Black Ballad was founded around seven years ago by journalist Tobi Oredein, and has been a membership platform since 2016. Everything put out by Black Ballad is written by and for black women, and they cover a wide range of subjects – including politics, mental health, careers, disability and beauty.
“Our mission is simple: to create a media platform that helps black women in Britain live their best life.”
– the ‘About Us’ section of the Black Ballad website
At the beginning of the year, Black Ballad launched the Great Black British Women’s survey to hear more from Black women outside of London, and had over 3,500 responses. They then employed nine new editors around the UK, who commission several new articles to be written – one of which was by me :)
“Most importantly, we are kicking a seachange, a commitment to being more intentional in giving Black women outside London a voice and visibility on our platform.”
– Founder’s Letter: It’s Time That Black Ballad Burst The London Bubble
I was thrilled to hear from Nic Crosara, the South-West editor, who I’d connected with earlier in the year after we came across each other and discovered we had many things in common – such as growing up in Cornwall and studying Creative Writing at Bath Spa. Nic was keen to have an article about Cornwall included in the Black Women in Britain project and I suggested that I could interview a few black women currently living there and write an article from the ‘could I ever return?’ perspective. The article also has a cross-generational element as the people I interviewed were ages 18, 27 and 56. It was such a pleasure and so interesting to chat with Yzella, Chloe and Bev and hear about how life is for them in the place where I grew up.
This week, Black Ballad announced their Top 20 Most Read articles of 2020 and I was over the moon that my article came in at number 13! 🥳
Check out the full top 20 list here!
You can get unlimited access to all Black Ballad’s articles (and more!) by becoming a member. Use the code BYE200 to get 50% off until 4th Jan :)
Great news to end the year on and I hope to work with Black Ballad again in the future 🖤
Josephine Hall 