Yvette Nicole Brown: Black women and the importance of joy and sisterhood

Oct 23, 2024

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In this engaging conversation, actress, activist, and all-around beautiful human, Yvette Nicole Brown, gives us a lesson on the fundamental importance of joy, the blessings of caregiving, and the significance of community support. Through an exploration of Yvettes’ career, first in the music business, and now in the entertainment industry, she and Jen and Amy discuss the many challenges that face black women today while also talking about one of black women’s greatest superpowers – the sisterhood that exists among them. They lean into how white women can learn to harness that power in their relationships, too, and the things that can be done to support their sisters of color right now. Yvette also reflects on her personal life as a devoted caregiver, and dishes for a moment about the beauty of finding love in your late 50s.

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Thought-provoking Quotes:

“I don’t know as a kid that I ever thought that I would be a star. I always felt that I would be impactful in people's lives in some way because of the way that I love people.” – Yvette Nicole Brown

“I am still pinching myself. I’m Forrest Gump in the flesh – in real life – because I just say yes to things that feel right and God just takes me to the next opportunity to do the same.” – Yvette Nicole Brown

“That’s why black women are always so close with each other because whenever you see a ‘sista’, you know her story, without knowing her story. That’s why we call each other ‘sista’, because we know what she’s been through. Same thing with black men. ‘Brotha’. ‘Sista’. We know what the other person has been through and we stand with each other and support each other. But here’s the thing, we stand with and support everybody else too. And that’s why we say ‘vote like black women, think like black women’. That’s not hubris. That’s not arrogance. That’s heart. That’s soul.” – Yvette Nicole Brown

“When it comes to anything that comes up in the news, culture, current events, whatever’s going on, if I feel even a modicum of uncertainty about how to feel about it, I just look to the black women. It’s the correct reading of the room. The response is always for the greater good. It’s what’s good for culture, for people, our neighbors, progress, equality.” – Jen Hatmaker

“Instead of me showing you my pain, I’m going to use my joy as my strength and I’m going to dance and laugh through this thing.” – Yvette Nicole Brown

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America by Tyler Merritt - https://amzn.to/3U6nMfN

Yvette’s acting and producing credits - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1304328/

Kamala Harris for President - https://kamalaharris.com/

How Black Women Organizers Broke Zoom to Raise $1.5 Million - Fortune.com

K-Pops by Anderson .Paak at Toronto International Film Festival - https://tiff.net/events/k-pops

Frasier - https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/frasier-2023/

Among Us - https://www.innersloth.com/voice-cast-for-the-among-us-animated-series-round-1/

Donors Choose - https://www.donorschoose.org/

The Creative Coalition Commission on Caregiving - https://thecreativecoalition.org/caregiving/

Emily’s List

Guest’s Links: