On September 24th, I hosted a sister circle called My Sista Support at Minka Brooklyn. With 30 people in attendance, we played interactive activities, ate, danced, and had a discussion with a trans woman of color, Nala. I also took this as an opportunity to introduce my newly revamped blog!

As a champion for black women, it's super important for me to expand my understanding of black womanhood and create spaces that are inclusive to women of color. Since my last event, “I Am My Brothers Keeper”. I've made it my goal to host annual events to bring all people of color together. 

This past Sunday, my focus was to bring black women together to strategize through panel discussions and exercises on how we can support one another, whether that's through "encouragement", "sharing experiences", or "providing a listening ear", and this was all part of things I feel we achieved! 

Upon entering, my ladies were to write a word or phrase that describe their overall feelings currently on the blank name tags provide upon entry. From there, they were told to write down a self-care practice they usually follow on a separate piece of paper and place it in a jar right before they entered the venue. These two steps set grounds for the activities that I set up for the event!

 We then started with the first activity called, “Hey, Sis How Can I Help”?, where two attendees used their current emotions that they wrote on their name tags. They talked it out with a worksheet that was provided to find ways to support one another. 

Second up was, “Moving Forward”, where attendees were put into groups of 4 or 5. They linked arms and listened as I read their self-care practices one by one. They took a specified amount of steps forward only if their group collectively practiced the self-care practice that was called out. 

i.e. “move forward 3 steps if everyone in your group drank water every day this week”. If everyone in the same group has followed the self-care practice above then the group would take 3 steps forward. 

The last activity for the evening was a fireside chat between Nala Simone and myself. Nala is a good friend of mine and a former colleague. She's a trans woman, make-up artist, hair stylist, and an all around amazing person, please Google her. It was my goal to provide a safe space to Nala to share her experience as a trans woman of color, and to provide insight on her personal experience as well as give to my sisters, a better understanding on what it means to be a trans woman.

Since Sunday, I’ve been on a creative high. Immediately after the event, I had this deep satisfaction, a feeling that’s so profound because I really feel like I'm making a difference in the lives of my peers! We're already planning next years event, and we plan to make bigger and better to accommodate more activities for a larger group of people.

“I still feel tranquil”

— Ogechi

The food was delicious as it was pretty. The caterer was a mother/daughter duo, Renee and Ashley Campbell. Their catering business is, Just Like Mamo's.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the entire event. Everything was well planned and flowed seamlessly. Although, I arrived a little late, I don’t feel that I missed much. I still felt very included and welcomed.”

— Briana

“Went from feeling anxious to relaxed. Awesome event”

— Hananatu

“I feel at peace. I just love sharing space with positive people who are willing to empower in any capacity.”

— Emmerline

“This was lovely! please do this again :)”

— Jasmine

“I feel grateful to have been a part of this!”

— Stephanie

“We all should maintain a circle of safe space and have more conversations like this to experience new lights within each other for growth, love, and power.”

— Kaze

Take a look at the brands who sponsored our gift bags and raffle prizes.