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We’re Moving to Saint Paul

Hey folks, We’re sharing this message to let you all know that we’ll be organizing, [...]

Juneteenth March for Floyd

For the Freedom of Black Lives Each year, we’ve contributed to Juneteenth celebrations with our [...]

APRÈS Zine

Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial, Inc.

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On September 18, 7-9PM CST, Blackbird Revolt will

On September 18, 7-9PM CST, Blackbird Revolt will be participating in The State of Black Design panel– a two-hour virtual discussion moderated by our friend @omari.souza

This event will feature prominent Black Design Practitioners and Academics segmented into four focused panels, Industry, Pedagogy, Black Design Organizations, and Design Activism.

Be sure to register!

We’re sharing this message to let you all know t

We’re sharing this message to let you all know that we’ll be organizing, creating, and connecting from a new home: St. Paul. We will no longer be Duluthians at the end August.

What does this mean?

Unfortunately, we won’t get to move through Duluth in the ways we have for the last 3 years. We won’t be directly involved in many of the dope creative endeavors that folks have been generating and hosting.

However, we will not be disconnected from Duluth. After spending over a decade and half(collectively) in Duluth, we know that there is a need to continue to foster statewide relationships to support BIPOC creatives, space, abolition, and liberation. We appreciate the time, energy, love, and connections we’ve had in Duluth. We will continue to work with folks in the Twin Ports and regularly visit once it is safe to do so.

We are looking forward to learning about what roles we can play in the Twin Cities. We’re thrilled to be reunited (as much as we can be in a pandemic) with friends and family.

Thank you for your continued energy and support.

Due to our move, we will not be shipping out orders placed between August 1–August 9 until August 10. Orders placed July 31 will be shipped August 1.

📸 by @hebron_girma

We’re grateful to be attending the @huedesignsum

We’re grateful to be attending the @huedesignsummit this weekend– hearing from amazing designers like @cherlydmillerfineart @gravitysketch @studio.2133 @regineem @coolurbanhippie @yanipaints @thee__renee @deliagrenville and connecting with an amazing and talented network of Black designers.

We must continue to challenge existing systems whi

We must continue to challenge existing systems while building new ones. We must collectively speak up and, most importantly, act!
Duluthians should sign the following petition.

Link in bio.

APRÈS is our zine featuring some of our thoughts

APRÈS is our zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Today, we’re highlighting another section from the zine. Our tenth section is Practice Accountability & Healing.

Your greatest wisdom is understanding your power. The reality of your power is beyond what you may think. That said, do you know what transferable power you hold? Likely, there is some space you take up, some position you have that could be better held by a BIPOC. As much as your skills may support the work--it’s possible that a BIPOC could better expand the work to support and expand generational wealth to their communities. “If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” - Shirley Chisolm

To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

We released APRÈS last week, a zine featuring som

We released APRÈS last week, a zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Today, we’re highlighting another section from the zine. Our ninth section is Organize Politically.

Some retreat from participation in the political process. Some reach to it as harm reduction. Either way, the current system of governance continues to cause harm in our communities. While we are working to dismantle these systems, we must also be strategic in our pursuit to control those same systems to build political power. "There is one thing you have got to learn about our movement. Three people are better than no people." - Fannie Lou Hamer

To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

Last week we released APRÈS, a zine featuring som

Last week we released APRÈS, a zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Today, we’re highlighting another section from the zine. Our eighth section is Support BIPOC Artists, Creatives, and Organizers.

Art is essential in all we do. BIPOC are often underrepresented, underfunded, and left out of mainstream art spaces. However, we are ever present. We are storytellers, visionaries, historians, and healers, all through our art.
Whether it’s money or resources they’ve identified as a need, BIPOC deserve to be compensated for every ounce of energy exerted to support the development of individuals and the movement. Compensate the folks in our communities carrying extra weight (i.e. Queer folk, women, folks w/ disabilities, and all other folks tasked with managing additional barriers). “Artists have a very bad habit of being resilient, and it is that resilience that deceives us into believing that the best of it sort of gets done anyhow... “ - Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard

To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

We initially intended for our APRÈS zine to be a

We initially intended for our APRÈS zine to be a digital release only, but after many requests, we’ve decided to print it. To keep the zine accessible, it is still zero dollars, just pay shipping.
APRÈS is our zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. We made this zine to be helpful to folks who are looking to do more. Not everyone will need what’s in this zine. Many artists, creatives, and organizers are already embedded in community and leaning into visions of a new world. The following content is for those who may be stuck, lost, curious, and ready to move.

To see the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

APRÈS is our zine featuring some of our thoughts

APRÈS is our zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Today, we’re highlighting another section from the zine. Our seventh section is Commit to the Work.

We’re not saying quit your full-time job. Unless of course you’re a cop, a warden, a CO, or in any system that is actively participating in the deaths of Black people. What we are saying is this: the work necessary to shift the world isn’t part time. It is a daily, life-long commitment to principles and actions that contribute to the destruction of white supremacy and the creation of a truly just community. “What we must do is commit ourselves to some future that can include each other and to work toward that future with the particular strengths of our individual identities.” - Audre Lorde

To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

Last week we released APRÈS, a zine featuring som

Last week we released APRÈS, a zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Today, we’re highlighting another section from the zine. Our sixth section is Move Aside.

Your greatest wisdom is understanding your power. The reality of your power is beyond what you may think. That said, do you know what transferable power you hold? Likely, there is some space you take up, some position you have that could be better held by a BIPOC. As much as your skills may support the work--it’s possible that a BIPOC could better expand the work to support and expand generational wealth to their communities. “If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” - Shirley Chisolm

To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

We released APRÈS, a zine featuring some of our

We released APRÈS, a zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Today, we’re highlighting another section from the zine. Our fifth section is Share Your Knowledge, Space, Resources, & Wealth . …Shared knowledge empowers the collective to navigate current realities and systems, while shaping a new environment. The greatest honor you can bring to all that you inherit is to share it. “The kind of role that I tried to play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don't need strong leaders.” - Ella Baker

To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

We released APRÈS, a zine featuring some of our t

We released APRÈS, a zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Today, we’re highlighting another section from the zine. Our fourth section is Transform Your Organizations.

Most of us are connected to at least one organization or institution. Within them, some of us have leverage or are in close proximity to positions of power. We need to be assessing and addressing the policies and practices of our organizations. At a minimum, our organizations should explicitly name racial justice as a priority and craft policies and practices that realize that vision. “There must exist a paradigm, a practical model for social change that includes an understanding of ways to transform consciousness that are linked to efforts to transform structures.” - bell hooks

To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

We’re taking a break from posting about our zine

We’re taking a break from posting about our zine, APRÈS, to acknowledge and honor Juneteenth.

Juneteenth has been an important holiday for us. It has always been, in the very least, a time of reflection and a time to honor Black resistance and resilience. But It seems Juneteenth is getting a lot of hype this year(finally!). So, we’re not going to explain the reasoning or the history behind the celebration. There’s plenty of dope resources, sites, educators, and pages you can learn from.

We’ll be sharing some info on the protests and events happening today. The Northern March for George Floyd and the Peaceful Protest are happening in Duluth at 4PM. Each group will then march to city hall. These protests will help build energy in the community as folks push for necessary changes in our city. What better way to honor Juneteenth than through celebration and collective action to challenge the systems that evolved from slavery.

We must continue to challenge & dismantle existing systems while building new ones. We must collectively speak up and, most importantly, act!

Duluthians should sign the following petition.

bit.ly/2Bl8mhS

On Monday we released APRÈS, a zine featuring som

On Monday we released APRÈS, a zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Today, we’re highlighting another section from the zine. Our third section is Create Mutual Aid Networks or Funds.
Capitalism, and its avid supporters, will not work to create systems that include all of us. It is up to us, the folks in our communities, to build networks of support, care, and mutual aid. We can collectively challenge capitalism by investing into collective empowerment, starting with mutual aid and building towards the next radical step. “We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” - Marian Wright Edelman

To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

We recently released APRÈS, a zine featuring some

We recently released APRÈS, a zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Today, we’re highlighting another section from the zine.
Our second section is Become an Abolitionist. Being an abolitionist is a constant commitment. It is the acknowledgement that our societal institutions are still reliant upon the ideas, functions, and frameworks of slavery. We must also note, abolition is primarily about creating the conditions necessary to provide a safe, equitable, and just world. It’s about envisioning a new world in which safety and peace are not pursued through violence. We need to defund, disarm, abolish. “[Prison] relieves us of the responsibility of seriously engaging with the problems of our society, especially those produced by racism and, increasingly, global capitalism.” - Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres

Yesterday we released APRÈS, a zine featuring so

Yesterday we released APRÈS, a zine featuring some of our thoughts and reflections on ways folks can generate energy and support for movement work. There are 10 sections that are featured in the zine. Over the next ten days we’ll highlight each section on our page and in our stories.

Our first section is Play a Generative Role in Movement Work. This section is 100% the work of Deepa Iyer, @buildingmovementproject . Her work and thoughts around the Social Change Ecosystem help us to talk with members of our community about how we collectively show up in movement spaces. “In our lives and as part of movements and organizations, many of us play different roles in pursuit of equity, shared liberation, inclusion, and justice. This framework and reflection guide are starting points to reflect on the roles we play in our social change ecosystem - whether that is a project team, an organization, a network, a neighborhood, an online community, a campus group or a movement.” - Deepa Iyer
To see this section, and the zine, in its entirety visit blackbirdrevolt.com/apres