I'm entering the stage of life where, at any moment, I can have more life behind me than in front. It makes you realize how precious every second is. I'm doing all the shit I've always wanted to do sooner rather than later. First up - my new personal newsletter! During Black History Month 2024, I figured there was no better time to launch a new, very Black, thing that represents the whole me than Black History Month! It comes out every 2 weeks, and is an amalgamation of all the things that make me me. Like random funny videos? Want to know about amazing Black-owned companies in which you can invest? Looking for dope new Black businesses to support in Atlanta and beyond? Trying to figure out ways to fund your business as a minority entrepreneur? Want to know about ways to support your community and get in the "good trouble" John Lewis dealt in? My newsletter is a bit of everything for the people like me who are, and also need, a bit of everything. Subscribe below and check out the archive of previous issues.
“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down."
If we're being real, for a long time I thought doing all of it myself was the whole point. The fund. The incubator. The nonprofit. The trivia night. The community programs. Every one of those things had my fingerprints on every single piece, and I wore that like a badge. This summer I hit a wall. Not a dramatic one, no breakdown, no big scene. Just tired in the way that doesn't go away with a nap or a long weekend. The kind of tired that's actually information, if you're willing to listen to it. So I listened. I stepped back from the day-to-day on a couple of things I built, and handed the wheel to people who were always going to be a better daily hand on it than I was. I cut something else outright instead of pretending a plan existed just to avoid a hard conversation. I told my team the truth about where my capacity actually was, instead of nodding through another commitment I had no business making. None of that changed the vision. I still hold the relationships that matter. I still show up where only I can show up. What changed is I stopped confusing "I built this" with "I have to be the one hand on every piece of it forever." Let me be clear, because this isn't a soft "self-care" post.
"I am sick and tired of being sick and tired"
I'm honestly, truly, just tired. I know it's been a minute. This year has been one of the wildest of my entire life-between launching Fictive Ventures and our nation-wide roadshow, running Black Ahh Trivia, advising startups, and just existing as a Black person in America in 2025 (which is absolutely nuts), I had to step back and catch my breath. But I'm back, and I'm refreshing this newsletter to make it sharper, more intentional, and more reflective of the wide variety of things I'm building and experiencing. So welcome to the new DIJA Digest; same authenticity, better structure. Let's dive in.
"For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.”
The Essence they didn't report If we're being real, the internet had a field day with Essence this year. The lines. The logistics. The "Essence is over" thinkpieces writing themselves before the weekend even ended. Some of that was fair. But I was there. And that is not the festival I was in. The festival I was in put me on the We Love Us stage to talk to a room full of Black women about how to build wealth they actually keep. It had me giving live feedback to people brave enough to volunteer and pitch cold, helping them sharpen it on the spot. Buying earrings from a Black woman designer. Hugging people I've loved for years in a crowd of a hundred thousand of us. We'll write ten articles about what a festival got wrong and not one about the Black woman who closed a deal in the lobby. So I'm going to keep telling the other story
“In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist."
Our society is currently descending into madness. I'm torn between fighting the power and "I told you so, did my part, and now I refuse (as a Black woman) to carry all this shit on my back for another 4 years..." So yea, that's all I got for you for Women's History Month. Or just March, if you're looking at your Trumpified Google Calendar
“My niece brought my entire family so much joy this whole year. It is a wonder to watch a little person grow, and to be part of the village she grows with. More so than any venture capital or startup stuff, being an aunt has truly changed my life -- and made me appreciate my entire family so much!”
My Year: A Whole Hot Mess that I Needed I did so much right and so much wrong this year, I don't even truly know where to start. I started one of the most important journeys that I will ever take in my life this year, and continued one of the most meaningful. I lost and I won and I kept going and I almost lost it! Here is a little recap of my year. This year, my partner, Dr. Brahm Rhodes, and I began fundraising for Fictive Ventures Fund I. Fictive Ventures is a community-driven venture fund that harnesses the collective wisdom of our network to create wealth-building opportunities through venture capital while backing founders of untapped potential. We are doing the unprecedented in venture capital. We are backing BLACK startup founders with a bench of all BLACK investors beside us. This will be one of the first venture funds in history to raise from all Black investors, and I could not be more proud. And more exhausted. I have been to a dozen cities, spoken to hundreds of startup founders, and met over a thousand potential investors this year alone. The road is bumpy and chaotic, but I am floored at what we have been able to accomplish. We just filed the paperwork with our fund administrator to complete our first investment, and we have over 6 Black angel investors co-investing alongside us
“The moment anyone tries to demean or degrade you in any way, you have to know how great you are. Nobody would bother to beat you down if you were not a threat.”
January 2025 was the longest goddamn month I've ever experienced in my life -- which is why the January newsletter is coming to you in February. WE BACK THO! We are now back under the reign of one of the most heinous men to step foot in the White House, and all of his posse, enablers, and MAGA mafia who support ridiculousness and put him there. We need community more than ever, and I am committed to holding that space for us, together, here. I'm switching up what goes into my newsletter in 2025. Still supporting all things Black, and also weaving in various aspects of my life. But with more emphasis on action than reading words on a page. Happy Black History Month!