SPONSORS WANTED | Are you ready for the SS23 Fashion Experience?

Did somebody say SS23???

That's right! 

On Behalf of CopyWrite Magazine & Vatofied Experience, we’d like to invite you to join us as a sponsor for our upcoming fashion experience, SS23 [Street Smartz 2023], a streetwear showcase focusing on Black Men in Fashion and creative collaboration.

Last year's experience [SS22] was the catalyst for major movement in Milwaukee's fashion scene. The collaboration, homage to Urban aesthetic, and cultural ornamentation still has attendees talking!

Check out the recap video here:

Do we need you to keep reading? Yes. Will it be worth your while? Absolutely! 

If you click the button below you will find information on how your contribution as a sponsor may impact this amazing event, plus the perks that come with this form of engagement. 

Please reach out with any questions or concerns. Your support is vital to the continuous cultivation of community and the legacy that follows.

Love & All Things Urban,

Lexi S. Brunson
Editor-in-Chief /CW
via
Vato Vergara
Creative Director /CW

AUDACIOUS GATHERING | INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY EVENT!

In addition to providing space for hanging out and drinking good tea, Not Your Mama's Tea is about the flourishing of women. The goal has always been to connect women, inspire women and equip women to grow personally and professionally.

Audacious Gatherings is the latest event designed to equip women to be audacious and glow up their lives and do it drinking a great cup of tea!

Join us for International Women's Day on March 8th! We are celebrating women of color as well as encouraging them to have the Audacity to take up space

CopyWrite Magazine has applied for a KIVA Loan! | Help us raise these coins!

& This could be a Dream Deferred [But YOU could be the change].

Once upon a college project, in one of the most segregated cities in the country, where creativity blooms, even in the darkest shadows, a flicker of a dream was born. We have told this story several times. You know the one where we discovered a void in the market, where the media disregards the people who need it most, mis-representing our vitality, and undermining our existence. We knew the systems we were up against and yet we still had the audacity to dream for more. More equity in the media, more respect for creative industry, more entrepreneurship for Black & Brown people, more women in positions of leadership, more collaboration with local businesses, and more joy in being unapologetically Urban. 

It’s a good story but often we forget to share the struggle of this dream.

From the start CopyWrite has been a self funded organization, knowing historically how difficult it has been for the Black & Brown community to access capital [we are them & they are us]. We have been told we “look” like money all while using the “eat what you kill” method to maintain. We earned every dollar [there was no line of credit], we paid it forward [because each one should always teach one], we worked for free [& we gained our freedom from work]. But we have to be realistic. We NEED more.  

So we applied for a KIVA loan [a crowd funding source that allows individuals to contribute to big leading amounts with the guarantee to get their money back. Because it’s a LOAN babbbbbby!]

As our communal impact expands, partnerships increase and there are more stories to tell, we need the equipment to expand our creative horizon. With a loan like this, we will be able to serve more of our community with visual assets and the technology to produce anything that we can pretty much imagine media wise. Computers, cameras, and sound booths give us the competitive edge our corporate counterparts have [because “that's what money do”]. We want what we do to always be quality, and this loan ensures our quality will last for years to come.

Who will help us help the community? Who will stand with us and do MORE?

This message is a personal request for a favor. Now if you know me well enough, you know it's hard for me to ask for help [& if it wasn’t for my team I wouldn’t even ask]. But when that help is so I can continue to support others, then "I ain't too proud to beg" LOL. 

Your contribution matters. It says that you are an advocate for change. It says that you believe in the power of a dream that has been served by action. It says that community deserves better. It says that we can all do more.  If you have $25.00 [or more] to spare for a while, please consider tapping that link. I am hoping you will be willing to pour into the /CW Fam so that we can continue to #SupportTheLocal, advocate for change in the creative industries, and continue to connect people to Cultural and Human experiences that builds authentic community, collaborative sustainability, and narrative shifting. 

This is [& always will be] bigger than us.

Love & All Things Urban,

Lexi S. Brunson | Owner/ Active Editor-in-Chief /CW

Sneex Presents: Sneex Sofa Sessions w/ Brema (Moderated by CopyWrite Mag Editor-in-Chief Lexi)

Black? Doing Biz/ Creative Practice/ Service/ Hustle? Let /CW plug you with an AD!

#WeSeeYou & we want the world to see you. So we are putting our money where our mouth is and reducing our traditional AD rates to any one who identifies as “Black” for Black History Month [Feb 2023]. For the low low Plug price of $15.00, you can purchase AD on copywritemag.com blog, feature page [for 1 month], or /CW newsletter [up to 5 Ads per purchase].

& Yes, you can use the space when ever you want! In two days, in a week, in a month, in a year, in five years. When ever YOU need it, it will be there!

Think its too good to be true? No sweat, we got AD specs for that!

[You love the deal & want to snatch up this offer while the promo last? Hit us up at copywrite.mke@gmail.com

[Promo pricing ends Febuary 28th, 2023]

Message: You are LOVED! | Happy V-Day from your /CW Fam

Add us to your group chat, we got all the love you need!

But really tho, on a day when it’s all about they “display” of love just know that we see y’all and we love the creative community we call our family. We appreciate the love you show us daily and hope you feel it right back. /CW

Snap Shot Press Release | Too Cold to Tour [So Emmitt James is back in MKE]

I had to sit on this one.

Not only was the timing, TIME-ING. But the thought of Emmitt James returning to Milwaukee's humble economy [compared to LA] was just a trigger of nostalgia I was not ready to type out. [I miss those days, but not enough to go back. I was broke. Y’all was broke. But we were hungry. Hence, the "Hunger Pains" tour stop we "sponsored" with Emmitt headlining the marquee. YUP, I REMEMBER.]

It's the "home" base of talent that is underrated. A safe place for ideas not ready to be tainted. A reality of creative force undermined by a faulty infrastructure [that's only partially in existence]. A place of salvation [for this creative at least] to avoid the corporate hole. Milwaukee is home.

"Your job is to be Emmitt James", he quoted his lovely girlfriend Jamai and partner, on stage that night at the Var Gallery. A reminder that his talent and work ethic as a Hip Hop-Jazz/DIY Renaissance Man is absolutely not something to give up on. It was a "word". Not just because the support underlined her own commitment to their survival but because it was a sign of hope for all of us who take our creativity as seriously as any other type of labor. We are soul entrepreneurs eating off our passions. [Still very hungry].

The Too Cold to Tour, set was an intimate packed house that postured how Emmitt James presence in the Mil is a celebrated welcome back as if he never left. With the network strong, the family in the building, and his hand very much on the culture that cultivated him, he showed up and showed out.

With songs like, "WR-4R" (Will Rap 4 Rent), "Jagger James", and "Covenant", he entertained us. He shared his anecdotal rhetoric [yall gotta pay attention to those gems]. He made us laugh and say "emmm hmmm" with branded quips like, "Vagetarian" [I mean eating can save lives lol]. He reminded us what the hell a good live set should feel like and how important it is to shamelessly plug that you have merch for sale in the back [Cassettes, shirts, and 1 more velvet thong left *shrug*]. 

We always say it but if you weren't there you really missed a moment. But no sweat because Emmitt is a pro. He live recorded that MF! So you, You, YOU, and Yooooooou too can hear all the magic by ordering a Digital DL or CD for the low low plug price of $5.00. [You know I got mineeeeee]. 

Here is the link: https://www.emmittjames.com/store/emmitt-james-the-var-gallery-live

Now run it up for our /CW Fam, Emmitt James, who is officially back. The rent is due on the 1st and he is rapping to make sure it's paid on time.

#SupportTheLocal 

/Lexi S. Brunson, [Editor-in-Chief /CW]

Wisconsin Conservation Voters is Hiring | Regional Organizers

Apply to be full-time community organizer with Wisconsin Conservation Voters. Engage voters to ensure everyone has access to clean water, clean air, and the ballot box. You will build deep relationships and sustainable programs in local communities to win protections for our water and establish clean energy solutions. This role includes working in public policy and elections. A range of experience is welcome.

If you share our commitment to centering the voices and experiences of those most impacted by climate change, apply by February 26. Wisconsin Conservation Voters offers great benefits, a competitive salary, and a supportive and flexible work environment. Location within Wisconsin is flexible.

Find the full job description and application details at www.conservationvoters.org/jobs.

We Are Black History | Happy Black History [Every Day] from your /CW Fam