April Silver Readies “I’ve Got Life” Anthology Series

2015 will be a year of new projects for many. As people on the scene become established, they will spring forth with new materials to inspire those around them. One such person is April R. Silver. Through her company Akila Worksongs, April has had an impact on public relations and communications for over 20 years. Her latest work is “I’ve Got Life!” an anthology featuring activists, writers, and other artists thoughts on arts and activism. Polite On Society reached out to April, and we are sharing what we learned with you today.

April R.Silver: It was two things really: I discovered how much I love editing when I did “Be a Father to Your Child: Real Talk from Black Men on Family, Love, and Fatherhood” back in 2008. One of the greatest experiences of my writing life. After that, I knew I wanted to edit an anthology focused on women. The other inspiration for “I’ve Got Life!” was my own need to be encouraged and inspired. My agency turned 20 in 2013. My social justice work is older than that. I know I’m fulfilling my destiny by doing this work, but 2012 – 2014 were particularly hard years. I did a lot of soul-searching during that time and also discovered that my women friends were having similar experience in life and at work. But none of us ever came to the conclusion that we should abandon our paths, our calling (though we may have thought about it seriously). This anthology series is a tribute to perseverance.

POS: Those of us who have heard of you are familiar with your previous work, “Be a Father To Your Child” How is “I’ve got Life” different from that project?

ARS: “Be a Father” was mostly essays. I was editing written work by men of varying writing skills. One contributor said he hadn’t written an essay since he graduated high school! That was Dion Chavis and his essay was one of the ones that required the LEAST amount of editing, ironically. I knew then that my least favorite part of being an editor was chasing writers and getting them to stick to a deadline. OMG! I hated that part. That’s absolutely the main reason why I decided to make “I’ve Got Life!” a collection of transcribed interviews (mostly). I wasn’t going to go through “the case” again. Also, I read “Black Women Writers at Work” (edited by Claudia Tate) when I was a student at Howard University. I loved the book, was immensely inspired by it, never forgot it, and wanted to follow Dr. Tate’s approach.

POS: How were you able to bring together so many influential women for this anthology?

ARS: I’ve been an activist all my adult life. I’m 46. And my agency will be 22 in April this year. I know these women from my years as a student activist at Howard, have met others in my grassroots organizing over the years, and many of them are or have been on the client roster at AKILA WORKSONGS. I’m the type of person who tends to have – for the most part – healthy, mutually respectful relationships with people once we fully connect. I am completely humbled and highly honored by the fact that every women I asked to be a part of this said yes. I got enthusiastic “yes’s” from the women. That made me know that I was on the right path!

POS: Will there be a launch event around the anthology? If so, when?

ARS:Yes! I don’t have details yet but I know that it will be this summer and the first one will be in New York! The wonderful musician (vocalist, composer, and songwriter) Maritri has already reached out to me to donate her time. It’s going to be huge…mark my words 🙂

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I’d like to thank April Silver for taking the time to speak with us. To learn more about the the campaign for I’ve Got Life, visit the Indiegogo page

April can be reached on Twitter: @aprilRsilver