Philly Winter Night: The Village Survives

 

🎙️ Welcome to The Akua Project’s Podcast Magazine!

Hello, beautiful community! I am your host and creator, Rakia Ari.

If you are listening to the background track right now, you are hearing something incredibly special. This week, I decided to try something completely new: a spoken-word piece I wrote, brought to life with music and voiceover generated by Gemini. This track was born from a recent personal incident—one that shook me, inspired me, and became the beating heart of this entire week’s lineup.

Here is a preview of the journey we are taking together this week:

🗓️ This Week on The Akua Project:

✨ Sunday: Mental Health Check-In We are grounding ourselves with deep, ancestral wisdom. We’ll be digging into two powerful proverbs that have been heavy on my heart:

• "You do not test the depth of a river with both feet." (Ashanti Proverb)

• "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

✨ Monday: Monday’s Revisit Start your work week with a deep exhale. We are reviving a beloved Mental Health Check-In from the archives of my blog: Breath by Breath, Just Let Go. ✨ Tuesday: Let’s Write a Story Together! My absolute favorite series continues! Bring your creativity, drop your ideas in the comments, and let’s build a beautiful narrative piece by piece.

✨ Wednesday: The Chat Room Let’s talk about it! Come hang out with me in the Substack Chat Room. We will be doing a deeper dive into Sunday’s Mental Health Check-In. Bring your thoughts, your experiences, and your open hearts.

✨ Thursday: The Cabin Getaway Get ready for the newest episode of The Cabin Getaway comic! The visual storytelling continues, and you won't want to miss what happens next.

✨ Friday: Story Time We close the week with an intimate short story written by me. This piece reflects on the recent real-life incident I experienced—the exact spark that inspired Sunday’s check-in and the musical track you are hearing today.

🌟 Become a Founding Member of Our Journey

The Akua Project is more than just a podcast or a magazine; it is a safe space for storytelling, mental health advocacy, and community connection.

If my stories, check-ins, or comics resonate with you, please hit that Subscribe button. Want to go further with us? I warmly invite you to upgrade to a Paid Subscription. Your paid membership directly supports my ability to create these tracks, draw these comics, and keep this beautiful, vulnerable space thriving. As that proverb says: If you want to go far, go together. Let's go far.

Drop a 💛 in the comments if you're ready for the week!

Warmly, Rakia Ari