How do you build a new digital home for Black culture? In this episode, we talk with Rudy Fraser, the creator of Blacksky, a rapidly growing community on the Bluesky social network. As Black users leave Twitter/X in unprecedented numbers, Fraser shares how his background in mutual aid and community organizing shaped his vision for a different kind of social platform.

Fraser breaks down how Blacksky works, from its innovative use of the AT Protocol to its community-led approach to content moderation. He explains why he chose to make Blacksky open-source rather than seeking venture capital, and how the platform grew to over 750,000 users without any promotion or funding.

We dig into the technical details of how Blacksky protects its community from harassment while preserving authentic cultural expression, and discuss the challenges of scaling from 10 moderation reports per week to over 500 daily. Fraser also shares his vision for the future of Black social media spaces and how decentralized technology could help preserve Black digital culture.

Key topics:

• How mutual aid principles influenced Blacksky’s development
• The technical architecture behind Blacksky’s custom feeds
• Community-based approaches to content moderation
• Balancing rapid growth with community safety
• The future of Black social media communities
• Why open source matters for cultural preservation

Follow the conversation with Rudy on Bluesky @rudy.fraser, and stay connected with us at @tarikmoody.com and @hyfin.org. Check out Tarik’s starter pack on Bluesky for a curated list of Black thought leaders and creators to follow.”