Episode 17
“Ending Racism Now! with Love and Action” with Justin Michael Williams and Shelly Tygielski
Justin and Shelly led the powerful online community called The Liberation Experience, a forum for people all over the world to explore what actions they could take to end racism in this world, in this lifetime. Everything that Justin and Shelly are a part of turns into a movement of like-minded and like-hearted people and their style makes showing up in an activist way plausible and the greatest act of love we can do for one another. In the time when we see and feel such dramatic polarity in our world, these bright individuals urge all of us how to BE change agents for the greater good of all citizens, and doing so with love in our hearts.
Justin Michael Williams. From growing up with gunshot holes outside of his bedroom window, to sharing the stage with Deepak Chopra, Justin knows the power of healing to overcome. He is an author, top 20 recording artist, and transformational speaker who is using music and meditation to wake up the world. With over a decade of teaching experience, Justin has become a pioneering voice of color for the new healing movement—between his podcast, keynotes, and motivational online platforms, Justin’s teachings have now spread to more than 40 countries around the globe. Justin is dedicated to using his voice to serve. To being a beacon of hope for those who are lost, and to make sure all people, of all backgrounds, have access to the information they need to change their lives. “When people wake up to their own brilliance—it’s like magic,"says Williams. 'If my work and art can inspire people to do that, then I’ve fulfilled my mission.” His first book, Stay Woke: A Meditation Guide for the Rest of Us, was released nationwide February 11, 2020.
Shelly Tygielski. Author of the book, “Sit Down to Rise Up: How Radical Self-Care Can Change the World,” launched on October 26, 2021 from New World Library. She is also the founder of Pandemic of Love, a global, grass-roots, volunteer-led mutual aid community that has directly matched nearly two million people since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for over $60 million in direct transactions. Her work has been featured in over 100 media outlets including CNN Heroes of 2020, Forbes, Upworthy, The Kelly Clarkson Show, CBS This Morning, the New York Times and Washington Post. Shelly has been hailed by individuals from President Joe Biden to Arianna Huffington, and Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn to Maria Shriver. Shelly is a trauma-informed mindfulness teacher named one of the “12 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement” by Mindful Magazine in 2019. She teaches formalized self-care and resilience practices at organizations around the world, and is widely regarded as a self-care activist.