- 1 day ago
Every Black woman's story is worth preserving — and Anayo Awuzie built an entire magazine and a book to prove it. In this warm, celebratory conversation, the founder of Carefree Magazine opens up about Black Women In Bloom and the deeply personal mission behind her life's work: creating spaces where Black women see themselves celebrated, archived, and cherished in their full complexity. Come ready to feel seen, honored, and reminded that your story matters.
Category
🎈
FunTranscript
00:05all right we are in for a treat I'm so excited my name is Alexis Bennett Parker I'm the shopping
00:11director at Essence magazine and I am so excited because I'm here with Anayo I can't wait to dig
00:18into her story and so I'll let you introduce yourself as well okay hello okay got it hi
00:29everyone my name is Anayo Awuzy and I am the founder of Carefree magazine and I'm super excited to talk
00:36to you today Alexis about my book black women in bloom which is out now available for pre-order and
00:43shipping this August amazing so I want to know what was the moment where you realized that black
00:52women's stories needed to be told through Carefree magazine yeah thank you so I got my start of my
01:00career in media and I studied journalism and my whole goal was to tell black women's stories and so
01:08I was working in black owned media companies and really hoping that that's what we would be doing
01:14and I think in my journey I realized that the goal of some of the media companies that I worked
01:21at was
01:22less about telling our stories and more about you know trying to get clicks trying to get advertising
01:28dollars which of course is important but I really wanted to tell the stories that I was hearing when
01:34I talked to my friends or you know in the silos of my home and with my mother and my
01:39grandparents
01:40and you know the stories that we talk about amongst each other but rarely get talked about in public
01:47forums or online or in media and so Carefree was born from that I've lived in a bunch of different
01:55places I've lived in Mexico I've lived in Italy and London and I've met so many different black women who
02:00across the diaspora had stories that I was hearing from my friends back home here in the U.S. and
02:06learning that we had so much more in common that we were going through than we had apart and so
02:13Carefree is the manifestation of that it is the belief that every black woman has a story that deserves
02:18to be told and so I started this platform in 2020 and every week we publish a new black female
02:25author
02:26from around the world on stories of life love and adventure and it's essentially a space for black
02:33women to just be and that's what I've always wanted as someone who you know grew up more shy more
02:40of like
02:41a late bloomer I really wanted a space to be able to express myself and felt like I belonged online
02:47and I
02:48think Carefree is the manifestation of that space. I love that I love that you kind of mentioned you know
02:55a lot of
02:56publications are chasing clicks and it is a business we do have to keep the lights on absolutely but I
03:03love that you're really centering our stories and giving women black women a space to express themselves
03:09so but before I go any deeper I would love for you to really break down the difference between
03:16representation and documentation I think especially giving the political climate and just the day and age
03:23that we're in right now that's so important absolutely yeah I think you know we're always
03:28fighting for representation we're always trying to make sure that we are in the room that we are
03:34considered that we are counted but I think we've gotten to a place where we know that we need to
03:42be
03:42represented but we also need to be documented our stories are actively being erased and dismantled
03:49and I think black authors are some of the most have some of the most banned books on a federal
03:56level
03:57on a a lot of our health initiatives are being dismantled that help support black women's well-being
04:04and that directly affects our livelihood we are being laid off at a rate higher than every other group
04:11in the U.S. and so right now it's more important than ever to be able to document and say
04:17that we were
04:18here and to preserve our legacy and preserve our stories and I think within our communities you know
04:24a lot of things get passed down orally but it's really important to be able to write it down as
04:30it was to be able to photograph it create art around it and have something that actually shows
04:36this is who was here this is what happened this is the honest truth of what occurred and I think
04:44with documentation and archiving there is a preservation of our cultural identity and so
04:53with the online space it's interesting because you can go and edit a story you know I can go right
05:00now
05:00and post something on threads and then within 15 minutes I can edit it and maybe you saw it and
05:07it
05:07said one thing but then 15 minutes later says something else and so you know the digital space it's
05:13important for us to show up and archive there as well and tell our stories but I really wanted to
05:18publish this book black women in bloom in the physical so that we are honoring our our honest truths and
05:27showing that black women exist you know beyond the poles of black excellence and black oppression
05:35that we did have humanity and we we our full womanhood was able to be expressed and the generations that
05:42come after us will be able to learn about and read about it in this book wow I feel like
05:48there's so
05:48much to unpack there for me on a personal level I've been thinking about just my own family history and
05:56talking to my grandmother and getting these stories from her but not only orally like we need to write
06:02it down absolutely um and then you also mentioned the digital like of course you can get things
06:09published immediately you can put a story up in two seconds and it can reach millions of people and
06:15that's a beautiful thing but also like you said it can be edited and it can be changed over time
06:20so there's something still so unique about just having pen to paper having the actual story told on pages
06:28where it's preserved and it can't be changed so I really love that you broke all of that down for
06:34us
06:35um what I want to also ask you about black women in bloom so what exactly does that title mean
06:43or what does it
06:44mean beyond just the title so yeah um thank you for that question because the book is very personal to
06:51me um
06:51even though it is an anthology so black women in bloom is a coffee table book it's an anthology of
06:57stories
06:57stories from black women around the world on their becoming journeys and so I think when I think of
07:03black women and when I think of what a lot of us go through I think of a flower and
07:10I think of the
07:10journey of how a flower blooms and so you know planting seeds and cultivating the soil and making
07:18sure that we're getting enough light enough water as we grow and sprout you know maybe there's some
07:24thorns along the way um some you know bumpy roads but at the end of the day we always bloom
07:29and maybe
07:30with a little bit of pollination or a little bit of help from our communities or you know different
07:35experiences like travel or you know pivoting we are able to continue to reproduce and then fully
07:42blossom and so when I thought about the book and you know the name of it and what it would
07:49be it was
07:49really about how I saw black women and through the stories we've been publishing and carefree for the
07:54past six years which is crazy um one thread kept coming up which is just in all of the stories
08:02no
08:02matter what the black women were going through there are stories about women who are dealing with you
08:08know navigating the world with bipolar disorder disorder or navigating the world as sex workers or
08:15navigating the world and questioning their faith and trying to figure out you know what they believe in
08:23um in the end they always found themselves and found who they were meant to be and the place that
08:30they were meant to be in and so when I thought of that I really just thought of a flower
08:34and how flowers
08:36you know no matter the condition you know roses grow from concrete daisies grow in all kinds of
08:42conditions and that's what I think about when I think of black women I just think about that
08:46perseverance and also that softness and femininity and ability to still you know no matter what the
08:53world throws at us still show up and be just beautiful unique beings we are multi-faceted and
09:01multi-dimensional we have so much inside of us and I think that is exactly what I think about when
09:08I
09:08think about flowers and I just see the the synergy between us and flowers and that's why black women in
09:14bloom
09:15um that's how I came to the title and the whole concept of it all I love I love that
09:20analogy of
09:22just like blooming and growing and we are so similar to plants and it reminds me of a video I
09:29saw on
09:30Instagram of actual bell peppers growing in a parking lot from concrete yeah so it's like no
09:37matter what the soil looks like I feel like black women are the same way we're resilient and we can
09:43grow
09:43through anything absolutely I really love that I want to touch on you moving from the digital space
09:50to the book world what has that transition been like for you and if you could explain some of the
09:56differences you've learned about yeah it's been an interesting journey um so as I mentioned I got my
10:04start in the digital world and um been publishing carefree mag for the past six years and so week after
10:10week every week we publish one story from a black female author around the globe and so the stories
10:16we want to give them space to breathe and I know you know this in the digital landscape you're constantly
10:22trying to publish stories but at carefree we just publish one and so the whole mission of that space
10:29was to create a platform for black women writers to get their first byline and to get paid to write
10:36and so we've been achieving that mission for the past six years I've been self-funding that mission
10:44and the book has become this physical manifestation of like yes we want to have this platform online
10:52but sometimes we also just want to have a space in our homes to just be and so we want
10:57to have a space
10:57to just indulge in a book in the comfort of our home and the safety of our home and be
11:02able to just be
11:03there so I wanted to be able to catch black women whether they were online or offline and I think
11:09as the digital spaces are changing um I think it's really important for us to also be able to have
11:16space to tell our stories in the real world that a lot of us are exiting online because going on
11:23the
11:23internet for black women today is dangerous it's you know there's a lot of harm that's caused when we
11:29you know spend too much time online and so being able to unplug I want to be able to you
11:36know catch
11:36black women whether you're you know online or exiting the doom scroll and so that's why I think the
11:42physical also is important um and why I published this book as well as the digital I love that I
11:50am
11:51personally chronically online and sometimes I need a break and I even published a story this morning
11:57before I came here so what I would love to hear now I want to hear about some of the
12:03stories that
12:03you've told are there any particular stories that have really like stood out to you or something that
12:09you think about to this day yeah um I think oh they're excited over there what are we missing
12:19um I think I mean the stories so there are 30 stories in the book and over the past six
12:27years
12:27we published over 200 stories so these 30 stories are truly in my mind like some of the ones that
12:35resonated just the most with our audience and with me and really as we were putting it together just
12:40kind of fit that whole theme of blooming and growing and sprouting and planting seeds I think
12:46the first book in the story which is the first story in the book is about a black woman who
12:54is
12:54homeless and she moves from New York to LA and ends up living in an RV and she talks about
13:03how being
13:04homeless has not deterred her self-image at all she still puts on her makeup every day she still gets
13:10dressed she calls herself a homeless bad bee in the story and she just says how you know no matter
13:18this certain like despite this circumstance something that you know a lot of us a lot of people tend to
13:24you know we see our own unhoused uh community members and maybe just pass over them or look down um
13:32she hasn't let it let it take away her dignity at all and the story is so triumphant and it
13:38just makes you
13:39so excited for her and what she's been able to go through and grow through and i made it the
13:47first
13:48story because i think it sets the tone for the entire book um and it's just really powerful about
13:53you know how black women are able to move through this world despite our adversity wow that is inspiring
14:01for you to be able to get up every day and put on makeup and be homeless yeah um so
14:06i want to know what
14:08what do you want black women to feel when they get to the last page in the book what's the
14:13feeling
14:13that you hope that they get from reading the book oh so i see the book as both a mirror
14:21and a reflect
14:21uh a mirror and a window so i want black women to feel that maybe an increase in empathy so
14:29you were
14:30able to get a peek into what another black woman was going through and be able to have a bit
14:35more
14:35understanding of you know your sister from across the pond or across the way i also want black women
14:43to feel in some of the stories maybe some reflection um moments of reflection and seeing that hey this
14:49woman is going through something similar as similar that i'm going through and this is how she dealt with
14:53it and maybe this can give you some you know ability to sit with yourself and think about how you
14:58can
14:59deal with what you're going through um i also want black women to feel like it's okay to make mistakes
15:06and it's okay to be a little messy i think a lot of us are you know we show up
15:13very prim and proper and
15:15put together and we don't look like what we're going through ever and so i want this book to feel
15:21like
15:22a permission slip to show up as you are and it's okay if you know you're unraveling a little bit
15:29and
15:30to talk to people about that and to share that because a lot of us are going through it and
15:35when
15:35you read the stories in the book you'll see how you know life gets messy and and we're making decisions
15:41and we're pivoting and we're embracing change and we're you know healing and going to therapy and i just
15:48want black women to feel like wow okay i really am multifaceted and i really am you know i really
15:57do have this power inside me that doesn't always have to be strong it can be soft um i think
16:04the book
16:04is a is an act of soft resistance and so reading it knowing that you are still beautiful no matter
16:13what
16:13you're going through but there's also somebody around the world who gets you and you don't have
16:19to feel shame in in your story or in what's happening that maybe you feel you know should it be
16:27or feel
16:28um isn't as a as a black woman isn't how you should be showing up or isn't how um you
16:36should be seen like
16:37we can be seen in an array of different ways and they're all valid and they all have value that's
16:43so beautiful i feel like i love how you said it's an act of soft resistance that is so beautiful
16:49and
16:50i feel like there's just something for us all to take from hearing about other people's stories and
16:56connecting and knowing that nothing we're going through is new under the sun we're not alone other
17:02people are probably experiencing something similar um so i'm excited to check out the book it's
17:08available for pre-order and we have some copies over here right so make sure you guys get your copy
17:14and thank you so much for this talk thank you so much alexis thank you all for tuning in thank
17:21you
17:32so
Comments