Meet Tammaka Staley | Sex Educator & Spoken Word Artivist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tammaka Staley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tammaka, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
My business provides education around sex and sexuality which is typically excluded in public schools. By giving teenagers comprehensive, decolonized sex education content and workshops, I am giving our future generation and future leaders the knowledge they need to not only make these best decisions for themselves, but to also be able to create a consent culture where every body in this society feels respected and autonomous. That improves sexual health which contributes to a human being’s overall health and wellness. When people feel safe and able to choose for themselves, i think it makes the world a place where EVERY person can thrive, not just a few of us.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
So I am a sex educator with a youth organization called Youth Affirming Sex Education (YASE’), LLC and I am also a Spoken Word Artivist. I run a speaking and performance brand called Talks with Tammaka. On the poetry front, I teach writing workshops to teach youth and young adults how to construct poems and improve stage performance. I also facilitate dialogues in public and online spaces about various gender, racial, and sexuality inequities. Her passion for social justice resonates in her writing. I lean on my personal experiences and the experiences of other Black womxn, non-binary femmes, and girls for inspiration. What sets me a part from others in my opinion is that I want my works to not only be a source of entertainment, but also a tool to educate communities and other artists on how to unlearn, relearn, and recreate social norms. I think it is my responsibility to take what I have learned about social justice and community organizing work and give it back to my community. It is my responsibility to speak about and act on the social issues that plague Black marginalized genders daily, even when I may not be personally affected. It is my responsibility to create brave spaces for people to embrace as much knowledge as they can for the purpose of healing and empowering themselves and their bodies.

I am most proud and excited about getting an opportunity to work with teens consistently through the business I created. I created a whole youth organization and made space for our children to thrive via health and wellness. That in itself makes heart smile. Especially because starting this business was not easy and even now that I am almost a year in business, I am still making strides to get where I desire to be. The thing which keeps me going and helps me overcome challenges is the compliments and affirmations I get from my clients and supporters. Anytime I feel like giving up i go read DMs and messages from people who have either attended a workshop or just follow what I do online I am reminded of why I can’t ever stop. Seeing people say how much I inspired them or helped save their life with my words it is a big motivator to overcome any obstacle standing in my way.

One thing I want the world to know about my brand and story is that my brand is solely motivated by the desire to fulfil my legacy of a world connected through radical healing, intentionality, and justice. A world where every nigga is a star and Black folks just get to exist joyfully and that be enough. My story is layered and it’s one that I am proud of despite the daunting times. I embrace them too. That’s what I want them to know.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Aight so boom!

Bestie coming in town on a Friday afternoon right? The first thing we gone do is pick up food from A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen. It is a Black, woman owned vegan soul food restaurant. Think, all your favorite southern classics but vegan! Then we gonna take our food and eat at Riverfront Park. Beautiful scenery, tables and benches to sit on, and we can rent some bikes there after we eat and take a bike ride around the park.

Saturday I would say lets do Soda City Market! Its a farmers market and retail market with food and retail vendors and food trucks all down Main St. downtown. There are also usually a few folks performing on the side walk too so you also get some entertainment while you shop. The city blocks off just that street every Saturday from 8am-1pm for the Soda City Market.

After that I would say lets eat dinner at The Twist SC, a Black owned seafood restaurant. They are the best for crab boils. The rest of the week would be filled with brunch at Tazza Kitchen, mid-week drinks at Aristocrat and Wet Willies. Mid-week lunches at Cantina 76 on Devine and KiKi’s Chicken and Waffles. We’d end the week with Barbeque and other soul food from Big Bull’s and do night life at R&B Brill and Tropical Island Jamaican club and restaurant. They’re kareoke night on Thursdays is always lit. We can hit that up too.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a shoutout to my good sis Shaterica and my best friend Shydeia. These two have truly kept my head above water in this business and constantly speaks life into me. Their amazing energy has contributed to a lot of my spiritual and emotional balance. This has allowed me to sustain myself enough to work towards and achieve so many goals that is taking my business to the next level.

Website: www.yasellc.org

Instagram: @talkswithtammaka and @yase__llc and @sexfirmationgoddess is my personal page

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammaka-staley-msw-02a94b1b8/

Twitter: @sexfirmationgoddess

Facebook: @talkswithtammaka and @yasellc

Youtube: @talkswithtammaka

Image Credits
@aaronsmallsphoto and @theplaylix and @michaeldantzler.life all on Instagram these are the three photographers who took all of the pictures I uploaded, except for the one with the WREN logo. I am not sure who was the photographer for that event which was hosted by Women Rights Empowerment Network (WREN), However, I am sure someone could find the photographer by going to @wrennetwork on Instagram and DM them. This was from the WREN end of semester or end of the quarter luncheon in June 2017 at M Vista Event Space.