April 29, 2025 • 8 mins
Today we're highlighting Shantasha Naomi Laing's poetry book "Not A Monolith: Poems and Musings of a Black Woman".
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha Brook your stuff. I
never told your protection. I heard you.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome to another activist around the world. And I
was informed this weekend by a good poet friend of mine. Yes,
local Atlanta poet Nate. Shout out to Nate. That is
National Poetry Appreciation Month, which I did not know. Y'all
would try to keep up with all these things, but
sometimes there's a lot of things at the same time.
But because it is National Poetry Appreciation Month, we wanted
(00:41):
to highlight a poet who came across my fip on TikTok.
I thought she was based out of Atlanta. She's actually
based out of Florida, and we wanted to take some
time to celebrate her work and her amazing book, Shintasha
Naomi Lane. Here's a bit of information from her site
Shintasha Lane dot com. Meet Shintasha Naomi Lane, author of
Not a Monolith Poems and Musings of a Black Woman,
(01:04):
her debut poetry book. Shintasha Naomi Lange was born in Brampton, Canada,
but primarily raised in Orlando, Florida. Shintasha is the eldest
of six children. Grew up in a Jamaican household surrounded
by many matriarchs in her youth. She moved several times
during her childhood, attending sixteen schools K through eighth grade,
which attributed to her adaptability. Dang Shintasha takes pride in
(01:26):
being a daughter, a granddaughter, niece, friend, confidante, and above all,
the eldest sister and bonus mom. Shintasha graduated from the
University of Florida, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in
health science. While her Tipoma currently collects dust in the
closet at her home in Tampa. I appreciate that I
just found my degree just down about. That's like a
(01:47):
problem with that somewhere. And yes, we actually purchased her book.
Really loved what she was giving. She read some bits
off of it on her TikTok page and I was like, yeah,
I must have this. She also signed copies. I got
the signed copy because you know, I wanted the special special.
So this is a little bit from her book where
she thanks the reader again. The book is called Not
(02:10):
a Monolith Poones and Musings of a Black Woman. She writes,
dear reader, thank you and welcome to Not a Monolith.
This project revealed itself sometime in early twenty twenty, both
in the quiet and the madness of that year. As
the death soles steady climbed in the forefront of Lives
while the Battle for Black Lives was being broadcast for
all to see, I became enraged at the world around me.
(02:31):
I returned to what I've always known writing, whether it
be diary, intrigues, essays, stories, and eventually poems, the written
word has always allowed me to center myself. Over the
next three years, I would struggled with depression, anxiety, and
general dissatisfaction with the state of the world. Like millions
of others, I took many hiatuses while creating this project
and thought this idea might never materialize, But I knew
(02:53):
I had to publish this works as it firmly planted
itself in my psyche. Not a day could pass without
me thinking about Not a Monolith. The intention behind it
Not a Monolith is to express an authentic range of
life experiences through the cultural lens of a black woman.
Throughout these four sections, my hope is that you discover
relatable stories I dreamed that Not a Monolith Poems and
(03:13):
Musings of a Black Woman contributes to the greater phenomenon
we found ourselves in again as a Black renaissance with
love Shintasha Naomi Lane, And yes, I think she does
a fantastic job in that. And with that, I thought
we would take some time to read a couple because
of obviously we need you to buy this book, We're
just going to give you teasers of what poems really
(03:35):
spoke to us. So any did you pick out one
for us?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I did, And just to explain a little bit more,
it is split into sections that are kind of based
on emotions or themes. It was a tough It was
tough to pick out one. I had a couple of
final contenders, but I did choose one that's a.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Little sad.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
And also the length varies pretty widely, which I like.
But this one is called make a safe space for us.
You declare protection, Yet it is us who are left
carrying in the streets, left to live with the PTSD
of all the women before and all the women who
will tragically befriend the wrong man, walk down a wrong path,
(04:17):
drink the wrong drink, wear the wrong dress, say the
wrong thing, And will it be you that makes it right?
Will it be you? Who holds friends accountable? Or is
it all pageantry?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
It is a little sad. That's deep questions, deep deep questions.
One of the ones that I picked out is called
the breaking Point, which she did feature on one of
her videos on TikTok, which was like, yes, I need this,
so I thought I would do it too. The breaking
point be free. The alternative is lethal. There's so much
(04:51):
more cultural philosophy. Curiosity is waiting on us. How much
longer can we endure this continued imprisonment? Among the tortured
who realized this is not living. We've been drowning for
so long, been trapped for so long. Hear them whispering,
please rest, And I thought, she also has these little
musings on here, and this one really spoke to me
(05:13):
because I understood it is as amusing? Is number sixteen
this or that? And it's am I depressed? Or is
it these birth control side effects?
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Yes, it's so real.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
It's so real. And I was like, no, really, what
is wrong with me? Is it because of this? Or
is it because of the pills I'm having to take?
And then one other one is they shall appear. Sometimes
we forget the power of our own tongue. How many
times have we spoken life into the unknown for certainty
from the uncertain? Our tongue a tool of unimaginable influence,
(05:47):
a weapon to yield brilliantly. I thought that was very powerful,
and obviously that's what she's doing with this book. Again,
I think it's really worth investing in with like poets
who are are trying to create their brand, who are
writing things that are beautiful and needed in this time
of darkness. As a person from the South, as a
(06:08):
person from Florida, I understand the depth of pain. Like
there's a whole different level of pain coming from arias
like this which seem to really really really want to
deepen the divide, especially when it comes to people of color,
especially when it comes to Black women, especially when it
comes to the marginalized community, and having these moments to
(06:32):
being able to center yourself is difficult. So we wanted
to celebrate Lane's work. So you can find her on
her site Shintasha Lane dot com, which is s h
A n t A s h A l i I
n G dot com. We can find her book, her
debut book, which is amazing. With all of her poetry,
(06:53):
you can write stories from her own life, about her
what her travels, how her how she came upon writing
this book. The process again one of the post's origins,
how my year in China resparked my poetry, which is
a fantastic bit an insight about her poetry and about
(07:14):
how she came about it. So I think it's really
interesting and really important that we do have more and
more voices out there, and that we are listening to
these voices, and that we are uplifting these voices by
buying and purchasing and supporting them as well. As she's
saying to review, I haven't done that yet, so I
need to go find somewhere to review. I think since
I bought it through the TikTok shop, one of the
(07:36):
few purchases that I've ever done on TikTok, I've been
making fun of my partner, who buys a lot from TikTok,
but this is one of the few purchases that I
had found that I was like, yes, this is a
Christmas present for both Annie and I, so very excited,
but you should take time to go and check it out.
The cover art is really really beautiful too, and that
(07:57):
was actually done by Chelsea Simone and it's a beautiful artwork.
So take some time, go check her out, Go buy
this book and then let us know what your thinking
and as well as what your favorite whole miss.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yes, because you know we love poetry over here and
so let us know. Recommendations also welcome. Yes, Well. You
can email us at Hello at Stuff onondevertoltre dot com,
or you can find us on Blue Sky at Master podcast,
or on Instagram and TikTok at Stuff I've Never Told You.
We're also on YouTube. We have a tea public store,
and we have a book you get wherever you get
new books. Thanks as always to our superdue Christina, Executive
(08:31):
pducer My and a contributor Joey.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Thanks to you for listening Stuff I Never Told You
xpection by her Radio. For more podcasts on my heart Radio,
you can check out the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or where you listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha Brook your stuff. I
never told your protection. I heard you.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome to another activist around the world. And I
was informed this weekend by a good poet friend of mine. Yes,
local Atlanta poet Nate. Shout out to Nate. That is
National Poetry Appreciation Month, which I did not know. Y'all
would try to keep up with all these things, but
sometimes there's a lot of things at the same time.
But because it is National Poetry Appreciation Month, we wanted
(00:41):
to highlight a poet who came across my fip on TikTok.
I thought she was based out of Atlanta. She's actually
based out of Florida, and we wanted to take some
time to celebrate her work and her amazing book, Shintasha
Naomi Lane. Here's a bit of information from her site
Shintasha Lane dot com. Meet Shintasha Naomi Lane, author of
Not a Monolith Poems and Musings of a Black Woman,
(01:04):
her debut poetry book. Shintasha Naomi Lange was born in Brampton, Canada,
but primarily raised in Orlando, Florida. Shintasha is the eldest
of six children. Grew up in a Jamaican household surrounded
by many matriarchs in her youth. She moved several times
during her childhood, attending sixteen schools K through eighth grade,
which attributed to her adaptability. Dang Shintasha takes pride in
(01:26):
being a daughter, a granddaughter, niece, friend, confidante, and above all,
the eldest sister and bonus mom. Shintasha graduated from the
University of Florida, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in
health science. While her Tipoma currently collects dust in the
closet at her home in Tampa. I appreciate that I
just found my degree just down about. That's like a
(01:47):
problem with that somewhere. And yes, we actually purchased her book.
Really loved what she was giving. She read some bits
off of it on her TikTok page and I was like, yeah,
I must have this. She also signed copies. I got
the signed copy because you know, I wanted the special special.
So this is a little bit from her book where
she thanks the reader again. The book is called Not
(02:10):
a Monolith Poones and Musings of a Black Woman. She writes,
dear reader, thank you and welcome to Not a Monolith.
This project revealed itself sometime in early twenty twenty, both
in the quiet and the madness of that year. As
the death soles steady climbed in the forefront of Lives
while the Battle for Black Lives was being broadcast for
all to see, I became enraged at the world around me.
(02:31):
I returned to what I've always known writing, whether it
be diary, intrigues, essays, stories, and eventually poems, the written
word has always allowed me to center myself. Over the
next three years, I would struggled with depression, anxiety, and
general dissatisfaction with the state of the world. Like millions
of others, I took many hiatuses while creating this project
and thought this idea might never materialize, But I knew
(02:53):
I had to publish this works as it firmly planted
itself in my psyche. Not a day could pass without
me thinking about Not a Monolith. The intention behind it
Not a Monolith is to express an authentic range of
life experiences through the cultural lens of a black woman.
Throughout these four sections, my hope is that you discover
relatable stories I dreamed that Not a Monolith Poems and
(03:13):
Musings of a Black Woman contributes to the greater phenomenon
we found ourselves in again as a Black renaissance with
love Shintasha Naomi Lane, And yes, I think she does
a fantastic job in that. And with that, I thought
we would take some time to read a couple because
of obviously we need you to buy this book, We're
just going to give you teasers of what poems really
(03:35):
spoke to us. So any did you pick out one
for us?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I did, And just to explain a little bit more,
it is split into sections that are kind of based
on emotions or themes. It was a tough It was
tough to pick out one. I had a couple of
final contenders, but I did choose one that's a.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Little sad.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
And also the length varies pretty widely, which I like.
But this one is called make a safe space for us.
You declare protection, Yet it is us who are left
carrying in the streets, left to live with the PTSD
of all the women before and all the women who
will tragically befriend the wrong man, walk down a wrong path,
(04:17):
drink the wrong drink, wear the wrong dress, say the
wrong thing, And will it be you that makes it right?
Will it be you? Who holds friends accountable? Or is
it all pageantry?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
It is a little sad. That's deep questions, deep deep questions.
One of the ones that I picked out is called
the breaking Point, which she did feature on one of
her videos on TikTok, which was like, yes, I need this,
so I thought I would do it too. The breaking
point be free. The alternative is lethal. There's so much
(04:51):
more cultural philosophy. Curiosity is waiting on us. How much
longer can we endure this continued imprisonment? Among the tortured
who realized this is not living. We've been drowning for
so long, been trapped for so long. Hear them whispering,
please rest, And I thought, she also has these little
musings on here, and this one really spoke to me
(05:13):
because I understood it is as amusing? Is number sixteen
this or that? And it's am I depressed? Or is
it these birth control side effects?
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Yes, it's so real.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
It's so real. And I was like, no, really, what
is wrong with me? Is it because of this? Or
is it because of the pills I'm having to take?
And then one other one is they shall appear. Sometimes
we forget the power of our own tongue. How many
times have we spoken life into the unknown for certainty
from the uncertain? Our tongue a tool of unimaginable influence,
(05:47):
a weapon to yield brilliantly. I thought that was very powerful,
and obviously that's what she's doing with this book. Again,
I think it's really worth investing in with like poets
who are are trying to create their brand, who are
writing things that are beautiful and needed in this time
of darkness. As a person from the South, as a
(06:08):
person from Florida, I understand the depth of pain. Like
there's a whole different level of pain coming from arias
like this which seem to really really really want to
deepen the divide, especially when it comes to people of color,
especially when it comes to Black women, especially when it
comes to the marginalized community, and having these moments to
(06:32):
being able to center yourself is difficult. So we wanted
to celebrate Lane's work. So you can find her on
her site Shintasha Lane dot com, which is s h
A n t A s h A l i I
n G dot com. We can find her book, her
debut book, which is amazing. With all of her poetry,
(06:53):
you can write stories from her own life, about her
what her travels, how her how she came upon writing
this book. The process again one of the post's origins,
how my year in China resparked my poetry, which is
a fantastic bit an insight about her poetry and about
(07:14):
how she came about it. So I think it's really
interesting and really important that we do have more and
more voices out there, and that we are listening to
these voices, and that we are uplifting these voices by
buying and purchasing and supporting them as well. As she's
saying to review, I haven't done that yet, so I
need to go find somewhere to review. I think since
I bought it through the TikTok shop, one of the
(07:36):
few purchases that I've ever done on TikTok, I've been
making fun of my partner, who buys a lot from TikTok,
but this is one of the few purchases that I
had found that I was like, yes, this is a
Christmas present for both Annie and I, so very excited,
but you should take time to go and check it out.
The cover art is really really beautiful too, and that
(07:57):
was actually done by Chelsea Simone and it's a beautiful artwork.
So take some time, go check her out, Go buy
this book and then let us know what your thinking
and as well as what your favorite whole miss.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yes, because you know we love poetry over here and
so let us know. Recommendations also welcome. Yes, Well. You
can email us at Hello at Stuff onondevertoltre dot com,
or you can find us on Blue Sky at Master podcast,
or on Instagram and TikTok at Stuff I've Never Told You.
We're also on YouTube. We have a tea public store,
and we have a book you get wherever you get
new books. Thanks as always to our superdue Christina, Executive
(08:31):
pducer My and a contributor Joey.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Thanks to you for listening Stuff I Never Told You
xpection by her Radio. For more podcasts on my heart Radio,
you can check out the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or where you listen to your favorite shows.
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