EP037: Celia Ward-Wallace on raising activists, upstanders (not bystanders), and building community in her neighbourhood and around the world

Meet Celia Ward-Wallace. She’s an activist, a community building and organiser, a powerhouse entrepreneur, a gatherer of beautiful souls and a mama to two wonderful black girls growing up in South Central Los Angeles.

Along with her husband, Celia is raising two upstanding citizens who are already making a difference in our world. In this week’s conversation, Celia and I touch on racial discrimination, what it’s like to be growing up black in today’s America, activism and the role it played both in her upbringing and how it continues to impact her life now, spirituality, white privilege and how to educate ourselves about it, what it means to live and leave a legacy, the impact of bringing a spiritual foundation into her life, and so much more.

I could spend ages writing about this conversation but honestly: LISTEN. Then SHARE. We need to be having these (sometimes uncomfortable) conversations. 

Celia shared a number of resources during our conversation. Here’s where you can find what we talked about:

To find out more about (and hang out with me in) Celia’s fantastic new group Women Empowering Women click here.

If you’d like to be in Celia’s world, follow her on Instagram @celia.ward.wallace or email her at [email protected]. You can also find her on Facebook.

Here Celia’s list of books to start with if you’d like to educate yourself about white privilege: 
1. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison
2. The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander
3. Women, Race & Class – Angela Davis
4. The People’s History of the United States – Howard Zinnia’s
5. White Fragility – Robin Diangelo
6. White Like Me – Tim Wise
7. Uprooting Racism – Paul Kivel

I mentioned a few gems as well:
* To listen to the amazing J.S. Ondara’s incredible voice, visit https://www.jsondara.com/
* Want to see the comic about emotional load, called “You should’ve asked”? Click here, then come into the Virtual Village to tell us what you think and how YOU live the load sharing in your relationship.

When you’re finished listening, be sure to head to the MamaFuel Virtual Village to join the conversation about this and other podcast episodes. It’s a totally free group and we’re waiting there to have you join us. 

And finally, if you’d like to join the MamaFuel Sisterhood, drop me a line at [email protected] and let’s talk. It’s the only way to step into the circle at the moment, and I can’t wait to talk to you about it. 

You can watch the video of our call here.