As we all know, February is Black History Month. It’s a month where we honor those who have made an impact on American culture for equal rights, those who have invented, those who have a helped others and those who have inspired everyone to be the best they can be, not only as a person of color but as a human.
As someone in the technology/web/social space, I often travel and attend various events in the industry and notice a huge lack of diversity, and when it comes to getting attention from mainstream media/tech blogs it’s almost impossible. That’s why I’m starting 28 Days of Diversity on SocialWayne.com. The goal of 28 Days of Diversity is to feature someone new everyday for the month of February for just being awesome in their own right. The list will include some of leaders in the social web space, startups, bloggers, conference organizers, IT professionals and friends not ranked in any particular order. Each post will include a picture, bio, two links from the selected person and this paragraph. So for the next 28 days, come back to visit SocialWayne.com to see who’s on the list. For day 21, I would like to introduce to some and present to others: Abiola Abrams
Blog: http://www.AbiolaTV.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AbiolaTV
ABIOLA ABRAMS is an author, media personality and social issues filmmaker who works in the lifestyles, relationships and pop culture journalism space. The self-declared “Goddess Passionista” has hosted TV shows such as BET’s The Best Short Films, HBO’s The Buzz and NBC’s Source: All Access hip hop news, appeared as a pop culture talking head on networks like FOX, and has interviewed celebrities from Chris Rock to Quincy Jones. Recently she played “Miss Picky” on Drew Barrymore’s VH1 reality series Tough Love, a show about deliciously messy romantic lives. She has given keynote talks on social issues such as the beauty myth, seeking joy and finding personal power at universities such as NYU, The New School for Social Research and Washington State.
Abiola’ Abrams’ debut novel Dare, published by Simon and Schuster was called an “empowering hip hop feminist tale” by AOL Black Voices, and has been taught in schools including University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Abiola’s essays on love, sex, dating and empowerment have been published in bestselling anthologies such as Behind the Bedroom Door and Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex. Her writing on stopping violence against women and girls is also published in Eve Ensler’s anthology A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer. Abiola has also written for publications such as Self Magazine, and has been written about in publications from Gawker and The Huffington Post to Paper Magazine and Essence.
Abiola Abrams’ online chat show Abiola’s Kiss and Tell TV is a new spin-off of blackplanet.com’s The Planet Abiola Show, the popular online show that premiered in Spring ’08, with currently have about 150 episodes. For her fun online program she’s interviewed celebs from LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes to Patti Labelle with Abiola’s Kiss and Tell TV branded as an over the top, rock and roll good time of: Relationships, Lifestyle Adventures, Celebrity Interviews and Advice Vlogs. The show has become a key part of the marketing plan for urban celebrities and authors.
Abiola Abrams is a lead syndicated contributor (articles, video content, celebrity interviews, web series) in the areas of entertainment, love, sex, relationships and pop culture to several sites including: HelloBeautiful.com, Glam.com, Examiner.com and PepsiWeInspire.com. She is featured in the 2010 NYC Sex Blogger’s Calendar, and her monthly literary reading and performance series “Abiola’s Kiss & Tell” takes place at Madame X in New York City.
TV Big Mouth Abiola Abrams is also a social issues filmmaker whose short art films and documentaries ahave been shown in galleries, film festivals and museums in Germany, West Africa, South America and throughout the US. Her award-winning films explore issues such as relationship violence (Ophelia’s Opera), mental illness (Knives in My Throat) and sexual empowerment (Afrodite Superstar). Abiola Abrams is the creator of the Until the Violence Stops Film Festival at the Museum of the City of New York and Museum of TV and Radio for Eve Ensler’s VDay organization, and has participated in panels and workshops with similar organizations such as Hip Hop 4 Health.
In 2009 she was honored by NYC VDay with her motivational writings being performed by actors. Her documentary Knives in My Throat also recently won awards from the Pan African Film Festival and Reel Sisters. Her workshop at Casa Attabex Ache in The Bronx resulted in her being awarded as one their Women of The Year and Paper Magazine chose her as one of their 50 Most Beautiful People.
Abiola Abrams has a BA from Sarah Lawrence College where she studied sociology, theater and creative writing; and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her Master’s Degree thesis analyzed the harnessing the power of pop culture to motivate through television, books, and film.
Come back tomorrow to see who’s next on the list.
Also check out past entires on http://28daysofdiversity.com
