It all started when…
Naesthetycs started off as a social justice blog under the name “Yungmalcolmx” on Tumblr. The founder, Nateya Taylor started the blog at 19 yrs old, in 2017 as a sophomore in college, to discuss topics that were not being discussed on her predominately white campus. She released her first article, “What Year Did Slavery End?” on November 27th, 2017, and continued to write about topics she was passionate about to educate others. After a few years of writing for the blog, she decided to transform the brand into the multimedia production company now known as “Naesthetycs,” which is a combination of her name “Nateya” and the word “aesthetics.” Naesthetycs now uses authentic storytelling to showcase activism not only through writing but multiple forms of artistic expression.
About the Founder
Nateya Taylor, MS is a 26-year-old Milwaukee native and the visionary behind Naesthetycs LLC. Nateya is a self-proclaimed renaissance woman who is passionate about Black liberation and health equity. She has an educational background in Urban Studies, Digital Cultures, and Criminal Justice. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a Master of Science degree in Urban Studies and certificate in Digital Cultures in 2023. Her master’s thesis titled, “Black Autonomy as a Form of Resistance and a Symbol of Rebellion: A Comparative Study of Robbins, Illinois, and Milwaukee Bronzeville (1920-1970)” is an interdisciplinary study at the intersection of history, geography, and sociology. The paper explores how two majority Black communities in the Midwest practiced resistance through Black autonomous practices in response to racial discrimination during the Great Migration.
Similarly, in 2020, Nateya graduated from Carthage College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and completed her undergraduate senior thesis titled, “Milwaukee Black Health: How Criminal Justice and Public Policy Collude to Disadvantage Black Milwaukeeans,” which explores the negative impacts of residential segregation on Black health.
Nateya specializes in archival research and her research interests are centered around residential segregation, Black resistance, Black geographies, Black autonomy, and the Black Power Movement.
Outside of her scholarly accomplishments, Nateya is a multimedia storyteller. She is a creative writer who specializes in poetry, screenwriting, and cultural commentary and critique. She is also a documentary filmmaker and photographer who focuses on documenting Black life, culture, and experiences.
Nateya is very engaged in her community. She is currently a 2025-2026 Engaging Communities to Change Health Outcomes (ECCHO) Fellow, Northwest Side Fellow with African American Roundtable, 2025 Community ChangeWire Multimedia Fellow, and 2025 Wisconsin Humanities Fellow.
From 2023-2024, She was an Artist in Residence at Milwaukee Water Commons, 2024 Food Leaders Lab Ambassador with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, and 2024 Creative Director of House of History MKE.
See her full CV here.
Nateya is excited to continue building “Naesthetycs” an emerging and evolving multimedia production company that uses aesthetics to ignite the activist in viewers through authentic storytelling.
Artistic Philosophy
As a native Milwaukee resident, I’m intrigued by the interconnections between injustice and resilience that I witness in the Black geographies around me. My artistic practice uses written and visual storytelling to interrogate the anti-blackness that is endemic in our social structures and the internalized anti-blackness that accompanies it. Instead, I reveal the multifacetedness of Blackness. My practice reclaims and honors the stories of Black Midwesterners. I document the injustices that Black Midwestern geographies face as a result of residential segregation with a focus on resilience. More specifically, my work highlights the autonomous innovation and creativity of Black community leaders who promote wellness and healing. Through film, I allow these individuals to share their perspectives, to celebrate their own ingenuity, and to connect directly with audiences. By revealing more nuanced stories, my work counteracts the anti-black media that saturates our internal and external lives. My hope is that my viewers, regardless of race, will experience a shift in perspective, challenging anti-blackness in all of its forms. Ultimately, I want my work to be a catalyst that inspires empathy, ignites activism, and leads to more equitable futures.