Ep 206: Aja of She Said We Shed Podcast

Welcome back! We are still in-between seasons on #fofcpod and for the next month we’ll be sharing with our hosts from Raising Free People Network! This week we chat with Aja, single mom, freelancer/entrepreneur and unschooler who has lived outside of the United States - host of She Said We Shed Podcast.

“Created by Aja, and produced by Raising Free People Network, She Said We Shed is a reclamation project for defining a motherhood that acknowledges and helps us heal from the unresolved trauma-induced parenting practices among Black mothers. Aja is raising her Black son while healing from the trauma of being raised by a woman who didn’t heal from whatever harmed her. Black mama trauma is the topic, and honest, love-centered, reclamation and healing are the intentions. Join Aja as she and invited guests get vulnerable and deliberate about legacy shifting with support, back-up, and truth-tellers.”

Akilah and Aja speak on Black motherhood, intergenerational trauma, privilege in relationships, setting boundaries (even with our children), and healing work that includes more than praying and going to the “good doctors.”

She Said We Shed Podcast - Wanting to heal not wanting to hide

Aja talks with Akilah about what has happened with She Said We Shed and what she’s been noticing through her own liberation journey. They highlight the importance of the resources and decolonizing tools that She Said We Shed has to offer, and the value of speaking up about these topics in order to shift and heal intergenerational trauma.

Aja transports us into a living personal experience, a reclamation project, a space where women are willing to come and share their stories, having straight-up conversations that seek community around them learning how not to expose children to the same parenting behavior that wounded us. This podcast is an opportunity to build relationship tools that acknowledge the power of motherhood along with the responsibility that comes with it.

Slowing down

Aja talks about the struggle that she faced with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) and how that forced her to stop and rest so she could heal and have deep realizations. She also talks about how this situation impacted her physical and emotional well being but also helped to pull her back. By trying alternative methods, she gave the chance to other ways of healing and made her see how vital it was to set boundaries for her and her child, as she says “we need to listen to ourselves to know what we need is a process”.

LIBERATION WALK

• Kelly Limes Taylor shares with us the two upcoming courses from Ours First Series: Stories Of Our Pasts and Younger You. Be sure to register!
• Check out