Is YouTube Noir a Cult?

I’ve been a creative for as long as I can remember. As a child I use to line my stuffed animals against my rainbow bright canopy bed and perform shows for them using my mother’s hairbrush as a microphone. I knew I wasn’t a singer but I did know I had the gift of making others feel good with laughter. 

As I grew older I discovered my love of the pen. In my teenage closet I would shut myself in and write with one light above my head. It was my way of closing the world off and giving everything I had towards the paper I used to express my thoughts. Through high school I became a radio personality and that continued through college.

I was the “Wendy Williams” of every school I attended. Except I had tact and no one mistook me for a man. In those sweet spots of my life I knew that I was supposed to be a creative.

I just didn’t understand how that would ultimately change my life. As an adult I have run a mildly successful entertainment blog that highlights pop culture and my personal lifestyle.

A year ago I decided to take these stories that were just written and bring them to life through YouTube. YouTube I discovered was very exciting. Being able to broadcast and upload content at will was pretty cool. Using your face to connect with others you’d otherwise never known. What an amazing concept right?

After being on YouTube seriously I realized that most of the popular YouTuber’s outside of Jackie Aina were white/asian. I couldn’t believe that as talented as our people are that no one was getting these major endorsements with the exception of white people and Asians. This isn’t fair as I believe there is a lane for everyone.

I went to bed that night thinking how can I help? I was taught that you complain about nothing you change it. So I stewed over it for days even nights.

Until one night I dreamed. In my dream I saw all my people celebrated for their natural hair videos, fashion, diy, commentary, and makeup etc. I was handing them awards one by one at a convention.

As we all smiled for pictures and the cameras flashed I arose from the bed screaming. My husband was startled as he workout to P90X asking me was I okay.

I assured him I was fine as I paced back and forth in excitement. I screamed to him I know how I can help. Then YouTube Noir was born. I reached out to my fellow Youtube sister Marra and the rest is history.

Since the launch of the community it has had some hurdles. We’ve had malicious content made about the community. We’ve had our integrity challenged and the saddest thing of it all is our own trying to take advantage of others by providing minimal effort towards the common goals.

In these moments it makes me sad. Sad that I’ve worked so hard for not just myself but for us all. The community has almost 300 members and we are growing strong.

A lot people who truly support understand the concept and know in the end it is beneficial. I’ve connected people who wouldn’t otherwise speak or know that the other was there.

YouTube Noir is based on just that building quality relationships. You can’t build relationships without support, attention, and detail. These are our core values that we enforce as a community.

Everything asked of you in YTN is something we should all be doing to grow our channels. If you aren’t subscribing, networking, while making quality relationships then you’re setting yourself up for failure.

No one on the YouTube network in general makes it alone or with a “me” attitude. YouTube Noir’s core values show a “we” core value. Which is what’s needed to succeed in any area of your life.

I’ve read that these things that my community requirements are “demanding” or “cultish”. The mere fact anyone would say what I was doing is cultish is laughable.

For the record I have never asked any member to drink the juice lol. As for the demanding part, sure I will wear that hat and proudly as I want my people to succeed. You can’t grow if you are standing still. The formula I have in place proves that.

All of our members from being in Noir for less than two months subscriber count and overall activity has risen by 80%.  Marra, Lovelyn, and I also run social media outlets like Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and we have a website in development for the benefit of our own. All these marketing/promotional resources are at no charge to our members.

YouTube Noir has also inspired members who have moved on to create their own groups to help their own individual niche. Isn’t that amazing?

We have helped a great deal of members reach their near future goals on YouTube and given them a new network to pull from for collaborations. The activities in our community not only enhance the overall experience but it creates better relationships for those involved. The bottom line is no one gets anywhere in life by being lazy or using a shortcut.

Creating a lane for my people is something to be proud of. I wear it as a badge of honor. I seen a problem, thought about it, and put it into action. I think we should all apply this very concept to our short-term and long-term goals. I will not stop working. I will not stop helping. I will not stop Noir. I can’t wait to give the gift that keeps on giving, success.

I love you for reading.

xoxo Jersey

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