Black Chicago's Cultural Impact | Arionne Nettles on Authentic Narratives

Arionne Nettles, journalist and author of "'We Are the Culture of Black Chicago's Influence on Everything' talks self-discovery, documentary storytelling, and turning cultural expertise into sustainable work. In this conversation with Amy Boyle, Arionne reveals how she pivoted from traditional journalism to building an author platform as a female entrepreneur and community changemaker. She discusses the growing power of audio reporting, mentoring the next generation of content creators, and the business of centering voices that shape culture—but are often left out of the narrative.

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Transcript

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Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (00:00.078)
Calling all storytellers and culture buffs, this is Speaking of Phenomenal, the podcast where we amplify voices shaping our world. I'm your host, Amy Boyle. Today we are joined by the inspiring Ariane Nettles, a celebrated journalist, professor, and author. Ariane has a knack for uncovering stories that deserve to be heard. Her book, We Are the Culture, Black Chicago's Influence on Everything, explores the profound impact Black Chicago has had on various cultural aspects.

Ever wonder how stories come to life? Want to understand the cultural forces that shape our world? This episode is bursting with inspiration and insights for aspiring authors and anyone who wants to appreciate the power of storytelling in our communities. Get ready to unleash your inner storyteller and learn from a master. This is the Speaking of Phenomenal podcast.

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (00:55.276)
Welcome to the Speaking of Phenomenal podcast, Ariane. I am so glad you're here. Thank you so much for having me. I can't wait for you to introduce yourself to the audience and the phenomenal you. Hi, I'm Ariane. I am a journalist and a lecturer. I love podcasts. I love audio. And I'm just a big fan of good storytelling. So I think that's a good summary of me.

Going back to your journalism roots and as they continue, where did your inspiration for storytelling come from? Well, actually, I think I always just really like to kind of do oral storytelling. I didn't really realize it, but when I was younger, I did a lot of like oratory contests. I used to memorize a lot of poetry. I would write some that kind of stuff. And so I think I always kind

like storytelling. did like to write also, but I never really thought of it as a career choice until I was like well into my 20s and working kind of operational roles, which can just feel very tedious. And I think I found comfort in telling stories and writing. And it made me say, you know what, I really would

love to do this all the time. Like how cool would this be if this could be my full -time job? And so I kind of made my hobby, my full -time job, which can sometimes be a rough transition because then you don't have a hobby anymore. But I guess stems from maybe just like a desire to like tell stories. Like I'm also that friend that's just like, let me tell you what just happened. and so I think that.

a desire to like kind of talk to people and say, okay, no, let's talk about this thing. I think it's like the main root of it all. That's awesome. I think back to being a kid and my dad was a physician, but when he used to do dictation, he had a little one of those little micro recorders and he would often wonder where in the world that thing went because I'd go run off to a room and record shows

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (03:17.026)
record my friends being goofy. I think looking back on it now, I'm like, okay. That's where maybe some of this came from. It's kind of an interesting thing that when you tap into something you've always wanted to do, how do you keep, like you said, it was a hobby or like a passion. So how do you keep that from being burnout, you know, now that it's a and all that. yeah. I burn out a lot. So.

honestly have not found the answer to that question. But I guess what I try to do is, if possible, is to do different types of things. So writing, for example, I used to work in Daily News. And Daily News is a grind. I'm not sure if I could ever go back to Daily News. I'm kind of like burnt out from that.

And that's also different from like magazine writing. It's different from podcasting. It's different from audio feature reporting. Like all these things are so different. And so I think I try to think of different ways to keep it balanced where maybe I'm not just doing one type of thing all the time and to see if that helps. Because I think that even, you know, I love audio, but after

done with a really long audio piece that I've been working on for months, I'm kind of like over it. I kind of don't want to see it for a while. And so like, you know, I think you can't have too much of a good thing for me at least. And so sometimes I need to like spread it out, try different things. And I think I'm still going to get burnt out, you know, I guess in that traditional sense of just, you know, doing a lot, cause it still work, but to try to maybe help balance the feelings around some of those things is

for me trying different types of things and maybe letting myself be a little bit more creative than I was sometimes allowed to be in my daily news days. with your background in teaching audio reporting for school, what are you seeing the new generation of reporters embracing, maybe bringing up that maybe we didn't see even two, three years ago? Where is

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (05:34.808)
podcasting and audio reporting going because it seems like it's clearly everywhere. One thing that I have seen is that I think that people are embracing different types of communication, right? Just in general. So like there was a story that came out, I want to say last week about people being burned out from screens. Now people are sending more voice notes. And so like even that is like an example people realizing maybe it's easier and better for me to send you a voice note to say, let me tell you what just happened. Then for me to type all these things out and for you to digest it. so I think that people are more open to different types of information. And because of that, people get news in different ways. They get entertainment in different ways. Right. And so, it's an opportunity for content creators. And I know.

Everybody doesn't like that word. but I use it cause it's just really general, right? Because a content creator could be a journalist who could not identify as a journalist. You could be, you know, back in the day, like, you know, people used to be, there was a lot of bloggers, right? You know, and so, or you could like, let's say you make video content for social. So it's like, you can, you can fall in a lot of areas and be quote unquote, like content, right? But I just say that to say that you're making type of thing that people are consuming, either for information or for entertainment. And it just kind of opens it up a lot. And I think that people are realizing that there's just a lot that you can do and that it's fun to experiment and try new things. And so I think it's exciting to just see people try and because there's a lot that I think we still don't have answers to. And so it's just fun to see people try it all

And for me, what I find is that listening is more intimate, right? It's like, literally you're putting on headphones and you're blocking out other things and that person is in, your head, you know, or you're, you're connected. And so it feels like in a place where maybe watching, screens can feel isolating or that whole FOMO thing, but audio is very personal. And I think that's a really neat.

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (08:00.014)
edition.

Yeah, yeah, can like share emotion in a way that you can't share in other things. It's a reason why people, you know, felt so close to like their DJ that was on their radio during their morning commute to work or school, right? Like that's your person. And of course there's other people listening to that person, but that's your person. And so there's just like a bit of a connection there and you don't have to be like looking at

edit like you do with TV, you can be doing other stuff, right? You can be kind of like living your life and doing other stuff, but that voice is kind of still with you. So tell me how you go from doing all of the teaching and inspiration for undergrad and graduate students, being a full -time mom, and then now author. So where, where a, where do you find the time?

And B, what was the driving force behind your book? Cause I can't wait to introduce that to the audience as well. So, I mostly wrote my book, at like 9 PM until like midnight, one o 'clock in the morning. so it's almost everything was written nights, some weekends, but mostly nights, because during the day I was teaching or running around or prepping for class or in class or doing whatever.

that was the only time I could find the time. That's the only time that the house would be quiet. My emails wouldn't be popping through. And I guess the thing is like, if you really want to do something, like you just find the time. It's never easy. some people have the benefit of like getting time off to write a book or, know, getting a reduction in classes that they have to teach. did not get that. and so that was the, that's just what I did. I wrote it all at night.

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (09:54.97)
And I mean, I think initially I was thinking about it as just part of, know, when you're academic, people care about like, what book are you going to write? Like, you know, like what's going to be your contribution? But I think that as I started to write it, it became something that I cared more about. So the idea that I was writing this nonfiction thing, it was like a newer thing for me. But I ended up enjoying it and I ended

feeling really connected to it in a way that I may not have expected, but it wasn't planned in that traditional way where people were like, I always wanted to write this. Like I didn't. But it felt right once I started working on it. Well, we have to formally introduce the which is we are the culture of Black Chicago's influence on everything. there is a lot.

to uncover there. feels like it should be a multi -volume book, perhaps. that something that kind of that's for those who aren't familiar with the book, that's kind of go back to the beginning of what it's all about. you know, how do you how do you cull? Where do you? So it's not a multi -volume. It's a one of one. But it is kind of it hops around and it tells.

how Black Chicagoans kind of made this really important mark in different parts of culture, like fashion and beauty and sports and media entertainment and music and, you know, all of these things. It could absolutely be a multi -volume thing, but I'm gonna just open that up for somebody else to come on in and write their own volumes.

There's so much to be said that there's no way one book could encompass it all. But I was just hoping that it could kind of be like a starting point for conversations. What story in particular out of the book really is like, it's like picking your favorite child, right? Like, is there an area or a topic or something that you didn't know about Chicago and black history that you were like, wow, I can't wait

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (12:18.678)
no more or to share this with the world? Or was every part like that for you? I won't say that every part was like that. There were definitely parts I knew more about. So like, for example, I already knew a lot about the media section. but that's because I work in media, right? So I knew a lot of the history behind like news and media and stuff. But even there,

learned more stuff. like, for example, I knew about Johnson Publishing Company, you know, the makers of Ebony and Jet, but I really learned more about Negro Digest, which was actually John Johnson's first publication. I learned more about Johnson Publishing, like, worldwide reach. didn't, I don't think I really realized how worldwide it was.

so even the things that I thought I knew a lot about, there was still so much to learn. and even since turning in that first draft, there's so much that I know now even about the things that are in the book that I have so much that's not in the book, but it's, but it's all in my brain because you're just learning more and more and more, right? It just cannot fit in there. So,

I think that it just, it maybe helped me look at things, right? Like I notice things, I notice more things, I appreciate more things. And so I'm like, for me, I guess that was the point, right? Like I want, I want to be able to see and view and appreciate more things and get details on and understand the magnitude of what they meant to the

Well, bringing it closer to home, your grandparents are a big portion of this story. Can you share that little anecdote with our listeners as well? Yeah. So my grandparents here in Chicago, they were each from Mississippi, but they met here in Chicago and they had a blues club and a label.

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (14:35.564)
where they recorded a lot of blues artists. And of course I have a chapter on blues. And so I kind of incorporated some of them in the essay before going into that chapter. And so just, you know, really thinking about a lot of the kind of, I don't want say like mom and pop shops of.

industry, like, you know, when you think about music industries, a lot of you think about these really big, huge labels, but there are also so many of these like all smaller kind of independent labels that were just like helping the industry like run and turn, you know, like if you are on tour, being able to come to Chicago and stop at all these types of places, all these clubs and you know, have people come and spend money.

Like that's a part of like this economic engine that's making Chicago be a destination and helping build and grow like this more urban type of blues in the music industry. And so it was just really interesting just kind of thinking deeper about how that all works together.

And then as far as the book and sharing the message outside of Chicago, how is that being received is because I don't know. think that sometimes a new, every big city has its wrap, right? Chicago is this, and this is book. They, Chicago is way more than this. Most of my connections, of course, have been in Chicago. So most of the readers who I've talked to have been in Chicago, but I have done some.

national interviews and of course talk to some people who live other places and I think that because the book is really framed as Chicago is like this heart of all these things but its goal is to show how they're connected right it's how to show how like look at how cool all of these things are because they work together they were built together

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (16:50.718)
and I'm not like talking down about other people's places. it's, it's been all love from other people who are not from Chicago. Right. so for example, you know, when we talk about the blues, just, you know, going back to that example, what blues did not start in Chicago. Right. So I'm acknowledging that I'm saying that there were people who are bringing up this kind of Mississippi, this Delta style

blues, right? They were the originators and then they're bringing it to the very same people though. A lot of those people are moving to Chicago. When they move with them, they're bringing the blues with them and then they're creating a more modern sound, right? And that sound is close to the sound that we talk about today, right? With like more of like the guitar sound and like it's like modernized for like an urban city. so, but because I'm still giving

do to like places like Mississippi and other influences and like showing how they're connected. think that, that is important to do. And I think that that is perhaps why it's not a Chicago is great. Forget everybody else. It's more so like Chicago is great. You should like Chicago no matter where you're from. You should be proud of where you're from and you should also love Chicago. Let me show you how all of these places are great.

I've actually gotten a lot of really good feedback from people who are not in Chicago. So that's really comforting too. I really mostly care about Chicagoans though. know, like I, kind of felt like, you know, if other people don't understand it, that's okay. As long as Chicagoans understand it. but with that said, it does still feel good for other people to get it and be interested in it too. definitely. And I would think that anytime we can share.

know, whether it's like the love letter or, you know, bringing awareness to things that, you didn't know necessarily when you started writing the book either, just to a broader audience so that there's a greater understanding of community and connection and culture and arts and food and all the things that sometimes if we're just passing by or we only stay in our neighborhood, we don't realize. And there's so much more to share.

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (19:16.322)
When it comes to that, what would you say was your, to quote Oprah, your biggest aha in something that you didn't know? Yeah, right? Speaking of being into Yes, yes. Speaking of Oprah, my biggest aha. I think that is maybe the blind side of writing a book is that you are going to be pushed towards.

the things that are not your biggest aha maybe, you know, like you're gonna kind of be pushed towards the things you know most about. So I will say that this book is probably like a collection of the things I knew the most about. But maybe certain things were like a aha as I was reporting them and as I thought more about them. Like I have a section about the socks hat and of the white socks.

when I say socks hat. And I talked to Shakia, who is an amazing, she's actually now an editor, sports editor at the Tribune. And before that, she had already written this amazing piece about the history of the white socks hat. And one thing that like, you know, I guess it's like you are in it, but you're like missing the context, even as you experience it. So one thing I just, I guess I didn't really realize was

influential the White Sox had become in hip hop culture across the country because it was like these neutral colors of black and white, right? And so that was one of those things where I was like, aha, like it makes so much sense as Shakia is explaining it. So that was also really important to me is that like for stuff like that, I kind of like reached out to a lot of amazing journalist friends.

who knew more about some stuff than I do. And so I reached out to them, like, me talk to all these amazing journalists. Often, most of the people I interview live in Chicago or have ties to Chicago or from Chicago. Even if they don't live there now, they might be from Chicago. And so I have access to all these amazing people. Let me talk to them and get their opinions in all these different amazing areas.

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (21:36.088)
So I actually did have a lot of probably moments like that where maybe I knew something was influential and I knew I wanted to talk about it. But as I'm talking about it, you know, somebody says something and I'm like, aha, like that's an aha moment where it's making so much sense. And maybe I just, you know, had never tied the popularity of something. So even something so simple. So I had a lot of moments like that.

Yeah, I would think full circle on certain things once you start to dig just becomes clear, right? Switching gears slightly, but keeping it on the book topic. You know, a lot of my listeners may have, I've had, guess on who've written books and have guests on who I know want to write books. When it comes to advice now as this author that you are, what would you tell yourself?

prior to starting, knowing what you know now. I guess I would say start early and just write. have, sometimes, and I don't know if everybody's like that, but it was a lot harder because I started so late. And sometimes you will feel like, I don't have the perfect writing conditions. I'll just do more tomorrow or whatever, and then I'll just do more the next day.

And really, even if you can just write just a little bit each day, it just makes it so much better. Really looking at it as like a big thing that you can tackle a little by little is just really a good way to think about it. And you're going to have to edit a lot of it anyway, so just get it down on paper. But until you get it down, you know, and so I would go back and

and stress myself out about a lot of things that I would end up changing. You know, me and my editor might end up changing all of this anyways, right? So just get it down. Don't, don't stress so much about what's supposed to be perfect early on, you know, because you're going to have a lot of edits. So maybe if you really are struggling with something, maybe make a note of it, you know, have like a running doc with questions on the side or something.

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (23:48.782)
that you may want to come back to at the end, but just get it down. And I think I wasted a lot of time trying to hope stuff was going to be perfect and your draft is not going to be perfect. It's just way too long. You just have to get it down. Yeah, that makes perfect sense because I think it's easier in a way to give ourselves an out, right? To say, well, these conditions were met. Maybe

kick the can kind of thing. Maybe I've been guilty of that. I don't know. Just one of those things. when you can surrender to the imperfect, I feel like there's some really amazing stuff that can come out of us when the boundaries are off a little bit with the pressure. absolutely. And if you have an editor that you can trust, they're not going to lead you astray. They're not going to have you out there looking bad because that'll make them look bad. So they're going to make sure.

that throughout every edit that it gets better. So you don't have to stress about that. You just do your job, but you have to do that. So they have something to work with. When it comes to the promotion, I was a lot of the things I've talked with other people about authors and aspiring authors is that that is part of the job that they didn't expect was on them as much. How do you prepare for

putting yourself, not only giving birth to the book, but then putting it out there, promoting it and still loving it as much as you did when you wrote it. Yeah. I don't know if you can prepare for the promotion, but I guess I would just say go all out on it and not wait for other people to do it. Like I took a lot of big swings and made a lot of risks. and I just had to say, I don't care if people say, she's doing too much.

This is my first book. What if it's my only book? I mean, now I have another book deal, but like before that, I was just like, I don't even know if I'll ever have another book again, but I know I'll never have a first book again. And so it's really important that I just put everything I have out there on the table. So, you know, I hired videographer, and I say, have an idea. I think I'm going to try this. And she's like, okay, cool. Right. Let's try it.

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (26:08.866)
I want to do videos for XYZ. Okay, let's try it. I think I want to do a photo shoot in a classroom because I'm a professor and I'm teaching about Black Chicago. Boom, let's do it. Right? And so I just had ideas and I just ran with them. And I wasn't afraid for people to say, well, who does she think she is? And it's like, I know who I am. Right? So you have to kind of like really maybe lean into your confidence, lean into your own ideas and just do it. And

Nobody else was paying for any of that. Nobody else was really supporting that, you know, so you just have to do it, but it made people look and that made me have more press coverage than I probably would have. And then press coverage is a snowball because other people will see you on other outlets and then they'll reach out. And so you just got to rely on yourself. So, so much of that press coverage, got all on my own. So you just got to really.

believe in yourself and what you're doing. And that's hard for people. But I just could not not do it, if that makes sense. Like, no, I'm not a model, but I want my hair to look like this, and I want to dress like this, and I want to look like this, hold in my book. And I'm going to look very good in these photos, hold in my book. You know, so you just have to, you have to just let all of that go and just go for it and just really don't care, like just

totally ignore what anybody else could say. But I'm not sure if you could prepare for it only because until it was time to promote, I don't know if I had those ideas. Like I just knew I wanted to do something. Like for example, I was like, know I'm gonna use last TikTok, so I need video content, but I don't know what those videos are gonna be. And it took a while for those ideas to

feel natural and come to me. but I was just willing to do it. So I just knew I was open and I was willing. Well, I love the TikTok series with the days leading up to the launch and dropping a nugget of information that, you know, tease people's interests, but also engage with you. So that was very, very, very well done. Thank you. I think more people need to lean into the

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (28:35.954)
Like you said, not who do she think she is kind of thing, but like we do need to be our own hype girl, our own hype person. If it doesn't come from there, then where's the passion behind the project? Exactly. Nobody is ever going to hype you up like you hype yourself up. Like nobody else. Like your publisher isn't like no other. mean, and even people like, and I don't, you could even hire a marketing company, but what if they don't have

the ideas that you have. Like I am always gonna have the best ideas. I am my best marketer and I know that. So I think you have to really believe that about yourself. And even little stuff like, know, like I order some like cool bags that when I like am with somebody and I like give them a bag, I like put it in this little

cool gift bag that has like an image from the cover on it. And it's like, that was all me, right? And it's not even anything that was like super big, but it's like when I give it to people, they're like, wow, look at this bag. So it's just whatever it is that feels natural to you that is gonna make you feel like you're doing something good. Like you just have to lean into the ideas that you have.

But I also say that because like ideas would pop up as I'm doing stuff like it wasn't a prepared plan where I was like This is what I'm gonna do nine months out. This is what I'm gonna do six months out It was just that as I would do stuff. I'm like, hmm. I want a special bag Let me think about what kind of bag I can give You know, so I would just think of new things And then I would just like, you

start to kind of like roll them out. And so I think just not being afraid to just try some stuff. And even if you don't have the money to spend on it, right? I wanted to like, you know, hire a radiographer, I hired a whatever, right? Technically, I could have done those videos just with me and my phone. So if you just really want to do

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (30:51.864)
There are people who make TikToks and social media videos every day and they just use their phone or their computer or whatever they have. So it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't live in a society now that expects perfection. They just want it to be good content. So if you got good content, people are gonna share it. People will literally be over like the green screen of like, you know, they'll have like the screenshots in the back and they'll use the green screen function on TikTok and they're just like pointing in the back, you know? So it's like,

It does not have to be fancy. doesn't even have to use any tools outside of the free tools that are available for you. That is totally fine, right? It's just, you know, I'm a journalist, so I like lean into stuff. She would record me and then I would do some like editing on my end. But that's because I know how to edit, right? If I didn't know how to edit, I wouldn't do all that. So, you know, you just, you do what you know how to do and what is at your fingertips. And so...

just not being afraid for people to say who does she think she is, I think is the key there because I think I could have easily and maybe even, you know, if I was not in a place where I felt as confident in my own abilities, maybe I would also, you know, be a little nervous because people might say, who's she got? She's coming out with another video? Like, what's this video of her slow -mo walking and holding the, you know, like it's easy to feel, you

Is this too much? Right. And it's probably never too much because whatever can grab people's attention, just try it. and they're on for so many limited seconds on our pages. Right. So if we catch them once, we're lucky. If we catch them a second time, that's amazing. If it's anything beyond that to where it would get to be annoying or too much, it's kind of rare because there's such a fickle, scrolly society anymore. Exactly. Exactly.

Yeah, I have a video pinned to the top of my Twitter profile and people who follow me, they are still like, you know how you'll see when somebody likes or retweets a video or a post? There's people who I might talk to every day and I know we follow each other, but they're just now seeing that pinned at the top of my profile, right? Because they didn't see it the first time. So people just don't see everything you post already. So that's why the repetition of it.

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (33:17.844)
is important. And honestly, if somebody is upset that they have to see all these posts, then they should just unfollow you anyways. You know, I just like that's that's totally fine. But the people who you want to be in your, you know, kind of in your circle, or in your social media sphere.

they won't be bothered by this because they're actually interested or they'll just keep scrolling if they think they've seen it already. Definitely. Well, you these tips are so important. And I think to your point about just putting out like the ideas to promote and then how it wasn't necessarily a plan, but then once you start thinking about an idea, then you're like, but then I could do that. That happens to me all the time. I was like,

ideas will just popcorn up and you're like, there's so many things. So I think those are some really great tips. It's certainly your first book, embrace the heck out of that and more people should celebrate these things. Yeah. And I know that if I never promote anything else, I know that I went really hard with this and that I did the most I could do.

I just knew that even if I didn't sell that many books, I knew that I did the best I could and that I did a good job. So I think you just got to feel good about that. Well, there's so much more we could talk about, but I would love to have you give all the places where people can find you and the book, obviously, and to inquire more. So fire away.

Yes, so the book is pretty much available anywhere that you can buy books. It's available on its hardcover and Kindle. And you can find me on Instagram or Twitter at arianne .nettles or on my website at arianne .com. Excellent. And by the way, did you do your own audio book? I didn't. They did not hire or

Amy Boyle (amyboylephoto) (35:26.144)
order a audiobook. So hopefully, maybe if enough people ask for it, the publisher will order an audiobook, but they determine the formats. And so, so far it's just Kindle and, and the traditional hardcover. But you know, you never know. Well, you heard it here audience. Chime in because Ariane's a

professional in audio and it would only make sense that this book was read by the author. So I would love that.

Well, I can't thank you enough for sharing time with us today. And I hope we introduce people outside of Chicago to even more amazing things that Chicago is and to the phenomenal you and keep on doing everything you are doing. And I'm so grateful to know you. Thank you. I'm grateful to know you. Thank you for having me. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Speaking of Phenomenal. Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, and even share the podcast.

as well as stay tuned for more inspiring conversations. Remember, each and every one of you is capable of extraordinary things. Until next time, take care and remember, you are phenomenal.