2020 VISION
A self published curated publication featuring international artists, writers, poets and podcasters documenting the revolutionary, hectic year that was 2020. 100% profits to Black Minds Matter.
FT BLACK OWNED SUSTAINABLE FASHION, ARTISTS, WRITERS & PODCASTERS AS WELL AS POETRY, PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF THE MADNESS THAT HAS BEEN THIS YEAR & USEFUL RESOURCES
A collaborative publication, 2020 VISION looks back at the year that was simultaneously a thing of nightmares and a revolution. This concept came about whilst furloughed, endless scrolling through social media after the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor & George Floyd to name a few which ignited the spark of revolution, and we finally started to look inward, to look at our societies integrated with systemic racism; intrinsic and insidious for so long we'd become accustom to inequality.This year was a catalyst for change, and hopefully #BLM will not just remain as a hashtag, "a movement not a moment", Black Lives have and will always matter but we need to do more, do better and continue to fight against injustices and discrimination of all kind, and social media has proven to be pivotal to such a movement.
I trawled as I do through Instagram, which is where I found almost all the contributors, conscious I didn't want people to work for free so chose existing work they'd released online, found via hashtags and spiralling down many a beautiful rabbit hole. Some topics covered being: the imprisonment of Uyghur Muslims, Black Lives Matter activism, the performative Black out Tuesday, lockdown for immigrants, PPE and so on. Each contributor's social tag is displayed alongside their work as well as qr codes, making note of the crucial role social media has had in igniting revolutions through online protests, petitions throughout 2020, acting as a lifeline for so many. The project was funded purely by sales of the publication, and once p&p was paid for all the profits were sent to Black Minds Matter UK.
I thought it was important to choose a charity like Black Minds Matter UK especially thanks to the crushing isolation brought about thanks to multiple lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The exacerbating of existing mental health conditions and the emergence of new, this year has been a real mental struggle; hence choosing a charity that provides black communities with free therapy services.
Now also available to purchase from Hello Love, a black owned London store which funds the Hello Beautiful Foundation, a holistic cancer wellness charity, so the money will be split between this foundation (helping the black initiatives) and Black Minds Matter.
https://www.hellolove.org/shop/2020-vision-ali-gray