Community Day
Now that the elections are over we can begin the real community work to impliment the change we want to see in our community. As writers we have a responsibility to preserve the history we witness.
A lot of Black people fall victim to the mindset that voting is what brings change, but voting was just a part of the plan. It’s not a once every four years duty that checks the box to you being a good citizen. How are you showing up outside of the polls to bring change in your community?
Blackstack is an American-based publication, and while we are open to all Black experiences, right now I am speaking to my fellow Americans LIVING here when I say fuck this government. Stop waiting on them to see their unfairness and all of a sudden wake up to change. WE HAVE TO BE THE CHANGE.
So now that orange man that matches our brand color is the new President it feels like Tyler the Creator was ringing the alarms for us with his new project.
Better find a mop it’s getting sticky!
Is it just me or does this song sound like homecoming at an HBCU? The beat is crazy with the drums, the horns, and the symbols of the different artists on the track. Soloage singing in the background gives the Black girl in the church choir discovering her voice.
When I think about the timeline of how we were just celebrating homecomings from the HBCUs across America he dropped this album the MONDAY after our timelines were filled with the nostalgic memories of college days adding a soundtrack to the visuals.
This song, really the whole album is the creative preservation that I am exploring for this magazine and I promise there’s something special about this air in the West right now. I am so grateful to be in the midst of this creative environment.
Nubia Lateefa mentioned in a comment the preservation of our ancestors’ voice and that sparked some creative ideas, adding Tyler’s album to the mix my mind has been going. In Oakland, I noticed a lot of the community-focused spaces offer one day out of the month as a Community Day at no cost.
I love this concept and wondered how I could incorporate this into our digital space. Then it hit me. On November 18th, we will have our first Community Day and this date is significant to me because it’s one of my closest ancestor’s birthday. So special to me this date is also tattooed on the same finger that shares my wedding ring. This ancestor was my world on Earth and has been paving a new world for me since transitioning, so what better way to honor my grandfather who instilled my ambition than to give back to the community that engages with my passion project?
That’s what I am realized BlackStack is for me, a passion project that has resulted in a level of satisfaction I thought I would never achieve. And although this project has turned into an out-of-pocket expense, the response from the community is all the repayment I need. I believe when I focus on following my burning desires and passions God funds my projects as the reward.
Here is the idea I’ve been thinking about for Community Day and how we can execute this seamlessly but also help me out with the timeline I am building for the magazine. I originally was going to make it a surprise but no this is a community effort task, so here is the call to action.
Candice sparked this idea with her restack asking for us to brain dump ideas for her submission and since I’ve been building a list of topics to share with everyone. On Community Day, you are invited to submit your work on the following topics; written for the magazine exclusively or original work. There is no limit on the number of submissions.
Topics:
Katt Williams told Shannon Sharpe he created a safe space for the truth to be told and this was the age of truth. He came to set the record straight because Shannon had a platform as a journalist that required him to hold people accountable for speaking truths. This interview is aging well and I think it would be a great introduction to the timeline in the magazine. Feel free to grab a title/topic and let the truth ring bells.
“Nobody knows why liars lie”
“The truth doesn’t need motivation”
“Winners are not allowed to let losers rewrite history”
“They think they can rewrite history”
“As a child I knew, but I grew confused at how I knew”
“Living within the religious framework of my bloodline”
“Being afraid does not stop you from doing what you got to do”
“A creative writer is…”
“Crashout dummy if God don’t send me a lifeline”
“Competition is a driving force”
“Skin folk ain’t always kinfolk”
“Community to me feels like…”
“The revolution will be live”
Preservation of Art
Preservation of Culture
Preservation of Church
Preservation of Love
Preservation of Family
Preservation of Life
Preservation of Voice
Preservation of Us
Ready to Submit?
Use the discount code: COMMUNITY to waive the submission fee on the website www.theblackstack.org
Don’t skip this step because this is how you will have the Writer Release Waiver sent to you for your work to be published.
Email your article to info@theblackstack.org
Sign the Writer Release Waiver when sent.
Community to me feels like…
At Sunday Dinner, many of you shared what community feels like to you, and in the Writers Circle, we were able to dive deeper into the topic. The responses were so good I had to share, and now I want to curate a Community Section in the magazine…hint hint.
Community feels like a deep breath next to a wisdom tree. Community feels like the purist love. Community feels like feet in the dirt. Community feels like the earth. Community feels like hearts beating as one. Community feels like a deep dive in the ocean.
Community feels like this right here, community feels like a safe hideaway from the hatred in my town and everyday world.
Community to me feels like reciprocity. All hands on deck. Sharing in the abundance and the deficits till the death of it.
Community to me means acceptance...just as I am.
Community to me feels like a safe space where i don’t have to pretend to have it all together. A place where I can fall apart and still be reminded that I’m loved, and enough, and worthy.
Community to me feels like a respite from your own sometimes frazzled energy. It can be so nurturing to be in a space and feel like you’re on the comfiest blankets. Add creativity, great food, laughter and there’s a sense that everything is alright with your world.
This. Community feels like this. I just found yall, but I already feel the safe space and this article really hit the mark.
Community feels like each fiber intertwined to make a blanket.
Community for me feels like the roar of belly laughter that crescendos into back slaps pointed with squeals before escalating into the downbeat of silent chuckles that drag your body to the floor caught by the gaze of loving eyes. The feeling of being appreciated and bearing witness. Caught in the doe eyed image of nostalgia We share memories like marbles on the playground ~ selective and creative. Let me see what’s in your bag. Here look at mine. I got these when I was 9 out by the playground when I was visiting my cousins in the country. I find myself sharing myself in community and listening with my whole chest when others are on display. I’ve been leaning into the knowledge of people as portals and when my teacher told me we self-actualize in community my body lit up like a sparkler on new years day. I opened a new chapter that way. In healthy community we see ourselves through the lens of upliftment. We don’t enable or devalue we simply allow. Be who you are. We’re here for it.
Community to me feels like those random sized pieces of the puzzle coming together to make a whole picture. "Come in unity". It's the ability to embrace and uplift the micro differences between each other while being able to see the similarities because the pieces of the puzzle all came from the macro, the one BIG picture. and if there is any piece missing, if any one piece is looked at as irrelevant or unworthy and disregarded..... the puzzle is incomplete.
Community feels to me like an everlasting puzzle that keeps gaining new prices and each one makes every piece feel like they belong even more than the last.
Community to me is overflow. When we can’t pour from our own cups, community is the outpouring of love, ideas, empathy, and gifts from others.
I’m so proud of your work. Bloom where you are planted. It’s a comfort to see your work come to fruition.
Scratch the earlier tag in the chat, I’ll submit that post on Community Day! Fits perfectly!!
Respect ✊🏾 to your grandpa and his part in this from the other realm