@blackyouthproject / blackyouthproject.tumblr.com
by Desmond King As I lay on the ground, I look at this delicate rose placed by a lamp post. My foggy, ragged breath blurs my vision. My eyes, My mind hover over the rose. Who placed it there? Was it a grieving mother? Childless. Taken. Only a white rose for remembrance. A flash on a screen. A name screamed aloud. What was she doing now? The sound of boots becomes clearer as the ringing in…
by Desmond King On Thursday I found myself with a bleeding tongue Warm water washed over my soapy hands, blood filling my mouth I did not speak when he said “We’re almost there” My tongue is used to being bit open, to keep the peace To keep secrets What does “Friday’s Eve” even mean? Constantly looking forward, to ignore the conditions that sit between Monday – Friday Working for the…
By Cai Thomas Trina Reynolds Tyler is a journalist and a data analyst who leads Beneath the Surface, an investigation into gender-based violence buried in police complaints in Chicago. Trina sifts through misconduct data to identify patterns of abuse that are misclassified, present findings to the public, and expand the discourse around police misconduct. Across the United States, community…
by Miranda Goosby *An opinion piece on Black Life in Chicago, Summer ‘23 Wherever you go, there you are. Wherever we go, there we are. The cultural geography of Chicago is steeped in celebration this summer. Every weekend since Juneteenth on Chicago’s South Side I hear a symphony of sound: fireworks ricocheting, youthful screams as the kids run free and communities organizing for their rights.…
By Dr. Eve L. Ewing & Damon Young Black Life Everywhere: Chicago, launches with our conversation series spotlighting local cultural and political organizers. This is a prolific and timely discussion between Damon Williams and Dr. Eve Ewing. Listen in as they cover the nuances and celebration of Black Life in Chicago.
Local Perspectives We believe that those who are most impacted are experts of their experience and deserve a platform to tell their stories without censorship. We also host a series of place based events across the globe, with the goal of teaching, building and sustaining political participation centered in joy. Narrative Activism We believe narrative power shifts to be necessary to enacting…
We are a digital magazine rooted in Black leftist feminism and the belief that narrative shifts are necessary, pivotal and inevitable agents in bringing about social and institutional transformation. Our interdisciplinary magazine springs from the recognition that radical movements have emerged primarily through youth centered organizing, and sees cultural organizing as an educational tool aiding…
Local Perspectives We believe that those who are most impacted are experts of their experience and deserve a platform to tell their stories without censorship. We also host a series of place based events across the globe, with the goal of teaching, building and sustaining political participation centered in joy. Narrative Activism We believe narrative power shifts to be necessary to enacting…
The Metamorphosis of Marie Martin
The Metamorphosis of Marie Martin by Nadine Tomlinson When her eyes were at her knees and Mama was teaching her how to swim, she told her that drowning is easy and staying alive is the realest struggle. But she was a pickney then, so the words did go through one ear and fly out the other. They fly back in again when she got pregnant at almost 15 and drop out of high school. Now, they come back,…
Nobody is checking for your Interracial Relationship
Nobody is checking for your Interracial Relationship by JeCorey Holder As another year washes over me in a haze of social instability and I spiritually prepare myself for the Saint Valentine’s Clearance Candy Harvest, the same thing inevitably happens. I notice an uptick of some of the most annoying interracial couples in the world aggressively projecting and ultimately displaying how badly some…
COMIC: Satanic Panic: The Perpetual Return
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COMIC: Avoiding Accountability with culturally insensitive propaganda 101
COMIC: Avoiding Accountability with culturally insensitive propaganda 101 by JeCorey Holder Children gather ’round and listen to a tale. This curvey ol’ swamp witch, ageless as the sea and just as capricious, is about to take you all the way back to the distant days of the mid-2000’s. The Hallowed Towers of Tumblr were at their blue peak, bustling with fandom discourse and back-seat Egalitarians.…
Comic: Like and Subscribe for More Double Standards!
Like and Subscribe for More Double Standards! by JeCorey Holder So, OnlyFans threatened to get rid of porn and “incels” and other puritanical defenders of decorum proceeded to lose their damn minds. Peep the comments on any thread or YouTube video on the matter and you’ll see plenty of folks have made their feelings on sex work scathingly clear. Specifically when it’s done online. Yes, people…
The Cloud Weaver’s Song
This year, Fix—Grist’s solutions lab—put out a call for short stories for their first climate- fiction contest. The call was an invitation to look beyond this moment of climate devastation and dream up what the next 180 years of climate repair can be. Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors, sponsored by NRDC, drew more than 1,100 submissions by authors from 85 countries. The entries…
Comic: Allies, respect that some spaces aren’t for you
As discourse bubbles over a white cosplayer winning first place at a Black Nerd convention (something that I, in my naive sliver of optimism, am still hoping was a misunderstanding), my mind falls upon the white allies who celebrate Black people having our own spaces… Only to swerve well out of their lane and go careening right into ‘em. So let’s ignore the white people who are out here…
Broken From the Colony
This year, Fix—Grist’s solutions lab—put out a call for short stories for their first climate- fiction contest. The call was an invitation to look beyond this moment of climate devastation and dream up what the next 180 years of climate repair can be. Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors, sponsored by NRDC, drew more than 1,100 submissions by authors from 85 countries. The entries…
Juneteenth Reflections: Grief Work is Freedom Work
by Julia Mallory “…but in them days they wasn’t no time for mournin.’ ” —Mary Reynolds, Texas Slave Narratives Volume XVI Part III Juneteenth began as a day of celebration commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in Galveston, Texas on June 19th, 1866. Since then, it has offered Black folks an opportunity to remember and honor our ancestors who were enslaved. Juneteenth also operates…
