iElevate+ TV Set To Bring Black LGBTQ+ Content, Storytellers To A Global Audience
In between breaks on the red carpet at the July 1 launch party of iElevate+ TV, a new Black LGBTQ+ on-demand live streaming platform, CEO OC Allen III emphasized that the time is now for a digital space to center Black LGBTQ+ content and storytellers.
A throng of supporters filed into "Book Boutique," a new Black-owned bookstore inside Atlantic Station to celebrate the beginning of an exciting era in Black LGBTQ+ entrepreneurship and collaboration. The event preceded the holiday weekend sneak peek that gave viewers a glimpse of the content Allen and his team have curated over the last six months—setting the stage for underrepresented Black LGBTQ+ content to be seen on a global stage to an underserved audience.
“There aren't many platforms that we own and run in terms of Black LGBTQI folks having spaces and tables that belong to them,” says Allen.
“A lot of our stories are being told, but not enough,” he says. “And there are content creators that wouldn't get the opportunity to be on Netflix, right? So where do they go?”
Along with Allen, Onyx Keesha, VP of Content and Production, is betting on iElevate+ TV to become the go-to home for talented Black filmmakers who need not only a platform to showcase their work but also an artistic environment that nurtures their gift.
“We really want to push the content creator and the filmmaker, to be a space where not only they can see themselves, but where we also have resources and we enhance their skill set.”
“We really want to push the content creator and the filmmaker, to be a space where not only they can see themselves, but where we also have resources and we enhance their skill set,” says Keesha.
A focus on the storyteller is one facet of iElevate+ TV that Keesha and Allen believe will set them apart from the dozens of streaming services that are currently available.
“Content creators don't just need a place to let people hear their stories and their voices and experience their content, but there also needs to be a space where they are nurtured and developed,” says Allen.
Keesha expands on the idea in terms of iElevate+ TV as a space that welcomes the intersecting identities of Black LGBTQ+ people with bold and unique stories to tell.
“We don't have a place where we can be all of ourselves. We have to be segmented. We're not being segmented anymore,” she says. “We are going to be unapologetic and show up, not just in our sexuality or gender identity, but also in our Blackness. A lot of times in the media, when we see images of ourselves, they're not curated by us. They're not created by us and they don't tell the whole story of us.”
Keesha tells The Reckoning that the iElevate+ TV team currently comprises four executives and 17 team members that “do everything from executive assisting, to curating content, to editing, to writing, to our social media.” The team is planning a slow content rollout to start followed by the release of new shows every two weeks, with a push for new content in September, according to Keesha.
Sneak Peek
With new shows like “Supper Club ATL,” “With Intent: A Dating Experiment,” “Positive,” hosted by Alphonso Mills, who was last seen on The Reckoning in December 2020, and “The Coach’s Corner,” to name a few of the original programming that has been announced, iElevate+ TV is intentional about its programming reflecting the diversity that exists in the Black LGBTQ+ community.
Brandon Kennedy, and Antonio Driver, castmates of the upcoming love and relationship show “The Coach’s Corner” spoke to The Reckoning about having their popular Facebook Live show adapted for television on iElevate+ TV. J’ Lamar, who is also a castmate, arrived after our interview.
“They were really good about keeping some of the staple elements involved in it—taking our input about the topics we want to talk about so that we kept the same authenticity taking it over to iElevate+,” says Kennedy.
A mental health therapist, Kennedy joins Driver, Executive Director of Speak Out, a Black LGBTQ non-profit, and J’ Lamar, an Executive Matchmaker, as the outspoken hosts who offer their unfiltered perspective and advice on topics impacting Black LGBTQ+ people.
“We’ve gotta keep being innovative. It’s not just iElevate+ TV. It’s all the content creators, all the people that have platforms and will have platforms that matter. The time is always now.”
“We don't always agree on the same thing, but we all bring a different unique perspective,” says Kennedy. And even Antonio and I may agree about something, but then you still have those differences. "We want viewers to not only be able to relate to us, but know that there is no right way to have a perception or view about different topics,” he says.
“This is a show for singles, couples, people who are seeking to find themselves. There's something in it for everyone,” says Driver.
The hosts tell The Reckoning that “The Coach’s Corner” is slated to be released on August 1, with a strong possibility of an early sneak peek.
The launch of iElevate+TV is an ambitious undertaking, and with any potential success lies the possibility of repeating the failures of those who attempted to create a similar network in the past. But Allen and his team are not operating in fear, but in power and destiny.
“No matter who's tried it or how their journey was, we’ve got to keep pushing the envelope, we’ve got to keep telling our stories,” says Allen. “We’ve gotta keep being innovative. It's not just iElevate+ TV. It's all the content creators, all the people that have platforms and will have platforms that matter. The time is always now.”
Darian Aaron is Communications Director of CNP and Editor-At-Large of The Reckoning. He is also the creator of Living Out Loud 2.0 and a contributing writer for Edge Media Network. Darian is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.
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