Black Designers Ignite is hosting another Speak on it! event on April 18, 2021. The theme for this event is “Redesign our City.” Your host will be the lovely Ephemeral / Event Designer and Detroit’s own #BAWSELADY Melinda MeMe Anderson.

Are you living & working in a city that needs a redesign? How can we as BLACK, INDIGENOUS, and ALL Designers of Color come together and ignite change? (Allies, we want to hear from you as well.) We want to hear talks with ideas on how we might combat gentrification, renew and restore neighborhoods, and bring more health, equity and wellness to our city dwellers.

Wanna Speak on it?
Join Melinda + 11 other speakers! The event will be no longer than 3 hours, and we’ve built in some time for audience Q&A. Submit a talk by March 12th! (Speakers lineup will be notified/finalized by March 16th). We pay a stipend of $100 per speaker for their contributions.

SORRY TALK SUBMISSIONS CLOSED.

When submitting, please consider sending us a 1-2 minute video about who you are and/or go live with our team on the Black Ignite Instagram page! (Please email teamblackignite AT gmail if you have issues submitting).


Not interested in speaking but definitely want to attend? Register now on Crowdcast, it’s free!

register for 4/18 event

WHAT ARE IGNITE TALKS?

An ignite talk is like a lightening talk, or a “Pecha Kucha” talk. Speakers have only 5 minutes to speak, and their slides auto-advance every 15 seconds. It’s 20 slides top! And it’s a lot of fun.

Black Ignite Talks..

Our annual events will always have a theme and will always honor an all-Black lineup. Our Speak On It! events (held 2-3 times per year) are open to all speakers from all backgrounds. We believe design is our weapon, and we want to hear how designers and creatives are making change in their communities. Love is our language. We are about positivity! And though we speak on tough issues, and yes swearing is allowed! (we don’t censor you), our message as a collective is always one of gratitude and love. We believe unity is our power.

Join us!

Are you a Black Designer in America? Your story matters! We hope you’ll consider submitting a talk for our main event this August (8/22). Submissions will open in July. In the meantime, if you need some inspiration check out the 30 ignite talks from 2020 on YouTube!

2020 BLACK IGNITE Talks
It’s goin down!! You register yet? Love seein @black.ignite alum in the lineup. S/o to all these fine people! And just like that a new year has begun. Thank you to every single one of our Black Ignite family for growing with us these past two years. And to all of our speakers, volunteers, sponsors, collaborators, etc. We really wouldn’t be here without any of you. 11 Black Ignite talks to watch before the end of the year! These fine folks blew up the chat back in April w/ ideas for redesigning our cities.. go watch their talks on YouTube now by following the link in our bio or searching #BlackDesignersIgnite #RedesignOurCity on YouTube! #Repost @omari.souza It’s the State of Black Design family reunion!! @blackdesigntxst Save the date & share with your connects, there’s speaking and sponsorship opportunities available! Email blackdesign@txstate.edu Thank you to everyone who contributed, we are paying each @black.ignite speaker $425!! Thank you for being a part of this, thanks for donating tickets and thanks for continuing to support Black Designers everywhere! Let’s gooooo!! 🤩#Support First off, we just want to give a huge THANK YOU!!! to our community for showing up for our speakers! We really can not thank all of you enough for lending us some of your time. 🙏🏽 ‼️We’re LIVE in 15mins‼️