We gathered today under the theme Teaching a New Tongue, a call to become conscious stewards of the language we speak, inherit, and pass down. As we expand the June series Word Is Born, we unpack the violence and possibility embedded in our everyday speech. Because language is never neutral, it’s a portal. A portal into cosmologies of liberation or control. We’re not just replacing oppressive words with progressive ones. We’re teaching our tongues how to remember freedom.
This episode calls in those of us who are tired of speaking in circles made of shackles. In “Teaching a New Tongue”, we excavate how language was weaponized to erase, dominate, and distort, and how we now reclaim it as a sacred tool for liberation.
We are not here to impress with our words. We are here to reclaim our cosmology, to remember that our tongue was colonized alongside our lands, our lineages, and our labor. This episode asked us: What are you saying without even knowing it? And more importantly: What worlds are your words building or breaking?
This is not about SAT words. It’s about soul. About truth. About turning language into a liberation practice.
Three Talking Points for Liberation Language
Each of these reflections moves through a thought-terminating cliché, a reframe, and a ritual prompt for reflection.
TALKING POINT 1:
Language is Lineage, And We’ve Inherited a Colonizer’s Tongue
→ Explanation:
Language is more than speech — it’s cosmology.
A people’s cosmology is how they understand the world: what’s real, what’s sacred, and who belongs. When you inherit a language built by colonizers, you inherit their cosmology too — one that erases, ranks, and restricts.
Thought-Terminating Clichés:
“That’s just how it’s always been said.”
“Don’t be so literal.”
Reframe:
“If the language I inherited teaches me to shrink, it’s time to teach a new tongue. My words deserve to reflect my freedom.”
💭 Reflection Question:
What phrases or expressions have you inherited that betray the world you're trying to build?
TALKING POINT 2:
Language Can Liberate or Legislate; Choose Wisely
→ Explanation:
It’s not “just semantics.”
Semantics is the study of meaning. And meaning becomes law. It becomes policy. It becomes how people live, or die.
When we say “collateral damage” instead of “children killed,” or “disorderly” instead of “traumatized,” we erase truth with euphemism. Liberation means telling the whole truth, even when it’s ugly.
Thought-Terminating Clichés:
“It’s just semantics.”
“Stop being so politically correct.”
Reframe:
“If language makes someone disposable or unworthy, it’s not neutral. It’s a weapon.”
💭 Reflection Question:
Where have you softened language to avoid discomfort or conflict?
TALKING POINT 3:
Teaching a New Tongue Means Making Space for Stumbling
→ Explanation:
Fluency in liberation doesn’t come overnight.
We learned the master’s language under threat and repetition. Reclaiming a new tongue is rewiring, ritual, and remembrance. It’s holy work. And it’s okay to get it wrong while you’re trying to get it real.
Thought-Terminating Clichés:
“You should know better by now.”
“Ugh, you said it wrong.”
Reframe:
“Stumbling is part of the sacred. I honor my effort as much as my eloquence.”
💭 Reflection Question:
Where can you normalize correction without shaming? Where can you grant yourself the grace to learn out loud?
Practice Your Praxis
SELF: Choose one phrase you inherited that silences your truth. Rewrite it. Speak it out loud to reclaim its power. Make it yours. Teach your tongue to tell the truth.
HOME: Start a conversation with your family or loved ones about a saying or belief that no longer serves. Ask, “What would it look like if we didn’t pass this one down?”
WORK: Offer a gentle correction the next time language erases or harms — and suggest a liberating alternative. Ask: “Can we say this in a way that honors more truth?”
Word Medicine: Cosmology & Semantics
Cosmology isn’t just stars; it’s the architecture of belief. Every language carries a cosmology. If yours is rooted in hierarchy and harm, it’s time to plant a new one.
Semantics isn’t nitpicking; it’s spiritual. When someone says, “It’s just words,” remind them: words are spells. And spells shape worlds.
VOICE Liberation Spiral™
Want to go deeper? Return to your body and practice the V.O.I.C.E. Liberation Spiral™:
V – Vibration: Your voice begins in your body. Listen to the tremble.
O – Opening: Speak it, even if softly.
I – Impact: Let the room shift. That’s truth doing its job.
C – Care: Tend the grief it stirs. Your voice is sacred.
E – Evolution: Speak again. Each time, freer.
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Final Reflection: Your Voice is a Portal
You are not here to echo the empire.
You are here to speak with the tongue of your ancestors, the ones who remembered the rain before it was named “storm.”
The ones who sang songs that carried people home.
The ones who knew that to change the world, you had to change the words.
This is your invitation.
Speak.
Stumble.
Reclaim.
Rewild.
Because your voice was never too much.
It was always too powerful for the systems that feared it.
In truth, tenderness and transformation,
Desireé B. Stephens
Founder, Make Shi(f)t Happen
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