GoodKnocking Magazine: August 2017
Our August 2017 issue of GoodKnocking Magazine: Two worlds of change.
We are proud to release the double cover features for GoodKnocking Magazine’s August 2017 issue. Since our last cover release for June/July 2017, we’ve witnessed change on both grandiose and minuscule levels, but it’s important to understand, appreciate, and most importantly acknowledge that the world around us is different. Different than how it was originally given to us, and will be different when we hand it off to the next generation. In that reflection, then, it’s important that we not only find and establish our place in the history of change, but also journal our experiences for a multi-faceted perspective of what took place in our era of time.
That is what GoodKnocking Magazine is working to establish: a journal of life from the respective angles we all stand at, even as one connected culture. Different experiences shape who we are individually, and that matters most when we share our experiences, our pains, and our victories.
From the seemingly quiet view of Tampa, Florida. A change came, nothing widely recognized, but a spirit of pride and community has possibly been born with the formation of The Black Bulls Coterie. It’s the small steps that matter, and for a large amount of college alumni of the University of South Florida, being able to fit in, even after the glory days of undergraduate studies can mean the world. It’s often the difference between struggling in post-graduate depression, and embarking on a new journey. It’s sharing the experiences and not having to stay quiet about personal and professional struggles. It’s sharing views on topics that are important to both the community and the world. Simply put, those small steps and small topics are what shape community to begin with.
The Black Bulls Coterie is dedicated to reconnecting Millennials who graduated from USF. Whether it be 10 years ago, or 10 weeks ago, the group is allowing for reconnecting and tying loose ends among some of the greatest people you’ve ever surrounded yourself with, who might have moved away, but can spark both memories and conversation. The Coterie, or BBC, as its referred to often has a challenge though. Will it just be a Facebook Group, or will it formulate to much more? Will it fit the Millennial stereotype of constantly being plugged in to the web and social media, or will be the start of something new for a niche community of USF? Since its open date of July 10th, 2017, the challenge has been on.
Summer 2017 has been a unique summer. While being relatively quiet in comparison to other Summers, where our communities were plugged into violence, outrage, and poured our viral support to discrimination, hate, and injustice, we’ve had the opportunity to reflect on those past moments. Moments like the death of Sandra Bland, the death of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Carrine Gaines, Terance Crutcher, and the more than 40 victims in the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting — all moments that have now offered us moments of clarity to ask “who are we at our best, and who are we at our worst”.
We’ve heard various answers that warm the heart. Mistah Marvel’s podcast, Marvel&Friends had the opportunity to shared the microphone with the talents of Armauni Sound, HMTWN, Debonair District, and C-Bane, artists and creatives who understood their place and are working to bring change. Whether it’s change to those around them, or change to the environments they’re familiar, those of us who seek change evoke the opportunity to create legacies. But where we seek to build the world we feel we deserve, we’re always met with adversity that say it just shouldn’t be that way.
Up until August 12th’s White Supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. One might have thought that America was a stable country, always at peace; a post-war, post-racial country of opportunity, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. The rally, which brought together thousands of racist White Supremacists, Neo-Nazis, and members of the KKK broke America’s White silence possibly for once and for all. That same white silence, though, is what is keeping NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick from potentially wearing a jersey on Sundays this Fall. That White silence is often mislabelled as peace, until People of Color seem to have grievances. Then, it becomes an inconvenient and acts of protest become “riots”, or worse — acts of terror.
So, it was August 12th that the very grievances that People of Color were continuously bringing to the forefront finally made their way in front of the eyes of the world. It was, as we know it, an eye-opening experience for America as a nation. A bittersweet bridge between long overdue and just a little too late.
In our August 2017 issue of GoodKnocking Magazine, writer and GK Founder, Mistah Marvel dives into these two topics. Two subject matters that sit on polar opposites on a spectrum, yet are important both to our community here in Tampa as well as our friends across the nation and the world.
For inquiries on becoming a writer for GoodKnocking Magazine, please contact us via email at info@goodknocking.net, or request to join our publication via Medium. GoodKnocking Magazine is a monthly publication covering topics ranging from Travel to Lifestyles, to Fashion and Politics.
