Merch coming soon, and other changes. (Patreon)

Hey everyone!

First and foremost thank you to all of you who have been here for this long, thank you to all who are new here.  Your support has helped me immensely as a creator and as I endeavor to expand the scope of and quality of the content. 

With that in mind, I'm planning a new element to the content coming soon, which is a movie club.  I want to get back to engaging with black media more, and so I am working on a movie version of a film club where we will all watch a (black)movie and then essentially have a live stream review of it.  I haven't worked out the particulars to it, but it's something i'm really excited about as an extension of my normal content.  The video essays aren't going anywhere i have a ton of ideas (most of which are focused primarily on black culture) but the reality is that Youtube won't let you do too many things on one channel, so this will probably be a 3rd channel or merge into the B sides, im not sure yet.  

Either way, I do plan on making this kind of a premium element to my content connected to YouTube memberships.  This will allow it to be self sustaining and not beholden to YouTube monetization or copyright issues on the back end.  I also just don't want to make it a "BIG" thing as I am becoming more resistant to the perils of micro celebrity.  I also do want to be explicit that this will be a black centered extension of the content.  We will be watching predominantly black films.  While white members will be welcome, it will be a space that centers black voices and needs around the content.  At this point i don't know how that would manifest, but I do want to be clear about that.

I'm bringing it here to gauge you guy's interest in it.  

Lastly, MERCH THIS WEEK! (probably)

The shirt design has been finalized, there's also a decal. The online store is set up.  I should be able to take it live as early as today.  The last thing is to provide a promo code for 10$ patrons which is being worked on.  This is a small and focused roll out cause merch is complicated and this is like a test run.  The success of this will dictate what comes next.

I'm also iffing at other things like reading lists, my own book that I've been working on, etc.  I've become very skeptical of the way I am forced to interact with a lot of these systems and how my voice can be a force for good and for nonsense (drama).  I'm learning through trial and error the ethics of micro-celebrity, and the consequences of success.  But I remain dedicated to creating things, spreading certain ideals, and supporting certain movements.  I thank all of you for helping to make that possible.

Let me know how yall feel.

F.D