If you’ve ever waded through grief, felt full rage, or struggled to hold onto a feeling of joy, this episode is for you.

I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Tahirah Walker, a personal and professional expert on the power of joy as resistance.

This episode explores joy and how it often co-exists with rage and grief. Dr. Walker explains how joy is resistance because our joy is power. It’s a power no one can take from you. And it a power amplified when shared with others.

In this conversation, we consider all the ways we use joy as protection, whether inserting humor to diffuse a difficult interaction, laughing uncontrollably to deter unwanted attention, or performing joy to reclaim a feeling of safety.

Along the way we arrive at a powerful realization: Feeling authentic joy (rather than performing it) requires safety. So, when we find ourselves in situations where we are performing joy or having trouble accessing joy, it might be worth asking: what’s making us feel unsafe?

As you listen, you’ll delight in the joyful moments throughout our conversation. We cover everything from the thrill of making a basketball hoop from across the court, to Pittsburgh poet Toi Derricotte, to Ghostbusters blasting “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Higher,” to comedian Richard Pryor, to bee-shaped pins and fabulous hats.

Enjoy the wisdom and joy of Dr. Tahirah Walker!

More about this episode's guest:

Tahirah Walker is an educator, researcher, creative writer, and mother. She is the author of Rhetoric, Intersectionality, and Black Women in Pittsburgh: Living Enough for the City, a book about the power of words to both oppress and resist. She is the two-time recipient of the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh grant. Tahirah has a degree in Anthropology from Sarah Lawrence College, a Masters in Education and Instructional Technology from Carnegie Mellon University, and a PhD in Rhetoric from Duquesne University. Tahirah currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Community Engagement & Leadership at Rowland School of Business at Point Park University, where she has taught for many years. She has also served as faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University,and Bethany College. Beyond her professional and academic accomplishments, Tahirah is a fierce believer in the power of joy as resistance.

Connect with Dr. Tahirah: https://blackbooklady.com/

Have you felt responsible for attracting unwanted advances, touching, or harassment?

Have you wished you would have spoken up, resisted, or fought back?

You are not alone.

Victim-blaming is so pervasive in our society that, when we become a victim, it’s tempting to blame ourselves.

I know this because, for decades, I blamed myself for the assault I experienced in high school Even as I began my self-defense training, I felt responsible for what happened. I believed that, if I could just master self-defense, I could guarantee my safety in the future.

It took me years to realize: no matter how much self-defense I mastered, I would never be able to predict or control the behavior of other people.

In this episode, I propose an alternative to the victim-blaming (or self-blaming) mindset that so often colors self-defense courses.

Instead, I suggest reframing self-defense as a reclamation of our power.

Our power to respond.

Our power to chart our own unique self-defense journey.

Our power to reclaim the narrative, to tell our truth.

Check it out. Let me know what you think.

Want to stay connected and learn more about how you too can incorporate empowerment and self care into your daily life?

Subscribe to my substack here: https://yourpowers.substack.com/

Follow me on Instagram and Youtube

It’s time to embrace a new definition of self-defense.

Reflecting on my self-defense journey and my yoga training, I explain why self-defense goes far beyond physical confrontation to include all the ways we honor and protect ourselves.

We have an abundance of tools available to us: our awareness, our intuition, the wisdom of our emotions, our voice, our community, and beyond. And, when we tap into all of these self-defense powers, it strengths our ability to avoid and/or resist violence when we need to.

Honoring the breath and depth of self-defense practices available to us, I celebrate that there is no “one right way” to practice self-defense. And one practice can beautifully complement and amplify another.

My invitation is to create the self-defense practice that meets your needs where you are right now and give space for it to evolve. Through this conversation, I offer specific examples for what that could look like.

If you’ve been told that self-defense is all about punches, groin kicks, and eye pokes or if you’ve never felt like self-defense is “for you,” then this episode is for you.

Want to stay connected and learn more about how you too can incorporate empowerment and self care into your daily life?

Subscribe to my substack here: https://yourpowers.substack.com/

Follow me on Instagram and Youtube

The first episode of In Our Powers: The Holistic Self-defense Podcast has officially launched!

If you’re curious about self-defense but have always felt intimidated, this episode is for you.

After I was sexually assaulted in high school, it took me more than fifteen years to find the courage to take a self-defense class.

In this podcast episode, I share the roots of my resistance to self-defense training: denial about my past experiences, fears about physical confrontation, and anxiety about the psychological side of fighting back. I recall the misguided and confusing advice I received out of context and the advice that finally convinced me to move through my fear and reclaim my power.

Listen to learn more about the practices that helped me experience a level of peace I hadn’t experienced in a very, very long time.

Episode Chapters

00:49 — The beginning: a father's advice and the first seeds of self-defense A movie night at 12 years old, a wrestler dad, and words that stayed with Carolyn for decades — even when she didn't fully understand them yet.

02:21 — The assault that changed everything — and the 15 years of silence that followed At 16, Carolyn's math SAT tutor violated her boundaries. She froze. She pleased. And then life moved on — until it couldn't anymore.

09:46 — The Drew Barrymore moment that finally broke it open Rewatching Ever After during COVID, Carolyn saw a character wield her voice and her body with fierce, unapologetic power — and decided it was time.

12:17 — Walking into the fighters gym for the very first time Turquoise yoga pants. Pink pedicure. Hand wraps she didn't know how to use. And a dark parking lot afterward where she finally felt peace.

21:37 — The statistic that redefines everything: 90% of self-defense is not physical During her RAD instructor certification, Carolyn learned that the vast majority of self-defense is risk awareness, risk reduction, and risk avoidance — which means the practice starts long before you ever step into a gym.

Did you enjoy this episode? Let's stay connected!

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In Our Powers is hosted by Carolyn Fallert, a writer and trauma-informed feminist self-defense coach based in Pittsburgh.