D4D Futurists: Ryann Holmes (bklyn boihood)
In this series, we’ll be highlighting outstanding folks creating equity in the world through inspired and innovative products, services, content and experiences — for all! In this edition, we feature Ryann Holmes, co-founder of Bklyn Boihood and one of our favorite people of all time. We’ve been following their contribution to the celebration and joy of black, brown queer and trans bois for years and years now. If you didn’t already know, now you know. Enjoy this interview.
What is the DEI (Diversity, Equity + Inclusion) problem you are tackling, and how?
I’m Ryann Holmes, the co-founder of Bklyn Boihood. Our mission is to create spaces where black, brown queer and trans bois* and our communities can cultivate stories, dreams and creative work.
*bois- an umbrella term that we use to describe the diaspora of queer black and brown masculinity.
How did you design this solution?
I came to New York ready to explore and embrace my identity. I started to present more masculine and I was meeting different people and connecting and sharing my experiences often. I really began to connect with people and recognize our collective power. I also noticed, many of us shared similar past experiences that we could heal from and celebrate together. Camaraderie and gathering with one another felt lifesaving. Many of us had gone through so much alone, that being together would always generate something special. So, with a friend, we started Bkyln Boihood together. We had just gotten haircuts — and we were looking in the mirror and going, ‘I’m not bad looking’ and really feeling good and thinking, we should appreciate this. We should be celebrated. We were experiencing what it felt like to be seen, and we wanted to share the feeling with our community at large.
That’s when the idea came to do something visual. Some kind of project that showcased different images of queer, trans, or however people identify because I realized I hadn’t seen any of those images…we figured, why not start a project and take leadership? So that’s what shaped the idea of the calendar. The calendar featured the depth and diversity of our communities at a time where there was no mainstream visibility of masculine of center queer and trans folks of color. Six years, and six calendars later, we felt like we wanted to really capture the narratives of Black and Brown queer and trans folks in community, so we published an anthology called, Outside the XY: Black and Brown Masculinity.
How do you approach designing “with” and not “for” *The Source (community)?
Everything we do is centered around queer and trans people of color creating countless opportunities for ourselves, holding space (physical, and digital), and making media from our gaze. We work with queer and trans people of color who are designers, photographers, teachers, artists, producers, and so much more. Our community is rich with talent, joy, and value that we can see and want to amplify.
What’s one win that you want to shout yourself out for?
We are still here! For almost ten years we have consecutively held spaces that are very well attended, supported and uplifted. Our parties have sold out consistently for the past 5 years, maybe more. We have had countless collaborations, done workshops all over the country, produced six calendars, reached hundreds of thousands of people online, published a book, received several community awards, and smoked weed damn near everyday!
*Source Community” or “The Source” — we define this as the people you are targeting; we like to think of the source as the “experts” and they are often misrepresented communities that are impacted by what you are creating. We advocate for bringing these voices into how companies ideate, design and build their services, content and products.
Project Inkblot are a team of designers and futurists who partner with companies to build equitable products, services and content using Design for Diversity™(D4D). D4D is a framework that illuminates blind spots around cultural and racial biases within your design, ideation and creative processes in order to create better work.
