Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
You can scroll the headlines all day and still feel empty. I'm Ben Higgins, and If You Can Hear Me is where culture meets the soul. Honest conversations about identity, loss, purpose, peace, faith, and everything in between. Celebrities, thinkers, everyday people, some have answers, most are still figuring it out.
And if you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you.
Listen to If You Can Hear Me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, it's Jill Winterstein, host of the Spirit Daughter podcast, where we talk about astrology, natal charts, and how to step into your most vibrant life. And today I'm talking with my dear friend, Krista Williams. It can change you in the best way possible. Dance with the change, dance with the breakdowns. The embodiment of Pisces intuition with Capricorn power moves.
So I'm like delusionally proud of my chart. Listen to the Spirit Daughter podcast starting on February 24th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
This is Special Agent Riegel, Special Agent Bradley Hall. In 2018, the FBI took down a ring of spies working for China's Ministry of State Security, one of the most mysterious intelligence agencies in the world.
The Sixth Bureau podcast is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets. Listen to The Sixth Bureau on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt, The Case of Lucy Lettby, we unpack the story of an unimaginable tragedy that gripped the UK in 2023. But what if we didn't get the whole story?
The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapsed.
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Chapter 2: What challenges does Jotaka Eadie face in her advocacy work?
I'll never forget it. I was standing on the other side of the fence, and I was like... This is it. This is what I want to do. And I was so inspired from that moment on. I wanted to be an advocate. And I would fight little fights in student government. Like I was in middle school, like the mirrors in the bathroom were plastic. And I was like, we need...
real mirrors I'm gonna fight for real mirrors in the bathroom but that was kind of the start so that is amazing and I love hearing stories like that because a lot of times when you are born into a small country town we don't have a lot of the outlets that most kids in the city have so to be able to
have a Jesse Jackson come to your town, you know, to show you this is what real advocacy looks like and what standing up for the right thing looks like. I'm sure that was very pivotal. Yeah. It was something, you know, what's interesting. You think about like what we had, what we didn't have.
I mean, like, this is like, you know, we had the big satellite dishes because we didn't have like, we only had like three channels, right? We barely had NBC because it was really in Charleston, which is like two hours away. So I guess we didn't get signals. So you had like...
you know channel 13 channel 15 anybody who's watching this I know there's some you know I know y'all are here from South Carolina y'all if y'all from like where I'm from Florence County you know then the channel 13 and channel 15 and then Fox came like a couple of years later but we had like three channels and then like you were lucky to you know get a satellite and like and then That's crazy.
We didn't have. Yeah.
I'm sure they're like so proud of you.
You're like the star of the town. I'm well known for like, you know, coming out of Johnsonville because it's interesting because anytime I've ever done an interview or any magazine ever like writes about me, I'm very, very like conscious and I'm very like deliberate about them printing that I am from Johnsonville, South Carolina.
Because to me, I'm like, I'm so proud of like being from this small town. And I think it's important Like you say, people that come from small towns, I grew up in a place where in the school system, guidance counselors, it leads you to believe that you can do any and everything.
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Chapter 3: How does Jotaka describe her upbringing and its impact on her journey?
And it's all because of a deliberate, aggressive, poignant attack on Black women, on Black people, on our livelihood, on our lives, on our education, on our culture. And so in this moment, I just think that it's a reality check for a lot of people because I think some people didn't take it as seriously and now are realizing that this is This is real. Yeah, this is real.
I remember a friend of mine saying when everything, the pendulum started swinging in our favor, he said, be careful. He said, because just as it swings, it's going to go back in the other direction very drastically. And what could you give us as a community advice on how to handle this as the pendulum is not in our favor?
I think in this moment, I'm going to go back to where we started this podcast in prayer.
Yes.
It's being grounded and recognizing that we are always going to be okay because God has us. And I think that's where it starts. It's just having a level of peace and understanding as hard as it is. And I get to speak to my own self about that.
Yeah.
there's something greater that is holding us. So I think that's the first place. And the second is that we cannot, as a people in this moment, be silent. It's not an option. And we have to be united and together support each other and support our own in this moment.
And so I think that as this pendulum, because it's not just people that had a federal job, it's people who consult or law firms or it's an attack on the entire culture and the entire system. And I think that's the part that is very real. and is the part that is the most dangerous. And so you see now attacks on studios.
And so what does that mean about content and studios and ensure that there's diversity, not on the camera, but behind the camera and all of the craftsmen, all of that. So the attacks now on that, the attacks on universities and funding, NIH just announced that they are no longer going to have diversity, equity, and inclusion grants, that they don't need that anymore. Think about research.
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Chapter 4: What pivotal experiences shaped Jotaka's views on justice and advocacy?
crying before I have to walk out I miss my mom so much she's not here for these things and so it's been it's like I know her spirit is here but you miss her and so like you go through life and this person who has poured everything into you to make you who you are And finally... You're there. You're there or you're somewhat there. Yeah. And she's not physically there.
And it's... I got some tissue for you. Yeah. It's... It has an impact on you. Yeah. Yeah. So... Yeah, so it's been really... uh, a journey. And I've learned so much about grief and how grief will, you just have to just go through it. It will hit you at any moment.
I could be in the grocery store and I would see Welch's grape juice because when my mom was getting sick, she liked Welch's grape juice. And I just, it would just impact me because I just think about, you know, My mother, if I can say her name, Lenora Abraham Eady, my best friend, my biggest supporter, my mom and my dad both. But my mom was this person, that gentle, kind soul.
And she taught me everything. She was always there, the person I talked to every day. And, you know, it was so harsh. I learned also, like, when my mom... through her sickness, the horror of the healthcare system. Because my mom, you know, it was July. My mother was fine, laughing, talking. And then... All of a sudden, she was, like, feeling a little off.
And she goes to the doctor, and the doctor tells her, you know, that she has anxiety and depression. And I'm like, this seems a little off, you know, but maybe. And so they prescribed her medicine. I'm like, something, my spirit kept saying, something's not right. All of a sudden, my mother started having, like, the onset of, like, advanced dementia.
And everything I read, every doctor or friend that I spoke to was like, dementia doesn't onset like this. It's not this fast. And so by August, my mom... was could barely talk, could not, I'll never forget there was this moment when I, and I would fly back home and I would go see a neurologist and they're like, oh, it's pseudo-dementia. Like what is pseudo-dementia?
You know, it's not really real, it'll reverse. And so, and I'm like, something's not right. And I never forget, I went home And I was in my room and I'm on emails. And the crazy part is life is lifing, but the world is still moving. So in the midst of this election, I'm taking calls and doing strategy. And I'm sitting there and my mom walks in my room door. She has on Sunday clothes.
And I go, and it's, mom, what are you doing? It's a Thursday. And she was like, I'm going to church. We're going to church. And she's out of her mind. But just as childlike and sweet and innocent, dressed to the nines. And I remember I just looked at her and I said, mama, I said, but it's, it's Thursday. And she looked at me and it was as if she felt like, she felt like, oh no.
And she said, it's Thursday? And I said, yeah. I said, come sit beside me. And I remember I said, There was this moment where I just said, but we can pretend like it's Sunday. And that was that moment where I realized, and I had thought still at that moment, my mom's just going to be in this state, and I'm going to be able to. And at that moment, it was like, oh, I can figure this out.
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Chapter 5: How does Jotaka navigate grief and loss while maintaining her purpose?
That's crazy.
So let me be very clear. Margaret Anandu, because I'm going to say a whole lot of people's names on this podcast because I think that's what I believe in doing. Margaret Anandu, amazing investor, leader, had been at Goldman Sachs, I think, for like 20 years. And she came up with this idea inside of Goldman Sachs.
how to really take investment dollars and bring and pool a billion dollars for direct investment that has direct impact that can be tied to impact to black women. And so she had been Goldman Sachs had already developed this program and my work with that program was helping to launch it along with my good friend and partner Joshua Dubois and Michelle Dubois at Values Partnerships.
Our firms came together to help launch it and what was important to to Margaret and to Goldman Sachs and the leaders, um, there, um, and still leaders that are still there, like, um, uh, sister Asahi there, um, was that this was something that was done with black women. Uh, and so we, uh, had the, the, the privilege to work with them to help guide the launch of that, to help guide how we, um,
had conversations with black women to help shape how that work was done. And I'm just so proud to have been a part of that. But Margaret Anandu, I'll say her name over and over and over again, was the visionary and went to the CEO of Goldman and said, let's do this. David Solomon at the time was like, yes. Wow. And I think that speaks to the power of black women. It does.
Who have, back to Oprah and Ayanna Van Zandt's conversation, having that holy yes, you know, because Margaret had that holy yes and she was determined and built something, you know, quite incredible and to be a part of, you know, helping launch that was something really like,
deeply powerful and impactful for me as a black woman yeah to just be a part of something so significant and of that magnitude that's incredible um there's been other funds like the fearless fund that had initiatives for black women founders um that received backlash did you guys hit any roadblocks or was it pretty smooth because she had been with Goldman Sachs for so many years it was pretty smooth because and it was before all of the attacks um
But it was pretty smooth and it was a great launch and the program invested. And, you know, it's just amazing. And these were large. A lot of these are large scale investments as well. So it was like large scale investments and projects that had direct impact that would impact black women. across the board. That is so cool.
You know, I think again, like, you know, when you look at, when you see like in that moment, I think that was in 2020, 21, 2021. I get the years, like, you know, the COVID years, it starts to get, it starts mixing up. But then you fast forward now and you see the attacks on the Fearless Fund. You see the attacks. Oh my goodness. on all of these funds that support black women.
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Chapter 6: What insights does Jotaka share about the importance of community support?
And so you're going to hear all kinds of opinions, but listen to that inner spirit, that inner voice. I believe that's God talking to us. So that's the first thing. But I believe that, you know, like my experience with my mom, I remember like it was like when my mom came and said when they said the doctor said what they said. I struggled with it because it was like, what is this?
And my family has a history of mental health challenges. My great grandmother died in a mental health institution. And so back then it was like, They don't know what's wrong with her. I think, you know, now I think it was, you know, postpartum and, you know, complicated postpartum of what was happening, but she was in and out. And I don't know much about her.
And that's been like this thing to try to learn about her. But when my mom, like, you know, I was very, I had friends, very close friends who have had parents that had been diagnosed with mental health disorders. And so when they said that, and they just so quick to do the meds, which was detrimental to my mom because it wasn't her diagnosis.
My mother had a mass on her brain, not a mental health disorder. And so what I would say is that, you know, really finding the health care provider that you can trust that really will dive deep into a diagnosis, but also. what will help most.
And I'll also say that I recently started to look into more natural, holistic, started learning about psilocybin treatment and reading more about psilocybin, which is the treatment, mushroom treatment, psychedelic mushroom treatment for healing. And I had a friend that
shared that they had experienced that and shared that it was like four years of therapy as he was going through grief, very traumatic grief. So I would say being open to holistic, but really finding that therapist and that medical provider that you trust that will give you the right mix of remedy. Because sometimes people think that you could just take it
a pill and just, and sometimes those medicines may make it worse. Or I'm not a doctor, so I never would give medical advice. But, you know, seeing all the things that, you know, but I don't, I'm not a person that says don't take medicine because I think if you, I have lots of friends that have to take medicine and it's needed. But I just think making sure, not really being ashamed of it.
I think that's the bigger thing. is like destigmatizing mental health. Like we have to destigmatize that Sometimes you are not okay. I believe everybody at some point is not okay. So we have to destigmatize this notion that we're always okay. Destigmatize going to therapy. Destigmatize if you need to take medication.
And destigmatize this notion that having a mental health diagnosis is the end or that something is... innately wrong with you because we are made by God and God does not make mistakes. And we are all made perfectly imperfect. And I think it's important for us to just accept. And I think as a society, when we destigmatize
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