What is your name & location?
Dalychia Saah & Rafaella Fiallo, Creators of Afrosexology, LLC
St. Louis, MO and anywhere we are needed!
How do you heal or help people heal?
Afrosexology provides comprehensive pleasure based education centered around the narratives and liberation of Black people. We curate community discussions, educational materials, and sex positive events that cover topics such as: masturbation, self-love, enhancing communication in relationships, radical twerking, oral sex, body agency, and much more! We work with diverse groups including sexuality professionals, community organizations, individuals, couples, parents, youth, spiritual communities, universities, and anyone else who wants to live a sex positive life. Our mission is to educate, explore, and reclaim Black sexuality by promoting Black self-empowerment through sexual liberation.
What type of benefits does your method of healing provide?
Afrosexology has created spaces where people feel free to express everything from shame to sexual desires, challenge stereotypes around sexual agency, and build an affirming community around shared experiences.
When did you realize that you wanted to heal people/why did you start?
Afrosexology was birthed out of our desire to experience a more sex-positive Black community. One that encourages self-agency & promotes love in regards to our bodies, relationships, and sexualities. One that liberates us from the sexual shame & policing that we've inherited from generations of sexual & body oppression. One that follows in the tradition of Black sexual politics by seeking to rediscover and reclaim our sexuality.
Why is what you do so important?
We are living in a time when power and liberation are being sought out in many ways. Sexuality is undoubtedly rooted in self-perception, expression, and acceptance. However, in the Black community sexuality is full of reservations and restrictions. Considering the way that Black bodies have been forced to move, it's quite understandable, but now that must change. Afrosexology takes on the challenge of being a change agent. We encourage conversations around sex and sexuality as a tool of empowerment and freedom. Because we need it, it's ours. We deserve to experience pleasure in whichever ways possible. And, we owe it to ourselves to explore our full being without shame, false narratives, and miseducation.
What is your inspiration to continue doing what you are doing? What is the fuel that keeps you going?
Sexuality is part of our lives and our identities. It is ours to play with and to explore. We can experiment with any and every part of our being--making decisions around what feels great, how we need to be touched, and things we are not interested in. But we also grow and change with the universe, and old “ewws” just may become our new “ooohs”. Loving ourselves, rebellion, and liberation are states of being that, when seen, learned, and understood, allow us to face and dismiss our shame, guilt, fear, and trauma. We exchange it with peace, power, and pleasure. What is more inspirational than travelling a path of discovery? Well, one thing is doing it as a community and embracing curiosity, acceptance, and love.
How does it make you feel when you are healing people/helping people heal?
We cannot say with absolute certainty that “WE” are healing people. What we do know, is that our spaces can be healing. People are bold and brave as they share their experiences, learn what they were never taught, and challenge beliefs they were forced to uphold. We are not the experts of their experiences or their bodies but together, we are all helping one another heal.
What are your visions &/or goals?
Our vision is that we will reclaim and have agency over our bodies and that alone will transfer to other aspects of our lives and incite us to reclaim political, economic, and social agency.
Tell us a fun fact about what it is that you do, or something people may not know.
Afrosexology just celebrated its one-year anniversary and we feel honored that through our sexshops we’ve worked with over 6oo people so far. In the upcoming years, we’re excited to travel more and bring Afrosexology sexshops to other communities. So please reach out to us if you’d like to see Afrosexology come to your city!
In one sentence, what is your message to the world?
We want people to live their most pleasurable lives!
Is there is anything else that you would like to share about yourself or what it is that you do?
Yes, because of our identities, people assume that our educational content and sexshops are for women in their 20s. We are committed to working with ALL Black people. We have curated sexshops for men, for women over 50, for couples, for adolescents, for parents, etc. We believe that as a Black community we have so much to unpack and reclaim when it comes to our bodies and sexuality and this process is enhanced in a diverse group, where we can learn from one another, affirm our differences, and heal together.
How to connect with us:
-Engage with us on social media:
Facebook/Instagram/Twitter: @Afrosexology
-Email us:
afrosexology@gmail.com
-Learn more about us:
www.afrosexology.com