Innovation Issue MADE Magazine | Page 44

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. 44