Carolyn A. Butts (center), founder of African Voices, receives the Just Brooklyn Award in 2024 at Barclays Center.

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GIVING: You may also contribute to our membership campaign by mailing a tax deductible check to African Voices Communications, Inc., 325 Lafayette Ave., C.F. Suite, Brooklyn, NY 11238. Mail with our membership form.

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Founded by BIPOC arts leaders in 1992, African Voices magazine is launching a membership drive to preserve our history and archives housed at Spelman College, one of the nation's oldest HBCUs. Spelman College received a historic $100 million gift — the largest donation ever to a HBCU. Our arts collection will be accessible for future generations! Become a pioneering AV member and share our campaign with friends. Support our arts institution during challenging and uncertain times by making a donation or volunteering your time to elevate our programs! Visit www.africanvoices.com.

YOU: We're seeking visionary institution builders to support our 33 years of community service. Can we count on you to have our back?

ABOUT US

I founded African Voices in 1992 with a small group of writers and artists to illuminate literature and art by Black and Latino artists. Later, I established Reel Sisters, the first Oscar-qualifying film festival for women of color. There are only 26 festivals with Academy accreditation in the USA and 63 film festivals worldwide! Reel Sisters is a national treasure that screens 70+ films written, directed and produced by women from across the globe every season. We're kicking off our 28th Annual Reel Sisters season in 2025.

From offering script-to-screen opportunities for emerging women visionaries to showcase their work on the big screen to publishing short fiction in our literary magazine, our mission is to present you with stories that resonate. I believe in the power of art to heal and transform communities throughout the diaspora.

In summer 2025, we hosted our first Reel Sisters Scriptwriting Retreat in Harlem where 12 women of color writers enjoyed a transformative experience writing at Langston Hughes House and the Maysles Documentary Center. Led by award-winning filmmaker Jennica Carmona, our retreat offered one-on-one script consultations and group feedback in a nurturing environment. We are confident you will enjoy their films and stories in the near future!

As a nonprofit arts institution devoted to preserving art, literature and film, African Voices publishes one of the few print magazines in the nation dedicated to artists of color. Our literary magazine is utilized in classrooms and libraries across the nation for giving students access to vital history and untold stories by writers from the African diaspora.

In 2021, the Spelman College Archives repository acquired our collection of past magazine issues, videos and digitized photographs spanning three decades with the archive of Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series. The festival has given more than $75,000 in scholarship and fellowship awards to women of color since its inception in 1997. For info visit: reelsisters.com.

African Voices offers literary readings, workshops and art exhibitions for writers and visual artists. We sponsor Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series events and scriptwriting workshops throughout the year. Located in Brooklyn, African Voices is a community space for audiences to honor our history and stories.

We need your support to continue our mission. Your membership and donations will support our programs including operating expenses for the publication and our ongoing efforts to preserve our living history and culture.

Become an African Voices Family Member today and enjoy special benefits, while helping us sustain an institution that creates jobs and opportunities for artists to share their stories.

Our African Voices Family members receive access to limited edition copies of our back issues and discounts to writing workshops and Reel Sisters events. In appreciation for becoming a member or donor, we will send you a surprise gift and you will receive discounts to our events and workshops.

Your membership and donations ensure the legacy of our history is passed on to the next generation of young aspiring artists and provides opportunities for creators in our community!

Thank you for your continued support!

Carolyn A. Butts,

Founder/Publisher

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