What do you do in moments of fresh grief? How do you navigate the dark? Who are our allies? Where is our safe place? In this exclusive episode of ‘Sitting With Black Woman Grief,’ on the Can You Just Sit With Me Podcast, I invite Aubrey Sampson to discuss the complexities of grief, particularly in the context of the Black community. We chat about Allyship, Grief, and the Church.
We explore the profound impact of George Floyd’s death, the importance of allyship, and how the church can better support grieving Black women. Aubrey also delves into her own journey through grief as detailed in her book ‘What We Find In The Dark,’ sharing raw and heartfelt experiences while providing invaluable insights into holding onto faith during trying times. This episode offers a compassionate look at how to name and process pain, emphasizing the essential role of community in healing.
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We’ve created a space that, we want everyone to belong. We want everyone’s voices to be heard. We want everyone’s stories to be known. We want everyone’s griefs to be grieved. And yet if we’re not careful and not intentional, only one story or one type of person or one type of grief will be heard, shared and grieved. And so the church, the majority culture has to be willing to let go of the way they think. It ought to be and give space for especially black women stories, voices, griefs and join in with the grief.
aubrey sampson
In What We Find in the Dark, author and pastor Aubrey Sampson writes through the illness and death of her best friend, offering raw, real, and fought-for spiritual wisdom and practical insights for loss, grief, and doubt. What We Find in the Dark not only helps us locate ourselves on the journey of loss but gives honesty, hope, and direction for what’s ahead.
Get the book here.
My conversation with Aubrey serves as a powerful testament to the necessity of shared narratives and creating spaces for grief to be named and acknowledged. It is also a call to action for the church and individuals to embrace intentionality and humility and to stand in solidarity with those who grieve, ensuring that no one walks the path of grief alone.
Main Points:
- Understanding Grief and Allyship
- The Role of the Church in Addressing Grief
- Naming Grief as a Path to Healing
- A Companion in Darkness
Episode Talking Points:
- 00:00 Introduction and Purpose
- 00:44 Witnessing Black Woman Grief
- 00:59 Aubrey’s Experience and Insights
- 03:12 Introducing Aubrey Sampson
- 03:50 Navigating Grief and Allyship
- 07:07 Aubrey’s Personal Grief Journey
- 09:58 Writing Through Grief
- 14:51 Faith in the Dark Night of the Soul
- 15:55 Community and Collective Grief
- 20:29 The Flat Brain Theory
- 21:54 Understanding the Flat Brain in Grief
- 22:22 The Importance of Normalizing Grief
- 23:40 Supporting Black Women in Grief
- 24:44 Intentionality and Humility in the Church
- 30:56 The Power of Naming Pain
- 36:24 Living with Grief
- 40:22 A Companion in Fresh Grief
- 42:18 Conclusion and Resources
Other Ways to Listen to this Podcast with Aubrey Sampson:
About the Guest:
Aubrey Sampson (M.A. evangelism and leadership), is the author of several books on grief, lament, and hope including The Louder Song: Listening for Hope in the Midst of Lament, Known: How Believing Who God Says You Are Changes Everything, and a brand new best-selling kids book on hard things, heavy emotions, and Jesus’s Love, Big Feelings Days. Aubrey is a church planter and teaching pastor at Renewal Church, a multiethnic congregation in the Chicagoland area, the co-host of the Nothing is Wasted Podcast, and leads The Louder Song Community, an online gathering for grievers and those walking with the hurting. Find out more at aubreysampson.com or on instagram @aubsamp.
Mentioned in the Episode:
Black Woman Grief by Natasha Smith
What We Find in the Dark by Aubrey Sampson
I Bring the Voices of My People by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes