Hey, girl, hey

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Happy Wednesday, sis.

This week’s Hawt Reads are faith and tenderness in the same spoon. There are a few pieces about the loads we were told to carry in God’s name, and the rest, softness, and sisterhood waiting on the other side of setting them down.

Plus a theologian worth knowing and something on the calendar for our Charlotte folks.

(If it stirs something in you — I went all the way in on this over the weekend, in When Oppression Becomes Sacred. Come sit with the full pot on Sunday.)

Let me pour you a bowl.

The HAWT List

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Rest feels risky — and now we know why. Rest feels like something we have to earn because we were taught a good woman gives until she’s depleted. This article hands you permission to loosen that grip.

Pleasure and ease as birthright, not reward.

​Read "The Cost of the Soft Life: Why Rest Feels Risky for Black Women"​

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A reset that matches the season. The air’s changing, the calendar’s filling, and this is your invitation to return to yourself instead of sprinting.

Let's get ready for calm mornings, feel-good movement, protecting your peace, and let it go, let it in.

Features therapist Nedra Glover Tawwab.

​Read Your Guide to a Fall Reset Black Health Matters​

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You don’t have to save everybody alone. A faith-rooted collective saying out loud that rest, refusal, and a shared future are things we build together.

The sisterhood half of systems talk and sisterhood.

​Read The Break Is Over: Black Women and the Fight for Our Futures​

PUT HER ON YOUR RADAR

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Candice Marie Benbow — theologian & author of Red Lip Theology
A theologian, essayist, and baker who insists Black women’s faith can hold lipstick, pleasure, doubt, and joy without an ounce of shame.

She’s been answering this week’s question in red lipstick for years.

​Get to Know Candice​

From the Soul LAB

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Soul Notes for the Journey — printable reminders, blessings, and soft truths for softness, faith, and sisterhood. Tape one to your mirror, tuck one in your journal, or slip one into a sister’s hand. After a whole issue about laying down what we were told was holy, these are language for the gentleness we get to keep.

Start with the free Soul Notes Starter Pack.

GET YOUR FREE SOUL NOTES

GET Curious

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Name one thing you were taught was sacred that you've never actually questioned.

Who benefits when you don't ask, and what might open up in you if you did?

In love + light ... Bea