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Hello, my fellow black writers. I’m a recent graduate (June 2017) of Full Sail University with a Bachelor’s degree for Creative Writing in Entertainment. I write character-driven drama films focused around the young black man to give our society a different viewpoint of who we are and to show that we’re living humans like everyone else. I introduce myself to you all on here in frustration. I feel that I’m not being given fair consideration when it comes to the writing jobs out there. Here it is November again, I’ve been looking for a writing job since last November. And don’t mean I’m just out her trying to zap a screenwriting career, I mean me securing a writing job where I can contribute my strengths. Whether creative writer position, scriptwriter position, things in that realm. Between that time, all the way up to now (and pending), I have contacted nearly 240 companies everywhere (areas in the US and the UK), and I have been shunned, more of no one responding than anything else. And ones that do respond say, “you have good quality writing,” but it didn’t lead to a job, it led to some excuse why I wouldn’t be a fit. Or I’m offered an unpaid internship to fly somewhere else (like, I’m oppressed). The little spending money I did have were from school loans that I must start paying on this month. But, I don’t have any money now because I haven’t been given any consideration a writing job. Yes, I know I could go back to the $7.50 an hour KFC job out there, but what does that do for me? Why do we always have to be held to that? And recently I found two writing jobs that I was perfect for. It’s been seven weeks for one, and over four weeks for the other. My applications weren't not even looked at. That’s been the case this whole time, no one is even really looking at my material or application, so I can’t be considered for nothing like that. I know it takes some months to hear back about screenplays, but does it really take the same time for a writing job, too? I know I’m a young black man, and I’m proud of that. I’m not ashamed of the fact that my material is based around black people, that’s my background. You write what you know. And I can’t help I’m a millennial, it just happened and I’m living in the era. I hear these comments about people not wanting to hire millennials because we feel entitled. To be clear: I’ve been working at my craft for nearly seven years now. I’ve spent many hours sitting down and writing, failing, rewriting, failing, venting, and repeat. I’ve sacrificed years of my youth, I’m still sacrificing years of my youth. I don’t feel entitled because I feel like something should be handed to me. Every trophy I’ve ever won, I threw them away because I don’t go by that mentality anymore. I feel entitled because I have worked my ass off and come of age as a writer. I feel that I am qualified based off my work, not because I feel entitled. I’m just fed up. What is the use of all this hard work I’m putting in if I can’t even get someone to view my application, or consider a screenplay of mine. I understand that other like-minded black creatives are on here. I have been trying to get my material or apply to black-owned companies, but I couldn’t find any. I don’t mean to sound desperate, but please. Is there someone you know that would be willing to give me consideration? I’m asking for a handout, I’m just asking to have to the chance to be legitimately considered for writing work.

Writing is a very lonely profession not to mention being a very crowded and competitive one. It's like the NBA where only a chosen few make it to the pros. Your one consolation is that you are not alone. The world is full of talented writers who don't get lucky. Community theater may be a venue to have your plays produced and performed. This might lead to something bigger or at least give you some exposure and a little self satisfaction. Sometimes, just when you think all is lost and you switch your focus, Fate steps in and you become an "overnight success". The stuff of dreams.

Hi, Antonio, Have you checked in your personal network? Have you sounded the alarm to let your friends, family and associates no what you are looking for and where and what you want to do? Have you asked them if they know someone who knows someone who can get you the "hook-up" ... Creative writing jobs are a lot easier to come by from people you know in the business. I never went after a writing job per se - but I am a professional writer. My writing jobs have always been connected to the needs of an employer. My creative writing pursuits have always been freelance - such as writing a book, news commentary et al. Those opportunities have always come from my professional and personal network. People who knew me hooked me up with the gig. Sometimes it was a paid gig sometimes it was high-profile publications such as being featured in major newspaper or a major magazine. The clips are worth the "free" write. Be mindful not to write for free unless you own the platform or it's for a major publication. Ta-Nehisi Coates reported here he has written for free "for the exposure" https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/lucrative-work-for-free-opportunity/273846/ As he discusses in the piece, I definitely recommend writing on your blog to get exposure and growing your network to include influencers. Side note: It's been my experience, words are powerful and they influence your trajectory. I've never asked for "equal consideration" I've asked for top or the highest consideration. I don't feel there's anyone equal to me when it comes to my talents and skills. And I make sure that those who are in the position to make a difference in my career know it. Much success.

The U.S. House of Representatives just passed their version of Senate bill which is a large tax cut bill that benefits anyone who earns more than $900,000 a year ...47 Million Americans (what's left of the middle class) are expected to be impacted ... We aren't inching towards the haves and have nots... we are there - slaves and slave masters... This documentary shows how we got there... From the dailymotion video with english subtitles " http://filmow.com/the-end-of-poverty-t71910 The End of Poverty? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies -- in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries. The End of Poverty? asks why today 20% of the planet's population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate? The film has been selected to over 25 international film festivals and will be released in theatres in November 2009. Directed by Philippe Diaz, produced by Cinema Libre Studio with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, 104mins, 2008, USA, documentary in English, Spanish, French with English Subtitles. The End of Poverty The End of Poverty"

I've been working on my top Black owned website project I've modified my formula for ranking sites, adding the age of the website as a factor. This seems to have elevated sites with more serious content, as they tend to have the oldest domains. I been removing many tops sites because quite a few websites focused on Black content are simply not Black owned. We don’t own the web-based hip-hop presence. It really is worse than i thought... Fortunately there are many great sites out there. We just need to patronize them. I'm afraid if we don't Facebook and the website they own will be our only options, and then we'll really be in deep doo-doo.

In New Jersey, Racist White Police ,Charged With Hate Crimes. He Was Caught On Tape Saying , Niggers Are Like ISIS ,They Have,No Value. He Bought A Police Dog To Intimidate Black,People At A Basketball Game. I Think He Slammed A Black,Male's Head Into A Steel Door,Who Was A Suspect..Quarterback Colin Kaepernick Should Be On The News,Now Saying ,This Is Why I Was Kneeling Down...They Need To Show How Many White Police Have Been Fired For Klan Members On The News,Those Caught Saying Racist Things...When Robert Mueller Finish Investigating Trump And The Russians ,He Should Investigate Neo Nazi,KLAN In Police And ,U. S. Military...

LOL!!!!! I gotta make sure I'm checking in more. I didn't even realize you shared this Troy. Thanks as always. Mel, stop being goofy, lol. I was actually in my feelings about it. The Jelly Beans are flavored like Krispy Kreme donuts.

As someone who has paid many writers over the years. I've never asked a writer to write something for free. If they offer that is another thing--even then I provide some form reciprocity. It is just how we do in my community. Now having a piece in the Atlantic is a big deal for a writer, but seriously, The Atlantic should be ashamed of themselves for saying they can't pay--sure they can pay they just chose not to pay that writer. You see when publications get big, and writers get desperate, they will write for free (exposure). The Huffington Post famously took advantage of this imbalance by not paying their bloggers as part of there business model. Of course Ariana began fantastically rich and the writers got left with a HuffPo byline. When writers write for large publications for free they actually make it harder for all writers to earn a living, because they reduce the value of their work in the market place. I wrote an article the same year as The Atlantic article above “5 Things Writers Must Do To Survive Online.” One of the 5 things was don't write for wealthy sites for free. It also depresses wages for all writers by making it impossible for smaller publication to survive, because that can not compete against the likes of The Atlantic who can get writers to write for free. I know publishers of several magazine --all defunct--who complained that writers would reject the paltry sums their magazines offered to pay, meanwhile these same writers fought to write for Ariana for free. All that said, if I were a writer looking to make a name for myself today, I'd have to take the offer of writing for The Atlantic for free--at least once. You can't change the world by yourself. But I would absolute retain the copyright for ANYTHING I gave someone for free. That where i draw the line. @Antonio Ingram, I would network and get to know other writers and those in related professions. Get to know people many if not most opportunities in any career emerge because of who you know. Join a scriptwriter organization (surely there is one). Consider unpaid internship, volunteer if no opportunity exists and work a 2nd job to pay the bills. If you don't have a Blog start one. If you are going to write for someone for free, let it be yourself. Even though it is harder than ever to attract readers their is not better way to make you work available to others. Besides, if you are able to generate some traffic you can earn a living with a Blog. On my list of the top 50 Black owned websites several are blogs--all of them should generate enough revenue for someone to live on and some do far better. Earning a living writing is HARD. But if it is what you love and you have some talent you can make it work.

Hello, Mel. The thing is, amongst my small circle of writer friends in Full Sail regarding my specific field and what I’m seeking, I've been that person with the connections, lol (and sadly, nobody really utilized it, they just listen to the instructors, you know?). A lot of the friends I had just started writing, I started this six years ago. So, I was doing all the research, got connected on stage 32 and build some connections with professionals (I've emailed people on there, they just didn't respond). Yeah, that's been another problem, the people I know that are professionals, they always seem to disappear in these moments. I'm ignored or forgotten about. And don't know what it is, but it just seems like no one wants to make an effort to be a mentor, unless you're paying them, or it's to their benefit some kind of way. And the people that I've been in contact with that could have been very helpful, they've brushed me off. And kudos to you for sustaining as a working writer. That's admirable to hear. And I will definitely take the blog into consideration. You're the second person that's told me that (girlfriend told me yesterday). I think I can do something with that. I'm bold, unapologetic, And I speak with facts, not envy. If I do it, it can't be about me finding exposure, it must be about people like me as a whole getting exposure. And I get what you're saying. I'm not settling for equal, I just said the meaning I deserve to the consideration of being read, of being acknowledged. Our philosophies are just a little different there, but that's fine. We just display our confidence in different ways. Thank you very much for sharing your insight. And again, I will consider the blog idea.

Yes, Guest Philip Robinson! There's a lot of unlearning many of us have to do before we can shift into the entrepreneurial paradigm. Also we have to be willing to support each other with Su-Sus, microloans; donating skills, talents and time and anything that's needed to get a small businesses up and running.

I'm somewhere in the middle. Exact science can be dry, but unproven scientific theories are interesting to ponder, and imagine what their being eventually proven would bring about. Whether the god particle/gene has been discovered or not, the possibility of this coming into fruition one day is mind-blowing. My attitude has something to do with being a curious person. Here's another short, "controversial" video on the subject. Maybe-shouldn-t-looking-quite-hard-God-particle-destroy-universe-warns-Stephen-Hawking.html

Again..... It boils down to laziness and intellectual decline, and both tend to play on eachother. The fact that so many Black people are opting to use facebook as their means of advertisment and launch programs and talk shows instead of buying and building THEIR OWN websites so that they'll have full control is a matter of laziness and shortsightedness. Of all people WE should know by now that if you don't OWN it then you're not safe and it can be (and too often is) taken away from you at any time for any excuse. Now facebook is kicking negroes off their plantation left and right and finding any old flimsy excuse to do so. But as to the much deeper problem of why so many websites that are aimed at Black people aren't owned by Black people, it breaks down into 2 reasons: 1. Non-Blacks are taking advantage of Black people a. There are racists who are trying to manipulate Black thought and activity and they're using websites and content that attract Black people to do so. b. Non-Blacks see a market and are taking advantage of it. Non-Blacks see that Black people enjoy and are attracted to certain things but don't see many Black people addressing those needs so they've decided to supply them themselves. 2. Black people as a group aren't smart enough to build and maintain or atleast control all of the websites and other forms of media being aimed at them. There is not a lot you can do about reason #1 until you first deal with reason #2. Until we figure out WHY so many of our people aren't smart enough to keep up with what Whites and Asians are doing on the internet...... Smart intelligent well educated Black men and women with clear organized minds like Troy and Mel should get together with other liked minded Black people of similar creditials and teach those of our people who ARE smart enough to learn HOW to build and maintain their own websites and market them effectively to attract an audience.

@CDBurns She tryin' to kill you man...that's sugar it will take you out! LOL.. Just kidding. Beautiful gesture of kindness!