Fare of the Free Child

Latest Episodes:

Ep 141: Let's Grow Podcast Series 4 Oct 16, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Dr. Sundiata asks questions about a common practice for many African American people. The practice of saying "us" or "we" that some people use when expressing how they feel about something. Does this practice impede our individual pursuits for agency and liberation?

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Ep 140: Self-Care Ain’t Just About Stillness Oct 12, 2019

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Medley This week, let’s touch on the other side of self-care. Mostly, we tend to think about self-care as practices that help us to slow down, do less, be still. That is part of it, but there’s another side to it. Self-care is also about our daily life design, which includes our productivity work, our active times, the moments when we’re not slowing down, we’re building. We can and should learn how to take care of ourselves when we’re not on vacation, because otherwise the shit ain’t sustainable. Today I’m joined by the voices of some people in my circles who integrate self-care into their work. Come listen and then think about some ways you can move toward a more integrative approach to caring for yourself.

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Ep. 139: Teaching Consent & Bodily Autonomy Oct 03, 2019

Show notes

In a world that constantly sends messages to women about connecting their value with their physicality and desirability, I need to help them operate with an awareness of their right to reject or accept physical touch, or any act that affects their personal space or feeling of safety, from any adult or child.

And that means I have to be honest about the ways that I, myself, might infringe on their personal boundaries, and I have to facilitate these conversations with the adults around me. And I don’t just mean conversations about what we can do to protect children, but what we must do to help children understand their options for protecting their physical and emotional selves.

One way we can approach this goal is to explore some of the common mistakes we adults make when it comes to helping children practice bodily autonomy, which is at the root of consent culture for children.

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EP. 138: On Black Fatherhood and Freedom Sep 26, 2019

Show notes

“The most difficult thing in dealing with [raising ] young girls is that you have to come to grips with how you deal with women. You have to address your beliefs, what you’ve been taught, and what you’ve seen in society. If you’re not trying to be a dominating or oppressive figure in their life, you have to consider these things.” - Kris Richards

This week, Kris talks about his raising free people practice. This is part two, because last week’s episode with Marley talking about her experiences with my and Kris’s practice. Marley talked about respect, managing moods, and what it means to be ourselves together.

This week, Kris answers three questions about freedom, partnership, love, and a li’l bit mo’. We’re talking about these things in Raising Free People Workshop 2019 and registration closes October 1. Come join the conversation using the links to the left of this page.

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Ep. 137: Being Our Authentic Selves, Together Sep 19, 2019

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This week Marley Richards is joining me to talk about the goodness and the grit of being in a mother-daughter relationship rooted in liberation. She is co-facilitating Raising Free People Workshop with me this year, and on this episode, we’ll share some details about the space we intend to hold. Raising Free People Workshop is a space for us to apply decolonization and deschooling to the way we raise and relate to children. And into the way we support children in owning themselves.This workshop, and this practice, helps adults focus on transitioning from master to partner; embracing collaboration instead of coercion; being willing to listen; embodying compassion as we raise and support confident, happy, community-minded, fully-equipped, liberated people. Listen in, then come join us (registration closes Oct. 1) if you want to be part of an intergenerational discussion on liberation, learning, and relationships.

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Ep 136: Finding Joy and Solutions amid the stress Sep 13, 2019

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Last week we talked about barriers, and this week we’re talking about stress, which of course, can also be an effective barrier to our raising free people practice. So, what do we do with these potential barriers and existing stressors? We question and practice our way out of as much of it as we can. We seek and find community among whom we can share our pain and our joy. We remember our capacity to get free. We refuse to pretend to be okay when we are not. We see our children, and the children in our communities, as free people, and we do the emotional and spiritual work we need to do in order to not let our pain and stress become weapons against children. In this episode, I’m sharing what some other listeners said about their practices, in hopes that they nudge you toward your own.

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Ep. 135: 3 Barriers to Raising Free People Sep 06, 2019

Show notes

This week, we’re talking about the things that get in the way of our raising free people practice. There are many, but today, I’m highlighting three primary ones, poor baggage handling, systemic racism, and partner problem. I’m explaining each of these as I understand them, and I’m encouraging you to comment on this show notes page, or on social media using the #raisingfreepeople tag to talk about how you navigate, intercept, or completely shed the effects of any of these three effective barriers. Whether you’re homeschooling, unschooling, or simply shifting your relationship to one that embodies more conscious parenting and living, let’s work through these together!

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Ep 134: Busting the Deschooling Myth Aug 30, 2019

Show notes

This week, I’m sharing some of the insights that have come from my busy month in California. This month, I’ve done trainings, workshops, and gatherings, around this work of raising free people, and deschooling has been a central theme in all those spaces. I can see that we need more discussion about deschooling, here on Fare of the Free Child, and that starts today. There is a myth that it takes about a year of deschooling for every year of school a child attended--let me just label that bullshit right now. There is no time limit on deschooling because it is an ever-evolving process that grows as we grow, shows us more about ourselves and our environments. Let’s talk a bit about deschooling today. More to come, for sure.

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Ep 133: The Value of Hindsight & Shared Intention Aug 16, 2019

Show notes

Kris & Akilah’s idea for sharing gems from live workshops

Molasses is slow and steady, full of rich useful properties that take time to come through. I'm taking time to process the experiences I host or co-facilitate at this year's Homeschooling Assn of California Conference (HSC), then I'll recap and deep-dive my live workshops to bring you Molasses Sessions. Whether you were in the room or not, gain insights and perspectives that didn't make it to the live session. Fill out the form below to buy these downloads as soon as they are produced.

https://pages.convertkit.com/8f75212590/32c16598a7

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Ep 132: The Real Reason Our Children Are “Not Enough” Aug 08, 2019

Show notes

This week, a listener’s questions got me in mad question-askin’ mode about this unschooling life. What if my children just can’t, because of ...? Most of us have probably asked ourselves that question once or 50 times, yeh? Well, my answer today is way different that what it would’ve been during our first three or so years of unschooling. My answer is: Give yourself time to deschool so that you can begin to see your children from a more informed, less colonized lens. These feelings are about a scarcity mindset brought on and constantly fed by school, by testing centers, by organizations that thrive off the idea that we humans could never horde enough information. We are never enough, and so our children can only be enough if we over-extend ourselves financially and emotionally, and make sure our children learn whatever the smart people who tell us what our children need, say they need to learn. Force not feelings, coercion not confident self-exploration that leads to clarity and real learning. Let’s talk about the questions behind our most pressing questions this week, shall we?

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