WRITE FOR BETTER TO SPEAK

Essays, journalistic reporting, collaborative pieces, audio works and transcribed conversations, album/book/movie + film/podcast/TV reviews that accomplish any of the following:

• Document our personal written and oral histories – What’s your story? What inspires you? What challenges have you overcome? What motivates you to continue? What moves you? What is your freedom dream?

• Empower and uplift the voices and stories of other Black youth and young adults – What young Black folks are out there using their unique stories, gifts, talents, passions, etc. for Black liberation?

• Shift the narrative on sociopolitical issues and those working to address and solve them – What issues, individuals or organizations/collectives in your community need more attention?

We are aiming to work with young Black storytellers and changemakers 18-30 who fall under any of the following categories:

• Community Voices – Are you a young Black person who lives in a society? We want to hear from you! We want to include and empower folks who may not have been published before, but who are interested in speaking up about an issue that is important to you and your community.

• Subject-Matter Experts – Young Black folks with lived/personal and/or academic/professional experience with a given topic. This can include community organizers who have specific knowledge of a particular community, folks with knowledge in a particular field/industry, etc.

• Journalists & Reporters – Young Black journalists who – as defined by Press On – use their reporting and media-making skills in service to liberation.

While young Black folks ages 18-30 are our primary audience, we are happy to accept pitches from young Black teens ages 13-17 with parent or guardian permission, and also from Black adults ages 30+.

We are also happy to work with storytellers who have support and accessibility needs that require more assistance or accommodation with the writing and/or editing process. Please email our team at stories@bettertospeak.org for support.

Please check in with yourself before submitting any materials on behalf of your own brand or that of an organization. Better to Speak will let you know if your piece doesn’t align with our values.

• Any pieces that include, amplify or otherwise insinuate hateful or discriminatory rhetoric – including, but not limited to homophobia, transphobia, sexism + misogynoir, ableism, colorism, classism, xenophobia, fatphobia, elitism, anti-semitism or ageism.

• Any pieces written/created by or quoting an individual or organization with a known history of perpetrating interpersonal violence/harm or silencing survivors. Known does not have to equal public.

• Profit- or clout-driven pieces for individuals, brands or organizations. We want to engage in thoughtful and mutual partnerships with and amplify as many folks in our community as we can, but we also want to do that intentionally and with those who are values-aligned. Better to Speak is not a platform for shameless self-promotion, especially if the bottom line is profit or self-aggrandizement before it’s meant to serve, inform, or otherwise benefit the collective.

• Fictional works. Better to Speak’s current editorial focus is on educational and informative content that is fact-based. However, we’d love to see your unique approach to creative or poetic nonfiction as we believe telling your story doesn’t have to take on one format or genre!

• Pieces where primary and secondary sources are not cited and claims have not been fact-checked to the best of your ability. Better to Speak will do our editorial due diligence to not amplify misinformation and will work with you to ensure your piece is factually tight. Please do your part to self-edit, fact-check and cite your own sources – especially if those sources are from communities and identities whose knowledge has historically been erased and stolen.

• Video-based content. We’re happy to work with you on a case-by-case basis if you can produce your own video from start to finish and want to distribute your work through Better to Speak’s channels, but our primary editorial focus for right now is on written and audio content. Keep creating!

• Non-Black people. We appreciate your interest, but Better to Speak is a platform by Black folks for Black folks, to amplify and document Black folks’ voices. Thank you for respecting this boundary.