I’ve spent much of my life listening to and amplifying the voices within the Black community. As a former culture and music journalist, my byline has appeared on legacy publications such as Black Enterprise, ESSENCE, and EBONY to digital mainstays like BET.com and Okayplayer.com. In-between those moments, the art of play is something I’ve always been drawn to—moments where culture, creativity, and communication converge. That same lens and love for my people birthed Love, Peace & Games: Play It Forward, SUBJECT TO CHANGE LLC, and Love, Peace & Spades—All rooted with a deep intention: to create modern-day hush harbors through play, leisure, and connectivity.

Our rather fly gatherings aren’t just about games—they’re about healing and gaining low-barrier access to third spaces. Love, Peace & Spades was founded on the principles of intergenerational communion through music, tech, education, and play. I wholeheartedly believe that play is a health and wellness tool, that games like Spades, Bid Whist, Tunk, and Dominoes deserve to be preserved for the next generation, and that #AllPlayersWelcome to experience our gatherings as a resource and practice.

At our events, attendees exhume emotional and mental traumas we carry daily through enriching play and joy. Centering this is integral to our impact in our community. In supporting local Black-owned businesses, game makers and developers, and people who’ve made a positive difference in our lives, Love, Peace & Spades not only feels like home, familiar, affirming, and free—it’s also “The People’s Game Night” as a result of said effort.

This work is personal and worthy for me. It’s an act of revolutionary resistance and different from the rest. I greatly appreciate everyone who’s helped to build this table and to those who continue to pull-up and play, I say, there’s always room for more.

— Kevito Clark, CEO and Founder of Love, Peace & Games: Play It Forward