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Be Steadwell

Biography

Be Steadwell is a Washington, D.C.-born multidisciplinary artist whose work spans music, filmmaking, performance, and literature. They earned a degree in Black Studies from Oberlin College and an MFA in Film from Howard University. Their creative career has included original music, filmmaking, theater, and composition, including work with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and participation in Parable of the Sower the Opera.


Steadwell's filmmaking includes Vow of Silence (2014), a thesis film for which they served as writer and director, and Dear Ex: The Musical (2018–2019), originally titled A Letter to My Ex. The musical was written and directed by Steadwell and explores a queer Black woman's experience of healing after a breakup. Their music includes Queer Love Songs (2018) and Succulent (2021), projects exploring queer love, intimacy, identity, and self-expression. Their short film Black Tea (2025), for which they served as writer, director, and cinematographer, continued their work across film and music.


Steadwell expanded into fiction with Chocolate Chip City (2025), their debut romance novel published by Bywater Books. The novel explores Black love, sisterhood, activism, gentrification, and queer identity in Washington, D.C. Steadwell continues to work across music, film, literature, performance, and education. They live in Baltimore, Maryland, tour their music, and work as an adjunct lecturer at Howard University and Towson University.


BQW Impact

Steadwell's significance to BQW comes from the explicit intersection of their Black queer identity and creative practice. Their current artistic statement describes their work as imagining a world that prioritizes Black queer joy, making queer Black lives and relationships central rather than peripheral to their storytelling.


That focus extends across their music, film, and literature. Dear Ex: The Musical places a queer Black woman at the center of a story about love and healing, while Chocolate Chip City explores queer joy, Black resistance, sisterhood, love, and community in Washington, D.C. Across multiple artistic forms, Steadwell creates work that centers Black queer people in stories about love, creativity, community, and everyday life.


Notable Works

  • Vow of Silence (2014)

    Short film written and directed by Steadwell.

  • Queer Love Songs (2018)

    Music project centered on queer love, intimacy, and emotional expression.

  • Dear Ex: The Musical (2018 - 2019)

    Musical originally titled A Letter to My Ex, written and directed by Steadwell and focused on a queer Black woman's healing after a breakup.

  • Succulent (2021)

    Pop and R&B album released by Steadwell in 2021.

  • Chocolate Chip City (2025)

    Steadwell's debut romance novel exploring Black love, sisterhood, activism, gentrification, and queer identity in Washington, D.C.

  • Black Tea (2025)

    Short film written, directed, and shot by Steadwell.

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