What is Cocoa Diaries?
Cocoa Diaries is a platform and brand designed by Black, college women, and it serves as a community manifested based upon our friendship. We created Cocoa Diaries to create a safe space for Black women to express their creativity, professionalism, lifestyle, and academic achievements and struggles, as they matriculate through college.
We wanted to do something together as friends/sisters to bring us closer, as we all navigate our own lives on different campuses. At first, it was something fun to do to connect and bond, as sisters, but when we started gaining traction, we truly began to take it seriously. When we get on the phone and talk about our goals met, as well as things we want to see, the fire continues to be lit by one another as well as the continued support and love we receive from other collegiate black women. Just being able to witness the good, the bad, and the ugly, and still see growth within our content as well as our brand, is truly motivating. Just in our 1 year, we have been launched, we’ve accomplished a lot, but the growth and work are only beginning.
With Cocoa Diaries we hope to support Black girls who may be feeling alone in classrooms somewhere and let them know they are not in this by themselves because we are supporting them and rooting for them every step of the way. Our mission is to always make sure that every young Black woman whether they are at PWIs or HBCUs feel like they are connected to a supporting and uplifting community of women here to help them win!
What Has Cocoa Diaries Done So Far?
Since our founding on February 28, 2020, Cocoa Diaries has awarded $4,000 in scholarships. We have been able to raise money for our scholarships through selling our apparel and through fundraising. We’ve featured over 100 women through our Cocoa feature series that highlights Black women in college who have their own business, non profits, and creative talents, and we’ve grown our platform to almost 8,000 followers on Instagram where we post about internship updates, civic engagement, the importance of mental health, the power of sisterhood, study tips, and more!
As we are 1 year in, we have so much more we hope to accomplish in the many years to come. If you are a Black woman in college, whether you are getting your Bachelor’s or Master’s, this is the space for you. Welcome to the sisterhood, Cocoa Queen!