My diverse county lacks diverse storytelling. I’m changing that.
I should preface this by saying: I never wanted to become an entrepreneur, and, honestly, I never even wanted to become a journalist.
But these things somehow found their way to me. Corny, I know, but I do believe that what’s meant to be will be.
Okay, enough with the philosophical (for now).
I co-founded Slice of Culture with my dear college friend, Neidy Gutierrez. SOC is a digital publication that focuses on covering underrepresented stories about New Jersey’s BIPOC community, especially in Hudson County, where we have the advantage of being in the hub of diversity. SOC hopes to become a bridge for Hudson County locals and all cultures alike by publishing impactful content and helping residents tell community stories.
Professional sounding, right? I have to thank CUNY’s Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program for that — among many things, which I’ll (try to not) blab (too much) about here.
Anyways, here’s us!
Who you see on the right side of me (middle) is the actual team of Slice of Culture, (Neidy is on the far right, hi!) but that’s not all of them. You can find them all here. On the left side, that’s close friends who have supported Slice of Culture since the beginning, which was in 2020.
Why Slice of Culture?
Let me give you the spiel of how and why we started: Picture two soon-to-be graduates amid a global pandemic trying to figure out what’s life after college (and the pandemic). That was Neidy and I. We knew there was a lack of good news on Hudson County. We knew there was a lack of diversity in the local newsrooms. I think we literally said, “Why don’t we do something ourselves?”
We initially wanted to highlight different cultural dishes, but after the global Black Lives Matter protests, we knew we had to rethink our vision.
Our first few posts were BLM protests — interviewing people. Photographing. Video recording. We did all that.
We received thank yous and just such nice compliments from the people we interviewed — a lot of their words I still carry with myself.
We realized Slice of Culture could/should highlight the BIPOC and other underrepresented communities on subjects beyond just food.
Our team is 75% POC, so who’s better to tell their stories than us, the people who grew up and live in the communities?
What We’ve Accomplished
Some of these things I still can’t believe we did.
In July 2021, we were awarded Best Grassroots Journalism from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists. In May 2022, we received a grant from the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, making us the first recipients in Hudson County.
That grant changed our lives. It changed Slice of Culture for the better. We’ve connected with other publications throughout New Jersey, who have referred to me and Neidy as the future of journalism, which I never would have imagined.
Among many things, that grant brought me and Neidy here. To EJCP. As I write my final deliverable.
If I had to summarize my three takeaways from EJCP, it’d be:
- Journalism isn’t dying. It’s changing (hopefully) for the better.
- Little steps of progress are just as important as big steps of progress.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for money or support for your venture — you may be surprised to see who wants to help you.
What’s Next
Newsletter. Community events. Bilingual coverage.
We’ve heard from our community/audience. And we want them to be heard.
To feel seen.
To connect.
That might not be enough to entice you right now… but I encourage you to see what we’ve already done on our social media platforms and website. Let us help you keep up with the culture. 👀
Because there’s so much more to come.
Like I said: I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. I never wanted to be a journalist.
But going through the 100 days with EJCP has made me realize I’m right where I’m supposed to be, and I am on the path of something great.
Now, I’m ready for the (unpredictable) journey ahead of me, Neidy and Slice of Culture.
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from my post it’s: If they can do it, why can’t you?
