I'm a big believer that creatives should get paid for their work. Unfortunately, it's a well-known reality that creatives need to hustle (especially full-time creatives). As a social justice activist, I love to support creators whose work is designed to move society forward. But these creatives have the shortest end of the stick as the Powers That Be would prefer to silence them (hence why creative careers are less profitable than corporate ones).
This is where Patreon comes in. It's a platform where you can pledge a particular amount of money per month to your favourite creators and provide them with a paycheck (and some financial stability!) for their projects. It also allows them to create content that is for their readers/viewers/listeners, rather than magazine or television execs who might try and censor them. In return, creators also provide perks and rewards for people who pledge certain amounts of money.
I currently support five people on Patreon. This might change as time goes on (I've actually pulled support for someone before) but, at this moment in time, I am happy to continue supporting these creators.
Rowan Ellis
I've been watching Rowan's videos on YouTube for years and always find myself nodding my head in agreement. I also love that she is UK-based because so many big-name activists are American and their content isn't always relevant to me.
So when I found out she had a Patreon I had to support her. I chose her $10 a month Recommendation Station package, which includes private blog posts, scripts of her YouTube videos, upcoming video schedule, the chance to vote on future topics, monthly recommendations (books, recipes etc), and a monthly book giveaway (which I won last year and the books she chose for me were on-point!).
Riley J.Dennis
Riley J. Dennis is an amazing activist. Not only do they create amazingly informative content, but they're funny to boot too! Riley is a queer, trans, nonbinary, polyamorous lesbian, and it's important to support activists who are oppressed in multiple ways, as they usually have the hardest time making money in the real world. I opted for their $5 Wonderful Human package, which gets me access to all private Patreon posts.
Marina Watanabe
Admittedly I'm a fan of Marina more for her personality. While her work is great, it's not as in-depth as I'd prefer - but she's a great choice for people looking for an introduction to social justice. Plus she's bi-racial and bi-sexual so has first-hand experience of two forms of oppression. I chose her $5 a month pledge, which provides me with access to longer videos and personal vlogs.
Dead Meat
James A Janisse is the only creator I support who doesn't specialise in social justice issues. Instead, he runs a YouTube Channel about horror movies. His channel has a variety of playlists, but it's his Kill Count that I'm always checking in on (where he "tallies up the kills in all our favourite horror movies"). James, however, is very socially and politically progressive so calls out sexist and racist bullshit during his commentary, and he has refused to produce videos on horror films produced by problematic individuals. I can get behind that.
Melissa A. Fabello
I first discovered Melissa's old YouTube channel four years ago and was blown away by her content. She has a knack for breaking down academic and complex ideas into bite-size pieces written in layman's terms. Thanks to her I've developed a higher understanding of the world around me, protected myself from societal brainwashing, and been able to verbalise experiences that previously irked me but I couldn't explain why.
Most of her work centres around body image activism and beauty culture, but she also touches upon media literacy and human sexuality (she holds a PhD in this field). I currently support her for $2 a month, which allows me access to her private Patreon posts. Though I have considered her $5 tier, which would allow me access to her book reviews.
Who are your favourite creators on Patreon?