SACE Electrical Transportation Fairness Supervisor Madelyn Collins sat down with Derrick Whitfield Sr., the creator of the Electrical Black Futures (EBF) emblem, to debate his creative journey.
Madelyn Collins | September 27, 2024
| Electrical Black Futures, Georgia
Lately, I sat down with Derrick Whitfield Sr., the creator of the Electrical Black Futures (EBF) emblem, to debate how his creative journey impressed the creation of the enduring EBF gentle bulb—a strong image calling on Black communities to think about and implement their future in electrical mobility and transportation.
Think about this scene…
Generators spin, power shapes, and electrical present generates.
Electrical energy!
It vaults, it shakes, it strikes in conjunction to affix a circuit of exercise. The hype will increase because it chaotically transmits out of the substation and into the grid. Metal towers and contours heave as it really works to include the thrill of its motion. For miles and miles it strikes nearer and nearer, remodeling at each step, swap, and soar. Lastly, it arrives at its vacation spot and drops into the meter field then aspect steps right into a breaker field. It ends its efficiency by threading a wire that sweeps a beam of electrons over a display.
Flash. The TV illuminates a small face and an African masks. He grins extensive as he excitedly witnesses his favourite cartoon characters come to life beneath the wood body of a pair of tiny eyes and slanted mouth. A room designated for marvel, then 7-year-old Derrick Whitfield Sr., couldn’t take his eyes off the display as he watched the antics of Tom and Jerry playout. Little did he know that this electrical dance would come once more into his life years later as an concept.
Derrick Whitfield Sr. is the creator of the emblem of Electrical Black Futures (EBF). EBF is an thrilling initiative that goals to empower Black communities to form their electrical mobility future from ideation to implementation. Whitfield is among the many authors of a collective story creating in Georgia that envisions Black communities with a simply and clear e-mobility future.
I linked with Whitfield to have a dialog on Electrical Black Futures and to disclose how this energizing emblem got here to gentle.
(This interview has been edited and condensed.)
Inform me about your origin story. What led you to your profession path?
I grew up an artist.
My hometown is in San Diego, California, and I in all probability began drawing round 7 years previous. I used to be completely a 90s child. I grew up watching all of the Saturday morning cartoons… Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo, all of that stuff. I’d simply sit and draw.
My household was actually supportive of my creative journey. They despatched me to magnet college to specialise in drawing and STEM expertise. Then once I received older and joined the navy at 21, I needed to cease drawing. Whereas in service I traveled abroad and noticed fountains in Rome, the Colosseum, and different historic monuments that sort of stayed with me as an artist.
My spouse was later the one who was instrumental in getting me to go to school as an artist to pursue graphic design. I used to be gonna do one thing protected like human sources, however she noticed me draw, and mentioned,
“No. It’s good to go to high school for artwork.” And in order that’s what I did.
At 31 years previous, I went again to high school and received my bachelor’s diploma and commenced instructing center college. I selected graphic design as I’ve at all times gravitated in direction of creating on computer systems. I by no means actually favored coding, however I liked to sketch. Getting your concepts down rapidly on a pc is enjoyable. It’s what I made a decision to start out my enterprise in.
What led you to entrepreneurship? Why did you begin your personal enterprise?
My spouse once more was instrumental in serving to me acknowledge what I might promote as a graphic designer. Logos and t-shirts have been a few these product concepts. However I additionally began my very own enterprise as a result of I used to be by no means employed.
I utilized for a bunch of jobs in graphic design, however I used to be instructed my work was “too ethnic” or stuff like that. Truthfully, in case you have a look at the demographics, even right now in graphic design, African American graphic designers will not be employed. It’s round 3% or much less; there may be little Black management in design.
In order that’s why I began my enterprise. To get with different enterprise house owners the place I spoke their language.
You proudly proclaim your self as an Afrofuturist artist. Inform me the way you establish and observe as an Afrofuturist?
So, half of my household is from Southern California, whereas my in-laws are from Thibodaux, Louisiana. We’re a close-knit household, celebrating each conventional and African holidays collectively. Every time I go to my mother’s home or my aunts’ houses right now, I at all times see African masks. My Julia made positive we discovered about Kwanzaa, Afro-spiritual dances, and different Black traditions. My household taught me to not be ashamed of who you might be and that you simply’re simply pretty much as good as anyone else. So, I’ve at all times been happy with who I’m and that led me to be an Afrofuturist artist.
My observe of Afrofuturism is intuitive. Rising up and not using a father round, I used to be what you’d name a ‘latchkey child.’ At dwelling, I absorbed myself in cartoons, and as I received older, it was comedian books and Black tradition as an entire. I keep in mind watching Martin and seeing him put on garments that promoted Black faculties. I additionally learn loads of Black Panther comics and the books my household stored round. It was all about Black positivity.
One of many authors in our dwelling was Saki Mafundikwa, who wrote about African typography. Later, in school, I used to be reintroduced to his work via a TED Discuss, the place he shared a quote that inspired Black creatives to ‘cease wanting outdoors for inspiration when creating—look inside.’ In order that’s what I do, I look inside every part, together with how I grew up, and put it into my work.
Figuring out now the way you establish and observe as an Afrofuturist artist, how did this affect your creation of the Electrical Black Futures emblem?
The primary inspiration was the thought itself. Whenever you put a lightweight bulb up, most individuals affiliate that with an concept or a thought. The imaginative and prescient you shared aligned with mine. The concept of remodeling mobility and transportation inside the African American neighborhood, it’s a extremely revolutionary concept. Lots of our areas would not have mobility, particularly in city areas and internal cities. A mission like this speaks to me and the way I grew up as a younger Black child with imaginative concepts. That’s the reason the African masks is contained in the bulb.
I had felt just like the world was telling me via not being employed and never having sure alternatives, that I used to be not welcome. However I’m welcome. I used to be happy with making this emblem. And I felt prefer it was for a trigger. When our folks see this emblem, I need them to really feel like their imaginations and their creativity matter and to behave on them.
“I would love the folks in my neighborhood to have the ability to transfer safely. No matter technology-based bus, automobile, or scooter, I need them to be protected. Our communities deserve the very best similar to anyone else. I’ve a son and I even have a daughter who’s on the brink of graduate highschool. They must stay on this world. I’m not essentially previous, however I simply turned 40.”
How does the mission of Electrical Black Futures problem your personal future considering of transportation and mobility methods?
That I would love the folks in my neighborhood to have the ability to transfer safely. No matter technology-based bus, automobile, or scooter, I need them to be protected. Our communities deserve the very best similar to anyone else. I’ve a son and I even have a daughter who’s on the brink of graduate highschool. They must stay on this world. I’m not essentially previous, however I simply turned 40. My youngsters have much more life than I do. I need them to return up in a world the place local weather and security is taken care of.
We want one another and we now have to respect one another as a lot as doable, whether or not that’s in enterprise, in relationships, or friendships. In all of our dealings, we have to respect one another.
To be taught extra about Whitfield’s providers and comply with his tasks, you possibly can verify him out on the following areas:
Instagram @whitfielddesigns
Web site https://whitfielddesignsco.com
Storefront https://whitfielddesignsstore.com
Electrical Black Futures is a collaborative program between Southern Alliance for Clear Vitality, EVNoire, and Clear Cities Georgia, dedicated to invigorating e-mobility management and job alternatives in Black communities in Atlanta, Savannah, and Albany, Georgia. By centering communities’ information, imaginative and prescient, tradition, and creativeness, this mission goals to place extra Black palms on the helm of driving the route and crafting the electrical future. To be taught extra, go to the Electrical Black Futures web site, join e-mail updates, or e-mail information@electricblackfutures.org.
