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Mission

The Body Is Not An Apology is an international movement committed to cultivating global radical self-love and bodily empowerment. We believe that discrimination, social inequality, and injustice are manifestations of our inability to make peace with the body, our own and others. Through information dissemination, personal and social transformation projects, and community building, The Body Is Not An Apology fosters global, radical, unapologetic self-love, which translates to radical human love and action in service toward a more just, equitable, and compassionate world.

Vision

We believe in the possibility of sustainable social change, community, and personal health and wellness. We know such change must be built on a foundation of deep radical self-love. We are an intersectional, global, difference-celebrating movement that knows our age, race, size, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, class, and every other human attribute are assets toward unapologetic radical self-love and living. We know that each time we heal our shame, love our bodies, value ourselves, and step into our power, we give someone else permission to do the same!

Sonya Renee Taylor, 2011

In this picture I am 230lbs. In this picture, I have stretch marks and an unfortunate decision in the shape of a melting Hershey's kiss on my left thigh. I am smiling, like a woman who knows you're watching and likes it. For this one camera flash, I am unashamed, unapologetic.

This quote was a February 9, 2011 Facebook status I made after posting a profile picture of myself in the above saucy black corset. I was clear that my big, Black, queer body was not supposed to be seen or sexy, but I posted it anyway. This terribly frightening act was birthed from the outlandishly simple idea that no human being should be ashamed of being in a human body.

Less than 24 hours after posting that picture, a movement was born. People across the country began posting their own pictures and stories. Folks began sharing photos of empowered, perfectly imperfect bodies, shaped by differences in age, race, size, gender, dis/ability, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, class, and other attributes. They were willing to exist unapologetically for just that moment.

Since that profile picture in February of 2011, The Body Is Not An Apology has become a refuge for hundreds of thousands of people who have joined our movement of unapologetic self-love and body empowerment. Refusing to be held hostage by the body terrorism of the media and of the forces of social inequality, Unapologetic Posse members as far away as New Zealand, Thailand, India, and more have committed to dismantling personal shame and developing a new relationship with their bodies and spirits that is absent of apology.

The Body Is Not An Apology was created to remind us that we do not need to wait to feel beautiful, powerful, or worthy tomorrow. We can choose to act in honor of our bodies today, no matter the form they currently take. All lasting, healthy growth is born of love. Your body needs you to love it today, just as it is, however it is, unapologetically.

Sonya Renee Taylor

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The Body Is Not An Apology is an international movement committed to cultivating global radical self-love and bodily empowerment. We believe that discrimination, social inequality, and injustice are manifestations of our inability to make peace with the body, our own and others.

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In this episode Sonya Renee Taylor and I talk about body shame, radical self-love, and social justice. This conversation was a big unlocking for me - especially when it comes to understanding the connection between how we think about our bodies and oppression.

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Guest Info

Sonya Renee Taylor

Sonya Renee Taylor is the Founder and Radical Executive Officer of The Body is Not an Apology, a digital media and education company with content reaching half a million people each month. Sonya's work as an award-winning performance poet, activist and transformational leader continues to have global reach. She is a former national and international poetry slam champion, author, educator and activist with audiences across the US, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, England, Scotland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands as well as in prisons, mental health treatment facilities, homeless shelters, universities, festivals and public schools across the globe.

Show Notes

The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor

The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by systems of oppression that thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies. In this book, Taylor forges the inextricable bond between radical self-love and social justice.

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Podcasts
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Brené with Sonya Renee Taylor on "The Body is Not an Apology" | Brené Brown

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In this episode Sonya Renee Taylor and I talk about body shame, radical self-love, and social justice. This conversation was a big unlocking for me - especially when it comes to understanding the connection between how we think about our bodies and oppression.

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Sonya Renee Taylor is an author, poet, spoken word artist, speaker, humanitarian and social justice activist, educator, and founder of The Body is Not An Apology movement.

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My parenting mantra for the last 18 months and forever

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My parenting mantra for the last 18 months and forever

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But truly I have expanded my meditation morning and night.

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But truly I have expanded my meditation morning and night.

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As many "practice" and observing opportunities as possible

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That keeping people "at arms length" isn't a bad thing anymore.

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That keeping people "at arms length" isn't a bad thing anymore.

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Space & Grace to make mistakes and try again

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Space & Grace to make mistakes and try again

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Keeping in contact and checking in with eachother. Continuing meetings! They are fun! Learning is fun too! I learn something new each time and enjoy the company of everyone here.

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Giving more thought to what brings me joy, and actively making the decision to bring joy into my life.

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I really need help in the technology we are now using.  I would like to be able to do both virtual and face to face meetings when that day finally arrives.

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I really need help in the technology we are now using.  I would like to be able to do both virtual and face to face meetings when that day finally arrives.

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COVID Keep will be zooming and video chatting with far away loved ones more often

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Continuing journaling and learning. I took alot of classes and learned alot and am hungry for more knowledge

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Continuing journaling and learning. I took alot of classes and learned alot and am hungry for more knowledge

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Ping pong trivia with my husband

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One thing I learned about myself was to give myself more credit while having to learn new things quickly.  I.E, zoom and other new computer based "stuff"  I was able to pick it up a lot faster than first anticipated

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Not taking my friends for granted

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Continue with learning new things and making time to try new things on a small level.

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Continue with learning new things and making time to try new things on a small level.