Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tammaka Staley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tammaka, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
Yes! I am absolutely happy as a creative. My biggest joy in life is that I get to create joy for myself and people around me. Being a creative full time allows me the flexibility to do things like take breaks during the work day to stretch, have a dance or hoopyogini break, eat lunch with my girlfriend, or go get my nails done. These things bring me so much joy and joy truly is our birthright. I could not do those things when I had a regular job or 9-5 job so I never wonder what it would be like to have one. Been there, done that, had that burnout! I love that I am creating the life I deserve and inspiring others to do the same through their creative mediums.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a sex educator, a spoken word artivist, a thought-leader, storyteller, a community organizer, and a lover. I am born and raised in Columbia, SC and I am the Founder and CEO of Youth Affirming Sex Education (YASÉ), LLC. YASÉ is a youth organization specializing in harm-reductive, decolonized sex education services for Black and Queer 12-19-year-olds, parents, and youth professionals. My mission is to provide culturally sound workshops, curriculum, and one-on-one parent sessions to encourage healthy sex practices so all youth can have the tools to affirm themselves and their communities. I got started in the sexual industry when I was 15 years old through a mentor. Her name is Miss India and she changed my life for the better. I had a lot of questions about sex and sexuality as a young person that I could and did not receive from anyone around me until I met Miss India. She allowed me to shadow her leading a peer group of Black teen mothers. Watching her not only answered a lot of my questions, but it also made me feel seen as a sexual being. She was so compassionate to the girls in her peer group and seeing them feel affirmed and enlightened illustrated to me the power of sex education and empathy. From then on I knew I wanted to be somebody else’s Miss India. After years of more shadowing, volunteering at multiple clinics, and being the lead sex educator at a local youth organization, I birthed YASÉ in August 2020.
The services and products I offer are youth workshops, one-on-one parent sessions, branded t-shirts, and consultations for youth professionals. I also create sexual health content on instagram for teens and adults. For my teens, you can see content @weareyase and for adults you can view sexual health content @sexfirmationgoddess because adults need sex ed too. =)
Through my work, I solve the problem of misseducation and access to information. I do this through providing content on two different social media plat forms which informs, enlightens, and entertains a variety of ages about sexuality and sexual health. I, like many Black adults in America, did not have comprehensive sex education, let alone sex education that centered Black bodies and Queer voices. My content is accessible, inclusive, and provides a more thorough explanation about things like contraceptives, sexual kinks, sexual pleasure as a form of resistance and ways in which systemic structures impact our access to sexual health care needs like abortion or gender affirming medications.
I want my supporters to know the purpose of my work is to create a consent culture and dismantle the rape culture and police state we currently live in. We get to live in a more equitable, imaginative world where ALL Black folks thrive, not just the straight, cisgender, and christian ones or Black folks we have been conditioned to deem more respectable. We get to live in a world where we govern ourselves and hold each other accountable. Soon y’all will see more tools from me teaching us how we actually get to that type of world through abolition and healing justice. I am currently developing my own sex education curriculum and will one day have this curriculum distributed in public schools across the country. I am dedicated to ensuring youth can make informed decisions about their sexual health, and I strive daily to create a consent culture one sexfirmation at a time.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I wish I knew about the free resources my local library offered! Richland Library downtown offers free rentals for ring lights, studio time, various technology equipment, workshops from other established entrepreneurs, and so many other free events that inspire up and coming creatives and business owners, Y’all…tap into your local libraries. You would be happily surprised at how much they offer to help you on your journey to save money and sharpen your skills.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde, Killing Rage by bell hooks, The Body Is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor, Pussy Prayers: Sacred and Sensual Rituals for Wild Women of Color, and literally anything written by Kimberle Crenshaw on Intersectionality. These literary works shaped my approach on how to discuss race, gender, and sexuality as co-occurring identities. These works have also allowed me to improve my balance between giving folks grace and telling them where to go and how to get there as a means of self-preservation. Especially in regards to informing people about systemic structures. There is very little either/or philosophies for me. And/both has become my motto for life now.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.weareyase.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareyase
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yasellc/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammaka-staley-msw-02a94b1b8
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@weareyase?lang=en
Image Credits
Bee Turner https://www.instagram.com/iambeeturner_photography/