Writing While Black

Lakeisha, High Priestess of The Story Temple

Writing While Black is a podcast for Black and Brown writers who know their block isn’t about discipline — it’s about wounds. Hosted by Lakeisha, developmental editor and High Priestess of The Story Temple, this show explores ancestral silence, dismantling the white gaze, nervous system patterns that shape creative resistance and sustainable craft practices rooted in truth — not performance. We talk about AAVE as literary language, code-switching as choice instead of obligation, writing rage without apology and building work that doesn’t shrink for white comfort. This is craft and spiritual excavation together. No performance required. thestorytemple.substack.com

Episodes

  1. You Don’t Have to Perform or Conform: Leo Full Moon Guidance

    1 FEB

    You Don’t Have to Perform or Conform: Leo Full Moon Guidance

    This reading happened kind of spontaneously. Empress Theadora and I were on FaceTime, winding down at the end of the workday like we usually do, and she mentioned needing to do her full moon reading. I just happened to be shuffling my cards at the same time — which I don’t usually do when we’re just talking — and she asked me if I wanted to do the reading with her. And I said, “I’m down for that.” We weren’t sure how it would go because we’ve never intentionally done a collective reading like this. But it ended up weaving together perfectly. This Leo full moon is about being seen without shrinking. Leo’s planetary ruler is the sun — so it’s calling you to the front of the class to show up as who you are at your core. Not who you perform being. Not who you think you should be. Your actual self. And with Neptune moving into Aries right now, there’s a lot of illusion and delusion happening. Some of that delulu energy is benevolent — it’s about dreams and vision. But when it’s distorted, it becomes deception and fantasy that keeps you from seeing clearly. Add with all this bully energy happening online right now, people are performing instead of being present. Conforming instead of staying grounded in who they actually are. The reading kept coming back to this: you can perform or you can conform — but neither of those is authentic. When you’re performing, you’re putting on a show. You’re trying to be seen in a certain way, trying to manage how people perceive you. That’s exhausting and it’s not sustainable. When you’re conforming, you’re shrinking yourself to fit someone else’s expectations. You’re making yourself smaller so others feel comfortable. That’s not liberation either. What this full moon wants from you is to go inward. To check in with who you are when nobody’s watching. To ground yourself in your core essence instead of the version of you that you think the world wants to see. We talked a lot about boundaries — not just setting them but maintaining them. And about accountability, especially if you’re in any kind of leadership position. You can build community and gather people, but if you’re not holding yourself accountable to those people, if you’re not showing care for the trust they’ve placed in you, then what are you actually doing? This came up because there’s a lot of ungrounded energy online right now. People moving without accountability. People building platforms without care for the people following them. The guidance that kept coming through — and this is the practical takeaway — is to consult your higher self when you’re feeling confused or uncertain. Not social media. Not the trending takes. Not what everyone else is doing. Your higher self. The part of you that knows your past, present and future. The part connected to your ancestors, your spirit team, your divine guidance. That might look like sitting in prayer. Journaling. Talking to trusted friends who ground you AND hold you accountable — not people who just agree with everything you say. It might be a hit you get in the shower or right before you fall asleep. But the answer is always going to come from going inward, not performing outward. For those of us creating and putting work out into the world, this is especially relevant. Are you creating from your authentic self or are you performing what you think will get approval? Are you setting boundaries around your work and your energy, or are you letting the algorithm and other people’s expectations run you? Are you staying grounded in your purpose, or are you getting caught up in the distorted energy that’s swirling around right now? This full moon is asking: who are you at your core? And are you showing up as that person, or are you showing up as who you think you need to be? We closed the reading with sound bowl meditation to help ground everyone back into their bodies after sitting with all that energy. If you’re feeling unmoored right now, if you’re caught up in the chaos online, if you’re exhausted from performing — this is your invitation to go inward. Root chakra energy. “I am.” Present. Grounded. Not performing. Not conforming. Just being. Carry some red jasper if you have it. It’s grounding, helps you stay present in your body and connected to who you actually are. This Leo full moon is asking you to be yourself. Not the version of yourself that gets likes. Not the version that makes everyone comfortable. Not the version that performs for approval. Just you. Your core self. The one your higher self knows intimately. That takes practice. That takes going inward regularly. That takes consulting your own guidance instead of looking outward for validation. But that’s where your power is. That’s where liberation lives. We shared a lot in this reading. Take what resonates. Let the rest go. And remember, you have divine backing, ancestral support and your own higher wisdom to guide you. You don’t need to perform. You don’t need to conform. You just need to be. Thank you to everyone who tuned in for the live recording! I truly hope the reading served you. And thank you, Empress Theadora for inviting me to join you in this collective reading! Offerings and resources My current offering: Write From the Wound. This seven-day challenge isn’t about productivity hacks to help you write faster or more consistently. It’s about safety. It’s about witnessing. It’s about understanding that what we call “writer’s block” is often our nervous system saying, I don’t feel safe enough to write my truth. Designed especially for Black and Brown writers, this challenge focuses on shadow work, witnessing and integration — rather than fixing or censoring ourselves for palatability. The wound is not something to write around. It is something to write from, once it has been seen. Empress Theadora’s Offering: Clocking In Without Clocking Out Spiritually Her upcoming 8-week experience exists for those navigating work, capitalism and their calling at the same time. This container is for people who are tired of choosing between survival and spirit. Who know their jobs don’t define them — but still require energy, boundaries and discernment to navigate. Empress Theadora guides you through staying grounded inside structure, regulating your nervous system during transition and maintaining spiritual sovereignty while getting paid. I highly recommend getting on the waitlist. Empress Theadora has also graciously shared this beautiful meditation with us. She created this meditation for Black women who’ve learned to survive by overriding their bodies — pushing through exhaustion, staying quiet when something felt wrong, enduring instead of listening. It’s specifically for that moment after you’ve set a boundary, when your nervous system is loud and your body needs reassurance that you won’t abandon yourself this time. The meditation uses drums as a warrior call to help you honor your body, hold your ground and rebuild trust through follow-through. With love and fire, Lakeisha, High Priestess This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thestorytemple.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 14m
  2. It’s Time to Integrate

    22 JAN

    It’s Time to Integrate

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thestorytemple.substack.com Shoutout to everyone who tuned into my live video with Empress Theadora. We had such a good time (like always), and truly enjoyed y’all! Our initial plan was to make the live publicly available to everyone. But once we got into deeper spiritual territory and people started asking vulnerable questions and sharing their experiences, the energy shifted. So the decision was made that what was shared — by us and by the folks who showed up — needs to stay protected. This is how we protect our communities. When Black and Brown people share vulnerably, that vulnerability deserves boundaries. The paywall isn’t to keep you out — it’s to protect what’s inside. We’ve included free audio and video previews so you can get a sense of the conversation before deciding to continue. Along with links to the offerings mentioned during the live. If you want to hear the rest of the conversation, I invite you to upgrade to become a Temple Scholar or head over to Empress Theadora’s page and become a paid subscriber to The Mediocre Black Woman. My Offering: Write From the Wound We kicked off the conversation talking about my newest offering, which launched on MLK Day: Write From the Wound. This seven-day challenge isn’t about productivity hacks to help you write faster or more consistently. It’s about safety. It’s about witnessing. It’s about understanding that what we call “writer’s block” is often our nervous system saying, I don’t feel safe enough to write my truth. Designed especially for Black and Brown writers, this challenge focuses on shadow work, witnessing and integration — rather than fixing or censoring ourselves for palatability. The wound is not something to write around. It is something to write from, once it has been seen. Empress Theadora’s Offering: Clocking In Without Clocking Out Spiritually Her upcoming 8-week experience, Clocking In Without Clocking Out Spiritually, exists for those navigating work, capitalism and their calling at the same time. This container is for people who are tired of choosing between survival and spirit. Who know their jobs don’t define them — but still require energy, boundaries and discernment to navigate. Empress Theadora guides you through staying grounded inside structure, regulating your nervous system during transition and maintaining spiritual sovereignty while getting paid. I highly recommend getting on the waitlist.

    54 min
  3. The Question You’ve Been Asking Yourself

    SEASON 1, EPISODE 1 TRAILER

    The Question You’ve Been Asking Yourself

    Is my craft off, or is this feedback just racism dressed up as writing advice? You know the moment. When someone in your writing group says your character is “too angry” but you know – you absolutely know – that rage is the only honest response to what your character is experiencing. Or when they say your dialogue sounds “inconsistent” when you’re actually code-switching with precision. Or they say they can’t “relate” to your protag, and somehow that became your problem to fix. And now you’re sitting there wondering: do I need to revise my craft, or do I need to protect my voice from people who don’t recognize what I’m doing? That doubt? That’s the violence. Writing While Black examines the moments where craft advice is actually racism. Where feedback that felt wrong, was actually wrong. Where you weren’t being too sensitive — you were being gaslit. Every episode breaks down a specific pattern: the “neutral” craft advice that’s really white cultural defaults. The critique feedback that polices Black emotional expression. The industry standards that assume white readers are the only readers that matter. We’re talking about: * Code-switching as narrative mastery, not “inconsistent voice” * AAVE as legitimate literary language with its own grammar rules * Writing rage that’s complex and sustained, not “too angry” * Strategic silence as resistance, not “withholding” * Claiming your right to opacity without translating for white comfort This isn’t therapy masquerading as writing advice. This is craft education that names what traditional writing education can’t teach because they don’t understand it. After each episode, you should feel three things: Seen. This thing you’ve been experiencing has a name. You’re not imagining it. You’re not being too sensitive. The feedback that didn’t sit right? There’s a reason for that. Equipped. Language for what’s happening. Tools for protecting your voice while navigating hostile spaces. Craft techniques that honor your full truth instead of performing for white comfort. Free. The shift when you realize your Blackness isn’t a problem to overcome — it’s the source of your power. When you stop writing for white approval, you discover what your real voice actually sounds like. When you write for Black readers first, you go deeper, faster, truer. James Baldwin didn’t move to France just for the art scene. Zora Neale Hurston spent years defending her use of dialect. Toni Morrison fought editors who wanted her to explain more, make it easier, translate for white readers. She said no. Every Black writer who came before us navigated this same violence — the polite, professional insistence that our voices need fixing. We’re walking the path they cleared while refusing to perform the same exhaustion. This podcast isn’t about making white readers, white writers or the very white publishing industry comfortable — cuz I can guarantee you it won’t. It’s not about proving we deserve to tell our stories. It’s not about explaining why racism is bad or defending the validity of Black experiences. We’re past that. And for the record, we don’t need to prove s**t. This is for Black writers who are tired of second-guessing their instincts. Who are ready to stop performing. Who want to write from full humanity without apology. If you’re still trying to figure out how to make your work “accessible” to white readers who don’t want to do the work of understanding, this podcast will challenge you. If you’re ready to center Black readers and let everyone else catch up, welcome home. Subscribe Now New episodes drop every other week. We’re covering everything from the politics of silence to refusing respectability in your work. From trauma without spectacle to writing Black joy without justifying it. Your voice doesn’t need fixing. It needs freedom. Subscribe to Writing While Black wherever you get your podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thestorytemple.substack.com/subscribe

    5 min
  4. Voice Note from the Temple: A Collective Reading for the New Moon in Libra

    21/10/2025

    Voice Note from the Temple: A Collective Reading for the New Moon in Libra

    Hello, temple friends. Pull up a chair. Pour yourself some tea. I want to share something that came through this morning during my shower, which is where Spirit likes to find me most often, apparently. I was planning to pull cards for myself like I usually do, but the moment I sat down with my decks, it became clear this reading was meant for all of us. So here we are, gathered around the new moon in Libra, and Spirit has some very clear guidance for this lunar cycle. The Spread I used a three-card spread I haven’t touched in a while, but it pushed its way into my mind this morning with that unmistakable insistence Spirit has when something needs to be said. Position one: Developmental theme (I always pull a Major Arcana for this)Position two: Best mental attitude to cultivate (a Court card, intentionally)Position three: Actionable guidance (whatever Minor Arcana wants to appear) A simple spread overall. But here’s where it got interesting. Normally I use only tarot for this spread — hence the deliberate pulls. But today, I felt called to pair each tarot card with an oracle card - something I’d never done before with this particular reading. That’s when I knew this wasn’t just for me. This was collective medicine. The Developmental Theme: The Hermit + “Why?” in Reverse Let me start by saying… Spirit has a sense of humor. We’re in a nine year universally. 2025 is about completion, wisdom, wrapping up cycles. And unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have noticed how the Hermit has not been hermiting this year. It is absolutely wild out here in these streets. The world has been loud, chaotic, demanding our attention at every turn. And yet, here comes the Hermit, asking us to go inward during this Libra new moon cycle. But paired with “Why?” in reverse, the message shifts. This isn’t about isolation or hiding away from the noise — though I completely understand the impulse, believe me. This is about introspection with purpose. The question being asked is simple but penetrating: Do you actually understand why you’re making the choices you’re making right now? Or are you simply moving because movement feels productive? The Hermit knows something most of us forget in our hustle: sometimes the most powerful and productive thing you can do is pause. Stop. Take a step back. Get clear on your actual motivations before you take another action. Because you can’t hear yourself think when everyone’s yapping in your ear. The Hermit’s wisdom is knowing when to create space for your own voice to emerge. The Mental Attitude: Page of Swords + Orphaned As soon as the Page of Swords appeared, I heard two words: intellectual curiosity. I love this Page. They show up for me often, and they always bring the same energy - that voracious desire to learn, to question, to investigate how things actually work. Not cynically. Not defensively. Just genuinely, deeply curious. This is Air element energy, which regular temple dwellers know I’m always talking about. This is your mental processes, your thinking, your ideas. The Page of Swords questions everything, but from a place of wanting to understand, not wanting to tear down. This distinction is important. Especially when you think about some of the conversations happening on this platform. But anyhoo… Then we have Orphaned. This card is about the search for belonging. For your people. For the community that actually gets you. Here’s the attitude Spirit is asking us to cultivate this cycle: Curiosity about where you actually belong. Question the spaces you’ve been occupying out of habit. Be willing to admit when something doesn’t fit anymore, even if it used to. Even if you invested time and energy building that fit. Even if leaving feels like failure. That’s hard work. But that’s part of genuine introspection. The Hermit knows this. The Actionable Guidance: Four of Pentacles + Community Again, Spirit really has a sense of humor. The Four of Pentacles gets a bad reputation in some decks as the “hoarding” card - someone clutching their coins, refusing to share, gripping everything tightly out of fear. But in the Light Seer’s tarot, I don’t read it that way at all. I see strategic conservation. This card is asking you to be conscious about where your resources go. And when I say resources, I don’t just mean money - though that’s included. I mean your time. Your energy. Your creative attention. Your creative attention is a resource. Let me say that again for the people in the back: Your creative attention is a resource. If you’ve been watching any of Don Lemon’s content, you’ve heard him talking about turning the TV off, protecting your mental and emotional bandwidth. That’s what this card is about. Being discerning - not stingy, but strategic. Not closed off, but boundaried. And then Community appears as the oracle card, bringing everything full circle. When you’re in aligned community, you don’t have to hoard your resources because you’re not alone. You can be generous within the right containers because there’s reciprocity. You can share freely with people who actually value what you offer. Here’s the question this pairing asks: If there’s no reciprocity in a community you’re part of, why is that? Is it because you’re not showing up as a good community member? Or is it because you’re genuinely open, sharing, giving your all - and getting nothing in return? That distinction matters. And the Hermit’s introspection will help you answer honestly. The Four of Pentacles in this context isn’t about gripping tightly. It’s about knowing what’s worth protecting and what’s worth investing in. Same resources. Different understanding. Bringing It Together This lunar cycle is asking three things of us: Go inward with intention. Not to hide, not to isolate, but to get genuinely clear on your why. Understand what’s actually driving your choices right now. Not what should be driving them. Not what you wish was driving them. What actually is. Stay intellectually curious about belonging. Question where you’ve been trying to fit. Are you a square peg trying to force yourself into a round hole? Why? Investigate what aligned community actually looks like for you - and it might not look like what everyone else is talking about online. Honor that. Conserve your resources for what matters. Be strategic about your time, energy and attention. Invest them in communities and people that reciprocate, not spaces that drain you. This isn’t selfishness. This is wisdom. A Personal Note For me, these cards are confirmation of shifts I’ve already started making. I didn’t know what cards would appear when I pulled them, but Spirit has a way of reflecting back exactly what we need to see. There are some spaces I’m stepping back from. Some resources I’m redirecting. Some community I’m actively building rather than passively hoping to find. I’m not going to say more than that right now because some things need to develop in private before they’re ready to go public. The Hermit knows this truth intimately - not everything is for immediate sharing. Some work needs to be done in the dark before it can bear fruit in the light. But I will say this: If these cards resonated with you, pay attention. Pay attention to where you’re being called inward this cycle. Where you’re being asked to question your why. Where you’re feeling the pull toward different community. Trust that. Follow that. Conserve your energy for what’s actually aligned. Closing Happy new moon, temple friends - whether you’re visiting, studying as a Scholar or building with me as an Elder. May this cycle bring you clarity, curiosity and community that actually feels like home. I’ll be back soon with more transmissions from The Story Temple. Until then, always trust your compass. It’s something I’m learning to do more and more each day, and I have a feeling this Libra new moon is going to give us all plenty of practice. This reading was recorded as a voice note on the new moon in Libra, October 21, 2025. The transcript has been shaped into a Temple-style essay for those who prefer to read rather than listen, and for those who want to return to these insights throughout the lunar cycle. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thestorytemple.substack.com/subscribe

    11 min
  5. Voice Note from the Temple: How Five Tarot Cards Changed Everything

    07/10/2025 · BONUS

    Voice Note from the Temple: How Five Tarot Cards Changed Everything

    Happy October and happy autumnal vibes. In this voice note, I wanted to share the story of how The Story Temple came to be. Because it wasn’t planned. It kind of happened by accident. A couple years ago, I was sitting in meditation, frustrated with my own writing and equally frustrated with a client’s manuscript I was evaluating. Both of us had the same problem: we couldn’t figure out what the hell we were trying to say. As I’m sitting there overthinking everything, I grabbed a tarot deck I had next to me on the sofa. I started pulling cards for guidance, and kept getting swords. Over and over. Five cards, all swords. At first I thought the cards weren’t giving me answers. But then I heard clear as day: “No, the cards ARE giving you the answer. They’re telling you what’s wrong.” Swords represent the Air element in tarot. And that’s when it clicked. What if the problem wasn’t the writing itself but that the Air element was off? What if we both just needed clearer vision and conceptual clarity? Once I saw it that way, everything made sense. And I realized Air wasn’t alone. Fire, Water and Earth were all there too, working together like they do in nature. No element works in a silo. They feed each other. That changed everything. I flew through that manuscript evaluation. I finished my own essay. And after that, I couldn’t unsee this pattern. Every piece of writing that came across my desk, I saw these four elements. Every social media post I wrote, I’d check the elemental balance before posting. I started wondering if anyone else noticed this. The answer was definitely no. It’s a unique way of looking at writing and storytelling. Here’s what drove me to create The Story Temple: I was tired of the generic, surface-level writing advice that runs rampant on the internet. “Your pacing is off, fix your sentence lengths.” “Your character is flat, add personality traits to make them more relatable.” That stuff doesn’t get to the root of anything. And as a priestess, we go to temples to study. So it made sense to me to create a temple. A mystery school. Kind of like Hogwarts, but for writing. I wanted a place where writing is viewed as sacred work, because it is. Writing is a spiritual practice whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Words are spells. There’s energy in your words that can be felt when you speak them and when you write them. My vision for The Story Temple is a place where writers who want to go deeper with their work have an academic setting to learn in. Where they can bring their whole selves to the page without fear of being judged or ridiculed — especially writers who look like me. In essence, I created it for me because I thought it would be really cool to attend a mystery school like this. And now I get to be the High Priestess of this temple, teaching writers about the energetics of their writing to create work that truly connects. Whether you’re simply visiting the Temple or a paid subscriber using the templates and teachings to improve your work - thank you. It warms my heart knowing you’re in the temple with me. Don’t forget: The first full episode of Creative Code Switch drops November 5. Subscribe now so you don’t miss it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thestorytemple.substack.com/subscribe

    10 min
  6. For Black and Brown Writers Who Are Tired of Being Told to “Fix” Themselves

    SEASON 1, EPISODE 1 TRAILER

    For Black and Brown Writers Who Are Tired of Being Told to “Fix” Themselves

    How many times have you been told to “tone it down” or “make it more universal”? How many times have you thought: man, f**k that. Who are you to tell me how my voice should sound? If you've ever felt that frustration — that exhaustion of watching someone swoop in with "well, actually" every time you celebrate your work — then you need to hear this. What The Creative Code Switch Is Really About As an editor, I see this all the time. Writers come to me saying their work isn’t landing, and when I evaluate it, the problem isn’t their craft. The problem is they’ve been told to code switch their creativity so many times they don’t even recognize their own voice anymore. The Creative Code Switch is where we get real about the system that demands you water yourself down to succeed. Where we talk about writing energetics — the four elements that make your authentic voice uniquely yours — without asking you to shrink to fit someone else’s idea of “professional.” What We’ll Cover Every episode, we’re diving into the stuff other writing shows won’t touch: * How to write business content without sounding like a corporate robot * How to tell your truth without someone saying it’s “too much” if writing member * How to trust your instincts when the industry tells you they’re wrong This Space Is For You If... You’re a Black or Brown writer who, like me, is tired of the b******t. Who knows your words have power but keeps getting told to dim your light. If you’ve ever felt like you’re writing for everyone except yourself — this is your space. It’s Time to Stop Code Switching Your Creativity New episodes drop biweekly on Tuesdays at 5am. The first full episode drops November 5. Your voice matters. Your stories matter. And anyone who tells you different? They can mind the business that pays them. With love and elemental wisdom, Lakeisha | High Priestess of The Story Temple Episode Credits: YouTube music license code: LBQMT2LYENJIFSKU This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thestorytemple.substack.com/subscribe

    2 min

Trailers

About

Writing While Black is a podcast for Black and Brown writers who know their block isn’t about discipline — it’s about wounds. Hosted by Lakeisha, developmental editor and High Priestess of The Story Temple, this show explores ancestral silence, dismantling the white gaze, nervous system patterns that shape creative resistance and sustainable craft practices rooted in truth — not performance. We talk about AAVE as literary language, code-switching as choice instead of obligation, writing rage without apology and building work that doesn’t shrink for white comfort. This is craft and spiritual excavation together. No performance required. thestorytemple.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Lakeisha, High Priestess of The Story Temple
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Lakeisha Cadogan
  • Show Website
    Writing While Black