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Black in Business
Highlight a Black creator or innovator, online or offline, who inspires you.
Prizes
- First place:
- $5,000
- Second place:
- $2,500
- Third place:
- $1,000
Matching grand prize donation to benefit Black Artists + Designers Guild.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jan 29, 2021
Submissions closed
Mar 12, 2021 5:59 AM CUT
Results
Mar 13, 2021
Prizes
- First place:
- $5,000
- Second place:
- $2,500
- Third place:
- $1,000
Matching grand prize donation to benefit Black Artists + Designers Guild.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jan 29, 2021
Submissions closed
Mar 12, 2021 5:59 AM CUT
Results
Mar 13, 2021
About this challenge
The lives we lead today would be considerably different without the contributions made by Black entrepreneurs, inventors, and creators. In recent years, the number of Black-owned businesses has risen dramatically, with Black women fueling much of that growth! Our world wouldn't function the same without Black engineering, philosophy, and discovery.
As we continue to battle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the significant effects of racism, it's imperative to recognize the tremendous impact Black innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs have across all different industries. This includes restaurant and small business owners, designers, photographers––you name it.
Let's continue to honor and acknowledge Black stories by shining a spotlight on influential Black entrepreneurs and creatives. Enter the Black in Business Challenge and highlight a Black creator or innovator, online or offline, that you admire and tell us why. This person who inspires you could be someone you know personally, the owner of your favorite local café, or even someone famous or historical that you admire. We can't wait to read your inspiring stories all month long.
"I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there, I was promoted to the washtub. From there, I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there, I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. I have built my own factory on my own ground." – Madam C.J. Walker, founder of the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until March 11, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 35 countries will not be eligible to win.
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Challenge resources
Summer Solstice Challenge Winners
‘Safety Net’, by Meredith Harmon, begins in a confiding tone. ‘What town?’ the tale asks. ‘We're an enclave. We're farmers. We till the soil like our forefathers, and our children's children's children will till it, till the end of time.’ There is a folkloric sensibility here, suited to the prompt, but also something contemporary and practical. This winning story of a community trying to protect and preserve itself has echoes of Shirley Jackson’s famous tale ‘The Lottery’, Meredith is a strong Vocal Creator with 225 stories to her name; and this is her second first place win of a challenge; huge congratulations.
By Vocal Curation Team9 days ago in Resources
Let's Talk About AI and Vocal Challenges
We might as well cut to the chase. Yes, we run every challenge entry through our AI detector; if we find an entry has been generated, it’s disqualified. As Justin Maury, Founder/CEO of Vocal has written, we use these detection systems because we know our readers enjoy authentic content; we also ask you to disclose when you’ve posted on the platform using AI assistance. But a different issue comes into play when we’re thinking about Challenges, and we believe it’s an important one.
By Vocal Curation Team11 days ago in Resources
Dialogue Poetry Challenge Winners
Hannah Moore is a first-time grand prize winner with her dialogue poem, On Receipt of Bad News. This was a poem that genuinely engaged both with the exchange of our prompt, but also focussed on the way poetic rhythms of language could support the writer's conceit. It felt very truthful, too, the way one speaker wishes to ignore the news and focus on practicalities; there was a quiet heartbreak, here. Well done.
By Vocal Curation Team16 days ago in Resources