Extraordinary Women Making History: Eunique Jones Gibson (of Because of Them We Can)

Today's Extraordinary Woman describes herself as a "creative powerhouse for good." Chocolate enthusiast, Blackness advocate, speaker, and creative director Eunique Jones Gibson works to promote the beauty, accomplishments, potential, and greatness of Black folks from the past and future. As founder of the multimedia campaign Because of Them We Can, Gibson aims to "share our rich history and promising future through images that would refute stereotypes and build the esteem of our children." 

The initiative began as a way to inspire her sons and provide a counter-narrative to the endless outpouring of demeaning, traumatizing, unflattering portrayals of Black folks in the media.

This year, she launched Dream Village in Hyattsville, Maryland to allow creators and innovators to a space to connect with other winners and thrive in a welcoming, nourishing environment.

Eunique at Dream Village (photo: Black Enterprise)

On what she envisions for her newest venture, she told Blavity:

"I hope Dream Village will provide a space where we can see a visual representation of our connection to one another and our ability to accomplish more, together. I believe that it will bring a network of people, resources and experiences that will help us grow and thrive individually and collectively. More than a co-working or shared working space. It’s about creating spaces where we can build and help one another launch ideas and dreams because we understand the impact our success can have on our community. And the plan is to have these all over."

For more from Eunique, check out Dream Village, follow her on Twitter, or get into Because of Them We Can here.

Extraordinary Women Making History: Filmmaker Ava DuVernay is making magic on- and off-screen

In a former life, Madame Ava DuVernay helped projects like Spy Kids and Dreamgirls shine as a publicist via her public relations firm The DuVernay Agency before picking up a camera and changing the world forever. Since then, she's gone on to become one of Hollywood's brightest, most in-demand creators thanks to her knack for bold, thoughtful, realistic storytelling and powerful, evocative imagery.

Long before she chronicled Martin Luther King's famous march against untreated melanin envy and institutional hateration in Selma and took on mass incarceration via the Emmy-winning 13th, Ava won hearts and awards with a series of shorts, documentaries, and a pair of features, I Will Follow and Middle of Nowhere. Later, partnering with Oprah's OWN for Queen Sugar, she introduced the world to the Borderlons and has provided a loving, empowering work environment for an impressive roster of veteran and rookie filmmakers alike.

She even harnessed #BlackGirlMagic in an Apple commercial featuring Kerry Washington, Mary J Blige, and Taraji P. Henson and recently helped Jay Z and Bey work through their "Family Feud." These days, her $100 million-dollar epic A Wrinkle In Time is rocking the box office, showing a new generation of fantasy film fans a whole new world of possibilities. As a testament to the power of representation and the power of a strong community, via Array, she's cultivated a collective for distribution, creative, and advocacy resources for filmmakers.

And she's just getting started.

Because the saga continues (Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang) and the studio be fools to not get with the winning team, Ava just signed on to direct Warner Bros. + DC Comics' next comic book epic, The New Gods. 

Here are Ava and Oprah discussing their creative partnership on A Wrinkle In Time and the brilliance of her OWN series, Queen Sugar:

Here, she opened up about switching gears and chasing her dreams after achieving success in one field:

Learn more about Madame DuVernay's extensive film and advocacy work.