The who what when where why & how of The Radical Empath™️

(it is not actually trademarked)

The who —

My name is Obella Obbo. My pronouns are he & him. I am a 2nd generation Ugandan-American queer Black man. I am a DEI(B,J,etc) professional with a background in mental health. I received my masters in clinical psychology from Loyola university in 2017. Throughout and after that program I worked across a variety of social impact spaces like low-income at-risk youth college prep programs, child respite care programs, domestic violence shelters, and “elite” university multicultural affairs offices; then as a consultant (a word that has no meaning but we’ll get to that later) I worked across a wide range of industries including urban planning, communications media, advertising agencies, finance firms, business management consultants, and tech incubators; currently I work as a learning experience designer for an inclusion firm. 

I am also a nerdy protopian dreamer waging war with the huge imposter syndrome sitting inside of my very large personality which ultimately generates - in addition to my ADHD - a human being who reads a lot (of especially comics), who listen to A LOT of music (and the words of other people), who likes to be outside in the warmth moving his body, who likes to cook (& eat), but more than anything; a person who likes to talk (HA!) maybe to my detriment… and write (which is just talking tbf)… and create. Which brings me to:

The what —

I have always tried to offer others the opportunity to be who they are without judgement. I have always felt keenly aware of the shame and fear that obstructs people (myself included) from being the most authentic versions of themselves. I made it my life’s purpose to figure out why these things held so much control over our actions, and what we (and the world) might be if we were to let them go. And I’ve…learned things???? Iol. 

So I want to share them by funneling them through my interests. Use them as a lens to examine things that I love and don’t love about art, culture, personhood, and anything else. I’ll use this substack space for essays and updates and stories and thoughts in a variety of different ways. I have been thinking of so many different ways to play with the design and structure to serve the message so I make no promises to what it will look like but what it will be is me - talking. Lol. 

The when —

iiiiiiiiiiimma say once a month. What I am really saying is that imma produce as I go and let it ebb & flow as it will… but I’m hoping for at least once a month. 

The where —

Here - as long as it’s fun and morally sustainable

The why —

The why is me trying to challenge that within and for myself by creating things that help me process those feelings aloud. The why is that I am here to heal my shit 

The how —

By being radical and empathic (hence the name) while having fun and making things and using them to interact with people so that I can learn and gain new perspectives and share them and continue to become new versions of myself everyday and reacting to each new and each old version of me as if they are all wholly and completely and divinely worthy. 

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