I'm incredibly proud of this episode, but I'll be honest—when I sat down to do my own journal prompts on my earliest memories of guilt, I had a moment that really made me pause and sit with myself.
It was the beginning of Black History Month, and my big Leo vibes were impeccable, per usual. 😜 I’d successfully boycotted Target for over a week, Beyoncé finally won Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter 🤩 and she announced the tour! Doechii’s speech at the Grammys had me grinning like I was her proud auntie. The podcast episodes have been flowing, the Substack energy was right (I love it here, btw) and I was actually excited to sit down and do our very first “Hey, It’s Halicue” journal prompts myself…
And then? Boom.💥🥺
I’d barely written two sentences when I was hit with a full-force, time-traveling, plot-twist Mississippi flashback straight into some of the saddest chapters of my own personal Black girl history. Like, I was just minding my business, sipping tea, taking what I though was a break from editing and suddenly, I was ten years old again, crying and apologizing for taking up space and having committed the high crime of leaving dirty dishes in the sink. 😩
Whew.
Sounds dramatic, trust me—it was. But I know I’m not alone. Because when I asked my sisters in the 92 Percent to explore the origins of guilt, shame, and its connection with Black femininity, I knew exactly what I was doing with this very simple prompt. I just didn’t expect it to be this hard when doing them myself. 😩
And listen, I don’t say this to scare you off. Quite the opposite! Because the truth is: this episode is not sad. It is funny. It is rebellious. It is a good, deep, belly-laugh in the face of every guilt trip Black Women have ever been force-fed.
Because we deserve joy. And the first step in fully claiming it? Looking guilt in the eye, snatching its wig and letting it know it is no longer welcome here.
Black Women are not guilt’s emergency contact.
Black Women are not on the guilt tripping group chat.
Black Women are not RSVPing to another “But You Should Feel Bad” convention.
So, in the second episode of Hey, It’s Halicue, we talk about it. Laugh about it. And RELEASE it! This episode is where we start breaking up with guilt for good—because we already know certain people have already tried to activate it in us this month. They always do. It’s one of their favorite tricks.
But not this time.
This time, we are choosing peace, ease, creativity, and joy—with a nice, juicy side of petty if necessary. 😌
So grab your headphones, press play, and let’s laugh in the face of guilt. Then grab a journal and take this week’s prompt for a spin. Just… be gentle with yourself. Some memories might pop up. But don’t worry—we’ve got each other.
Oh, and don’t forget—the video podcast is live on Youtube 📺, too. Because some conversations just hit different when you see the expressions that go with them.
Aren’t you feeling 92% happier already? Let’s keep going.
💛
Halicue
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