There's something about grief that has a way of building connections. There is a community in grief as the process, while unique to each individual and situation is a universal concept. During Karega and Felicia's deepest period of grief they found the music of Rexx Life Raj . His lyrics connected to their experiences in a way that they couldn't necessarily find words for at the time. Nor did they think that others shared certain aspects of their grief experiences until they heard Rexx mention it. Today, Karega and Felicia sit down with Rexx Life Raj to discuss his music, grief, community, and all that comes with it.

This week Karega and Felicia discuss the grieving of the person you once were. Listen in as both share how so much loss and newness has allowed them to appreciate what the past has taught them and not needing to define what is next to come.

This week Karega and Felicia discuss the importance of rest. Listen in as both share how rest has forced them to acknowledge how important it is. Because ultimately, there is no affirmation that can replace rest.

As Felicia and Karega come to the end of 2022 they reflect on just what this second year of SOL Affirmations has meant for them and this community they have built. Thank you all for holding space for grief, reframing, discussion, vulnerability, and above all else love. Make sure you listen to the end to hear a special announcement from Karega and Felicia!

This week Karega and Felicia celebrate their 10 year anniversary. Listen in as Karega shares how his difficulty with separating from Kamali, for an anniversary trip, ended up being a lesson on the importance of separation. While both express falling in love with one another all over again on this journey.

The holidays are a time of joy for most. It's when we come together with family and friends and celebrate. However when we have lost someone we have loved, the holidays are not JUST the holidays. Sometimes the grief feels like it is fighting with the joy of the season. Karega and Felicia share just what this third year holiday season without Kamaiu on this plane is like and how navigating it with a very joyous Kamali looks like. Plus how has it changed on the journey to here. Afterall, grief isn't linear. Just like the season it is full of changes, moments, and requires reflection.

There's just something special about being connected to your people. We all get to decide who those people are. Relatives, chosen family, and in this instance, Karega Felicia mean their fellow Hampton Alums. It was homecoming and the trip not only allowed them the room to explore what being around other Black people and going to an HBCU meant to them, but what that community has meant to them since graduating.

Black men, it's time to get real with each other. Wellness, selflove, finance, nutrition these are just a few topics Black Love Inc General Manager David Wasicki will be bringing to the forefront in Man to Man A Black Love Wellness Series. Each week the topics will change, but the insights lessons gained from Black men of all walks of life will remain constant. Man to Man serves as a platform for men to get reallife insight directly from notable, successful men who lead with the honesty and vulnerability that Black Love is known for. Toxic masculinity. What is it? Is it really an issue or is it some buzzword? We brought in two brothers to have a conversation about masculinity in all forms, but especially centered around being Black men Karega Bailey, artist, educator, and angel father, and King Jay Barnett, author, speaker, and mental health therapist. Perhaps more important than the question of what is toxic masculinity is how do we acknowledge behavior that is toxic that seems to be consistently perpetrated by men? Honestly, there are so many questions and points asked that this is only one piece of the framework necessary for healing. But we have to start somewhere, and this is a great start with two phenomenal men.

As we move into the last quarter of the year Karega reflects on slowing down and finally allowing himself to feel all the things. It's easy to get caught up in time as you push through the front half of the year, but in this period it seems almost necessary to talk stock. More importantly, it is okay to allow ourselves to take those moments and actually pause and feel all the things we've put off to the side for the sake of moving forward. Listen in as the Baileys process in real time their very real emotions around felling and acknowledging their grief in real time, even as everything around them seems to be continuing on, and why we all deserve those moments to feel.

Kamali celebrated her second birthday last week ! and while there was much to celebrate, there was also a period of reflection. Felicia and Karega take a moment to discuss the parallels between those who came through for them in this period of celebration and those who were there for them during their period of grief. Perhaps just as important, how different it is to be in this specific moment with a child earthside versus being parents of a child in heaven.

Having a toddler is hard, and Kamali is not as respectful to the needs of rest as one would expect of a two year old. You might know this about Felicia, but she loves her sleep. Like, it is a high priority. And there is no room for reframing things when there is no rest! However, there is more to this situation than Kamali being a toddler and the lack of sleep. It is about what we had planned, especially through our grief journey. The vision for our lives, the lives we had planned for ourselves, did not come to fruition. Sometimes the reframe is hard when you're thinking about the what ifs.

Karega has released his new project Legacy Lounge Season 1 Legacy Talk Only into the universe and reflects on what it means on not only what it means to be an artist, but on what it means to use music and rap hiphop as a way of processing his grief. Specifically, as one has to navigate the grind of promoting and selling this art and legacy project which means more than just a commodity. Is there a way to find balance in trying to build something greater than the machine of promotion and follows and likes especially with something so important to the whole family unit?

Felicia needs to make a change in her life. One that, on the surface level, is simple. She needs to cut her hair. Now, as Karega will tell you and show you Felicia has rocked every style under the sun. However, in this moment the impending change is different. As Felicia sits with it, she realizes that even something that she has done dozens of times before, now has a new association with it, and it ties into grief and Kamaiu. As grief is ever changing and evolving, Felicia and Karega reflect on how this moment is very much part of the experience of grief and just how the personal and individual each person's process is.

In their journey of grief, Karega and Felicia have each have had their own very individual processes in how they feel in sharing Kamaiu's story. Their truths vary as their experiences have varied. As the couple vulnerably shares, this ain't fair. None of it is fair and in all reality, no one would choose this path over having their loved one. Grief is wild that way. However, that is why Karega and Felicia create these tools of reference AND why the reframe is so important even for themselves because it is easy to fall into the trap of the what ifs and the not fairs as opposed to the living in the now.

What is present may not always be visible in the moment. At the right moment it will be seen. Its relevance requires its process and cannot be rushed. SOL Affirmations was once again nominated for an Ambie award which this time took them to Vegas. While in reflection, Karega and Felicia note how all of this, the podcast and the stories that they share in it, start with Kamaiu and the story that they never wanted to tell. Felicia never wanted anything to come from the loss of her first daughter, and yet through her sharing her story, the story of being Kamaiu's mother, they have created so much space for reference and for community.

Mass incarceration is a type of loss. It isn't often framed that way, but you know we are all about the reframe here. In the last interview in the series from the Kennedy Center, Karega and Felicia sit down with their friend Tony Lewis Jr., a DC community leader, reentry expert, and champion for children with mass incarcerated parents to discuss the community and specifically the youth of DC. Plus, the trio explore the concept of atrisk youth, and the grief, and loss experienced by those who have incarcerated parents.

Sometimes the art is showing up to the day differently than you've done before. As Karega and Felicia continued their stay in DC they knew that they needed to link up with their old friend Angel Gregorio. If you know DC, you know Angel. You know The Spice Suite, you know the work she does for the community and our people. What you probably don't know is how she has shown up for Karega and Felicia specifically in their grief. Listen in as Angel shares how her grief in losing her brothers to mass incarceration and her mother to drug addiction helped fuel her commitment to community, how she has more questions than answers, and how loss truly shapes us all.

While artists in residence at the Kennedy Center, Karega Felicia had the opportunity to sit down with their old friend husband, father, community leader, and licensed therapist Kier Gaines. In conversation they discuss not only how they have shown up for each other, but for community, and specifically the youth. It is a conversation about Black Love at it's core.

Felicia's desire for structure and Karega's desire to take the path of least resistance when it comes to parenting is looked at in depth within this episode. In this episode, both share honest thoughts about navigating through the journey of parenthood and the power struggles that come with it.

Some of you may or may not know but Karega is also an artist. His latest album, Legacy Lounge Season 1, features a song about Felicia one that she lowkey has been waiting for. However it is through Karega's words that Felicia has been allowed to learn how to process her own grief, and how it gave her the space to learn to love without judgment after loss.