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by Aaron L. McKinney Image Description: Aaron L. McKinney, Black male pictured smiling in a black suite with a white collard shirt. Black beard and goatee neatly cut and natural curly hair. Some work is about growth. Some work is about survival. And sometimes, survival is the most radical act available. If I don’t figure this out, people don ’t get paid. As Executive Director of a long-standing arts organization serving Black and Brown communities, Aaron’s work is immediate.

Cate & Joanna There is a moment when you realize the system is not coming to help you. Not because it failed- but because it was never designed with you in mind. You are now given two options: adapt alone, or build something new. Image Description: Cate Benioff, a white woman pictured smiling from the shoulders up. Brown hair tied back and a Black V neck shirt Cate Benioff There was no one there to tell us how to do the job. Cate builds from the ground up, giving people what

Andy’s story is one of endurance, transformation, and reclaiming joy after years of living inside the aftermath of injury. After eight and a half years of treatment, procedures, and physical therapy, Andy is stepping into a new chapter—one no longer defined by daily pain or recovery, but by strength, perspective, and possibility. While the injuries remain permanent, they did not break him. Instead, they deepened his resilience and sharpened his appreciation for life, work, an

In recent times, the concept of "Black Excellence" has come under scrutiny for its failure to shield Black professionals from the entrenched biases and systemic hurdles within institutions.

Lights Up On Zuri Washington Written by Yetunde Audio Recording Coming March 15th Zuri seeks refusal. A self-described lover of rock and creator of the initiative DEI Punk, she positions herself not as someone trying to claim a seat at the table, but as someone willing to overturn it entirely. She speaks openly about moving from being in service of the piece to claiming her identity as the artist, naming leadership, care, and confrontation as central to her practice. “I’m not

In this piece, there is a shattering of the glass. Each artist confronts what it means to continue creating while the systems meant to support them remain unstable, extractive, or incomplete. Survival alone no longer feels sufficient. What emerges instead is a collective pivot toward care, ownership, and self-definition. Taken together, these reflections capture artists in a state of becoming. They are not simply responding to burnout or inequity, but actively reshaping how t

Vanessa & Kadeem In this piece, there is a shattering of the glass. Each artist confronts what it means to continue creating while the systems meant to support them remain unstable, extractive, or incomplete. Survival alone no longer feels sufficient. What emerges instead is a collective pivot toward care, ownership, and self-definition. Taken together, these reflections capture artists in a state of becoming. They are not simply responding to burnout or inequity, but activel