Grey Matter Media

1 week ago | matternews.org | Andy Downing

Poetry has long been embedded in Kwame Alexander’s DNA, the author recalling how as a child his mother would read to him works by the likes of Lucille Clifton, Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni – a poet who later served as a sounding board, a mentor, and a friend for more than 37 years up until her death in December at age 81.

2 weeks ago | matternews.org | Mandy Shunnarah

For many workers, receiving an official pay stub from their employer – one with the employee’s name, net and gross wages, any tax deductions, the number of hours worked, and their hourly wage, in addition to the employer’s name and address – is such a basic expectation that they assume all workers receive a pay stub each pay period. However, prior to the passage of House Bill 106, alternately known as the Pay Stub Protection Act, this wasn’t always the case for the most vulnerable workers.

2 weeks ago | matternews.org | Andy Downing

Mags Chamberlain and Jenna Anderson created the production company waxpoet four years ago with the aim of highlighting the perspectives and experiences of the overlooked communities the two care about, including people of color, queer individuals, the disabled and more. “Really anything other than what is commonly seen on screen and behind the camera,” said Anderson, who joined Chamberlain for a late April interview.

2 weeks ago | matternews.org | Andy Downing

When Isaac Harris brought his car to a mechanic for repairs a few years back, a dusty photo of a jockey riding a horse displayed on the wall of the shop caught his eye. “And it just looked beautiful, and I was like, ‘Hey, where is that?’” said Harris, a photographer and Columbus native who for the last six years has made his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “And [the mechanic] was like, ‘Oh, that’s in Illinois.

2 weeks ago | matternews.org | Andy Downing

Julian Foglietti isn’t prone to half measures. When the Columbus expat, who relocated to Brooklyn, New York three or four years ago, first took up photography, for example, he got rid of all of his musical instruments, worried they might distract his attentions from the craft at hand. “I was like, ‘I’m going to do nothing but photography. I need to work with every magazine in the city. I need to get on every shoot I can,’’” said Foglietti, joined by Prince Shakur for a late April interview.