Founder of Sober Black Girls Club, Khadi A. Oluwatoyin, decided to put the bottle down in the fall of 2018. When she went online for guidance, she noticed that many pro-sober platforms did not cater to girls and women who looked like her or shared similar cultural and societal experiences.
When Oluwatoyin turned to in-person organizations, she made a similar observation. In an attempt to share her journey and connect with other Black folks practicing sobriety or curious about it, Oluwatoyin created Sober Black Girls Club. At the time, SBGC was just a blog. Today, it is a coast-to-coast, 501(c)(3) collective that, in addition to the blog, runs a newsletter, mentorship program, four weekly support meetings, and more.
Read Khadi A. Oluwatoyin’s first blog post below:
For Black girls who are considering living a beautiful sober lives…this community is for you.
In 1976, the late playwright and poet, Ntozake Shange (may she rest in peace), wrote “being alive and being a woman is all I got, but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven’t conquered yet” and even though I was born in 1991, I felt that.
Being a Black woman in a patriarchal, racist, sexist society is overwhelming. It’s exhausting.
We experience prejudice, racism, and other acts of hatred at our schools, places of employment, and homes – with family members, friends, and neighbors. We encounter high rates of domestic violence, rape, and homicide. We are disproportionately punished in schools, racially profiled, and subjected to police brutality. We are incarcerated five times more than white women and are three and a half times more likely to die during childbirth. We make less than other women in the workspace, regardless of the degrees we have obtained. Our traumas run so deep that we often feel stuck as if we will never find solutions to the struggles we face. So yes, we drink and if anyone were in our shoes, they would (probably) drink too.
I started drinking in college and “using” after law school as a way to experience pleasure and cope with unresolved trauma. However, today, I have accepted that, for me, drinking has caused more harm than good and isn’t the most effective solution to my problems.
I created this community for myself because, on October 31, 2018, I decided I wanted to live a sober life and hold myself accountable. I created this community for you because, since October 31, 2018, I have come across just ONE online platform that focuses on sobriety and the Black experience. Support and affirmation do not need to come from people who share the same race or gender as you, but it is extremely meaningful and affirming when it does and that’s why SBGC exists.
So… I am here for you. It doesn’t matter if you are already living a sober life or just contemplating it. I want you to know and understand that you are wanted, needed, and loved. Our struggles do not define us.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, holla in the “contact” tab and subscribe! Welcome to Sober Black Girls Club.