From The Editor's Desk
Blackstack turned a year old on Juneteenth.
There's no longer a need for me to gatekeep this space carved out for us; instead, I have turned into the gate that keeps this space for us by us. We just made it a year! Solely community-funded, and we don’t need their endorsements.
I don’t mean to sound arrogant when I say this, but Blackstack will be the blueprint for future Black community-focused digital third spaces. There were no corporate sponsorships, outside funding, or support. Blackstack, as we know it today, was birthed into a nonprofit cultural press publishing house for Black writers through community support. That is major for me!
Preserving our stories online was not enough for me, nor you. Together, we decided to invest in ourselves this time. I presented the plan and promised to learn all I could about print publication to not only print our first magazine with over 65 Black writers and a dozen Black creatives, but also Black writers looking to intentionally publish their work with Black publishers.
At first, this space was for us to feel seen, heard, and have a space with the audience that most of us are hitting that publish button for. When I first had the idea for this space, I wanted everyone to be able to write a section to help cultivate a weekly newsletter. The intention was that every week, the readers would be able to find more Black writers on this platform, and the weekly excerpts would help us all grow our platforms from this community hub.
Since this space has expanded so fast, I struggled to keep up, and when my Daddy died, I wanted to give up altogether. However, the way y’all poured into me and loved on me made me realize this wasn’t something I could ever “just walk away from” - this is home.
This is home - not just for me, but for us.
We’ve congregated together during Sunday Service Announcements and fellowshiped over stories of our hair, music, and style, cultivating our very own F.U.B.U. Collection. Now, many of these stories live in our first print publication project, all within just a year.
The truth is, since the magazine prelaunch, I have questioned myself and if this passion project was too big for just one person to execute, but what I’ve come to realize is that I’m not behind at all. I set an unrealistic goal for myself and caused myself to feel defeated and let down when I didn’t master the skill “fast enough” to meet my deadline. When Blackstack turned into a nonprofit, that was my chance to unlearn “corporate” business stands and create a business that is built on honesty, transparency, morals, trust, and most importantly, community as the focus.
Major publishing houses would have produced this magazine within the same timeframe, but with a full team and the resources available with ease. So I’m giving myself grace this time without asking for it from the community. In this season, I am learning that what I am offering is rare and far from expected. Therefore, for me to be the best I can be for the community, our projects, and our further success then I need to make sure I am taking care of myself first.
I think many times, especially as Black women, when we set our minds to achieve a goal and we know people are depending on us, we naturally put ourselves on the back burner until the task is complete and everyone is good. This current administration, along with the truth being exposed, has been our wake-up call to tend to our needs before we can convince anyone else of our worth. That’s just my little Ted talk on the topic of Black women not so much needing to “rest” during times of crisis, but in general, it’s time for us to learn how to make ourselves a priority and allow our overflow to be what nurtures our loved ones and communities.
Right now, we have work to do. All of us.
Our pens should be hitting the paper or fingers touching the keyboard weekly. We are never too busy for ourselves, and when we start looking at our writing as an act of self-care, then we will magically find a lot of time available for us to spend time with ourselves and our thoughts. The generations after us need our words; they need to know what we are doing differently from our ancestors and the results that we are bringing. They need to know how history is not only repeating itself but has never seen real change - it’s been masked and painted in camouflage.
Blackstack is our modern-day cultural press print publishing house.
Blackstack is how we will preserve everything Black.
Blackstack is more than a space carved out on Substack; it’s our blueprint for preserving our legacy through storytelling and community building.
As a gift to us, I recently made the magazine available as a digital download to help continue the fundraiser to keep this press house publishing, but also to give EVERYONE immediate access to the magazine now. I will be binding all summer to get orders out, and these digital download orders will help me keep the supplies stocked to do so.
Here is the link to support: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/MLNEG17C3P4Q9/checkout/XTQE62UU6WJR7CQTNEQC42RC
Thank you for being a part of this new renaissance literacy movement. Not only writing our stories, but also publishing and binding our books in-house.
Our ancestors are so proud!
xoxo, Jacquie Founder & Editor-in-Chief Blackstack: A Cultural Press Publishing House for Black Writers
Community Center
Before I close, I want to uplift two community members doing beautiful work:
Afro•Reads begin as my 2025 Reading Challenge to read 1 book from each African country. Which is a total of 54 books! This one is my book of choose from Ghana
My mission is to connect the African diaspora through literature, and what better way to do that than to have a community reading!
This story is multigenerational and tells the lives of the descendants of two sisters who don’t know eachother. One unfortunately becomes a victim of the slave trade and the other benefits from it.
I hope you all will consider joining me. Click here for more details.
If this is a success, myself or as a group will choose a book to read every other month to give everyone time to purchase the book or check it out from their local library.
She’s asking for donations through Buy Me A Coffee or GoFundMe; all details are in her recent newsletter.
DISCLAIMER TO ALL NON-BLACK READERS
This newsletter was curated for the enjoyment of Black Readers Only. Blackstack is not a community open to BIPOC members, and we do not seek allyship. There are other publications that are open for you, but this ain’t one!
If you would like to support Black writers we have a fundraiser designed for you to support through the link below to purchase our first print publication project.
https://checkout.square.site/merchant/MLNEG17C3P4Q9/checkout/XTQE62UU6WJR7CQTNEQC42RC
However, your likes, comments, and restacks will be deleted resulting in you being blocked from future posts. And don’t tell me to make this community private, learn to mind Black folks business for once.
Thanks in advance for your cooperation!
Jacquie
Here’s to one year of this little corner on Substack carved out for us by us! Huge thank you to all 6,800+ of you for believing in something so much bigger than just me and you. Look at what we can accomplish when we come together and work towards one focused goal at a time.
Oh yeah! Writer’s Circle is coming back, but in a new way. I will host a virtual salon here on Substack LIVE once a month for us to have focused writing time, and once a month for paid subscribers, I will host a virtual salon on Zoom that will be similar to the flow of the original Writer’s Circle. This will keep me from burnout and allow our paid subscribers to have something exclusive for their monetary support to keep this publication running, while meeting the community where we started - right here on the app.
In August, I will be opening up a beta reader book club for community members who want to be beta readers for the three books I am currently midwiving. I’ve been quiet, but I’ve been laying one brick every day to get us standing on a solid foundation. And today, a year in, I can say I am so proud of my hard work and dedication. It paid off!
Submissions are opening back up in July, so be on the lookout!
Love y’all and I mean that!
Congratulations on your 1 year anniversary.
BlackStack is 10000% going to be and already is the blueprint 🫶🏾