Black Women Shine
In today’s Unfit to Print, Black Women Shine: a podcast series created & hosted by Jessica Estelle Huggins, featuring ten thriving, creative, & entrepreneurial Black women in the City of Boston.
I am excited to present today’s Unfit to Print, Black Women Shine, a podcast straight out of my home state of Massachusetts, created and hosted by my colleague and friend, Jessica Estelle Huggins. Produced by JEH Creative Media—Jessica’s production company—Black Women Shine is an intimate, fun, funny and dare I say it, joyful, invitation to learn from ten Black women doing impactful work within the arts, civic engagement and mental health sectors in the City of Boston. Jessica applied for numerous grants to help fund Black Women Shine—which she originally envisioned as a documentary film series—to no avail. Then, in 2019 Jessica received the New England Film Star Award, which provided her resources in the form of equipment and space, professional marketing advice, and headshots valued at more than $1500. Working with Camera Operator Katherine Otuechere, and Production Assistant Michael Casey, they shot about 30% of the series. Then COVID-19 hit. One major pivot later, and we are lucky to have Black Women Shine, a 10-episode podcast series highlighting the contributions of Black women in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The project is sponsored by NewEnglandFilm.com and Women In Film & Video: New England. The series features Catherine T. Morris, Founder of BAMSFEST (Boston Art Music & Soul Festival), Jessicah Pierre, Founder and Former President & CEO of Queens Co, Dr. Charmain Jackman, Clinician Psychologist and Founder of InnoPsych, Ayana Mack of Ayana Mack Design, Andrea Campbell, City Councilor of District 4 and Boston Mayoral candidate, Lisa Simmons, Founder of Roxbury International Film Festival (ROXFILM), Sheena Collier, Founder of Boston While Black, Taja Ricketts, Pleasure Curator and Founder of Satin Kiss, Lindsey Briggs, Founder of SocialU Digital, and Danielle Johnson, Founder of Spark FM.
The first episode was released on Juneteenth and new episodes will be released every Tuesday through August 17th. Click through to listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Pod, Spotify, Amazon Music and Stitcher, and continue reading below Jessica’s story of how she came to create this amazing podcast.
My name is Jessica Estelle Huggins, and I am a creative producer of independent films and podcasts. I’m a Black American woman who was born and raised on the Wampanoag and Nipmuc Peoples Land, also known as Boston, Massachusetts.
For the past ten years, I have been lucky enough to have lived in some pretty amazing places working and producing content with many inspiring documentary organizations. These organizations were based in Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, California, and North Berkeley California. I’ve had unique experiences in each of these places as a woman, Black American, and as a creative. But one common response I got wherever I went, when I told people I was from Boston, was surprise. There’s this big misconception out there that there are either very few, or no, Black people in Boston. To any reader who thinks that, all I have to say is—it’s INSANE to think that! But then again, perhaps not, if all the stories you get to see that are set in Boston are about the Wahlbergs, or Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. *shakes head*
For years I have struggled with this way of thinking. Yes, there’s no dispute that Boston’s unique brand of racism and problematic history are still going on today. However, in the context of this topic, I often think about my childhood. I grew up in Roslindale, a vibrant neighborhood in Boston. The apartment that my brother and I grew up in sits on a hill. Just across the street were the projects—before they became the nicer rentals that they are today. In the projects, most people were Black and Brown. But literally just behind my parents apartment, was West Roxbury, a wealthier neighborhood which mostly consisted of white and Asian families. Needless to say, I grew up with a lot of diversity. However, it was not until I came home from college on my first winter break that I started to see the systemic barriers. As a result, over the past several years, much of who I am and my film work began to explore more of the Black American experience.
For years, I thought of producing a documentary series featuring Black people—mostly women—in their element, thriving and giving back to their communities. I wanted to see more content about not only the pain points of Black people working in their own communities, but I craved the joy, I wanted to highlight the joy, the power in these women. I had the genesis of Black Women Shine in mind as a documentary series that would follow a handful of Black women in Boston focusing on their triumphant moments within the impactful work that they passionately do in the arts, mental health and civic engagement.
Over the years, with the epidemic of filming and documenting—and watching—the killings of Black people around the country, I started to notice that many of the “call for proposals” from funders who distributed grants to artists were looking specifically for creative work that explored Black and Brown trauma. This new “Black Trauma P*rn,” however—watching killings of Black people—is reminiscent of white folks in the 19th and early 20th century making celebratory events out of lynching Blacks. The funders were just contributing to that horrific legacy by only requesting proposals and/or finished projects that explored Black and Brown trauma. Even if it’s inviting it in our own words, many of us, artists and regular folks alike, are tired of it. We live this everyday. We need more joy on public display, in art created by people of color.
And so, Black Women Shine. I had applied for more than 10 grants over the years to fund the docuseries and was unsuccessful until 2019. In 2019, I decided to move back home to Boston after living in the Bay Area for almost two years to intentionally join forces with the many talents of Black and Brown artists in the City. After only being home for five months, I was awarded the New England Film Star Award. When COVID-19 hit, we paused production and I struggled with the idea of pivoting the project from film to podcast. I felt strongly that it was so important to actually see Black women doing the incredible community work that we do. But by November 2020, I decided to turn the project into a podcast. And, I realized that with this new format, I could highlight even more women! So, the 4-part documentary film series turned into a 10-episode podcast. Through converting the project, more doors opened with each of the women pouring into one another, sharing resources and cheering each other on. Because Black Women Shine.
After this project, I plan on revisiting a webseries that I started writing five years ago that is loosely based on four Black artists in Boston who are juggling both their creative careers and working at a Black-owned restaurant that is becoming greatly impacted by the fast-growing gentrification in the city. I’d like to produce this series and hope that production can begin in 2023.
My advice to all creatives out there is to stay motivated, and to tell your stories on your own terms. Stay curious as there’s always so much to learn about and grow in the field. And be mindful of the power of your own voice.
—JEH