In 2020 I receive some grants and was able to purchase the Black to Yoga Trademark AND register it as a ONE member LLC...surprised that these documents were still available was a shocker to me and others. Not only had I been able to purchase these critical documents years after the group split, but the fact the Maureen, Kirsten and Zen had not pursued these documents at all, shows that being a legitimate business on paper had not been a priority. 

I hired a trademark specialist and several days AFTER we filed for the general words 'Black to Yoga' Maureen and Kirsten applied for the Black to Yoga (logo) to be filed, while opposing my application. To be clear, MY trademark for Black to Yoga was approved (you can look it up online) and they opposed it without Zen. 

Over the past year we have been in litigation over this trademark. The 3 of us attended a 2nd round of mediation, this time with attorneys and the session did not end with a resolution.

As a member of general partnership I, Shakira, never received a Schedule K tax doc, a receipt, transcript, nothing that would pertain to the EIN that all four of us are legally tied bound to. An EIN that they continued to make money with AND file taxes. This is illegal. Even when we were doing business together, I received nothing. As apart of our investigation, my attorney received tax documents that showed that since 2019, in 1 year alone, they made close to $80k.

Kirsten and Maureen have since established Black OMed Yoga LLC, which are the trademark opposers, and are offering only $5k for me (the founder) withdraw my trademark application and to not oppose their trademark application. The two have been adamant about not wanting to work with me in any way.  Both parties have been accruing legal fees and $5k wouldn't cover my legal fees and damages. I am seeking a one-time payout of $20k - to cover my legal fees, damages and to withdraw my trademark application and not oppose theirs. I will still own the DBA, the LLC registration with the state of CA, and the Clubhouse profile of over a thousand members. 

Please continue to share my story with others as they are perpetrating a false narrative. They DON'T give back to Black people, they over charge for yoga classes, they don't do any community work in Oakland, they're not creating a safe space for Oakland natives by ignoring the fact that they are Bay Area transplants capitalizing off the founder; an Oakland native that created the business they STOLE (have) right now.