BLCKSPCE. Where do I feel like BLCKSPCE comes from? I feel like it comes from a place of
childhood really. Just looking on the TV and never really seeing yourself here, and the only
times you really do see yourself are times of war, violence, or racist propaganda. As a kid, I
never used to notice it, but the first time I went to Jamaica and just seeing that everything in
the media was very black oriented I was like “wow I never really saw that” however, when I
got back to England after that holiday and saw our TV, I started to notice more how many
people of colour were truly on the TV, and how many people of colour that were on the TV
for good reasons and not just to cater for a stereotype or diversity.

As a first generation immigrant child living in England obviously my parents were
EXTREMELY strict, so the only times I really got to live my childhood was through the media
and I remember so vividly, watching coming of age show, such as ‘The perks of being a
wallflower’ (2014) dreaming of the days when I finally turned 16 and I can do whatever I
want- spoiler, that never happened. It’s crazy that those shows, tell the audience you can be
different but there’s hardly any diversity.

Being queer and black, is trying to find a place, a community to truly be you. It’s being hated
by the white community for being black but being hated by the black community for being
queer. Being hated by cis men for being ‘batty’ but being hated by cis women for being
‘sinful’. It’s a juxtaposition, feeling stuck in a binary society. A sadist ping-pong tournament
where you’re the ball, to the worlds racket, being thrown forwards and backwards. Hit, with
slurs and truly hated but appropriated to fit their nuclear ideals.

I feel like we all had our breaking point, in June, after the George Floyd murder.
We all just felt anger. Anger for not being heard, anger for another black person being killed
again, anger for the murderers, the police getting to walk away free and anger for the
people who stayed silent- especially the people that were your friends. That’s where we
were like ‘we need to do something; we need to help change something’. Even if our city is
small, England is not innocent, and is still racist- including the media, and that needs to
change now.

BLCKSPCE is a DIY, creative, social media platform on Instagram, made to uplift and
empower black creatives, from a little small city called Leicester to the world. We aim to
showcase black excellence through a variety of creative channels- such as media, music, art,
performance art, writing and fashion- to make sure all our voices are heard. you can chat to
us on Instagram @blck.spce to see what we do daily.

At the moment, our team has over 15 people and we're like a really crazy family. We hang
out pretty much every day. We always call, we always FaceTime and we always have zoom
parties just to get through this pandemic together, and I feel like this whole revolution really
has brought us all together as a family, and I absolutely adore them, shout out every single
one of you, I love you all.

Another thing I love about the BLCKSPCE family, is that we have so much in common- such
as with music and just not feeling able to really truthfully express ourselves, because the
world doesn't allow us to - and I remember this one day, me and my friend were having a
conversation about our favourite indie songs we used to listen to as a kid, and how many

times we used to get picked on for listening to certain songs, and it kind of hit me - like sh*t
I need to make something on this platform that allows my childhood self to at least be like
“Oh my God other black people listen to this, wow I don't really feel such a like outsider”
and that's where arthouse FM came.

We ask for representation on mainstream white media platforms, we get lacklustre
stereotypes. We thought the alternative anti-establishment media platforms would, we
were still wrong. White spaces were subliminally made, for white people in mind and
the majority of alternative spaces were made for white people. Arthouse isn’t the case;
arthouse is a music platform to equate that rule. We are not anti- white, but we’re sick of
not having equality in spaces that have no racial label. We want black and poc
representation in the alternative scene so we’re making that. Call it the MTV of weird and
wacky music, not played on the mainstream radios and made by amazing artists.

When writing ARTHOUSE FM episodes, I always end up having some sort of breakdown, like: am I doing the right type of music, am I including the right amount of black artists compared to white artists, and am I making something that people truly want  to listen to or am I just using this as a way to access free therapy, but I feel like arthouse FM had to be made, as the things we talk about on here, just aren't being covered on mainstream media. And the fact that I can go on Instagram live every Friday night and let my feelings be heard and everything I go through be validated, plus having people message me saying they go through exactly the same thing, it's just lit. check out Arthouse FM every Friday on @blck.spce. As uncertain as the future looks at the moment, I feel that making BLCKSPCE is giving all of us and everybody else that same ray of hope that the future will be bright, and our kids won't have to go through this sh*t.

 

Written by Marshall @takenbymarshall
Photography by Marshall, Uwam @soni.cc, Kamali @issaclenciaga or @photobykamali