Diversify your feed…
image courtesy Ariel Perry Photography
originally posted on instagram, two days after the infamous black boxes. who knew this would be my most engaging post to-date…
🖤How D I V E R S I F Y I N G your feed will help you in the long run: #amplifymelanatedvoices went into full effect yesterday. Black creatives were being shared left and right and it was beautiful. My lane is more home design and decor, but I just read another post from @thekitchenista saying that it is happening in food as well. Hopefully you see that there is no one way to be a black content creator. In fact, in most instances, if you take the people out of the photos there is no way to know the race or ethnicity of the person behind the square. In home design, we are coastal, traditional, transitional, farmhouse, modern, bohemian, you name it. We like neutrals. We like colors. We like understated. We like glam. We like to save (hello @homegoods) and we like to splurge. We can give the best DIYers a run for their money. Some of us incorporate ethic motifs, like mud cloth, African baskets, etc. (but wait! Y’all like that too.) Point is, there is no one way to be a black designer. But what you get when you incorporate us into your feed is our stories. You see black love and family on full display. You see our children celebrating milestones, graduating high school, going off to college. You see our joy and laughter and self-care. And sometimes, you see our pain. We may speak openly about our fear for our sons and husbands or even our challenges with being unseen. So maybe you don’t have black friends in real life (which honestly--try to work on that), but “friending” us in this space will help you interact with or counteract headlines in a better way. You’ll know that black people are not menacing or lazy or any of the stereotypes they try to thrust upon our community, because you will have seen countless examples to the contrary, with your own eyes. And then you’ll not only be sad when something tragic happens, but you’ll also be outraged. Because you’ll think that could be Deena, or Brevin (hubby), or Donevin (15), or Brenna (22, graduating Stanford) or Kayla (19, Elon 2023) and you’ll experience our pain in a whole new way. So welcome! Don’t just look, engage! I love chatting in the comments.