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Chelsea Jennings

@unsilence_her

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When your linesister @classy1913 pops up in town and says,
“I have an extra ticket to #HBCUAwareFest… do you want to go?”

Heck yeah! I pulled out a gown to show off the bionic leg, found some Gucci flats, and was on my way. 💃🏽 I have the best LS ever!!!😘

Baby let me tell you… a TIME was had!
The Casino Royale theme was EVERYTHING girls dancing in glasses, crap and roulette tables, the best DJ @djeclazz hosted by Anthony Anderson and Rocsi, seeing the legend Magic Johnson, comedians, meeting several HBCU presidents and leaders and ending the night with the amazing voice of Wyclef Jean.

And the best part was hanging with my Skegee sisters Chelsea, Misty, and Yvette. ❤️
Special shout out to Yvette for being such a gracious host you made the night even more special.

I mean… what a night.
The event was intimate, grown, and sexy… just how we like it. ✨🎲🍷

#HBCUAwareFest #Skegee #HBCUPride #GrownAndSexy DeltaLife GoodTimes NoMessLife taken in Atlanta, Georgia by @unsilence_her

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7 months ago

🙌🏽🙌🏽 by @unsilence_her

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3 years ago

I finally sat down long enough to read all of the comments from my Kilimanjaro posts and I got excited again. 🤗 I realized I didn’t actually finish “the book”, so here goes!

The Summit: Reflections of an 8 day trek to the tallest point in Africa.

First, the picture that I couldn’t find:
Day 7 @ 12:30am, we started the summit. I looked into the sky and saw the stars as clearly as if I were sitting on the moon. After staring for what felt like an hour, they seemed to move in a strange pattern. Almost as if they were dancing.

But wait… they were NOT ALL stars. Some were the headlamps of the people who left for the Summit a few hours before us. It was SOOO hard to imagine that this where I was headed. Even harder to imagine that they were still in the beginning of their journey. Trust me when I say the picture would have been the ultimate money shot. 🙌🏽

- Mother Nature tried us. Rain! Snow! Muddy trails! On summit day, she said, let’s try to scare the ish out of them with high winds so they FEEL like they’ll blow off the mountain. And did! 🥹

- Oh, and by the way, a few of us needed oxygen right around 17k ft. 🙋🏽‍♀️Yup, I’m a few. Another case of where my guides knew what I needed before I did. The experience felt somewhere between emergency room triage and nascar pit crew.
- Oxygen mask coming from the right. Oxygen saturation check on the left. Drink this water. For quick energy - 3 guys feeding me M&Ms wayyy too fast. Still a little uncomfortable with that, but ok. 😬😇
- Here, blow! ***pause***
Now wait a Damn minute. I’m a grown a$$ woman. I can’t remember the last time someone had to help me blow my nose. 🤧 Admittedly, I couldn’t feel my fingers. 🥹

Growth happened in 8 days and my mindset shifted quickly.
***Day 1: thechair is damp and I don’t want to sit there. Day 6: the duffle bags are wet from the rain. Which of my underwear/socks are the most wring-out-able? 🙄
***Day 2 - a group of women spending 10 min looking for the perfect boulder to go behind for the bio break. Day 6 - we’re at least shielded from the men MOST of the time. Hey Girl! 🙋🏽‍♀️

Long post - Final words in comments
#kilimanjaro #africa #tanzania🇹🇿 taken in Home Safe Home by @unsilence_her

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3 years ago

👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽
“That’s why it’s not called mamma esteem, them esteem or us esteem…. It’s called Self Esteem!! by @unsilence_her

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3 years ago

Part 5 & 6: The Barranca WALL and random thoughts!

It took me a little time to process this part, but let’s be clear…. Some days were just super hard!!!

Re-re-evaluating my initial assessment about level of difficulty and implying the hike is technical-skill free. As a matter of fact, let’s just scrap that whole thing! Obviously doable, but this day was a reality check and I had to dig deep as we climbed what is unaffectionately known as the Barranca Wall.

This didn’t feel like hiking, but mountain climbing!! Not the same! Did I know about this part?? Was this somewhere in the fine print? Is this what they mean by ignorance is bliss because I might have backed out gracefully had I actually paid attention.

If you’re wondering if I cut this video right before the ugliest cry you’ve ever seen…. Close! I actually had to pull it together so I could keep going, but the tears weren’t far away at any given moment!

Damn overachievers in the video with me tried to make that sh*t look easy, but I felt like I was fighting for my damn life that day. 😳😩😂

Looking at these videos made me think about how we literally had to put our lives in the hands of complete strangers. Talk about blind faith. Who thought this was a good idea!??

I wanted to take more pics and video, but between taking off gloves, trying to remember which pocket the camera was in and dropping my toilet paper in the mud, I decided… get someone else to do it.

I’m climbing a whole mountain in the middle of Africa… Of course I needed my own toilet paper stash for when I hide behind these rocks!! 😏

Earlier, I actually used the phrase “doom and gloom”. I realized it was less about the plane ride or falling off the side of the mountain 😳, but more about… do I have my paperwork in order IN CASE something happens to me. Have I added the people that should be there and deleted those who will no longer receive this $5 inheritance. 😊. More importantly, have I made it easy for my family to carry out my wishes. The fact that it was even a consideration means it’s not as together as it should be. Don’t be like Chelsea. Get and keep your paperwork in order!

#hiking #hikingadventures taken in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania by @unsilence_her

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3 years ago

Trekking to Kilimanjaro Parts 3 and 4: Celebrations and random things…

I could share hours of footage of singing, dancing and celebrations. They uplifted us, energized us and kept us going especially during very difficult days. A few notables:

1. On day 4 when’s the altitude was high, the energy was low and we were fairly close to camp, the porters met us down the mountain, grabbed our day packs and celebrated us to the top. The challenging weather only seemed to energize the support. Tears, tears, tears!

2. Anyone else have an image in your mind of what you look like dancing, but when you see the video.. it’s nothing like what you pictured. Just me, huh? 🤦🏽‍♀️.

3. Sarah celebrated her 40th at over 15,000 feet. Talk about a birthday celebration that won’t be forgotten. And who is able to bake a cake on a mountain in a tent? 🙌🏽🙌🏽

4. Mari was just so cool with her sparkling wine celebration that I had to capture her.

5. Mari and Sarah were my planning, training, prep and travel partners and I just could NOT have done this without them.

Mid-trek randoms:

- Remember my initial assessment about the mountain being relatively accessible and doable. The level of difficulty was starting to increase and let’s be clear…. 7 hours of incline, rain and the occasional snow through and beyond the Tanzanian rainforest is nothing to sneeze at and had my thighs on fire!

- Vitals, vitals, vitals!! I truly appreciated the experience and diligence of Gladys Adventures with mini medical assessments done every morning and every evening to monitor how the changing altitude was impacting our health.

- As the days went on, mind/muscle connection was getting harder and harder. I literally had conversations with my feet/legs; it was working for the most part.
- Right foot… It’s your turn.
- Left foot… now it’s your turn
- Right foot… come through
- Etc!

- Other climbers, I’m sure you mean well but stop talking to me. Ok, talk… but stop asking questions. I’m fighting to catch my breath and if you’re not part of the singing and celebrations, we’ll catch up at dinner. Shut the whole hell up!! 😩

- That sunrise could NOT come fast enough.
#tanzania🇹🇿 taken in Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania by @unsilence_her

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3 years ago

Kilimanjaro Trek Part 2: The Only…

While not comprehensive in the least, the collage shows a few of my personal superheroes during this journey. Notice the one image in the middle.

You might not hear her in the video, but I could always hear her and I found comfort knowing she was there. The only woman! Her voice was clear, powerful and distinctive and could be heard with clarity and purpose above her 58 male coworkers (guides, porters, etc).

Speaking of the only. One of the guides told me that I was the first black woman he ever met from the US. While I was surprised, I wasn’t shocked. But still I had to let that sink in a bit.

It kinda made sense based on our “generalized” interests” and the fact that adventure is not our go to vacation.

I realize my movements can be a little different. As a matter of fact, my friend @iamkarenwsmith designated “I’m different” by 2 Chainz as my theme song…. Right after she told me I was her only white friend. 😏🤣

I’ve learned to embrace it! I also had to embrace that I was the oldest woman in my group and there was nearly a 15 year difference between me and the next oldest. I wasn’t expecting that.

Before I left for the trip, @lsamuel5 asked me Why did I want to do this? I don’t remember my response, but it must have sounded like Blah, Blah, Blah to her because she followed up with “But Why!”. After a couple of rounds, I realized I didn’t have an answer until I was about 3 days into the climb.

I guess it was just because I can - and I don’t take that lightly. It’s too many people doing it for me to tell myself that I can’t.

Right, wrong or indifferent, I may have spent too much of my life fighting my way out of the predefined boxes that other people put me in. Not to mention the ones that I put myself in.

Yes, I second guessed myself along the way, but just like in life…. I had to show up for all the black women from the USA that he’s never met. I definitely couldn’t be the one to give up.

We may be few, but based on the inquiries from my last post, Sounds like they just haven’t met my friends YET!

Random: Added a little trek over the waterfall just because!

@gladysadventureandsafaris taken in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania by @unsilence_her

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3 years ago

by @unsilence_her

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3 years ago

Love it!
Who got next??

Posted @withregram • @m2m.inc Venus and Serena Williams made history as the first black women to be owners on an NFL team! They have ownership stake in the Miami Dolphins that are worth $4.6 billion💰 by @unsilence_her

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3 years ago

Who can relate? Sometimes I have to remind myself that my voice deserves my confidence and conviction and so do the audiences that I speak to and on behalf of!

#unsilenceher #unsilenceherpodcast

Posted @withregram • @momlife_comics OBVIOUSLY this is a generalization and #notallmen and/or #notallwomen speak this way, but as a woman in the workforce (one who has worked in quite a few different industries since I started working at age 13) I have observed that women are much more likely to speak in a passive, apologetic style, while men—even men who have no right to speak with authority—are typically much more self-assured.

This comic is a reminder to all of the brilliant women out there to share your ideas with the confidence of a mediocre white man: don’t be afraid to speak up unapologetically! Your ideas and contributions are worthy! You have something worth saying! 🙌

What other examples of this kind of thing have you observed in the workplace (or anywhere)? 👇

Disclaimer: This comic is probably stupid and has probably already been said so feel free to disregard if you disagree—I totally understand and maybe this is just me! I don’t know…? I’m just a silly woman who doesn’t have any good ideas. NO WORRIES IF NOT!!!!!!
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#momcomics #feministmama #doublestandard #mentalload #overwhelmedmom #doublestandards #feminist #feministaf #femaleempowerment #justiceforall #feminism #genderequality #womenofillustration#womenillustrators #equalityforall #workplacesexism #fightthepatriarchy #businesswoman #sexism #communication #communicationskills #communicationtips #workplaceculture #feministquotes #feministmemes by @unsilence_her

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4 years ago

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4 years ago

by @unsilence_her

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4 years ago