Behind the Magazine: Legacy
Our legacy will be preserved, and that was my only mission with this publication. We are built to last generations to come, Black Legacy is Blackstack.
In the beginning, I was so excited and confident about the magazine. I’m not saying that my excitement or confidence has been shot, but I’ve been through some trying times curating this magazine. And it’s time for me to stop suffering in silence and let y’all know what’s been going on behind the scenes.
Operating a successful Black-owned and focused business can be tough. Meeting the expectations of the community while maintaining a sense of what’s right AND being your own individual in the process is a lot. Adding the unexpected death of a parent while another is moving abroad makes things a little more challenging.
This is where I had my greatest learning curve. I’ve given y’all bits and pieces of the story, but now my cards are fully on the table. I need to put my mind at ease and lay this grief to rest because I start printing your orders this weekend. Moving into a new space free of the heartache and with renewed energy, meaning the alchemy done to curate the magazine will be balanced with the love and care of my hands, stitching every single order.
There is no easy way to say this, y’all. I put people in a position that almost ruined everything I’ve built. The craziest part is that this has happened time and time again. I learned the lesson this time.
If you know one thing about me, it is that I do not police Black voices. I have always stood ten toes down about not editing your words…EVER! To my surprise, after I got back to California from New York for the magazine launch, I was beyond furious when I discovered the ENTIRE magazine had been sabotaged with unnecessary edits made to contributing writers’ work. I cried for weeks, months, even. I’ve thought of refunding everyone their money and going to get a job at the coffee shop instead.
My passion to see this magazine through is what proved to me that THIS is the path I am meant to be on right now at this time for a reason. We see the reason. The world is shifting before our eyes, things will not look the way they used to. Welcome to the new 2020, but this time we are creating a Black Renaissance within our community. From film to music to literature, Blackstack is a part of the conversation.
Our legacy will be preserved, and that was my only mission with this publication. When the idea to curate this collectible came to me, Shanté listened to my intention behind the magazine and immediately said, “The Visionary.” I battled with the name for months because she was calling not only the magazine visionary, but me. I now see how I’ve been shifting in this role before many of your eyes, it just took me a little bit of time to see it.
Having the opportunity available to our community to print and publish your books was the goal for the brick-and-mortar, but I didn’t know that was the vision for now. We have two paid subscribers right now, who are working with Shanté and me to build out the program that will allow Blackstack to operate fully as a nonprofit print publication for Black writers.
The future is now because we have no choice but to rest in our power. We will not be erased, we will not be forgotten, and the labor of love that I have invested in this community is the seed that has bloomed into our family tree. We have deep roots planted and a strong foundation. We are built to last generations to come, Black Legacy is Blackstack.
Visual Representation is Foundational to Our Legacy
Let me fill y’all in on the divine arrangement of this homage collage (as seen above). Jacquie and I established early on that we wanted to do an “In Memoriam” section in the magazine to highlight influential writers and artists we lost in 2024. While reviewing the list of names we compiled, I realized that I possessed artifacts that related to a few of these collective ancestors. Once that revelation hit me, I had to follow the inspiration wherever it wanted to take me.
For reference, my personal newsletter and home office are reflections of my love for archives and historical preservation. I like to collect physical media, technology, and other assorted items (especially things that might be considered obsolete). I find beauty in owning collectibles that represent past eras and artistic movements, so it was not completely random that I had a stack of empty record covers waiting to be purposeful. In this moment, the time had finally arrived to put some of these items to use! I creatively arranged these physical objects into a still-life collage and took a photo on my iPhone.
The main contents of the Legacy image are as follows:
A PLEASURES x Outkast Atliens t-shirt (in honor of Rico Wade)
The cover for Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall record (in honor of Quincy Jones)
A Quincy Jones Back on The Block cassette
A collection of Nikki Giovanni’s poems (from 1968-1998)
The cover for Maze featuring Frankie Beverly (their debut album)
I also included three cards from The Literary Witches oracle deck (featuring Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, and Audre Lorde), a tealight candle, a small white pillar candle, a composition notebook, index cards, and an ink pen. Then I edited the photo very lightly to bring out the vibrant colors and watch them dance among each other. Doing this also made the sparkle in Michael Jackson’s socks dazzle even more.
As soon as I snapped this image, I knew I’d made magic. I just didn’t realize how impactful the photo would be in anchoring the magazine's imagery. Once I made edits and submitted the image for review, Jacquie advised me that I HAD to take more pictures. This warm reception sparked excitement that I could explore this longtime hobby of mine with even more intention. I was already fulfilling a dream of mine by working on a magazine as a creative director. But receiving validation for my photography expanded the possibilities of my artistic legacy. This photo represents me just as much as it honors the greats who came before us.
Creating the Legacy image was a major highlight of working on The Visionary issue. Yet, I encountered a great deal of grief on this journey. In December, I fell ill and experienced an electrical fire in my apartment, all in the same week. The support I received from Jacquie during this time was filled with pure love, and she allowed me the space to create on my terms while recovering. I also nearly fell victim to the insecurities of those who tried to invalidate my inclusion in the magazine. However, as the person who received the voice note where Jacquie had the epiphany to bring this idea to life and who came up with the title of The Visionary, it would be a fool’s errand to even attempt to erase my legacy from this experience.
Despite these pain points, I remain humbly grateful for the lessons we learned together, as they were crucial to shaping the next part of our journey. Stay tuned as I’ll tell you more about the other images I shot and how they came together later in this series!
Last week, curating the digital magazine for Mother’s Day inspired the idea to share the Black Legacy section of the magazine so you can FINALLY read the beautiful words written by our contributing writers!
I’m eager to know what you think!
My goal is to presale 100 magazines to make this first issue a true collectible, and right now we still need about 70 orders to hit that goal. I am currently working on the first batch of orders. Check your emails, EVERYONE has been emailed with an update on when you can expect your order. The magazine is a fundraiser, and with the first two thousand dollars raised, I invested in the printers, thermal binding machine, and donations from members for other supplies. I still need to invest in more book presses, paper, toner, and an industrial paper cutter. I will work out of the San Francisco bookbinding workshop until I can make those investments.
Please consider helping us reach our fundraiser goal at www.theblackstack.org.
Thank you so much for almost a year of continued support!
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