Makiah Green of Black Book LA is Transforming Black Millennial Social Life

Los Angeles is a place like no other. One of the most culturally diverse cities in the world, Los Angeles is full of virtually every type of person; dreamers, hustlers, and personalities from everywhere have contributed to its richness and vibrancy. Los Angeles is unlike other big cities, in part because it’s not only a city. Los Angeles County is made up of 88 cities and then some, with a greater population than 41 other states. Despite it being so huge and spread out, LA can also appear small. Everybody seemingly knows everybody – the challenge is knowing someone first, having the in, forming a tribe. When one is alone with no tribe, Los Angeles is big, lonely, and daunting, especially for people of colour, specifically Black people. In search of belonging and community, Black millennials have been asking, “Where are all the Black people in LA?”

Makiah Green, co-founder of Black Book LA, is answering that question. Black Book LA, a guide to everything Black in Los Angeles, is helping Black millennials find their tribe by curating local events, businesses, housing, job, and food connections. I got to chat with Makiah about how she and the platform are revolutionizing the lives of Black millennials in Los Angeles.

What do you do?
I work full-time at MACRO, a production company that produces film, TV, and digital content for multicultural audiences. And by night, I help run Black Book LA.

Black Book LA started as a way to find where Black people chill on the weekend, right? Was this initially for personal reasons?
Absolutely. I went to USC for undergrad and grad school. After being there for six years, I moved back home to Compton and felt so disconnected from the Los Angeles community because for so long I was in the USC bubble and didn’t really need to venture out. Once I was out, I was like, “Where is everybody else? Where is everybody going?” All of my closest friends had moved out of state, I’m not a big club person, and I knew there had to be more going on in Los Angeles. Like there’s no way everybody’s just at home. So if I’m asking these questions, I’m sure there are so many other people asking the same questions. So I was like, “If I’m already on a quest to find these events, why not share them with my followers?”

When did you and your co-founder, Tyree Boyd-Pates, come together and decide to turn it into a legit platform?
From the beginning, it was always a public thing. We weren’t just creating this list for ourselves. When we decided to create it, it started as a landing page. We just put up this super bareboned Squarespace collecting people’s emails. A few weeks later, we sent out our first email blast with five to ten events happening that weekend. This was in May 2016. We started with 100 subscribers and then it just started growing like crazy. We didn’t even have social media channels when we first started. We were just using our own personal profiles to promote it and then quickly realized this was starting a life of its own and going beyond our networks. That’s when we decided to really expand it, build out the social profiles, and see where it could take us.

EXTRA, EXTRA: Labor Day weekend is finally here and we’ve got just what you need to make it count. From Power Fest to Thundercat and the dopest day parties, #BlackBookLA has got you covered. Link in bio. Get your life. #BlackBookLA

A post shared by BlackBookLA (@blackbookla_) on Aug 31, 2017 at 11:58am PDTHow do you empathize with your subscribers and their need for having this platform?
The majority of our subscribers are transplants, people who have gotten here within the last few years. I was born and raised in Dallas, but I moved to Compton in the seventh grade. I can’t necessarily relate to that reality of being new to the city as an adult looking for community since I was so young when I came here and I feel certainly planted in LA. While reflecting on my life, I realized that at every stage, I always sought to create community wherever I was and I just think that that’s just a part of who I am. It kinda just feeds into how this started. My time at USC makes me empathize with it more because I did feel like a new person in LA after getting out, so I’m able to empathize in that way. But also, LA is a very big and difficult city to navigate, even for people who have been here their whole life. Sometimes, you’re still feeling like an outsider because it changes so much and there’s just so many people here that you’ll never really fully get to explore every side of it.

Is it even possible to see who benefits most from Black Book LA? LA natives or transplants since they’re the majority of your base?
I think definitely transplants. We haven’t tracked this in terms of hard data; but every time I’m out and about and at events, I’m meeting people who are on the platform. Most of them are like “Oh my God, I just moved here. It saved my life.” I hear a lot of those types of stories. I also meet people who are from LA who are on it, but I’d say the vast majority are people who are new because those are the people who are seeking this type of thing out most of the time.

Weekend + Vibes. Click the link in our bio for 10+ ways to do it for the culture this weekend. 🎈 | #BlackBookLA ▫▫

A post shared by BlackBookLA (@blackbookla_) on Jul 22, 2017 at 9:00am PDTIn LA and the country at large, it’s not really difficult to find events for white people because those events are literally everywhere. Was or is it laborious to find events for Black millennials?
When we first started, it was definitely a challenge because, again, there was no platform for us. There’s BlackNLA and Black Cultural Events, but both of those platforms have been around for so long, they tend to cater to an older demographic. There was nothing that was geared towards Black millennials. There was no one stop where we could be like “oh yeah, we’re just gonna pull all our stuff from here.” We really had to dig into our personal relationship and scan the web to figure out what type of things people are talking about, where people are going. Now, we’re almost two years in and it’s much easier because we know who the influencers are. We know the regular parties that come around every month or so. We have our finger on the pulse, so now it’s much easier; but again, I think without Black Book LA, most people would still be hard-pressed because we’re still the only hub for the city that’s centralizing all of these resources.

Something I personally try to get others to understand is that Black is not a monolith; and though Black people obviously share some common culture and experiences, we are not homogenous in our character or interests. The range of events you guys have – from wellness to turn-ups, food, different types of entertainment – really caters to the reality that not everybody wants the same thing. How do you decide what to put out?
We actually worked really hard to make sure that it was reflective of the different iterations of Blackness. I know I’m multidimensional. I know every single person on this earth is multidimensional, especially Black people, so we wanted something for everyone. When we curate our lists, we ask ourselves, “Is this something that we would go to? Is this something that we would recommend our friends to go to?” If not, why are we putting it on this list? And if so, let’s show love and make sure that people know about this. I’ve honestly been surprised at how much is going on a weekly basis. You would never know that there are all these sub-communities across LA that are meeting people’s needs in a very real way.

Looking for the melanin? Well, It’s a good week to be Black in LA! From Love Jones to the dopest parties, #BlackBookLA has got you covered. Click link in the bio. 📸: @createdbyjarrod #BlackBookLA ✊🏾✨

A post shared by BlackBookLA (@blackbookla_) on Sep 7, 2017 at 12:25pm PDTWe’ve watched Black Book LA grow from a hang-out informer with 100 subscribers and a weekly newsletter to an entity with its own hosted events, a catalog of local Black-owned business, housing and job networks, and more. It’s literally, as you say, the guide to everything Black in LA. You now have over 20,000 subscribers in just under two years. Talk about this evolution.
The whole thing has been so organic and just happened naturally. We’ve never put out a paid ad. All of it has been word of mouth, people telling their friends about it. I’ll just speak on a personal level. Black Book LA has changed my life. Two years ago, Tyree and I would literally just be sitting at the house with nothing to do. We’d be going to the same restaurants over and over and over again getting bored with ourselves. And now, I literally have relationships with all these Black business owners. I go to an event and I always know people. It’s changed my personal life. Not to mention the fact that I found my roommate and my current apartment on the Black Book LA Housing Network. I already know that when something impacts your life on that deep of a level, you are inclined to tell somebody else about it because it’s not just saying, “Oh, you should check this out because somebody told me to tell you about it.” It’s more of “your life will improve in a real way because of this thing.” I think that is why we’ve seen the growth that we’ve seen.

On our end, it’s come out of the desire to really make Black life easier for us because there’s a lot going on in the world right now. Since around 2014, when Ferguson was happening and the #BlackLivesMatter movement and all of these things, life is so difficult on the daily basis and we deserve to have a release. We deserve to have certain aspects of our lives taken care of so we don’t have to worry about things like our social life because we have enough to worry about. One of my goals is to grow this into something where every single aspect of Black life can be taken care of with one website, with one platform where you don’t have to think about housing, you don’t have to think about employment, you don’t have to think about what you’re doing on the weekend. You could just go do it.

All that to say, from then to now, it’s just been a whirlwind. I wish I could say we had this super meticulous strategy, but honestly, it’s just been us learning and growing and being consistent. I think that’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is the importance of being consistent no matter what. No matter what’s happening, no matter how crazy our week gets, every Thursday at 12 pm, this newsletter is going out come hell or high water. Once we saw how important it was to people and how people were literally structuring their entire week-long plans based off of our newsletter, we realized we cannot afford to not put this out. People are actually depending on us.

Back in May 2016, @tyreebp + @makiahisms had an idea to start a community for Black millennials in Los Angeles called Black Book L.A. What started out as 10 subscribers now reaches over 12,000 each week (🙌🏾). The photos above (swipe left) are from our very first mixer event, #JAMBALAYA, last year. Crazy, right? …From the bottom of our heart, thank you all for making our vision a reality – especially those who’ve been rocking with us since day one. We are so honored and humble to serve y’all each week! Our goal is to simply make sure that more of US are connected to one another. ✊🏾❤#BlackBookLA

A post shared by BlackBookLA (@blackbookla_) on Aug 13, 2017 at 9:09am PDTBlack Book LA is not a founder-centric business. I understand that most people don’t even know you two are behind it. Are you cool with that or does part of you wanna say, “Hey! That’s me!”
*laughs* When we started, we actually made it a point to not make it about us. There are so many brands out there where it’s all about the founder, and you know their name but it’s not impacting your life in any type of way. We said this is about the people, and we’ve maintained that. I didn’t get into this to build my personal brand or anything like that. Now, I am interested in showing more behind-the-scenes with us – not for vain reasons but to show people how regular we are. There’s this idea that to build something like this you have to be some special human being, and the reality is no. We’re just two people who saw a need and decided to do something about it. That’s the beauty of it.

Black Book LA is not a founder-centric business. I understand that a great deal of people don’t even know that you two are behind it. Are you cool with that or does part of you wanna say, “Hey! That’s me!”
When we started, we actually made a point to not make it about us. There are so many brands out there where it’s all about the founder, and you know their name, but it’s not impacting your life in any type of way. This is about the people. I think we’ve maintained that, and it’s been beautiful. I’ll go places, and some people do know who we are and a lot of people don’t. Honestly, I didn’t get into this to build my personal brand or anything like that. I am interested in showing more behind-the-scenes with us – not for vain reasons but to show people how regular we are. There’s this idea that to build something like this, you have to be some special human being. And the reality is no, we’re just two people who saw a need and decided to do something about it.

How has being faceless, you and Tyree not being the face of the brand, affected the brand?
I think it’s been helpful. I feel happy knowing that people are coming to this because of the product and not for any other reason. I think if our face was plastered on every single newsletter we send, it would get redundant; it would just be the Makiah and Tyree Show. I have never been interested in that. That’s just not how I lead my life. I just believe in doing the work and everything else will come. It’s also allowed us to stay focused on the work instead of always looking for opportunities to be in the spotlight.

What’s today? Melanin Monday. 📸:@ebonylivinggold Producer: @jadonjoyner_ Photographer: @j.2gooden Creative Director:@ozodinobi_ #BlackBookLA 🙌🏾✨

A post shared by BlackBookLA (@blackbookla_) on Aug 7, 2017 at 11:38am PDTSo let’s talk about the Black Book LA Housing Network. You launched it this past June, and it’s a safe space for Black people in LA to share rentals, sublets, and housing information. When I first saw the announcement, I was like “this is major.” Becuase it is in so many ways. Some people wouldn’t even think about how pertinent that type of service would be. In half a year, the group has over 4,000 members. Talk about that and its significance.
I’ll just give you the backstory. After I graduated from college, I had to move back home because the full-time job that I had did not pay me enough money to pay much of anything. I was living at home from 2013 until last December, so four and a half years. It was very difficult for me because you go to college thinking you’re setting yourself up for this luxurious financial future; and the reality is, in our economy, that’s just not the case for a lot of millennials. So by the time that I did start making more but still abysmal amount of money, I started looking for apartments and realized that I could not afford anything. It was just crazy to me how insane the housing market is out here, especially with gentrification. All of the neighborhoods that are historically Black that people have historically been able to afford are now tripling in rent prices.

So let’s talk about the Black Book LA Housing Network, a safe space for Black people in LA to share rentals, sublets, and general housing information. You launched it this past June; and when I first saw the announcement, I was like this is major. Because it is in so many ways. Some people wouldn’t even think about how pertinent that type of service would be. In half a year, the group has nearly 4,000 members. Talk about that and its significance.
I’ll just give you the backstory. After I graduated from college, I had to move back home because the full-time job I had did not pay me enough money to pay much of anything, I literally was living at home from 2013 until last December, so four and a half years. It was very difficult for me because you go to college thinking you’re setting yourself up for this luxurious financial future; and the reality is, in our economy, that’s just not the case for a lot of millennials. So by the time I did start making a decent, still abysmal about of money, I started looking for apartments and realized that I could not afford anything. It was just crazy to me how insane the housing market is out here. Especially with gentrification. All of the neighbourhoods that are historically Black that people historically been able to afford are now tripling in rent prices.

Oh, girl. I could go in on gentrification all day.
Girl, literally. It’s such a huge issue, especially here. So I was in the process of looking for a roommate and I was going crazy because I could not find anybody. It was very start-and-stop. Every time I thought I found a lead, it just would not work out. Then somebody told me, “Makiah, you literally have all these Black millennials in your back pocket. Why don’t you just put out a blast asking if anybody is looking for housing?” Then I was like, “Wait a minute. I know I’m not the only person looking for housing. What if we just started a page where people could just make these posts?” And that’s how it got started. I found housing, and I know so many other people have as well. I don’t even know all the things people have been able to find through there, but it’s changed my life.

That’s incredible. So the Black Book LA Job Network just launched this past January. It’s a space for Black LA millennials to find jobs, share employment opportunities, and make professional connections. In under two months, you’ve gained over 1,000 members. Are y’all trynna be the Black LinkedIn?
*laughs* Uh, yes! It was the same idea. Once we started the Housing Network and saw how successful that was going, the next conversation was “Okay, people are looking for housing but also people are looking for jobs.” I know a lot of people who are freelancing. I know a lot of artists who are always looking for a side-hustle. As we know, the job market is cruel right now. Why not pool our resources together? Networking opportunities are cool when you go to mixers and things, but you don’t always get to talk to everybody, it’s very touch-and-go. Let’s share. Come together to share our strengths. I just know so many people are out here trynna do the same thing, so why not help each other and expose everyone to the greatness that lies in community? It’s been really awesome and heartwarming to watch people connect.

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A post shared by BlackBookLA (@blackbookla_) on Jan 20, 2018 at 9:48am PSTThe recurring theme we’ve had here is community. What does community mean to you?
To me, community is collective empowerment and encouragement. As a Black woman, I feel alone more often than not in spaces that I occupy and sometimes I wanna be surrounded by people who care about me, people who look like me. It’s about creating a family outside of our actual families, having people you know you can call, and creating safe spaces for ourselves ’cause this world is brutal. I just think it’s so, so, so important to just have spaces that are for us and by us.

Truly. You guys have grown so much in just under two years. What’s next for Black Book LA?
Oh, God. So much. One of the things that I’m really focused on is building out our own event programming. We promote other people’s events a lot to the point where we’re selling out everybody else’s events, and now we’re working on hosting our own and start building out that level of community. Eventually, I want us to build out an app because right now we’re on an email subscriber model, but it will be dope to create a one-stop shop for people to find events, purchase products from Black businesses, and just accomplish everything they want in just one application. So I think that’s gonna be the next big move. Along with expansion, going to other cities. But first, we need to build out a team because it’s still just two people.

That’s amazing. I am just elated by this growth and everything that you’re doing for the people. It’s what we need, so thank you. Lastly, do you have any life advice or final thoughts?
I think this whole experience has taught me the importance of just starting. Whenever I have an idea, sometimes I will go to great lengths to talk myself out of it or tell myself that it’s already being done or surround myself with negative thoughts. With Black Book LA, had I done that, none of this would even exist. So I think it’s important if you have an idea and you believe in it to just start it. Literally, we started with one Squarespace page and a MailChimp account and had no idea what this was gonna grow into; but if we talked ourselves into “oh, we need this and we need that and we don’t have the money,” then we just never would have gotten here. I think that’s important.

Also, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about all the platforms that I started before now. They were successful to varying degrees, some of them weren’t successful at all, but all of those experiences prepared me for where we are now. And that’s important, too. I was thinking about MyPWI* the other day. That was around for a few years and then it just fizzled out once I started working because I just didn’t have time to run it anymore. And I felt bad about that for a long time, but no. MyPWI paved the way for Black Book LA in a lot of ways. It’s important to learn from your failures and make sure they’re contributing to the larger goal instead of letting them discourage you. Don’t think that because one thing didn’t work out, you can’t do anything. No. That was just a step to this. I’m finding the beauty and appreciation in that.

This interview has been edited and condensed.
*MyPWI was a space for students of colour at predominately white universities.