s no shame in that game, but it’s good to know where you stand and be ready to communicate it with others. Amina definitely doesn’t have a problem with that. 
12. Eye contact. It’s so simple, so easy to take for granted, and so easy to avoid. But it can change everything. It did for a Amina. In a world where phones and electronics are increasingly taking our attention away from each other, remember how powerful eye contact can be. Especially with your loved ones. 
13. If you’ve been going hard on the protesting or in other ways to support this uprising you might want to give yourself a break. Take care of yourself. Remember to give yourself love and care so you can keep the momentum up.  
14. Amina’s voice. Black voices. Black female voices. Can you believe that in the past Amina might not have shared her voice? That she thought no one would want to hear what she had to say? Through the episode you might have caught how she’s been on a journey with her voice to where it’s at today. So, even though people may have incredible voices they may be holding them back or keeping them at low volume for any number of reasons. When people say amplify Black voices, I feel like part of what that means is to support, encourage, and stand behind these types of voices that you know more people need to hear. I’ve been saying Amina needs her own show for years. Her voice is so important to me. I hope it’s been important to you too.