Hi Danny, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
The idea came in a moment – I was co-facilitating a Meditation workshop for men at Yellow Mat Wellness, a Black Woman owned yoga studio in Decatur. Siha Collins, the owner, is a passionate Meditation practitioner and teacher and asked me to lead the men through the asana portion of the workshop. All the men who showed up that day were Black and it was the first time I’d experienced the energy of being in a room full of Black Men meditating. During that workshop, conversations around Black male wellness, mental health, trauma, stress, and the collective lived experience of what it means to be Black in America came up. Internally I began to wonder about what it would look like to replicate this experience for multiple Black men. I began to connect with other Black male yoga teachers that I personally knew and others who I knew by association I began to share with them my thoughts around starting a Collective with a specific purpose of amplifying our efforts for our communities, together – with the specific aim of helping Black Boys and Black Men through our own wellness practices.
I also began to reach out to a few friends I knew who started nonprofits of their own. I didn’t realize that I wanted BBO to be a non-profit at the time, I just knew that I wanted it to be a community organization of some sort. One of my Yoga mentors, Brandon Copeland, was teaching Yoga to Black Boys in a private school in Southwest D.C. and I remembered being inspired by his work and wanted to figure out a way to replicate bringing yoga to Black Boys in schools. As the Collective grew by word of mouth the goals of helping our communities together became more focused – a lot of brothers were already doing work in their communities and the drive to amplify that work and to create an organization centering that work for more impact came into focus. We began to do pop-ups in Yoga studios, park events, primary schools, college campuses, community centers, correctional facilities, and faith organizations. Our network continued to grow and at present, we have 250 Black Male Yogis a part of our Collective in 100 locations around the United States and the world. Due to Covid, our offerings are now in open spaces in parks and online via our virtual Academy.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There has been financial uncertainty about funding specific initiatives. Navigating my personal response to both the pandemic as well as the maddening caste system within the United States. Mostly though, my biggest obstacle is myself and getting out of my own way. Aiming to stay focused and centered and striving to keep going.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My first love is writing, I try to do creative writing when I can. I’m known for teaching yoga and being a meditation enthusiast and the guy who started BBO. I’m not sure that I specialize in anything. I am a life long student. Deeply spiritual and reflective. I’m most proud of seeing ideas through into manifesting and for choosing to keep going when parts of me want to close in. I’m most proud of a vision that has at it’s heart the communal healing of my people.
What are your plans for the future?
My hope is to live an itinerant life for the better part of 2021. I’ve never traveled the world and I have this drive inside me to finally do so. I don’t have a family that I have to take care of or a relationship I’m in- it’s just me. I plan to navigate my travels around the world as safely and prudently as I possibly can. A big help for me is knowing that the network of 250 brothers in Black Boys OM spans over 90 locations across the globe.
Contact Info:
- Email: blackboysomofficial@gmail.com
- Website: https://blackboysom.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackboysom/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackboysom/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/blackboysom?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxDXwiuP9VHavujM1HFHxqQ?view_as=subscriber
Image Credits
Amber Rayne Brezaja Simba Sirena Charleston
