Meet A. Raheim White | Creative Designer of RahCrystals + Transformation Wizard

We had the good fortune of connecting with A. Raheim White and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi A. Raheim, what do you want your legacy to be?
I want my legacy to be full of joy, bold expression, and lots of belly laughs. We live in a world where many things try to keep us in a fear-based state. Fear can make us disbelieve in the magick of miracles, love, and rapture. It can make us question our intrinsic value – planting seeds of unworthiness, and even block the very blessings that we are ordained to receive. I want my legacy to read, “Raheim Raised The Bar. They were unapologetically, authentically expressive and bold.” My intention is to be my most Divine, Light-filled, and radiant self in every space that I grace. Being empowered in one’s embodiment will do two things: it will amplify the same energy in others or make folks cower by their own insecurities. But what it will ALWAYS do is reveal the truth of how others feel about themselves. I welcome individualized expression. It makes the world more fun! And, as the adage goes, “Be What You Wish To See.”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have a unique, nuanced background with a challenging upbringing and I am now moving into self-mastery. Being a queer, male–embodied, femme-presenting being from Chicago’s Northside is no walk in the park. I grew up going to school adjacent to a neighborhood with the moniker of “The Jungle” and it was wild. Gangs, drugs, needing to be popular or “keeping up with the jones” filled the space. I, on the other hand, was the antithetical embodiment of such.

At fourteen, I discovered a truth about myself that was constantly shoved onto me with disdain by others; I was a misunderstood gay teen. Although I experienced a little more freedom in my body, I was at war with the world. Family and most “friends” tested my resolve and challenged my sovereignty. This would have broken me if I did not have the happenstance blessing of dance. It was dance that saved my life.

Longer story shortened, after earning my BFA degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a semester study at the Taipei National University of the Arts, I continued to pursue my craft all the way to New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where I earned my MFA degree in Dance Performance and Choreography, as well. I stayed in New York City for five years and toured internationally performing with various dance companies. There were amazing times and abysmal moments in New York. My adult healing journey began.

I needed tools to heal from my childhood and young(er) adulthood trauma. This led me to Reiki, a deep energetic healing modality that helps to restore balance on the physical, emotional, mental, energetic, and spiritual planes. I took to it like a fish to water. Three years later, I became a Reiki Master-Teacher. I knew that I needed to share this wisdom with others. Being an avid researcher and generally curious, I discovered other modalities of healing and trained in those as well. Currently, I’m also a 200-hr Certified Yoga Instructor, Social-Emotional Learning Facilitator, Akashic Record Reader, Sound Healer, Meditation Teacher, and dance extraordinaire. I became everything I needed in order to heal. My journey has been, and still is, layered, fascinating, perplexing, joyous, and magickal.

At 27, I moved back home to Chicago with a bit of self-loathing as I vowed never to return. I didn’t have a job, no communal system beyond family, no home (S/O to my Mum for allowing me to move back) and I was searching for something. With ample free time, I started wrapping crystals as a hobby. It provided me with peace and somewhere to place my focus.

I met a fabulous jewelry artist, Jeneba Koroma, whom later became a teacher of mine, who gave me this advice upon first meeting: “Create something every day. You’re not going to always like what you make but your creations are not solely for you. Someone will love it.” Years later, this wisdom helped to cultivate RahCrystals. RahCrystals is my healing adornment business. It is the lovechild birthed of my passions for art, color, movement, and healing. I say, “it’s like choreography with wire and crystals.”

Crystals were soothing but I had much more healing to do for me to release past damages. I joined a Sankofa Rites of Passage process offered by Dr. Pamela Phoenix on Chicago’s Southside and was reborn. Sankofa is a Ghanaian concept that means, “go back and fetch” or “to retrieve.” For 10 weeks, my Sankofa siblings and I had to “reach back” into our pasts to heal our trauma and bring that energy into the now. In this process, I healed my relationship with my father, my connection to blackness (as I desired to be white for most of my life), and discovered my queerness. I started going by Raheim, my middle name, as an affirmation of loving being melanated. I mean, “Raheim” is Black AF. Aaron gets a pass. My Kueendom was birthed and my gender expanded. My pronouns are They/Them and I identify as genderfluid. I am more than he/she, I am both of them.

I’ve learned immeasurable lessons in this journey and am still integrating all of the wisdoms. Now, at month 17 in ATL, I’m rebirthing again. Like the caterpillar, I am dying into myself to emerge in my Dragon form. Things that were once acceptable are intolerable – particularly, the entertaining of energies that are not in alignment with my greatest development. Practicing healthy boundaries and expressing when something bothers me instead of suppressing, is my current work. Do not mistake me, NONE of this is about other people. It’s about me being the best version of me FOR me; some one that I can be proud of. I’ve learned that my challenging experiences with others are just reflections of things that still require healing. This is lifework.

My spiritual practices of daily meditation and yoga keep me grounded. I cannot be a facilitator of healing if I’m not doing my own inner work. I mean, do you want a doctor prodding you who’s out of practice? Prayer and communing with nature also helps me integrate my experiences. My life is holistic. Everything is connected to everything else. Therefore, I am aligning with energies that help me to grow into my best self. It’s the fun and adventure fa me with deep conversations, accountability, and cry-laughing. I only want magickal experiences so, I have to be what I desire. And baby, I’m magickal.

I’m excited to share my gifts and co-create a marvelous community here in Atlanta. I’m magnetizing the people, places, and experiences that celebrate and enhance our lives, respectively. I’m also excited to explore some vending opportunities for RahCrystals. I love being out, sharing high vibes, and providing needed services to others. My intention is to help people master their unique expressions through conscious transformation. I’m always asking, ‘How does your creativity express itself?” Once we discover, love, communicate, and celebrate our individual magicks, the world will transform too.

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.
As I’ve only been living in Atlanta for 17 months, I’m still relatively fresh. However, I have had a few guests and we always hit up Little Five Points. To see amazing artists and creatives congregate at the corner of Crystal Blue, truly heaven. My first stop is Jacob The Face Reader, who’s typically sitting across Crystal Blue’s entrance. He reads your life through your face. This being knew things about me that only a person with eyes to perceive beyond the veil could comprehend. I highly recommend.

For all your thrifting needs, Psycho Sisters is the place to be! The upstairs is arranged by era, downstairs has awesome vests, denim, shoes, and accessories to boot. I’ve purchased some amazing dresses that are real head turners from there.

When we desire to people watch and connect to nature, Piedmont Park is the spot. That area is pretty much the gayborhood, so lots of interesting people pass through with friends, pets, and lovers to sit in the Meadow to catch the sun or play sports. I’m usually there doing yoga, and finding my Zen. Also, Front Row Yogi happens on Saturday mornings (in warm weather) and it’s a family affair.

And for food, Desta Ethiopian Kitchen is my absolute favorite. For those who’ve never experienced Ethiopian food, it’s traditionally eaten with your hands. If that’s too much for you, yes, you can request for silverware. Lol. The bold, rich flavors, vibrant guests, and portion sizes for the price are my selling points. Plus, it is just profoundly delicious.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shoutout my #1 supporters, my Mum (Tonya), my Grams (Mott) and my Granny (Olivia) aka My Love Warriors. I am the descendent of powerful women. They have all been pivotal in my growth as a conscious being, as a sun-daughter, as a creative, as a warrior, just everything.

I’d also like to shoutout my sista-from-another-mista, Aniysa Alexander. As a fellow creative rebel, healer, educator, and intergalactic being, who has empowered me to be my most expressive, dynamic self since Day 1, THANK YOU. Truly a wise woman. You can check her out at AniysaAlexander.com.

My Twin, Orlando, for always calling me out, holding me accountable, and pushing me to become more authentic. My Iya, Bridget, thank you for loving me through my hardheadedness and helping me to because my best version. And to the Black, Same Gender Loving organization, Adodi, thank you for trusting me to help guide our brothers to healing.

And to my parents of dance, Deidre Dawson and Pierre Lockett, without you, I would not be the dynamic performer, educator, and expressive soul that I am. I love and appreciate you and your work.

Books that have assisted me on my journey: The Four Agreements & La Maestria del Amor by Don Miguel Ruiz; The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Of Water and The Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Somé, Women Who Run With The Wolves: Myths And Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola-Estés.

Website: RahCrystals.com

Instagram: @arwhite7 + @rahcrystals

Image Credits
Photos by A. Raheim White