Courtney Napier Founder of Black Oak Society is Every Woman

Courtney Napier wears many hats in today’s society. She is a wife, mother, writer, journalist, publisher, liberator practitioner, and the founder of Black Oak Society. Black Oak Society is a unifying force among Black creatives in the greater Raleigh area in a city that is filled with top tier colleges and exceptional studios. Courtney feels it’s time to build a community from whence artists, writers, journalists, photographers, fashion designers, etc. can support each other as they share impacting stories and build power to create a better city.

The Black Oak Society was inspired by Courtney’s experiences as being the only Black person in the newsroom hearing a lot of Black stories and Black history, she wanted to create a nurturing atmosphere for Black creatives and a space where Black people could tell their stories. “Oftentimes there are so few of us in the space that our collective voices are not as strong as it should be,” stated Courtney. She wanted to know what it would be like if she created a publication with all black and brown voices talking about things that matter to the black community, so she started Boss Magazine focusing on artists in the North Carolina area.

Courtney felt trapped in the newsroom not being able to voice her opinion on a lot of issues, especially things in the black community, so she decided to launch out on her own and left the newsroom behind. “First of all, I love art. The difficult thing about working there is I was a freelancer working with several different newsgroups writing investigative work; but I see writing as an art form, that was a really hard box to stuff myself in” said Courtney. She loved the stories she was writing and knew they were important; but, due to the rules of investigating reporting, you can only inject a little of yourself into it and Courtney was limited in what she could do or say in this arena.

Courtney loves telling stories shining light on the black community. Writing about social injustice and to uplift the black community to see ourselves in the fullness of what it means to be black. She realizes how important it is for us to embrace our blackness and share our gifts and talents with the world. She knows there are still many stories that have not been told yet. When Courtney is not writing she loves spending time with her family, reading, listening to music, and singing. She will continue to support the black community making sure our voices will never be silent. You can find out more about Courtney on her website www.blackoaksociety.com.

Written by; Gloria Peebles