The Spotlight

BYP is launching our featured writers’ program, called The Spotlight. These four writers will publish one piece per month for a year on topics of their choice. These writers have been hand-picked by us and we’re excited to welcome them onboard.

Here are our current Featured Writers!

Originally from San Francisco, Tongo Eisen-Martin is a poet, movement worker, and educator. His latest curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people, We Charge Genocide Again, has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. His book titled, “Someone’s Dead Already” was nominated for a California Book Award. His latest book “Heaven Is All Goodbyes” was published by the City Lights Pocket Poets series, was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize and won a California Book Award and an American Book Award.

Born in Annapolis and currently in love with Baltimore, Hess is the accumulation of her mother’s and grandmother’s and foremother’s love. Creative, fluid, compassionate and fierce being that is very protective of what and who she loves. Water and all of it’s abilities personified. Fire too. Student of the world. Made of stardust and her ancestor’s wildest dreams. In between her pieces that can be found on RaceBaitr, Black Youth Project, Wear Your Voice Mag, Brown Girls Out Loud and Medium, you can find her online “politicking” about Blackness, Hoodoo, History, Feminism, Motherhood, Queerness, Food, Books, Sex and Humor.

Hari Ziyad is screenwriter, the author of Black Boy Out of Time (Little A, 2021) and the Editor-in-Chief of the digital publication, RaceBaitr. They are also a script consultant on the drama series David Makes Man (OWN, 2019), a columnist (and the former Managing Editor) of Black Youth Project, and an Assistant Editor of Vinyl Poetry & Prose.

Our final featured writer will be chosen by you!

Be on the lookout for an announcement of our final featured writer soon!