Day 4: Sovereign — Expect Reciprocity

Today was about Sovereign. And sovereign, for me, is about agency. Black women deserve to be compensated for our work.

End of sentence.

I saw a Black woman promoting her book and someone called it “salesy.”

Gurl… and??? When you go to work, do you expect a check? So why are we supposed to create, teach, inspire, and lead for free?

Sovereignty means you have agency over your labor. And if you’re constantly giving your gifts away without reciprocity, that’s not sovereignty. That’s self-abandonment dressed up as humility.

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Whether you work for someone else or for yourself, the principle is the same:

* If you build something.

* If you offer something.

* If you create something.

You are allowed to expect compensation for it. Money is not evil. It is how we survive here.

Ease does not cancel value. Just because something comes naturally to you doesn’t mean it should be free.

Spirit didn’t give you gifts on accident. An embodied, busy-building being does not have time to be a hating being.

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This is why The Mediocre Black Woman exists. A spiritual house for Black women to be visible — intimately, spiritually, and honestly — without losing rest, humanity, or agency.

Inside this House, we speak plainly. We expect reciprocity.

Mirror Questions:

* Where have you been giving away your agency?

* Where do you need to raise the price?

* Raise the standard?

* Expect more?

This is Day 4 of being Seen, Simple, Sustainable, and Sovereign.

If this stirred something in you, download the Seen. Simple. Sustainable. Sovereign. Manifesto.

That’s where you’ll receive deeper reflections and real-time nuggets from me as this run unfolds.

Pulled by spirit. Dragged through the lessons. Still divine.

See you back in the House tomorrow.

xoxo,

Empress Theadora

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