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Blog Series
30 Days in Conversation with 30 Black Activists and Storytellers
A portrait and a letter a day to our monumental black figures
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Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Nov 16, 20202 min read
Mother Pan Africa
This past summer has undoubtedly caused the world to do some questioning of themselves and where they fit in the world on an entirely new...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 29, 20203 min read
Martin Luther King Jr., to you I write my last letter.
"We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 28, 20202 min read
Ruby Bridges, you have crossed bridges .
Your bravery, courage, and strength go beyond. Being the first anything is no small feat. With Barack Obama's presidency giving this...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 27, 20203 min read
James Baldwin, your words have articulated our fight for freedom.
"I love America more than any country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 26, 20203 min read
Oprah, you have shown me all that is possible.
I was in the car with my mom at a park near her house and we were having a very compelling conversation. I had just written Maya...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 25, 20203 min read
Tupac Shakur, real eyes, realize, real lies
Your entire career you were outspoken of the struggles faced by African Americans. Your music provided a painted picture of the hard...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 24, 20203 min read
Michael B. Jordan, you have taught me artistic integrity.
Your body of work has shown me as an actress the true power that there is to be had in storytelling. Specifically in reforming the...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 23, 20202 min read
Diahann Carroll, you have paved the way for women like me.
You worked to make America see that lady on the screen as a lady who just happens to be black. Your work has ripped down long-held...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 22, 20202 min read
Hosea Williams, as they say, the one who feels it knows it.
It is no coincidence that so many non-black people are finally realizing the heavy presence of racism. For decades since the Civil...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 21, 20203 min read
Spike Lee, there is nothing like one of your joints to tell a story loud!
The black narrative in film has had its numbers of challenges in the face of serving stereotypes, acting opposite white counterparts, ...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 20, 20202 min read
Audre Lorde, your fight was for ALL black lives
Freedom to be a person who loves who they love, without judgment. Freedom to be a strong woman equal to men. Freedom to be...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 19, 20202 min read
Nelson Mandela, you are the answer to change.
Quite literally, you are the answer to South Africa's abolished apartheid, changing the history of South Africa forever. Born into South...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 18, 20202 min read
Beyoncé, thank you for telling us just how beautiful we are.
There is no one like you in performance. However, your excellence goes beyond just your presence in music and your ability to carry out...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 17, 20202 min read
Langston Hughes, I am so tired of waiting...
Aren't you, For the world to become good And beautiful and kind? Let us take a knife And cut the world in two- And see what worms are...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 16, 20202 min read
Toni Morrison, the brownest eye holds treasure far too rich.
What your words mean to black women are set upon holy ground. I was met by your words at eight years old. I was in an older sister...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 15, 20203 min read
Ava Duvernay, you hold in one hand a mirror and in the other a wand.
"To be an artist, you must imagine and create and world build. To be an activist you must do the same because an activist must imagine a...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 14, 20202 min read
Booker T. Washington, you taught us that knowledge is power.
"Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way." Born into slavery, to a slave mother and a white plantation owner father, you...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 13, 20202 min read
Rosa Parks, only with tenacity comes change.
A lot of us go through life in a state of, "this is what I am supposed to do". We live our lives in accordance to how society sees fit...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 12, 20202 min read
Roy Wilkins, your lifework has taught me the power in leadership.
Harriet Tubman, under her leadership, led over 700 slaves to freedom. Martin Luther King Jr., under his leadership, led the 1963 March...
Kayla Mary Jane Marisin
Jun 11, 20203 min read
Lorraine Hansberry, what happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-and then run? -Langston Hughes You completed your first play at the age of...
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