Two years ago, I was back home in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. The beaches. The food. The ocean stretching out in every direction. And the quiet feeling that your ancestors are still speaking… if you’re willing to listen. This is an aerial photo of my island, and I'm sharing a photo of sea turtles that come to visit us. One afternoon on the beach, my friend Yomi and I had a long conversation about life — trusting your soul, following inspiration, and the power of love. At one point she said something that stopped me: “Trust is where we need the most healing.” That stayed with me. Because so many people struggle to trust themselves. We trust opinions, expectations, and outside voices…but hesitate to trust the quiet voice inside us. But if you can’t trust your own soul, what’s the point? That trip helped me get clearer about the life I want to live and what I want to give to the world. And even now, two years later, I’m still carrying those lessons with me. Two questions I’ve been reflecting on: When was the last time you truly trusted your own inner voice? What might change in your life if you trusted it more?

Trust the wisdom of your ancestors. A door that seems shut might actually be a blessing. A road that seems blocked might actually be protection. Not every delay is a denial — sometimes it’s divine direction. What’s meant for you cannot be taken from you. You cannot miss the blessings that God and your ancestors have for you Reflection Questions What situation in your life once felt like a setback, but later revealed itself as protection or redirection? How might trusting God and the wisdom of your ancestors change the way you respond to closed doors or unexpected delays?

Welcome to the King's Circle Replay! In this profound session, we were honored to be joined by Nadirah Goldsmith. Here are the key takeaways from our powerful conversation exploring faith, ancestral connections, and navigating life's journey. The video from the session is attached, and for those who can make the time, you'll no doubt have some key takeaways. What we learned about Nadirah Goldsmith: - Not only is Nadirah a multifaceted creator—a producer, writer, mother, activist, spiritual practitioner, and actress—but she is also a fellow member of the King's Circle community! - After completing Army basic training right out of high school, she pivoted her path to attend Bennett College (an all-women's HBCU in North Carolina), where she changed her major from education to psychology. - She holds a deep awareness of her ancestral timing, noting the synchronicity of being born in April 1976 while Alex Haley's groundbreaking series Roots was filming. The Power of Trusting the Unknown - Nadirah shared that true spiritual magic happens when we are willing to walk in the unknown. - She recounted stepping out on faith to travel and work, including trips to Belize during the pandemic and navigating unexpected challenges, like a rental car falling through. - Her advice for the community: Don't worry about seeing the entire staircase; just focus on taking one step at a time. Channeling the Ancestors on a Ryan Coogler Film Set: - Nadirah shared her incredible experience working in New Orleans on a Ryan Coogler film (under the working title "Grilled Cheese"). - She worked as a background actress in two deeply historical and emotional scenes: a church scene and a sharecropper scene. - She described the set's energy as profoundly "ancestral," noting that the cast and crew were incredibly humble and intentional. - While filming the sharecropper scene—picking cotton in the sweltering heat—she felt an intense connection to her ancestors, channeling their survival, pain, and ultimate strength to bring the scene to life.

Hello everyone! Thank you all for joining us, whether you were with us live or are catching up on the replay. We were honored to have a very special guest with us, Mahealani Uchiyama. She is an award-winning musician, composer, author, and one of the most dedicated cultural activists out there. We had an incredibly powerful conversation about the Mbira—a sacred African instrument—and how it can connect us to our ancestors and bring us peace in turbulent times. Here are the notes from our beautiful session. I highly recommend diving into the replay and grabbing her book! The Mbira: An African Musical Instrument is available here: The Mbira: An African Musical Tradition: Uchiyama, Mahealani, Chaitezvi Munjeri, Patience: 9781623176495: Amazon.com: Books === Meet Mahealani Uchiyama - Mahealani was born in Washington, D.C., and later moved to Honolulu, where she studied Hawaiian culture and Pacific performing arts. - She has lived in the Bay Area for about 45 years. - She first heard the Mbira played at a music venue called the Freight and Salvage by artists Erica Azeem and Forward Kwenda. - Within just 10 minutes of hearing the music, she was completely transported, having visions and conversing with her passed relatives. - She eventually traveled to Zimbabwe, where she learned from grounded elders and attended a traditional bira ceremony that lasted all night until sunrise. === ✨The Magic and Spirituality of the Mbira - In the Shona tradition, the songs played on the Mbira are over a thousand years old and are considered the property of the ancestors. - The music is cyclical, meaning it doesn't have a Western-style beginning, middle, and end; the end of one cycle is simply the beginning of the next. - The Shona conceptualize this music as constantly living and swirling in the universe. - The Mbira player's job is simply to "latch onto" the song, bring it into their fingers for a while, and then let it go back into the universe. - Each song is an intentional prayer used to call in the ancestors and bring the community together.

Heavens Oh…Many times I have heard souls express “I don’t do funerals”…for me as an ancestral priestess in the making and a daughter of Olokun: “Funerals” energize me!!! Yesterday, Monica’s service was such a tribute to a beautiful and radiant life so well lived. Listening to the testimony of her children, seeing their tears, sensing and feeling that familiar void I too experienced with my own mother on Jan 13, 2022 and then witnessing them command us all to stand up and dance at the feet of Monica’s altar and the drummers. Up until yesterday I had never experienced a service that felt so incredibly light, ancestrally empowered, purposeful and similar to what I would want for my children to experience when the time comes again for them to sit in that front row. Hearing Monica’s own children talk about all the beautiful things that she embodied, all that she taught them, and how blessed they felt to have the most amazing mother ever deeply moved me. I could not help but to think about my own children and what they would have to endure when the time came for them to do the same; the ultimate price we pay for love. You see like me; Monica had a profound love for her ancestors and for our collective ancestors. She had become a major champion, ambassador and caretaker for the African Burial Grounds in Richmond, VA. As one can imagine, her three children were raised with a strong foundation of cultural identity and a deep spiritual awareness of who they are as souls embodied in human form. This was tremendously evident in how sacred, intentional and how infused with light their mother’s memorial service was designed to look and feel. Monica’s minister, Dr. Neal N. Jackson of the United African Nation House of Worship, reminded us during the eulogy that in life our two most significant rites are our first (birth) and last rites (transition) and that there is no such thing as death because life is eternal. Years ago, after hearing sooo much about my dear sister friend Sakhet’s beloved lifelong sister friend Monica, I was formally introduced to her in person during a sacred remembrance event she hosted at the African Burial Grounds. As a woman born under the sun sign of Aries, Monica like me is a visionary, community activist, a protector of children, an entrepreneur, avid world traveler, served humanity and lived courageously.