Savannah Walker

I contemplated opening with a deep quote on change, philosophy or happiness. That’s bullshit. Yea, I said it.

My name is Savannah Joy Mae Walker. In my name their is history, as word is a testament to a member in my family. I have been inspired by them and want inspire the world. Many people believe that changing the world require some cataclysmic or revolutionary event. Maybe, or it’s more like a ripple that causes a tsunami. That’s what Monarch Noir Industries is about. We cant to create waves of art, media, and literature that benefits the lives of some that will grow or empower those to do the same.

I am a queer African American woman. I graduated from Howard University with a degree in Media, Journalism and Film. I thought I was going to be delivering hard hitting news and making strides as an investigative journalist. That did not happen. I felt discouraged after the 2016 election and felt that the media had failed the public. Instead of being a checks and balances on the government, I felt that the media was being used as a tool for the very people it was supposed to be monitoring. No worries, eager to create social justice (and not just report on it) I decided to enter graduate school in hopes of obtaining my Master’s in Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Right now I am learning how to be an effective advocate for my community but I still want to empower those around me. Hence, Monarch Noir Industries. It started with my book Dear Child, People May Hate You. I know it’s not the most comforting title for a children’s book but I felt as if it was so necessary.

In August 2017, I sat glued to my television watching the devastation happening in Charlottesville. I watched as an emboldened people with tiki torches try to instill fear in a community trying to right a historic wrong. I saw men and women who I knew hated me, people who looked like me and identified with my story, hate me without even knowing who I was. Don’t get me wrong, I knew bigotry, prejudice, racism and all of the Earth’s most palpable sins existed but for some reason something clicked that day. I wanted to prepare my the kids around for this type of hate that they may be in store for. Thus, Dear Child was born.

It is my message to marginalized children everywhere that though hateful people exist, they can still thrive and accomplish anything they want. The book is only meant to present common stereotypes and combat them through encouragement and art.

That is the essence of Monarch Noir Industries. Encouragement and art, no matter what medium. We want to be the much needed platform for those who need it most. In doing so, we will create our own monarch. In an absolute monarch, power is unlimited.