**Originally Recorded September 2022**

This episode continues the theme "Sex Ed & The Spirit", by having Dr. G speak with Dr. Shaakira Abdullah, creator of the Halal Sexpert brand, and a trained educator whose work centers on individuals and families of the Muslim faith. During the conversation the two Drs. discuss similarities between growing up sexually within Christianity and Islam, as well as how healing is an essential aspect of education that go overlooked with in the sex ed space, yet is integral to future work not only within the African-American Muslim community, but with African Americans as a whole. Another awesome conversation!

NOTES:

• This episode is the second of a two-part series that was originally entitled Sex Ed and the Spirit, which is alluded to at the beginning of the episode. The present title represents an inspired change that was made during the editing process.
• This original conversation was recorded some time ago; however, the content in it is still quite timely and relevant for the present day.

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Dr. Shaakira Abdullah, also known as the Halal Sexpert, is a Sexologist with a Masters degree in
Human Sexuality, and a Family Nurse Practitioner with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. She is
passionate about providing sexuality education to the Muslim community from an Islamic
Perspective. Dr. Shaakira Abdullah is a former Nursing Professor for Widener
University. She will earn a PhD in Human Sexuality from Widener in 2024.

Dr. Abdullah's website: https://halalsexpert.com

**Originally Recorded August 2022**

In this episode, Dr. G takes on perhaps her most sensitive conversation yet, chatting with Brittany Broaddus-Smith of The Intimacy Firm about her work helping Christians achieve greater access to their authentic sexual selves. The pair discuss the historical intersections of White Supremacy and Christianity as it impacts sex in Black America, and how deep exploration of the faith can, in some cases, create a more expanded understanding of sex that resists some of those continually oppressive norms. While this conversation presents food for thought for the educator working with highly-religious learners, it is also a look into the broader question of how faith could be used to accentuate the possibilitites of life-affirming sex ed, sexuality and/or one's understanding of the sexual self.

NOTES:

• This episode is the first of a two-part series that was originally entitled Sex Ed and the Spirit, which is alluded to at the beginning of the episode. The present title represents an inspired change that was made during the editing process.
• This original conversation was recorded some time ago; however, the content in it is still quite timely and relevant for the present day.

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Guest Bio:

**Originally Recorded Summer 2021**

It is argued that the most effective sex education is rooted in evidence collected from the habits and behaviors of the populations for which that education is created. What happens, however, when that evidence does not reflect the community's lived experience--and does that even matter? For this episode, Dr. G. speaks with sexuality researchers Drs. Candice Hargons and Shemeka Thorpe, and future Dr. Gabrielle Evans about their work in advancing both credible research speaking to the real-time life-affirming experiences of Black & Indigenous American populations, and high-quality evidence-based education for those same groups. The resulting conversation is food for thought for all educators in the profession--definitely not one to miss!

NOTE: While this original conversation was recorded some time ago, the content in it is still quite timely and relevant for the present day.

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Guest Bios: