Hey Essence! A Post on the Greats: Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal

I’ve done this before with Blindspotting but it’s time to shout these two trailblazers out yet again! You know who I’m talking about:

DAVEED DIGGS AND RAFAEL CASAL

Rayna Reid Rayford published an article with ESSENCE about the ways that Daveed and Rafa have constantly included social justice rhetoric and inclusion into their work. In addition to this, Daveed and Rafa discussed the lack of a pipeline for Black Creatives from the Bay Area which makes it so difficult to continue to do the work of pushing the narratives of underrepresented people of color, as Diggs and Casal have always worked to do.

This absence led to their creation of the Bay Area Screenwriter’s Salon which housed select Bay Area Screenwriters and provided a space to talk all things creativity with a group of like-minded people.

This Salon took place in 2021, but the impact of the Salon has truly stuck with me in the friends and I now create with and watch grow, as well as the new depths of creativity that I’ve personally reached just by virtue of knowing these superb people and being around them. None of this would have been possible without Daveed and Rafa taking a chance on us and I am truly forever grateful.

I’ve since submitted work to countless competitions and mentorship initiatives, received pages and pages of notes, and facilitated countless Bay Area writers meet ups which have seemingly encouraged others to do the same.

This article provides a beautiful backdrop of the work that Daveed and Rafa do and it helps that I’m quoted in it, so please, give it a read:

When Art Meets Activism: Daveed Diggs And Rafael Casal Discuss How Social Justice Impacts Their Work