When
Lynae Vanee Bogues, C’2016, speaks, people listen. With over 500,000 Instagram followers, Bogues is taking the social media sphere by storm with her profound, often humorous, and undeniably powerful “Parking Lot Pimpin” videos. With her signature teacup in hand, she “spills the tea” and provides fans with a succinct, meticulously researched, and precise dissection of current social, cultural, and political topics that pertain to the Black community.
Using her vast platform, Bogues looks into the camera and addresses the masses while perched on a chair that serves as her pulpit. She starts each segment with her signature catchphrase: “It’s Friday, so imma keep it Black, but imma keep it brief.” Like a preacher, Bogues uses her art as ministry to share her unique gifts, talents, and love of history with Black folks and other followers via posts that have captured the attention of celebrities, major networks, and the general public.
“The work I do with ‘Parking Lot Pimpin’ started out as a project to do something I love consistently, regardless of feedback, praise, interaction and engagement,” said Bogues, proudly donning a Spelman sweatshirt and large pearl earrings, all while exuding an unmistakable poise and confidence of a Spelman woman. “It was something I was specifically doing for me. But now, this work I do is a light for anybody who can identify with it – not just little Black girls and boys, grown men and women, nonbinary or transgender people.
“I want to be a light to any and everybody Black,” added Bogues, an NAACP Image Award nominee who earned her master’s degree in African American studies from Boston University. “Everybody else can look in on and take what they can and will because it’s a gift, but my intention is for the Blacks.” Unapologetically Black in her attitude and approach to work, Bogues began her career as a high school social studies teacher but soon transitioned to the influencer space after the COVID19 pandemic hit in 2020. Her love of Black history, combined with her gift for poetry, ultimately led to her passion project.
“The pandemic just made for perfect timing. I couldn’t connect with my kids in a way that I once did, and after seeing the response to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders, I knew it was time,” said Bogues, who started filming in the parking lot of her former apartment. “I always had the information to share. I wondered, if Black folks knew these things and were taught and affirmed in these ways, where might we be? I wanted to do my part and help share this information, to help affirm and uplift. And the ‘Parking Lot’ is how it all got started.”
With her social media presence fully established, Bogues has bigger projects on the horizon. She’s currently pitching a scripted, digital series planned as an expansion of the “Parking Lot.” Her poetry is featured on Atlanta-based EARTHGANG’s latest album, and in June, she’s hosting a hybrid event featuring spoken-word poetry and a live “Parking Lot” session. Hoping to follow in her muse’s, Issa Rae, footsteps, Bogues’ sights are firmly set on changing the world. Thanks to Spelman’s imprint, Bogues is well-prepared to meet the challenge.
“Spelman in particular showed me what the world looked like and my propensity to change it,” she said. “As an artist, my content is designed intentionally and purposely to serve others in the realm of representation, inclusivity, and amplification of voices. I’m grateful I can be an example of Spelman taking your gifts and turning them up to 100.”
Follow Bogues on Instagram @lyneezy
Alicia Sands Lurry is an Atlanta-based equity communications and public relations coordinator