DEI ISN’T DEAD

INCLUSION WITHOUT INFRASTRUCTURE IS JUST AESTHETICS.

The days of asking for permission are over.

Black storytellers deserve more than a seat at the table, we deserve a system that’s built to hold the true WEIGHT of our genius. Too often, inclusion gets talked about like it’s the end goal.

(TLDR: Media INCLUSION is the ICING on the CAKE, but it's not the cake. WE will MAKE the cake.)

The truth is that meaningful inclusion without the systems to enforce it too often become reduced to lip-service only, where the whims of the political powers that be expose the pandering clout chasers for what they are:

CULTURE VULTURES…

You can’t have meaningful inclusion without infrastructure. Black and brown voices in cinema will continue to ASCEND no matter what roadblocks continue to impede, but the reality remains — systems that fund, distribute, and promote Black stories are still gate-kept, under-resourced, or performative. Black storytellers are not niche. We are not a sidebar. And, we are DONE being pandered to.

We CAN and WILL lead the narratives that we live through every day.

BECOMING THE ANCESTORS OF TOMORROW.

Black artists and creatives of color have proven their power again and again.

Recent hits like Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' show what happens when Black filmmakers are trusted to lead. But those moments are too often treated as outliers when they should be treated as the future. From Variety downplaying actual Box-Office magic, to legends in the game like Spike Lee having to prove their worth even after a career of CERTIFIED brilliance, it's clear that Black artistry needs to be INDEPENDENT, POWERFUL, and BUILT from the ground up — immune to the fair-weather execs, studios, or corporate partners that blow where the wind takes them.

That’s why PROJECT XIVION is so important to me: a production company committed to creating story-worlds rooted in Black imagination and narrative sovereignty. With censorship on the rise, Black artists find themselves in an industry landscape of fence-sitters too afraid to take chances, too afraid to offend, and too preoccupied with pandering to audiences that it’s in danger of CANCELING itself into irrelevance. Black voices and perspectives are historically marginalized, diminished, and disproportionally censored. There seems to be a lot of FEAR about what we might say if left to our own devices. But, they shouldn’t get to choose our stories for us, and they shouldn’t get to curate our voices; only we should get to do that.

With LOVE OMNI, I am literally building from the FOUNDATION: it's my DREAM to equip young Black creatives from my community with the funding, tools, mentorship, and education they need to thrive. In my mind, LOVE OMNI will serve as a necessary pipeline between Black artistry and the industry it helps catalyze. Imagine a new wave of filmmakers, technicians, artists, executives, and entrepreneurs building the industry that it will ultimately inherit for itself — that’s the world LOVE OMNI wants to help usher in.

And, that’s also why I'm manifesting CLOUD SAGA: a decentralized Web3 story-world built outside the system entirely, because the old one wasn’t made for us. In fact, we might have to invite ourselves to this one, too, because systemic cultural, economic, and social imbalances continue to inhibit Black tech leadership in the fields of AI, decentralized web, crypto-currencies, and NFTs. The power of Web3 rests in its independence and resistance from traditional and historic sources of obstruction. More than ever, Black perspectives and the stories we tell are under attack. It only makes sense to build the systems, networks, communities, and infrastructures needed to tell ALL sides of our story no matter who tries to convince us that DEI is dead… (it’s really not, by the way.)

I’m not here to be included in Hollywood’s censored and “palatable” version of what Black artistry is. I don’t believe you are either. I’m here to build our version, the one that reflects who we truly are to the world instead of Hollywood's manufactured version of what THEY think it should be.

I’m here to build the legacies, myths, and legends of Black storytelling.

I’m here to go ANCESTRAL.

TO STUDIOS, MEDIA OUTLETS, & CULTURAL GATEKEEPERS…

If you believe in inclusion, it’s time to invest in the infrastructure that makes it real, makes it secure, and makes it permanent. Black creatives remain uniquely qualified to create truly inclusive, authentic forms, expressions, and manifestations of the human spirit in film, television, digital media, and technology. No, DEI is not dead, and this is greater than the short term dopamine highs regurgitated by the algorithms we feed. To me, it’s about defining the culture despite every attempt by the some forces in the industry to undermine our impact — CULTURE over CONTENT.

The world is a diverse place, there is beauty in all of our shades, colors, ethnicities, nationalities and backgrounds. As new alliances are forged and the old facades of “allyship” fade, it will be important going forward for Black creatives to build platforms that keep the power within our communities. We can SHARE, but we need to be in positions of ownership, guardians of our own I.P. 

Trust in media is at an all time low. We are DONE asking for permission. Perhaps now, more than ever, Black artists around the industry are taking close note of who their true allies are. Will you be one of them? See, this is nothing new, both now and historically speaking. Black film has always been independent, and while progress has been made — namely, in creating space and opportunity for Black voices to be heard in Hollywood — there are still mountains to climb. In the meantime, Black filmmakers, creatives, and artists will continue to innovate, lead, and build for the future.

DEI ISN’T DEAD. THEY JUST WISH IT WAS. WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE.

LOOK AT WHAT I’M BUILDING

From PROJECT XIVION, to LOVE OMNI, to CLOUD SAGA, and BEYOND, I am manifesting my words — this isn’t JUST talk.

This is world-building with purpose. If you believe in the future of independent Black storytelling, in the power of creative freedom, and in building something real from the ground up then consider supporting.

Support. Donate. Share. Join the mission.

CONNECT. COLLABORATE. CONQUER. THE FUTURE BELONGS TO US.

Let’s do it together.