One of the most sought-after things in today’s world is the ability to figure out the most appropriate level of visibility on the internet, both from the personal perspective, as well as the business one, and for the last five years, my life has been all about figuring out a way to merge the two.

I started the Instagram page @ablackmanreading in 2018 after having worked for seven years prior in the hip-hop blog space because I wanted a way to connect communities of color, across all diasporas, with my passion for literary citizenship. I wanted to create a space where we could all come to share our love for reading, our rich cultural perspective on the art form, and curate programming that amplified our voices and our stories. 

Since then I’ve created multiple modes of amplification through my Instagram page, one of which is my yearly birthday week, affectionately known as #WoodaWeek, where I interview an author seven days straight on IG live, teasing out the nuances hiding within their pages, complete with giveaways and other online interactive engagements. I also produce one of the most sought-after podcasts in the literary media space, Books are Pop Culture with my interlocutor Reginald Bailey where we spend hours breaking down books with authors and tackling literary news as well. 

After having done that for a while I started doing consulting work with other folks in the space to help them build their platforms, and that has led me to partnering with some amazing folks. One of the most important partnerships has been my work with Baldwin & Co. bookstore in New Orleans, Louisiana. We connected under our shared vision to create a literary society in New Orleans and build that out through their brick-and-mortar business and my online presence. We started this pursuit by connecting and creating social media content together to promote it and we collaborate to continue creating content via both their online presence and mine simultaneously to build an in-person and virtual book club. We maintain that ecosystem together, and I also maintain an online discord group with the club members that provides around-the-clock literary conversations about the book club, upcoming events, and more. 

Aside from the phenomenal work I get to do with Baldwin & Co., I’ve also been coordinating with two festivals that are near and dear to my heart, the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson, Ms., and the Oxford Conference of the Book at the University of Mississippi. I work with festival coordinators at both of these events to lead panels with some of the greatest literary minds of our time, having interviewed the likes of Deesha Philyaw, Jonathan Escofery, Kiese Laymon, Brendan Slocum, Mecca Jamila Sullivan, Juhea Kim and more. I’ve collaborated both in person and virtually to create some of the best programming in the nation via festivals and I’m very proud to say that. 

As we enter the second half of the year, and look towards 2024, I’m very interested in collaborating with other bookstores, primarily black-owned ones like Baldwin & Co. to continue to amplify black stories and help them build engaging content on social media that captures the essence of the contemporary reader in a way that we just don’t see enough of. I’m not only looking to bring my years of expertise, my community of over twelve thousand readers, to them physically, but I’m also available virtually as well. With the recent attack on books via book bannings across the nation, I also find it increasingly more important to make sure I’m available for ALL bookstores as well, to coalition build in that regard between black and brown bookstores and bookstores managed by other communities to ensure that we create literary citizenship that is responsive to the political landscape, the shifts in the artform, and the rich cultural history of all.

Bio

Jerid P. Woods, also known as Akili Nzuri, is a writer, educator, PhD Candidate, and literary influencer. He was born and raised in Natchez, Ms and survives on an unwavering commitment to ignite a passion for reading in the youth; he also exists as a living testimony to the power of shared stories and knowing one's self. He is the owner and creator of Ablackmanreading.com and the Instagram blog: @ablackmanreading. He is also one half of the dynamic podcast duo, @booksarepopculture available for streaming on all services.