Ɛte Sɛn?
Ɛte sɛn? is Twi (Akan language) for ‘How are you?/How is it?’.
Too often, if asked at all, we don’t give or have space to honestly answer. In an existence where Black pain is ignored, this question is important to ask each other from an intentional, present space. We matter.
How are you, Fam?
How is it?
We are two Black, non-binary, queer providers of care to primarily Black and Brown, trans, non-binary, gnc, queer, fat, disabled, polyamorous/non-monogamous, kinky folks and their families in the Bay Area. We have witnessed and experienced firsthand challenges in finding Black queer and trans providers that share our identities, experience, and knowing. In our provider communities, we have seen and experienced a consistent demand for Black providers to give support in the beautiful ways that only we can.
Goals & Outreach
Resistance, Resilience, Rest
Goal
Raise and Distribute
$100,000
We have a goal of raising $100K to provide 50 Bay Area Black trans and queer therapists (licensed and pre-licensed) with $2000 each, to support them in taking time off for self-restoration.
We aim to support these therapists with this monetary offering to lessen the financial barrier to taking time away from work.
We aim to connect these therapists to other community resources to support their restoration and recovery time away.
Who can apply?
Black Queer & Trans
Licensed & Pre-Licensed
Therapists
This offering is for SF Bay Area Black queer & trans therapist who have been raised and socialized in US flavored white supremacy. It is for those who read as and identify as Black in the system of white supremacy and have been impacted by it. We also welcome those whose are African who are not raised here to apply as well.
Note: If you didn't identify as Black until 2020 please miss us entirely. This is not for you. But please donate.
How else can you support this effort?
Share!
Reach out if you have resources that you would like to donate to our recipients
Share this fundraiser
Share the application with Black queer and nb trans therapists
Organizers
Ella Ofori
They/Them
I am a Black/African, non-binary, queer, (small) fat mental health therapist. My private practice primarily serves Black and Brown trans, queer, and non-binary individuals and families. Most of my clients are providers, activists, organizers, teachers, artists that either do or are working towards understanding and embracing their roots. I work from a collectivist, Womanist/Black feminist influenced framework and hold the impact of intergenerational trauma and white supremacy in relationship to the challenges my clients face. I practice non-hierarchical support and center healing in community/relationship. I also provide a heart, value, and culture-centered framework for program evaluation, consultation, and storytelling/public speaking for colleagues, grassroots orgs and academic institutions.
I pull from my life experiences and in combination with my growing spiritual knowing, I use aspects of herbalism, divining, crystals, ritual, ancestor relationship and connection, storytelling, and spiritual relationship building to support myself, my friends, family, clients, and larger community in healing and movement towards freedom.
Irene McCalphin
They/Them
Black | Fat | Queer | Gender Non Binary
Magic, massage, storytelling and performance art are tools I use to liberate, heal and reclaim space for marginalized and oppressed communities.
I have facilitated and spoken at events such as Baycon, NOLOSE, Fat Activist Conference: Tools for the Revolution , Fatty Affair, Pantheacon, Mystic South and The Northwest Pagan Conference.
I have spoken at several universities including Berkeley, Stanford and San Jose State regarding intersectionality, sex, fat, feminism and health. My most recent published work can be found in “The Politics of Size” co-authored with Juana Tango and edited by Ragen Chastian and my journey documented in interviews in Nia King’s “Queer and Trans Artist of Color”.
Project Ɛte Sɛn, COVID & Black Resistance
In this specific time of COVID and continued Black resistance, it is more important than ever for us to take the intentional time to ask, “How are you?”. Our Black therapists have been asking and holding our big and complicated responses to this question without much reprieve over the past several months and will continue to do so. Black providers that hold the hearts, spirits, and bodies of our community members deserve to have this question asked of them too. Black providers need to be held in their need for rest, reflection, and recovery.
Black therapists, specifically, have been voicing challenges in feeling able to take breaks from supporting others, even when they are in need of rest and self-care. We want to help remove some of the financial barrier of taking needed time to rest and support our fellow Black providers in making the needed space to take care of themselves. We are asking Black therapists, “how are you?”
Our Support Team
The Body Political is our fiscal sponsor. We appreciate non-Black folks that move out of the way and give their labor and access in support of us supporting Us.
Soul Refuge has graciously given care packages for all the therapists that are recipients of this project. This is what Soul Refuge has done and here’s their website and the healers that have contributed this medicine. We thank you.
It has now become more apparent to many how vital it is for Black people to receive support, especially mental health support, from people that know and live our experiences. For Black trans and queer families, it’s imperative that our support networks reflect our intersecting identities and experiences. Black trans and queer therapist are pioneers and groundbreakers within our communities.
Supporting these Healers is an act of resistance.
Supporting these Healers is supporting Black Lives.
Supporting these Healers is supporting our collective ability to thrive.
Join Us & Stay Informed
Contact Ɛte Sɛn
Oakland, Ca