Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and in The White House have put out statements, made comments, and put forth legislation targeting Washington, DC under the premise that the District is a failing jurisdiction. They are trying to put forth a narrative, a false notion, that the city is full of crime and has a corrupt government. The truth of the matter is Washington, DC is a vibrant, beautiful city that has its share of issues, and strives despite constantly being under attack for being vocally progressive, heavily Democratic, and rich in its Black population and culture.

On this episode of The Offshoot podcast, D.C. Councilman Zachary Parker counters the arguments made by members of the Grand Old Party. The District is doing well, especially in comparison to other jurisdictions. Are there opportunities for improvement? Yes, said Councilman Parker, and he speaks on three issues in which he is leading efforts to further the growth and prosperity of the city, its 750,000 residents and businesses. From the much talked about crime, downtown revitalization, the youth to rank-choice voting, economic activity and budgets, Councilman Parker provides insight to the workings of D.C. Government that very few people know about let alone understand.

Buying and selling a home can be a daunting task, especially when it is your first. There are so many things to know, and one individual can't expect to know it all. Now, throw in a change in politics that comes with much ambiguity and you get a lot of unknowns when it comes to buying and/or selling a home. This creates fear for some people - no matter it be their first time buying or their second or third.

To help ease the fear, three experts in the field of real estate take part in a lively conversation about the real estate market for 2025 on this episode of The Offshoot Podcast. Demond Pollard with Smart Realty, Lisa Gaton-Rapena with Homeside Financial, and Mike Brown with Rlah Real Estate share their knowledge and forecasts for the 2025 housing market. It's looking to be better than one might expect, which should ease some people's fears.

You can reach Demond Pollard at demond.pollard@gmail.com or 804-386-2172. You can reach Lisa Gaton-Rapena at lisagatonrapena@hotmeside.com or 301-437-8725. And you can reach Mike Brown at nextmovewithmichael@gmail.com or 240-244-6221. They are all on Facebook and Instagram.

From The Offshoot Podcast is another segment called "Thoughts." Life is Fair.

Most people can't define trauma let alone recognize it - even when they've experienced trauma themselves. Too often, we ignore and dismiss incidents and experiences that truly are traumatic under the auspices that it will pass and things will be fine. But the trauma is still there, and we often don't realize until after that fact or until it's too late the need to acknowledge the trauma and process it.

On this episode of The Offshoot, trauma expert Cory George answers the question how to recognize trauma? As someone who has recognized and learned from his own trauma, that date back to years, Cory defines trauma to provide a clear understanding of what it is to experience trauma. He dives into the trauma of Black Americans who he describes as having generational trauma. Additionally, he provides a way forward for any and everyone who is ready to heal and prevent their trauma from being passed down to their offsprings.

This episode of The Offshoot is 10 years in the making. It began a few years after the passing of my grandmother Irene Moody Nelson, at a time when I was beginning to question friendships - particularly friendships as relationships. My grandmother had the best friends, and there were many friendships she cultivated. To better my friendships, to work on them as friendship, I wanted to know what made her relationship with her friends so great. How were they able to be and remain such good friends until their deaths.

I sit down and talk with three of my grandmother's friends: Ms. Mattie Roberts, Ms. Ellamenna Bullock, and Ms. Flossie Ford. You may wonder why I use Ms. versus Mrs. Well, that's because I never knew their husbands. I never knew my grandmother's husband, James Nelson, who died in a tragic farming accident at age 50 (possibly age 48). Like my grandmother, these particular three friends of hers, and there were others, were without husbands. All had lost their husbands prior to my birth, expect Ms. Flossie, who left her husband. Growing up, everyone referred to these women as Ms.

Ms. Mattie, Ms. Ellamenna and Ms. Flossie, which is how I grew up calling and referring to them, all spoke, as best they could, about friendship - their friendship with my grandmother. At the time, Ms. Ellamenna was the oldest at 100 and Ms. Flossie was the youngest at age 91. Again, that was 10 years ago. All have past except, Ms. Flossie, whom I still go see whenever I'm in South Carolina. To see these beautiful, loving women on film and to hear them makes one want to have friendships that last 'til death.

People forget that Black Americans/African Americans make up less than 13 percent of the US population. But that population has impact far beyond the population of its size - culturally, spiritually, economically, socially, politically, and globally. The reason, or one of the reasons, Black identity is so expansive, and so well known and so copied is because of the stories. Most of our stories, rather it be movies, music, television, books, etc., come out of some form of oppression. Present oppression, historic oppression, inherent oppression. Because those stories come from such dire places, they resonate with people who have empathy. And they resonate on a lower level with people who have sympathy. And because of those good qualities in other people who are not African American/Black American, our stories, as a people, get magnified, and it creates a level of sorrow that people can’t help but to feel our pain. If they didn’t our stories, their influences in particularly, would not matter.

In this clip from The Offshoot podcast, Dr. Okey Enyia talks of meeting Black men where they are. Catch the full episode on various podcast platforms.

The Offshoot podcast has some exciting new episodes coming in 2025. Please be sure to follow and like to catch every episode.