Episode 74 :: Ally Fallon :: Stories of Transformation that Lead to Action (and the Power of Writing it Down)
Today we have on the powerhouse author, speaker and writing coach Ally Fallon. Ally shares what her and her family’s covid experience has been like, bringing a baby into the world, living in California with the wildfires AND a pandemic and where her heart has been pulled in that season.
When Ally and I had this conversation back in the first of December, I felt like we were having a strategy session for how to approach 2021. So. Much. has happened since that day, including Ally and her family moving across the country, releasing her new book The Power of Writing it Down, but obviously so much has happened within the American climate, and as a globe we continue to walk out the pandemic, work through the vaccination journey, variants, and just… honestly grappling with the fact that we’ve been at this for a year now.
With all that being said, I feel like this conversation is really timely for a couple of reasons:
We spend the first half of the conversation talking about how we have changed, for better or for worse, and how we have a choice to do something with that change as we fight forward.
We spend the second half of this conversation talking through one big shift that took place in both of us this year, and that’s how we engage the conversation of race, what it looks like to lament and learn, and process what it looks like to be a white ally for our Black brothers and sisters.
Because Ally is a coach, her new book, and pieces of its insights that she shares today are packed with practical takeaways for how to actually bring about life and thought change. It's TRULY fascinating, and I love that she walks us through how to apply that process in this episode. I love her encouragement, her honestly, and also her practical way of trying to invite people into a journey of hard work, by pulling back the layers and start small. There is such potential for resurrected life no matter where you are. No matter your heartbreak, your grief, the good you’ve seen, the hard you’ve been in, ALL of it carries possibility for transformation and being more alive on the other side of this season than you were going in it.
Connecting with Ally:
Her most recent release: The Power of Writing it Down
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References:
“Is He Worthy” by Andrew Peterson
Fighting Forward- Hannah Brencher (you can also hear our conversation here)
White Fragility: Why Its So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
How to Be Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
Stamped From the Beginning : The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation by Latasha Morrson
Colorfull, Thoughtfull, and Gracefull - Dorena Williamson
Anti-Racist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry (and illustrated by Vashti Harrison!)
“Hair Love” the short film and their Oscar acceptance speech
Jane Kirkpatrick’s new book :: There’s not a release date on this yet, but you can hear Jane discuss it on our podcast episode as well as other Native American relations, struggles, and etc.
Native American Boarding Schools
Columbus and our whitewashed perception of his “discovery”
The complicated process of voting as a Native American in the U.S. and also here, and here
Additional Race Education Resources:
I wrote a blog this summer that features voices that I would strongly recommend following to learn from, more books (may I particularly point to Jemar Tisby’s book The Color of Compromise and the corresponding Bible Study), and resources to work through the conversation of race, the Church, and how white people can see more clearly.
Scripture References:
Genesis 2:4- 3:24- We were made for life in the garden
Ephesians 5:8-17-“Wake up, oh sleeper”
1 John 1:9, Acts 3:19, James 4:8, Joel 2:13, Revelation 3:19- Repentance
Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 , Acts 10: in particular, and then verses on unity AND diversity
Acts 8, 9, -Paul going from someone who protected Judaism at all costs, to experiencing deep change, and becoming a champion of the Gospel
Romans 12:2- The transforming by the renewal of your mind
Connecting with Emily and Simply Stories Podcast:
Instagram (Em life // Podcast Life)
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*Intro and Outro music is from audionautix.com