#BlackCreatives

[artofattraction]

[ghost-37]

Quiet Time (Fabric print and oil on canvas⁠) Ibrahim H. Bamidele ⁠

[melodylsimpson]

Melanin in YA

Imagine a space where you can easily find the next YA book written by a Black author to add to your TBR list. Best of all, amongst that book are an endless amount of other YA books waiting to be discovered by you, all written by Black authors. In that same space, you can find out if any of these authors have a book event near you or will be attending a festival / convention near you. In that same space, you can find out their NYT bestseller stats, book to screen adaptation details, a list of Black audiobook narrators to listen to, a detailed list of Black literary agents to query, Black bookish social media influencers to follow, Black led bookish podcasts to subscribe to, Black owned bookstores to visit and so much more. 

That space is Melanin in Y.A. A database for all things Black in traditional young adult publishing. It acts as a no excuses cross-referencing tool for industry professionals, press, readers, writers, students, educators, librarians, program administrators and more. It’s available to you 24/7 for free.

I, Melody Simpson, created Melanin in YA in August 2020 and have been running it entirely by myself from day one. I really want to hire an intern to help me out because maintaining and promoting this is a lot but I’m tapped out on funds and cannot afford an intern right now. Though I am in desperate need of one and would never ask anyone to do the amount of work that I need done without paying them. If you’d like to help in that regard, you can do so here (gofundme) and no donation is too small, thank you so much. If you’d like to help out in other ways, can you please do any of the following below to help amplify this invaluable resource? 

1) Follow and/or repost/retweet Melanin in YA content on Instagram or Twitter

2) Shop merch at Shop Melanin in YA

3) Send the melanininya.com link to your English teachers / professors, librarians, favorite booksellers, colleagues, fellow book club members, anyone you know who loves books, anyone you know who values diversity, equity and inclusion, and everyone you think could use this resource.

Full transparency, when Melanin in YA first launched, there was lots of excitement around it. But it’s been quite the struggle to get people to talk about this resource and share this resource outside of moments in time, say other than Black History Month or when something tragic doesn’t happen to Black people and makes it to mainstream news. I appreciate your support 365 days a year. Especially during a time when Black YA books are being banned more than ever before. This resource is so necessary. Your support is so necessary. It means so, so much. 

Thank you.

[thesagittarianmind]

Jet Magazine: July 10, 1975.

Earth, Wind & Fire + Astrology

[hookedoncozy]

I needed to come up with a new doll. Due to the spring season, I was thinking rabbits. Then I thought of candy corn. And then I was like “what if I had candy corn rabbits?”. But then I thought of fruit.

So here is the watermelon themed rabbit borne from my shower thoughts.

Should I add seeds?

[altreddove]

[cartoonnetwork]

Black History IS American History ✊🏿✊🏽✊🏼✊🏾💖 As we learn and reflect together, we can better understand and find ways to combat racism and prejudice 👐🏾🌎 We believe that history should be taught accurately, and in its entirety. Black Americans have been instrumental in shaping history, art, culture, technology, and activism in America and around the world. We take this moment to recognize and honor the contributions by these influential figures and so many more. In partnership with The Conscious Kid, we have provided some resources to help everyone learn more about Black History

The Conscious Kid cartn.co/ConsciousKid

Black History in Two Minutes cartn.co/BlackHistoryInTwoMin

The HistoryMakers cartn.co/HistoryMakers

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture cartn.co/NationalMuseum

Common Sense Media cartn.co/CommonSenseEdu

Center for Racial Justice in Education cartn.co/CenterRacialJustice

[elhilll]

🍒🍑🌼🍀🦋🪻🌸

[199ninelives]

A collection of Mya autographs

[goodblacknews]

Celebrating car designer McKinley Thompson Jr., who worked for @ford and helped shape the Bronco and the Mustang. #blackfirsts #blackcreatives #goodblacknewscalendar https://www.instagram.com/p/CnU3F3vPMcN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[artofattraction]

[ghost-37]

[adowntoearthastronaut]

Quick Sketch 👏🏿💢✏️

🍑

🌀

🌱

[thesagittarianmind]

[hookedoncozy]

More commission photo dump

This is Car from Garn47 and I felt so bad when the person who ordered it had to explain multiple times who he is. A shitpost within a game engine was not something I had on my radar at all.

But he came out cute!