Phyllis Iller

Back in 2018, Rome schooled us.🤣 Filmed this was back when my home was my studio. I thought it might be cool to film folks who came by for sessions. Cause those be the best conversations. Very honest, very truthful conversations. If you let em be. ✨ #PhyllisIller #ConversationsWithPhyllis #RomeAllen #SouthernVernacular #Atlanna #AtlantaAccent #Shiiiiiiit #Gahdamn #Talmbout 🤣👌🏾

Today was lovely. ✨ Got the chance to speak on a panel about Black joy with author Kwame Mbalia (@mbalia1) for JetBlue (@jetblue). To say the conversation was insightful would be an understatement! Please go check out Kwame’s work - he makes stories for US, specifically our babies. 🥰 Countdown to the Pull Up Session at JetBlue’s JFK hub is in full effect… #PhyllisIller #BlackJoy #PullUpSessions #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM

To say Black History Babies was a success would be an understatement. ✨ The parents and children showed up and showed OUT. I’m truly thankful and can’t wait to share the portraits with y’all. Special thank you to Will (@wfjrfilms) for this video and for documenting the day. I so rarely have BTS for my sessions, this was a welcome surprise! ✨ Thank you to my two assistants Nneka (@nneka.nichole) and Txt (@blctxt) for helping me bring the vision to life. Your encouragement and feedback helped shape everything. ✨ Black History is our future. ✨✨✨ #PhyllisIller #BlackHistoryBabies #WfjrFilms #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #AllBlackEverythang

I can’t eem believe it’s been a year since Around the Way Dreams was activated. Time flies when you’re growing. ✨ What stands out so much about this is the love love love I felt and shared with the women involved. Some things have changed…but so much has blossomed. Our group chat still goes hard 😂 We support one another, we cry with one another, we celebrate our wins. We dope, we fly, we fresh. We mothers, we aunties, we sisters. We soft, we take no sh*t. We growin. Always. THAT is the essence of the Around the Way Girl. And so much more. ✨ #AroundTheWayDreams #AroundTheWayGirl #PhyllisIller

Did a thing recently with @rretro.p and @rimdavillin of @porterhausproductions! I don’t usually do music videos, but this track was ultra hard. Peep “Avian Flu” featuring @skyzoothewriter @che_noir and @_eddiekaine, produced by @wavy_da_ghawd! There’s a few cameos from some of my faves in this flick too! @logan_lynette @keri.meawayy @berettascottking @penelahpes ✨✨✨ #PhyllisIllerVideography #PorterhausProductions #SkyZoo #CheNoir #EddieKaine #WavyDaGhawd

Bridgette C. Burton performs Sister Linda Cousins’ “I Can Luv.” “I Can Luv” was included in “360 Degrees of Blackness Comin’ At You,” an anthology of authors who attended the Sonia Sanchez Writers Workshop in the early 1970s Harlem, NY. Deep in the basement of the @nyplcounteecullen library, they made magic. We pay respect due. ✨ _______ Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing snippets of the 360 Degrees of Blackness performance film. Each performance by the cast is as powerful as the next. Trust, I wouldn’t just put you onto any ol thang, ya dig? ✨ Until Monday, you may view the entire film via the link in my bio or website (www.phyllisiller.com). _______ #PhyllisIller #TheIllest #360DegreesOfBlackness #SoniaSanchez #SoniaSanchezWritersWorkshop #LindaCousins #ICanLuv #BlackLiterature #BlackPoetry #BlackPoet #BlackityBlackBlackBlack #TheBlackWomanIsGod

And for my next trick: best supporting actress at the @naacp awards 🏆💁🏾‍♀️😂 _______ Melissa Alexander performs Sister Dorothy Randall-Gray’s “Black Mayflower.” “Black Mayflower” was included in “360 Degrees of Blackness Comin’ At You,” an anthology of authors who attended the Sonia Sanchez Writers Workshop in the early 1970s Harlem, NY. Deep in the basement of the @nyplcounteecullen library, they made magic. We pay respect due. ✨ _______ Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing snippets of the 360 Degrees of Blackness performance film. Each performance by the cast is as powerful as the next. Trust, I wouldn’t just put you onto any ol thang, ya dig? ✨ Until Monday, you may view the entire film via the link in my bio or website (www.phyllisiller.com). _______ #PhyllisIller #TheIllest #360DegreesOfBlackness #SoniaSanchez #SoniaSanchezWritersWorkshop #DorothyRandallGray #BlackMayflower #BlackLiterature #BlackPoetry #BlackPoet #BlackityBlackBlackBlack #TheBlackWomanIsGod

We were supposed to perform this for y’all back in March, in the Auburn Avenue Research Library’s theater (@aarl_atl), but!! coronavirus came through and switched everything up, including how we offer this performance. So, we pivoted.... ———— Only July 10th, in partnership with the wonderful folks of Auburn Avenue Library, a whole new performance of 360 Degrees of Blackness will be screened online. If you were unable to come to the first joint in November, this is the time to gather with us! Stay tune for further details.💥 __________ #PhyllisIller #TheIllest #AuburnAvenueResearchLibrary #SoniaSanchez #360DegreesOfBlackness

“Never forget who we is and how far we done come” - Daughters of the Dust . . . The Journey continues w/ @journeyofablackgirl phase II-short film premiere director and edited by @phyllis.iller in collaboration w/ Angela Davis Johnson and #thenewfreedomproject This work is breathtaking and timely. We are are shifting, while standing in our black and honoring the transition from a girl to woman. This Crown Belongs To Us is not only a reference to our hair but a spiritual guide. Giving thanks for our stillness, our resilience, healing our bodies, our truth. acknowledging our ancestors, praising the Most High and celebrating our blackness . . . . Join us tomorrow , June 16th @6pm For Facebook watch party followed by live artist talk with @atlantabeltlineart curator-in-residence , Courtney Brooks featuring @angeladjohnson @thasongbird @blackangelatl @phyllis.iller . . . #courtneythecurator #journeyofablackgirl💕 #atlantabeltlineart #phyllisiller #newfreedonproject . #blackwomenmatter #blackgirlsmatter #blackloveisblackpower #defendblackwomanhood #protectblackwomen #blackculture #blackculturematters #doitforculture

I claimed early that 2020 would be a year of clarity, an uncovering of all that we’ve run from, good sh*t or not. Never specified if the clarity gained would be easy, but always held that it would be a year unlike any other we’ve experienced, as a people. ( we a blessed people ) The news would show us getting gassed, hit with rubber bullets, snatched from cars, beaten with batons. Important information, but it be intense as sh*t, overwhelming damn near. So, I create the kind of content that I want to see. The kind of content affirms our power, because the god in me recognizes the god in you. ( we a blessed people ) Periodt. ✨ . . . #PhyllisIller #PhyllisIllerVideography #BeCarefulWithEachOther #WeSociety #KareemManuel

I went around the entire basketball court a few times!! I also fell hard as f**k today. Talmbout my daughter ran off the playground like “MAMA NOOOOOOO” 😂😂😂🤷🏽‍♀️ I got back up, tho. 💪🏾

A few of Atlanta’s best and brightest pulled together to create something beautiful and impactful. ✨ #BigFactsSmallActs: Georgia might be open again, but Coronavirus is still hitting Atlanta’s Black and Latino communities more than any others. Take care of each other. #spreadthewordnotthevirus * Special thank you to: Lisa Cunningham (@captcunningham), Jacinta Howard (@jacinta.howard), Mike Jordan (@mikejordanatl), Andre Dickens (@andre4atlanta), and Lamar Stewart (@iamlamarstewart) * * * Director/Editor: Melissa Alexander, @phyllis.iller * Produced by: Liz Edwards, @sheisliz * Post-Production: @electrikbaby + Artemus Jenkins, @artemusjenkins * EP: Sherri Daye Scott, @everybodyeatsmedia. * Associate Producer: Ash Nash, @powerhauscreative * Graphics: GOMEZ, (@thatgomezlife) * #beatcovid19 #washyourhands #stayhome #BigFactsSmallAct #SpreadTheWordNotTheVirus

Been talking to lots of folks about how they’re feeling about the sh*tstorm we’ve found ourselves in. Many have said they’re seeking inner peace, creativity, a sweet spot. Some have said they’re just trying to survive. _____ I’m praying for us all. One monkey don’t stop our show. Our shine will always reach who it needs to. Believe that. Trust that. ✨ _____ #PhyllisIller #CoronaDiaries #StrongerTogether #MilesDavis #FromWestEndWithLove

Corona who?! We celebrating life round here. _____ @journeyofablackgirl was cancelled, but the journey is alive and well. We give thanks. #LiveYourLife #WhomShallWeFear #JourneyOfABlackGirl #IOnlyDownloadedTicTokForThis

In 2018, a crew of my homies helped me to bring a shower idea to fruition. I saw a deaf girl asking her brother to show her how to make music, like Beethoven did. @olammalamma wrote the rest of the stories, we got to work, and made a visual love letter to West End. It premiered on my birthday in 2018 and that was a vibe surely like I had never felt prior and, then, it headed to wonderful @indiegrits film festival in Columbia, SC. ✨ What a time to be alive. :) ____ We screening To West End, With Love at the @fultonarts Aviation Center this Saturday (2/22!!) from 1pm -3pm. We’ll have an open portrait session, screen the film, and then Olamma and I will be having a panel discussion speaking on the film and effects of gentrification on our community. Nice lil afternoon, no? ✨ Hope to see you there! _____ #APhyllisIllerFilm #PhyllisIller #ToWestEndWithLove #OlammaOparah #WestEndAtlanta #ShortFilm

I’ve been playing the Ahmad Jamal Trio’s “The Awakening” every day, multiple times a day. There’s a story that’s told within the notes that is simply intoxicating to me. _____ There’s also a book called “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin. It’s about a woman finding her way, essentially. Daring to be her most authentic self. With herself. I can relate. ✨ ______ PS: I think of @teedramoses every time I hear the sample, tho. ✨ _____ #PhyllisIllerVideography #PhyllisIller #TheAhmadJamalTrio #TheAwakening #KateChopin