Hey, beloveds.
I’m Bethany Nicole — writer, cultural strategist, and creator of Soulwork, a framework for Black people, especially women, femmes, and MaGeS, to center wholeness, history, and liberation in everyday life.
I started this newsletter as a promise to myself to stop shrinking.
To write with my whole chest. To live with my full soul. To be Black, brilliant, soft, and stubborn all at once, in public.
Here, you’ll find essays on labor, lineage, wellness, art, anger, softness, and Black futurity.
If you’re here, thank you.
If you stay, thank you deeper.
If you want to support this work, Buying Me A Book. You’ll be contributing to the continued evolution of this space. That’s soulwork, too.
With love and teeth,
Bethany
Soulwork Archive Map
Core Soulwork Essays
Posts that offer guidance, frameworks, or structured reflection:
Corporate Mammy: On lineage, oppressive stereotypes, and quitting corporate
Explore how intergenerational labor expectations shape Black women’s experiences in corporate spaces through my story. Learn and what freedom can look like when you step off that path.Iron Pots & Kettles: On Inheritance, Potential, and Labor of Black Women - A reflection on the gifts, burdens, and responsibilities passed down through Black women’s labor and how we carry them forward.
Gently forward in a crooked room: A Response To Sister Citizen - A reflection on Melissa Harris-Perry’s Sister Citizen, exploring how Black women navigate the constraints of racialized and gendered stereotypes while claiming space, power, and self-definition.
welfare queen: On Work Ethic, Laziness, and Lies - another essay in the stereotype series deconstructing the myths that haunt Black women’s labor and reclaiming dignity and truth in work and rest.
Memoir / Vulnerability
Posts that invite empathy, reflection, and conversation:
The Intimacy of Scrutiny - My coming-out story, offered honestly, with reflections on visibility, self-acceptance, and the courage to be seen.
Belly as Borderland: A Soft Essay About a Hard City - A meditation on inhabiting space, body, and community in a city that is both tender and unforgiving.
I Might Be P*ssy - A confession of softness, honesty, and vulnerability. learning to honor emotion without shame.
Daddy Issues: TW – On Abuse, Wishes, and Disney Movies- Reflections on childhood, generational wounds, and the messy, tender journey toward healing.
Whatever is Mine is Looking for Me: Notes on Destiny and Self-Discovery- A personal exploration of self-alignment, purpose, and trusting the paths life opens in response to a quote from Alice Walkfer
Resource / Archive Posts
Posts that act as curated reference points or inspiration:
Soul Food for the Spirit: Recipes for Liberation - A family recipe, paired with a syllabus to guide your own Soulwork practice.
her life was a syllabus: Reading Assata Shakur across continents, movements, and memory - A meditation on the life, work, and legacy of Assata Shakur. This post treats her life as a syllabus, tracing her autobiography, letters, and the scholarship she inspired, offering lessons on survival, resistance, and the ongoing work of freedom.
Beyond Hustle: On Vocation, Labor, and Becoming - A mini Soulwork retreat in your inbox. This post unpacks the tension between hustle and vocation for Black women and MaGeS, offers key readings from bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Tressie McMillan Cottom, plus journal prompts and practices to help you discern your true calling from what’s been marketed to you.
Reflections
Jumping In: On Anxiety, Resilience, and Double Dutch - Lessons from play, persistence, and learning to take risks despite fear.
Grandma’s House is a Museum: On Archival Devotion - Celebrating Black grandmothers as curators of memory, culture, and love through everyday objects.
Logging Off to Tune In: Defining Soulwork and Examining Screen Time - A call to reclaim attention, focus, and presence in a world dominated by screens.
Each of these offers a compact reflection or insight; perfect for a daily revisit or contemplation.
