I'm Creating...

I’m still creating. I’m still in service as a digital organizer and strategist. I’m not doing these things to prove a point or because I value productivity.

I’m still in process because it brings me joy.

I have days when I’m upset, crying, and worrying about my health and the care of the people I love the most in this world. I’m pissed that the “leadership” of this country and the people who hold the majority of the world’s wealth continue to do the bare minimum, at best. My response to injustice and oppression will continue and has always been to create the world I want to exist in through culture and politics.

One of the things I love about myself is that I just keep showing up. I don’t care if I’ve been invited or not, I will always find a way to take up space where space is rarely yielded to Black girls like me. But I figured now is a good time (re)introduce myself. 

My name is Amber J. Phillips and I’m a storyteller, digital content strategist, and Reproductive Justice activist. I love telling stories, creating culture, and building meaningful campaigns that imagine a world where Black womanhood is an overwhelming experience of safety, pleasure, and joy. My work on gender, politics, and culture has been featured on ESSENCE, Hello Beautiful, Huffington Post, Rewire, and The Breakfast Club. 

Many of you got to know me as the High Priestess of Black Joy as the co-creator and co-host of one of my most beloved projects to date, The Black Joy Mixtape podcast. The BJM Podcast was a show that used comedy and wit to breakdown the trending stories in news, politics, and pop culture through a Black feminist lens. The Black Joy Mixtape has been critically-acclaimed as a leading podcast in politics and humor by Teen Vogue, Saint Heron, Refinery29, Feministing.com, The Root, Bitch Media and ESSENCE.com. We even have a TED Talk called “The Blueprint for the Black Joy Era”. 

I’ve developed my expertise at the center of culture and politics because it’s where I find the most joy and possibility for the change I want to experience in my lifetime. My cultural organizing and creative work moved me from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, California in 2019 after being selected as a founding Annenberg Participatory Media Innovation Fellow at the University of Southern California with the support of the MacArthur Foundation. I’ve provided creative direction, digital content strategy, and narrative research for progressive political organizations, media platforms, and independent creatives.  

Overall I consider myself a relentless Black feminist who believes that Black women, girls, femmes and gender noncomforming people are multilevel geniuses who are constantly overcoming multilevel bullsh*t. I will keep creating culture that acts as a mirror reflecting back the humanity and radical visions of our communities. 

Considering donating to my work on Venmo, CashApp, and Paypal. Keep following and creating with me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.