Obella Obbo

Background

About Obella Obbo

My name is Obella Obbo. I am a DEI specialist, licensed psychological associate, and creative artist who loves to talk about identity, cultivate healing and growth environments, and strategize on how to show compassion through intentional action. 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. I’ve learned that the systems and structures that have been built around our culture today stand on a foundation of white settler colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, racism, sexism, homophobia, fear mongering, and so much more hate. I’ve learned that those structures were built to make it easy to sit in our suffering, and accept less than we deserve. I’ve learned that those structures do not like being ignored; that pushing back against those systems comes with adversity. That adversity will look like shame, invalidation, fear, anxiety, depression, anger, and everything in between. I’ve learned that we were built to be broken. And learning that radicalized me. I’ve also learned that there is a path of wellness that makes space to acknowledge the harm we’ve endured and release it so that we can grow fuller, love freer, and live healthier. I’ve learned that this healing practice has a place everywhere in our society. In our businesses, in our policies, in our popular culture, and in our personal lives. I believe we can be better for having been broken, if we aren’t afraid to be vulnerable and say that we are. And I’ve learned that is a radical belief. I stand in fierce opposition to the hurt we endure as a result of the oppressions we’re socialized to impose on ourselves and the world around us. I use my years of experience and my lens as a Black, queer, second-generation East African man to decolonize those beliefs and reframe them so that we can empower ourselves to be the truest versions of ourselves, and create a community of healing and acceptance.