Don’t Call It a Comeback: Lessons on Reinventing Ourselves

Writer Nicole Shawan Junior joined Jodi and Shaq to discuss her various careers; the importance of owning her story and addressing her traumas; her journey to finally accepting her life’s purpose; why her father is her superhero; and what she has learned along the way about reinventing herself. Get your notepad and pen ready for this fascinating conversation, because Nicole took us to the altar, to school, and to therapy.

Nicole Shawan Junior is a black, queer & justice-involved counter-storyteller. Her writing appears in Lambda Literary's anthology Emerge, CURA: A Literary Magazine of Art and Action, Gay Mag (Roxane Gay's Medium Platform), ZORA, The Feminist Wire, Color Bloq, For Harriet, and more. An alumna of both the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the Hurston/Wright Foundation’s Writers Week, Nicole has received literary residencies and fellowships from various arts organizations and institutions including Hedgebrook, the New York Foundation for the Arts, Tin House Summer Workshop,  Lambda Literary, and Sundress Academy for the Arts. Nicole's completing her manuscript-in progress, Cracked Concrete: A Memoir of Crackheads, Cousins & Crime. She’s the creator of both the Roots. Wounds. Words. Writing Workshop & COUNTERpult – a Brooklyn-based reading series that centers the narratives of QT/BIPoC storytellers. Learn more about Nicole at www.NicoleShawanJunior.com.

Lunchtime Read 1:30

The Little Black Book of Success: Laws of Leadership for Black Women by Elaine Meryl Brown, Marsha Haygood, and Rhonda Joy McClean

Interview Begins 4:34

Workfit  Tips 52:07

Article mentioned: 8 Self-Care Projects To Work On During Quarantine

Fancy Quote 56:52

(Inspired by Nicole's essay, "How Queen Latifah’s Debut Album Sparked Joy at a Time When Everything Burned")

Others Essays Mentioned

*men rape us and you let them" by Nicole Shawan Junior

"No One Survives the Smoke" by Nicole Shawan Junior 

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