Meet the Founder: Nateya Taylor

[Naesthetycs]

Before hopping into our first weekly discussion next week on Colorism & Reverse Colorism | Does Reverse Colorism Exist? I wanted to personally introduce myself and Naesthetycs so that you all can get to know me and it better!

My name is Nateya Taylor and I am the creator behind Amplified Advocates, a Group Hub under the brand Naesthetycs LLC . Welcome to all the new members; I’m excited for you all to be here!

I’m a 22 yr old creative who is passionate about activism, especially Black activism and Black liberation. 

I started Naesthetycs LLC in 2017 as a sophomore in college. It started solely as a Tumblr blog under the name “Yungmalcolmx.” Since then, I have expanded the blog to a platform that showcases aesthetic, authentic activism through artistic expression. 

The name Naesthetycs came from a combination of my name “Nateya” and the word “Aesthetics.” I created this name for my platform and created the “Naesthetycs” social media pages in February of 2020 to expand on the topics I discussed in my blog articles. 

Since officially launching Naesthetycs last year, I have continued the blog, started a YouTube channel, and created the revolutionary merch collection, in which a portion of the proceeds have always been donated to community organizations of color. 

Outside of Naesthetycs I am a first year Master’s in Urban Studies student residing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice in May of 2020. My undergraduate research focused on residential segregation and how it impacts the health of Black residents. With my Urban Studies degree, I plan to continue similar research and intertwine my research with documentary filmmaking. 

Other fun facts about me are that I am a poet, spoken word artist, and songwriter. I mainly write poetry, but sometimes I like to turn my poems into songs by adding an instrumental behind the poetry stanzas. I am also a screenwriter and filmmaker. I’ve written a horror screenplay inspired by the book “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” and this past year I took film classes with Black Girl Film School to hone my filmmaking skills.

I hope you all enjoyed getting to know me a little more. Comment below a fun fact or two about yourself! 

[Stella]

This is soo soo cool!! I would love to hear more about your screenplay if you're willing to share. Fun fact about me, I became a dog mom during the pandemic when my family adopted a rescue. His name is Brent!! Also, really used to love writing poetry and have been meaning to get back into it so thank you for the reminder! 

[Naesthetycs]

I’d love to share more about the screenplay in the near future! I wrote it as my final project for my screenwriting class in college. That’s so cool that you got a dog 🐶 I love that for you. Congrats on becoming a dog mom! And lastly, happy writing! I‘ll be sharing some of my original poetry this upcoming week on Colorism. If you ever feel comfortable sharing your poetry in this space feel free to do so 😊

[KamilleJ]

Love the etymology of your brand's name! A fun fact about me is that I have lived in five different countries and always love trying new food from different geographies. 

Btw your video on social determinants of health was brilliant! 

[Naesthetycs]

Thank you! ☺️ It’s funny because originally I wanted my name to be ‘Naesthetics” but that was taken on Instagram 😩 then I was like hmmm let me change the “i” to a “y” then my brand name will look a lot more similar to my actual name plus it’s even more unique 🤔 and that was the best decision I ever made lol. 

That’s amazing you’ve lived in 5 different countries! Which country was your favorite to live in? 👀

And thanks for watching the video! I’m happy you enjoyed it 😁

[robertgracin]

You have such an incredible background and list of accomplishments! Thanks for sharing your talents with the world--I'm so intrigued by your interest in mixing research and filmmaking! Looking forward to reading more posts 🙂

[Naesthetycs]

Thank you!! 😊