Spotlight: Micaih Thomas Documents Growth with Relentless Culture
EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRACING AND BUILDING CULTURE — Micaih Thomas documents growth. In his online publication Relentless Culture, Thomas shows how culture is an elusive and ever-changing entity, easily succumbing to ever-changing trends, fads, and fame. Thomas does not get caught up in the hype but follows his calling every step of the way. With a mission to “remember, reconnect, pursue,” the online publication is anything but linear, centering around the people behind the culture they create, as well as the human experiences of time and art as bent, reflective, and ultimately, relentless.
Founded during Thomas’ freshman year of high school, Relentless Culture is an exclusive, online publication facilitating the exploration of and reconnection with culture. Finding its beginnings as a forum for Thomas and his friends to post interviews, submissions, and creative projects, the publication spread to include artists in Thomas’ local community of Dallas, Texas. Now, Relentless Culture includes artists from across the country. Watching an idea take shape and become tangible, Thomas is dedicating time to studying journalism as his craft. “I feel like I started referencing previous interviews at that time, and I just became obsessed with this documenting and archiving [of] interviews,” he says. “I just took journalism and the whole editorial thing more seriously.”
Fascinated by documentation from a young age, Thomas’ mom gave him and each of his siblings journals to use. A source of reflection, creativity, and, of course, documentation, Thomas returned to the journals over the years, charting his growth as a person and his practice of writing. “I just remember writing and creating little fantasies, and then I would go back like a year later and reference that same journal and just kind of be in awe of my growth as a human being.”
This practice has not lost its salience over time, however. Now, Thomas draws from an archive of past experiences, interviews, and artistic pursuits to create work that is anchored in self-compassion and awareness, while reeling through the recesses of time.
Though carefully spoken and intentional in each iteration, Thomas maintains an incalculable genuineness. Journalists of Thomas’s caliber are few and far between, as the field of culture journalism is at times dissembling and grandiose. But Thomas navigates his space and work with palpable authenticity, rooted in this understanding of himself and his projection in life.
Steadfast in his vision, Thomas knows he is all he has — and needs — to achieve his goals. To move away from the gate-keeping and exclusivity of the industry, Relentless Culture serves as a means to lower the bar to entry. “I'm not really expecting anything from people in the industry,” he explains. “Because I've noticed that whenever I do expect things from people in the industry, I'm always let down. So I've just relied on God and relied on myself to create spaces for myself and create spaces for my friends. ’Cause that's all Black people can really do.”
Thomas’ journalism is in distinct opposition to the hierarchical structures of the industry, moving towards intentionality and conversation as an act of healing. His unique, welcoming, and effortlessly charming style resonates throughout his work with Boyfriend Dick. ‘That interview set the foundation for how I want Relentless Culture to be conducted. These conversations are strictly centered around a cathartic process.’ Thomas says. “I feel like all my interviews are very healing.”
As well as the interview he manifested with Hood By Air’s Shayne Oliver, Thomas explains that another interaction had quite the impact on him.
“Last school year I tweeted, ‘my journalistic work centers around ketamine and the intricacies of culture,’” he describes. “I was just joking. But then I tweeted again that I wanted to interview Shane Oliver because he is, like, the blueprint. And then like a couple months later I started writing for office and somehow ended up interviewing Shane Oliver. And he released a song called “Ketamine”, and in our interview, we talked about ketamine. It was really cool seeing how God had just let that unfold.”
Only a sophomore in college, Thomas’ career has yet to completely unfold. With hopes of exploring intentionality in interviewing, getting in his 4.0 bag, and getting gymed, Thomas is making room for himself to grow.
“I want Relentless Culture to continue to stand as an exclusive forum for artists to have a place to speak and feel seen,” Thomas said. “Relentless is a diamond in the rough, but I feel like that’s what adds to the coolness of it.”
CONNECT WITH MICAIH THOMAS
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