Today we’d like to introduce you to Makiah Green.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Makiah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve been an organizer for as long as I can remember. Not necessarily in the formal activist sense, but I’ve always sought out ways to bring people together and build community whenever I find myself in a new environment. In high school, that meant joining my class leadership team to make sure the parties were poppin’. And when I got to USC, it meant joining the Black Student Assembly team to ensure that we were all in touch with each other.
After moving back home to Compton post-grad school, I felt rather disoriented since I had been living in the USC bubble for six years. So I decided to do something about it.
In May of 2016, I sent out an email to about 100 people who responded to a Facebook post I made about finding things to do in LA. The idea was to centralize all the dope parties, concerts, and professional events catered towards Black millennials. At the time, there was nothing like it, which seemed crazy to me given how many young Black people there are in this city. All of the lifestyle sites were either geared towards an older demographic or white millennials. I started Black Book LA to make it easy for us to convene, make meaningful connections, and most importantly, enjoy life. I figured if I was searching for it, others were too.
Before I knew it, the platform started growing organically. I spent the first year attending every event I could, passing out business cards and tabling at Black Business fairs. Eventually, word of mouth started spreading and it became an essential tool in people’s social lives to the point that folks were relying on us to curate their weekend plans. Our subscribers started telling their friends about it and it quickly grew beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Absolutely not! Thankfully, the one thing that’s remained constant over the past three years is my genuine desire to put on for my city. But it’s been everything but easy. The most pressing challenge has definitely been the time constraints. I work full-time as a Creative Executive at a production company across Film & TV, so free time is not a luxury that I’ve had since launching. It started as a labor of love, so I never anticipated it becoming something that would require more than a few hours a week. Now that it’s become the primary platform of its kind in the city, it’s a much more intricate operation that requires lots of attention and care, which is difficult to maintain with limited resources. But we make it do what it do!
On top of that, Black Book LA was born out of a former relationship that ended in 2017. For the first two years after we launched, it was just the two of us doing everything. So when our personal dynamic shifted, our business was left hanging in the balance. Working through and healing after a breakup while also trying to avoid signaling any sort of change in leadership to our followers was extremely difficult. And most importantly, I had to do some soul searching to determine if I wanted to continue moving forward without the person I built all of this with. It was a very dark and confusing time, but I came out of it knowing without a doubt that this community was worth fighting for. So I assembled an amazing team of dedicated individuals who believed in my vision and never looked back. Thankfully, things have been running smoothly ever since, which I think is a testament to the brand.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Black Book LA – what should we know?
Black Book LA is the hub for all things Black in Los Angeles. We promote events for and by Black millennials every week through our email newsletter and social media platforms. We also host some of the best parties you’ll find where people actually dance and have a good time! In addition to event promotion, we also host a Housing Network and Job Network on Facebook. It’s become a great resource for people to share and identify employment opportunities, network with each other, find roommates and affordable housing. Fun fact: I actually found my first apartment through the Black Book LA Housing Network, which is hilarious to me because I literally started it to help myself find a place and move out of my mom’s house.
With the rapid gentrification that’s happening across the city, so many of us have been affected in major ways. I’m most proud of the way that we’ve been able to make Los Angeles feel like home despite all the efforts being made to displace and isolate us.
A few years ago, the main complaint I’d hear is that no one knew where to go on the weekends. People thought LA was boring, which is wild, considering all of the amazing things there are to do here. Now, there’s a much stronger awareness of what’s happening on any given night. And it brings me so much joy to see Black people living their best life! Life is too short, not to.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Absolutely! To be honest, Black Book LA would not still be here without my phenomenal team. Patriana Jones was one of our earliest followers and supporters. And now she’s the main event curator who assembles the newsletter and blog post each week. Dana-Rae Gipson is our fabulous Event & Business Coordinator, who corresponds with every event planner and business owner who works with us. Without her administrative support, we simply wouldn’t be able to handle the demand. Spencer Street is our Social Media Coordinator. He posts events every single day and has helped our social platforms grow tremendously over the past year. And last, but certainly not least, our Events team is comprised of Anthony Foster and Kaylin Cotton, who’ve been helping to build out our event slate. While we love promoting everyone else’s events, we’ve been hosting more of our own and they help execute the vision!
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
Ah! I have so many big ideas. In terms of next steps, Black Book is planning to expand to a new city this summer, which is going to change the game! I’ve been getting inquiries for years now from folks across the country who are craving this type of community in their city, so I’m excited to branch out and see how the brand adapts to a new environment.
We also have plans to build a mobile app that makes it even easier for our followers to find the fun, connect, and curate every aspect of their life from social events to housing.
Lastly, I am on a mission to solve one of LA’s biggest mysteries –– dating! For some reason, it is so difficult to find decent people to date; at least for me it is. Everyone that I talk to seems to be on the struggle bus, as well, so at this point, I’m calling it an epidemic.
We launched Black Book Bae (@blackbookbae) a few months ago as an Instagram page that makes it easier to slide in your crush’s DMs, but I’ve learned that folks are far more shy than I anticipated on the internets. I’m currently working on a live experience that will bring singles together in a fresh and relaxed way that’s far more interesting than any speed dating event you’ve never been to. Stay tuned!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blkbkla.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbookla_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackBookLA/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/blackbookla
Image Credit:
Farah Sosa, Tundae Olüfemí
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