Dear BGD readers,
For the last five and a half years, BGD has amplified the voices of queer and trans people of color by publishing hundreds of pieces of writing, videos, and podcasts by and for our communities. At the end of this month, most of that will come to an end.
As of July 31, 2017, BGD will end its online publication. The reasons for this are many (including the usual challenges that come with fundraising and working with a small population of writers), but what it all comes down to is that, as the creator of the project and the main creative and organizational force behind it, I am ready to move on. My journey with this project has been an incredible one. I’ve learned a ton and had the opportunity to work with so many amazing people. It’s been a great five-plus years.
I know that BGD has had a real impact on indie media. When there was no space, we created a space for hundreds of the most marginalized writers to talk about issues of race, class, trans-ness, queerness, feminism, (dis)ability and so much more, on a platform where they could be heard by millions, all without having to coddle their oppressors along the way. That’s an important legacy and I’m very proud to have been part of it.
Beginning in September, we will begin taking steps to preserve BGD’s legacy. The first step will be transforming the BGD website into a user-friendly, dynamically-searchable, accessible archive of the hundreds of writings, videos and podcasts that have been published on BGD over the years. Step two will be publishing two new print anthologies featuring selected writings from the site. Those books, and all BGD books, will continue to be available through BGD Press, hopefully for years to come (if funding allows).
In addition to the archive and anthologies, we will also be offering a mentoring program to pass on what we’ve learned about online indie media publishing to queer and trans people of color who want to start similar projects but need guidance along the way. Check out the mentoring program here.
We are also currently visioning future workshops and retreats focused on QTBIPoC healing, self-love and joy.
You can support the BGD archive, anthologies and mentoring program by donating here.
Thank you to all the queer and trans writers of color who have written for BGD over the years, the editors and interns, and to everyone who supported the online platform, especially readers who donated to keep this important work going. I’d love it if you’d all share what BGD has meant to you—what you’ve learned, what you’ll miss—by using the hashtag #BGDLegacy.
So, what’s next for me, Black Girl Dangerous herself? Lots! I just sold a new, super Black, super queer, serio-comic novel to Random House, so look out for more news on that. (If you haven’t yet, you can also read my first novel, The Summer We Got Free, which won the Lambda Literary Award in 2013.) In the meantime, you can read new fiction from me in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern . You can still invite me to speak about race, queerness, feminism, media, and the intersections of all of these at your college, university or conference. And you can continue to follow my online writings at blackgirldangerous.com and catch me making jokes on Twitter when I get distracted from writing and/or when my baby is napping.
Thanks so much for coming along with me on this amazing ride.
In solidarity,
Mia
