The Los Angeles-based community Tea Party 4 Black Girls is providing a joyful safe space for Black women to network and explore their wellness needs.
In an LA Times interview, Bianka Gravillis shared that she crafted the community to offer Black women and non-binary people an outlet. The events are free and invite-only. It is an important aspect of the work Gravillis aims to do through Tea Party 4 Black Girls.
“I didn’t like the idea of creating something for our community and then having them pay for it,” Gravillis told the LA Times. “You got to pay for everything. It’s like, is there not just a place that will take care of me?”
The group recently hosted an event with Mother Denim and Black Girl Environmentalist. It focused on sustainability from the perspective of Black women. Tea Party 4 Black Girls also held programming to help Black women and non-binary people build connections and provide support.
“Tea Party for Black Girls began in May of 2022 with a clear mission in mind — to prioritize the health and well being of Black Womxn. Since starting this journey, we have successfully hosted five events in the Los Angeles area,” the organization captioned on an Instagram post.
There is a focus on recognizing and finding ways to relieve the life stressors.
“I think there is across the board a level of exhaustion that our entire Black woman community has,” said Gravillis. “Whether it’s because we’ve been put in these caregiving positions very early in life. Whether that’s because we have siblings or we have children young … there’s just such a level of dependency I think so many people have on Black women.”
Gravillis said the space is important because “other Black women need to know that we are all experiencing … a variation of [the] same stuff.” She said that there’s a lot of ancestral trauma they haven’t had an opportunity to unpack. This space provides that and gives people the opportunity to home in on their emotions.