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Brendane A. Tynes

@_brendiee

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writer, diviner, & certified energy healer | 🎙️& lead facilitator @blacklovedandfree | queer black feminist scholar-advocate
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the world expects survivors of violence to be ashamed that we have been violated. we can see that in how the world treats us—the expectations from strangers and loved ones to keep quiet about the pain & violation we endure. if we are not quiet, often we are blamed, alienated, and isolated.

no more.

I refuse to be ashamed and to be silent.

instead, I throw those shameful feelings back to those who harm me. that’s been such an important part of my healing journey, realizing that my burden is taking care of myself and tending to my feelings, not the projections of others.

any shame about violence belongs to the violator, the oppressor, the harmdoer, not the victim.

*** I am holding a community healing session for Black interpersonal violence survivors on 10/20. I have 2 free slots available! Sign up at the link in my bio. by @_brendiee

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20 hours ago

I’m so glad I chose to live.

It’s Hoodoo Heritage Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and I am celebrating my life. as a Hoodoo and a survivor of intimate partner violence & childhood domestic abuse, I am delighted to be here now, still fighting & writing & serving & being me.

“Won’t you witness me and celebrate with me that I am still living? Even if you choose not to, I still choose to be seen. I am hiding no more. I am invisible no more. I choose to share my wounds and to allow those who care for me to care for me. If you find my pain, my beauty, my needs are too much, that’s okay–that means I am occupying the space Black women always already take up in this world.”

In today’s episode we define Life as a white supremacist capitalist construction and redefine life using Tying the Spiritual Knot: African Cosmology of the Bantu-Kongo Principles of Life and Living by Kimbwandende Kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau, PhD.

In our testimony section, Brendane shares about the decision she made to live when she found out in January 2024 that she was being sued by a former classmate for $750,000 for 3 tweets she made about her experience being stalked and harassed by him. spoiler alert: she won the case on appeal! (Content warning: In this section, gender violence and suicidal ideation are mentioned. Please take care while listening.)

Finally, in our Living in Alignment section, we draw inspiration while we endure Hoodoo struggle from Baba Arthur Rickydoc Flowers’ The Hoodoo Book of Flowers.

I hope this episode brings some clarity and peace to you 🙏🏾 listen anywhere you listen to podcasts. watch the full episode on Patreon.

in the comments I’d love to hear your reason for choosing life. (if you don’t know, that’s okay. your living is still valued, sacred, and beautiful. I affirm you 💕) by @_brendiee

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2 days ago

in the latest episode of black. loved. free., I share about the decision I made to live and to defend myself when I found out in January 2024 that I was being sued by a former classmate for $750,000. he claimed that he was owed for 3 tweets I made about my experience being stalked and harassed by him. now that the lawsuit is done, I’m sharing my story on my own terms.

this episode discusses the difficulty of surviving violence as a Black woman, and why living in a white supremacist, patriarchal hellscape makes life feel unbearable. however, as Hoodoos, as feminists, as those who fight for a better world, we must choose to live.

available everywhere you listen to podcasts on 10/14. Patreon members can listen or watch the episode today. by @_brendiee

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3 days ago

as a survivor of domestic violence (both intimate partner violence and childhood domestic violence), I have found energy healing to be a profound tool for my own self-recovery. this month I’m offering services to support survivors as we navigate life in the aftermath of violation. these services are rooted in Hoodoo technologies and thus, bring the healing, restoration, and protection that only our ancestral practices can bring.

This month’s energy healing session will be on October 20th at 8 pm ET. If you are not able to join us live, energy work will be done on your behalf. All registrants will receive journal prompts and a meditation for continued reflection and healing.

you can find the link to sign up for the Community Energy Healing Session in my bio. if you would like to participate but cannot afford to do so, please send me a DM.

If you’re looking for additional energetic support in your healing, I recommend an energetic attunement. Energetic attunements are restorative, healing, and protective workings for your spiritual journey. I created these specifically with survivors in mind.

you can book your energetic attunement at the link in the bio. again, if you would like one, but cannot afford the sliding scale, please send me a DM. by @_brendiee

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7 days ago

today is my grandmother’s 72nd birthday. I miss her dearly. there is not a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could call her and hear her ask me about what I’m cooking, how so and so are doing, how I’m wearing my hair for this talk, what adventures I’m going on.

today I am missing her gossip, her reminders that self-devotion will ultimately be what allows me to live. the sweet way she would say “I love you” when she had some time and the way she would rush me off the phone with “Love you. Bye!” when she peeked through her blinds and saw somebody pulled up in her yard.

in the time since her transition, I’ve searched in many places for connections to her: 50 Cent’s Candy Shop and BabyFace’s Whip Appeal on repeat; my hands in biscuit dough, cake batter, peach cobbler; dedication to studies and to my dreams; allowing lovers to come with offerings—hers was orange soda; mine are different—and to leave with no piece of me; my anthropological nosiness. our queerness is one place of connection I rest in. the home we shared together will never be gone.

though I have not yet fulfilled all of her dreams for me (she really wanted me to have my own TV show lol), I still strive to be a woman that she can be proud of. I’m learning through my own struggles how to wield the sword of my tongue and to unashamedly devote my life to what I want, especially when others don’t approve of the ways of my living. I’m growing roses and rosemary in pots in her honor. I’m savoring cake and sweetness in her honor. I’m recommitting myself to my writing, my singing, my dancing, my loving in her honor. may she be pleased.

most of all, at least today, I am grateful for the ways she has shown me that I don’t have to be perfect to be loved. this lesson has meant the most. 💕🕊️🕯️ taken in Columbia, South Carolina by @_brendiee

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a month ago

On Tuesday, September 1st, 2026, a Baltimore City Sheriff’s Deputy served me with a summons for a defamation case in Baltimore City Circuit Court (case number C-24-CV-26-004901). The plaintiff is seeking $32,000 in damages after I publicly came forward about the harassment, threats, and stalking I have been experiencing.

I’m seeking legal representation to respond to this frivolous defamation case. This lawsuit is the latest instance of harassment that has been continually escalating over the last 10 months.

If you would like more information about what has occurred, please read my statement. With this statement, I attempted to handle the situation without involving law enforcement, calling upon community support to end the harassment as I felt like I was in danger. I erroneously thought that the issue had been resolved in a way that wouldn’t put either of us in contact with the criminal legal system.

That was my earnest attempt to live according to my values, and I deeply appreciate everyone who attempted to advocate on my behalf to end the harassment in a noncarceral way. Unfortunately, I am forced to go through this system. Though I am still afraid for my physical safety, I aim to move forward with courage and defend myself against these absurd and unfounded claims.

Since the matter has escalated, I am asking my community for continued support as I seek legal representation.

Litigation is expensive and time-consuming. I am still paying back loans from my last defamation lawsuit. I don’t have time, energy, money, or capacity for this. I would appreciate any support you can offer.

Check the LinkTree in my bio for all the links. by @_brendiee

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a month ago

on Tuesday, September 1st, 2026, a Baltimore City Sheriff’s Deputy served me with a summons for a new defamation case. the plaintiff is Bria Jones, and she is petitioning the court for $32,000 for damages. she is choosing to represent herself.

in a previous statement published in June, I came forward about the harassment I have been experiencing from Bria since November 2025. there I published the harassing and threatening messages Bria has been sending me. none of these messages were included in the filing.

in addition, the filing reads as if a large language model AI was used & the formatting of the documents are not up to legal standards. I’m not sure how this was filed, but given my experience with the NY State Supreme Court in my last defamation case, I understand that these things happen. these systems are not meant to serve us, and yet, we have very few alternatives.

I attempted to handle the situation without involving law enforcement, calling upon community support to end the harassment as I felt like I was in danger. I erroneously thought that the issue had been resolved in a way that wouldn’t put either of us in contact with the criminal legal system. that was my earnest attempt to live according to my values, and I deeply appreciate everyone who attempted to advocate on my behalf to end the harassment in an noncarceral way.

I am still afraid for my physical safety, but I aim to move forward with courage and defend myself against these absurd and unfounded claims. despite my best attempts to avoid Bria and end the harassment, it seems I have failed.

since the matter has escalated, I am asking my community for continued support as I seek legal representation. litigation is expensive and time-consuming. I am still paying back loans from my last lawsuit. I don’t have time, energy, money, or capacity for this.

I have already tried MD Legal Aid (they don’t do these kinds of cases, and I don’t fit the income requirement). I have been calling lawyers for the past few days with no success. if you are able to recommend lawyers who work on libel and defamation in MD, please reach out. by @_brendiee

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a month ago

I have received so much clarity during this eclipse season. this time I’m learning that alignment with my destiny requires me to open my mouth and ask for what I want and need.

alignment requires me to speak my truth and know that I will survive the aftermath, less burdened, more free, more myself.

what has this season taught you? if you’d like to explore what alignment feels like for you at this time, check out my current offerings. by @_brendiee

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2 months ago

MEET DOCTA MUTHA BRENDANE

Brendane is our archivist, a (reluctant) anthropologist, following in the footsteps of our Beloved Zora Neale Hurston. You will find Brendane at The Keeping Room keeping archival records, laying hands, channeling spirits and using her whole Body as ancestral worship and devotion.

Come meet us at The Keeping Room 2026. Apply now! by @_brendiee

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2 months ago

f*ck forgiveness.

yeah, I said it.

forgiveness is a tool of oppression, and it’s time we unlearned it so that we can live truly self-determined lives.

In today’s episode we are redefining “forgiveness.”

In our testimony section, we’re tussling with bell hooks’s Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery.

In our Living in Alignment segment, Brendane reviews The Polygamist (and reaffirms that every villain is lightskinned!) and gives some practices to cultivate the primary form of forgiveness that matters: self-forgiveness.

By the end of this episode, we hope that you will be inspired to forgive on your own terms.

Join us on Patreon to watch the full episode on video! Get 50% off your first month using this code: 0D8FC

Resources

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry on Forgiveness
Russell, Luke and Brandon Warmke, “Forgiveness”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

bell hooks. Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery

Marimba Ani. Yurugu: An Afrikan-Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior

Affirm in the comments: I will be a menace to my enemies. by @_brendiee

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2 months ago

in the upcoming episode of @blacklovedandfree entitled “f*ck forgiveness. be a menace”, we talk about the dangers of forgiving too easily, particularly when we experience racist violence.

what if instead of considering forgiving our oppressors to be a moral good, we saw that as condoning their behavior? would that change how we fight for liberation?

available everywhere you listen to podcasts on 8/19. Patreon members get early access to episodes and other perks. join for free at the 🔗

#spirituality #christianity #forgiveness #explorepage by @_brendiee

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2 months ago

the latest episode entitled “f*ck forgiveness. be a menace.” drops everywhere on Wednesday!

this one is a lil spicy as we explore forgiveness as a tool of power.

you can listen to the full episode everywhere you listen to podcasts. let us know in the comments: what does forgiveness mean to you? by @_brendiee

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2 months ago