Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham are Taking Over Facebook’s Lift Black Voices

Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham, the co-editors of the visual anthology “Black Futures,” are taking over Facebook’s Lift Black Voices as the first ever guest curators, for three weeks beginning today January 11. They are personally selecting collections of dialogues, essays and more on the themes of Systems of Care, Justice, Memory and Legacy, Ownership, and Joy.

Lift Black Voices is a space in the Facebook App that highlights stories from Black people, shares educational resources, and inspires people to take action through fundraising for racial justice causes.

In “Black Futures,” Kimberly and Jenna invite us to read the book alongside a device so we can search out names and terms that intrigue us. Lift Black Voices can facilitate this approach. We hope that by elevating underrepresented voices we are helping people connect to impactful Black voices on Facebook and facilitating the start to connecting people to more inclusive and dynamic communities beyond this destination on our platform.

Some of the features of this takeover include:

• A custom header of the collaboration between Lift Black Voices and “Black Futures”
• An introduction to the hub by Kimberly and Jenna (included below)
• A commissioned breathwork video for self care by Siedeh Foxie
• A hashtag prompt that allows users to delve deeper

 

A Note from the Curators:

Hello! We are Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham, the co-editors of the visual anthology “Black Futures,” which was released in December 2020, from One World Books.

“The Black Futures Project” started a few years ago as a Direct Message exchange on Twitter and has evolved into a shared desire to archive a moment. “Black Futures,” the resulting book, is meant to be a dwelling place for our most precious cultural exports in a moment in which so much of the contributions of Black people — from memes to groundbreaking scientific discoveries — is still subject to erasure and co-option.

As co-editors we endeavored to answer the question: What does it mean to be Black and alive right now? It wasn’t enough to define ourselves by our examples of productivity; we wanted to memorialize our hopes, dreams, expectations and fears for current and future generations. We aimed to record some of what the most dynamic artists, writers, thinkers and musicians of our time made during an unprecedented era of cultural, social, economic and ecological revolutions.

Online and off, we are witnessing a flourishing of Black creativity and art. Below we have curated a unique selection of portals, videos, and galvanizing posts from across Facebook.

We felt it was important to highlight a visual feast of healers, artists, and abolitionists who have impacted us, online and off.

This list is by no means comprehensive, but we hope our selections invigorate and inspire you.