We were lucky to catch up with Cy White recently and have shared our conversation below.
Cy, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
The simple answer? My father. My daddy’s been an educator my entire life, and his style of education was always about putting everything you have into the thing you love the most. For him, that was teaching (even when he moved into administration). For me, it’s writing, and more broadly the arts. I believe if something’s worth doing, particularly if it’s your passion, it’s worth doing with your entire being. Otherwise, why do it if you’re just going to do it half-ass? That’s not to say that it’s not exhausting to give your all, but if you have something burning inside you, even when you’re tired (and often without your consent), the spirit takes over and leads. If you have fire in you, the only way to quench it is to let it burn out. After all, as you exist you breathe, and oxygen only makes fire bigger. That all came from my daddy, who’s lived his entire life engulfed in passion, to this very day. He gave me passion for music, for writing, for learning, for life. In moments when I didn’t follow that passion, it didn’t feel right. Even more reason to give everything I have to it, since the spirit will take it anyway… HaHa.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
What I “do”: I’m a writer and editor by trade, photographer and bedroom producer by hobby.
What most excites me about all of that? I get to express myself in ways that talking just don’t cut it. I’ve never been freer than when I’m writing. Add music to the mix, and it’s like… I won’t say it’s like flying. Writing and editing keeps me grounded in reality, but it’s reality that only I can see and feel, especially when I have a soundtrack added to it. It’s like existing in a world of pure imagination (bonus points if you know where that comes from). It excites me because words excite me, because music excites me. Literally, it sparks my nerve endings and gets my synapses sparking. I really don’t have any control over it.
I haven’t built a “brand,” as such. I just live in my truth the very best I can, and often that means I’m writing or singing or producing. Giving my body something to do. With its limited capacity, trying to maximize on what has no limits. To get a little more grounded, what I’m working on now is a blog called MMMusic that lets me wax even more…more about the thing I love most (second only to my family). I have a list of my 100 Favorite Albums that I release every January (except last year, but we won’t talk about that…HaHa). This blog has spilled over into a podcast called, oh-so creatively, MMMusic Podcast, where I get to actually talk into the void about the stuff. Hey, I already talk to myself anyway. Maybe somebody will get something out of it if I talk into a microphone.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Reading, listening and empathy. As a journalist, those are really the best weapons in your arsenal. If you’re just starting out in our journey to being a journalist, of any kind, you MUST be willing to read and research, all the time. You must be willing to keep your mouth shut and your ears open. Above all else (in my humble opinion), you absolutely must have empathy for the people around you. Otherwise, you’re going to miss the human element of what it means to be a journalist.
A lot of journalists believe that the person they speak with is just a job, just another interview, perhaps an opportunity, but they often forget they’re just as human as everyone else. They’re imperfect, they’re passionate, they get lazy and apathetic, they get their feelings hurt, they have insecurities. They’re just trying to figure it all out like you and me. While it’s always important to seek truth, never jeopardize someone’s humanity for that. After all, and especially when they’re not particularly great people, dehumanizing them makes it seem like they’re above human consequences (good and bad). Words have a lot of power, but it’s action that turns that potential power into something concrete. Show empathy for the human you’re talking with so you can tell human stories honestly and without restriction.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
First of all, I loved all the questions I could choose from!
Okay, yes. I’m always in the mood for collaboration. Right now, I’m looking for Black, Brown and Indigenous folx who are tired of their work being rejected, tired of having no place to cultivate, nurture and elevate their ideas into something concrete and high-quality. I’m interested in collaborating with creatives who are open to the experience of elevation: working with others to make their work as close to their vision as possible, being able to collaborate with those who have years of experience in areas they might otherwise be lacking in, being brave enough to take constructive criticism and also having the balls to stand behind their work.
Tl; dr: I want to work with Black, Brown and Indigenous creatives who crave a community that helps everyone in it get their work to the next level.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.madasammmusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madasa_media/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camielewhite/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@madasamedia6288/videos
Image Credits
All photos by Cy White.