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WINsday testimony of courage and

Writer's picture: Jewel Diamond TaylorJewel Diamond Taylor

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THE LIBERATED WOMAN by Dr. Yetta Young

"I was moved to tears… my friend Denise had just shared her testimony and some hard, authentic, vulnerable truths about herself as a mother and where she needed to improve… all in front of a circle of 50 women at the "Women on the Grow reTREAT". I could relate to her story and couldn’t stop weeping. Although I was trying to cry silently, my entire body was in a state of convulsions. Women started passing the tissue boxes down my way as my friend consoled me. She asked, "Do you want to go up and share your testimony?" I shook my head "No" and through the tears, silently mouthed, I’m scared. "I’ll go with you", she assured me while raising her hand and proclaiming, "Yetta wants to share!"


The retreat was a huge part of my self-care. Our stories connected as Denise and I both had strokes in our 40s. It was during my 8-day hospitalization at 47 that I wrote off self-care as I knew it. My recovery depended on me disrupting the narrative that self-care was just pampering, pedicures, and prosecco. I needed a radical plan to liberate me from my self-imposed limitations. The kind of self-care that would take me into the shadows of my deepest fears. The kind that would be a refuge and would bring me back to myself, renewed, restored, and healed I also began exploring community care as the backdrop of my plan and how the two complemented each other. I became more active in Jewel Diamond Taylor's Women on the Grow group, which she curated as a holistic incubator for women to reflect, renew, and rejuvenate.

As I approach the middle of the circle, weeping, I could barely speak. My friend kept her promise and stood behind me ... like the ladies do in church to catch you if you fall through barely inaudible words, I shared with them about taking up space and how I was still learning to trust myself. Denise had my back and I could feel jewel, off to the side holding me up spiritually… like they had done on other occasions paragraph I’m newly in love and I want to be 100% authentic with him when do I tell him that because of my medication, I have lost all of my hair? I asked the ladies rhetorically.

At that moment, I unconsciously reenacted a conversation I had with him one morning when he video-called me and God told me that now was the time to share. At that moment, I removed my wig in front of the 50+ ladies.

Every lady in that room was moved to their feet. They closed ranks around me and the circle got smaller, while others waited in line to hug and love on me.

As I heard the African drums come through the speakers, Jewel shouted "LIBERATION!" and started to dance. I danced a little as the ladies waited in line to affirm me.

. "You are beautiful."

. "Honey, you should be on the cover of Vogue!"

. "You freed me today Yetta." as she took off her scarf to reveal her shiny beautiful head, bald from chemotherapy.

. "I’m not ready to date because I’m afraid to show anyone my alopecia, but I thank you for giving me the courage, should I change my mind."


And of course, many asked, "Well, what did he say when you showed him your hair? They

danced around me, hugged, and affirmed me until my tears dried.


Although I haven’t quite found the courage to unveil publicly as I did with my sister cohorts, what I discovered that day was a healing balm that was so very needed for my soul. Paragraph self-care is a beautiful act of loving you back to you. It is not a selfish pursuit, but the very tool that can be used to liberate you. - by Yetta Young, a Women on the Grow tribe sisterfriend and sister $ower


Sister SOUL Saturday in Long Beach, CA - August 12 - SOLD OUT


Click this link to make your deposit to attend the Annual Women on the Grow reTREAT Getaway Septe 27-29, 2023. We have a few beds remaining.


Jewel Diamond Taylor's upcoming speaking engagements;


August 19 - Palmdale, CA - Linda Johnson's Heavy Hitters Conference


Saturday, September 16 - Riverside, CA - The Life Church women's ministry tea


Tuesday, September 21 - International Association of Women, Saybrook University, 55 W Eureka St, Pasadena, CA 91103, 6:00 PM - Jewel's topic - ShiFT Happens


Click this link to read this month's special edition "You GOAL Girl" Magazine, 1st Anniversary publishing this popular empowHERment magazine

To receive your copy in the mail, send your request to JewelMotivates@gmail.com

They will be available at the Sister Soul Saturday program August 12 in Long Beach.

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2 Comments


Lynn Mangum
Lynn Mangum
Aug 12, 2023

Yetta is beautiful!

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Patricia Goings
Patricia Goings
Aug 09, 2023

I love this testimony. I was blessed to be present when Dr. Yetta gave it. There was so much love and compassion in the room that day it was a tangible thing.


Thank you Jewel for giving us the space and safety to be real.💕💕💞

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