For Black Creatives Trying to Thrive Amidst a Global Pandemic, Police Brutality, and Racial Inequality When Surviving is Enuff

I spent my birthday this year alone at home, carefully tucked away from the Coronavirus scourge (#WearAMask). I sat in my apartment with the lights off, still licking my wounds after being laid off from my new job at the height of the pandemic. I was so new that I wasn’t even sure I’d qualify for unemployment. The sci-fi TV pilot I’d been working on sat neglected on my computer screen while I wondered how I would make June rent (I’d already missed May). If Sade was the “King of Sorrow,” then I was Prince of Self Pity. The next day, I watched four Minneapolis police officers choke the life out of George Floyd and the country – then the world – erupt in anger, fire, and rage. This unprecedented time in our history – a worldwide pandemic, nationwide lockdowns, depression level unemployment, Black Lives Matter protests/uprisings in all 50 states and around the globe, and more – has impacted us all. For Black creatives, it can be a uniquely difficult time. Our art is channeled through our emotions. It’s a reflection of who we are in that moment and the world around us. But when the world around you is on fire, creativity can be the furthest thing from your mind.

https://youtu.be/SG4LiBwtWCY Credit: NowThis When the Coronavirus pandemic first began, Twitter and Instagram philosophers loudly mused that now was the time for us to complete our career-defining works. If we didn’t, it wasn’t because we were busy with work, school, or family issues compounded by the pandemic. No, we we…