Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause - Can I get a Witness?

When I was in my late 20s, I felt like I was going through a tremendous identity shift and growth spurt. The shift was from a more conventional aspirtationally bougie identity of my early 20s to one that was seeking to find my authentic self. The self at home in this body and understanding the origins of my culture beyond these shores. I was a single mom, working full time in the non profit sector, had stopped relaxing my hair (i.e. cut off my hair and was growing my first set of locs) and was seeking a spiritual path and practice that was more African in nature. From the outside looking in, old friends and some family members were perplexed, confused and some were concerned. I can tell you that my mother was worried about me. What was I doing? Why was I changing in a way that looked so different? Who was I becoming and would there still be room for our connection and love? I assured her that this growth was not an abdication of my love for her, our family or our community. It was just more me trying to find and love more of me. All of me.

In this episode, we explore identity, healing, pleasure and activism with Ignacio Rivera.

Ignacio G Hutía Xeiti Rivera, M.A. who prefers the gender neutral pronoun, They, is an Activist, Writer, Educator, Sex(ual) Healer , Filmmaker, Performance Artist and Mother. Ignacio has over 20 years of experience on multiple fronts, including economic justice, anti-racist and anti-violence work, as well as mujerista, LGBTQI and sex positive movements. Their work is influenced by their lived experience of homelessness, poverty and sexual trauma. Ignacio’s work is also driven by the strengths of identifying as a survivor, transgender, Yamoká-hu/Two-Spirit, Black-Boricua-Taíno and queer.