Nurah Speaks

Yosef Ben Asiel is the force behind ‘Black Royalty Wear’ sports apparel and is this week’s feature in the Nurah Speaks Buy Black series. Black Royalty is a premier athletic clothing line made from cotton and bamboo. Whether you're in the gym or doing daily chores, Black Royalty Wear provides you the most comfortable fit possible. Order yours today! Visit BlackRoyaltyWear.com. Follow Yosef on Instagram and Facebook @ NaskiYosef and be sure to listen to his weekly podcast, Know Thy Self Radio! If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

When you find a good thing you run out and tell others right?!? That is why Essential Nutrientz, an all natural hair care line, is next up in my 'Buy Black Series!' Sulaiha Turner, founder of Essential Nutrienz, created this line specially formulated to produce highly moisturized, healthy and beautiful hair. Sulaiha feels that this should be achieved without hormone altering chemicals or synthetic oils. Since trying this product, it has become the only one I use in my own hair care routine. It’s not heavy and greasy and I totally love the scent. So I suppose in a way, this is also my own testimonial. Try Essential Nutrientz for yourself and I’m sure you’ll agree. Listen to learn how Sulaiha’s own health scare prompted her search for an all natural hair care product and how her journey finally compelled her to create her own. To learn more about Essential Nutrientz, visit www.EssentialNutrientz.com. Follow Essential Nutrientz on IG: @EssentialNutrientz_he and on Facebook @ Essential Nutrientz.

Nisha Blackwell, founder of Knotzland is featured first in my Black Business Series. Knotzland produces artisan bowties made from 98.9% reclaimed fabric ad materials. I learned about Nisha and Knotzland from a google commercial detailing Nisha’ journey from unemployed to entrepreneur. Her story is both intriguing and inspiring and demonstrates the sort of possibilities available to us all. Support this Black woman led company as she supports her community and the environment through reclamation of discarded textiles used to produce these elegant and exquisite bowties. Visit knotzland.com to learn more. Follow Knotzland on Instagram and Facebook at @knotzland and you can follow Nisha on twitter @Naturalknotz. To see Nisha’s google commercial, click here:
youtu.be/6R8euQeU-Fc If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking th

There is no biblical commandment directing us to $PEND-$PEND-$PEND to honor the birth of sweet baby Jesus. However, year after year, the season has become less religious and more commercial. This episode I share tips that will benefit your wallet and your community. So what should we do in this season of spending? For starters, I advise us all to be aware of the clever campaigns retailers use to incite our excitement to spend. We should be sober and buy what we need, when we need it. There is no sudden urgency wherein a large flat screen tv is needed. The jewelry, apparel, appliances now set at ‘markedly reduced’ prices can wait. Advertisers know the perfect strategies to persuade spending. Here are my five tips for to help you this season: 1. Don’t!----Just don’t spend. Save your money. Invest your money. Refrain from making the rich even richer. 2. Buy Black!----If you like the tradition of holiday shopping, buy black. Identify black business with which you can spend. Buy black in brick and mortar stor

It is such a blessing to have reached 100 episodes of Nurah Speaks! When I started this podcast, I had no other goal in mind except reaching the ears and hearts of my people with a message that vibrates within our souls. And now, after 100 episodes under my belt I feel that I have just gotten started. I am humbled and grateful for the support of great listeners and exceptional guests who have lent their wisdom and insights to the podcast. This work continues as it remains imperative that our people are enlightened with what we can do to improve the outcomes for our communities. I am blessed to be joined in this episode with previous guests and my great friends Chabree Muhammad and Dr. Nicole Muhammad. The tables are turned as they pose their questions to me and allow me to reflect on this amazing journey. We also take the opportunity to announce our newest endeavor and an amazing collaboration. In January 2020, we will launch our own show, ‘Lead, Teach & Style” which will be a show sharing the n

As I near episode 100 and the two year anniversary of Nurah Speaks, I reflect on this incredible journey. Achieving such a milestone could only have happened if I was unwavering and consistent in my efforts with the podcast. That does not mean perfect. Nor does it not mean exact. I knew I only needed to be dedicated and unwavering in my goal to provide insightful and engaging content to my listeners. What a milestone! We learn so much about ourselves no matter our journeys. Time will always expose our strengths and weaknesses, our talents and handicaps. If we pay attention along they way, we can capitalize on these lessons. I encourage all who listen to this podcast to mark your own milestones with celebration and appreciation of your own achievements as well!!! THANK YOU to my listeners! I am grateful to you and I thank you for your support over these last two years! If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners ca

This week I welcome fashion designer, Dr. Nicole Muhammad, to the podcast. Nicole is the founder and CEO of Sew Elevated, a modest fashion brand. She is also a clinical psychologist by education and training. In this episode, Nicole explains the psychology of fashion and how fashion affects our thoughts and feelings about ourselves and how what we wear impacts others. This is a very sober and thoughtful conversation with Nicole explaining her intention to use fashion to elevate women’s ideas about fashion and their ideas about themselves. Visit sewelevated.com and follow Nicole on social media @SewElevated on Instagram and Facebook. You can email her at Nicole@SewElevated.com. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring

Sellout is a term often tossed about to neutralize the adoration of someone who has made significant achievements in life. Our low expectations and limiting beliefs are causing us to be traitors to our own promise! •What about those from among us who are recruiting our children to illicit lifestyles for personal profit? •What about entertainers getting rich promoting killing and drug abuse? •What about those influential adults who enable the delinquency of our youth and interrupt their promise? Let's rethink what we hear and give definition to the word, "sellout!" If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be t

Chabree Muhammad is back on the podcast sharing her perspectives on educating the Black child. Hers is a perspective not heard in the mainstream so this is a great opportunity to introduce an unorthodox voice. Chabree understands the science of education and why conventional education misses the mark with our children. As you listen to this episode, have a pen and pad nearby to take notes and re-listen to this once or twice for anything you might have missed. And please, be sure to share this episode with anyone you know involved in the development of our children. The gems Chabree shares in this discussion are impactful and her ideas are universally applicable in any arena our children enter. To learn more about Your Educational Consultants and Services, Inc. visit yecservices.com. You can contact Chabree Muhammad by calling 856-966-1722 or by emailing her at chabree@yecservices.com. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  L

We are so frequently accosted in these ‘living while black’ incidents wherein someone calls the police on us as we engage in normal, non-criminal activities in our own communities, sometimes in our own homes. And nearly as often during these incidents, the accused begins explaining his occupation, salary or education as a means to suggest why the accusation is a complete implausibility. But I say, “We have to stop explaining ourselves!” Neither our income, our educational attainments, the cars we drive, nor the size of our homes should dictate the level of respect to which we are entitled. We are qualified for respect by our very personhood, by the breadth of life within our bodies. And if someone chooses to respect us based on some false qualifier such as our degree, membership or salary-they are in fact not respecting us at all. And neither are we in having such an expectation. I am passionate about this issue as listeners will hear in this episode. We cannot continue to waste time and energy pleadi

With unchecked vanity, leaders or would-be leaders may appear bullying, arrogant, selfish and insecure. Too much is required of a good leader to allow pride to interrupt progress. A remedy for vanity ‘gone wild’ may include being reminded of the bigger picture, getting attuned to the needs of others and being grateful for the opportunity to serve. Being in the mind of the greater good can alleviate the stumbling block of conceit. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

This week’s guest is Vallrie Dorsey an attorney, entrepreneur and a newly minted host of the podcast, ‘When We Get Out.’ Vall’s podcast will discuss the challenges facing our second chancers as they re-enter society, search for employment, re-connect with friends and family and more. The podcast will feature ex-offenders, advocates, attorneys, judges and the family of ex-offenders. Vall’s extensive knowledge and interest in this area stems from her experience as a criminal defense attorney, a juvenile prosecutor and the partner of an ex-offender. ‘When We Get Out’ launches this month so be sure to follow Vall on Instagram @whenweget.out and @valldorsey. You can also connect with Vall at www.valldorsey.com to learn more about her professional coaching services. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Foll

This episode will help listeners navigate their career, social and familial circles by identifying into which categories those around us fit. ‘Friends, Foes and Phonies’ highlights the features of each of these people and explains why knowing them is a protection for us. How do you deal with foes and phonies? Have you learned that someone you thought was a friend actually is a foe or phony? I am curious about your experiences. You can share with me by emailing me at Nurah@NurahSpeaks.com. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Without order, there is chaos. And our diminished self consciousness and self control has damaging impacts on our community. If we do not restore restraint and discipline to our language and behavior, how can we grow? How can our families be successful? And how will our communities improve? If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

I am excited to welcome Kimme Carlos to the podcast. Kimme is the Founder and Executive Director of the Urban Mental Health Alliance: Advocating for Healthy Minds in Urban Communities. She is a a certified instructor for Mental Health First Aid and author of the published book The Window of Grace: Living in Recovery through Christian Faith. I asked Kimme to be a guest on Nurah Speaks to discuss her work with the Urban Mental Health Alliance because she understands how to have a conversation about mental health in a culturally credible way. She also recognizes the intersection of social injustice and mental health concerns. As a listener, I guarantee you will come to understand mental health in a way that you hadn’t before. Kimme is a consultant, speaker and facilitator of programs on mental health, addiction & recovery and wellness & self-care. She has received numerous awards for her nonprofit and volunteer work. Follow Kimme on Facebook @KimmeCarlos, on IG @KimmeCarlos and visit her websit

We treat our ‘smart’ devices in many ways as a retreat from the world around us. But what happens when we spend more time distracted in our escape than we do our reality? In episode 89, I share five key areas of our lives affected when we are distracted by our smart devices. What has been your experiences? I look forward to your feedback and observations. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

There is no joy without gratitude! This episode was recorded while I watched the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean. In moments like these gratitude can come easy. But are we grateful even in life’s mundane or even challenging moments? This episode is a reminder to us all to be grateful in all of the moments. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Mother is the first teacher, doctor, nurse…mother in many ways is a child’s first god. That is why the saying goes, “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.” I read an article recently in which a woman discussed having hired a wife which resulted in her legal career flourishing. By her own admission, she could not be a great attorney and a great mother at the same time. So she enlisted a part time caregiver for her children wherein she was no longer boggled down with the minutia of motherhood. School pickups, extra curricular activities, dinner, clothes shopping-she was free from these and other “time sapping chores” (her words not mine) because she had a proxy in her place to perform these tasks. This episode is not an attack on the article’s author but it is a defense of motherhood and the need children have of mothers. Society has declined so much that we terribly devalue both. However, motherhood is a not a trivial responsibility that we can hire out without there being collateral imp

Many corners of America are reluctantly acknowledging the 400 year anniversary in which the first slaves were brought to the New World colonies in 1619. But very few historians will concede that the actual import of the first slaves to North America by Sir John Hawkins occurred in 1555. This episode explores the true history and why the 64 Hidden Years were ever concealed from conventional knowledge. Revisionist historians have whitewashed American slavery as an unfortunate moral misstep in American history when it was something far greater with further reaching consequences than we can begin to imagine. You can read more on this subject by clicking this link: http://nurahmuhammad.com/blog/1619-and-the-64-hidden-years If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on

There is a destructive trend in our community that prevents us from celebrating the good that comes to our brothers and sisters. Think about it! Have you ever payed to attention to the ways in which we diminish the shine coming to those among us who are successful? “He always gets lucky but that so and so ain’t...” “She sold out, that’s how she got in office.” You’ve witnessed this hardship that we heap on our peers who 'make it.' Our efforts to explain away their success is a weak attempt to negate their achievements despite their sacrifice, effort, study and expertise. Jealousy and self hatred are bitter diseases that we must get under control lest they eat away at the fabric of our families, communities and our own personal well being. What has been your experience? Have you been on the receiving end of this treatment or have you in fact been the one laden with feelings of jealousy yourself? How did you handle it? If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listen