Siona here and I just wanna say, I've missed you all. As some of you may know, I took a bit of a break but I'm so happy to be back! So for old and new listeners alike, welcome to OwnYourStories: a bi-monthly podcast about the intersection of the political and the personal, and this season is all about understanding home. For the next few weeks, we're going to be exploring stories of migration, diaspora, and movement. To kick things off, this week I'm speaking to Saadia Khan about what home and ideas of diaspora mean to her. Saadia is the host and founder of "Immigrantly." A weekly, independent podcast that aims to deconstruct stereotypical narratives of immigrants, their second-generation kids, people of color, and change-makers with cross-cultural, nuanced conversations. You can find Immigrantly on all podcast platforms and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/immigrantlypod/ While you're at it, make sure to follow OwnYourStories on Instagram too: https://www.instagram.com/ownyourstories/ Plus, hit me up on Twitter! https://twitter.com/sionapeterous

It's Siona here and some of you may have noticed that OwnYourStories has been on an unofficial hiatus and the reason is, well, mental health. For the past few months, I've noticed that my depression and all the other things that come with it have changed significantly. The practices I had in place to cope with it weren't working anymore. So I decided to talk about it with Michael and with some other people about how their relationship with Depression has changed over the years. I appreciate the time you take to listen to this episode Tell a friend to tell a friend. OwnYourStories on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google podcasts.

In our last episode, we got into all the nitty-gritty of what intentional housing is and what it looks like in America. In our newest episode, we're talking to someone who has actually spent the better part of a decade actively choosing, again and again, to live in intentional communities. Chynna McFadden's story starts in Tampa and currently, it ends in D.C. It's a hell of a story! LINK IN BIO.

You may be familiar with words like "cohousing" or even more loaded terms like "communes." But many folks living in those setups call them intentional communities and we wanted to know all about it. And if you scroll on social media enough, It seems like a lot of people are interested in this idea too — people are sick of not knowing their neighbors, their neighborhoods, and even their own roommates In this episode we speak to Crystal Byrd Farmer, Board Member for the Foundation for Intentional Community and the author of "The Token: Common Sense Ideas for Increasing Diversity in Your Organization" She breaks down what exactly are intentional communities are, explains the politics of the spaces, shares how she is helping others combat the overwhelming whiteness of these communities and tells us what her ideal intentional community would look like. FIC:(https://www.ic.org/) Crystal's book: (https://newsociety.com/products/9780865719514?aff=28

What's up fam, we're back for our second season! A few weeks ago we asked folks to send us voice memos about what home meant to them. Why do you ask? Because the theme of our second season is home. We hope to interrogate our conventions around the home and explore how something so personal is also so incredibly political. We'll update the feed every other week with topics about home. Thanks for listening and remember, tell a friend to tell a friend.

Our final episode of season one and of 2020 is up in this episode, we sit back and reminisce on the past year and give you a glimpse of what's to come with #OwnYourStories 👀 Thank you for talking with us, listening to us and growing with us. See you in 2021!⁠

In the last episode of OwnYourStories, MIchael talked to people about what self-care looks like for them. This week Siona talked to Martha Tesema (@martesema) from The Shine (@TheShineApp)about what has informed her current self-care practice. Martha shares some self-care strategies tells us how she started working in wellness and why it's the source of survival and necessity for Black people.

A conversation with Anah and Lauren about the work being done by the Richmond Indigenous Society and a reminder of why Indigenous communities have historically been the best stewards of the land.

One thing we learned in recent years is that finding the joy and finding the humor in things when everything else is chaotic is a powerful muscle. That's what Siona and Michael talked about the day after the election while the results were still being counted. There is so much work to do nd we, like others, plan to stay just as committed to pushing for change in our communities ond in our lanes. But it doesn't mean we can't enjoy sh*t in the meantime.

The election is on Tuesday and progressive voices across the country told us what they are feeling. You should listen.