Interview: Queen D Michele - Surviving The Passage

Queen D tells a story of ancestral bravery, strength, and determination well as unflagging belief in a better life, in this episode. It's a tiny peek into the story of her family and their survival. But the real miracle comes later, with Queen D, as she seeks to connect with the tribe her ancestors were abducted from, on the West Coast of Africa.

Transcript

Greetings,

Friends.

It's time for a Midweek Miracle episode,

And my guest,

Queen D.

Michelle.

And she's actually a queen.

I mean,

Talking to her,

I just thought,

Preach,

Preach.

She is on fire in this episode,

And she is here to tell us and remind us that life is beautiful,

That all will be well,

And that she's a New Earth representative.

And I actually looked that up because I didn't really know what that was.

So online,

It says that the New Earth is a transformative vision for humanity and our planet,

Rooted in a deep shift in consciousness,

Governance,

And societal values.

It is a world where all beings,

Humans,

Animals,

Plants,

And Mother Earth herself,

Thrive in harmony and abundance.

At its core,

The New Earth is about creating paradise on Earth.

And you know what?

When I read that,

I was like,

I'm behind this.

I am behind this.

Yes,

Sign me up.

How can I participate?

So when she told me this,

And I figured out exactly what it was,

I just thought,

My gosh,

What better person to appear as a guest on the Bite Size Blessings podcast.

Now,

I'm gonna let Queen D tell you all about her career and who she is,

But her miracle this week absolutely gobsmacked me.

It was so powerful,

And her story just such an essential listen.

And I thought,

No guest yet has come onto this podcast and talked about this being their miracle.

It will open your eyes.

It will remind you that our ancestors and those who came before us were very powerful and got through and survived through some things that I think we can't even imagine.

And because of that,

We now have Queen D.

Michelle.

And so that's it.

I'm gonna let her take it away.

So here's the very next episode of the podcast.

It was gonna be the third Saturday of every month for eight months,

Right?

And people had signed up,

And it was gonna be fantastic.

And then I got the call.

And the call was my mom and pop were in dire straits.

They had both left the house via ambulance within a week of each other.

If you were at a conference,

You had to go on stage and introduce yourself.

You were at a party,

And a group of people said,

Who are you?

How would you self-describe?

Oh,

Wow.

I like that.

Well,

I would say,

Hello,

Everyone.

I'm so glad that you're here,

And I'm so glad to be here.

My name is Queen D.

Michelle.

I am a light worker,

A way shower,

A frequency code holder,

And a New Earth representative.

I'm also a retired elementary and middle school teacher,

A blogger,

And a creator.

Oh,

My gosh.

So those are the roles that I hold,

That I carry,

That I embody,

If you will.

Yeah.

I wanna ask you,

Did you love teaching?

Did I love teaching?

I taught for 27 years,

And I taught across the country,

Actually.

Certified in Michigan,

Taught in Detroit,

Certified in Nevada,

Taught 11 years in Las Vegas,

Certified in Atlanta,

Georgia,

And taught in Atlanta for a couple of years before,

Yes,

I did finally retire.

Not only did I teach,

There was a,

Out of those 27 years,

There was a time,

About four years,

That I was an administrator,

An assistant principal for three years,

And then a principal with a startup charter academy for a year.

I have worked in the realm of private,

Public,

Charter,

And magnet schools,

Again,

Across the country.

So did I love teaching?

You better believe it.

Yes,

I did.

Yes,

I did.

I love that.

Can I ask you,

So I'm just going to share with you one of my favorite memories from being in grade school in Illinois.

So every year they would,

And this is so long ago,

So long ago,

So they would teach us square dancing,

So we had square dance nights,

But my favorite was once a year they would have a fun fair,

And each classroom had a different thing.

So one classroom was a dance where they had disco and stuff.

Another one was bobbing for apples and other things.

Another one was a cake walk where you'd walk,

And if your number was called,

You got a cake.

So my favorite memory is the fun fair.

Do you have any favorite memories from being a teacher?

You know,

It would be the extracurricular,

And it's funny that you would mention that because that was mine,

Especially in elementary.

I dabbled in teaching step.

You know,

It's a coordinated step that we would do to different songs,

And I remember one time,

And I love this,

I coordinated,

It was Mother's Day.

It was around the Mother's Day,

And we gave a,

I guess a concert of some sort,

But I had all boys in this,

And they performed to the song by the Intruders,

I'll Always Love My Mama,

You know,

And they lip synced it,

But at the end,

They went out and gave their moms roses,

You know,

And I just,

I think about that and think about how I coordinated different steps and dances,

And one of my extracurricular was drama,

You know,

Teaching drama,

Not that,

So with the content,

Of course I love teaching,

But it was those extracurricular things that those after school programs that I enjoy doing too,

You know,

Out of the classroom and having fun teaching step or drama.

Yeah.

Oh my God,

I love you.

I have to say,

I have to say that I'm really getting the sense that you have an adventurous spirit,

That you kind of meet life boldly,

And so,

I mean,

And just partially by virtue of the fact that you moved around and worked in all these different states and all these different schools,

But also,

You know,

I know something the audience doesn't know,

Which is that you live in Mexico now,

So I'd love to hear how that came about.

Okay.

Oh,

Wow.

How did I?

Well,

I tell you what,

When I retire,

I retired in 2015,

And like I said,

27 years,

And I,

You know,

I wanted to do 30,

You know,

30 and out,

But I don't know those last three years and by the time 2015 rolled around,

Seemed like an eternity.

So I went ahead and I retired,

And that first year,

After I got my first pension check from retiring,

I looked at it,

I said,

Oh,

Wow,

Okay,

I'm going to have to supplement this,

Which was cool,

You know,

So I started doing all kind of really cool stuff,

Man.

I was an Uber driver,

Lyft driver.

I did Postmates.

I did some online curriculum design.

One of my favorite jobs was,

I was a shuttle driver,

For a transportation company,

That serviced the railroad.

So I was taking conductors and engineers,

To and from their train.

That was pretty cool,

You know,

And so I was really,

You know,

Enjoying all this for about a year,

And then all of a sudden I said,

Hey,

Wait a minute,

I'm going to always have to do this.

I'm going to always have to work,

In order to supplement my pension,

And I didn't want to be,

70 years old saying,

Welcome to Walmart,

You know,

Didn't want to be a Walmart greeter.

I didn't want to be,

The ones who I know good and well,

Were already retired,

But they're back in retail,

And restaurants,

And airports,

And Walmart greeters,

And sweetheart,

They are not working,

Because they want to.

They're working because they have to.

It would never be enough,

And I just didn't want to work,

Until I couldn't work anymore,

And then live substandardly,

Because I wasn't working,

And here's the thing,

I could have continued,

You know,

Doing the hustle,

The side jobs,

Supplementing,

You know,

My pension,

But here's the thing,

I would only be working,

To pay bills.

You see,

There would be no weekend getaways,

There would be no fine dining,

There would be no concerts,

There wouldn't be,

I would work,

And pay bills,

Work,

And pay bills,

And I tell you,

The universe is perfect,

Because as I struggled with this,

From within,

I came across an article entitled,

An article in a magazine called,

International Living,

And the article was,

The top 10 places to retire,

You know,

So I read this article,

And at the time,

The places were Panama,

Costa Rica,

Mexico,

Ecuador,

Nicaragua,

Thailand,

That's all I can think of right now,

Columbia,

That was one,

And you know,

I started reading,

And getting to an understanding,

Of how the money that I already had,

That I already earned,

I could live on comfortably,

In another country,

You know,

And that,

I wasn't afraid of that,

Matter of fact,

It intrigued me,

Wow,

I wouldn't have to work,

And I could live,

On my measly pension,

And in another country,

Now,

Mexico,

I chose,

Because it checked all the boxes,

Mexico has 32 states,

And I moved to the state,

Of Jalisco,

Spelled with a J,

Pronounced with an H,

You know,

The whole Spanish thing,

And Jalisco,

Houses,

The largest,

Freshwater lake,

In the country,

Of Mexico,

It's called Lake Chapala,

Now surrounding that lake,

Are little towns and villages,

And on the north shore,

Of that lake,

Is the largest,

Expat community,

In the country of Mexico,

Expat being expatriate,

You know,

I had to learn that,

That expatriate,

Is what they call people,

Who are citizens of one country,

But reside in another,

So they call them expats,

You know,

For short,

But it's expatriates,

But that north shore,

Has the largest,

Expat community,

In the country of Mexico,

It also,

Checked the box,

Of location,

Cause from where I was,

In Atlanta,

It was just a,

Three and a half hour,

Nonstop plane ride,

Into Guadalajara,

Which is the capital,

Of Jalisco,

And then just a 30 minute,

Drive into town,

So that was the second box,

That was checked,

And then the third,

Was climate,

Lake Chapala,

Was voted by National Geographic,

To be the second best climate,

In the world,

Now,

It's voted that because,

The Lake Chapala area,

Is eternally spring,

Now see,

There's a wet spring,

And a dry spring,

But it's spring nonetheless,

So those three boxes,

Checked,

For me,

And I chose,

The Lake Chapala area,

In Jalisco,

Mexico,

So that's how I wound up,

In Mexico,

Leaving the United States,

As a,

I am,

I hold a,

Permanent day,

Resident day,

Visa,

So I'm a permanent,

You know resident there,

And in Mexico,

That is amazing,

I just want to,

Ask you,

I mean,

Did you move,

All your stuff to Mexico,

Or what did that look like,

Was it,

Was it like a truck,

Was it,

Did you rent,

You know what that's,

That is funny,

And it's funny,

That I'm going to skip ahead,

Real quick,

To tell you something,

And then I'm going to come,

A double back,

And tell you about my stuff,

Being there,

Four months after moving,

To Mexico,

I ran across,

Jerry Brown,

Jerry Brown hosts,

A YouTube channel called,

Jerry Brown Travels,

And it's all about,

Lake Chapala,

And Ajiji,

Because that's where he lives,

With his lovely wife Laurie,

And I devoured,

His videos,

As I researched and planned,

For about a year before I moved,

So I think I'm in a cell phone,

Place or something,

And I see him walk past,

And I excuse myself,

And I ran outside,

I said hey,

I know you,

You know,

And Jerry and I,

We started talking,

Laughing,

Talking,

And he asked me,

To be on his,

On his YouTube channel,

I said absolutely,

He asked me if I could,

If he could interview me,

I said absolutely,

Now mind you,

I was the first black woman,

That Jerry had ever had,

On his very popular show,

And I tell you,

After that,

That particular video,

Blew his channel up,

Quite a bit,

Questions started coming in,

You know from all over,

From women,

You know just asking,

Just that one question,

That you asked,

That I'm about to answer,

So back to that question,

About how did I get my stuff there,

I also as part of my research,

I started connecting,

With Facebook groups,

And anything dealing,

With Lake Chapala,

You know and,

And I was just following threads,

And then when a question was asked,

That was something,

That I would want to know,

I would dig a little deeper,

Into that,

And I started meeting people,

You know because I was,

I was going to move there,

I tell you,

I had already secured,

My apartment sight unseen,

I mean no boots on the ground,

For me,

I saw videos,

And what have you,

But the apartment,

That I secured,

My one bed,

One bathroom condo,

With a swimming pool,

And the laundry room,

And a mirror door,

And a fireplace,

Which was $500 a month,

I secured before I even got there,

But and this is all because of,

You know just Facebook,

I'm on Facebook,

I'm looking at the type of apartments,

I'm you know,

And I'm starting to meet people,

What have you,

You know I had a couple of friends,

So my stuff,

Yes,

I have packed up all of my stuff,

I have a chapter on downsizing,

You know in that,

You know in the book as well,

And had packed up what I was taking,

You know just based on,

How I live,

Move and have my beingness,

And the night before,

I was getting ready to leave,

I had eight,

Pieces of luggage,

Eight pieces of luggage,

You know I had some,

Some two,

As a matter of fact,

There's a picture of that luggage,

In the book,

At the end,

There's a picture of the luggage,

In considerations of the soul,

But anyway,

I had eight pieces of luggage,

And I said on Facebook,

Hey guys in 24 hours,

You know I'm going to be on my way,

Me and my eight pieces of luggage,

You know,

And then I got a message,

From one of the ladies that,

You know had been following my,

Get moved there,

And she was already in Lake Chapala,

And she said,

Hey queen listen,

I used to be a,

A flight attendant,

For Delta,

And I do know that there are times,

Where they place an embargo,

On how many pieces I see,

You said you had eight pieces,

Where I see where,

They place an embargo,

On how many pieces of luggage,

You can bring,

You might want to check that out,

And I said embargo,

What,

So hey going on what she said,

I went ahead,

And I did look that up,

And lo and behold,

The day that I was leaving,

Which was December 1st,

2017,

The embargo started,

And it would last,

Until January 15th,

Where you can only bring in,

Two pieces of luggage,

Okay,

I had eight,

Now had I not put that on Facebook,

And had she not,

Said to me,

I would have went to the airport,

At five o'clock in the morning,

With my eight pieces of luggage,

And would have been denied,

Which would have just,

Devastated me completely,

I tell you the stars,

Will really align,

In that respect,

Now here's,

Here's how the stars align for me,

This is also in the book,

My next door neighbors,

When I lived in Atlanta,

Were Mexican,

I lived in a beautiful,

I rented a beautiful home,

And I remember the day I pulled up,

They came out,

And they said we help,

We help,

And I was like oh well thank you,

You know,

So they helped me moved in,

It was a big family,

Three daughters,

Husbands,

Children,

A mom and a pop,

And I lived alone,

And they kind of adopted me,

So for four years,

The four years that I lived in Atlanta,

I got to know this family,

Every time they went to Mexico,

And they would go every summer,

You know and spend months,

They would bring me something back,

A bottle of tequila,

A sombrero,

A rosary,

They would always bring me something back,

And I thought how cool,

You know,

I was always invited to,

The family gatherings,

Which were many,

I tutored some of the children,

You know,

And adults,

You know,

I helped with certain paperwork,

I mean we were family,

Right,

And when I decided to move to Mexico,

You know,

I told them,

I said hey guys,

You know what,

I'm getting ready to move to Mexico,

They say really,

Where?

I said I'm going to move to Jalisco,

To Lake Chapala,

They say Lake Chapala,

And they went to speaking and everything,

My neighbors lived on the south side of the lake,

Remember I said the north side,

Was the largest expat community,

They lived on the south side,

I never bothered to ask them,

You know,

Where they lived,

I never bothered to ask them,

You know,

When they would go every summer,

And so I had to put that in to say,

After finding out this devastating news,

I went across next door to my neighbors,

And I'm like oh my God,

You know,

I can't take all my luggage,

And it's an embargo,

And I didn't know,

Mama,

This story is in the book as well,

Mama got on the phone,

The next thing I know,

They had a cousin who would be leaving,

Driving to Lake Chapala,

Within the next two days,

In a trailer,

And he just so happened to have enough room,

To bring my things,

So when I left the next morning,

I had two suitcases,

And it was either eight or 11 days,

I can't remember later,

I walked up to the Walmart,

Where they met me,

And I got the rest of my things,

That story is phenomenal,

And I spent,

When mama turned 50,

I spent a night across the lake,

At their place that they were always going to,

Those years that,

I tell you,

Talk about the stars aligning,

But that's how I got my things there,

Now I'm going to have to throw this in,

Because I am back in Mexico,

I'm not in Lake Chapala,

I am in Chiapas,

And I had kind of mentioned to you,

Before we started this,

That I have just come out of,

The most hellish nightmare,

I'm writing about it now,

It's going to be on Substack,

Really soon,

And across every platform,

That I can put it on,

To tell this story,

But when I decided to move back to Mexico,

And to a different place,

I decided to ship,

My things ahead of me,

Seven packages,

Not eight this time,

Seven packages ahead of me,

Because I have a dog now,

That I adopted when I was in Lake Chapala,

His name is Quincy,

Adopted him around the pandemic,

And so he is Mexican,

And I was like,

Hey you're going back home,

And you're going back to your country,

And so since I had him,

I didn't want those seven packages,

And my dog,

That would have been too much,

So I was going to ship them,

And I got a job,

Just so I can pay for each,

Every week when I got paid,

That went to a package,

Because it wasn't like it was inexpensive,

But it was FedEx,

And just to make a long story short,

Again I had already had my apartment,

You know,

Secured,

And my landlord was going to pick up my packages,

From the FedEx in town,

And place them in my apartment,

So they would be here when I got here,

Well four of them,

Were out of the seven,

Four of those packages,

Were in my apartment when I got here,

But the other three,

Stayed in Mexico,

Stayed over,

Couple of states over,

For close to two months,

Never getting through customs,

The FedEx agents on the Mexican side,

Like I said,

It was a horrific story,

They wind up sending my three packages back,

To the United States,

At my expense,

Three packages went back,

I am just getting back,

I got back on Tuesday,

Today is Thursday,

I just got back on Tuesday,

From going back to the United States,

Repacking,

Reorganizing,

Retrieving those three packages,

And bringing them back,

So that story is,

So I tell you,

This time it was not such a soft landing,

As it was the first time,

So those are two different experiences,

About how I got my things,

Here to Mexico.

Wow.

Wow.

Yeah,

I know right.

Wow.

I mean believe me,

Everywhere I turn,

It seems lately,

Or even on the phone,

I talk to good friends,

And they're like,

I think I'm going to leave the US,

Because things are just getting,

Less than ideal for a lot of people.

You know when I understand that,

My reason for leaving,

Was like I said,

Not,

I just did not want to work,

Until I couldn't work anymore,

Because the system is set up,

For it to happen,

In that way.

I have a quote,

From a book I wrote,

And it says,

The matrix cares not,

About the quality of your life,

And your purpose here,

It only cares,

For the quantity,

And how much you can give over,

To the system,

You owe no one,

Or no thing,

Your life.

My God amazing,

My God,

I think more of us need to hear that,

I actually just interviewed a woman,

Who was in the World Trade Center,

When the first bomb attack happened,

In 1993,

When that bomb went off in the basement,

And she said what was really fascinating,

Is you know,

Here they all are at their computers,

Smoke is pouring by the windows,

And pretty soon everybody hears,

That a terrorist attack happened,

But she was like,

Everybody stay at their desks,

They didn't care,

It was the culture was,

If you leave your desk you're fired,

You're gone,

You lose everything.

How about that?

Yeah and so,

Wow,

Even in the midst of,

Yeah initial,

And she said,

You know she was on maternity leave,

On 9-11,

And wasn't,

At the tower,

But she should have been,

She should have been in one of those towers,

And she said you know why people didn't leave,

Because they were told it was okay,

And they had to stay at their desks,

That's the end of the story,

Like you never leave your desk,

You never leave your work,

So we talked about just,

I don't know,

But the way you put it is so powerful,

Yes,

Like they're interested in extraction,

And taking.

Excellent word,

What an excellent word,

I'm a lover of words,

I'm a writer,

Excellent word,

They are extraction,

Yes dear,

Yes dear one,

I love that word,

Extraction,

Oh yeah,

That resonated very strongly with me,

When you said that,

What a word.

Yeah I know,

I love words too,

I was just telling my therapist the other day,

That one of my favorite parts of school,

When I was in grade school,

Was they would give us a list of 20 vocabulary words every week,

And we had to look them up,

Write them out,

And then memorize them,

And I told her that my favorite word,

Because it was so,

When I was a kid I was like,

This word is bonkers,

Was pusillanimous,

Which means cowardly,

And I thought,

Why wouldn't you just say cowardly,

It must be an old word,

But do you have a favorite word,

I'm so curious.

Oh my goodness,

I'll have to think on that,

Because I am a lover of words,

That's like saying,

What's your favorite song,

What's your favorite movie,

I would have to think on that,

But I tell you,

That word you just said,

It resonated with me,

Great word,

Great word,

And the way you used it,

The way you used it,

In the context of the way you used it,

I loved it,

Good job,

Yeah,

I wish we lived in a world where that wasn't the case,

But,

I know,

I know,

I want to ask you the second question,

Which is,

Did you grow up in a religious household,

And if so,

How has that evolved,

Or shaped,

And changed over time,

Your connection to spirit,

Or the universe,

Or energy,

Whatever you call it?

Wow,

Great question,

Yes,

I did,

I will say that I was born,

And bred Baptist,

Okay,

Went to Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church,

In the city of Detroit,

Michigan,

My mom went to that church,

For over 50 years,

She had her name on a placard,

You know,

Out in the vestibule,

Over 50 years,

So yes,

From that church,

That's where I was baptized,

That's where I was married,

That's where my children were blessed,

So very deeply rooted,

In the Baptist faith,

I guess in my early 30s,

I just started feeling,

What's the word for that,

Unfit,

It just was not feeding me,

It was just not moving me,

And I told mom,

You know,

I had two kids,

Two young kids at the time,

I said,

I'm going to find another church,

I'm just not,

I'm not growing here,

Mom,

I'm not growing here,

And I did,

And I went to a non-denominational church,

At that point,

You know,

Non-denomination,

And there,

It was one of those mega churches too,

Okay,

One of those,

Non-denominational mega churches,

But boy,

I tell you,

I started digging into scripture,

Like I never did in the Baptist,

You know,

Growing up Baptist,

You know,

I had notebooks upon notebooks,

Upon notebooks,

Taking notes,

Whatever I do,

I do it with everything that I am,

You know,

And that's where I,

You know,

Began speaking in tongues,

And gave up,

You know,

Halloween was wrong,

And you know,

This was wrong,

And you know,

And just,

Just really rooted in that,

And boy,

Those were some great years of just learning,

Just learning the Bible to and from,

You know,

I really delved into it,

And for many years,

Many years,

And before I moved to Mexico,

I was going to a church,

Great church,

Another non-denominational church,

It was a branch of the church I used to attend in non-denominational,

In non-denomination in Detroit,

And this church just so happened to move way out,

You know,

You know,

It would be like an hour's drive from me,

And I just,

I just didn't want to take that drive out every Sunday,

You know,

And,

And I stopped,

At that point,

I kind of just stopped going to church,

You know,

In that,

In that realm,

You know,

I wasn't,

I was still,

You know,

I still had my beliefs,

If you would,

I still had my beliefs,

But I stopped going,

You know,

I just,

Just stopped it,

It was too far,

And I wasn't going,

And that was kind of that,

I had started,

I don't know,

Moving more in a spiritual vein,

In a sense,

But it wasn't until I moved to Mexico,

The first time that I experienced a spiritual awakening,

It happened in Mexico,

That area,

That,

That Lake Chapala area was deemed back in 1929,

It's a story,

And I can't recall this yogi's name,

It's,

It's written in,

In the book,

Considerations,

My book I wrote,

Traveling Home Together,

I talk about the yogi,

That,

Cause I based my,

My spiritual awakening,

Everything was poured in,

Everything that was being poured into me,

Through the spiritual awakening,

I poured into,

Into that book,

But this yogi,

Long name,

He,

He was on the lake,

There's a picture of him on the lake,

Back in 1929,

And he said that this would be a place,

For,

For,

For great,

For mass and a great spiritual awakening,

It also houses a vortex,

The same vortex,

An energetic vortex,

That is in Sedona,

There's one in Lake Chapala as well,

So,

And then the mountains are magical,

The lake is magical,

The vortex is there,

And then you're free,

Now you're not working,

And so now you,

This,

This whole self discovery,

Of course,

My crown chakra blew wide open,

And I had a spiritual,

Awakening,

So now I am a light worker,

I am a way shore,

And I always was,

My journey,

As I know now,

Was always to be,

To come,

To receive,

That,

Because I know,

What my purpose,

Here is,

And it's that through that,

Awakening that you do,

Discover what your purpose is,

And it's,

And it's so wonderful how it aligned,

With what I was already doing,

You know,

All alone,

As it relates to teaching,

I was gonna,

That's,

That's my whole,

You know,

Answer to your question about,

Did I grow up in a religious house?

Yes.

You're like,

Let me tell you.

Yeah,

Man.

I wanna ask you,

I'm so intrigued,

Oregon has a vortex as well,

Down in southern Oregon.

Yeah,

And I had a chance to go to it,

I presume you visited the one,

Where you live.

Oh my goodness,

In Mexico,

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Like that,

That was part of,

My spiritual awakening,

Was visiting that vortex,

Was participating in,

Sacred medicine.

It was all,

It was the meditation,

It was the yoga,

It was this,

All of that was part of,

I mean,

That vortex was,

Was a part of the spiritual awakening.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yes.

I'm so curious if you,

What was your first initial experience,

You know,

Getting close to the vortex?

Cause I had a strange experience,

When I was at the Oregon vortex,

That I couldn't explain,

And it was kind of dismaying or what have you.

So I'm just curious,

How you felt.

Well,

My,

My experience,

I went with,

Someone who was experienced,

And,

With it,

You know,

We were to wear all white,

When we walked,

Into the vortex,

Of course we were barefoot.

We walked back out,

Backwards,

And,

We were told to bring something,

With us.

Actually,

I remember buying a crystal there.

I bought,

Amethyst.

So I bought it there,

But to,

To take something,

Into,

The vortex with you.

And what I took,

With me,

Into the vortex,

Was a pin,

Was a pin,

You know,

And,

And,

And have something that you wanted to,

Speak into it,

You know,

To receive.

And when I,

Spoke into,

It,

Of course,

There's this reverberation,

Of your voice,

That,

You know,

No one can explain how it,

Vibrates right there,

Because of the energetic,

Vortex of it all.

But I,

I took in,

The crystal,

That I bought from the shop,

Before,

You know,

We went in,

I bought that.

I took that in,

And I took a pin,

And I spoke my name,

Into it,

And just had a quiet thought,

As to,

As to,

Being open to,

I'm open to receive,

You know,

And I believe,

And it wasn't,

Too far after that,

That I actually wrote,

And I,

And I wrote,

Traveling home together,

You know,

Having that,

It was,

It was somewhere around,

In that moment,

That,

I,

Became purposeful with my writing.

I guess that,

That,

That was my experience,

Visiting the,

The vortex,

Is that I became,

Purposeful with my writing,

And I think it's because,

I took that pin in,

You know,

And,

And,

Maybe that may have had something,

Did have something to do with it,

I'm sure of it.

Yeah,

I just think vortexes,

Are so interesting,

And a lot of people,

You know,

They might dispute,

And say,

Oh,

Those don't exist,

But,

You know,

I,

I tell people,

Well,

I think they're the belly buttons,

Of the earth,

Yeah,

They're the belly buttons,

Of the earth,

They're like,

Open,

Open,

Things can go in,

And if you go,

Yeah,

You go in,

Open,

Just,

Just to receive,

And you're not,

You may not get that download instantly,

I didn't,

But now as,

You know,

As I continue to write and things,

I,

I thought,

I traced it back to that,

You know,

I,

I made that,

I connected the dots,

Afterward,

But nothing,

Nothing really,

But I did,

I was able to connect the dots,

Afterwards,

And it was a time afterwards,

Oh,

You know,

That kind of thing,

Yeah,

Absolutely,

Okay,

Definitely,

My friend,

As I told you,

Bethany is like,

Come on down,

Come on down,

Come on down,

And you just made it,

Even more attractive,

With the,

Revealing,

That there is a vortex there,

So now I'm really,

Yes,

Think about it,

She's,

She,

Runs this building,

Where she does retreats,

And artists come down,

For,

They can come down for a week,

Or two weeks,

Or a month,

Or whatever,

And of course,

It's very,

I've heard of that,

I'm telling you,

I'm,

You make sure,

You mentioned to Bethany,

That,

You spoke to D.

Michelle,

And I'm,

I'm sure,

That our paths,

Have crossed,

In,

In some way,

Shape,

Or form,

Or because,

When I left,

I mean,

I left a,

I left a legacy there,

I have,

It was a wonderful time,

Lake Chapala,

For me,

It,

It,

It was,

It was,

It was a game changer,

It was the game changer,

You know,

For me,

For the rest of my life,

You know,

I was a baby,

When I,

I was just 55,

No,

Actually,

I was 54,

When I moved,

Because I retired at 52,

I was 54,

When I moved,

When I moved to,

Lake Chapala,

In two months,

After moving there,

I had a,

I had a birthday party,

On the rooftop,

Of El Barco,

With 30 of my closest friends,

I was there two months,

I'm saying,

The whole experience,

Was,

Amazing,

Amazing,

And I really want,

If you could,

Definitely get,

Considerations,

A guide,

For moving abroad,

You'll,

You'll find those chapters,

Enlightening,

You know,

And,

And,

The story of how,

All that came to be for me,

You know,

And how the stars aligned,

It will be inspiring,

If nothing else for you,

I'm sure of it.

Okay,

It's a deal,

It's a deal,

Well,

I'd love to ask you,

The main question of the podcast,

Which is,

I would so appreciate,

If you would share,

You know,

One story,

Two stories,

However many you feel called to,

About something,

Magical,

Mysterious,

Or even miraculous,

That's happened in your life.

Hmm.

Okay.

Well,

My parent,

My,

My mom,

And,

And,

And stepdad,

I,

I went back to the States in 2021,

To care for them.

I,

I got a phone call.

I was just about to start,

Not so much a retreat,

Like,

Like Bethany has,

Given a presentation and people had signed up.

I was getting ready to do an eight month workshop.

And it was going to be every Saturday from,

From 10 to three.

And I had called in a meditation guru in a,

In a,

In a movement guru and,

Uh,

An art guru.

And we were going to worship.

The workshop was going to be called,

Uh,

Your soul's journey or my soul's journey.

Okay.

And I gave a presentation.

It was going to be in this lovely,

Um,

Um,

Establishment who gave me car block to go ahead and hold the classes.

There was going to be the third Saturday,

Um,

Of every month for eight months.

Right.

And,

People had signed up and it was going to be fantastic.

And then I got the call and,

The call was my mom and pop were in dire straits.

They had both left the house via ambulance within a week of each other.

When I,

When I got back to Detroit,

They were both in the rehab hospital.

He was on one end of the hallway 99 with dementia and mom,

86 with her own set of,

Now I have two older brothers and,

And,

And dumb and dumber.

And I was under the impression that everything was taken care of.

You know,

We got the,

We,

You know,

Everything is taken care of.

And I thought that I was going to kind of just roll my sleeves up and,

And get in where I fit in,

You know,

To,

You know,

To,

Uh,

Uh,

Help mom and pop out.

But when I got there,

Little did I know with Quincy,

Thank goodness.

I took Quincy with me.

Cause I was going to be gone a couple of days.

I even told,

Uh,

Everybody,

Um,

Hey guys,

I'm getting ready to go check on my mom and pop.

It's a lot going on.

You know,

I'll be gone a couple of months,

You know,

Let me get there and check on my,

On my peeps.

Little did I know that I would be paying rent in that,

Uh,

Condo for the next 10 months.

Uh,

While I was,

Uh,

In Detroit,

Because I got there and here's the thing.

When they left rehab,

There was no one to take care of them.

There was no one to take care of them.

And so thank God for my son.

He came down from Atlanta and we got the house ready to receive them,

You know,

You know,

In,

In a nursing home type situation.

And like I said,

I became their,

Their full-time caregiver.

They both passed away in 2022,

Um,

Within 10 months of each other.

And in 2023 for my birthday,

I had already planned.

I had already planned this,

Uh,

That I was going to go to Africa,

But it was a very intentional trip.

Um,

If you take that DNA test,

It will tell you you're a little bit of this.

You're a little bit of that.

Your region is over there.

But,

Uh,

Over 20 years ago,

A group of black scientists got together and they created the largest database of black blood in the world.

It's called African ancestry.

If you take that DNA test,

Not only will it tell you what country out of the 54 sovereign countries on the continent,

Will it tell you what country your bloodline originated in?

It'll tell you your tribe.

Now,

Be it maternal or be it paternal,

It will tell you your country and your tribe of your original bloodline.

So I took the DNA test and I discovered on my maternal side,

I took it on my maternal side.

I took the DNA test and discovered that I am Fula from the Fula tribe of Guinea-Bissau,

West Africa,

Guinea-Bissau,

West Africa.

I am Fula from Guinea-Bissau,

West Africa.

So my trip to Africa was quite intentional because I wanted to go to Guinea-Bissau.

I could have went to Ghana.

You know,

I could have went to Nigeria.

I could have went to anywhere and said,

Hey,

I've been to Africa.

But how,

How miraculous and how intentional to go to the place.

Because what that means,

What that means for me,

Taking it on my maternal side,

Is that my mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's mother's mother,

Dating anywhere between 200 and 250 years,

Survived the passage.

You understand?

She didn't die on the ship.

She didn't jump off the ship.

She wasn't killed on the ship.

She survived the passage.

Now,

When she got here,

She got mixed with a whole lot of other,

You know,

Other,

You know,

But the original bloodline was that of Fula from Guinea-Bissau,

West Africa.

So I took a trip,

Of course,

To Guinea-Bissau,

West Africa.

Do you know that there are several countries out of those 54?

There are several countries who are participating in something called repatriation and what can show through DNA testing that your bloodline originated in that country.

You can apply for citizenship.

And I did.

I applied for citizenship in Guinea-Bissau,

West Africa and was granted.

Now that took place two years after I,

The granting of it took place two years after I got back.

But,

And I'm still paying on the loan that I took out to go the first time,

But one day I'm going to head back to Guinea-Bissau,

West Africa,

And I'm going to get that passport and identification because I am a citizen of Guinea-Bissau,

West Africa and the Fula tribe.

And those of African descent will find that more than likely one of those countries on that Western coast of Africa,

On the Western coast,

Not the North,

Not the South,

Not the East,

But that West,

That Western coast.

Well,

That's where this the Atlantic slave trade took place.

And the only difference between those in Barbados,

Those of African descent in Barbados and all the Caribbean islands and the Haitians.

That's the only difference between that.

Those African descent is where the ship stopped first.

Okay.

And,

You know,

Just let them off.

But anyway,

They'll find that it's on that Western coast.

And so I took a trip to Guinea-Bissau,

West Africa through a repatriation group who,

On my 60th birthday,

Arranged for me to step foot back in my Fula ancestral village.

That village.

So understand this.

When I went back,

I took everybody back.

Do you understand?

Absolutely essential listening reminder of the power of those who came before us.

The fact that they survived the passage,

The fact that they did not give up the fact that they came to this world and stayed alive to see their children,

Their children's children,

To watch them create better and more beautiful lives.

I just,

My jaw dropped when Queen DeMichelle told me that story this week.

And I thought,

I cannot wait for my listeners to listen to this and hear someone else's story,

But also to appreciate someone else's story and their ancestors story of resilience,

Bravery,

And insane fortitude.

Thank you to everyone who listens.

And please do consider leaving a rating or writing a little review.

Those ratings and reviews help other people find us.

And it means so very much to me.

Thank you for listening.

And here's my one request.

Be like Queen DeMichelle.

Understand your ancestry.

Appreciate those who came before you.

Comprehend deeply what they had to go through deeply,

What they had to survive.

It is in some cases,

Completely mind blowing.

I mean,

My mind was blown and her story this week just reminded me that there are so many people who have lived on this planet that survived and made it through to create even more beauty for others.

And the beauty in this case is Queen DeMichelle,

Who is here to usher us all into a new earth,

A paradise on earth.

And I think that's beautiful.

So be like Queen DeMichelle and appreciate your ancestors,

Understanding deeply just what they had to go through to bring you and your beauty into this world.