Pitch Magazine redesigns spaces for Black artists to explore the full breadth of their creativity
Expression is important to all of us. We use different forms of expressions to allow others to understand ourselves better. Pitch Magazine is challenging the limits of expression. The magazine takes works from Black artists, Black poets and writers and Black photographers to curate a print magazine.
“Pitch Magazine . . . looks to provide a platform for Black creative expression . . . What we like to do is showcase the breadth of Black creativity,” said Angelo Grant, the founder and editor-in-chief of Pitch Magazine.
The idea for this magazine came from Grant’s very own experiences as a former student at McMaster University and as a creative who wanted to share his work. When he was in his first year, studying Health Sciences, he often submitted his work to spaces in hopes to share his creative voice.
However, he found that many of his submission rejections were prefaced by the fact his work didn’t fit the vision intended for the magazine. Moreover, Grant noticed the lack of representation for Black creatives on campus.
“When I was in first year, there were a few publications on campus that were maybe doing things in the realm of arts. And I think I just felt like our voices weren't being represented — the Black Student Body voice wasn't being represented in the publications,” said Grant.
Grant does not set any themes or restrictions on the types of submissions for the magazine to highlight the diversity of Black creativity.
By not centralizing each issue of the magazine to a specific theme, Grant felt the submissions he received were more expressive of the person creating the work. Each submission was vastly different; he didn’t find any overlap in the submissions. As someone who had felt limited by these kinds of restriction of specific theme from spaces on campus, he felt good to be able to change that.
“It's really trying to accommodate people and how they express themselves. I think that's the biggest thing for me — I don't want to be limiting of people,” said Grant.
Moreover, Grant stated Black creatives are given more freedom to branch out outside of creating works solely based on their Blackness by not setting specific expectations for magazine submissions. Submission guidelines and set restrictions can often make Black creatives feel as though their voices will only be heard if they center it only on their race and related experiences.
“I really don't want people to think is that they have to have to revolve their submission around their Blackness . . . I think we want to encapsulate the full breadth of Black creative expression that doesn't just involve themes that are directly tied to Blackness that involves everything that we experience on a day-to-day basis,” said Grant.
“I really don't want people to think is that they have to have to revolve their submission around their Blackness . . . I think we want to encapsulate the full breadth of Black creative expression that doesn't just involve themes that are directly tied to Blackness that involves everything that we experience on a day-to-day basis,”
Angelo Grant, founder and editor-in-chief of Pitch Magazine
Grant gave credit for how far the magazine has been able to come to his team behind Pitch. He is grateful to have a supportive team. Koko Sanginga, Malaika Manda, Alexandria Amadasun, Adeola Egbeyemi, Pamela Edmonds and Stylo Starr are some of the many people that have ensured that PITCH Magazine continues to grow smoothly.
“I think a big thing for me when it comes to creating something like this is realizing the importance of collaboration and having people that can support you along the way,” said Grant.
Pitch Magazine currently is working on its fourth issue. As the Pitch team continues to expand the magazine, they hope people appreciate the work and get a glimpse into the vast creativity of Black artists.
The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself.
Eileen O’Boyle: My name is Eileen. I'm a fourth-year kinesiology student doing a minor in biology. I am currently the president of Absolute Pitch, which is the McMaster [University] show choir. I've been part of the club for three years and this is my first year as the president.
What is Absolute Pitch?
It's kind of like Glee but without the drama. We have two performances and we practice throughout the year. Basically, it culminates in a big showcase where we combine singing and dancing on stage with a live band. We're lucky enough to have a live band that performs with us, which is a cool flair. We also have a coffee house that's more chill — there's no dancing involved in that one. People can sing and bring instruments to play to express themselves artistically and, really, that's what the club's all about.
It's kind of like Glee but without the drama. We have two performances and we practice throughout the year. Basically, it culminates in a big showcase where we combine singing and dancing on stage with a live band. We're lucky enough to have a live band that performs with us, which is a cool flair.
Eileen O’Boyle, President of Absolute Pitch
Can you tell us a little bit more just about those events?
The coffee house is mainly cast-driven. Anything that the cast wants to perform, they can audition and perform on stage. There'll be one song that the whole group will perform that's also chosen by the cast and we usually have a bake sale too. It's just very cozy. The final showcase in April is definitely a much larger scheme. Each year there's a different theme. This year we're doing musicals. As the [production executive] team, we come together and we choose a bunch of full-cast songs, so everyone in the whole ensemble can perform. We also have small groups, which usually are about a third of the cast. That usually comes out to about eight or nine songs for vocals and choreography.
What sparked your interest in dance?
I've been dancing since I was a little kid. I started at my first studio when I was about four. My parents saw that I was always moving to music and there are all these pictures of me just trying to do weird things with my body and doing things like the splits. So they put me in dance and I really flourished. I loved it and then I was able to work at my studio. It's been a long journey and it's something that has remained the same throughout my whole life which is really nice.
Do you think your background in dance has influenced your choice to pursue kinesiology?
In some aspects. I think the major thing that influenced me to go into kinesiology was that I played lots of sports growing up. But, when I decided to go into kinesiology, I was thinking about what do I want to do with my life? This isn’t the case anymore but I wanted to go into physiotherapy. I had a really bad injury when I was playing soccer and the physiotherapists that I had were just absolutely amazing. They took me from "I can barely walk" to "I can play sports again". It was just so impactful and I wanted to help people like this.
What is one of your favourite memories with Absolute Pitch?
There are so many of them. One is that we always have one rehearsal that's for the whole day. We get to run everything with the band usually for the first time. Our band's incredible, I cannot tell you how good they are. I hadn't gotten to be there for a lot of the band rehearsals so this was my first time seeing the whole thing come together. It was a mind-blowing moment because you never know what will really work or come together when you're practicing.
What would you say to someone who is considering joining Absolute Pitch?
Put yourself out there. You don't know if you're going to enjoy it unless you try. In Absolute Pitch, we've cultivated an environment that is welcoming, open to new ideas, open to people trying things for the first time. A lot of our cast are not at all trained by professionals or anything like that. They just love to sing in the shower and then it's turned into this great passion. But you'd never know if you don't do it. Go for it. Why not?
By: Tanya Kett & Jillian Perkins Marsh
Some say that when they last attended a job fair employers told them to apply online, so they felt it was pointless to attend. If you have similar sentiments, I urge you to keep reading.
Employers may tell you to apply online (it does save paper!), but the real reason they are there is to get a sense of the person behind the resume that is submitted online — YOU.
Who are you? What do you have to offer? Why are you unique? Are you personable? Do you seem genuinely interested? What do you know about them? Answers to these questions can only be conveyed in an application to a certain extent. Make a real connection so that when your application does come across their desk, your name gets noticed.
How can you differentiate your application from other ones in the application pile?
Do your research. Explore the event website for the list of employers confirmed to attend and do some research on them before the event.
Tailor your elevator pitch. Make eye contact and shake their hand. Be bold, assertive, and with some confidence, introduce yourself. Tell them what you do or want to do, what you have to offer and why you are interested in them. Customize your pitch based on your research.
Ask useful questions. Based on your research, prepare some thoughtful questions to generate conversation after your introductions.
Be an active listener. Really listen to what they have to say; it is easy to start thinking ahead to what you will say next, but concentrate on being in the moment. After the conversation is over, jot down any suggestions they had for applicants before you forget.
Be ready to dig deeper. If you encounter an organization of interest that is not hiring in the area you are interested in, don’t despair. Remember that organizations recruit for many diverse roles and hiring timelines are often not predictable.
Invite to connect on LinkedIn. Visit your new contact’s profile and send your request from there, so you have an option to ‘Add a Note.’ Reference something from your conversation when you invite them to connect and thank them for their time in speaking with you at the event.
After you attend the event and employ the tactics above, you are ready to submit that online application. Don’t forget to mention the contact you spoke with at the Career Fair or Company Recruitment Event. Incorporate their suggestions and offer something you learned from them in your cover letter as part of why you are interested in applying.
Now imagine you did none of the above, just attended, had a few conversations and just applied online. Which application would you be most interested in?
Use what you’ve learned in this article at our SCENE networking night on March 21. This event is open to McMaster alumni and students in their final year. Register here: alumni.mcmaster.ca under Event Listings.
Read the full article on our Medium page.
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