AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 2

APHROCHIC 

a curated lifestyle magazine 

ISSUE NO. 2 \ VOLUME 1 \ WINTER 19/20 

ALL THOSE WHO WANDER \ BEAUTIFUL EMBRACE \ TELLING OUR STORY 

APHROCHIC.COM

Issue 2 of AphroChic Magazine is another visually stunning journey into the African Diaspora, 

the histories that define us, and the stories that hold us together. In this issue, we’re happy 

to introduce a new feature section - Sounds. Music reviewer, Henry Adaso takes a look at 

Rapsody’s Eve and the North Carolina MC’s ode to the power of Black women. We travel to 

Washington, DC to walk the halls of the National Museum of African American History and 

Culture and experience this celebration of our unique part of America’s national story. And we 

explore Diaspora fashion concepts coming out of Melbourne, Australia. 

For our second cover story, we are beyond excited to be featuring model and activist, Nikia 

Phoenix. With a fur coat and “Hey Black Girl, You’re Beautiful” tee, Nikia shows us how winter 

is done on the West Coast. Inside, she shares the philosophy behind The Nikia Phoenix Podcast 

while giving us a guided tour of her beautiful Los Angeles home - designed by AphroChic! 

Rounding out this issue, we continue our exploration of the African Diaspora concept 

beginning with a look at the history that formed it, from Abolition to The Harlem Renaissance. 

And in Hot Topic we explore a different side of social media. Beneath its arguably shallow 

exterior lies an important tool in the ongoing battle over representation. We’ll explore the 

history of our fight to be seen and the ways social media can help tip the scales. 

Finally, for the holidays, we’re offering our first gift guide, full of amazing pieces for 

her, him, and the kids. And it doesn’t stop there. Visit our Pinterest boards for an even larger 

selection of holiday gifts with options for everyone else on your list. 

Issue 2 of AphroChic Magazine embraces the combination of artistry and activism that 

defines so much of Diaspora culture. These stories inspire us, and we can’t wait to share them 

with you. 

Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason 

Founders, AphroChic 

Instagram: @aphrochic 

editors’ letter 

With our cover model Nikia Phoenix 

Photo:Genevieve Garruppo

WINTER 19/20 

DEPARTMENTS 

Read This, 10 

Visual Cues, 12 

It’s a Family Affair, 14 

Coming Up, 20 

Mood/Gift Guides, 22 

FEATURES 

Fashion // All Those Who Wander, 28 

Interior Design // Beautiful Embrace, 40 

Food // Heart & Soul, 58 

Entertaining // Perfect Holiday, 64 

Travel // Telling Our Story, 82 

Reference // The Roots of Diaspora, 98 

Sound // Rapsody’s Eve, 104 

PINPOINT 

Artists & Artisans, 108 

Hot Topic, 116 

Who Are You, 120

CONTRIBUTORS 

Cover Photo: Genevieve Garruppo 

Publishers/Editors: Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason 

Creative Director: Cheminne Taylor-Smith 

Contact: 

AphroChic 

Brooklyn, NY 

AphroChic.com 

info@aphrochic.com 

Contributors: 

Chinasa Cooper 

Henry Adaso 

Patrick Cline 

issue two 9

READ THIS 

History informs modern life, like a thread that can be followed through a woven fabric. Each of our books 

in this issue offers that thread of history. There is the refocus on heirloom plants and the “old ways” of 

cooking reflected in Jubilee. The book spans 200 years of African American cooking, pairing modern 

dishes with their historic counterparts. Olympic Pride, American Prejudice examines the politics of race 

and sports, where athletes have to choose between representing their country or themselves - definitely 

a theme that continues today. And Art and Race Matters focuses on the groundbreaking work of Robert 

Colescott whose searing and satirical work inspires art and artists today. 

Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert 

Colescott. Edited by Raphaela Platow and 

Lowery Stokes Sims. 

Publisher: Rizzoli Electa. $54 

Jubiliee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African 

American Cooking. Written by 

Toni Tipton-Martin. 

Publisher: Potter/Ten Speed. $35 

Olympic Pride, American Prejudice. 

Written by Deborah Riley Draper and 

Travis Thrasher. Publisher: Atria. $28 

10 aphrochic

VISUAL CUES 

What would you sacrifice to keep your culture alive? That’s the question behind All on a Mardi Gras Day, 

a documentary by filmaker Michal Pietrzyk. Demond Melancon spends all year creating a masterpiece 

designed to be worn only one time, on Mardi Gras. He’s part of a 200-year-old culture known as Mardi 

Gras Indians: African American men who make feathered suits to honor their runaway slave ancestors 

and the Native American tribes who housed them during their escape. Demond works around the clock, 

sacrificing even his job, to be a part of the Mardi Gras tradition, when hundreds of Indians from all over 

the city present their year’s work and confront one another in battles to decide who’s “the prettiest.” The 

filmaker was given behind-the-scenes access to the secretive Indians and Demond’s creative process 

as he works obsessively to finish his creation. This layered story highlights history, beauty, art, social 

commentary, and irony. The film will now compete at the upcoming Academy Awards, where it qualified 

in the Best Documentary Short Subject category. Learn more at allonamardigrasday.com. 

12 aphrochic issue two 13

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR 

Inspired by the Past 

By the 1960s, the home my mother lived in was full. The house roster included my mom, Jacqueline, my 

grandmother Syjunia, and my great-grandmother, Mama, as well as my great-aunts, Debbie and Elaine, 

great-uncle, Allen, and cousin Gordon (who the family affectionately referred to as “Snuffy”). Like for 

so many other Black families, “the house” was the official hub of my family’s life. It was the setting 

for countless family events from Sunday dinners to proms, holiday gatherings and late-night penuchle 

games. “Our house was the center,” my mom confirms. “We were there for every holiday. Everybody 

would come [for] Mother’s Day, Easter, Christmas, it was always at the house.” 

The area in North Philadelphia 

where my family home is located was 

once farmland that later became the 

hub of Philadelphia’s industrial revolution. 

In William Penn’s day, it was where 

the landed nouveau riche built homes to 

separate themselves from the old guard. 

Though not old enough to have stood 

during those days, the house is a beautifully 

appointed Philadelphia row home. 

The front door opens into the sun 

room. Over the years it’s been used as 

either a large entryway or its own room. In 

either configuration, its open portals lead 

directly into the living room. As a kid, the 

sun room was my favorite place to play - 

after the living room, which was where the 

television was. 

It was mostly empty then, a perfect 

place for being in my own world while 

staying out of the way. Today, my nephew 

enjoys it for the same reason. But long 

before either of us arrived to fill the space 

with our toys and imaginings, it was the 

room where Christmas morning took 

place. And on one special day, it was where 

my Aunt Elaine got married. 

Over the years, the sun room and 

living room, like the rest of the home, aged 

and fell into disrepair. For Jeanine and me, 

the goal of the renovation was to restore 

these spaces to their 1960s glamour. The 

family archivist, my mother, shared a 

trove of old photos and stories of the house. 

The new design of the two rooms was 

inspired by the memories kept in these 

old images. We started with a full-spectrum 

gray-blue paint color that was 

close to the room’s original shade. The 

soft pastel created a cool contrast, highlighting 

some of the most stunning 

hardwood floors we’ve seen in a home, 

as well as the winding wood staircase that’s 

a feature in many Philadelphia row homes. 

Sometime between the 60s and 90s, 

the sun room’s original mauve wall was 

painted in a lighter shade. The change 

opened up the space, letting in lots more 

natural light. To highlight the room’s architectural 

features we extended the paint 

all the way to the ceilings to highlight the 

classic crown molding. Hand-me-down 

furniture was replaced with new family 

heirlooms. 

My grandmother’s once beautiful upholstered 

settee was replaced with an embroidered 

floral chaise. In the corner, a 

brass table from a family friend was used 

to add a metallic touch. And our Amur 

Table Lamp is a new heirloom that we were 

happy to see accenting the family home. 

The wall color extends into the living 

room, creating a sense of unity while highlighting 

the architectural details of both 

rooms. Old photos show family gathered 

in the living room in beautifully silhouetted 

coats, dresses and suits. These striking 

images inspired us to create a room that 

feels both elegant and family-friendly. The 

velvet blue chairs and tufted, vegan-leather 

chesterfield are a call back to a more 

elegant time. 

My mother often tells me about how 

proud she was to have grown up in a home 

run by strong women. They worked hard to 

get the house they lived in, and even harder 

to keep it. As generations passed, it stayed 

in the family. And though it’s no longer 

the center of our lives, it’s as familiar and 

loved as any member of the family. I’m 

equally proud to have these women as part 

of my heritage and happy for the opportunity 

to show my gratitude by restoring the 

home that they loved. AC 

It‘s a Family Affair is an ongoing series 

focusing on the history of the Black family 

home, stories from the Harper family, 

and the renovations and restorations of a 

house that bonds this family. 

Photos from Harper Family Archives 

Words by Bryan Mason 


IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR 

BEFORE 

Living room 

Sun room 

AFTER 

Living room 

Living room 

Sun room 


IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR

COMING UP 

Events, exhibits, and happenings that celebrate and explore the African Diaspora. 

Black History Luncheon 

Washington, DC 

Feb. 23, 2020 

The 94th Annual Black History Luncheon is hosted by the 

Association for the Study of African American Life and History, 

the founders of Black History Month. The Luncheon kicks 

off Black History Month events, this year with the theme 

African Americans and the Vote. For more information or 

tickets, go to asalh.org. 

Ankara Miami 

Miami 

Feb. 20-23, 2020 

An international ruway show committed to featuring emerging 

and established designers from the African Diaspora, including 

creatives from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United 

States. Events include the Diaspora Fashion Talk, receptions, 

showcases, and pop-up shops. For more informaton or for 

tickets, to to ankaramiamiweek.com. 

Detroit Collects 

Detroit 

Through March 1, 2020 

An exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts highlights the 

rich history of collecting African American art in Detroit. The 

show features artwork from 19 local private collections (much 

of which is making its public debut), highlighting an incredible 

selection of works in diverse media spanning the 19th century to 

today. The exhibition features work by artists including Romare 

Bearden, Nick Cave, Beauford Delaney, Carrie Mae Weems, 

Rashid Johnson, Archibald J. Motley Jr., Martin Puryear, Al 

Loving, and Alison Saar. Learn more at dia.org. 

20 aphrochic

MOOD 

Holiday Gifts for Everyone on Your List 

GIFTS 

FOR 

HER 

AphroChic x Kim Johnson Studios Pillow 

This cushion is inspired by Katherine Dunham, one of the greatest 

exponents of dance culture in the African Diaspora and one of its 

most groundbreaking ethnographers. Cast in dynamic and exuberant 

postures, watercolor dancers are a showcase of the energy and 

life that characterized Dunham’s career. 

GIFTS 

FOR 

KIDS 

Dunham Pillow 

$169 

Effie’s Paper Mug 

The bright, metallic letters on this glossy black ceramic mug spell 

out her perfect morning mantra. Roomy enough for a cup of coffee 

or tea to get the morning started, the message on this mug will 

help push her through the rest of whatever the day holds. 

UNWRP 

Artist Reyna Noriega designed this vibrant print fabric featuring 

a stunning afro silhouette at the center. Designed as a reusable 

wrapping cloth, we love the idea of framing Dream Girls as a work 

of art, or wearing this fabric as a scarf or headwrap. 

Jada Handmade Keepsake Doll 

$98 

HarperIman Dolls 

Get Shit Done Coffee Mug 

$20 

Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black 

History by Vashti Harrison. $17.99 

Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers 

Dream Girls 

$22 


MOOD 

GIFTS 

FOR 

HIM 

Cranberry Raspberry 

Sage Jam 

$14 

Soéle Sweater 

Infusing the luxury knitwear market with the 

style and heritage of Black culture, this Soéle 

sweater is ethically made, knitted from soft, 

high-quality alpaca from Peru. Intended to be 

an heirloom piece, it’s fashion that seamlessly 

combines heritage and modernity, quality and 

Tegrida Unisex Toffee Sweater 

$130 

Ceramic Coasters 

$48 

GIFTS 

FOR 

THEM 

function. 

Black Pepper Paperie Co. 

Pivet Case 

Offering state-of-the-art protection for that new 

smartphone on your wishlist, this case features 

a unique, hand-crafted texture. Extra thin, with 

major drop protection, it will keep your phone 

intact while looking good combining a clean and 

clear, minimalist design with a scratch and stain 

resistant coating. 

Glacier+ Pro Luna 

Moonstone Case 

$39 

Handmade in Washington, DC, these stoneware and ceramic glaze 

coasters are the creation of artisan Hadiya Williams. This one-of-akind 

set features a modern ancestral design rooted in memory and 

inspired by cultural influences from across the African Diaspora. 

Trade Street Jam Co. 

Perfect for the holiday season, this Cranberry Raspberry Sage Jam is 

sure to spice up any hostess gift. Cranberry, raspberry, sugar, fresh 

sage, orange zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg come together for a jam 

Sensual Candle Co. 

Laidback, effortless and fresh, this candle is a 

that can be a surprising twist on traditional cranberry sauce or make 

a splash as part of a cocktail or dessert. 

perfect self care present for him. Mixing notes 

of lemongrass, sage and ginger, Lowkey’s light, 

relaxing scent is an effortless combination of the 

unexpected that will create just the right vibe for 

a calm and comfortable evening after a long and 

hectic day. 

Lowkey Sensual 

Candle 

$36 

Kala Floor Basket 

$695 

54kibo 

The Gisenyi Floor Basket is a beautiful and functional piece for the 

modern home. This stylish contemporary African basket can hold 

everything from blankets and toys to holiday gifts. Handmade in 

Uganda, the bold geometric design is woven with natural and richly 

dyed fibers. 


FEATURES 

All Those Who Wander | Beautiful Embrace | Heart & Soul | Perfect 

Holiday | Telling Our Story | The Roots of Diaspora | Rapsody’s Eve

Fashion 

All Those 

Who Wander 

Sisters Fatuma and Laurinda Ndenzako, founders 

of Collective Closets, take us on a journey in their 

brightly hued winter collection, The Wanderer. 

Photos courtesy of Collective Closets 

Words by Jeanine Hays 

28 aphrochic

Fashion 

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, and raised in Melbourne, Australia, 

these sisters bridge two distinctive worlds, criss-crossing 

the Indian Ocean and blending the brightly patterned shuka 

worn by Maasai warriors with the strong silhouettes of 

modern Australian fashion. 

The shuka, traditionally reserved for blankets worn by the 

nomadic warriors, takes on a new dimension as striped and 

checkered culotte pants, flare sleeved tops and an apron 

tunic. A celebration of the nomadic spirit, the patterns in 

this collection represent resilience, power, and strength; a 

modern day armor for those venturing into the unknown. 

A Maasai Proverb states, “Nobody can say he is settled 

anywhere forever; it is only the mountains which do not 

move from their places.” For all who wander, not lost but 

unafraid of the path before them, this collection is for you. AC 

View the collection at collectiveclosets.com.au 

issue two 31

Fashion

Fashion

Fashion 

issue two 37

Fashion 


Interior Design 

Beautiful 

Embrace 

Inside the LA Home of Model and 

Activist Nikia Phoenix 

Photos by Genevieve Garruppo 

Words by AphroChic: Jeanine Hays & Bryan Mason 

Interior Design: AphroChic 



Nikia Phoenix loves the skin she’s in, and she wants you to love yours just as much. Once 

the awkward girl with freckles, the model now known for her gorgeous skin knows that 

the road to feeling at home with yourself is neither short nor straight. Yet she’d be the 

first to suggest that it’s the one best travelled, and that the best thing about traveling it is 

that there’s no need to do it alone. 

That was the driving sentiment behind 

Black Girl Beautiful, the 23andMe star’s 

self-and-communal love brand aimed at Black 

women everywhere and of all ages. 

The writer, model and content creator’s 

gorgeous Los Angeles apartment is the perfect 

balance of inspirational style and restorative 

atmosphere to support every aspect of 

her multi-hyphenate creative life. Balance 

is important in a life that juggles modeling, 

brand events, podcasting, and the constant 

travel needed to sustain all three. Most of us 

travel to get away from everyday life, but when 

everyday life is lived on the road, home is the 

special event, the escape, and it needs to feel 

that way. 

Sitting on a quiet residential street in 

LA’s Korean Town, the building appears like 

a dream of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Built in 

the 1920s, its sunny, yellow concrete exterior 

is accented by bright crimson blooms of wild 

bougainvillea vines. The unruly plants climb 

the outside of the building from the lawn to the 

second floor where they frame Nikia’s front 

window. The flowers end just under the terracotta 

tiled roof that completes the home’s 

classic LA look. 

Originally from South Carolina, growing 

up as the girl with a constellation of freckles 

wasn’t always easy for Nikia. Kids teased her 

for being different, something that stuck with 

her even as her freckles made her stand out 

in the most exceptional ways in campaigns 

for Coca-Cola, Target, or as the mysterious 

beauty in Usher’s “Good Kisser” video. Before 

that, her childhood fantasies of modeling 

were set aside in favor of a more traditional 

path that led through college to a career 

in broadcast news. But then an unexpected 

encounter signaled a chance to be what 

she’d always wanted to be. “A big opportunity 

presented itself out of thin air years after 

I’d walked away from my dreams of being a 

model,” she recalls. “I knew it was fate.” 

For Nikia, experiences with racism and 

misogyny, along with the uniquely perception-bending 

concept of beauty that models 

both promote and are subject to, led to a need 

to speak up. Though she was no longer a journalist, 

the experience had prepared her when 

issue two 43


the opportunity arose to marry her sense of 

advocacy with the platform provided by being 

a popular model. The initial result was Model 

Liberation, a blog aimed at creating conversation 

and community for those, like Nikia, 

working to find their way in the industry. That 

effort quickly expanded from an industry 

focus to include all Black women, transforming 

into the multi-tiered brand experience, 

Black Girl Beautiful. 

“Black Girl Beautiful came about because 

of both inspirational and economic reasons,” 

Nikia relates. “I read all these consumer 

reports that validated what I already knew 

- African American women far outspend 

women of other ethnicities on beauty 

products. I wondered how we could drop 

so much money and not have more beauty 

brands cater to us? Then the self-love aspect 

came in. Why do we really spend so much? Are 

we trying to fix something about ourselves?” 

Ultimately Nikia decided that the only 

thing in need of fixing was anything that 

denied Black women the opportunity to see 

themselves as beautiful or convinced them 

that to be beautiful meant covering themselves 

in the artificial. Most of all, she rejects 

the notion that there is only one way to be a 

Black woman. “We have to celebrate our individuality 

and differences while also recognizing 

our oneness. We are here for the 

everyday Black girl, the round-the-way girl, 

the awkward Black girl, the alternative Black 

girl, and more. African American women are 

not monolithic, one dimensional characters. 

We’re real people. The more we acknowledge 

that while still shining our light, the better we 

will be.” 

For the beauty advocate home is an 

important space. “Home is a sacred place 

carved out of love and tranquility away from 

the hustle and bustle of the world,” she 

reflects. From the very first glance, her home 

is a well-crafted retreat. From the bright pops 

of pink in the furniture and art to the curved 

arches that define the passages from room to 

room, each room greets you with a soft enveloping 

embrace of color and texture. 

“They are gorgeous,” she muses about 

her living room chairs. “They have this soft 

blush tone and the design hugs your body 

while still maintaining an elegant structure.” 

They’re the perfect balance to the gray sofa 

that completes the seating ensemble in her 

living room, yet in the light of a setting sun 

they pair with the art to cast the whole room 

in a light pink hue. Nikia admits that it’s all by 

design. “There’s a softness to my apartment 

that makes it inviting,” she says. 

On the other side of her favorite archway, 

the living room gives way to the dining room 

and her personal office. Like the living room, 

the space shows Nikia’s facility with blending 

influences, mixing mid-century, modern and 

global influences seamlessly. 

“I love a combination of clean mid-century 

Scandinavian with more intricate pieces 

from India and Africa,” she reflects. “Much 

of the furniture in the space is Nordic in style 

and function but also extremely comfortable. 

I have pieces that are simple enough that you 

can enjoy them as-is or funk them up with 

44 aphrochic


accents of stripes, mudcloth, or bold color.” 

Throughout the home, Nikia is intentional 

in her use of art. Art punctuates the 

space with visual reminders affirming beauty, 

self-care and positive thinking. Perhaps her 

most creative space is the moodboard that 

occupies the wall just above the computer 

in her office. A constantly-changing cloud 

of images and notes, pages clipped from 

magazines or words of affirmation, this space 

is the nerve center of her creativity and the 

inspiration for her collection. “I appreciate 

that every inch of my home looks like a vision 

board complete with inspirational images 

and words,” she says. “I love the artwork in 

my home from the black cat canvas to the ‘self 

love’ art. It’s a mix of abstract with fun and a 

pop of color.” 

Like her living room, Nikia’s bedroom 

is awash in California sunlight delivered 

through generously-sized windows. She is 

quick to admit that it was a major selling point 

for the space, saying, “I like my home to be full 

of light and comfort. Lots of windows create 

the sanctuary I need.” But where the living 

room sun lights on colorful furnishings, collections 

of art and architectural flourishes, 

in the bedroom it finds a minimalist space 

built for serenity. Neutral tones on the walls 

and bedding together with a lack of extraneous 

furniture create a true oasis, a space away 

from the rest of the world. As Nikia puts it, “It 

is where I start my day, clear my head, and 

snuggle up to sleep.” It’s also a space that her 

followers are familiar with, as she regularly 

shares morning affirmations right from the 

comfort of her bed. 

Nikia’s been sharing even more in season 

three of The Nikia Phoenix Podcast. In it, she 

explores firsthand a question she often poses, 

“How can we expect for others to love us if we 

don’t love ourselves completely and unconditionally?” 

Her stream-of-consciousness 

commentary is unflinchingly honest - equal 

parts meditation and confessional. “I want 

us to have more open and honest conversations 

about the state of Black womanhood,” 

she professes. “I want Black women to know 

that we are loved and valued and all that 

starts from within ourselves. We have so 

much power, and I want to help us tap into all 

of it and really thrive. When we’ve achieved 

that, then I will know Black Girl Beautiful has 

served its purpose.” 

Nikia is an unabashed advocate of 

natural beauty, and supports every Black 

woman in finding what is beautiful not only 

in themselves, but in each other. Her love of 

Black women is evident on the walls of her 

home, and shines brightly throughout her 

work. 

Earlier this year, her brand completed 

one of its proudest moments, the unveiling 

of the “Hey Brown Girl, You’re Beautiful!” 

mural in downtown Atlanta. Created in collaboration 

with muralist Faatimah Stevens 

as well as musician, Mary Akpa and photographer, 

Nikk Rich, the project encapsulates 

at once, everything that Nikia wants to 

offer to Black women: an affirmation of their 

worthiness and the reassurance that they 

are seen. AC


issue two 51


52 aphrochic

“African American women 

are not monolithic, one 

dimensional characters. 

We’re real people.”

Interior Design

Food 

Heart & Soul 

Jocelyn Delk Adams Brings Us Sweet Things from the Heart 

Photos by Chuck Olu-Alabi 

Words by Jeanine Hays 


Food 

Family is at 

the heart 

For Jocelyn Delk Adams, founder of 

Grandbaby Cakes, family is where everything 

begins. The food blogger, turned 

cookbook author, turned television personality, 

was once just a little girl absorbing 

all of the knowledge and love there was 

to be found in a family kitchen. From the 

beginning, Jocelyn’s baking, with its focus 

on sweet treats and fond memories, has 

centered on the influence of a central 

character: her grandmother, “Big Mama.” 

Big Mama is Maggie Small, Adam’s 

maternal grandmother, who hails from the 

small town of Winona, Mississippi. Among 

her favorite memories, Jocelyn remembers 

making the 10-hour trip from Chicago to 

Winona to visit her grandparents. 

As she tells it, from the moment of her 

arrival, baking was the first thing on her 

mind. Sometimes a cake would be waiting, 

but on the best occasions the women in her 

family would gather; her mother, auntie and 

grandmother would roll up their sleeves and 

the work - and the fun - would begin. Those 

moments, the experience of being among 

the women in her family would inspire 

Jocelyn to start her food blog, a tribute to her 

family’s baking genius and to the love that 

inspired it. 

From there, she would go on to launch 

a cookbook replete with recipes like Mama’s 

7UP Pound Cake, Aunt Irene’s Apricot Nectar 

Cake, and Johnnie Mae’s Seven-Flavor 

Pound Cake, the names stirring up warm 

feelings of home while calling out each contributor 

to the legacy the baker is heir to. 

Each recipe reads like a family 

narrative, telling stories of special 

moments, sometimes with notes on a particular 

ingredient or flourish preferred by 

a specific member of her family. Jocelyn’s 

recipes are not only reflective of her own 

story, but they speak to a story recognized 

by many Black American families and the 

Diaspora as a whole. For many of us, baking 

with Grandmom, Nana, Mom-Mom or Big 

Mama, getting the sugar, getting in the way, 

memorizing the steps, and licking the bowl 

once everything was in the oven, are all 

familiar moments whether they happened 

at the holidays, at parties or on the special 

occasion that was every Sunday night. 

They were moments of connection where 

kitchens became classrooms. Life lessons 

were passed down with recipes, memories 

were made along with cakes, sweet rolls and 

cornbread. 

This year, just in time for the holidays, 

Jocelyn shares another family favorite: 

a chocolate pound cake with a peppermint 

ganache. The flavors are perfect for 

the season, and portions can be tweaked 

for sharing with a large group or among an 

intimate selection of loved ones. 

“In my family, baking has always been 

a gesture of love, especially during this time 

of year. I love getting in the kitchen with my 

mother and aunt and baking up something 

special we can give away. However, this 

ultimate chocolate pound cake with peppermint 

ganache glaze is one that we definitely 

love to savor ourselves.” AC 

of the story. 


Food 

Chocolate Pound Cake with Peppermint Ganache Glaze 

FOR THE CAKE 

¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature (3 sticks) 

2 ¾ cups granulated sugar 

5 large eggs, room temperature 

2 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour 

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

½ teaspoon instant coffee powder 

½ teaspoon baking powder 

½ teaspoon salt 

1 ⅓ cups buttermilk, room temperature 

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 

FOR THE GLAZE 

½ cup heavy cream 

2 teaspoons corn syrup 

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips 

¼ teaspoon Peppermint Extract 

Crushed holiday peppermint for garnish 

For the Cake: 

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Liberally prepare a 12-cup Bundt pan with the nonstick method of your choice. 

Pour the chocolate chips into a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each 

heating interval, until the chocolate is melted. 

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for 2 minutes on high speed. Slowly add 

the granulated sugar. Cream together for an additional 5 minutes, until very pale yellow and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, 

combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. 

Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed and slowly add the flour in 2 batches. Be careful not to overbeat. Add the cocoa 

powder, coffee powder, baking powder, and salt. Lastly, add the melted chocolate, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Make sure the 

chocolate cools slightly so as to not curdle the buttermilk. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix the batter until 

just combined. Be careful to not overmix. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 70 to 80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake 

comes out clean. Check frequently to ensure you do not overbake this cake. 

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Let cool to room temperature. Lightly 

cover the cake with foil or plastic wrap so it does not dry out. 

For the Glaze: 

In a small saucepan, add heavy cream and corn syrup and heat over medium heat until hot. 

Remove from heat then stir in chocolate. Continue to whisk until smooth then add in peppermint extract and allow to cool and 

thicken. 

Drizzle over cooled cake and let set. Garnish with crushed peppermint candy and serve. 

Serves 16 

Explore the Grandbaby Cakes Cookbook for more holiday recipes. 


Entertaining 

Perfect 

Holiday 

Our Editors Host A Sweet Celebration in Brooklyn 

Written and Produced 

by AphroChic: 

Jeanine Hays & Bryan Mason 

Photos by Chinasa Cooper 

Styling Assistant, Tanika Goudeau 

Hochhauser 

64 aphrochic

Christmas is one of our favorite holidays. Every year the season brings up memories of growing 

up in Philadelphia. As kids we couldn’t wait to get to the Wannemaker Building to see the 

Christmas Light Show and tour the world of Ebenezer Scrooge in the animatronic Dickens 

Village. We’d walk beneath the dazzling ornaments hung in Rittenhouse Square before going 

home to sit with moms and grandmoms to be reminded of the parts of the holiday that aren’t 

about trees and toys. 

There was more family, food and fun than at any other part of 

the year. And - at least for a while - we didn’t have to go to school. It 

was a magical time, and each year we try to share the same warm 

feelings we remember with our New York family, transforming our 

home into a winter wonderland just in time for our big party. 

Our apartment isn’t huge, so getting it in shape for a party, 

even a small one, takes some creative designing. This year, while 

the decor included a few nods to traditional holiday accessories, 

we wanted the feel of this celebration to be more sophisticated and 

modern. We decided to start by moving away from the customary 

palette of reds and greens to embrace brighter hues with more 

contemporary accents. To inspire our new color story, we took a 

cue from a piece we live with every day: our Cameroonian juju hat. 

With its bright, fuchsia color as a base, we set out to find hot pink 

ribbon for the wreath and tree with baubles to match. Echoing 

the bright accessories, the sofa was loaded with pillows from our 

textile collection, including a Congolese-inspired kuba print in 

purple and fuchsia. 

With so many bold colors on display, we needed to find a way 

to balance the intensity. Muted shades of gray and black were the 

perfect solution, but we needed a way to add them in that was still 

fun. Lining the mantel with gray, felt trees was a great way to get 

the color we needed along with a cozy texture that added to the 

aesthetic. As an added touch, we were thrilled to display our collection 

of black glass nutcrackers and reindeer, a cool update to the 

older wooden versions. Finally, we layered in our favorite metallics 

- silver, gold and a touch of copper to give the space a warm, holiday 

glow. 

For this year’s celebration we invited over a creative crowd 

from Brooklyn and beyond. We were happy to host floral-enthusiast 

Emily Howard Kudva and her husband, Suren, interior designer 

(and Jeanine’s sister) Angela Belt, journalist Jessica Cumberbatch 

Anderson with her husband Matt and designer Tanika Goudeau 

Hochhauser with her husband Brian. We were even happier to see 

their kids. Roxanne Kudva, Brooklyn Belt and August Anderson 

were the life of the party as we gathered for an evening of good 

issue two 67

Entertaining

Entertaining 

food, soulful holiday classics, and gift-giving. 

Environmental touches are a big 

part of any seasonal gathering, and for us, 

that starts with music. We had everything 

from Motown holiday standards to new 

classics by Boyz II Men setting the perfect 

mood. Stevie Wonder and Andra Day sang 

Someday At Christmas, with a refreshing 

new sound. Meanwhile, candles burned on 

the mantel, adding light and fragrance to 

the room, while guests big and small made 

quick work of gingerbread cookies and 

cider. Then it was onto the main event. 

Grownup parties aren’t the most 

exciting thing for kids - even the ones with 

cookies and cider. But we all remember the 

exhilaration that comes from seeing gifts 

under the tree, so the party began with a 

special treat for each of our little guests. 

The mantel was filled with stockings, 

which in turn were filled with gifts for 

little hands. While favors are usually given 

out at the end of a party, we love giving kids 

a gift that can keep them happy throughout 

the event. For the adults we had a 

“Happy Holidays” bar with sparkling wine 

and light bites. More gifts were stacked 

just for them on our gifting table - a new 

holiday tradition we adopted to free up 

space around the tree. 

On the tree, we showcased ornaments 

collected over two decades of life together. 

Among the selection of newly purchased 

snowy owls, houndstooth foxes and 

geometric ornaments were the sentimental 

pieces that mean the most to us. 

Every year we decorate the tree with a 

custom AphroChic silhouette ornament 

that we received years ago when we were 

just starting out, a Rwandan basket favor 

from our wedding, and a Christmas angel 

that brings back fond memories of holidays 

past. 

While the kids ran and played, we sat 

and enjoyed long conversations with our 

friends and family. And while we aren’t 

little anymore, or in Philly, and there isn’t 

an animatronic Christmas spirit in sight, 

we still get excited for the holidays. The 

work of preparing for guests, the fun of 

having them over and the excitement of 

little ones - these are the moments that 

make this season truly special. AC 

Our gift to you: listen to the 

AphroChic for the Holidays 

playlist on Spotify. 


Entertaining 

74 aphrochic

Entertaining 


Entertaining

Entertaining 

Effortless Holiday Entertaining Tips 

FESTIVAL OF COLOR 

Decorating for the holidays is just like designing for the home. Start with a color 

palette that complements your existing decor. Pick three shades for your holiday 

decor. For a modern touch be sure to include a strong neutral like black or gray. 

Once you have your color palette decided, you can go wild with ornaments and 

baubles, stockings, wrapping paper and other accessories that fit within your 

color story. The end result will be a visually striking winter wonderland. 

PERSONAL ORNAMENTATION 

Ornaments that have a personal connection to you and your family are important 

heirlooms to display during the holidays. Showcase any heirloom pieces on your 

tree, at your tabletop, and wherever you bring holiday decor into your home. And 

if you’re in need of personalized ornaments, make collecting them a new part of 

your tradition. Adding a new family ornament annually can be a fun way to grow 

your collection! 

SOULFUL TUNES 

Donny Hathaway’s This Christmas, Boyz II Men crooning Let It Snow, The 

Temptations version of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, no party is complete 

without a mixtape of favorite soulful holiday tunes. A few days before your event, 

be sure to make a playlist of family favorites, and in your invitation you can even 

ask guests for a few suggestions. Be sure to have enough music for a few hours 

of shuffle play. At the end of the night, share your playlist as a party favor that 

guests can enjoy throughout the season. 

FOR THE BABIES 

For your littlest guests, have presents at the ready upon their arrival. Stockings 

by the chimney can be filled with special treats for children. Child-friendly gifts 

can also be placed beneath the tree. Remember, they’ve waited all year long for 

Santa, so don’t make them wait one minute longer. Allow them to rip right in and 

open something to play with as the evening’s festivities go along. It will make for 

some very happy little ones. 

BAR STYLE 

Craft a bar that welcomes your guests upon arrival. Outfit a bar cart, console 

table, or any extra surface with shimmering glassware, cordials and tonics for 

the evening. Also have the area well-stocked with plates, flatware, napkins and 

other items that guests can grab so that they can easily enjoy all of the goodies 

served throughout your holiday celebration. 


Travel 

Telling Our 

Story 

Inside The National Museum of African American 

History and Culture in Washington D.C. 

The Smithsonian’s newest museum, The 

National Museum of African American 

History and Culture (NMAAHC), is a 

breathtaking display of the African 

American experience. 

Photos by Erika Layne 

Words by AphroChic: Jeanine Hays & Bryan Mason 

82 aphrochic

Travel 

Designed by the late Philip Freelon in partnership 

with British architect, David Adjaye, 

whose other projects include the luxurious Alara 

Lagos in Nigeria and the soon-to-be completed 

Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, the 

museum opened on September 24, 2016. Since its 

first day, the NMAAHC has received such a thunderous 

response that there can be a three-month 

wait for entry, but we promise it is worth the wait. 

As one would imagine, the museum is a 

place heavy with symbolism. Even it’s position, 

seeming to stand directly alongside the Washington 

Monument, provides an image rife with 

meaning. Its iconic, three-tiered outer facade, affectionately 

called the Corona, was inspired by 

the crown (or corona) typically found at the top of 

Yoruban caryatids - architectural pillars, traditionally 

shaped like women. This corona consists 

of 3,600 bronze-colored, cast-aluminum panels. 

Each panel is designed to resemble the ornate 

ironwork done by enslaved craftsmen in 19th 

century New Orleans. Adjaye designed the exterior 

to evoke Yoruban art and Greco-Roman building 

techniques while honoring the legacy of enslaved 

Africans. 

Inside, the space is as much a shrine as it is a 

museum; equally suited for quiet reflection and 

full-on revivals and just as likely to inspire either 

one. The lived experience of hundreds of years, 

the tragedy of oppression, the triumph of survival, 

the joy that persisted - and still persists through 

it all - all unfold in a rolling narrative. The story 

begins in the lowest levels of the building with 

the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the building of 

the Atlantic world in the 16th century. As visitors 

climb, time progresses. Slavery gives way to emancipation, 

segregation gives way to progress, gospel, 

R&B and hip-hop all have their say, heroes of all 

stripes are remembered and celebrated - from the 

orators to the sports heroes and even a president. 

In the process, our story is told through words and 

images, statues and artifacts, not as the history of a 

subculture but as the fabric of a nation. 

Though it’s not listed as an exhibit per se, 

the NMAAHC’s Sweet Home Cafe is a true experi- 

84 aphrochic

Travel 

ence offering an academic study of African 

American food culture. The menu is 

divided to cover, “The Agricultural South,” 

“The Western Range,” “The North States,” 

and “The Creole Coast.” Within these categories 

the cafe offers an amazing range 

of dishes and tastes, from Gulf Shrimp & 

Stone Ground Grits to High Mesa Peach 

& Blackberry Cobbler, with trout, fried 

chicken and more in between. The food in 

this museum isn’t a distraction from the 

story being told, but part of it as each dish 

touches on a unique history of Black life in 

each region. 

Once you’ve experienced the cafe, 

the upper floors of the museum promise 

an even deeper exploration of the Black 

American experience through a variety of 

different lenses. The third level examines 

the journey of African Americans in sports 

and the military - both long upheld as 

rudiments of American identity. Another 

exhibit on this floor, “The Power of Place,” 

depicts the diversity of Black experiences 

in the United States. From Chicago 

during the Great Migration to rediscovering 

the African American presence in 

the Old West the exhibit looks at specific 

periods and places that were definitional 

for African Americans in different parts of 

the country. 

There is something undeniably 

special about the Smithsonian, especially 

those museums situated on the National 

Mall. Institutions like the National 

Museum of American History and the 

National Museum of the American Indian 

hold pieces of our national identity as well 

as various artifacts and artworks. The 

National Museum of African American 

History and Culture is not the first 

museum dedicated to the story of Black 

people in this country. But this museum 

is a presentment of our history and our 

continued contributions to American and 

global culture on a level worthy of a Smithsonian 

museum and of the people it celebrates. 

AC 

88 aphrochic

Travel

Travel 

Inside, the space is as much a shrine 

as it is a museum; equally suited for 

quiet reflection and full-on revivals. 

92 aphrochic

Reference 

The Roots 

of Diaspora 

In the first installment of this series, we explored questions pertaining to the nature 

of the African Diaspora. The concept as we currently understand it emerges from the 

much longer history of Pan-Africanism - a massive body of individuals, organizations, 

movements, thinkers, creatives and artists that worked on all levels across many nations 

to improve the lives and lots of Black people around the world. 

It was the hope, tenacity, creativity, 

genius and ultimately the success of the 

many Pan-Africanist movements that paved 

the way for what we now know as the African 

Diaspora, changing the world several times 

along the way. In this article, we will begin 

to explore the history of Pan-Africanism 

as a social, political and cultural force from 

the first coining of the phrase through the 

beginning of the Harlem Renaissance. 

The Birth of Pan-Africanism 

It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise 

that communities born from dispersal across 

oceans quickly developed an international 

interest. Even before the turn of the 19th 

century, the victories of Toussaint L’Ouverture 

had become the personal triumph of 

nearly every member of the yet-to-benamed 

diaspora. At the same time, in Britain, 

a community of former slaves turned intellectuals, 

including Olaudah Equiano and 

Ottobah Cugoano, “developed a body of ideas 

and an intellectual tradition which provided 

the basis for Pan-Africanism in [the 20th] 

century,” according to German historian 

Imanuel Geiss. These foundations would 

come to fruition less than four decades after 

the beginning of emancipation in the United 

States when Pan-Africanism would take its 

first formal steps at a conference held over 

three days in London, in the summer of 1900. 

The Pan-African Conference held by 

Henry Sylvester-Williams in 1900 and the 

later “congresses” that lasted until 1974 under 

W.E.B. DuBois and others set the stage during 

a period of intense intellectual, cultural, and 

political commerce between dispersed communities 

on several continents. By the time 

he arrived in England in 1896, experience 

with the varying conditions of blackness 

in both his native Trinidad and the United 

States had provided Williams, a lawyer and 

lecturer, with ample reason to believe that 

the political fortunes of Black communities 

across national borders were interconnected. 

In 1897, Williams founded the African 

Association which became the Pan-African 

Association following the first conference. 

Though the organization would prove 

to be short-lived beyond the close of the conference, 

the meeting itself was not without 

result. As historian Saheed Adejumobi states, 

“For the first time, opponents of colonialism 

and racism gathered for an international 

meeting…The conference…attracted 

global attention, placing the word ‘Pan-African’ 

in the lexicon of international affairs and 

making it part of the standard terminology of 

black intellectuals.” 

It was also at the close of this pivotal 

event that W.E.B. DuBois would deliver 

his famous, “Address to the Nations of 

the World,” which marked the first public 

utterance of his most noted phrase: “The 

problem of the 20th century is the problem 

of the color line.” Though far from being the 

only medium or framework for interaction 

between Black intellectuals, the Pan-African 

congresses provide a useful timeline 

along which to assess the emergence and 

evolution of what would become the African 

Diaspora concept. Other complimenting and 

often competing ideals were forwarded by 

the Back-to-Africa movements of Marcus 

Schomburg Center for Research 

in Black Culture, Manuscripts, 

Archives and Rare Books 

Division, The New York Public 

Library. “W.E. Burghardt Du 

Bois” The New York Public Library 

Digital Collections. 1925. 

Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association 

(UNIA), as well as a host of Black Nationalist 

movements. 

From the beginning, the international 

nature and outlook of these conferences was 

clear. Geiss notes that, “Afro-Americans and 

Afro-West Indians were most prominent in 

it, but the [continental] African element was 

by no means negligible. The African Association, 

the Pan-African Association, and the 

Pan-African Conference were noticed and 

welcomed in the press of West Africa.” Nearly 

20 years passed between the first and second 

conferences, a span of time no doubt lengthened 

by the outbreak of the First World War 

in 1914. Nevertheless, Black intellectuals, led 

by DuBois, found occasion in 1919 for a Paris-based 

conference to run parallel to the 

peace conference being held in Versailles by 

the previously warring powers. 

With funds drawn from organizations 

ranging from the NAACP to the Elks 

and Masons, the second Pan-African Conference 

(also called the first Pan-African 

Congress) brought together some sixty intellectuals 

from around the world. Resolutions 

coming out of this event included a host of 

demands levied against the colonial powers. 

Yet Adejumobi relates that, “While congress 

attendees insisted that [Africans] should be 

allowed…to participate in their own government, 

they did not demand African self-determination. 

[Yet] despite the moderate 

nature of the demands, the European and 

American powers represented at the Versailles 

Peace Conference remained noncommittal.” 

The Mechanisms of Pan-Africanism 

During the interval separating the first 

and second Pan-African conferences, events 

continued to unfold that would impact both 

the direction and scope of internationalist 

activity. Notable among these was the 

London publication of the African Times 

and Orient Review by Duse Mohamed Ali. 

Described by the Chicago Defender in 1922 as 

a “dramatist, traveler, and financier,” among 

other trades, Ali was deeply interested in 

the financial impact of racial discrimination 

around the world. 



Reference 

Schomburg Center for 

Research in Black Culture, 

Manuscripts, Archives and Rare 

Books Division, The New York 

Public Library. “The Brown 

Madonna” The New York Public 

Library Digital Collections. 1925. 

Schomburg Center for Research 

in Black Culture, Manuscripts, 

Archives and Rare Books 

Division, The New York Public 

Library. “Alain Locke” The New 

York Public Library Digital 

Collections. 1925. 

One of a number of truly fascinating 

characters from this period, Ali began as the 

child of an Egyptian father and a Sudanese 

mother. Losing contact with his impoverished 

family and thus his knowledge of 

Arabic, Ali adopted the name Duse in 

addition to his given Mohamed Ali. His life’s 

resume included periods of journalism, 

acting, editing, plagiarized books and failed 

plays along with continuing business speculation 

in the trading and banking industries. 

An ardent Pan-Africanist in addition to 

supporting Islam as the spiritual alternative 

to Christianity for Black people around the 

world, Ali was influential in the founding of 

both the Moorish Science Temple of America, 

and the Nation of Islam. The African Times 

and Orient Review ran intermittently and 

under various titles between 1912 and 1928. 

In every incarnation, according to historian, 

Robert Hill, the paper was intended to be, 

“a Pan-Oriental, Pan-African journal at 

the seat of the British Empire which would 

lay the aims, desires and intentions of the 

Black, Brown, and Yellow Races - within and 

without the Empire - at the throne of Caesar.” 

Despite the care taken to express loyalty 

to the monarchy in whose seat the paper 

operated, the enterprise was regarded with 

suspicion by British authorities for its open 

support of “Pan-Ethiopianist” ideals. Nevertheless, 

the paper enjoyed wide distribution, 

finding itself in locales as varied as India, New 

Zealand and Australia, as well as Oklahoma, 

New York, and a host of other North American 

cities. It also drew the attention of several 

notable contributors and correspondents. 

Among them were Booker T. Washington 

and J.E. Casely Hayford. Also included was 

renowned journalist and advocate of Black 

self-defense, Bruce Grit. Yet perhaps the 

greatest impact would be made by the young 

Marcus Garvey, who worked for a period in 

1913 as a messenger and handyman at the 

magazine’s offices in London. 

By the time of the convening of the 1919 

conference, Garvey had, after meeting with 

initial disappointments in his native Jamaica, 

established his own Pan-African movement 

in the United States. The UNIA would become 

one of the largest organizations of its time, 

establishing several hundred branches with 

thousands of members. The impact and 

influence of the UNIA stretched beyond the 

United States and the Caribbean to make 

itself felt in Canada and throughout Africa as 

well. 

The massive international appeal of 

“Garveyism” illustrated not only the need, 

but also the potential of combining various 

perspectives on blackness that emerged 

from the disparate corners of the diaspora, 

as well as the divergent social and political 

demands of the varying populations. The rise 

of the UNIA represented just such a juxtaposition 

as Robert Hill points out, because, 

“at the simplest level, Marcus Garvey and 

the UNIA symbolize the historic encounter 

between two highly developed socioeconomic 

and political traditions: the social consciousness 

and drive for self-governance of 

the Caribbean peasantry and the racial consciousness 

and search for justice of the Afro-American 

community.” The combination 

would strike a nerve at a time that 

would prove pivotal for the formation and 

direction of Black political leadership in the 

United States. On the international level, 

the combined effect of Garvey’s unrelenting 

insistence on Black equality and African 

nationalism with the “new metaphysic of 

success” caused the movement to ascend, for 

a time, to the level of a religion. 

The New Negro 

Four years after the third Pan-African 

Congress was convened by DuBois in 1923 in 

Lisbon, he held the fourth in New York City in 

1927. By that time, New York had established 

itself as the unofficial center of the Black 

avant-garde. The 1920’s opened the door on 

a period of cultural rebirth, innovation, and 

most of all, reinvention. Intellectuals of every 

stripe and school seemed to flock to the city. 

Nationalists quarreled with integrationists 

while Garveyists and Black Muslims – ostensible 

cousins through the influence of Duse 

Mohamed Ali – preached self-determination 

and self-defense. All the while a new 

generation of authors, poets, playwrights, 

actors and artists produced a body of work 

that would alter, and in many cases, set the 

standard for years to come. 

The cultural epitome of this moment 

was embodied in the New Negro Movement, 

itself epitomized in an eponymous book. 

The New Negro was edited by Alain Locke and 

published first in 1925. The opening words of 

Locke’s introduction encapsulate the gestalt 

and driving worldview of both the book and 

the time that it was meant to symbolize. From 

the very first words of his introduction, Locke 

describes a moment of great and surprising 

transition. Proclaiming that the coming 

of the New Negro is the result of a series 

of phenomena that occurred, “beyond the 

watch and guard of statistics,” Locke warns 

that this new notion of blackness will be as 

unpredictable in its presence as it had been 

in its arrival. 

In effect, the New Negro functions for 

Locke as the direct antithesis of the “Old” 

Negro paradigm set up by myriad works of 

fact and fiction ranging from Harriet Beecher 

Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin to W.E.B. Du Bois’, 

Souls of Black Folk. This marks its emergence 

as an act of defiance not only against the 

widely held views attending considerations 

of, “The Negro Problem” in the mainstream, 

but even against those who had, since emancipation, 

taken up the overseer’s role of 

shepherding the race. The result, as Locke 

relates, is that: 

The Sociologist, the Philanthropist, 

the Race-leader are not unaware of 

the New Negro, but they are at a loss 

to account for him. He simply cannot 


Reference 

be swathed in their formulæ. For the 

younger generation is vibrant with 

a new psychology; the new spirit is 

awake in the masses, and under the 

very eyes of the professional observers 

is transforming what has been a 

perennial problem into the progressive 

phases of contemporary Negro life. 

In New York, Locke’s statements were 

given form by intellectuals with scores of 

complementing and competing ideas on 

how to meet the issues of their time. Yet, 

they were all united in the spirit (if not the 

rhetoric) of the New Negro movement by the 

single driving goal that animated them all: to 

become - and to be seen as - something other 

than what they had been. 

Despite his mention of the sociologist, 

philanthropist, and race-leader as political 

as well as social elements in the life of “The 

Negro,” Locke steadfastly avoids overt 

political speech in both the introduction and 

the content of The New Negro as a whole – a 

decision which gained him the ire of some 

contributors. Nevertheless, both the contributors 

to the anthology and the movement that 

it represented were staunchly political as fit 

the tenor of the time. Meanwhile, the political 

positions of its contributors were made clear 

in the work that they produced on both sides 

of the editor’s desk for the numerous Black 

publications that flourished, often briefly, 

during this time of furious activity. These 

journals would prove profoundly important 

to the dissemination and development of 

Black cultural content and political thought, 

simultaneously stimulating and chronicling 

the movement even as it occurred. In fact, as 

Demetrius Eudell remarks: 

The whole of the New Negro Renaissance 

could actually be summed up in 

the titles of the journals produced in 

Harlem: The Voice, Crisis, Opportunity, 

The Messenger, The Crusader, The 

Negro World. In these titles, the objectives 

of the movement are clearly 

defined—and dialectically so, for at the 

same time that Blacks found themselves 

in crisis, the situation also presented 

itself as an opportunity for the establishment 

of a new message—one… 

relevant to the entire Negro world. 

In addition to those listed above, several 

noted authors of the Harlem movement, 

including contributors to the New Negro 

anthology such as Langston Hughes, Countee 

Cullen, and Zora Neale Hurston, attempted to 

put forth their own views on Black life and art 

in the aptly named journal, Fire!, the content 

of which was intentionally designed to fly in 

the face of what its authors felt to be the propagandist 

stance of older figures like Locke. 

Harlem in the 1920s was as alive with 

journalistic and scholarly writing as it was 

with fiction and poetry. However, the “Negro 

World” did more than just listen to the 

messages emanating from the United States. 

It formed them, providing both content and 

context, as likeminded thinkers from around 

the Diaspora provided Harlem with messages 

of their own. 

The birth of Pan-Africanism was not 

the beginning of international awareness 

in Black people. But the convening of liberation-minded 

Black thinkers from all over 

the globe was the spark and recognition of a 

new moment both for those colonized on the 

African continent and those internally-colonized 

in the, “New World”. This intense period 

of international collaboration came at a time 

when Black populations all over the world 

were facing similar kinds of oppression under 

various guises and names. It was their mutual 

recognition of their shared plight as well as 

their common history that encouraged them 

to look across borders and oceans for help 

they could not find anywhere else. AC 

Schomburg Center for Research in Black 

Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare 

Books Division, The New York Public Library. 

“The New Negro : an interpretation” The New 

York Public Library Digital Collections. 1925. 


Sounds 

Rapsody’s Eve: 

Respect Given, Respect Earned 

With Eve, Rapsody celebrates a long tradition of powerful Black women while adding 

her name to the list. 

Maya Angelou once said, “I respect 

myself and insist upon it from everybody. 

And because I do it, I then respect everybody, 

too.” On her third album, Eve, Rapsody pays 

respect to Black women while demanding her 

own. 

At its core, Eve is a love letter to Black 

women, each song titled after one of 

Rapsody’s heroes. Oprah is a triumphant 

anthem of success named after the billionaire 

entrepreneur. Tyra is a celebration of 

Black beauty, inspired by its namesake supermodel. 

“You looking at a winner, remember, 

I ain’t never had dough / But I walk like I got 

it, ‘cause my blood mixed with black gold / 

Misty Copeland ten toes dancin’ around the 

odds,” she raps. Ibtihaj shares its name with 

the American fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad, 

who became the first Muslim-American to 

compete in the Olympics while wearing a 

hijab. 

Rapsody poured a lot of thought into the 

concept album, bringing her creativity to centerstage 

with care and precision. “I can’t be 

no bird in a cage,” goes the hook on the introspective 

Maya, inspired by Angelou’s classic, 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She recruits 

D’Angelo and GZA for Ibtihaj, a remake of 

the Wu MC’s masterpiece, Liquid Swords. 

Check the wordplay on Whoopi, which nods 

back to the Sister Act star, Whoopi Goldberg 

(“You gon’ make a sister act up”). Album coda, 

Afeni, named after 2Pac’s mother, samples an 

acapella line from Keep Ya Head Up, uniting 

the former Black Panther with her son over a 

poignant 9th Wonder beat. 

The titles are not gimmicky. They serve 

as a canvas for thoughtful and witty portraits 

of Black beauty, success and strength. Step 

aside from the song titles and you’ll find 

Rapsody winking at a longer list of esteemed 

women. She name-checks Lauryn Hill, 

Jemele Hill, Anna Mae, Angela Bassett and 

Shirley Murdock. And that’s just on the 

opening track, Nina. 

Throughout Eve, Rapsody threads 

the lineage of Black women, drawing from 

womanhood as a source of strength, pride 

and intellect. Although these themes have 

always been present in Rapsody’s music, Eve 

brings it all together, making it her most compelling 

album yet. 

Rapsody stands in her truth, while 

showcasing her skill. “If you confuse my 

boxin’, with me being boxed in, it’s my native 

language, ain’t gotta say it in moccasins / 

Whatever I be rockin’ in, I speak the truth,” 

she proclaims on Maya. Her skill has never 

been in doubt, but she sounds much more 

relaxed and inspired on Eve. Her pen game 

is sharp on Cleo (Y’all banked on the wrong 

ones, wasted your energy / Lost more 

interest, got me laughin’ at my enemies”), 

playful on Aaliyah (“I’ma treat myself, let me 

get a supersize/As my cup runneth over, it’s 

fulfilling to me”) and self-assured on Whoopi 

(“Chicks don’t faze me, I’m just like ‘Yonce / I 

ain’t feelin’ you like I ain’t feelin’ new Kanye”). 

The production on Eve is a treat. Steered 

by longtime collaborator 9th Wonder, Eve 

serves up a slice of nostalgia garnished with 

modern flourishes. It deftly samples the likes 

of Herbie Hancock (Whoopi), Phil Collins 

(Cleo) and Aaliyah’s mesmerizing vocals 

(Aaliyah). Much like the guest turns, the music 

complements Rapsody without competing for 

attention. 

Eve is a statement album that cements 

Rapsody’s place as one of rap’s elites. By surrounding 

herself with an outstanding group 

of women, Rapsody inherently positions 

herself within the broad dynasty of Black 

womanhood. Respect given, respect taken. 

Maya Angelou would be proud. AC 

Words by Henry Adaso 


PINPOINT 

Artists & Artisans | Hot Topic | Who Are You

ARTISTS & ARTISANS 

Fabiola Jean-Louis 

A rustle of fabric, a pop of color and the unflinching gaze of dark eyes. With these, fine 

art photographer Fabiola Jean-Louis weaves a narrative that blends past and future, fact 

and fantasy, afro-futurism and Black girl magic. In the process, blending photography 

and sculpture, she warps time and space, giving us a glimpse of what might have been 

while casting light on a history that many have forgotten or ignored. 

The artist’s most celebrated series, 

Re-Writing History, is a mesmerizing 

and painstaking interrogation of history, 

symbolism and the value placed on Black 

bodies. The collection ranges from pieces 

resembling Victorian-era paintings to 

ghostly images reminiscent of those popular 

during Britain’s Spiritualist movement. 

Fabiola’s painterly photographs are deeply 

layered, using camera, model and wardrobe 

to mimic oil paintings. Even more intriguing, 

Fabiola sculpts her models’ elaborate 

dresses completely out of papier-mâché. 

The effect is flawless and fraught with 

symbolism. Both evoke the artist’s deep 

interest in Diaspora religious systems 

including Vodun, Voodoo and Candomblé. 

Fabiola’s world celebrates the beauty 

and strength of Black women, while 

indicting past and present efforts to deny, 

control or extinguish them. 

The images are as subversive as they 

are beautiful - demanding closer inspection, 

greeting it with poignant critique. In 

“Madame Beauvoir’s Painting” a woman 

gazes at a painting of an enslaved man 

whose deep back scars are designed into 

the back of her gown. The sculpted dress 

in “Madame Leroy” features a central 

ornament depicting a Black man in chains 

hanging from a floral tree. “The Conquistador” 

is arresting, speaking volumes about 

colonization and the very beginnings of the 

trans-Atlantic slave trade. 

In some works, the title of the piece is 

as striking as the image itself. “They’ll Say 

We Enjoyed It,” features a model serenely 

looking away from a painting of two white 

men assaulting a Black woman. Her appearance 

echoes that of Marie Antoinette 

in Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun’s 1778 portrait. 

The piece’s title echoes Zora Neal Hurston’s 

famous quote, “If you are silent about your 

pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.” 

Re-Writing History, is a captivating 

commentary on some of society’s uglier 

realities through the mechanism of revisionist 

history and the medium of beautiful 

art. Yet it’s intervention is not placing Black 

people in Victorian England - we were 

already there. Perhaps the most celebrated 

and heartbreaking story of the “Black Victorians” 

belongs to Sarah Forbes Bonetta. 

Orphaned during her capture at six, she 

was later “rescued” by British naval captain, 

Frederick E Forbes. Forbes appended both 

his name and that of his ship, “Bonetta,” to 

the girl before presenting her as a gift to 

Queen Victoria at the age of eight. 

Though elegant images of her and 

other Black people of this era exist from both 

the United States and the United Kingdom, 

the lives of the people depicted were often 

anything but. Re-Writing History, points 

out this glaring disparity, challenging us to 

identify the narratives, symbols and tropes 

used to carry out and justify these tragedies 

while shining a light on their continued 

presence today. AC 

Photos by Patrick Cline 





issue two 115

HOT TOPIC 

Social Media and the Politics of Representation 

Recently, AphroChic was invited to give the keynote address at an AfroTech event held 

by Pinterest in San Francisco. The topic of our talk was, “Social Media and the Politics of 

Representation.” And while there isn’t room here for us to relate the entire conversation, 

we’d like to take the opportunity to share some of what we feel were its key insights. 

Social media and social justice are 

no strangers to each other. Over the past 

several years, African Americans have 

used various platforms to call attention to 

important matters from issues of police 

brutality to the subtler forms of racism that 

are found in who is seen and who is not - 

the question of representation. But representation 

is more than who appears on 

a magazine and social media is more than 

angry tweets and cancel culture. The connection 

between them is far deeper and 

older than the country itself. 

Frederick Douglass was one of the first 

to recognize the impact of representation 

on the national discourse and the potential 

for technology to allow African Americans 

to participate in it. Seeing the power of 

imagery to shape what people thought and 

felt, he realized the harm done to Black 

people through our inability to represent 

ourselves. He felt photography offered an 

objectivity that Black people would never 

receive from white artists. He also recognized 

the opportunity to eloquently make, 

through his own image, the same argument 

for the dignity and humanity of Black people 

that he made in his speeches - a realization 

that led to him becoming the most photographed 

American of the 19th century. The 

connection that Douglass drew between 

technology and the democratization of 

popular culture is one that continues to 

resonate today, with social media offering us 

an even greater opportunity to control the 

conversation on who we are. 

In Douglass’ time, and for two 

centuries before, the most important form 

of Black representation was posters for slave 

auctions. By the 1830s, Thomas Dartmouth 

Rice’s popular character, “Jim Crow,” had 

popularized the blackface minstrel show. 

This uniquely cruel form of cultural appropriation 

was the beginning of American 

pop culture, in that it was the first thing 

that nearly everyone in the country agreed 

was funny. As such, it did much to codify 

whiteness and blackness in the American 

consciousness through its reinforcement of 

common stereotypes such as the lazy, lewd 

and happy slave. Yet as is commonly seen, 

it was a representation imposed on Black 

people, who had no ability to counter the 

characterization. 

Tropes of blackness created during 

slavery have continued to evolve, allowing 

white imaginations to shape the concept 

of what Black people are with harmful, real 

world consequences. The characters of the 

depraved slave girl, Topsy, and the mindlessly 

violent Sambo inadvertently created 

by Harriet Beecher Stowe’s successful anti-slavery 

polemic, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 

drew on existing pickaninny stereotypes, 

becoming popular embodiments of them. 

Such stereotypical images were a consistent 

part of American life, used in advertisements 

for everything from household electronics 

to breath mints and soaps that joked 

about their ability to clean the black from a 

person’s skin. While these advertisements 

lasted until at least the mid 1960s, blackface 

continues to be both an ongoing conversation 

and an intermittent occurrence, 

appearing on popular television shows, 

late night comedians and occasional politicians 

even today. The impact of these images 

has been to shape the American concept of 

what a Black person is, and can be directly 

connected to the later political characterizations 

of the “welfare queen,” the “suspicious 

person” and the “thug.” 

These archetypes are so woven into the 

fabric of our society that they become what 

Dr. Franklin D Gilliam, Jr. termed “common 

knowledge,” in his 1999 study of news 

reports on Black welfare queens. Common 

knowledge in this case is the adherence 

to the trope as truth to such a degree that 

actual facts are dismissed or ignored. For 

example, the fact that Ronald Reagan based 

the idea of the welfare queen on a white con 

woman that he recast as Black does little to 

Words by Bryan Mason and Jeanine Hays 

Photos by Oladimeji Odunsi and Mikaala Shackelford 

116 aphrochic

HOT TOPIC 

change instinctive reactions to Black women 

as being of lesser education, morality or 

worth. Not only is the image common 

knowledge, but for many the attitude is no 

longer connected to the specific trope. 

A major consequence of common 

knowledge is misrecognition, which 

happens when a person is so convinced of 

the stereotypes surrounding someone that 

they cannot imagine them to be otherwise, 

even in the face of direct evidence. Harvard 

professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was misrecognized 

as a suspicious person while 

going into his own home in 2009. A call 

from a neighbor to the police resulted in his 

arrest. Trayvon Martin was misrecognized 

first as a suspicious person by his murderer, 

George Zimmerman, and later in the press 

as a thug, as pundits debated whether his 

hoodie was a contributing factor in his 

death. 

At the core of the question of representation 

is the inability of people of color to 

control the construction of their image and 

therefore their presence in the popular consciousness. 

De facto gatekeepers, including 

print and broadcast news, magazine 

editors, television and movie producers, 

museum and gallery curators and various 

types of marketers create further difficulty 

by choosing to either exclude African 

Americans entirely or to confine our 

presence to prevailing or comfortable narratives. 

While the issue of representation is 

often a battle over the public consciousness 

at large, equally at stake is our internal view 

of ourselves both communally and individually, 

as the pervasiveness of popular narratives 

makes it all too easy to internalize 

their conclusions regardless of their degree 

of truth or inaccuracy. The inability, specifically 

at the direction of another, to be fully 

or accurately represented, the inability to 

freely represent oneself - even to oneself, 

and the underlying suggestion that the full 

range of human experiences, possibilities 

and achievements are the expected 

province of a specific group of people while 

others achieve them only incidentally is as 

damaging to the individual person of color 

internally as it is dangerous to us externally. 

What Frederick Douglass saw in photography 

in the 1800s is precisely what 

social media presents to us today - a massive 

shift in technology offering the opportunity 

to take an active hand in our own representation, 

expanding the narrative 

around the Black experience and representing 

ourselves to ourselves for our own 

sake. By decentralizing the means by which 

thoughts, ideas, works and conversations 

enter the public sphere, social media has, 

to some degree, democratized the process 

of creating popular culture. And while this 

is new and open territory, fraught with 

drawbacks, it has also played a vital role 

in the creation of public voices for those 

whose representation was previously kept 

primarily in the hands of people outside of 

their communities. 

Image-based social media like 

Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat play an 

especially important role in this process. 

After all, if a picture is worth a thousand 

words, then every Instagram feed is an epic 

poem and every Pinterest board a library. 

Boards like our Black Girls Rock, Tall Dark 

and Handsome, and Modern Soulful Stylish 

Homes are refutations of the Topsy, welfare 

queen, suspicious person and thug tropes. 

On Black Girls Rock we contradict the traditional 

tropes surrounding Black women 

by featuring women of different skin tones, 

body types and fashion approaches working 

to dispel the myth that there is only one 

“Black woman.” Similarly, our Tall Dark and 

Handsome board expands the narrative surrounding 

Black men by showing us as fashionable 

and sophisticated. The inclusion of 

dandies and LGBTQ+ luminaries like Billy 

Porter pushes our consideration of Black 

men beyond contemporary narratives of 

toxic masculinity. Though the images we 

choose do not conform to common topes, 

importantly, these boards are not created in 

reaction to them, but rather as expressions 

of our own view of Black people. 

By offering a way past the gatekeepers, 

social media is an unprecedented opportunity 

to intervene in the narratives that 

have, for so long, shaped and limited the 

life chances of African Americans. It’s not 

a magic bullet and it isn’t automatic. Like 

so many other tools it’s only as useful as we 

work to make it. 

Every image that appears on Instagram 

is not a blow for or against social justice, 

and it shouldn’t have to be. But being aware 

of the way that images have been used and 

continue to be used to disenfranchise Black 

communities will make us aware of the 

chances to tell a different story. As Frederick 

Douglass reminds us, “[Humanity] is the 

only picture-making animal in the world. 

[We] alone of all the inhabitants of the earth 

has the capacity and passion for pictures . . . 

Poets, prophets, and reformers are all picture-makers, 

and this ability is the secret 

of their power and achievements: they see 

what ought to be by the reflection of what is, 

and endeavor to remove the contradiction.” 

AC 

118 aphrochic

WHO ARE YOU 

Name: Sammy Picone 

Hometown: Brooklyn, 

New York 

Occupation: Pole 

artist, brand 

ambassador, and 

acupuncturist in 

training 

Dream: To open a 

pole dance aerobics 

studio and be an 

acupuncturist for 

dancers and athletes. 

“Black culture is connection.” 

120 aphrochic

AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 2

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