Staying On The Path An Interview With Warrior Poets Jamie Dawson and Sam(ira) Obeid

For all of us striving to stay on the path - this one is for you. 

This week’s episode is truly special. 

I felt so honored and grateful just for getting the chance to be in the same room as these two warrior poets. 

My guests this week, Jamie Dawson and Sam(ira) Obeid, are two of the most creative and brilliant people I have had the privilege of knowing. 

We wove through many important and timely conversations all while striving to remain open, honest, and vulnerable. 

Accountability and introspection were two themes that tied together the thoughts expressed. 

Jamie and Sam both shared their deep insights on heavy conversations such as:

-How do we process the grief, the trauma, and the roller coaster that these past 12+ months have been? 

-What does true allyship look like? 

-What role do creativity, art, and poetry play in processing? 

-What lies at the intersection of art and activism? 

Jamie and Sam both provided true gifts on this one. 

Please do yourself the favor of listening in. 

For all of us striving to stay on the path - this one is for you. 

You rock. 

Jamie Dawson is a professional writer, performer, and black arts scholar whose talents range from spoken word, theatre, and commissioned works on the topics such as black life, multiculturalism, women’s rights, healing, and connection to each other through Earth.

You can follow Jamie on Instagram here

Sam Sam(ira) Obeid is an Indian. Scholar. Warrior. Poet. Queer. Sam has been placed 5th at the Women of the World Poetry Slam in 2015. Sam has been featured on Button Poetry and an international anthology, The World That Belongs to Us: An Anthology of Queer Poetry from South Asia by Harper Collins India. 

You can follow Sam on Instagram here

Listen to "Staying On The Path An Interview With Warrior Poets Jamie Dawson and Sam(ira) Obeid" on Spreaker.

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My Special Birthday Episode: Reflections, Vulnerability & Celebration

It is my birthday week! 

Each year, I dedicate a podcast episode to speak reflections out loud. 

To give sound to the inside, 

So that vibrations can become lessons learned.

Wisdom is earned, 

Creativity burns bright through consistency. 

To be here for another year is a blessing.

Take the risk and go for it, 

Or spend your 365th-day second-guessing. 

Accountability over blame. 

I’m grateful for the losses

and the gains. 

For the downwind ease

And the uphill pain. 

There is a release of worry,

When you can learn to taste the rain. 

Each misstep a new campfire story. 

The hurricane 

And the boring. 

Even amidst the turbulence 

Finding pockets of stillness. 

I give thanks 

For the new smiles shining with brilliance.

I see now I’m supposed to feel all of this. 

No hiding. 

Sadness.

Mourning.

And then in the morning.

There you are everywhere. 

In the air, 

Alive in our memories. 

Truly, 

It is a blessing. 

To be here for another year. 

InshAllah. 

Will you join me? 

In celebrating my birthday?

I’d like to request a gift. 

Will you share with me:

A memory. 

A story.

Of how we met, 

Of a time our lines crossed.

A moment we connected. 

It would mean the world to me. 

Thank you for being a part of my journey. 

Listen to "My Special Birthday Episode: Reflections, Vulnerability & Celebration" on Spreaker.

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Accountability, Authenticity, and Facilitation With Sarah Ogdie

This week, I’m joined by Sarah “with an h” Ogdie, a social worker and lettering artist based out of downtown LA. She prides herself on being authentic, bold, interdependent, and deeply invested in modeling intersectional, queer, millennial, feminine leadership. 

In January, Sarah left her job as Program Director (and former Interim Executive Director) of Community Tampa Bay after 8 years. Last year, she launched The Authentic Type as a way to get closer to one of her dreams of running a revolutionary woman-owned business, creating word-based art using typography and modern calligraphy to speak her values to the world.

Over the course of 14 years, Sarah served as a counselor, advisor and co-director during more than 30 residential sessions of the ANYTOWN® program. Over 5,000 youth have participated in dozens of interactive, school-based youth leadership conferences Sarah has led. She has previously been a certified 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens facilitator, a national Life Entrepreneurship trainer, and a Courageous Conversations about Race Affiliate Practitioner. She is also an avid meal prepper, a very slow runner, a book enthusiast, and an amateur video game player. 

On this episode, Sarah talks about the relationship between affirmation, accountability, apologies, and allyship. We share stories of our own friendship, filled with lots of laughter and including the many (sometimes embarrassing) previous versions of ourselves we’ve experienced. Lastly, Sarah shares her story of going from a reluctant manager to someone who is passionate about removing barriers and helping others be their best, and how failure has led her to embrace being scared and doing things anyway. 

You can recommend LA coffee shops to Sarah at saraheogdie@gmail.com or check out The Authentic Type here:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheAuthenticType

Listen to "Accountability, Authenticity, and Facilitation With Sarah Ogdie" on Spreaker.

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Awareness, Advocacy, and Action with Umar Hakim

This week, we are joined by Los Angeles community leader Umar A. Hakim. We draw on Umar’s expertise and experience to discuss self-awareness, leadership, and transforming a charitable cause into advocacy and action – especially in non-profit and activist circles.

A native of the city of Compton, Umar is the Executive Director of the ILM (Intellect, Love, Mercy) Foundation and holds degrees in both business management and ethical leadership. Umar draws on the key principle of Facilitative Leadership to coordinate ILM’s programming, which includes Humanitarian Day, Go Beyond the G.A.M.E, and Community Accountability Labs. With a focus on using design thinking for developing new social systems and encouraging next steps for leaders in need of clarity in an age of being relevant, Umar founded INKERIJ in 2012.

Umar is an active alum with American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute, contributes to civic-social organizations including NewGround: Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change and California/LA Voice PICO network, and is an active community organizer in the City of Los Angeles.

Connect with Umar on Facebook or follow him @inkerij_official.

Listen to "Awareness, Advocacy, and Action with Umar Hakim" on Spreaker.

If you'd like to learn more about T.H.E. Celebration Academy.  Here's 30 days of Free Membership.