*(New York, New York) – Native Son – the leading organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black gay and queer men – in partnership with Q.Digital – the #1 Comscore Ranked LGBTQ+ media company– will officially launch its new platform vertical – the Native Son channel on Q.Digital’s immensely popular LGBTQ+ culture and entertainment site, Queerty today, Friday, August 2 at https://www.queerty.com/channel/nativeson.
The launch date of the new channel was set to commemorate the centennial birthday of literary icon and activist James Baldwin and will include a special digital cover experience honoring the life and legacy of Baldwin. Aiming to become the premiere content and storytelling platform for Black gay and Queer men, the Native Son Channel on Queerty will include a diverse mix of news stories, lists, opinion pieces, and video content.
With this partnership between Native Son and Q.Digital, the launch of the new channel happening on James Baldwin’s 100th birthday signifies a full circle moment for the Native Son movement as the ideation for the organization was originally inspired by and named in honor of Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son.
Founded in 2016 by renowned journalist and activist Emil Wilbekin, Native Son was created as a way to celebrate and amplify Black and queer voices and the Native Son channel on Queerty will serve as an extension of that mission.
In addition to the special digital Baldwin cover, the debut of the Native Son channel will include the cover story written in tribute to James Baldwin by media maker and critically acclaimed author Darnell L. Moore as well as the introduction of the video series “Native Son’s 20 Questions with Emil Wilbekin.”
Scroll to continue reading
Under the partnership, Wilbekin will lead content creation for the channel alongside Queerty’s Editorial team. Queerty will launch a new content channel supported by social promotion and a new Queerty Native Son email newsletter. Q.Digital will lead sales efforts for the Native Son channel and will partner closely with Native Son on tentpole programming including its signature event – The Native Son Awards. The alliance underscores Q.Digital’s ongoing commitment to centering underrepresented queer, trans, and BIPOC voices across its five popular platforms – Queerty, LGBTQ Nation, GayCities, Into and Outsports.
“We are so thrilled to formally introduce our Native Son community to the world through this partnership with Q.Digital and this new platform on Queerty. There will be a great mix of engaging video content, strong visual components, fun social elements, and, most importantly, powerful storytelling. We are committed to making the Native Son channel into the preeminent platform to amplify the Black gay and queer narrative in all of its forms,” said Wilbekin. “For our debut, it was only fitting to launch with the person who best reflects the foundation of what Native Son is meant to be and whose work was the inspiration and impetus for the organization’s inception. No one embodies Native Son more than James Baldwin and we are excited to honor his legacy.”
“James Baldwin is an LGBTQ+ community icon,” said Scott Gatz, Founder and CEO of Q.Digital. “It’s an honor to work alongside Native Son to celebrate Black gay and queer voices and to amplify them across the largest LGBTQ+ media platforms. The centennial is the perfect moment to kick off this partnership and provide a space for part of the community that has been underrepresented for far too long.”
Since its inception in 2016, Native Son has become an intergenerational movement and force to connect and create a safe space for those within an often under and/or misrepresented community. In addition to empowerment, Native Son’s programs and initiatives have always been designed to celebrate the achievements of Black queer and gay men in the arts, business, media, fashion, politics, and healthcare. With the launch of the Queerty Native Son Channel, the organization’s mission will heavily inform and be interwoven throughout the channel’s content which will include original programming intersecting politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment to center the Black gay and queer experience.
View this post on Instagram
Visit the channel at: https://www.queerty.com/channel/nativeson
For exclusive photos, updates, and more, follow us on social: @Queerty, @EmilWilbekin @NativeSonNow #NativeSon #NativeSonAwards
ABOUT NATIVE SON
Native Son is a movement that exemplifies the duality of being Black and gay in a society that often shuns and belittles their unique experiences. This movement aims to create a safe space where the Black gay male community can fellowship, celebrate, empower each other, and—most importantly—see themselves. From the world-renowned to the up-and-coming, Native Son aims to connect and celebrate the members of this influential, yet long ignored community in the realms of arts, business, media, fashion, politics, and healthcare.
ABOUT EMIL WILBEKIN
Emil Wilbekin is an Associate Professor of Journalism at the Fashion Institute of Technology. He is a multimedia maverick who contributes to The New York Times T Magazine, Vogue, The Cut, Architectural Digest, Time, Essence, Ebony, and Town & Country. He is the Co-Producer and Co-Writer on the documentary The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion (Netflix).
He is also the Founder of Native Son, a platform created to inspire and empower Black gay and queer men.
Wilbekin has served as Chief Content Officer at Afropunk, Editor-at-Large at Essence, Managing Editor of Essence.com, Editor-in-Chief of Giant and Giantmag.com, Style Guru at Complex Media, VP of Brand Development at Marc Eckō Enterprises, Editorial Director/Vice President of Vibe Ventures and Editor-in-Chief of Vibe Magazine. Under Wilbekin’s leadership, Vibe won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002.
He holds a B.S. in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University
ABOUT Q.DIGITAL
Q.Digital is a fast-growing LGBTQ-owned and operated media company that helps queer people everywhere get the most out of life. The company operates GayCities, the location-based social network that helps people uncover the best of what’s happening, Queerty, the entertainment site that’s “free of an agenda, except that gay one,” LGBTQ Nation, the world’s most followed LGBTQ news site with more than 1.6 million Facebook fans, Outsports, the leading sports site focused on LGBTQ+ athletes and fans, and INTO, the welcoming space that celebrates thinkers, fighters, new voices, and the unapologetic authenticity of Gen Z
Together the media sites reach over eleven million consumers each month, making it a first stop for advertisers looking to reach a valuable, highly targeted audience.
For more information, please visit http://www.q.digital.
ABOUT QUEERTY
Queerty is a popular site that’s “free of an agenda, except that gay one.” It is the cheeky cocktail conversation that covers what the queer community and its allies are talking about now: news, politics, arts, celebrities, culture, and entertainment through video, interviews, lists, breaking news, and reporting. The Queerties awards program, culminating in a huge party in Los Angeles every March, celebrates the best in media, film, and celebrity.
source: Flowerspragency.com
RELATED NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Emil Wilbekin’s Native Son Announces Annual Year End ‘Native Son 101’ List for 2023 | VIDEO
