Me – Like 40-plus something years ago in Mrs. Roule’s 3rd Grade Class at Lee Eaton Elementary in Northfield, Ohio

Welcome to Black-Eyed Stories

A newsletter for human beings trying to be more informed and thus more human, by author and Instagram Maven, Marcie Alvis Walker

Hello darling! I am Marcie Alvis Walker, author of Everybody Come Alive: A Memoir in Essays, but most people know me from my old Instagram handle Black Coffee with White Friends which is now just Marcie Alvis Walker because, y’all, it was time. I laid the name “Black Coffee with White Friends” to rest along with all those black squares folks were posting - remember those? 

Y’all, this little ole’ newsletter is kinda everything to me, and here’s why: it’s hard to be a good human on Instagram. Have you seen what’s out there? Instagram is not our friend. She has her agenda and I respect that. She’s made it clear that she’s not a café. She’s not a town square. She’s not the best person to go to if you want to have an honest conversation about the things keeping you up at night. I mean, she’s great for a lot of other things (I’ve recently found her to be a great resource for all things cozy and cozier), but she’s not a great host or moderator for conversations about race, politics, misogyny or even Taylor Swift. She can get real ugly if you try to have an honest conversation about Tay (who I love – I swear I do. I just have some questions). 

Instagram can get ugly, but not here. It’s beautiful here, even if our stories are bruised and battered and a little black eyed. I promise you something wonderful is happening here in this kind and human place. First of all, there’s no character-count limit. Try having a real conversation about Beyoncé and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in 2200 characters or less. It’s impossible! But here is a place spacious enough for each of us to get into it while remaining the decent and dignified human beings that we are. Here we get to carry on while being fully aware of things like intention and nuance. Here we can be our best selves in the comment’s section.

What Do You Get If You Subscribe? 

Black Eyed Stories is just that… stories. I tell stories I feel might make you see things from a different point of view – my black eyed point of view, full of my worries and fears and hopes and dreams. To my surprise and delight, I lay it all out here and folks chime in with their own worries and fears and hopes and dreams. It’s cathartic for all involved. 

But it’s not all about me all the time. Sometimes, instead of a personal story, I share little history lessons and tie them to something we’re all reading about in our news feeds. 

But it’s not all about the drama of our history. Sometimes, instead of a personal story or history lesson, I’ll just share a review of something—a book, TV show or movie—I’m loving or loathing. 

Every Friday, paid subscribers get my latest thoughts delivered to their inbox (check spam if you don’t see it there) while free subscribers get one monthly email plus previews of paid content.

Here are some things I’ve discussed: Carrie Bradshaw and Kamala Harris, Taylor Swift and Little Richard, the book Fried Green Tomatoes and the MAGA movement, Mammy and Tradwives, The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and the Jet Beauty of the Week, Donald Trump and 80s Primetime Dramas and Soap Operas. You see? It could be anything, but it always leads to interesting conversations. 

I’ll let Shel Silverstein’s words be my final invitation to you…

If you are a dreamer, come in
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
If you're a pretender, come sit by the fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!

I’ll meet you in the comments section.

Marcie ✌🏾