MADEXXX
moments. Some of her most
problematic experiences as
a widely heard/seen digital
voice settling into her new
platform of social media
activism inspired her new
book, “Well, That Escalat-
ed Quickly: Memoirs and
Mistakes of an Accidental
Activist.” The book chronicles
her journey, complete with
hits, misses, mistakes and
triumphs, serves as a blue-
print for dealing with social
media flubs and debates in
this particularly tense climate
we’ve all found ourselves in.
HOW
FRANCHESA
RAMSEY
Turned Her ‘Accidental
Activism’ Into a Digital Empire
made by Jasmine Browley
Franchesca “Chescaleigh” Ramsey didn’t
think she would have so many people care
about her opinion.
The successful multi-hyphenate (comedian,
digital activist, actress and content creator
and writer) admitted that she used to
regularly go toe-to-toe with her digital
antagonizers ever since her 2012 viral You-
Tube video “Sh*t White Girls Say … to Black
Girls” earned more than 12 million views.
Shortly after, she left her 9 to 5 as an Ann
Taylor graphic designer to propel her career
as a sociopolitical/pop culture pundit for
numerous gigs, including MTV’s “Decoded,”
and “The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore”
on Comedy Central.
On the outside, her story may look fairy tale,
but she said it wasn’t without its bumpy
made-magazine.com |
She sat with MADE to speak
about how she leveraged
some of her most frustrating
social media moments into
not only a book, but bonafied
respectable career.
MADE: Did you have an ‘aha’
moment that led you to writ-
ing this book or was it just
an organic mash-up of things
that you needed to get off
your chest?
Franchesca: We’re in a weird
space where everything
people say online can quickly
be taken to a place of no
return, which I’ve experienced
two-fold. and I’ve been on
both sides of that. I felt like
a book was a great place to
really dive into that in a way
that you just can’t dive into it
on YouTube or on Twitter. I
aimed to channel my experi-
ences, failings and learnings
into the book and position
as an opportunity to encour-
age young people to be real
about their mishaps, so they
won’t make them again, and
spread the word to those that
find themselves in a similar
position.
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