About

It all started when…

So while I have three daughters, I only made one of them. The older two girls were 2 and 4 when I met them, and I have loved them since day one. There is something though when you meet a person on day one of their life. As I held Arianna it hit me I walked through her life in my imagination and saw all the hurt and pain she would deal with being a black woman, her dad is black her mom is Peruvian, and that right there is another point but I digress. The idea for this project sparked back then, but it would take time to develop.

Sometimes the tiniest things can spark the biggest ideas. I was wanting to do an Afrocentric shoot and saw an image of a deep chocolate woman with what looked like gold leaf in the shape of Africa on her face, and I thought Black Gold. First I wanted to get different models and do the shapes of their countries of origin, or something along those lines, but I thought what would impact more people. I thought of my daughters, and the path they have to walk. As much as I love them I can only relate in specific ways to what they will experience. I thought, they need more aunties and cousins and sisters and mothers and G-mas etc. I thought, “How wonderful would it be if they had a huge library or group of women who looked like them, sounded like them, and knew what they were going through, could give advice and inspire by sharing their stories?” That’s when I thought, I can do something. I can set up interviews, and do epic photoshoots showing of the elegance and myriad forms of intelligence beauty and panache that resides within the African Diaspora. And I can help more young women and not as young women by sharing these stories. We can prepare them for what’s out there while sharing with each other and showing that we are not alone in our experience.

The more I have talked and shared this idea the more parts have developed. Our history has been in the hands of those who cared not for it. Our culture has suffered as a result. We are constantly making history, but sometimes not telling it to our children. We can change that you can help. For this thing to be what it can, takes US.

We need people of every skill set, mental health resources, community groups, investors, organizers etc. Each ACT will have various forms of support and will not necessarily need to stop, since there are so many stories. ACT 1 will contain the 5 highlighted areas but we will start with Sister, will have black women influencing every aspect of the compilation and sharing of the stories. I want to get this right, and I am a guy, lol, so my perspective though valid is not going to see everything, anyways I believe you get it. Why is Sister first? Because black women have it the worst. As dangerous as it is for me to be pulled over, being black and female is a whole ‘nother level. The strongest of us need to share first.

And so, we have
African Children Talking or ACTs
Our current areas of sharing and exploration are Sister, Brother, Roots & Bridges, For the Nourshment, and Rhythm.