Navigating Personal Experiences of Menopause, Aging, and Family with Omisade Burney-Scott
Aging is a natural transition in life. However, it's common for people to view aging negatively. But if we don't discuss aging and menopause, we'll never understand it. Compassionate conversations about personal experiences like aging and menopause are vital to break the stigma around them. Together, we can reclaim your menopausal journey.
In this episode, Omisade Burney-Scott shares how her origins and relationships influenced her. She also shares how to navigate menopausal symptoms by staying true to your identity. Lastly, she reminds everyone: your personal experience is unique. We are all deserving of our personhood and should approach challenging with compassion.
Tune in to Omisade’s inspiring and deeply personal experiences in the episode!
Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
Discover the importance of identity in the menopausal journey
Understand the personal experiences of black people in their home and professional lives.
Be inspired by Omisade’s thought-provoking words on her professional success, personal relationships, and aging.
Resources
Shop the Black Girl’s Guide to Menopause x Kindra’s collaboration: Say More Conversation and Journaling Cards here!
Visit Kindra’s website!
Listen to The Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause podcast here!
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Episode Highlights
[01:42] Inspiration Behind The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause
The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause started as a creative project in 2019.
While she was initially hesitant and inexperienced when it came to podcasts, the show gained traction.
Her partnership with Kindra came from mutual appreciation of black women’s personal experiences.
When Kindra approached Omisade to collaborate for collective merch, she wanted to be intentional about contributing to the growing menopausal landscape.
As a trainer and facilitator, it was important for Omisade that her products are accessible and resonate with the people who will use them.
[11:29] What Omisade Looks Forward to in Aging
As she ages, Omisade has taken full agency of her creative identity.
She also looks forward to unlearning negative assumptions and trauma.
In the full episode, Omisade talks about how she approaches her relationships with her family from a place of compassion and understanding.
In her transition to her late fifties, she says her parents as the people most influenced the person she is now.
[13:20] “As I've gotten older, I really look forward to the continuing kind of shedding and unlearning of negative messages, trauma, emotional harm.” - Click Here To Tweet This
[17:00] Omisade’s Origin Story
It's difficult to track the ancestry of black people; they've historically been separated from many of their family members.
She is a seventh-generation North Carolinian. Her family moved away twice, but returned to North Carolina when her mother and stepdad divorced.
Growing up with many cousins, she and her siblings spent many summers with their extended family.
In the full episode, Omisade details how the loss of her brother in 2018 reoriented their family shape.
She and her eldest publish an annual zine, which is now in its third year.
[23:45] Omisade’s Relationships
Omisade thinks of her peers as people with similar personal experiences. They can be vulnerable together, and their relationship is reciprocal.
She shares an emotional and intimate bond with her sons, but with appropriate parental boundaries on her part.
In the full episode, she talks about how black children become adults too early.
Their community contributes to being a safe place for her sons to be children.
[25:14] “My experience doing social justice work makes me really keen on the fact that black children are adults way too soon.“ - Click Here To Tweet This
[26:47] What Omisade Wishes She Knew Before Menopause
Menopause is a spectrum that has a beginning, middle, and end.
There are physical, social, and political aspects to menopause. In the whole episode, Omisade talks about the changes she experiences as a postmenopausal person.
There wasn’t any information in the 70s about menopause that she and her siblings could access
People's bodies will change throughout their life. As humans with ovaries and uteruses, menopause is a natural change.
People deserve timely, accessible, and correct information.
[30:29] “I think of menopause as one of the many liminal experiences we have as human beings who have uteruses and ovaries.” - Click Here To Tweet This
[33:19] Navigating Menopausal Symptoms
There are over 50 symptoms a person can experience during menopause. Each symptom varies per person,
Your personal experience with menopause is unique to your family history, identity, and the environment you live in.
There isn't a one-size fits all solution when it comes to menopause. Listen to the full episode to hear Omisade share the complexities behind women's healthcare.
A healthy rapport between you and your healthcare provider is essential when dealing with menopause and its symptoms.
Everyone deserves support during this transition.
[39:05] “And so we're just trying to remind people that all of who you are is important. All of your personhood is important. Every experience is unique.” - Click Here To Tweet This
[39:43] Showing Radical Love in Life
For menopausal people, engaging in radical love means examining their relationship with their bodies and their idea of safety and identity.
We must normalize conversations around menopause and body sovereignty to fully address people's trauma and misconceptions around these concepts.
We all deserve respect in terms of our personhood and experiences.
[42:34] “I think it's really important for us to remember, we're all deserving of our personhood being respected.” - Click Here To Tweet This
About Omisade
Omisade Burney-Scott is the creator/curator of The Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause (BGG2SM). The multimedia project centers on normalizing conversations about menopause and aging through the personal experiences of black women, woman-identified, and gender-expansive people.
With over 25 years of experience in advocacy and social justice, her aim with BGG2SM is to create opportunities for people in their menopausal journey or will be in the future to rethink and reimagine conversations around aging and menopause. Her work has been in many outlets, including Oprah Daily, Prevention, VOGUE, Forbes, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
To connect with Omisade, you can reach out to her through Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. You can view The Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause on their website.
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