Hello! It's me, Alex, a semi-nomadic creative, emerging author, and the latest member of AMAKA’s Educational Cohort! If you haven't heard, this 6-week program offers rising storytellers an opportunity to sharpen foundational skills in freelance writing and journalism, including audience building, monetization, and more. This is an exciting new leap in my creative journey.

How did I get here? I grew up in Macon, Georgia, USA, graduated from Howard University, and have since lived in cities around the US and abroad - New York, Los Angeles, Barbados, Barcelona, and Mexico City to name a few.

Over the past twelve years, I’ve been privately nurturing my creative spirit through a dedicated journal writing practice. However, the conditioning one experiences in a capitalist structure led me to believe that the title of artist or creative was accessible to me. That has now changed.

Disillusion with corporate life prompted me to imagine myself outside of the influences of the time and space in which I live. I reflected that if I were born in Senegambia, I would be a griot. If I were born in the Old South, I would be a minister. But I was born in the 1990s, so I became a management consultant. Feelings of misalignment and cycles of burnout have pushed me to go public with my writing practice and allow my creative talent to shine.

I've embraced the idea of a modern-day griot as I step more fully into my identity as a storyteller. I draw from a global perspective to explore the lived experiences of myself and my community at the intersection of history, culture, art and technology. My various interests and hobbies have evoked comparisons of a "Renaissance Man", however I feel the African tradition of the griot properly frames my written work in an ancestral context. Indeed, the inspiration for these works precedes the time and space in which I live, and the value of these texts may be best realized beyond my lifetime.

My growing catalogue of handwritten journals have formed the bedrock of my creative output. I call this anthology The Sands of Time. You’ll find some of these writings on my channel, including personal reflections, introspective narratives, and recollections of my dreams.

Taking part in AMAKA’s Educational Cohort is an exciting development in my creative journey. I look forward to deepening my roots as a writer as I grow alongside the talented individuals of this cohort, and in the global artist community.

Come along with me on this journey by subscribing to this channel! The best is yet to be.

#AMAKACohortFeb2024