Fare of the Free Child

Latest Episodes:

Ep 261: Communal Care Ain’t Separate from Business Here! Dec 25, 2022

Show notes

Ahhh….what an accomplishment! Our penultimate season reaches it’s finale… and ya’ll what a season it has been!!

Manifestation, magic, bridges, money as a tool, and the community that is MRM Village! We talk about how networking is actually all about creating community and linking up with folks who are willing to support each other’s missions.

Chemay talks about her intuition-led path to MRM’s updated business model that centers relationships, not dollars!
We learn how Chemay and Vanessa concepted their current STAR model in the Village.
We ear-witness Chemay’s passion for bringing SDE into every part of life and reimagining the work we do in the world.
We name the real FLOW chart of entrepreneurship: The pivot! Nothing is certain, everything will FLOW as it must and morph into iterations of the idea until it forms into what works best for the people involved

This conversation brings so much to the fore and it’s so important to bring these topics to the table and unpack things like: Intuitive work, embodiment, trusting the unknown, making space for what is to come, anti-hustling, and seeing that work is life and life is work.

As we close, we honor the energy of entrepreneurship, and we commit to the continual deschooling of it as one way of supporting the next generation in shifting the hustle-hard-at-all-cost lens they learned from us. Now, we choose to build a bridge for them to walk out of those old models into ways and modes of being that are more aligned with abundance culture, devoid of shame or guilt around money, and filled with mindful intentional and trust for the process.

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Ep 260: Vanessa Molano on Abundance as a We Thing, Not a Me Thing Dec 10, 2022

Show notes

What is abundance culture? And what does pausing have to do with sustained abundance? These are some of the questions Vanessa Molano (our resident party animal + book nerd) asks us to explore in this conversation.
"I designed a spreadsheet to help you manage your bone$ and circulate that shit."
- Vanessa
Madd Question Askin' from this convo:

What are some of the alternative ways we can do what we’re trying to do, without the harm?
How do you manage money in a way where you measure success by the way your relationships feel?
How do we practice reparations?
How do we practice valuing healing as the center of financial management?
How do we do financial management in a collective way? with foundations for inter-class solidarity.
How do we practice “small is all”?

Highlights from this convo:
7:20 - 7:24 “what’s the point of being alive if you don’t have yourself?” VM
25:59 - 26:02 “For unschooling entrepreneurs, financial creativity is really at the heart of self-direction” ASR

30: 48 - 30:51 “authenticity is the most important thing we have” VM

31:08 - 31:17 “if you turn on the abundance lens, you’ll see that there’s a lot more support for the world that we want” - VM

Links from this convo:

Vanessa Online
Akilah’s Content Trunk
Emergent Strategy by adrienne marie brown

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Ep 259: Tuning Into "Spiritual Tech" with Stori + Jasai of Alaiyo Waistbeads Nov 25, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, and through the season, we are inviting you to listen, to notice, and to feel through what these conversations evoke for you; within you.
Madd Question Askin'

What new language is forming for you?
What are you resisting?
What are you allowing?
What are you reframing and reimagining?

Are you already using spiritual tech in your life? What does that look like?
Are you finding ways to introduce play/playfulness into your days?
What infuses more joy into just being?
What tools are you employing to navigate this life?
Are you taking on new skills to pull you through or pivot away from things?

Are you aware of or recognizing ways that help you be more mindful?
Are you getting stuck because you think you ‘know’ a way out or are you stuck because you’re actually thinking that but not doing it?

Are you trying to balance all the things in your life or are you going deeper and finding sustainability in harmony?
Are you in flow in your life?

What are you doing to face your freedom calling?

LINKS

Journaling Workshop List:

Expansive Journaling Updates

Grab your RFP Card Deck

https://schoolishness.com/store/

Alaiyo site

https://www.alaiyo.net/alaiyotv

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Ep 258: Origin Stories | Remembering Some, Releasing Others Nov 16, 2022

Show notes

What is your connection to your origin story? Do you feel tied to your origin in ways that feel good and grounding? Or do you feel tethered to something that doesn’t quite feel like you?

What do you think about when you read or hear the words Origin Story, anyway?

Do you think about the start of your actual life?
Or a particular relationship?
A specific place?
A type of food?
An event?

On this episode, you’ll hear some of me (Akilah) and Naaz’s (aka Fatima’s) origin story—how we met, and where we were in our respective lives when we joined forces. It’s more of an origins-to-now story, with plenty examples about following the threads that led us to peace and release! Plus, Dr. Crystal Menzies of EmancipatED and I have a real-ass convo about releasing aspects of our origin stories as creators, as givers, as liberation workers, so that we can live in ways that align with our current needs, energies, and intentions.

Related links:

Dr. Menzies on Parenting Decolonized Podcast

Rock Merch + Art to affirm your Raising Free People practice:

Buy Raising Free People Book

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Ep 257: Spirituality and Intuition in This Self-directed Life Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

This is the first episode of Season 9 and we’re delighted to dive into the work of shifting our spiritual and intuitive work to include our raising free people practice. This feels important because while some of us might already see the connection between our commitment to raising free people and the cultivation of our spiritual and intuitive practices, not all of us do. For some of us, the weight, pressure, and pace of our daily responsibilities make that particularly difficult to name, let alone practice. For some of us, the fatigue and frustrations that come with lack of community, for example, can have spiritual work feeling like a luxury we just don’t have time to get into. Our intention is that this season will offer you pockets of education and examples for how to begin exploring what spirituality and its first cousin, intuition, in your specific life and relationship work. And then, through that exploration, it is our hope that you can begin to clear away the not-it shit that’s taking up way too much space in your thoughts and actions, so that you can plant or nurture new seeds, seeds that align with your right and your connection to liberation work. This work is not just for, or because of our children. It is for us first, and then for all the relationship circles we are in, that require our nurturing.

Voices we’ll center this season:

Chemay Morales James of My Reflection Matters
Naazneen Mookadam (aka Fatima) of Raising Free People Network (RFPN)
Vanessa Molano of Empathematics and RFPN
Dr. Crystal Menzies of EmancipatED
Akilah S. Richards of RFPN

With special guest conversations about Spiritual Technology by Jasai and Stori, the mother|daughter team behind Alaiyo Waistbeads

MADD QUESTION ASKIN’ MOMENTS (MQA’S)

Are we afraid to talk about manifestation in relation to raising free people?
Is there something solid to this practice of believing something into existence?
Is Self-Directed Education basically intuitive lead education since it is, in part about listening to our inner voice, and respecting that voice in children?
Did Chemay Morales James create My Reflection Matters as a result of following her own intuition?
When y’all feel connected to us, know that it’s because there is also a thing in you that is looking to connect
When is it best to wait for answers before making a move, versus moving so that the answers can show up?

EP 257 JOURNAL PROMPT

As you listen to this episode, let's think about the prompt that would help you think through your current imperfect conditions.

What would you describe as your version of “$2 status?”

What are some of the realities that you feel are stalling your ideal life design?

As you work through these prompts throughout the season,

start with questions that can bring deeper meaning.

Start thinking in questions.

This helps in the unearthing.

This helps loosen the roots and aerate them for growth on this journey.

This helps bring change.

It helps us reimagine the answers, and how we come to those answers, and what comes forth from the way we ask these new expansive questions.

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Ep 256: Season 9 Preview - Tuning In To The Themes Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

As we continue our preparation for Season 9, you are invited to listen as Naaz (also known as Fatima) Mookadam tell us what showed up for her as she listened to Akilah S. Richards’s conversation with Dr. Crystal Menzies. You’ll hear much of that conversation in Season 9, so for now, hear Fatima’s insights and Akilah’s invitation to you. If you missed our first teaser, listen to it here. We are so excited to be centering the voices of five women who are deep in their own deschooling journey!

And here are the some of the topics we’ll be exploring all season long:

Shift /pivot/change
Spiritual work
Freedom, truth, trust
Spirituality intersects with SDE
Truth shifts
Grace
Bullets for safety
Arrows of justice
Savor, not savior
Seek, don't solve

Stay tuned. More soon!

Support the show

Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to make sure we can keep this thang going strong. Thank you!

Ep 255: Season 9 Preview - Notes from the other side of the Pause Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

What's on the other side of a pause? Last season, we leaned into a focused pause, over and over, episode by episode. We also took that pause with us when the episode ended, and now we are ready to slow-walk our way into what arose for us, and for you.
Listen as Naazneen (also known as Fatima) Mookadam and Akilah S. Richards speak to some of the themes we'll be sharing this season. You'll hear the voices of all five women who are centered in season 9. Here they are in the order you heard them in this episode:

And here are the some of the topics we touched in this episode, and will explore all season long:

Shift /pivot/change
Spiritual work
Freedom, truth, trust
Spirituality intersects with SDE
Truth shifts
Grace
Bullets for safety
Arrows of justice
Savor, not savior
Seek, don't solve

Stay tuned. More soon!

Support the show

Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to make sure we can keep this thang going strong. Thank you!

Ep 254: Listening Party for ‘E. for Exploration Jun 04, 2022

Show notes

Grief. Avoidance. Funky energies. We’re wrapping up Season 8 with all kinds of feelings in the mix. How do we embrace or transform these feelings as they arise? That’s the pausewerk, and this week we arrive at E, for Exploration.

“Noticing your behavior in that moment is about noticing that moment, which is really powerful. It grounds you in the now.” Akilah encourages us to trust the wisdom that emerges from a pause, and Domari shares a story speaking to this experience.

Domari reminds us that pausewerk is deschooling work. It’s the little moments where we stop to notice ourselves in our environment. But in what ways might this be a privilege? In what ways might this be radically transformative? How can pausewerk shape the way that we treat ourselves and others in community?

Why we pause

We are pausing from colonial habituation. We are pausing from autopilot. We are pausing to give ourselves undivided attention and to identify our needs.

“Definitely deep emotions this week…because I see myself sitting at this intersection where my liberation work is always about being in relationship with, not free from.” - Jonie

Around this gem, Akilah reflects on how it might feel to gather yourself and be in relationship with that emotion, embrace it, and learn to be ok with it.

Domari recalls a moment when she navigated an opportunity to pause and pivot: “I did [it], and I didn’t die.” Jonie (our wonderful Listening Party regular) validated how threatening a pause can feel: “this all can feel like negotiations with our survival sometimes.” Transformation ain’t easy! But we’re embracing the practice with open questions.

Madd Question Askin’ …

What system, patterns, or habits do you want to stick to or pivot away from?
Why pause? When to pause?
Why do we choose what we choose? Why do we feel the way we feel about it?
What might feel good to begin re-imagining?
How might it feel to spend more time focused on yourself and your interests as opposed to what your children are not learning?
What are you trusting right now?
What brings you back to notice what is impacting you?
What keeps you grounded?
What makes you proud about your children?

In case you missed any episode here you can revisit our P.A.U.S.E acronym:

Episode 244: There is Real Power in the Pause tho!

Episode 245: P for Pain Points: What’s hurting you? What’s hurting them?

Episode 246: Listening Party for “P. is for Pain Points”

Episode 247: A for Absent: What feels missing in your current relationships?

Episode 248: Listening Party Replay for ‘A. is for Absences’

Episode 249: U for Understanding

Episode 250: Listening party for ‘U. for Understanding’

Episode 251: S. for Sorting and Shedding

Episode 252: Listening Party for ‘S. for Sorting and Shedding

Episode 253: E. For Exploration – Seeing What’s Available Right Now

We’ll be away for a while but you will hear from us in-between seasons, so stay tuned with Raising Free People Network for more resources and surprises.

Thank you for sharing this 70-day pausewerk focu

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Ep 253: E. for Exploration What are some resources you can tap into, based on where you are right now? May 28, 2022

Show notes

The second to last episode in season 8 is live, #fofcpod fam! This week’s inquiry is about the E (for Exploration) in our P.A.U.S.E. acronym. We’re also sharing some post-season offerings and spaces, so be sure to take notes on the things that perk your ears up! These spaces help us find community and connection and are tools to decolonize and revisit our relationships and practices while we navigate through this deschooling journey with our #pausewerk tools in hand and in heart.

Madd Question Askin’

Have you thought about pausing as a skill set, not just an action?
Are any of your current beliefs stopping you from showing up how you want to show up?
How often do you reach for tools of oppression such as silencing, physical punishment, and emotional manipulation?
What do you trust? And why do you trust it?

Spaces where inquiry and pausewerk are welcomed!

Live Virtual Training “Co-creating a Thriving Family Culture”: Dr. Sundiata teamed up with Maryella Marie and Tomis Parker, two other SDE-minded facilitators, to create a fantastic offering: The live virtual training, “Co-creating a Thriving Family Culture.” This will take place on June 11-12, 2022. “A weekend intensive training designed for individuals in relationships and families with children who want to be intentional about learning new skills and processes for making decisions and resolving conflicts peacefully and collaboratively.”
My Reflection Matters Village: Decolonizing education
My Reflection Matters co-learning for Liberation Membership (OPEN FOR REGISTRATION)
Community and connection through local spots like Kid Cultivators, a space that Leslie Bray and Taiwan started and still help steward. You can hear more from Leslie on:
Episode 18: Self-Care + Sacred Space
Episode 110: Leslie Talks Conscious Community Collectives
We also have upcoming community workshops (late summer/early fall) on Reframing the idea of value. These workshops will focus on deschooling ideas about money and worth

Join us for the FINAL EPISODE OF THE SEASON!! It’s a live recording on May 30th. Here’s the link (this link will add it to your calendar)

LIBERATION WALK

Share your thoughts by pressing that “Leave a Voice Message” button on the right side or email Akilah and speak about what resources you found useful based on where you are right now at she@raisingfreepeople.com
Give us some feedback about this episode, reflect inside FOFC Village, or directly in our Make It Happen Family on Patreon
Subscribe to Akilah’s Youtube Channel

Support the show

Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to make sure we can keep this thang going strong. Thank you!

Ep 252: Listening Party for ‘S. for Sorting and Shedding May 18, 2022

Show notes

Peace #fofcpod fam! This week, Domari is in the buildin’ for our Listening Party Live Chat,and she and Akilah share some experiences and examples of zoning in on the letter S. in P.A.U.S.E. We also continue speaking about the differences between practice and process. As we question what Sorting and Shedding look like, our hosts share some examples where pause work might be effective. What can we notice or re-imagine in our relationships, language, and self-care?

DISCUSSION POINTS

Domari talks about her relationship with pleasure (the card that continues to speak to her from our Practice Deck) and how pausing opened up comfort and awareness to think about the practices she has been sorting and shedding with her children and herself. Domari names aspects of decoloniality at home and points out the importance of honoring boundaries and consent.

“I’ll be working on identifying the ways that my kids and I are disrupting on a daily basis, and being intentional about noticing these moments and P.A.U.S.E.ing in order to listen and lean in. I’ll also be spending more time intentionally designing pleasurable experiences for myself as a mom (with the kids), as a woman (with others), and as an individual (with myself).” - Domari

Our two hosts talk about the importance of honesty and trust work by acknowledging our needs and honoring others as well. Just because I don’t understand something, doesn’t mean it isn't right or important. It’s about building a partnership where everyone can feel safe enough to speak up and say “I don’t want to do this” or “I want to change the way we are doing this” without feeling someone is disappointing or hurting others. If we can pause we can connect with certain situations, not necessarily figure them out.

As they speak about the differences between practice and process, they name the importance of paying attention to what triggers us and practice a different response. Be more kind to yourself, forgive yourself, and understand that “we have the right to change our mind” as we are navigating through joy and pain.

Then our hosts continue chatting about the distractions or systems that don't allow us to follow our intuition. They reflect on how practice invites more of the intuition, more of the specific needs, delights, and quirks.

Live out the #pausewerk with My Reflection Matters co-learning for Liberation Membership. This is open through May 20, 2022, and is accepting 30 new members. The first 10 BIPOC members that get accepted get free access to our Fare of the Free Child course, “From Schoolish to Self-Directed.”

Don’t forget to join us next week, we will be talking about the E. in P.A.U.S.E. a continuation of today’s convo.

LIBERATION WALK

Share your thoughts by pressing that “Leave a Voice Message” button on the right side or email Akilah and speak about what does imagining feels like at she@raisingfreepeople.com
Subscribe to Akilah’s Youtube Channel
Give us some feedback about this episode, reflect inside FOFC Village, or directly in our Make It Happen Family on Patreon

Support the show

Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to make sure we can keep this thang going strong. Thank you!

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