S1E1 - Reclaiming Pt.1 w/ Vanessa Leveille
This discussion between Jovia Godfrey and Vanessa Leveille for the Chez NENEN Podcast centers on motherhood, identity, and cultural influences, particularly for women of color.
Key themes and insights from the conversation include:
Motherhood as a Journey of Self-Reclamation and Expansion: Vanessa, a therapist and coach specializing in matrescence, discusses how becoming a mother involves both a loss of previous self and an expansion into a bigger, more authentic version of oneself. She emphasizes "self-reclamation" as unburying the buried parts of oneself that have been conditioned or lost. Jovia resonates with this, sharing her own experiences of feeling "more me than ever before" after becoming a mother and in different life stages.
Cultural Context of Mothering: Both Jovia, a Haitian-American woman, and Vanessa, an Afro-Cape Verdean woman, discuss the impact of their immigrant cultures on their mothering experiences. They highlight the communal aspect of mothering in their respective cultures, where multiple generations and extended family members are involved in raising children. They contrast this with the more isolated, patriarchal, and capitalist American approach to motherhood.
The Concept of "Afro-Cape Verdean": Vanessa explains her decision to identify as "Afro-Cape Verdean," emphasizing the African roots and appearance of her family and culture, rather than solely "Cape Verdean American," due to the history of Portuguese colonization. Jovia also discusses the complexities of being Black with immigrant upbringings in America.
