Pleasure Called—And I Answered: Darkness RISING Mixer + Block Party

A few weeks ago, my girl Shy, Events Associate with Darkness RISING Non-Profit, personally invited me to their beautiful mixer to participate as a content creator.  Now, if you don’t know, Shy is a Black farmer, healer, and founder of Reclamation Farmacy, which is on a mission to share the knowledge and resources that we need to help reshape our food system. 

Quick Backstory 📖: I met Shy through a networking group for creatives on Facebook where we all showed up and poured into each other’s events.

We had a time at her garden manifestation experience. We got to do a Garden tour, have a sound bath, and then she led a plant and manifest session. It was beautiful and the best part was that her son was there to watch his mama in all her magic– so important!!

Later I met her family at a space that I was managing and found out that her sister Carlita was the founding Executive Director of Darkness RISING, and their beautiful mother, Cathey, serves as the Vice Chair.

This is a family of powerhouses, period.

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Now let’s pause here and introduce Darkness RISING!!!!

Darkness RISING offers mental health resources, art therapy, music, and live events that center healing through joy, movement, and culture.

If you have been around for a while, you know that these are all tools that have contributed to major transformation for me within my own personal journey. If you are on a personal journey and want some support, start here: https://darknessrisingproject.org

Follow my journey here: facebook.com/tachelb instagram.com/tachelabelle 

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After considering all that, when Shy messaged me about the content creator mixer for the Darkness Rising Block Party, I didn’t hesitate!

The vibes ✨: I arrived fashionably late due to mama duties (but always in divine time, iykyk). I was also thinking it was a casual flow-in, flow-out vibe (whoopsie daisyyy). I walked into a fully engaged circle of creatives, gathered around a conference table, glowing and vibrant and my eyes just lit UP. The mixer was FREE, but catered, intentional, and joy-filled which is proof that people believe in this mission enough to invest in it. I thought about my love slide analogy, jumped in and started to play. Dopamine CHECK ✅🤸🏽‍♀️🛝

I was in great company, too! Check out some other amazing content creators that I got to meet:

💫 @michelleadae – Her warm energy caught my attention right away. She felt like the leader, and her bold fashion and powerful presence spoke to my inner fashionista. I was in awe!!

💫 @natty.lox – A sharp voice, very stylish herself, and familiar name—so glad I finally got to meet her in person! She led our impromptu promo video effortlessly since she had attended last year..

💫 @sarahhoops_ – Sarah stood out to me because she was a poet with published work! Very down to earth as well. We reconnected later at the block party and I’m so glad we did.

Although we had just met, Adae came up with the idea to create a quick promo video together inviting people to the block party. It was at that moment that I realized: People see me as a content creator too and they want to hear my voice. And that’s why I am here right now writing this story. say it with me: DOPAMINEEE ✍🏼☕

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Now let’s talk about the Block Party.

This was the 8th annual Black Arts & Mental Health Block Party by Darkness RISING and it was everything.

I brought my two boys, and we jumped straight into line dancing. I remember my mom teaching me how to line dance for the cookouts as a little girl. Love that this ancestral style of dance is trending now because when you think about it, it’s how we sync our bodies with the energies around us and settle into the space. If you’ve never noticed, the next time you go to a cookout, watch how everyone starts to interact with each other more after they have danced together🫂 truly heartwarming. ima just whisper it this time: dopamine 🥰

Next, we made our way to Shy's gardening station and planted some veggies together. My boys were so into it. It offered hands-on healing, and it was the gift that keeps on giving.

Please support: reclamationfarmacy.org—this is vital work.

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TIME FOR THE TEA ☕️ (if you made it this far, you’re invested)

I went to create content, but pleasure had it’s own plan for what that content needed to say.

At first I didn’t know what angle I was taking—fit checks like the one I made for Slime ball x Rasta & Friends? A recap? Dance Challenge?

But after the dust settled, the story revealed itself. And that’s when pleasure tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, “Sis… look how far you’ve come as a mother.” 

At first I debated sharing this part of my story but this is exactly what another mama needs to hear.

Here it goes:

I said yes to motherhood because I thought it would make me whole. Whew. 🫢

Motherhood wasn’t planned. It happened during a time when I was still searching for love, still handing over my light to people who didn’t know how to hold it—because I didn’t know how to protect it yet. The pattern ran deep. It was ancestral. But it stopped with me.

The idea that my children could make me whole, came from childhood trauma that robbed me of my own pleasure for a long time.

This means my babies were created from a place of energetic lack.. and the body remembers that tension, the longing, the silence, the survival.

Those feelings store codes in our nervous systems and they can even be passed down.

Image: @osageandfern

But healing can too and what happened at the Darkness RISING Block Party brought everything full circle.

Click Here to keep reading:  Motherhood: A Portal from trauma to Pleasure (Pleasure Called—And I Answered Part 2)