The purpose of this community is to provide mentorship and resources for streamers of color of all kinds while also building a safe space for content creators to share their content and their stories. The focus here is not just on the stream or content directly but also on helping members to gain the knowledge, opportunities and the necessary skills needed to build their brand and become phenomenal content creators. We also hope to bridge the gap between the gaming industry and influencers to make sure that diverse representation is a bigger part of the industry we love. __________ ABOUT US: The Cookout was founded as black centered space that is also open to all People of Color as a safe space to connect, discuss various topics and create. We exist as a space for content creators and creatives who want to see more people like themselves represented. One of the common factors for our members was making a place lead by people of color, for people of color. This also includes making sure that the voices of LGBTQ+ and disabled members in our communities are heard as well. We hope that everyone enjoys the content and supports us in our mission. __________ BRIEF HISTORY: The Cookout was founded in May 2017. After the release of a #TwitchUnity campaign by the streaming platform, a Twitter user asked in response “Where were all the Black streamers on Twitch?” The question was asked sincerely and led to a thread with hundreds of Streamers of Color showing that we are out here. Eventually a discord was started and our community started to come together. We even planned a video in response to the original Twitter question which you can see below. Our first meetup occured at Twitchcon 2017 and was a great success. Now as we head into our 2nd year we aim to focus on providing resources for streamers of color while also showcasing how talented our current members are on Twitch, Mixer, and Youtube platforms.
