Giving Tuesday
Hello!
I am Executive Board Member Erica Jensen, and I am excited and grateful to personally reach out to you this Giving Tuesday on behalf of The Make Good Project.
Last month in our very first newsletter, we introduced ourselves as an organization led by women of color - committed to creating space for other women of color - who want to make good in art and in community. In this newsletter, I would like to share my personal experience with The Make Good Project, why I love this community, and why you should join us.
In 2023, Melle asked me if I wanted to join her and a few other Black women to spend four days on a writer’s retreat. I did not think of myself as a writer worthy of a retreat; I’d co-written some short plays and a few other things, including a full-length play Melle had done a reading of in 2019. But I didn’t think of myself as a real writer. I was a mom with two full-time jobs whose life had completely exploded during the pandemic and was still in recovery mode. I couldn’t possibly go away for four whole days and just…write. That was a dream I’d determined would happen, uh, never.
Full of imposter syndrome and mom guilt, I left the kid with her dad, took time off from work, said yes to the retreat and off I went to Massachusetts with four women who were real writers I was sure would see I should not be there. And of course I was wrong. Melle had assembled the most loving, creative, inspiring group of women who encouraged me to keep going with the play I’d shelved back in 2019. With Make Good, I committed to completing the play in 2024 and as of this writing I am on track to finish before the end of the year.
The Make Good Project created space for me to see myself as an artist again, so when I was asked to join the Executive Board, I said yes without hesitation.
I would now like to ask all of you to support us in expanding our mission to create space for women artists of color who need time, support, childcare, community, and wellness to make good on their dreams. In 2025 our goal is to offer free monthly and weekly writing and wellness workshops, community events, and another retreat (our dream is to be forensic creative story bearers of Black history and culture on Martha’s Vineyard). Your donation will help us achieve these goals. We know they are ambitious, but it speaks to how much we believe in our mission and our current community that we ask for your generosity and support.
Happy Holidays to you all!
With love and admiration,
Erica
Support Our Upcoming Programing
Financial donations, sponsorships, and in-kind donations help Make Good make good.
Your tax deductible donation will offer support for the following programs in 2025:
Annual Writing Retreat (June 2025) -
Our annual Deep Dive where we hone our writing and set our personal and collective writing goals. This year our goal is Martha’s Vineyard where we will create a devised piece documenting the rich African-American history on the island in conversation with this current moment in time.
Development Workshops (Feb 2025 and October 2025) -
We will give two writers the opportunity to have their work produced during a “29-hour workshop.” This is a developmental workshop that affords the writer the chance to have their work read by professional actors which helps her to grow her piece.
This past fall we co-produced developmental workshops of 2 of the 4 plays in Anya Pearson’s “The Clytemnestra Cycle.”
Writing Workshops and Community Events -
10-Week-Writing Workshop where participants will work to complete a draft of a creative piece (Winter/Spring 2025 and Fall 2025)
5-Week Community Drop-In Writing Workshop - a series of individual workshops for those who crave writing exploration that will fit into their schedule (Winter/Spring 2025 and Fall 2025)
Zoom “Write Club” for Accountability (Every weekday morning from 5am-6am)
Investing in Make Good invests in writing and writers, which requires:
Staff who manage, organize, coordinate, and administer the organization and events
Supplies
Actors, Directors, Dramaturgs, staff, rehearsal and performance space rentals for produced events
Lodging, meals, transportation, stipends, and supplies for retreat participants
Retreat and wellness venues, rehearsal and performance space, and general support are especially helpful
Lastly, I leave you with an excerpt of something I wrote and a prompt for your own writing journey.
Scene from a draft of the play, “Black Friends”:
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JESSICA: I was a diversity hire. Oh my God, that’s why this is happening.
MARK: No, honey, you were not.
JESSICA: The pendulum is swinging the other way!
MARK: What pendulum?
JESSICA: I knew they were looking for diversity when they hired me. But I didn’t think that was the only reason.
MARK: You were very qualified for that job when they hired you. ARE very qualified.
JESSICA: Kate said it wasn’t about me, but they never took me or my proposals seriously. I’m the only one who deals with the writers of color --
MARK: Kate is right. It’s not about you. They restructured. It happens all the time.
JESSICA: It does?
MARK: It’s corporate America, honey. If they can find a way not to pay people, they do.
JESSICA: Yeah, but I’m the only one losing my job. It can’t make that much of a difference financially laying off one person. I left my just fine job at Small Print because the big famous publishing house made me an offer. I wasn’t looking. They recruited me! And now they’re “restructuring”? After two years?
Jessica paces, looks around their brand new apartment.
JESSICA: Maybe Small Print will take me back. What are we going to do? We need two incomes.
MARK: We have some savings for emergencies and you’ve got 60 days. I say you take some time off, rest, and look for another job. They can’t do anything about it.
He moves toward the bedroom.
MARK: Come to bed, get a good night’s sleep, and we’ll make a plan in the morning.
JESSICA: Have you ever been fired?
MARK: I don’t think... hmmm... no, no I haven’t.
JESSICA: Never messed up? Never had a boss that didn’t like you?
Mark thinks for a moment.
MARK (stretching, yawning): Not really.
JESSICA: Never?
MARK: Nope. I guess I’m just lucky.
He stretches his hand to her.
MARK: Jess, you weren’t a diversity hire. You are not that person.
Mark hugs Jessica and attempts to pull her off the sofa.
Jessica pulls back.
JESSICA: Go ahead. I need a minute.
MARK: You’re going to be okay. We’ll get through this.
Mark makes his way to the bedroom.
Jessica sighs, gets up, finds her lap top, sits back down. She starts googling “Diversity Hire”. Funny stuff pops up. She googles “Black Books”, “Black Publishing”. More funny stuff. She googles “Black Jobs”. (This is in 2022 before Donald Trump said it.) She googles “Black Friends” and the screen fills with pictures of Black people. And a VOICE.
SHERMAN BANKS: Do you need a Black Friend? Of course you do! Everyone needs a Black Friend! And if you don’t have one already, we’re here to help. On “Black Friends” you can choose from a variety of BF’s for all your social needs and events. Haha, get it? BF?
[…]
Jessica closes her computer. What the eff is this?
And now a prompt FOR YOU.
Moments of Change
Topic: Life Changes.
Prompt: Write about an event in 2024 that spurred you in a new direction.
A story has a beginning, middle and end (although not always in that order).
Who were you at the beginning of this story vs the end?
In what ways did you shift?
What is the main conflict and why was it important to you?
Who are the other characters in this story? How vividly can you describe them?
Can you write out a first draft of this story and share it with one person in your life?