Culture workers and creatives have always been critical to our fight for justice. As barrier breakers, innovators, and translators, they have sustained and inspired Black communities to build new spaces beyond the status quo. With the rising importance of the digital information ecosystem, the enduring influence of culture workers and content creators cannot be understated.
A new project from the Movement for Black Lives aims to bridge the gap between content creators and organizers in its new Creator Academy. The Movement for Black Lives Creator Academy is an eight-week experience, offering participants training and resources along with a built-in community to expand their impact online in service of justice and liberation for Black and other impacted communities. The initial cohort features 10 creators from diverse backgrounds.
Led by Chelsea Fuller, Movement for Black Lives’ senior director of communications, and Tashira Halyard, creator of the politics and fashion brand, the Creator Academy offers new opportunities and insights into building inclusive communities committed to our values both online and offline.
“We knew we needed to find a way to engage with people that could leverage platforms online to activate bases of people,” said Fuller. “Over the course of, five to seven years, [we have] been trying to experiment with the right container for Movement for Black Lives to figure out not just how to cultivate strong relationships with the creators who are value aligned, but how to create an entry point and an on ramp for them into the movement.”
Since its inception, the Movement for Black Lives has infused creative expressions of joy and culture into its organizing. Fuller said that the Movement for Black Lives has always recognized the need for engaging digital creatives. While the Movement for Black Lives tried to engage celebrities and other high-profile influencers over the years, high costs and limited engagements yielded mixed results. But little did they know some of the creators they needed were already within the Movement for Black Lives ranks.
“We started to hear from our members like, ‘hey, we’re creators,’ we’re trying this out, we’re using these platforms,’” Fuller said. “When we heard that there was a desire from our members to actually cultivate that skill set, we knew. ‘Okay, like we really got to figure this out, like we really got to figure it out.’ And then we met Tashira.”
For Halyard, connecting with Fuller and Movement for Black Lives offered an opportunity to expand upon her work as an organizer and creator. She said Fuller challenged her to think big.
“The first thing I thought was ‘I know there are creators who care about the issues affecting our community,’” Halyard said. “So we began to kind of thought partner around what could the container look like that would actually hold Black influencers who have this passion for movement building, [but] maybe who need to deepen their political education and skill set, and allow that to grow.”
The impact and influence of the digital information ecosystem cannot be understated. It has a real, direct impact on our daily lives. Engagement across social media platforms and through mediums such as podcasts has offered a direct pipeline to audiences searching for meaning and connection. Content creators have increasingly become a source of information, education, and even news.
YouTube remains among the most widely used search platforms, often considered second to Google. And the market share of digital creatives skews right-leaning, with extremist viewpoints having an outsized influence online. Research from the nonpartisan media watchdog Media Matters found right-leaning online shows had “nearly five times as many” followers and subscribers as left-leaning shows. The report also found that 72 percent of shows self-identified as “nonpolitical” were right-leaning. Helping creators become more informed and better organized directly impacts Black communities.
“An intervention like this academy is essential because we could very soon be in a reality where the people most trusted in our communities are content creators,” Fuller said. “And they’re going to be the organizers knocking doors in your community.”
Empowering Black creators to stand firm in their values
As a public policy attorney turned creative solopreneur, Halyard wants other creators to see themselves as organizers and active participants in our liberation. She draws heavily from her own experience transitioning into being a full-time creator, innovator, and organizational consultant. To Halyard, the very essence and existence of Black creators are political. Developing a clear political analysis and embracing movement-building work is a natural extension of the way people are innovating across platforms.
“The thing that I hear time and time again is ‘I’m afraid to use my voice. I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to say the wrong thing.’ And transparently, also the potential for being canceled, for the blowback, not receiving the brand partnerships,” she said. “As Black creators, if we want to find ways to sustain ourselves as creators and as artists, especially those who have a voice and are interested in participating in movement building, we’ve got to find other ways to show up as professional, full-time entrepreneurs.”.
Halyard also emphasized the importance of making space for creators to collaborate and build a community, serving as a resource and support network for each other. Forming their own collectives is key to navigating an industry, like many others, that exploits Black talent and creative capital.
“Most creators who are doing this full time are not earning the top salaries,” she said.”This is why I talk so much about being a solopreneur, using the skills that we have, and allowing for our communities to support and sustain us.”
While resources like Onyx Impact’s Digital Greenbook can help social media users navigate the online world, many of the most common platforms we use are owned by the same tech billionaires benefiting from our oppression. Building a for-us-by-us approach to content creation also safeguards against the eventuality that we lose access to these platforms.
Ultimately, the Movement for Black Lives Creator Academy is about helping people recognize the power in their own experiences. Whether it’s cars, food, or abolition, there’s power in moving a group of people to action.
“We want content creators to know that they are powerful in what they were sharing,” Fuller said. “Not just because it’s useful for the building of movement, but because it’s necessary if they’re going to sustain and protect themselves and protect their communities online.”
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