This video from Ismatu is why I don’t write essays online anymore.
I won’t do it again. Likely ever.
Before the Writer’s strike, I anticipated the closing doors of the publication I wrote for. I decided I was done freelancing. The strike began. Several media companies began a new round of layoffs and closures. The publication I wrote for closed down a few months later.
When it did, I’d already invested in myself and business.
This is just the beginning of my own, OWN network.
My own On Being.
My own Sounds True.
But for Black women. On the move.
People really don’t read. Not necessarily because they don’t want to but because they can’t.
Then when they do, the most they’ll say is, “I loved your essay. It made me think.”
Nothing wrong with that.
But when you’re a writer like Ismatu or a writer like me who understands your role as an artist the way Toni Cade Bambara describes it—that’s not enough.
We don’t write to be liked.
We don’t write for applause.
We don’t even write, so that you “have more information.”
We do this… as Mariame Kaba says, “till we free us.”
Very few people value writing enough to invest directly into the labor of writing.
From an investor and grant-lending institution standpoint, even fewer people value media companies. Why? Because everybody can’t be Oprah and the American public has an astronomically low literacy rate.
That’s why I cleaned up my act.
That’s why I’m focused on building a niche, targeted list.
That’s why I write at a 1st to 3rd grade reading level.
That’s why I put the work in to learn how to be a better movement leader, business owner, and speaker.
I am writing my book and my poetry collection in my free time like the little rich auntie and MacArthur Genius I know myself to be.
But here: YOU are my focus.
I understand that you move when you are emotionally ready to move.
It’s my job to counsel you.
It’s my job to reveal to you what’s possible on the other side of where you are.
But I have to know where you are.
As my bandwidth expands, I’ll be in your face more frequently.
Literally.
I have a 70% open rate. That’s pretty phenomenal.
But you’re still not engaging with me.
So, I need to know—why?
What am I missing?
Did you know that you could respond directly to my emails?
Do you need help seeing what buttons to push?
Do you feel weird if you’re not a Black woman?
Talk to me.
Seriously.
This relationship is not one-directional.
EX-CIT-ING. THINGS. ARE. COMING.
Where are you at in your life? Your reading life? In response to the state of the world?
What is your biggest goal right now?
What question are you silently asking to yourself that I could help you with?
I know I’ve asked you a lot of questions.
Pick 1 or 2. Or MORE.
Shit. Tell me everything.
Comment or reply to this email with your answers.
Some of you I know personally.
Why aren’t you talking to me?
What isn’t landing with you?
I am not embarrassed if I am off base.
What can I change?
I can’t wait to hear from you.
With hella love,
Candace
PS. Did you click the link at the top of the email? What are your thoughts?