By & For is the creative incubator for Breakthrough’s Our Stories: In Vivid Color initiative.
Given the uncertainty of work opportunities for young creatives, we help facilitate their participation in the creative economy by commissioning artists and activists to share artwork, graphics, poems, articles or TikTok videos. Through these creative collaborations, we are able to offer curated storytelling and branding support to our young writers, podcasters, and other media-makers, along with access to a network of like-minded peers and various partner organizations to create media on their own terms.
Check out our collaborations below!
By & For: Powerful Women in Activism
Everyone has an active role to play in addressing society’s injustices. For activists that make this work a primary focus of their lives, that responsibility can sometimes be greater, challenging even, but evermore rewarding. These women women explain what their activism work means to them, the process of that work, and how they take time to recover.
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A Woman: Poem for International Women’s Day
Poem Kai Adia Women have the audacity to birth new worlds With passion and honey on their tongues. This world would not move without women, They hold up half the sky. Reaching with their arms, they shout FREEDOM Into the heavens Raising unsung heroes From history’s sullen shadows. What is a Woman? Intuitive Connecter Emotional…
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Meet Nia Asemota: Artist Contributor to By & For
Cover art by Nia Asemota Nia Asemota is a young artist, technical instructor for Black Girls CODE, and contributor to By & For. “My artwork is the epitome of my inner personality- bold lines and bright colors. Through my cartoon realistic pieces, I seek to pay tribute to my dynamic cultural heritage as an Afro-Latina…
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Why Black Joy is Important According to 10 Young People
To demonstrate the power of Black joy, here are 9 Black people explaining what brings them joy and why Black joy is important to them; all participants answered the question: “What brings you joy right now? Why is joy important to you?”
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A Look Back at Representation in 2020: 8 Ways Black Hair Matters
Today, Black women are loving their hair unapologetically. We are creating and buying our own products from brands made “By and for Us.” Black hair is a story of resilience and the story has continued as a key topic of conversation throughout 2020. Yes, our twist outs, fros and low cuts are taking center stage as a representation of independence and strength. And yet, centuries of race-based hair discrimination has sparked the saying, “Black hair is not just hair.” Why?
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How To Effect Change Through The Political System
In wake of the killings of Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Aubrey, George Floyd and many other Black people killed by police, America is at its tipping point. It is totally normal to wonder how greatly our voices can shine in the midst of all this violence and a global pandemic. This country has been faced with generation after generation of racial, economic and social inequalities, so, how can we effectively improve the health of our society when faced with so many long-standing obstacles?
Read MoreDirect giving is our legacy. Ignoring that legacy is anti-Black
Our folks built special kinds of ecosystems amidst all the strategies of economic instability that antiBlackness necessitates.
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9 intimate photos exploring the meaning & importance of Black queer love
Black queer love, in and of itself, is a defiance to what a Eurocentric, hateful world views as worthy, beautiful, and acceptable.
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A Black woman navigates outrage over continued anti-Black state violence alongside the pandemic’s mental health challenges
Ultimately, we rely on community care.
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What might happen if we ignore our grief during quarantine?
The day edges on. Repeats. Cracks open. Falls apart. I try to ignore my grief. But it’s still there, underneath everything.
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MCNP: Why Black hair matters & how it brings us joy
A conversation about Black hair and Black joy with Dr. Kari Williams, a passionate hair stylist and Trichologist.
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MCNP: Children of Incarcerated Parents
Founder of We Got Us Now, Ebony Underwood, shares the ways in which mass incarceration continues to be ignored throughout American history and how this topic intersects with the significance of Black hair.
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MCNP: Former tennis pro, Katrina Adams, tells us her post-election liberation dreams
Election day is less than one week away. Have you voted? More importantly, what are your plans to move this fight forward after you vote? Katrina Adams leads our conversation on the significance of generational advocacy efforts and change.
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MCNP: How athlete and activist Maxwell Pearce uses his platform to speak out against police brutality
As a professional athlete and current Harlem Globetrotters, Maxwell Pearce stands in solidarity as fellow NBA & WNBA players use their platforms to disrupt pro sports in wake of the Jacob Blake shooting by police.
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Expressions of Frida: Bella Canzano Examines Self-Love & Latinx Identity through Vibrant Art & Music
Bella Canzano is a Phoenix-based Peruvian/Italian American artist skilled in singing, songwriting, and illustration
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MCNP: Harlem Globetrotter Max Pearce talks sports activism in today’s climate
American actress and singer Vanessa Williams joins fellow Horace Greeley High alum and host Lauren Stockmon Brown to discuss the complexity of identity politics.
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Expressions of Frida: Eunsoo Jeong Turns Rage into Art
Chidi Asoluka and MCNP founder Lauren Stockmon Brown question how we can collectively liberate the minds of young people
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MCNP: Vanessa Williams talks ‘Bad Hair’, identity politics & navigating high school
American actress and singer Vanessa Williams joins fellow Horace Greeley High alum and host Lauren Stockmon Brown to discuss the complexity of identity politics.
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‘Expressions of Frida’ podcast on WOC artists & their impact joins our BY & FOR: A PODCAST COMMUNITY!
We are so excited to be an official creative collaborator for Season 1 of the Expressions of Frida podcast, an engaging series dedicated to highlighting the work of emerging womxn of color artists and discussing the impact of art in social movements! Every two weeks, we’ll post another episode hosted by Expressions of Frida creators…
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Season 2, Episode 5: Richard Pryor’s Smith College professor daughter & granddaughter discuss the ‘N Word’ & respectability politics
Famous 1970’s comedian Richard Pryor had his own journey around the “N word,” and current Smith College Professor, Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor explains how her father disavowed his own use of the word.
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VIDEO: Indigenous communities can’t defeat colonialism without fighting anti-Blackness
Blackness was and is considered expensive, yet indigeneity was and is not.
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VIDEO: The Stress of the Pandemic is Gendered. Our Response Has to Be, Too
This is just to say that this pandemic has heightened forms of violence that have existed before, and have especially increased for many, especially women and GNC individuals.
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VIDEO: Connecting with my ancestors showed me that healing is possible, even in a pandemic
With the guidance and wisdom of my ancestors and that of a supportive group of friends, my mother, and sister, I feel and know I am a better person than before.
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VIDEO: This Earth Day, remember that colonialism is the virus, not people
Indigenous Peoples have been able to co-exist and have intentional relationships with the Earth that span over a millenia.
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VIDEO: Black, Indigenous & POC are disproportionately suffering because of the U.S.’s slow response to COVID-19
All of this originates because of colonizing oppressive systems that continue to exploit resources from Black and Brown Indigenous Peoples within the US.
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Welcome to BY & FOR: A TIKTOK COMMUNITY!
Breakthrough is a non-profit organization that harnesses the power of media, arts and tech to spark radical culture change. We believe that those facing systemic barriers have the most effective ideas for a liberated future. The best pathways to a future where everyone is treated with dignity and respect are created by them and for…
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