262: Amplifying Voices and Stories with Courtney Napier
This season’s shows are inspired by my personal creative journey and coaching experiences over the years. The shows are for women who want to hear from and support others while learning from their creative journeys. Today’s show highlights the commitment to help people use their voices and tell their stories. Join us to learn more.
Courtney Napier is a writer, journalist, and anti-racism coach from Raleigh, NC. Her work has been published in many places, including The Appeal, Scalawag Magazine, INDY Week, and Walter Magazine. Courtney is the founder of Black Oak Society, a collective for Black creatives in North Carolina. She’s the editor-in-chief of the collective’s flagship publication BOS Zine (the fourth issue has recently been published). Courtney’s anti-racism consulting practice helps organizations with the challenges of incorporating goals, equality, and inclusion into measurable policies and practices. She created a two-day workshop, Know Better, Do Better, designed to explore the suppressed narrative and the history of white disruptors throughout American history. Those of us attending will come away with a larger sense of our capacity to change our communities and a greater sense of responsibility.
Music Credit: My good friend Lindsay Katt – https://lindsaykatt.bandcamp.com/track/stick-by-me
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Show Highlights:
The early moment when Courtney knew she was a creative with “something to say”
Courtney’s love for “hyper-local” black history and how it began when she discovered empowerment through the stories she learned
How Courtney got encouragement and support from her super-cool parents
How Courtney came into writing and journalism through her voracious love for reading--and not through formal academic training
Why BOS exists to help other amateur voices tell their stories
How Courtney describes herself as a multi-hyphenated woman
Courtney’writing on the intersection between being an artist and activist
How a creative can fulfill their calling to make positive change
How Courtney manages and feeds her creative energies
Why Courtney is intentional in focusing on working-class black people who don’t have historic power in their communities
How Courtney deals with writer’s block as a recovering perfectionist
Why you don’t have to endure oppressive creative partnerships
The difference in suffering and struggling as an artist
Inspiring advice Courtney received: “Find editors and publication homes that see you fully as an artist.”
Courtney’s big creative dreams for the next five years--Wow!
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