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Our inception was organically birthed from a recognition of a personal need and a further realization that this may also be a need experienced by others. And like all great beginnings - it started in a group chat!

 

The chat group included six Black, young-professional, female friends living in the GTA with full and busy lives. A central method of connecting surrounded the sharing and attending of interesting and entertaining events taking place around the city. With a mix of veterans and newcomers to the city within the group, the chat enabled the sharing of familiar and new events of interest. These events were geared towards young professionals and would range from networking and educational to adventurous and social and would include Black-organized events not typically found on mainstream social platforms. Eventually, a chat group member started keeping a chronological list of the various shared events and would re-share the summary of events-of-interest on a weekly basis.

 

Fast forward to a few months of this seamless social life and enter an out-of-town visiting friend from South Africa. The visitor wanted to fully experience the happening (and beyond mainstream) Toronto life, with no idea where to begin. Fortunately, another chat group member would be so kind to share the weekly events list, leaving the visitor excited and impressed. The immediate next ask was how he could have access to this list for his and others’ future visits. This ask helped identify a gap within the cities social platforms and ignited the potential of expanding this modest idea beyond the chat group.

 

As we brainstormed the opportunity of a new platform, our purpose and discussion quickly shifted to something more meaningful. As much as we shared a wide range of events, we recognized that there was a significant gap in awareness of spaces and resources which provided connection, networking, socializing, and education for and within the Black community. It strikingly became clear to us all that our Black identity and desire to connect to our community would be central in every aspect of this potential platform – including the name. Accordingly, a core desire was that the platform would specifically be for Black-organized events. We also recognized that this need expanded beyond connection and was intentional about including Black-owned businesses on the platform as a means of community growth. As we were keenly aware of the many operational and mainstream advertising barriers, experienced by Black-owned/organized businesses and events, we ensured that platform postings would always be free! With much discussion, thought and intent, our simple chat group idea would create a platform that represented each of our needs, interests, and desires within the Black community. 

 

On March 1, 2018, Afro Social Centric (ASC) was born.

 

And our baby grew.

 

Our passion project quickly turned into an interactive community with continued growth in traffic and usage. Similarly, the ambitious founders behind the scenes experienced welcomed growth in personal ventures, businesses, and careers. With growing personal opportunities and increasing platform needs, the second year of ASC would begin with a shift from the original six founders to today’s three owners – Cee Cee, Nneka, and Mana. As close Black girlfriends first, we are all forever grateful and honored to begin our story as a group and embrace growth in all its changing forms. Fortunately, The OG chat group continues to connect us and the OG ladies continue to encourage us. And like the circle that is life, ASC supports and promotes all of the founders flourishing businesses and ventures – shout out Hard Garden, The Style Dome, and Hustle and Heir!

 

Today, our platform continues to grow beyond our expectations

. It enables us to share our creativity, grown our skills, and flex our hidden talents all in the name of our beloved Black people.

 

We thank you for being a central part of our story. And look forward to our collective tomorrow.

 

Your ASC Team

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