you already know the way forward
a word from the ancestors.
These days, I’m finding the courage to create and build forward in the remembrance that our ancestors have carried on with so much before us, and I hope that like them, we’ll continue to do the same.
Find a new book, revisit that community event idea, create the emails to send the information that needs to be sent, gather with your folks for dinner, keep living, keep creating.
we owe it to ourselves,
Melissa, founder of #blkcreatives
PS. This week’s newsletter has an updated format lmk what you think!
Words of Inspiration from Ruby Dee x Journal Prompt
“Today is ours, let’s live it.
And love is strong, let’s give it.
A song can help, let’s sing it.
And peace is dear, let’s bring it.
The past is gone, don’t rue it.
Our work is here, let’s do it.
The world is wrong, let’s right it.
The battle is hard, let’s fight it.
The road is rough, let’s clear it.
The future vast, don’t fear it.
Is faith asleep? Let’s wake it.
Because today is ours, let’s take it.”
- Ruby Dee 🎨: Brandan Bmike Odums 📍 Studio BE New Orleans Lousiana
📸: Melissa Kimble, February 2020 #blkcreatives
#blkcreatives Prompt: what’s a project, interview, expression, etc from one of your favorite Black creative legends that grounds you? what draws you to it?
This month we celebrate the Shoujo Sundae 2nd anniversary with podcasters, Giana Luna and Chika Supreme.
The podcasting duo brings a breath of fresh air into the anime and manga space with a focus on Shoujo [ or shojo ] created series and films. We had a great conversation with them that helped deconstruct some of the stigmas attached to anime as well as the importance of women stories within the genre.
Read their creative story and check out their playlist here.
Links that heal: creativity, kindness, safety, integrity
We respect Danyel Smith’s honesty, vulnerability, and bravery in speaking out about her experience in the music industry in her recent piece for the New York Times, I Knew Diddy for Years. What I Now Remember Haunts Me - trigger warning on references to violence and abuse. It’s important for us to stand behind all of our stories, not just the ones that feel good. The truth is healing even if it hurts.
“In this journey, it is about self-love and empowerment; it’s about stepping into your calling and being unafraid of that.” – Prentiss Matthews III playwright
Remembering Bill Cobbs with the Black Film Archive
Screens-Only Storytelling: How “Missing” Was Made
Check out this excerpt from A Heart on Fire: 100 Meditations on Loving Your Neighbors Well, where Danielle Coke Balfour guides readers through one of the Ten Pillars of a Life of Good Work which is both conscious and intentional.
Resources + Opportunities
We’re revamping our job board, we appreciate your continued patience with us!
Labor Day Mini 1000 is Coming - an excellent challenge for anyone who writes
Words of Mouth is an excellent resource for creative work, fellowships, and gigs
Artist Opportunities: August and September 2024 via Creative Capital
still checking this one out but wanted to share a resource to find client work as a consultant
A Book Recommendation
Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War by Howard W. French.
a review sent to us by Mason:
“The author, Howard French does a fantastic job of writing about a very broad and sweeping topic in a way that feels closer to a narrative story then an academic journal. This book pushes far beyond the traditional narrative that Africa only became a major player on the global stage during the Transatlantic slave trade but in fact has undergirded everything from the spice trade to modern industrialism. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a better understanding of the role of Blackness in world history.”
Buy the book online via our bookshop OR your local bookstore/library.
loved the format update