We’re living in a time when one news alert or a single scroll on social media can shift your entire mood — sometimes sparking a full-on existential crisis about the state of the world. For creatives especially, it can feel nearly impossible to stay inspired or motivated.
But for two days at CultureCon, the noise turned down. Thousands of Black creatives, spanning industries, generations, and career stages, came together in New York to connect, recharge, and remember their power.
Now, that doesn’t mean the challenges facing Black communities were ignored. Quite the opposite: the conversations that filled the weekend acknowledged the reality of mass layoffs, ever-changing business and industry practices, and the uncertainty many are navigating. Still, what rang loudest was joy, hope, and affirmation.
“This year’s theme was so inspired by the current climate,” CultureCon founder Imani Ellis told theGrio. “We’re seeing at a drastic rate this messaging of being smaller, being afraid, shrinking. That can be contagious. But I also think joy and hope can be contagious. I believe that just as the pendulum swings to the right, it’ll swing right back to the left, and so we need a space where we can be reminded of our power. When we’re isolated, it’s easy to assume we have to face everything alone. But when we get together and see how much power we have, when we just show up for each other, it’s inspiring to keep going.”
On social media, CultureCon looks like a feed of bold, creative outfits and celebrity cameos, which this year featured Morris Chestnut (who, yes, smells as good as he looks), Jennifer Hudson, Taraji P. Henson, and more. But the true beauty of the event happens during the in-between moments: the “I love your outfit” that turns into a 20-minute conversation; the chance run-in with a former coworker; the honest reminder that regardless of career stage, we’re all still figuring it out.
And with thousands of Black women recently losing jobs, those conversations hit harder this year. Therapist and speaker Kier Gaines spoke to that tension with theGrio:
“It’s okay for you to be sad about [a job loss] and not have to feel immediately actionable about your sadness. But also, you can hold being sad, but being ‘sad and…’ What are we going to do to be productive…be reflective…to make the most of this downtime?” he advised people in these transition periods. “Because when you’re not busy with the working part of your identity, you can develop the other parts of your identity.”
One of Black women’s biggest celebrity crushes, Morris Chestnut, echoed Gaines’ messages emphasizing that “you don’t want to skew to dark days, dark nights or dark months. Stay focused on you, keep developing you” because as the infamous saying goes “this too shall pass.”
Sheryl Lee Ralph urges the women in these transitions to try to reframe their mindsets.
“Sometimes you need a break. You didn’t get fired, you were offered a break to discover what it is you want to do next. Maybe where you were is where you should have been then, but where do you want to go now?” she shared in her message to theGrio’s audience. “Be kinder to yourself and stop thinking that the world is against you. Everything always works out the way it’s supposed to.
“And when it comes to me, everything always works out for me,” she added with a confidence I think we should all try to adopt in life.
If there was a throughline this year, it was faith. Not just the spiritual kind, but faith in yourself and your journey.
“Your design, unique promise, and plan cannot be changed or harmed or taken by any evil that may be overtaking certain things, or by any evil period,” award-winning journalist Gia Pepper shared. “Because if God is for you, who can be against you. Don’t let these people scare you, put your faith where that fear is, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.”
Similarly, LeToya Luckett, the queen of the pivot, took us to church with her message to people in transition:
“First of all, sis, God got you. We serve an intentional God, and He didn’t bring you this far to leave you. Understand that sometimes we got to get still in the midst of the storm so that we can hear clearly from him to know what the next thing is gonna be,” she said stressing that this is a moment to build and pray. “In moments like this, this is when we need to, first of all, be on our knees, praying the most to hear from God so that we will know how to prepare for the next thing that’s gonna propel us. So that we can be ready. We can have every tool that we need to build that business. To be able to say, ‘Okay, y’all, I’ve been through this, I worked, and I managed this, and I have this experience, but guess what? I got more tools in my toolbox. I’ve fallen short. I’ve been fired from the job. This is happening to me. I know how to dust myself, get back up, rebuild again, and, baby, I’m doing it bigger and better.’”
Whether you were there for a celebrity sighting, to shop Black-owned brands at the Chase Ink Marketplace, or to make connections in the “We Met IRL” networking lounge, the heart of CultureCon was simple: affirmation.
Affirmation that no matter the layoffs, shutdowns, or systemic roadblocks, Black people are still building. Still thriving. Still finding ways to show up for each other in a world that can feel increasingly isolating.
And if the weekend proved anything, it’s this: the creative mind is still alive, still inspired, and still ready to reimagine what’s possible.
