Welcome to Iron & Silks. A solo-run independent media outlet for Black and African-Diasporic narratives.
Hiya! I'm Mo Viviane, the operator of Iron & Silks. I've spent 7 years doing digital marketing and freelance journalism. I've also spent nearly 12 years dabbling in creative entrepreneurship, while maintaining hospitality, non-profit, and academic roles. I've noticed that most of the narratives told by non-profit newsrooms across my home state, Kentucky, are run by white cisgender folks, and I'm looking to switch that up. Traditional newsrooms, or journalism platforms, have operated with rigid writing methodologies, almost coming to the point where perfection is the name of the game.
But with Iron & Silks, I'd like to challenge that.
Our narratives, our stories, and what we share are of the oldest technologies that were passed down from our ancestors. That should not be discounted. I aim to work with that as the backing of Iron & Silks.
So, why iron and why silks?
Well, to be honest, I'm a bit of an aesthetics-forward kind of person. I've enjoyed typography, branding assets, and just overall what you can create when you put your mind to something. So the silk makes sense to put here. It's smooth. It's built by the connections of silkworms, working together to make something.
The iron is more of an ode to my ancestors and the hard labor jobs that they have worked to provide for our family. My aunts and uncles and my dad grew up on a farm where they consistently worked with tools: copper, iron, metalworking, woodworking, and tobacco chopping. It may have been just simple to them then, but it has such a large backing in my spiritual practice these days.
But to our regularly scheduled program...
This is what you can expect from Iron & Silks:
• Wednesdays - receiving an 800- to 1200-word short-form feature in an email that will also be posted on the website.
• 1x a month - receiving a 2,500- to 3,000-word long-form feature in an email.
• Yearly events for virtual OR in-person gatherings
• Connection to resources for freelancers, creative entrepreneurs, and those interested in breaking up with their bosses and going solo.
In the meantime, I look forward to being here with you. I look forward to sharing the nosy bits about the world that I'm interested in researching and investigating. I also look forward to having you along the way!
If you haven't already, please take a moment to send Iron & Silks a monetary gift to help me keep this publication/newsroom in operation. If you're interested in becoming a monthly paid subscriber, you are also welcome to do so as well.
All of the funds sent to Iron & Silks are for the operations of investigations, short-form features, or assisting in the operational costs for this platform. We are not a non-profit, as this is a solo-run publication.
For more information about Iron & Silks, you can check out the about page.
To learn more about me, Mo Viviane, you can find me on Substack.
Until next time.
Keep it real, keep it grounded, and keep creating.