E87. The Divine Masculine And Feminine - with John Okhiulu, Creative Community Organizer & Healer

Author: Ashanti Branch - Taking Off The Mask
Published: Tue 03 May 2022
Episode Link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/episodes/E87--The-Divine-Masculine-And-Feminine---with-John-Okhiulu--Creative-Community-Organizer--Healer-e1i1985

“In this society today, in this culture today that we live in… You have to have it all figured out before you can talk about it, or before you can speak on it. And we forget the school of life, we forget that we’re constantly learning and evolving. And so you might need to express yourself to be able to receive that feedback and get those answers and be able to move and shake…” - John Okhiulu

Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by John Okhiulu. A recent Stanford graduate, with degrees in African & African American Studies and Human Biology, John currently serves as a Tom Ford Philanthropic Fellow at the Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital. Whether it is through his work or his art, John is all about promoting unity and liberation within individuals and amongst communities. John carries himself with a distinct focus and wisdom, and this can only come from his desire to generate self-reflection from honest dialogue - from taking off his mask.

(1:50) Ashanti’s introduction.

(7:15) John introduces himself, his heritage, his professional work in the nonprofit world, his work in the arts, and his underlying goal to restore and heal.

(13:35) John shares the front of his mask - humor, kindness, strength, zen.

(16:20) Ashanti shares the front of his mask - serious, funny, hard-working. Then, John and Ashanti find common ground in their relationship to humor and self-talk.

(22:20) John shares the back of his mask - sadness, worry, deep down anger and frustration, confidence - and then Ashanti relates to how John hides his confidence behind the mask.

(27:35) Ashanti shares the back of his mask - fear of…, worry, stress. Then, John and Ashanti discuss the value in speaking up for the sake of dialogue, especially when you may not be completely informed.

(31:05) Ashanti and John explore how they are trying to shift what traits they value in themselves, and they take the time to celebrate rest and relaxation as a radical act.

(43:35) John looks back on his upbringing, and how he found a version of masculinity and femininity that best suited him and went beyond these gender categories.

(52:35) Ashanti explains the importance of modeling the behavior he is teaching in his workshops. And John takes these explanations and applies them to building understanding across generations.

(1:02:05) John expresses some final thoughts with the audience and calls for love and prayer.

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Connect with John Okhiulu:

Twitter: twitter.com/souliberationar

Instagram: instagram.com/souliberationary

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Create your own mask anonymously at millionmask.org

If you are interested in being on the Face to Face podcast, email us at [email protected]

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: instagram.com/branchspeaks

Facebook: facebook.com/BranchSpeaks