What’s up Blaaaaccckkkbooooaaaarrrdddd!!!!
Happy New Year!
We are so excited to activate this space a little more in 2022!
Last year was a pretty busy one for Blackboard. The pandemic activated a digital life for the series and in addition to a few digital / zoom readings, we also produced a major festival in collaboration with PAAL – Parent Artist Advocacy League
We featured 4 new plays by Black parents – Black mothers!
We streamed for 4 weeks from May – June 2021 on veeps and had 1 dynamic conversation on Black Motherhood.
You can watch trailers and Playwright Conversations from #BMPFest 2021 HERE!
We are also excited to announce that our 2nd Annual Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival is coming back!!
While the festival is not until the fall of 2022, we are in the midst of planning, and THIS TIME we want to keep you very much in the loop!
Pictured above along with myself and PAAL Founder, Rachel Spencer Hewitt are some new members to the #BMPFest Team from our Comms Team: Feleceia Benton and Syney Cornelius of Zoey Communications, a Black and Mother owned Communications Agency based in Dallas, TX. and PAAL Founder Rachel Spencer Hewitt!
I’m excited to share that our patreon will be the official #behindthescenes for the Festival and we are excited for you to track our progress from now until November.
We did a soft launch for the submissions beginning on January 1st and they will close on March 1, 2022. We are looking for Playwrights who are Black Artists with Families. This includes: Parents and Caregivers, Mothers, Fathers and non-binary playwrights.
Submit your plays via Submittable here: bit.ly/bmpfest22submit
With submissions open, we are focusing on fundraising during this moment. The goal with #BMPFest is not only to produce this festival – producing this festival is making space for the stories of Black parents and caregivers. We are ensuring that we – Black parents and caregivers are included in the narrative.
WHAT is YOUR Black Parent or Caregiver story that you want to share?
THAT is what #BMPFest is about. That is why completing this raise for the festival AND work on the creation of funds for a GRANT for a BLACK PARENT PLAYWRIGHT is what this festival and what Blackboard has been interested in supporting since I became a parent in 2012. It was an immediate need for me… support to continue writing as a parent. I longed to work on my plays and have my daughter next to me. I longed for someone to hold her while I wrote or I longed for the ability to hire support so that the both of us could maintain a schedule that was what we needed.
None of that was my experience, but 10 years later (and I cannot believe I almost have a 10-year old), the festival can create the space for a Black artist with a family to work on their craft of writing the way that they need to accomplish their next step.
Thank you for your time.
I look forward to sharing more with you!
Sincerely,
Garlia Cornelia Jones
Founder – Blackboard Plays
Executive Producer – #BMPFest
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THIS IS A PUBLIC POST.
If not a patron already, this is the sort of #behindthescenes content we will share along our journey of producing this festival this year. We are exciting to share our journey with you and hope that you will support us monthly.
Thank You for your support