t the height of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, Facebook came out and pledged about $200 million towards Black-owned businesses, creators and communities in its effort to provide substantial support that had been missing for ages. Fast forward to this year, Facebook is taking it a step further to cultivate a wide-reaching creative community by introducing a program called “We the Culture” on February 16, 2020, which they supported with a $25 million investment. The program targets to amplify the voices of Black content creators and their work to celebrate their influential culture. The new We the Culture community was curated by a team of passionate Black Facebook employees in pursuit to help Black visionaries share their creations with the rest of the world, while also providing a launching point for their professional careers. “We The Culture celebrates Black creativity,” co-founder Michelle Mitchell said. “I’m a Black creative myself — I’m convinced that a part of my desire to create and express is driven by a need to render myself less invisible in a society that does not always value Black people or credit Black culture for its massive impact on the world we live in.” “As someone working amongst an amazing group of Black employees and allies that daily contribute their ideas, labor, love and support, I wanted to help build the kind of program worthy of our community. This program provides financial support to give folks room to see what truly happens when they can to focus solely on their creative endeavors and invest in their businesses, alongside a kindred community of folks who have the same desires,” she added. The program started off with an inaugural class of more than 120 creatives including Danielle Young, Lauren “Sitting Pretty Lolo’ Spencer, Cameron J. Henderson, and Nneka Irobunda. The initiative has also incorporated programming for Facebook Watch in partnership with production companies focused on Black creatives. Among the first shows are “Chop It Up” with actress Storm Reid, “Asking for a Friend” hosted 32
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FACEBOOK ACCELERATOR PROGRAM TO SUPPORT BLACK CONTENT CREATORS by actress and entrepreneur Vanessa Simmons, and “Mastery of Comedy” with media host Angela Yee. Be it music, art, poetry, original programming, food, or social justice, the new community “serves as a launch point for Black creators” and spotlights “the beautiful, layered and expressive voices shaping black culture and driving it forward,” Facebook said in a statement. “We The Culture is a multi-faceted initiative with the goal of elevating Black creators to share their vision and voice with the world for a broader community and empower them to build successful, entertaining, and sustainable businesses [and enterprises] across all of our apps,” says Dan Reed, the VP of Global Media, Sports and Equity Partnerships at Facebook. Besides getting funding for their content, Black creators will also be provided with partner management support, access to educational and training resources, marketing support, and tools for audience development. According to Reed, the goal is to “fully empower this group of up-coming and emerging creators to be successful on our platforms for a very long time.” The activities behind the jumpstarting of this accelerator program was motivated by a desire step up for the Black creatives and provide a creator-driven platform that leveraged the best of what Facebook has to offer. “Working with an all-Black design and social team, we had so much fun exploring the brand essence — working with creators for feedback and truly developing an “if you build it, they will come”-type program,” Mitchell concluded. “It was a massive, cross-functional team that was intentional with every aspect of the program from start to finish.” Work cited. https://www.blackenterprise.com/facebook-unveils-acceleratorprogram-we-the-culture-to-fund-and-support-black-contentcreator/. https://afrotech.com/facebooks-newly-launched-acceleratorprogram-we-the-culture-is-championing-black-voices-creators.
THE POWER IS NOW MAGAZINE | APRIL 2021
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WE THE CULTURE
