The TRiiBE announces West Side studio

A version of this Publisher’s Note was sent out to our TRiiBE newsletter subscribers this afternoon.

Hey family,

The TRiiBE has finally reached the point where we are embracing a future that we always knew was ours. When we launched in 2017, our editor-in-chief Tiffany Walden and I sought to bring to life a publication and production company, merging her journalism experience with my film background.

Our decision to build the newsroom first came out of an urgency to help reshape and expand the narratives offered to the public about Black Chicagoans, our culture and our liberation struggle. I naively thought that building thetriibe.com would take three years tops, but wow, was I wrong. 

Looking back on the past eight years, building a newsroom has been one of the most challenging — but meaningful — experiments we’ve ever taken on.

Now that we have found our editorial voice, and our newsroom has a strong foundation to build on, we are ready for the next phase.

Those of you who have heard me speak know that I insist on calling myself a filmmaker rather than a journalist. It’s the part of my identity that I’ve worried would get lost in my work as publisher of The TRiiBE. While I’ve put my film dreams on hold for longer than expected, now feels like the time to embrace a truer representation of myself.

Starting today, right now, The TRiiBE is a newsroom and production studio. Making this dream a reality took a leap of faith, specifically in the form of a 2,200-square-foot studio in East Garfield Park.

We’re excited to put down roots on Chicago’s West Side, and we plan to pour into the community and truly make our presence felt. The space will be a community hub for artist development as well as film and podcast production.

This is The TRiiBE’s first office space and it took a lot to get here. We’ve operated from our individual apartments, co-working spaces, a music studio, Free Spirit Media’s former office in the old Sears Tower building (a.k.a. Nichols Tower), and most recently Chicago Beyond’s office in the West Loop. 

I’m immensely grateful to everyone who has hosted this team. You will forever be a part of our story. I also want to thank my team for showing up to do this work, joyfully and thoughtfully, without even having their own desks. 

The TRiiBE has only made it this far because of community and we need you now more than ever. 

Here’s how you can support us and our new studio: