Black Girl Creative Manifesto: A Love Letter to Black Woman Makers, Dreamers and Creators (Excerpt)

Dear Black Girl Creative

We’re all recovering something we’ve lost track of. Perhaps we lost our way, our identity, our dreams, our selves. 

We’re all healing from something that was broken. Maybe our hearts were shattered, our hopes, our spirit.

As human beings we’ve all experienced a taste of brokenness, but we’ve been gifted with the ability to find our way back to the Truth, our way back to Healing– to Light. We’ve all been given a pathway back to ourselves and our Creator through Creativity, Community, Storytelling, Generosity and Healing.

It may come at a cost. 

It may require some cutting off, some branching out, some quieting down, some tuning in. 

It may require you to take an honest and long look at the very fabric of your life. You may come to a realization that may lead you to pull it all apart by the seams. You may mourn, you may weep, you may laugh, you may do anything you need to do, as long as you get back to you. 

You, honestly and truly.

Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale.

In this moment you have everything you need.

In this moment you are enough.

In this moment you are safe.

This moment is beautiful.

Be here in this moment.

You are a work of art.

A masterpiece.

It’s not debatable, though we fight so much to see our own value, our own worth and our own beauty.

In a world that convinces you to hate yourself, it’s a daily revolutionary act to make the decision to see, cherish and love yourself. To do the work to uncover the truth. To tune out all programming and messaging and fully love this masterpiece.

Your life-bringing smile, your uncontrollable laughter, the musicality in your speech, the dimples in your cheek, the way your hair curls tightly into one another, close to the warmth of your scalp. The unique prints at the tips of your fingers, the curl in your eyelash – all of it has been designed. You were created by the hands that created the universe.

You are literally a walking testament and manifestation of God’s creativity and artistry.

Because you were made in the image of God, you have also been given a sacred gift. Though we all have this gift, each one given is unique. 

This gift is tailor made, just as original as the being receiving it.  This gift can be used to save lives, move mountains, heal a broken soul, give light and clarity to those fumbling in the dark. You can even use this gift for yourself. Soothe your own soul, regulate your body… to give life to yourself and those you encounter in your life’s journey.

The first attribute given to God is “Creator” (Gen. 1:1). God created light, darkness, the sea, the sky, animals, and God reached down into the ground to form you. 

You were handcrafted. While everything else was spoken into existence, The Creator of the Universe took His time in forming you and giving you His very breath.

What does that mean?

You’re special. 

You’re priceless. 

You were made to reflect The Creator, and therefore you were made to Create.

Creativity is your birthright.

It brings Our Creator great joy to watch us wake up to the creativity gifted to us. We all remember what it was like to realize that we enjoyed painting, cooking, making people feel at home, laughing, and caretaking.

We all have that moment of realization– a fire being lit in our bellies– remembering something that we forgot we knew so well. We get lost in creative work and the passion consumes us. We can’t stop. We look up and 2 hours have flown by. 

As children, we didn’t have to be taught or told how to be creative. 

We just knew how to be.

We just did. 

We created majestic worlds full of imaginary friends and creatures full of wonder. We told stories with our barbies and our fingers. We put on lectures and concerts in front of our stuffed animals or any family members willing to listen. We invented gadgets that would save the world. We designed homes in trees and dwellings underground. We became princesses, business owners, mermaids, monsters, actresses without anyone’s permission. And when people told us it wasn’t true, or when folks would try to rain on our parade, we fought back.

It was true because we said it was true and we believed it with everything in us. That was the safe place– our knowing. We knew that no matter what was going on in our everyday lives, no matter the things outside of our comfort and control, we could always return here: to this place of safety and solace. 

But somewhere along the way, we lost that space. We lost ourselves. We lost our creativity. We lost our fire. 

At some point, we stopped fighting to protect our creativity and our dreams.

Perhaps our fire was doused by a loved one who told us our dreams were silly or unimportant.

Maybe our flames were put out by loving parents telling us it was useless to dream and that we needed to “get real” and get a “real job”. 

It crushed us. This is real. Nothing is more real than the magic we felt creating– the oneness with God.

Maybe it was this overbearing and life-sucking culture of Capitalism that convinced us that “if it doesn’t make money, it doesn’t make sense.” That we should throw out all hobbies no matter how much joy they bring us.

It could be that our flames were smothered by friends or bullies who made fun of us for pursuing our dreams. 

It’s possible we were told that we were never good enough. And maybe at some level, we started to believe in their judgment more than our own dreams. Maybe their lies were easier to accept than fighting for the truth.

Did you throw your dreams and creativity away because you wanted security, peace, safety and belonging? I wouldn’t judge you if that were the case. 

I’ve done all of these things.

I enrolled in college because I was told that’s what people do. I majored in something that I wasn’t passionate about because I had to be “employable”, but would sneak away in between classes to feed the fire that would not die. I would play piano and write songs late at night. I would write stories in the middle of class, more interested in the worlds I could create than the world around me.

No matter how hard I tried to deny it and convince myself that my dreams were worthless, something inside of me knew it wasn’t true. My dreams and passions fought me at every turn. It manifested in my body. I was drained of all of my energy trudging to classes and jobs I hated. It manifested in my emotions. I was envious of others living their own dreams.

The truth is that no matter how hard I tried to hide it, the truth always showed up begging to be acknowledged. Sometimes it was as quiet as a whisper, and other times as loud as a scream.

I believe there’s something inside of you that really knows the truth– and you hear it echoing. You feel it tugging you towards the paper, the piano, the paint. You ignore it even though you can feel the warmth and joy it’ll bring to your life. 

Perhaps all you need is permission. Maybe all you need is for someone to tell you that you’re not crazy, that it’s not ridiculous, that it is a good idea, that it will work out, that “I am proud of you”, that you should keep going, that you should change your mind, that you should leave, that you should try… whatever it is, you have permission. 

The truth is, you don’t need anyone’s permission except your own and your Creator’s. But just in case you just want to hear it, “You, dear and beautiful one, have permission to be all that you are. You have permission to be creative.”

Medicine, healing, answers, love, breakthroughs that the world has been waiting on are in your creations, in your dreams, in your passions and they’re just waiting to be released. But you have to give them permission to be.

You are creative and that makes you come alive.

You get joy from creating because that’s what you were created to do.

Creativity doesn’t have to mean that you create in ways that the world expects you to. You can paint or create music, but you can also create meals, create laughter, create joy, create a safe space for your loved ones. You can create lesson plans, budgets, technology, life– no matter where you are in your creative journey, you create many things in one day without even realizing it.

So what would happen if you gave yourself permission to pursue the things God placed in your heart? 

What freedom might you experience? 

Who might you set free?

What joy might you experience and share? 

How could you impact, inspire and influence your community if you were to be all of who God created you to be?

Black Girl Creative (Second Edition): A Love Letter to Black Woman Creators, Dreamers and Makers

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