Calling All Black Contributing Writers

There are about twenty of you interested in writing this year for Blackstack, but there's always room for more so here's some topics and instructions to submit.

We are slowly approaching our first anniversary as Blackstack, can you believe that Juneteenth will be a year already?

I am so grateful for the community we have built, I know I say it every post now, and guess what, I will continue to say it in the ones in the future because wow! We really showed up and showed out in this community.

Last year, the newsletters were a stream of my ideas that I dropped in the chat and we had a series develop from that. I went back to the chat at the end of the year to get an idea of what topics y’all wanted to see more of this year and also see who had an interest in being a contributing writer for Blackstack throughout the year. Many of you responded, and truthfully I got a little overwhelmed by the support. But it didn’t scare me off, I had to sit back and get a game plan in place based on everything I’ve learned thus far.

With that being said, this plan is not perfect and we will have to pivot along the way. Communication is key, and y’all know I will communicate everything openly but it’s going to take some effort on your end to seek the communication. I will commit this year to a monthly Announcements newsletter with any pivot updates, deadline reminders, or any news in general.

Here’s how to submit your work:

A moment of transparency, keeping your articles organized last year was a full-time job and it caused some hiccups along the way. Since December, I’ve been thinking about how I can streamline our submissions to allow us to accept them all year. Articles curated into a newsletter on Substack are considered online; these articles are Blackstack Originals. The print magazine will always include Blackstack Originals that were approved to be included in print.

*** Open submissions for the magazine are not open yet, however, the articles submitted and posted over the coming weeks on Substack will be curated in print as Blackstack Originals.

Submit Article Here

Topics of Inspiration

• They Think They Can Rewrite History

  • This topic is inspired by an article in the print magazine submitted by

    Ryen
    . This piece is a highly recommended read once magazines are on the coffee table. With the things happening in America, this is the history we need to be documenting it. The topic is broad yet so clear, I’ve been right behind them as they’ve tried to rewrite our history to reclaim it. This writing practice will be healing to us as individuals, and as a community, and reading those words is going to spark something within all of us!

• Building a Black Sustainability

  • This topic is inspired by the Black Wall Street movements that swept across not only the United States but around the globe building Black wealth for our community. Articles about how you are sustaining your household for the days ahead, and thought pieces on how to build a Black economic system for ourselves.

  • Read more about Black Wall Street

• Living in the Moment Whilst Still Living in a Dream

  • This topic was inspired by the overwhelming love and support of this community. While I am actively working to be in the present moment to keep myself grounded, my reality feels like a dream. However, this prompt can go in many directions and we want to see where your pen takes you.

• Did the Black Church restructure Black American history?

  • This topic stemmed from a conversation about upholding the “image” placed on us by our environment, often protecting the image of Black community leaders. How much of our history is written with all truths, and how much was left out to protect the image?

• Why do you write?

  • This topic is important to me because the reason always has come back to me but it’s been the understanding of the power in sharing because it’s bigger than me. I’d love to curate some pieces that speak to the power of our pen and the vulnerability in sharing.

• An Ode to Your City

  • This topic is inspired by the culture of repping our hood. I could go on but for the ones this topic is for you already know how the story goes. I can’t wait to read and curate this series.

Sunday Dinner will continue to be a Blackstack Original monthly Sunday article. However, I believe the Sunday Service Announcements newsletter series has run its course. This is why the contributing writer structure is shifting to give more opportunities for the community to submit.

F.U.B.U. Collections can continue but we need more Black music articles consistently, Black hair stories, and Black nostalgic pieces. I’d love to be able to publish at least one F.U.B.U. Collection article monthly. Drop some topics in the comments and we can go from there if we want to keep the series going.

These are not the only topics available, the list will grow over the year. Feel free to drop some suggestions in the comments and I will build a poll.

I’m so excited to see what articles come in over the coming weeks, and until then I have some video documentation on the way of the construction of our first fundraiser book Blackstack Magazine Issue 001: The Visionary to send to your mailboxes.

Thank you all so much!

P.S. My Bay Area writers be on the lookout for an in-person writing session soon.

Speaking of community writing, are y’all ready for me to bring back Writers Circle? Does the first Sunday at noon PST (3 pm EST) still work for y’all or do we need to make some adjustments?

xoxo,
Jacquie