RAQIYAH MAYS

Author and screenwriter Raqiyah Mays got her start in music journalism. Raised in New Jersey, she launched an exciting career at VIBE magazine as an executive assistant before becoming a freelance journalist reporting on the intersection of her personal passions — social issues, hip-hop, film, and TV. With bylines appearing in print and online for outlets like The Associated Press, Essence, Billboard, Black Enterprise, The Source, Complex, XXL, and more, Mays was later recruited to work for Sirius/XM, where she wrote and produced a daily show for the legendary DJ Grandmaster Flash. As a radio personality, her smooth informative voice graced the airwaves on New York’s world renown hip-hop station Hot 97, 107.5 WBLS, and the morning show on the late 98.7 Kiss FM. She later launched her podcast Real Black News, which in 2019 was named one of the top 50 podcasts in the country.

A natural wordsmith since elementary school, Raqiyah is a writer at heart. In 2015, Simon & Schuster released her inspirational debut novel, The Man Curse, which explores a family of women cursed in love and the soul-searching necessary to break this belief. The critically acclaimed novel was turned into an empowerment workshop — created by Mays — for domestic violence shelters. She went on to adapt The Man Curse into a one-hour TV pilot. It later became a semifinalist in ScreenCraft’s Cinematic Book Contest. As a screenwriter, she’s developed projects with writer and producer Ed Burns, co-creator of one of the greatest TV shows of all-time, The Wire. She’s also worked with Showrunner Clyde Phillips, creator of Showtime’s most-watched show of all-time, Dexter.

Consistently engaged in the non-profit world of grassroots activism, Raqiyah has written nationally and globally televised speeches for The Women’s March and Black empowerment activists like Tamika Mallory, co-founder of Until Freedom. Known for supporting fellow authors, she contributed a chapter to Where Did Our Love Go: Love & Relationships in the African American Community, an anthology written by African American Film Critics Association President, Gil Robertson. She was reporter-at-large for Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G. by Showrunner and Luke Cage creator Cheo Hodari Coker. His book was adapted into the debut feature film, Notorious. Mays was also featured in author Thembisa Mshaka’s book Put Your Dreams First: Handle Your Entertainment Business.

It’s no surprise that the world has taken notice of her visionary efforts. The fashion brand The Limited selected Mays as one of its dynamic female leaders featured as a model in its nationwide “New Look of Leadership” campaign. And VH1 picked her for its iconic “Future Leader of Black History” commercial series. In addition to winning multiple awards, she’s appeared on ABC, BET, TV One, Fox, Fuse, and Fox News.