jackie davis
~
jackie davis ~
How can I, how can I tell or, or, or suggest to other women to be their true, authentic selves when I'm still hiding?
My name is Jacqueline Davis. I am from Texas. I ended up in Nashville because I came here to go to Fisk University. But, um, since then, well my major was clinical psychology, and I've continued to, use my skills as a therapist since I've graduated there to help and heal in the community, especially when it comes to women of color.
It's been a part of my realization as my purpose here, but also some spiritual alignment that has let me know that understanding how women heal, healing myself, healing the generations that are gonna come and those generations behind me. And helping, helping people and women realize their power, their real true power I experience throughout my life. Internalized oppression and all different types of things. And if I can be an agent of change, then you know that's what I want to be. But my goal is around helping women of color.
how do you show up in community?
One thing about me, I realized that I am a leader and when it comes to the work that I do, if you were trying to be an agent of change, you're on the front line of empowering women, children, anybody who would, I would be able to serve in my practice or outside of that, I have to be confident in what I'm doing, so who I am as a leader helps to give myself and other people, it helps me be brave. I am a brave individual. And then when it comes to somebody who might not have that part of them that is turned on, they can trust in who I am as a leader, who I am as a someone who is willing to step out, take the chain, take the chance on the situation on them to pull them into something new. You know what I mean? It's, it's leaders. Most people that follow don't follow someone who's not confident, you know? So I'm, I'm grateful for the confidence and the leadership that I came here with.
how does your identity inform and impact your work?
There's many dimensions to my identity. I think that also being personable and knowing how to balance the leader that I am, you know, because leaders can be bossy. Leaders can, you know, come in and out of those roles with grace and sometimes with not so much grace. But I'm grateful for the fact that the confidence that I have in myself helps me impact others because again, when I shine my light, it gives people permission to do the same. So I have to show up. I have to show up being the person that I'm called to be, and it's an ongoing process. But when I show up, she thinks she can show up. That baby thinks they can show up, so I'm accountable for sharing my gifts.
tell us about your happy place?
Well, that's a dimension to my identity that comes with trusted circles. And I play just as hard as those in my trusted circle. I'll just put it like that. But I love to, because I'm living my life intentionally and unapologetically. I mean, that word unapologetic is very, you know, there's levels to that, right? So, at the stage that I am with unapologetic, I feel that all levels of joy and all levels of pleasure, I'm due, I have the right to experience that. Some women don't feel like they have the right to experience some of these things, or is taboo. You know, so outside of the box, and I, and I understand where we were raised, this is the patriarchal Western society and women have not been worshiped as the goddesses that they are. So if I don't feel like a goddess that I won't think that I'm worthy of that, but that's the part of me that that's a part of my identity that's very on the, very much on the forefront because I know who I am, I know what I bring to the table. So when I play it's because I know I'm worth it. So there's some things I don't spare any expense on because I'm worth it, you know? So my happy place consists of men, music, travel, food in no particular order because food will beat everything sometimes, you know. And sisterhood. I can't do anything without my sisterhood, my village, my mother. Like, yeah. And even talking about it, I know I'm, I know I'm for real because I feel the, well, you know, well up in your, in your throat.
Another thing I stopped doing was waiting on somebody else to create those things or spheres or places that I could, could go to or inhabit that I realized, and Spirit told me, some of these things that, you know, that you want or you need, you have to create. And when I did, the way it was made open for them.
what do you love about collaborating with Black women?
We're so freaking awesome. Like they pull some stuff out of the sky, that I'm like, "what? I had never thought about that ever." The creativity in this melanin is endless, and because we, on a regular basis, make something out of. When all of that energy comes together in one space, it's like miracles on top of miracles, you know, so, and when we are clear and free and you know, not dealing with the everyday hum drum load, when we really get to just take that off and expand ourselves and we're safe to do it's endless. I love abundance. Abundance is where everything came from and when I could just sit in it. Cuz being around women, Black women, collaborating with them, I feel like it's like an oasis because it's like a bottom, a bottomless well of amazingness, you know? So the potentiality and the abundance is what draws me to that. So that's what I love about it because whatever comes out of it is gonna be amazing. So good.
are there any missed opportunities?
From the perspective of Black women being raised in America, we have a wall that's built up within each and every one of us, and it takes vulnerability and time to allow that to come down. So I feel as though we miss opportunities because we don't trust our sister to hold A space that we. In any field, in any organization, a lack of trust keeps us apart, in my opinion. Because the collaborations that could happen are endless. There's Black women doing something somewhere, everywhere, but you know, it could be that. And I think because we have been raised here, we've been, the dogma of the capitalist society that we live in sometimes keeps us from collaborating because we don't feel like we can help us excel. They'll partner with an organization from a diff, you know, different organizations outside of women of color because it advances them financially quicker or it gives them more clout or leverage in particular areas.
And I guess that could come into the area of trust as well. But our motives might not line up with the goals that the organization is trying to reach. So that is an internal thing. Each individual makes up a hole in our organization. And if the top or persons or the people at the table don't trust anyone outside, then we miss that. I need people to trust because who else is gonna do it? If we came together, pooled our money, pulled our money, divested and invested in ourselves, we'd have our own nation. It'd be a wrap real soon.
what role can our allies play?
They could pay us. I'm all about reparations and land. I need some estates. I need, I need land just like you do. I need, I need you to create deep pockets for me so that my, the people in my family coming after me and in our, in our community can have the same jumpstart as you. I need trust fund babies. We need organizations that are going to make sure that our children have the right levels of education without prejudice.
Now mind you, again, I am for divesting. I think that we can be fine just by ourselves if we pull our resources, money together, cuz we're geniuses, literally kings and queens walking amongst everyone else. So I think that if they realize how valuable their privilege is, and just being mindful of the fact that we live in a world of abundance. They live in scarcity. That's why they hoard all of these things and systems. Why would you need to hoard or oppress if you understand, abundance is our lifestyle. That's where we come from, abundance.
So if they internally realize that there's nothing to hoard and choose to share and give, the utopian society would be right at our fingertips and they can, I believe that they can invest in us so that we can invest in ourselves. Yeah. Right now, I'm all, pay me.
tell us about how you’ve recently shown up for yourself.
I chose to stand up for myself. I chose to listen, finally listen to what my ori, my highest self, my inner guide had been saying for a while. I was in a relationship that was not bearing the fruit that I was hoping and planning on it doing. The person that I am, I'm a nurturer, so my goal is not to crush the dreams or the aspirations or the heart of someone else, but if someone is being, or any parts, any parts of a relationship, friends, anything, but in this case, it was an intimate relationship. If you are being neglected in, in any way, shape, or form, there are times where we, as women will say, "okay, okay, okay, let me just tinker with this. Let me just fix this over here. Let me just, lemme just not say that. Let me just cater to this part. Let me give them what they need. Cuz they realize if I give them what they need, they'll give me what I need and what I've asked for." Right? But in some situations you have to realize that, that in my situation, that person was not healed enough to do that, and I had to be firm and say that you cannot bring what is needed in this relationship to the table if you are not healed. And sometimes healing takes work on your own and you have to do that on your own. So I had to be firm in my decision to give you space to heal. I'm a therapist, I'm a nurturer. There's so many things that I do where I coach and I help, right? But in this situation, I had to say, I cannot coach. I cannot help you because you are in a space where you need to do that for yourself. How can you love at a level that I'm requiring when you cannot, when your love tank is not full? So you have to fill your own love tank. And then the spill overage is for the rest, you know, of whoever you choose to share it with. But that was hard cuz previously, you know, I am a non rock- the- boat -type of person, right? If I can, if we can face it, if I can, you know, do what I need to do to make all parties cool. Cause I'm very amenable. I can, I'm a chameleon. I can make it work most of the time, right? And I can, it's hard for me to hold a grudge and I can forgive, but I can, I can move on and be okay. Like that's a part of my makeup and I'm so grateful.
But there are times when it gets to a threshold where it's like, "okay, everybody's got a kill switch," and I'm thankful for my kill switch. And I listened because I hadn't always done that. So I stood up for myself in what I felt and what I knew that I had to do for myself and that other person and tell myself that I'm going to be okay. There will be tomorrow and you're gonna have a good time being okay, living in the relief. That's where I am, living in the relief of that decision that feels good.