Samantha Scott
Samantha Scott, Tina Rudasingwa, Malcolm-Aimé Musoni, Crwpitman
You are someone I admire a lot because of your integrity and the work you do professionally. How do you maintain your integrity and morals when everything is for sale? Everyone has a fucking price, essentially, you know?
Samantha Scott: At this point in my career, I’m becoming more clear about what I want and how that aligns with my values. I’m not trying to climb the corporate ladder. It’s exhausting to watch the people who pretend that their individual success, often at the expense of others, is a win for Black people as a whole — or maybe they believe it? I don’t know. The goal for me is not a particular title or to wield power over others; I want to do stuff that’s thoughtful, challenging, and fun.
Professionally, 2020 was a movie, and by that, I mean a horror film. So many people used George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent uprisings as a resume builder, and we were all supposed to go along with it or, even worse, celebrate and participate. And for what? Two years later, the DEI initiatives have been rolled back, if they even launched, to begin with. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but it still makes me irrationally angry…like how fucking dare you? In many ways, I’m just trying to do my job and go; I’m no longer going out of my way to make friends or participate in workplace extracurriculars. But I am interested in working collectively to create healthy, safe environments where we all have the resources to thrive.
I’m very interested in how you approach your own social media as someone who has worked in it. There’s a lot of oversharing that people do in a way that feels like the goal is to help further their “brand.” Is that a conscious decision not to approach your own social media that way? Keeping many things for yourself and not for the internet.
My therapist is going to love this. In general, I’m not particularly good at being vulnerable, so why would I do it in a fake way for social media? I just don’t see the value. I am extremely online, but I don’t feel required to divulge things about my life, so people feel connected to me. I had to decide, “Do I want to be a public figure? If so, what type of public figure do I want to be? Do I want to be a sentient meme account? Do I want to be the person that’s divulging all of the bullshit happening in my life as hashtag truth and spinning that into a book deal or something?” And I was like, “Well, actually, I just want to be myself.”
You worked at Teen Vogue as a social media manager and crafted their social voice, right?
I mean…not no.
What went into that?
I always hate this question because I feel like people expect a really thorough answer. Like yes, of course, I developed a deep understanding of the Teen Vogue audience, the subjects we wrote about, and how they related to the larger fashion/beauty/pop culture/political landscape, but when it comes down to it, it’s vibes. And either you have them, or you don’t!
You decided to stop working in social media. What prompted that decision, and would you ever go back to that world?
No, I’m done. I’m all set. I’m good. Since 2018, I knew I needed to skedaddle. It took four years to actually make it happen. It’s a process! 2020 was really long and exhausting, and I was like, “Oh, I can’t do this anymore.” The expectation to always be on and subjected to white supremacists and stans with no real path for growth in the middle of a pandemic? No, thank you! I thought leaving media was the answer. I was wrong! After being let go from a role at the end of last year, I took a 6-month break, and I learned to fucking rest — shoutout to savings, unemployment, and a high credit card limit. So I think that was the point when I was finally like, “Oh, I can’t do this anymore because it’s affecting my mental and physical health, and I also don’t want to make TikToks.”
Black people, we are the originators of culture. There’s a reason why these companies look for Black people to run their social media pages. Is there any advice that you could give to anyone who reads this and wants to work in social media?
You have to learn how to protect your space and protect your peace. If they say it’s 9-5 or 10-6…it’s 9-5 or 10-6. Log off! Yes, there are special circumstances, a launch or an event, and you have to work outside of normal business hours, but you should be compensated accordingly. Creating and maintaining those boundaries is key. Look for teams that are really built out. You don’t want to be the one person running around doing every single thing and touching every single platform. If the resources aren’t there, it’s going to be crazy. If you can, join a union. If they don’t have one, create one.
Samantha Scott, Tina Rudasingwa, Malcolm-Aimé Musoni
You work at Bustle now and curate the Amplifying Our Voices newsletter. Can you talk about that?
Yes! Amplifying Our Voices is one of three newsletters I write, edit, and produce at BDG. It’s a cross-brand curation of Black stories. We launched back in June. Every week I pull 10 fashion, beauty, and culture pieces, and at the end, there’s a section called ‘Before You (Let) Go’ where I share what else I’ve been reading on the internet. I’m happy to be working at a slower pace and doing a bit of writing.
I asked Melvin a similar question, how do you feel about the role of the Black critic in media right now? So many publications don’t have many Black critics on staff.
That’s not something I think about a lot, “the role of the Black critic.” Or at least not in those terms. There are Black writers and cultural workers, including critics, who I admire: Angelica Jade Bastién, Lauren Michele Jackson, Brittany Luse, Shamira Ibrahim, Hunter Harris, Tayler Montague, and Clarissa Brooks are a few who immediately come to mind. Thinking more big-picture: there are fewer and fewer full-time staff roles to go around, and often the people getting them are not Black. Lots of publications are more invested in maintaining relationships with brands and celebrities than actual critique. P.S. sometimes a one-off tweet does more than one to ten thousand words ever could.
Representation bullshit aside, I don’t want Black people to be anywhere they will be abused, mistreated, and not given what they deserve. If that means we don’t see any Black people at those kinds of publications...I would rather that than have Black people work at these places where they’re dealing with microaggressions every day. All for what? So we can say Black people work at so-and-so’s publication?
Right! It’s hard to move with integrity because 1) Sometimes the prestige seems worth it, 2) There are folks who want to be the one and only, and 3) You gotta pay the bills. But, here’s the thing Black people, and everybody actually, I just want us to all be more honest. Like you don’t have to wrap up your wanting to get a bag in radical language. Just be honest. All these girls reading All About Love and then your politics are still shit.
You are a fashion girl. You keep up. Wh-
I would describe myself more as a style girlie than a fashion girlie.
What’s the difference?
I mean, I’m just not interested in capital-F “fashion” as an industry and an ecosystem. I don’t care about Fashion Week. I’m more interested in the anatomy of an outfit, colors, and shapes, how people put their outfits together, how we understand silhouettes, how things look and feel on the body, and how they move. I think that’s also why I’ve gotten more interested in interior decorating. It would be cool to style other people, not professionally, but like my friends.
What does the future hold?
I don’t know. And I think that’s the exciting part! I’m just vibing, okay? I’m looking toward a future where I can tend to the people and things that I love. I’d like to go to library school and also go on tour as a background singer. I want to have a baby one day. I want Sage to learn how to whisper; that’s what we’re working on right now. She’s not particularly interested, but she’s trying.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Download issue 7 of Blacks Rule as a PDF for free here and buy a physical copy here.