Jasmine Marie Clark
photo by Gerald Clark
The Chattery this summer launched Human Development – a collection of classes and workshops that allow students to commit to being better human beings by learning about historical inequities that plague us today. The Chattery’s Human Development program includes a slate of local and national instructors and on Thursday, at Parkside Hall (2035 Polk St.), Jasmine Marie, the founder and CEO of black girls breathing, will kick off the national speaker lineup.
Black girls breathing (stylized all lowercase) is a safe space for Black women to actively manage their mental health through breathwork and community. Black girls breathing’s work has impacted thousands of Black women across the globe and is innovating the wellness industry by providing free and accessible mental health care to an overlooked and underserved population. They have pledged to impact 1 million Black women and girls by 2025. Ms. Marie’s work has been chronicled in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Black Enterprise, and other international publications.
“When we discussed launching this program, we immediately knew the speakers we needed in order to set the tone,” says Shawanda Mason co-founder and creative director of The Chattery. “Because we’re focusing heavily on historical foundations along with mental health and wellness, we knew who we needed to work with locally and nationally to make this happen. Black girls breathing is such an important organization and we were hyper-aware of our community’s need to learn from Jasmine Marie and her organization.”
Ms. Marie is a trauma and grief-informed breathwork practitioner and speaker. She is a serial founder with a past life in global hair care brand marketing and an alum of NYU Stern School of Business. Her work has reached thousands of Black women across the globe and she’s determined to continue to make mental health resources accessible to her community. Black girls breathing was her solution to addressing the epidemic of chronic stress and its physical symptoms amongst Black women and providing a tool and relatable community to remedy that, said officials.
During her talk, Ms. Marie will address practical ways for one to manage their mental health in today's world given the impact of grief, stress and isolation experienced collectively in the past two years. The talk will conclude with a brief breathwork exercise. This event is open to anyone looking for ways to gain more knowledge on managing their mental health.
The Chattery plans for Human Development to be a permanent part of their class calendar beyond 2022. Until now, most of The Chattery’s classes focus on reflecting inward -- bettering your professional development skills or learning how to create art, but Human Development focuses on the outward -- how you treat others and how to be more empathetic toward one another, said officials.
All Human Development workshop registration is donation-based, however, the founders believe money should not be a barrier to learning. Participants are encouraged to contact The Chattery’s staff if they are unable to make a donation for a specific event. This program is supported by The Footprint Foundation, The Benwood Foundation, The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Humanities Tennessee, Didn’t I Just Feed You, The Enterprise Center, The UnFoundation and Sankofa Fund for Civic Engagement.
Registration and more information for Ms. Marie’s event and others can be found here, thechattery.org/humandevelopment. For updates on The Chattery’s Human Development program follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.