Today we’d like to introduce you to Ain Ealey.
Ain, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m from Denver, Colorado and grew up in a Black affirming household rich in historical, political and cultural references seeding me with the tools necessary to help heal my people. Tools such as empathy, compassion, resilience, commitment, cultural consciousness, and faith. I belong to a lineage of Black teachers, business owners, artists, and community advocates and credit them as being my starting point.
My main catalyst to being a social entrepreneur with work rooted in healing justices occurred as a student at Spelman College and later as the NYC-Chapter Membership Co-Chair of Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100). During this time, I and a community of young organizers worked diligently on pioneering and participating in social movements and direct actions that have lead to nationwide policy shifts and New York specific social change. As an African American organizer working with Black folk of the diaspora in NY, I became acutely aware of the pervasive culture of anti-Blackness and how patriarchy is upheld. After a series of harmful incidents combined with a supportive community, I launched SelfCare After a F**k Boy (SCAFB) in 2016. A traveling media project that views the casual mistreatment of women as a public health issue. With such framing, the project is able to measure the mental, emotional and physiological impact on women who date within a culture that pacifies the disposable treatment of women. Most importantly, the project exposes new cultural patterns in beliefs, attitudes, and actions that when corrected can lead us to co-creating a healthier culture that is rooted in emotional justice. Que Mos Def song “Umi.” SCAFB became the predecessor to my now non-profit The SelfCare After Series.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Since relocating to Atlanta from New York in 2017 the road has been filled with trials and tribulations, most profoundly the unexpected passing of my Father Luke Ealey, my confidant, coach, and dream supporter. Since then, both my faith and life mission was tested and strengthened. To be an effective healing justice organizer, I think one must first have endured and healed from their own trauma. At the very least expound one’s emotional bandwidth to hold the weight of hardship that reflects the community they serve; while maintaining grace and compassion to oneself and community. Our culture glamorizes wealth and extra-ordinary success at young ages, but the past few years have been an absolute struggle and I have had to establish worth, purpose, and meaning outside of our societal standards of success and without having my Maslow’s hierarchy of needs met.
While grieving my fathers’ physical death, I remained steadfast in researching and growing my business. However, many opportunities for Black women entrepreneurs center fiscally established STEM or Beauty businesses. Therefore, startups in the Arts and community initiatives are often left out, such as the SelfCare After Series. My mother often references Ecclesiastes 9:11, the race does not belong to the swift or the strong, but the one who endures to the end. Smooth road or not, I’m committed to the work the I believe will positively impact my community.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with SelfCare After Series – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The SelfCare After Series curates a series of artistically immersive and therapeutically interactive community-centered pop-up events in marginalized communities. We offer three different pop-up themes that invite us to ReImagine our communities, ReGround Black American culture and Black people in local establishments and, ReScreen old films that tell authentic cultural narratives. Each pop-up brings practical healing and immersive community-building activities to local communities that are subjected to a higher frequency of adversity. In sharing ideas, space, and healing modalities we aim to catalyze community care as a part of hangout culture, de-stressing oppressed communities in three trial cities Atlanta • Denver • New York.
Formally, we are a creative research and solution-based community intervention non-profit. With a scientific background, I conduct research using sources such as the CDC to the American Psychology Association (APA). Each confirms that race-based discrimination and stigma are stressful and such stress ill-effects our mental, emotional, physiological health and interpersonal relationships. My contribution to this racial-specific reality is creating safe, fun and social justice infused healing spaces where it’s needed most, in the hood.
My brand is most known for my SelfCare After a F**k Boy workshop, but will soon be noted for the Community Care Pop-Up Events! Our facilitators are a collective of certified teachers, social workers, healers, organizers and community members committed to equipping our communities with practical tools to secure their awareness, agency and wellness in real-time.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
The 1st SelfCare After Series Pop-Up Event happened on my fathers’ birthday, December 14th, 2019 at The Movement Lab! Our beta launch offered an intimate space featuring a variety of introspective, interactive, self-exploration and grounding activities. The turn out was perfect, and was made possible by prayers, hard work and my team. One week before my event I received in-kind donations from Kroger, Walmart and Target! My goal is to procure enough resources to sustain pop-ups every two months. I have big goals: I’m looking for people to join my team, establish a board, acquire space, strategically partner with Georgia based collectives, businesses, museums, schools, and more.
My biggest dream for now, is to partner with the Trap Museum for the ReImagine Pop-Up. Such partnership provides a powerful symbol of the trap reinvesting in community projects that leads to our collective healing in the hood. One day I will catch the attention of Killer Mike, a fellow community organizer I met during a protest for Troy Davis while a freshman at Spelman College. Most importantly, I’m looking forward to my business making an impact in real-time and co-creating a healthier culture that is rooted in emotional justice. How we treat each other matters. By mid-2020, I will launch the SelfCare / Community Care Kit, a subscription box providing people with a diverse set of holistic healing tools to better cope with social, daily and circumstantial stress.
Pricing:
- Tickets to our events are offered on a sliding fee scale.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://selfcareafter.wixsite.com/scas
- Email: selfcareafter@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selfcare_after/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SelfCareAfter
Image Credit:
Ain Ealey
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