Giving Thanks at Harvest Season

This has been a challenging year. Not only for Black Public Media and our public media partner organizations, but for all independent media makers. Now that the harvest season is upon us, the BPM staff and I are making time to thank all who continue to support this organization. A highlight of the last few months is having had the opportunity to gather with many of you in person, on your home turf. 

Face Time is Family Time

It’s not uncommon for us to connect with many of you at film festivals, but in recent months we’ve met several of you at smaller, localized events we’ve hosted across the country. These face-to-face gatherings give us a chance to ignite new relationships while fellowshipping with longstanding supporters. The family atmosphere encourages us to press ahead with confidence that BPM will emerge from the current crisis stronger and bolder than ever.

You can look forward to more of these events over the coming months. And if you’d like to host one, contact Tonya Thomas, our deputy director, to get one on the calendar.

As we move into the Thanksgiving season, we especially want to thank those of you who’ve contributed to our 1.8M Donors campaign. It continues to gather momentum, so if you haven’t already given, now’s a great time to make a contribution. If you’ve already given, we encourage you to share your story with family, friends and colleagues, so they too might be inspired and have an opportunity to give. We’ve even created a donor toolkit to help you spread the word.

Drawing Inspiration from Our Trailblazers

Sadly, there are people in this country who hope the rescission of federal funding to organizations like ours will lead to the eventual erasure of our stories, told our way. Thankfully, we know better.

We stand on the shoulders of people like Oscar Micheaux, Henry Hampton, Julie Dash and BPM’s own Mable Haddock. These trailblazers faced much greater obstacles than those confronting us today and yet, they succeeded. Each donation BPM receives represents another step toward fortifying the foundation they all laid. We refuse to let it crumble. 

So, thank you for what you’ve already given. Thank you for what you’ll give next month on Giving Tuesday (Dec. 2). And most of all, thank you for being a part of the Black Public Media family.

Together, we are Fueling the Future of Black Stories for the benefit of all.