Testimony
Conversations and recorded witness where lived truth is spoken aloud.
These testimonies are offered freely and are meant to be received, not consumed — providing recognition and resonance rather than instruction.
Truth, Given Language.
You don’t need more answers.
You need words for what has already happened.
Lips and Language offers mentorship and teaching through writing, scripture, and structured reflection.
The work helps people understand how past experiences, beliefs, and habits have shaped them — and supports them in building healthier, more intentional patterns for living forward.
This approach is called formation. It focuses on learning, reflection, and practiced habits rather than advice or quick fixes, with the goal of greater clarity, integrity, and stability.
Some people arrive through reading.
Others engage through guided formation spaces.
Both paths are valid.
How This Work Takes Shape
There is more than one way to enter. Each is intentional.
This work exists in three forms — spoken, written, and guided — each offering a different way to engage, at your own pace, without expectation or pressure.
Reading
Books and written work shaped by lived experience.
For those who want to begin privately, this path offers language and clarity through reading alone, without expectation of participation.
Formation
R.E.M. (Restore & Embrace Myself) is a 12-week formation intensive rooted in language, Scripture, reflection, and disciplined practice.
This is where the work becomes structured and communal. Participants engage in regular creative writing and reflection, shared learning, and consistent presence over time. The focus is on building clarity, redefining personal structure, and developing habits that support intentional living.
Because the work is relational and practice-based, it requires accountability, commitment, and a willingness to engage honestly.
Not everyone is called to this path.
Restore & Embrace Myself
Where Discomfort Is Met With Responsibility
Inspired by the book C.O.L.A (Casualty of Love’s Apologies), R.E.M. is the guided formation extension of this work. It is designed for those who are still finding language for their story and are ready for guidance in learning how to live with what has been uncovered.
Participant reflection from the C.O.L.A program held during detention:
" This program gave me a different look on life and the ability to be more open minded. I will go home and apply the things I’ve learned. I learned to share things without worrying about being judged and how helpful it is to open up about life issues. I have a lot more compassion for people and want to write a book myself. "
The Origin of this Work
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” — John 8:32
This work emerged from every hidden valley and dark place.
From sitting silent through trauma.
From sitting under emotional weight without language.
From sitting tearfully through moments that felt rushed, where I felt judged and without clear paths to be fixed.
This work emerged from every hidden valley and dark place.
I write and speak from what I have carried, questioned, and learned to name.
This has allowed me to understand that what is carried in silence cannot continue shaping belief, identity, and faith without consent.
The mirror is in your hand.
Just as it once was in mine.
If you recognize yourself here, you are welcome to stay as close or as distant as you need.
Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Hi, I'm Cola
I am a writer, speaker, and mentor whose work centers on language, formation, and lived experience.
I describe my role as a Creative Alchemist — not as a title, but as a way of naming how I work. I help people sit with what they’ve lived, put language to what has been unnamed, and move forward with clarity and responsibility.
My approach has been shaped by years of listening — to silence, to contradiction, to what resists being named. I do not rush people toward answers or outcomes. I pay attention to process, because what is rushed cannot be trusted.
This work is not about fixing or reinventing identity.
It is about refinement — learning to hold truth with integrity, patience, and care.
I work across disciplines because healing rarely moves in straight lines. Through poetry, writing, speaking, and mentorship, I serve as a steward of language for those learning how to live honestly with what they already carry.
My work is rooted in story and lived practice, not theory — grounded in the belief that the words we speak shape what we learn to hold, release, and live into with truth.
Life consists of many lessons, but I have learned that love is a language, and lips are the service of life. Every day we use words that either speak toward future growth or future lessons. Although love is freely given, we choose how we hold it — whether we grow it, keep it, or let it go.
“ Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof " Proverbs 18:21
Today
I decided to live
Washed my face, walked out the door and felt taller
Today
I decided to Love again
Cause Love runs so much deeper than the grave
I am no longer a slave
To guilt
-Cola
Ways to Encounter the Work
This work is offered through different forms — written, spoken, and recorded — each providing a distinct way to engage.
The memoir C.O.L.A (Casualty of Love’s Apologies) is available as a standalone work on Amazon or Spotify.
All formats are available through the links below.
Recorded testimonies from different moments and voices, shared as witnesses. This is an example of the kind of testimony you’ll find here.
These accounts can be found below.
The Lips and Language podcast holds conversations that explore story, faith, and formation over time. These episodes create space for reflection, resonance, and continued listening.
They live across different platforms — follow the links below to begin. 
You can watch the Lips and Language Podcast on Youtube
You can Listen on both Spotify and Apple Podcast.
More than 100 individuals have encountered this work through classrooms, workshops, and facilitated spaces.
"I learned that there are many ways to cope, and even though people have various reactions to trauma in life I shouldn’t always blame them. I also realized that people fight in different ways. I’ve learned it’s ok to share, I previously found the practice of therapy taboo, especially as a male in the black community but the open dialogue was appreciated."
What Often Emerges
Re-examining harmful beliefs and patterns
Increased personal insight and responsibility
Greater clarity, self-trust, and agency
Explore Working Together