Blogging on the BLK Hand Side
When I launched BLK IRL in September 2020, I knew it would become more than a podcast. Although I am generally risk-averse, I’m not afraid to bet on myself even when I know the payoff will not be immediate. This is why I sought to legally register the name in Year 1 despite not knowing what it would become. What I did know, however, was that I wanted BLK IRL to serve as an educational platform for you and me. And, that’s what my registered trademark, which was granted to me in June 2021, is for! Hello!
I don’t mind being a slow cooker in a microwave world. I don’t mind fermenting, marinating, and simmering. It’s all gonna taste good in the end, so I’m not in a rush to “move fast and break things,” as is the motto of the so-called “innovation economy.” I move at my own pace.
Although I plan to continue podcasting, I also want to expand BLK IRL across new forms of creative expression like writing.
Welcome to the B-Side Blog!
Akin to the B-side of a vinyl record or cassette, the B-Side blog is for anyone curious about the typically less talked about sides of creative work and creative life – from the Black hand side. The “B” is also for “Black.” This is BLK IRL after all, so I’ll always be thinking, talking, and writing about race, labor, and creativity from the Black hand side. I know that Substacks are popular, and as someone who wrote a weekly newsletter for four years, even though I appreciate the format, I wanted to build on my land – this website that I already pay for. So, you know what? Hell yeah! Let’s bring blogging back!
Let me begin by introducing myself.
I started BLK IRL as a kind of pre-fieldwork personal project in my first year of a doctoral program in cultural anthropology. As someone who generally learns by being, living, and doing, I was itching to apply what I was learning theoretically in my coursework to the practice of ethnographic research and media production. I also knew early on that I wanted to archive experiences from my PhD journey in some way and to also share dispatches from this very isolating journey with my community as a kind of proof of life. As an audio learner, this led me to consider podcasts as a form of scholarship. Fast forward to present-day, and I am officially a Doctor of Cultural Anthropology. We thank God! And, I work as a Researcher where I get to use my degree. Won’t He do it! I’ve been cooking on some concepts that concern the complexities of creative work and creative life from the Black hand side. They are largely baked into my dissertation, which is currently embargoed (i.e., not publicly available to read) as I wrap my mind around writing and publishing a book based on it. I’m still simmering on this project, but if anyone has connections to book editors or literary agents that would let me cook then please let me know.
Anyway, I am excited to share a taste of my thinking with you regularly here on this blog. Thanks for your support and for checking out the B-Side!