Women Creators of Color You Should Know
Natalie and I started Token to celebrate and share the work, worth, and perspectives of women of color. Many of these women are famous on some level, in general or within their respective fields. If you saw the excited, fangirly texts between us when one of the women we feature likes a tweet or a post (Lena Waithe?!?!?!?!), you’d realize that our motivation is aspirational, too. These aren’t just women we admire, but also women we hope to emulate in their success and influence.
But some of the most inspirational women in our lives aren’t the rich and famous; they’re our closest friends and colleagues. So, in honor of the new-ish year (and at the behest of my grandmother, who is a subscriber), we’re coming back from our unofficial hiatus with a lighter topic: Our friends — our sisters — who inspire us every day.
—Ari
Delia Cai
Delia is the founder of Deez Links, the daily newsletter from which I get a lot of my latest media news. Besides her incredible knack for voice and her enviable consistency (seriously, how do you do it Delia??), she has an impressive sense of what news is going to make news. This is all on top of her day job as a Global Adaptation Editor at Buzzfeed, which would be more than enough for anyone, but not for Delia! She’s also been published in The New York Times and The Cut, and she uses her social aptitude to bring the young media community together by hosting networking events around the city. This month Deez Links is celebrating three years in the newsletter game, and we’re proud to call Delia a friend.
Gabriella Canal
If there’s one thing in common among the women we’re featuring here, it’s their incredible drive. Gabriella (who we know as Gaby), is no different. During her video and content fellowship at The Atlantic, Gaby and her co-director Anna Anderson were also producing and directing No Man’s Land, a documentary series about matriarchal communities across the world. Known as Bronze Mirror Productions, this media duo also uses their platform to bring gender disparities in film and media to light. Gaby’s dedication to exploring gender and identity through writing and film is reflected in her professional pursuits, which include the Hillary Clinton campaign, Global Citizen, and Latino Rebels.
Kovie Biakalo
On a hyper-personal level, Kovie is the reason I didn’t have to risk landing a Craigslist-killer roommate when I moved to New York three years ago. We were college classmates at Drake University, where I quickly learned the intellectual force Kovie brings to any conversation she’s in. The same goes for her academic, yet accessible writing, which focuses on culture and centers the perspectives of African diasporic peoples. Before the recent media layoffocalypse, Kovie was a culture editor at Buzzfeed. During the layoffs she demonstrated grace and support for her colleagues, but not at the expense of her typically acerbic observations of the world. Follow her (or hire her!) to see what she will accomplish next.
Meanz Chan
For all its flaws, social media is an excellent tool for watching the professional growth and personal development of former classmates and acquaintances. And while some people tell on themselves for being terrible Tr*mp apologists, others reveal passions and ambitions that make me wish we closer friends back then.
Meanz (pronounced “Mints”) is one of those people. A fellow graphic design graduate from Drake, she is a true renaissance woman of visual pursuits. Her charming illustrations and stunning photography regularly pop up among members of Des Moines’s small but robust art community — a community of which she is an integral part. She started with The Des Moines Girl Gang(now on an “indefinite hiatus”), a “creative community of self-identified women.” More recently, Meanz has launched WOC Iowa and POC Iowa, Instagram accounts that promote Iowan artists and business owners who are, of course, women and people of color. Her artistic and social pursuits reflect the drive and capacity of women of color, and how necessary it is for them to cultivate community.
Meanz’s photography Instagram // Meanz’s art Instagram // WOC Iowa // POC Iowa // Meanz’s website
Header illustration of cicadas by Meanz.
