CINCINNATI — In a North Avondale classroom, several students ask for her autograph. It catches Na’Shan Clay by surprise, so she grabs some note cards and even a wrinkled piece of paper.
“I’m not used to signing things,” Clay said.
WATCH: YouTuber makes stop in Cincinnati
When she was 9, Clay remembers waking up every morning by herself. Because if she didn't, no one else would help her.
“It was tough,” Clay said.
She had a complicated childhood and was raised by her grandmother in Indianapolis. It's why Clay is in Cincinnati — to share that story of growing up in public housing, where she says nearly everyone around her sold drugs.
“They thought I was a criminal,” Clay said. “Just because of where I came from.”
But it wasn’t all bad — and that’s how she’s built an impressive following on YouTube. By making what she calls hood vlogs, which is exactly what it sounds like. Clay visits marginalized communities and shares their stories.
Stories, she says, that aren’t often found in traditional media.
“A lot of people don’t understand my mission,” Clay said. “I’m just telling the raw story.”
Clay has written a book and travels around the country making these videos now. In one from earlier this year, she walks through public housing in Winton Hills.
“I have a close relationship with communities like this,” Clay said in the video. “Because it reminds me of mine — before they tore it down.”
In another video, she asks a group of young people what their goals are. They all seemed to answer at once.
“Make it out of the hood.”
I met Clay in North College Hill, where she reunited with some of those students from North Avondale. They're all at the Reign Shop, where one T-shirt on the rack says: HUG YOUR HOMMIES.
The shop is run by Steven King, who's an adviser for a leadership program at Cincinnati Public Schools.
“We have to find people and business that are inspiring children,” King said.
That’s why he invited Clay to his class. And that's why she recorded it — including the impromptu autograph session, where she smiles after one student asks if he can sell it.
“Maybe one day,” Clay said.
