AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 15
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APHROCHIC<br />
a curated lifestyle magazine<br />
ISSUE NO. <strong>15</strong> \ SPRING 2024<br />
ART FOR THE PEOPLE \ THE JOY OF SPRING \ THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE<br />
APHROCHIC.COM
In <strong>Issue</strong> <strong>No</strong>. <strong>15</strong> of <strong>AphroChic</strong> we explore the worlds of creatives who are showing us the<br />
sheer depth and breadth of Black culture in the 21st century. Black culture is everywhere<br />
— in food, fashion, down historic city streets, and in some of the world’s greatest cultural<br />
institutions. In this spring 2024 issue, where we’re almost a quarter into the century,<br />
we’re shining a light on the ways in which Black culture is discovering new ways to honor<br />
our past, build a better and more equitable present, and radically reimagine our future.<br />
Chef Rasheeda Purdie graces the cover. She is the woman behind Ramen by Ra, New York City’s first Black- and woman-owned<br />
ramen restaurant. We feature the work she is doing, breaking new ground in the culinary world by bringing together<br />
traditional Japanese ramen and southern soul food to create dishes that wow the palette and honor her cultural heritage.<br />
In Brooklyn, we take you inside the exhibit that has art-lovers’ hearts afire, Giants: Art From The Dean Collection of Swizz Beats<br />
and Alicia Keys at the Brooklyn Museum. We explore how the couple has redefined the role of art collectors, elevated the value of<br />
contemporary Black art, and brought art to the people. Then we head to Detroit where another musician, BLKBOK, is blending<br />
classical with Hip Hop, telling stories of Black history through a sound that is all his own.<br />
In City Stories we travel to Philadelphia, exploring the historic stone streets, architectural marvels, murals and cultural<br />
centers that are part of the rich Black history of the nation’s first capital. And in Artists & Artisans, we share with you the work of<br />
photographer Carla Williams, whose debut monograph, Tender, explores a young, queer, Black woman’s identity through the lens<br />
of her camera.<br />
In a world that feels like it’s growing more chaotic by the day, we offer a new series for 2024 — Radically Reimagined. This<br />
series is an exploration of how we all can be part of designing a better world through radically reimagining, deconstructing,<br />
and developing new paradigms. And in Civics we take a solution-oriented approach to addressing the many genocides that are<br />
happening globally, providing you with resources on how to help bring an end to the practice of deliberately killing and eradicating<br />
nations and ethnic groups around the world.<br />
For uplifting inspiration, we share with you master floral designer John L. Goodman’s spring tablescape, inspired by one of<br />
his favorite books — The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit. In Fashion, we take you inside the world of Kwasi Paul, the mens and<br />
womenswear fashion label by designer Samuel Boakye that blends his New York and Ghanaian roots through bold silhouettes and<br />
lots of color. And in Interior Design, we visit the upstate New York home of Brazilian designer Ana Claudia Schultz.<br />
As with every issue of <strong>AphroChic</strong>, we’re here to show you the beauty and diversity of the African Diaspora, from Black thought<br />
to art, fashion, and design. The world may be chaotic 24 years into the 21st century, but across the Diaspora the future is indeed<br />
very bright.<br />
Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason<br />
Founders, <strong>AphroChic</strong><br />
Instagram: @aphrochic<br />
editors’ letter
SPRING 2024<br />
DEPARTMENTS<br />
Read This 10<br />
Visual Cues 12<br />
Coming Up 14<br />
The Black Family Home 16<br />
Mood 26<br />
FEATURES<br />
Fashion // A World Within Itself 30<br />
Interior Design // A Mid-Century Modern Dream 40<br />
Culture // Art for the People 56<br />
Food // Soul Ramen 68<br />
Entertaining // The Joy of Spring 74<br />
City Stories // The City of Brotherly Love 80<br />
Reference // Radically Reimagined 96<br />
Wellness // Resetting Your Way to a Better Life 104<br />
Sounds // BLKBOK: Where Hip Hop Meets Classical 106<br />
PINPOINT<br />
Artists & Artisans 114<br />
Civics 120<br />
Who Are You? 126
CONTRIBUTORS<br />
Cover Photo: Rasheeda Purdie<br />
Photographer: Rashida Zagon<br />
Publishers/Editors: Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason<br />
Creative Director: Cheminne Taylor-Smith<br />
Editorial/Product Contact:<br />
<strong>AphroChic</strong><br />
<strong>AphroChic</strong>.com<br />
magazine@aphrochic.com<br />
Brand Partnerships and Ad Sales:<br />
Krystle DeSantos<br />
Krystle@aphrochic.com<br />
Contributors:<br />
Ruby Brown<br />
Chinasa Cooper<br />
issue fifteen 9
READ THIS<br />
As James Baldwin said, “If you know whence you came, there is really no limit to where you can go.” History is a<br />
great teacher, and to know one's history is also a great way to chart one's future. In this issue's list of important<br />
books, <strong>AphroChic</strong> looks to important Civil Rights figures and events. Medgar and Myrlie Evers fought to desegregate<br />
the University of Mississippi, organized picket lines and boycotts, and survived a firebombing of their home. When<br />
Medgar was assassinated by the Klan in 1963, Myrlie continued their work in his name. Their love story was at the<br />
heart of everything they did, and it's intertwined with their passion for the Civil Rights Movement in Medgar &<br />
Myrlie. Constance Baker Motley, who finally gets her due in Civil Rights Queen, was the first Black woman to argue a<br />
case in front of the Supreme Court, she defended Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham, helped to argue in Brown<br />
vs. The Board of Education, and played a critical role in fighting Jim Crow laws throughout the South. And Tragedy on<br />
Trial puts the spotlight on the shocking story of the 1955 trial of Emmett Till's murderers, particularly the fearless<br />
efforts of Mamie Till and the courageous friends and family who testified.<br />
Civil Rights Queen<br />
by Tomiko Brown-Nagin<br />
Publisher: Vintage. $18.99<br />
Tragedy on Trial<br />
by Ronald K.L. Collins<br />
Publisher: Carolina Academic<br />
Press. $25.99<br />
Medgar & Myrlie<br />
by Joy-Ann Reid<br />
Publisher: Mariner Books. $29<br />
10 aphrochic
Celebrate Black homeownership and the<br />
amazing diversity of the Black experience<br />
with <strong>AphroChic</strong>’s newest book<br />
In this powerful, visually stunning book, Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason explore<br />
the Black family home and its role as haven, heirloom, and cornerstone of Black<br />
culture and life. Through striking interiors, stories of family and community,<br />
and histories of the obstacles Black homeowners have faced for generations,<br />
<strong>AphroChic</strong> honors the journey, recognizes the struggle, and embraces the joy.<br />
AVAILABLE WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD
VISUAL CUES<br />
William Henry Johnson (American, 1901–1970). Woman in Blue, c. 1943. Oil on<br />
burlap. Framed: 35 × 27 in. (88.9 × 68.6 cm). Clark Atlanta University Art Museum,<br />
Permanent Loan from the National Collection of Fine Art. Courtesy Clark Atlanta<br />
University Art Museum.<br />
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting a new<br />
exhibit, The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic<br />
Modernism, as the first African American–led movement<br />
of international modern art. With 160 works of<br />
art on display through July 28, it showcases how Black<br />
artists portrayed everyday modern life in the new<br />
Black cities of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. In those<br />
decades of the Great Migration, millions of African<br />
Americans moved north from the segregated rural<br />
South. At the core of the exhibition are artists who<br />
shared a commitment to depicting the Black subject in<br />
a radically modern way, refusing the racist stereotypes<br />
of the day. Paintings, sculpture, film, and photography<br />
are featured from artists such as Charles Alston,<br />
Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, Palmer Hayden,<br />
Bert Hurley, William H. Johnson, Archibald Motley, Jr.,<br />
Winold Reiss, Augusta Savage, James Van Der Zee, and<br />
Laura Wheeler Waring. A powerful gallery features<br />
Romare Bearden’s <strong>15</strong>-foot-wide series of collages, The<br />
Block (1970), from The Met collection, offering a town<br />
house row in mid-century Harlem and that sustains<br />
the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. Many of the<br />
pieces in the exhibition come from the collections of<br />
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs),<br />
including Clark Atlanta University Art Museum,<br />
Fisk University Galleries, Hampton University Art<br />
Museum, and Howard University Gallery of Art. For<br />
more information, go to metmuseum.org.<br />
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DIVINE<br />
FEMININITY<br />
BY FARES MICUE<br />
P E R I G O L D . C O M
COMING UP<br />
Events, exhibits, and happenings that celebrate and explore the African Diaspora.<br />
The Black Cowboy Festival<br />
May 23-26 | Rembert, SC<br />
The Black Cowboy Festival is an annual event that<br />
celebrates the historical and contemporary significance<br />
of African American contributions to cowboy<br />
and frontier culture. It's estimated that one in four<br />
of the Old West cowboys were Black, many of whom<br />
were recently freed enslaved people migrating from<br />
the South. Black men and women on horseback were<br />
a symbol of power then, and the festival organizers<br />
celebrate that they still are today. In its 27th year, the<br />
festival includes competitive rodeo events, demonstrations,<br />
entertainers, horseback rides, line dancing,<br />
trail rides, calf roping, wagon rides, artifact displays,<br />
and food vendors.<br />
Learn more at blackcowboyfestival.net.<br />
American Black Film Festival<br />
June 12-16 | Miami<br />
The American Black Film Festival is an<br />
annual event dedicated to empowering<br />
Black talent and showcasing film and<br />
television content by and about people<br />
of African descent. The ABFF provides<br />
a platform for emerging Black artists —<br />
many of whom have become successful<br />
actors, producers, writers, directors and<br />
stand-up comedians. The event includes<br />
screenings, classes, seminars and cultural<br />
events.<br />
Learn more at abff.com/miami.<br />
Bronzeville Juneteenth Celebration<br />
June 17 | Chicago<br />
The historic Bronzeville neighborhood<br />
hosts an annual Juneteenth celebration<br />
that attracts thousands. Located on<br />
the south side of Chicago, Bronzeville<br />
became an established neighborhood<br />
around the turn of the 20th century as<br />
a result of the Great Migration. Today<br />
it's known as a cultural center and arts<br />
district. The Juneteenth event includes<br />
art installations, storytelling, visual and<br />
performing arts, historical tours, and<br />
more.<br />
Learn more at eventnoire.com.<br />
International Black Theatre Festival<br />
July 29-August 3 | Winston-Salem, NC<br />
<strong>No</strong>w in its 18th year, the International<br />
Black Theatre Festival attracts over<br />
65,000 attendees. The multi-day festival<br />
includes 100 theatrical performances, as<br />
well as films, spoken word poetry, youth<br />
programming, workshops, academic discussions,<br />
and an international vendor’s<br />
market showcasing art and crafts from<br />
the African Diaspora.<br />
Learn more at ncblackrep.org.<br />
14 aphrochic
BALTIMORE<br />
S P E A K S<br />
B L A C K<br />
C O M M U N I T I E S<br />
C O V I D - 1 9<br />
A N D T H E<br />
C O S T O F<br />
N O T D O I N G<br />
E N O U G H<br />
W R I T T E N A N D D I R E C T E D B Y<br />
B R Y A N M A S O N A N D J E A N I N E H A Y S<br />
V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E A T B A L T I M O R E S P E A K S . C O M
THE BLACK FAMILY HOME<br />
Representation Matters — Except When It Doesn’t<br />
There’s no denying the importance of representation<br />
as part of the current conversation on race in America,<br />
or American social discourse as a whole. With regard to the<br />
former, it has become such a prevalent aspect of the conversation,<br />
particularly in the aftermath of the Black Lives<br />
Matter (BLM) marches of 2020, that we’re almost expected<br />
to believe that the only reason Black people ever marched,<br />
protested, or boycotted was out of a burning desire to be<br />
“seen.” But how important is representation really, and<br />
what does it actually mean? In a world of performative<br />
allyship, Black business listicles, and plummeting interest<br />
in workplace Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), we have<br />
to ask whether visibility, by itself, is a panacea or simply a<br />
placebo for real change?<br />
Representation and the Black Family Home<br />
One way to take a very brief measure of a relationship<br />
that certainly demands more extensive and in-depth examination<br />
is to compare measurable quantities in representation<br />
and community well-being over established periods of<br />
time. Anyone old enough to remember the '90s knows well<br />
that Black representation in pop culture staples like TV and<br />
movies comes in ebbs and flows. Anyone whose lifespan or<br />
historical knowledge reaches further back knows that the<br />
same is true for Black social and political advancements.<br />
Therefore, we can look at the level of Black representation<br />
on television and in film against some other measure<br />
of community prosperity to get some idea, even roughly,<br />
whether these ebbs and flows are happening at or around the<br />
same time.<br />
To fill in the other side of this comparison, there are<br />
any number of metrics to choose from. Median wealth,<br />
for example, is always a compelling and popular option.<br />
The Black Family Home is an<br />
ongoing series focusing on the<br />
history and future of what home<br />
means for Black families.<br />
This series inspired the new book<br />
<strong>AphroChic</strong>: Celebrating the Legacy<br />
of the Black Family Home.<br />
Words by Bryan Mason<br />
Photos by Bruce Mars, Christina Morillo,<br />
Rajiv Perera and Jimmy Dean<br />
16 aphrochic
THE BLACK FAMILY HOME<br />
18 aphrochic
However, for the purposes of this consideration,<br />
there are a number of reasons to look<br />
instead at the Black family home.<br />
Even more than income, homeownership<br />
is a major component of wealth.<br />
As transferable assets, the generational<br />
sharing of homes is a large part of inheritances,<br />
which in turn have made up<br />
as much as 50% of wealth accumulation<br />
across the history of the United States. As a<br />
result, the perpetually lower rate of homeownership<br />
by Black Americans compared<br />
with white Americans is intrinsically<br />
linked to the overall and equally lasting<br />
disparity in wealth. Homeownership is<br />
also linked to health, whether through environmental<br />
justice issues such as lead<br />
exposure, water purity, and asthma risks,<br />
or through medical and economic disparities<br />
including food and medical deserts<br />
and redlining. There is a political aspect to<br />
housing and homeownership as well, with<br />
voting districts and gerrymandering determining<br />
much of who has say in legislative<br />
and policy decisions. In all, homeownership<br />
touches on many aspects of<br />
American life, such that gains in this area<br />
may — in very broad terms — suggest improvements<br />
in a number of areas where<br />
Black Americans are routinely kept lacking.<br />
By comparing levels of representation<br />
in television and film with levels of Black<br />
homeownership over specific periods of<br />
time, we can roughly discern the extent to<br />
which they mirror or follow one another.<br />
The point is not to establish a causal relationship,<br />
but to gauge in some small<br />
part whether there is a basis for assuming<br />
any relationship at all. Representation<br />
and social progress are not at all points<br />
congruent. And where they diverge, visibility<br />
in pop culture media can actually be<br />
used to disguise the backslides and backlashes<br />
that erode Black social and political<br />
gains.<br />
Black Representation in Film and Television<br />
1960 - 2000<br />
Black people have appeared in both<br />
issue fifteen 19
THE BLACK FAMILY HOME<br />
television and film since the earliest days of the two media. The<br />
19th century films, Horses. Gallop; thoroughbred bay mare (Annie<br />
G) with male rider, 1872-1875, by British innovator Eadweard<br />
Muybridge, and Something Good – Negro Kiss by director William<br />
Selig are two examples from the beginnings of film. Muybridge’s<br />
film features a Black rider atop a striding horse, while Selig’s 1898<br />
piece offered the first film depiction of African Americans kissing.<br />
Together these early films begin a legacy that would grow to<br />
include the nation’s first formally incorporated Black-owned film<br />
company — The Lincoln Film Company — and others through to<br />
the current day.<br />
Similarly, television has nearly always included a Black<br />
presence. Well ahead of the 1950s American TV boom, 1939's The<br />
Ethel Waters Show, an hour-long special starring the jazz vocalist<br />
and actress, was the first instance of a Black performer (of any<br />
gender) headlining their own show. Mixing comedy, music, and<br />
theater, the one-off event paired Waters with other notable<br />
Black performers such as Fredericka Washington and Georgette<br />
Harvey, as well as white performers like Philip Loeb.<br />
While the cited examples represent some of the high water<br />
marks of Black representation in the early days of TV and movies,<br />
the majority of depictions in both often fell into the racist tropes<br />
that were typical of the time, several of which persist in one form<br />
or another today. It was in the '50s and '60s that Black representation<br />
became both more widespread and took a turn from the<br />
initial depictions of servants, savages, and slaves.<br />
In film, change arrived with the coming of Sydney Poitier<br />
and Harry Belafonte. Both made careers of roles that depicted<br />
their characters, and Black people in general, with a type of<br />
dignity that had been lacking in earlier portrayals. Poitier’s first<br />
major role in 1950's <strong>No</strong> Way Out, is considered a pivotal moment<br />
in film culture as is Belafonte’s first major role in the 1954 film<br />
Carmen Jones. By the '70s the advent of so-called Blaxploitation<br />
films, led by Melvin Van Peebles 1971 classic Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss<br />
Song, not only opened new doors for empowered Black representation<br />
but rescued a film industry that was badly stagnating<br />
in the late '60s and nearing collapse. Films and directors of<br />
this era set the stage for the vanguard of the '90s which included<br />
directors like Spike Lee and John Singleton and a variety of acting<br />
talent that continues to grow today.<br />
The growth of Black representation on television began<br />
in the 1960s, as did representations of the Black family home.<br />
Sitcoms — which typically focus on life at home — were bringing<br />
Black people and our homes into view in new ways for the first<br />
time. Premiering in 1968, singer and actress Diahann Carroll’s<br />
Julia was the first weekly series to focus on a Black woman<br />
lead character that was not a servant to a white family. Julia<br />
was instead a nurse, widowed by the Vietnam war and raising<br />
her son. Julia was followed notably by Good Times, which was<br />
American television’s first depiction of a two-parent Black home<br />
and The Jeffersons, which lasted for more than 230 episodes and<br />
featured an affluent Black family. But undoubtedly one of the most<br />
impactful shows for depicting African American life in non-stereotypical<br />
roles was 1984’s The Cosby Show.<br />
Despite the deeply tarnished legacy of the show’s titular<br />
star, the program itself remains a landmark of representation for<br />
Black Americans, not only showcasing an affluent, professional,<br />
two-parent home, but storylines that involved these characters<br />
with art, theater and other forms of culture while addressing<br />
salient issues from an identifiably Black perspective. The<br />
success of the show set the stage for not only its own spin-off,<br />
1987’s A Different World, but 1990’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and<br />
1993’s Living Single among several others. Between 1950 and 1999,<br />
Black representation on film and television reached new heights<br />
of depth and variety at a time when gains in education, income,<br />
and homeownership seemed to be advancing with similar pace.<br />
Black Homeownership 1960 - 2000<br />
In 1960, roughly a decade after Sydney Poitier’s career began<br />
in earnest, and less than 10 years before Julia hit the airwaves,<br />
the rate of homeownership for African Americans was 38%. Of<br />
course there were reasons behind the number. First, the New<br />
Deal and the GI Bill, the two major American wealth-building assistance<br />
programs that bookended the Second World War, largely<br />
excluded Black people, as had all of the programs that preceded<br />
them. Throughout the '50s, Urban Renewal programs and the<br />
Federal-Aid Highway Act destroyed many Black neighborhoods,<br />
displacing hundreds of thousands of families nationwide. But<br />
perhaps even more impactful than these assorted causes was the<br />
systemic discrimination of redlining and race covenants — legal<br />
clauses enjoining Black Americans from owning or even inhabiting<br />
properties that included them in the deeds. Race covenants in<br />
particular prevented African Americans from homeownership in<br />
desirable locations such as the many single-family developments<br />
in suburban neighborhoods being built to house the nation’s<br />
newly minted middle class.<br />
Much of that changed with the signing of Title VIII of the 1968<br />
Civil Rights Act — better known as the Fair Housing Act — or at<br />
least it appeared to for a time. Among other things, the act put an<br />
end to race covenants and redlining, making it illegal to refuse<br />
sale of a home to a Black person on the basis of race. By 1980,<br />
the rate of Black homeownership had surged to more than 45%,<br />
achieving the smallest gap between white and Black homeownership<br />
rates the nation had ever seen. Similar advances in income<br />
20 aphrochic
THE BLACK FAMILY HOME<br />
22 aphrochic
and education were occurring at that point<br />
as well. But after 1980, the advancement<br />
largely halts. By 1990, the rate of Black<br />
homeownership had fallen to 43.3% and by<br />
1995 it was 41.9%. By the mid-90s, though<br />
representation was hitting all-time highs,<br />
including depictions of the Black family<br />
home, by the end of the 20th century Black<br />
homeownership was headed back to some<br />
familiar lows.<br />
The Reversal: 2000 - 2019<br />
The divergence between the availability<br />
of Hollywood film and television roles<br />
for Black actors and rate of homeownership<br />
flipped in the early years of the 21st<br />
century. To begin with, on-screen opportunities,<br />
particularly on television dropped<br />
off significantly before 2010. According to<br />
a 2019 study by the University of Illinois,<br />
between 2001 and 2008 the proportion of<br />
Black actors in television roles slipped from<br />
an already paltry 17% to just 12%. Meanwhile<br />
by 2004, Black homeownership rates had<br />
surpassed 49%, a steady growth from 1995<br />
that reflected the targeting of Black prospective<br />
homeowners by predatory lenders<br />
pushing subprime mortgages. The Great<br />
Recession, which included the market crash<br />
of ’08, was built on the foundation of these<br />
loans, with the result that the inevitable<br />
downturn they caused wiped out more than<br />
50% of the median wealth of Black households<br />
and a staggering number of Black<br />
homes. In the wake of the recession, Black<br />
homeownership rates fell, reaching 46% by<br />
the end of the recession in 2009. But unlike<br />
white households, which had lost only 17%<br />
of their wealth and whose homeownership<br />
rates were actually on the rise by the end of<br />
the recession — reaching 75% by the end of<br />
2009 — Black homeownership and median<br />
wealth both continued to plummet. By 2019,<br />
only 40.6% of Black households owned a<br />
home, a rate virtually identical to where<br />
the country had been in the early '60s. The<br />
first 20 years of the 21st century effectively<br />
erased all of the progress of the previous 32<br />
years, from the signing of the Fair Housing<br />
Act to the turn of the century.<br />
Representation and Homeownership<br />
Since 2020<br />
2020 was a turbulent year, one the<br />
effects of which we are still trying to gauge<br />
and deal with years later, and with which<br />
we will likely continue to struggle with for<br />
years to come. That year marked both the<br />
beginning of the still-ongoing COVID-19<br />
crisis and the global expansion of the BLM<br />
movement through protest marches held<br />
in the wake of the police-slayings of George<br />
Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Both would leave<br />
their mark on Black representation and<br />
Black homeownership.<br />
As marches and protests mounted, international<br />
support for Black Americans<br />
poured in throughout the year. <strong>Issue</strong>s<br />
of Black safety and police violence were<br />
brought to the fore in America and<br />
elsewhere and were met with rising<br />
attention to issues facing Black Americans<br />
in other facets of life. Calls to defund the<br />
police and statistics-based arguments for<br />
the fundamental danger police forces pose<br />
to Black and other American communities<br />
were quickly joined and in some cases overshadowed<br />
by calls to support Black businesses,<br />
increase Black wealth and support<br />
greater representation, not only in film and<br />
television but in corporate America as well.<br />
Responses to this sudden attention,<br />
which some hailed as a renewing of the Civil<br />
Rights Movement, took a number of forms.<br />
As the year progressed, many actions, such<br />
as posting black squares on social media<br />
or creating multiple lists of Black businesses,<br />
came to be known as “performative<br />
allyship” — actions more effective at<br />
allowing white people to reassure themselves<br />
that they were not a part of the<br />
problem than at addressing the problem<br />
itself. Other actions, however, seemed more<br />
promising at the time.<br />
Between May and September of 2020,<br />
the number of job positions in DEI — the<br />
department of many companies tasked<br />
with addressing workplace injustices and<br />
ensuring a safe and equitable environment<br />
— increased by 123%. It surged another 23%<br />
between the <strong>No</strong>vembers of 2020 and 2021. At<br />
the same time, Black representation in film<br />
and television was matching the growing<br />
visibility of the community in social consciousness<br />
that year.<br />
In comparing the 18 months that<br />
preceded the declaration of the COVID-19<br />
pandemic and the 18 months that followed<br />
its nominal ending, Variety Business Intelligence<br />
found that 70.5% of television<br />
series released during what they term “the<br />
pandemic period” (April 1, 2020, to October<br />
1, 2021) featured a Black series regular — a<br />
65.8% increase from less than two years<br />
before. The number of films released with<br />
Black cast members also increased to 58.7%<br />
from 56.1%. Likewise, according to statistics,<br />
the early days of the pandemic had a<br />
beneficial effect on rates of Black homeownership<br />
as well — despite the usual<br />
obstacles.<br />
Zillow reports that in 2020 Black home<br />
loan applicants met with rejection at a rate<br />
84% higher than white applicants in the same<br />
year. Nevertheless, from its 2019 low of 40.6%,<br />
the rate of Black homeownership exploded,<br />
reaching a peak of 47% by the second quarter<br />
of that year. The upward trend would prove<br />
short-lived however, as by the end of 2020 the<br />
rate had dropped to 44.1%, and then to 43.1%<br />
by the end of 2021. Despite the hardships of<br />
COVID, however, white homeownership had<br />
reached a rate of 74.4 by that time. The 31.3%<br />
disparity between those numbers represents<br />
the largest gap the nation had seen since<br />
issue fifteen 23
THE BLACK FAMILY HOME<br />
1890. While Black homeownership rates had rebounded to 45.9% by<br />
the end of 2023, with white rates of ownership dropping to 73.8%,<br />
the 27.9% disparity was still larger than the 26.2% that separated<br />
Black and white homeowners in 1960, almost a decade before the<br />
Fair Housing Act would be signed.<br />
Making Sense of it All<br />
So what does all of this tell us? Actually, not much. There are<br />
numerous factors not included in this brief consideration that<br />
impact and determine increases and decreases in pop media<br />
representation and rates of homeownership. Without including<br />
them, there is little that we can definitively say about what either<br />
actually means, much less determining whether one has any real<br />
impact on the other. All we can definitely say is that they are not<br />
the same thing — and that, ultimately, is the point.<br />
Increases in representation are part of the work of progress,<br />
but representation is not the whole of what’s needed, nor can it be<br />
considered an accurate barometer for where we currently stand<br />
as a people. Through the few decades included in this article, rates<br />
of representation and homeownership varied wildly and frequently<br />
diverged. In those few years where they did follow similar<br />
trajectories, one seems invariably to change course before the<br />
other, a phenomenon that can cause dissonances in our understanding<br />
of where we are and what we need to focus on, even<br />
within the issue of representation itself.<br />
While Black TV and film roles skyrocketed in 2020, in the<br />
same year a UCLA study found that 92% of studio heads were<br />
white. Similarly a McKinsey & Co. study found that between<br />
20<strong>15</strong> and 2019, Black people accounted for only 6% of Hollywood<br />
directors and producers, and a scant 4% of writers. This again<br />
shows how increases in visibility can belie continued marginalization<br />
in other areas. And while this can be problematic for a<br />
single industry, it can be disastrous when expanded across the<br />
idea of progress as a whole.<br />
For example, rising representation in the '80s and '90s<br />
masked stagnating progress in housing and income. Meanwhile,<br />
rising representation of Black businesses on social media in 2020<br />
masked the loss of more than 40% of Black businesses in that<br />
same year, along with racially disparate allocation of government<br />
support funds. So while the internet and social media was<br />
being flooded with lists of Black businesses for aspiring allies<br />
to support, amid cries to increase the development of wealth in<br />
the Black community, nearly half of existing Black businesses<br />
were closing their doors while banks and other lenders either<br />
excluded Black business owners from grant and loan programs<br />
or targeted them for predatory terms. Similarly the SAG-AFTRA<br />
strike revealed deep disparities in actor opportunities and<br />
wages on the back of a major increase in Black roles, and just<br />
ahead of a projected downturn in Hollywood production, leaving<br />
us to wonder what roles will be cut first on and off screen when<br />
Hollywood tightens its belt.<br />
The last thing that we can definitively say, is that none of<br />
this should be taken to denigrate or detract from the importance<br />
of representation. Representation is vital for many reasons,<br />
the simplest of which being that we are a part of this nation and<br />
the world, and deserve to be seen, and even more so, recognized<br />
as such. But as the argument for representation continues to be<br />
adopted and employed outside of our community — and reflected<br />
back to us — it is important to distinguish representation as the<br />
simple act of being visible or “seen,” from the recognition of Black<br />
dignity and humanity that we actually seek.<br />
In terms of simple visibility, Black people have never lacked<br />
for the attention of the nation. Even now, whenever the nation<br />
needs someone to arrest, imprison, lay off, or deem essential, it<br />
never seems have a hard time finding us. Conversely, recognition<br />
is the acknowledgement of our place, both in history and in society<br />
today. It works to be inwardly honest rather than outwardly acceptable,<br />
reflecting our humanity in its entirety, rather than artificially<br />
reducing our experience to fit the expectations of those<br />
who do not share it. It’s the kind of visibility that’s being denied<br />
when Black representation is lacking in both the cultural products<br />
that shape and enshrine our concept of history and the industries<br />
that produce them. It’s the kind of recognition that we build for<br />
ourselves in the design of our homes and in our connection to them.<br />
Increases in that kind of recognition, that doesn’t come with<br />
stereotypes, caricatures, or being forced to conform to the expectations<br />
of any kind of external gaze can always change the game —<br />
but they aren’t the whole game. So more Black shows, new Black<br />
movies, and Black-led halftime shows are all needed and rightfully<br />
celebrated. Yet in those moments when they come, we should<br />
also ask ourselves how what’s appearing on screen compares with<br />
what’s happening in our communities, and where else we need<br />
to focus to build an equitable and just home in America where<br />
progress and representation are more than a passing trend. AC<br />
24 aphrochic
MOOD<br />
Weave<br />
Across the African Diaspora, weaving has<br />
always been a medium for telling our stories.<br />
Whether weaving hair, quilts, clothing,<br />
or rugs, in the Americas, the Caribbean,<br />
and on the Continent, weaving has been<br />
more than just hobby or craft. Textiles<br />
are a deep part of our cultural legacy; our<br />
ancestors weaving canvases with purposeful<br />
intention, meaningful messages, and<br />
sometimes the very keys to our liberation.<br />
In Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of<br />
Quilts and the Underground Railroad, the authors<br />
trace the history of weaving quilts as<br />
a form of activism for Black Americans. In<br />
the 19th century, quilts hung outside homes<br />
were embroidered with coded messages. A<br />
log cabin in a quilt meant "seek shelter now,<br />
the people here are safe to speak with," and<br />
acted as maps for those forging their own<br />
roads to freedom. Today, textile artists like<br />
Bisa Butler and Billie Zangewa, both part<br />
of the Spelman College Museum of Art’s<br />
new exhibition Threaded, use textiles to<br />
help us remember who we are, weaving old<br />
and new stories that explore our past, our<br />
present, and that dream of our future. And<br />
in the world of home decor, a new generation<br />
of artists and product designers, from<br />
Yinka Ilori to Aliyah Salmon, are creating<br />
woven rugs as art that expresses Black life<br />
in the 21st century. Pieces that we can add<br />
to our own homes, honoring our cultural<br />
heritage and woven legacy.<br />
Curves by Sean Brown<br />
Multicolor Archway Door<br />
Mat $<strong>15</strong>0<br />
ssense.com<br />
Amechi Mandi Spill<br />
Rug $1,562.31<br />
floorstory.co.uk<br />
Jensin Okunishi Studio<br />
Moon Pools Rug<br />
aphrochic.com<br />
contact for price<br />
26 aphrochic
Ananda Natural<br />
Pop Rug $419<br />
ruggable.com<br />
Faatimah Mohamed Luke<br />
Coir Door Mat $6.92<br />
mrpricehome.com<br />
Justina Blakeney X Loloi<br />
Villagio Area Rug, starting at<br />
$51.92 wayfair.com<br />
Eva Sonaike<br />
Copper Batik Rug<br />
$1,945<br />
evasonaike.com<br />
Little Wing Lee<br />
Echoic Rug<br />
verso.nyc<br />
contact for price<br />
Yinka Ilori Omi<br />
Rug $1814.49<br />
yinkailori.com<br />
Punch Needle<br />
Textile Art by Aliyah<br />
Salmon<br />
aliyahsalmon.com<br />
contact for price<br />
issue fifteen 27
FEATURES<br />
A World Within Itself | A Mid-Century Modern Dream | Art for the People |<br />
Soul Ramen | The Joy of Spring | Exploring Black History in the City of<br />
Brotherly Love | Radically Reimagined | A Better Life | BLKBOK
Fashion<br />
A World<br />
Within Itself<br />
Where East Meets West in the Diasporic Expression<br />
by Fashion Brand Kwasi Paul<br />
Embracing the in-between can feel uncomfortable for many. However, fashion<br />
brand Kwasi Paul thrives in the unknown; weaving its own identity and building<br />
a world that lives at the intersection of Eastern and Western worlds within the<br />
African Diaspora.<br />
The essence of the brand transcends borders, with its unique narrative that<br />
draws from the past and embodies the spirit of "future ancestors.” In the brand's<br />
latest collection, Market Symphonies, “the symphonic juxtaposition of an African<br />
Market in a foreign world” is explored. The collection is a captivating array of<br />
menswear and womenswear masterpieces that double as wearable art. The<br />
brand offers a kind of parallel between modernity and tradition with timeless<br />
cuts, precise tailoring, and striking cultural embellishments. Details such as<br />
people, spices, peppers, and cowrie shells, converge to represent the soul of the<br />
African Market.<br />
Interview by Krystle DeSantos<br />
Photos by Kwasi Paul<br />
30 aphrochic
Fashion<br />
The creative direction is a stroke of<br />
genius. Photo shoots in iconic New York City<br />
locations like Keita West African Market in<br />
Brooklyn and the Shabazz Market on 116th<br />
Street in Harlem, remind us that shared<br />
connections and community transcend<br />
physical boundaries. The brand explores<br />
the unique blend of culture and tradition,<br />
while embracing self-expression as well<br />
as fluidity in who gets to wear what. To<br />
complete the experience of this collection,<br />
there is a complementary Spotify playlist,<br />
Sounds of Kwasi Paul Vol II: Market Symphonies,<br />
where you can immerse yourself<br />
further into this vibrant world.<br />
<strong>AphroChic</strong> sat down with Creative<br />
Director Sam Kwabena Boakye to discuss<br />
the brand further and learn more about<br />
what the future holds for Kwasi Paul.<br />
AC: Could you bring us into the world<br />
of Kwasi Paul? What would someone who's<br />
not familiar with the brand experience upon<br />
entering this world?<br />
SB: It's funny that you use the term<br />
world because I feel like Kwasi Paul is a<br />
world within itself, created by two distinct<br />
worlds. Sometimes I like to describe it as<br />
a world that was created from the debris<br />
of the Western world and the African<br />
Diaspora world. I say that because I draw<br />
my inspiration from both worlds, having<br />
been first-born generation. I was raised<br />
in a household where in one situation, everybody's<br />
speaking your native language,<br />
listening to the native music, and eating<br />
native foods. Then as soon as you step out<br />
of that household, you're introduced into<br />
the Western world. It was always a back<br />
and forth, so I pull a lot of inspiration from<br />
my experience, being raised in that in-between<br />
space where the African and Western<br />
worlds come together.<br />
AC: Tell me more about your backstory<br />
as well as your experience growing up in<br />
America. How did that inspire and influence<br />
Sam Kwabena Boakye<br />
your journey to becoming the Creative<br />
Director of Kwasi Paul?<br />
SB: Absolutely! My parents are from<br />
Ghana, West Africa, and were raised in a<br />
village called Mampong that's located in the<br />
Ashanti region, not too far from Kumasi.<br />
I was born in the Bronx, but was also<br />
raised in LeFrak City, Queens, two areas<br />
where culture is very distinct. If you know<br />
anything about the Bronx, sometimes it’s<br />
also referred to as Little Accra because if<br />
you're coming from Ghana and relocating<br />
to the States, you'll probably end up in the<br />
Bronx or in LeFrak City, where there's also<br />
a heavy Ghanaian community. Both areas<br />
also have really strong Black cultural connections<br />
tied to them; such as the Bronx<br />
being the birthplace of Hip Hop. I was<br />
obviously exposed to all of that, but then<br />
I was also exposed to Ghanaian culture<br />
within the household, as my parents tried<br />
their best to keep that prevalent.<br />
There are some challenges that<br />
come with being the first-born generation<br />
too, sometimes you feel like you're not<br />
fully accepted in one culture or the other.<br />
Growing up in the West, we heard derogatory<br />
terms like "African booty scratcher,"<br />
people messing up your last name, or having<br />
this negative depiction of what Africa looks<br />
like. But on the other hand, when I visit<br />
Ghana, some think I'm like an alien and<br />
might even say things like, “We know you're<br />
not from here, your skin is different” or I<br />
would be made fun of when I tried to speak<br />
the language because I wasn’t as fluent or<br />
my sound was different. This is probably the<br />
reason why I don't speak it as much now, but<br />
I understand everything.<br />
These were some of the experiences<br />
that shaped who I am today and though<br />
it sometimes feels like I don't fully belong<br />
in one world, there is a positive perspective<br />
in that I'm from both worlds and I’m able to<br />
navigate through both, taking on so much<br />
from both cultures and making it my own!<br />
Whether it’s music, art, or fashion, I am able<br />
to make more of a correlation between both<br />
worlds compared to somebody that's from<br />
one, who has just seen it from one perspective.<br />
AC: What sense of responsibility do you<br />
feel towards both communities?<br />
SB: Sometimes within our communities<br />
there tends to be a kind of separation<br />
between African-American culture and<br />
culture within the African Diaspora, but<br />
I think one of the great things about being<br />
born in between is that we hold the key. We<br />
are able to be a bridge for sharing ideas and<br />
bringing us together.<br />
I think that as first-born generations or<br />
people that just moved to a different world,<br />
it's our responsibility to create that connection<br />
because we're better as a community,<br />
we're better as a group, and we're stronger.<br />
In my stories, I’m trying to portray this<br />
sentiment while also trying to educate and<br />
teach people through my collections and<br />
32 aphrochic
issue fifteen 33
Fashion<br />
I think many from the Diaspora can relate in some way. In<br />
my recent Market collection, there are images with Milo in<br />
the background and you don't have to be Ghanaian to understand<br />
the importance of drinking Milo in the morning, you<br />
know what I'm saying? You could be from Trinidad, Jamaica,<br />
or Guyana, and understand how important that is and feel<br />
that connection. When you look at our editorials, you don't<br />
have to be taught why someone is braiding hair in somebody's<br />
kitchen. You could be from Ghana, the Caribbean, or even the<br />
South, and this is something that's prevalent in a lot of our<br />
families and communities. Being able to tell these stories and<br />
have so many people talk about it and say, “oh my gosh, I went<br />
through that same thing,” is a start in building that bridge<br />
and connection.<br />
AC: With your visuals and designs, there is a noticeable<br />
vintage/retro vibe. What is the creative stylistic choice behind<br />
that aesthetic and how does this ultimately influence your<br />
design decisions?<br />
SB: I love nostalgia and living in the past. Recently<br />
I’ve been watching re-runs of the sitcom A Different World.<br />
Sometimes it feels like the world is moving so fast and I loved<br />
that show when I was growing up in the early '90s. Re-watching<br />
it now creates nostalgia for a time of innocence in my<br />
life, when I didn't have to worry about looking after myself,<br />
and I’m trying to recreate that feeling of nostalgia with my<br />
visuals.<br />
Growing up, I also enjoyed watching my uncles and<br />
aunts get dressed up to go to parties and events and even<br />
looking back at my family's photo albums, I’m able to draw a<br />
lot of inspiration from what was happening or taking place in<br />
the '70s and '80s before I was born. I use that mix of inspiration<br />
when it comes to the craftsmanship, the silhouettes that<br />
we create, and designs that we do. Even with our storytelling<br />
those influences are strong and were very prevalent in one<br />
of our very first collections, From Gold Coast to East Coast. I<br />
took complete inspiration for that collection from my parents'<br />
photo albums and experiences from growing up as well.<br />
AC: You referenced the world feeling like it’s moving so<br />
fast right now and we tend to see that reflected in the fashion<br />
industry as well. However, Kwasi Paul’s approach to designing<br />
collections is distinctive. What do you feel sets you apart from<br />
other designers?<br />
SB: I'll try to be as transparent as possible. All I'm really<br />
doing is telling a story through my own lens. There are a<br />
lot of other great designers that tell very similar stories,<br />
for example you have Wales Bonner, who’s telling it from a<br />
Caribbean/UK perspective and I’m telling it from the perspective<br />
of a Ghanaian, who was born in the Bronx, raised in<br />
LeFrak City with roots from the Ashanti region. I really try<br />
to tap into those unique elements, leveraging the history that<br />
exists in those regions while intertwining them into my own<br />
expression; which is going to be different when compared to<br />
someone else.<br />
I also try to look at other mediums of communication<br />
and how we can evoke emotions within the storytelling of<br />
each collection. I never want to just spitball history facts or<br />
information, but I aim to understand how we communicate<br />
history, through music, movement, sound; through the<br />
senses, whether it's taste or touch. I think this also separates<br />
us from other brands. For example, the Milo beverage would<br />
be an example of communicating through the senses of<br />
sight and even taste. As soon as you see it, you think, “Oh, I<br />
remember how good Milo tasted back in the day.” Or with the<br />
African Market, you can remember what it feels like, walking<br />
into the market and recall the smells of spices.<br />
AC: I love that perspective and sensory experience! While<br />
we’re on the topic of design, you’re primarily a menswear brand<br />
but there is fluidity with your clothing, where anyone can appreciate<br />
and even wear the pieces. Is that intentional as part of<br />
the design process?<br />
SB: To be honest, it's actually not intentional. I attended<br />
LATTC in Los Angeles for menswear tailoring so I start with<br />
menswear because that is my background. And then growing<br />
up I was a church boy, so I wore suits every Sunday.<br />
I also just love the way menswear looks on women, so<br />
the way I design, it really does come off as fluidity and things<br />
of that nature. I take a lot of inspiration from back in the day,<br />
when clothing was also very fluid, like in the '70s, with both<br />
men and women wearing bell bottoms and crop tops. Part of<br />
Kwasi Paul is just ongoing research, trying new things, and<br />
cultivating creativity.<br />
AC: Speaking of cultivating creativity and trying new things,<br />
there is mention of The REVIVAL Mission on your website. What<br />
is that and what can we expect from that initiative?<br />
SB: We've been working on that initiative for a long time,<br />
since the inception of Kwasi Paul. I have a friend, Yayra, who<br />
is based out of Ghana, and he’s in an area called Kantamanto,<br />
which is the largest secondhand fashion market in Ghana.<br />
And as a designer, I feel like there should be a sense of responsibility<br />
coming into this world because, in full transparency,<br />
fashion is responsible for a lot of pollution that happens there.<br />
So with The REVIVAL mission, we’re looking to do some type<br />
of collaboration, whether it's through textile, whether it's<br />
through design, or even just giving proceeds to The REVIVAL<br />
mission that he has there.<br />
What he's looking to do is pretty much take second-<br />
34 aphrochic
Fashion<br />
36 aphrochic
issue fifteen 37
Fashion<br />
hand fashion to another level and turn the city of Kantamanto<br />
around, from the depiction of it being just a hub for brands<br />
to dump their pieces or bootlegs, and turn it into a design city.<br />
We talk like once every three months and we're like, “Yo, s'up,<br />
let's do something.” I literally just spoke to him today so I'm<br />
hoping that maybe by 2025 we can do a collection that introduces<br />
the upcycling aspect to Kwasi Paul and have that be<br />
really authentic and organic and somehow implement that<br />
within our processes and then also help build Kantamanto.<br />
I told him, I'd love to one day make Kantamanto look like<br />
the Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills without having to gentrify<br />
it and make sure that it's actually going to benefit the people<br />
that live in that area, bringing money to the area so it can be<br />
built up and not looked at as a fashion dump. One of my goals<br />
is not just to design clothes, but I also want to design worlds<br />
and places, hence “the world” of Kwasi Paul.<br />
In addition to The REVIVAL being this kind of upcycle<br />
organization, they also have a mini brand as well and it’s<br />
called The Revival Earth by Yayra Agbofah. Check them out!<br />
AC: I’m really excited to see that collaboration come to<br />
fruition by 2025 and as we look to the future, what’s on the<br />
horizon for Kwasi Paul?<br />
SB: I have a new collection coming up called Black Star<br />
Groove that's going to be a very fun collection. It's sort of like an<br />
ode to Hiplife, which is pretty much a musical genre that came<br />
about in Ghana, inspired by Highlife, but influenced by Hip<br />
Hop. It serves as a sense of freedom, going against the norm and<br />
is an era I grew up in. Artists like Daddy Lumba, Kojo Antwi,<br />
VIP and Ofori Amponsah were played in my household and it<br />
was also very prevalent within the Y2K era, when we saw a shift<br />
in style with a lot of denim being worn, Bluetooth headsets,<br />
baggy jeans and jerseys. Have you heard of <strong>No</strong>llywood? It's the<br />
Nigerian version of Hollywood where that style was also very<br />
prevalent in the movies around that time.<br />
With this new collection I’m trying to bring those<br />
elements to life within the brand while still keeping hints<br />
of the '70s and '80s with the cuts and things of that nature,<br />
but we will be playing with denim this time, curating that<br />
with Fugu and Kente textiles from Ghana. There will also be<br />
pinches of plant-based leather and then the styling will be a<br />
little bit newer than what you've seen before.<br />
We will also be dropping an accompanying four-track<br />
EP that is influenced by that genre. It will be the sounds of<br />
Kwasi Paul for the Black Star Groove collection and we’re<br />
working to decipher what that sound looks like now and in<br />
years to come. I'm actually having producer Nana Kwabena<br />
from Wonderland Label, who’s worked very closely with<br />
artists like Janelle Monae and Jidenna, curate four tracks with<br />
artists and producers that we're cool with. It's going to be a<br />
fun and very eclectic collection. AC<br />
38 aphrochic
issue fifteen 39
Interior Design<br />
A Mid-Cen
tury Modern Dream
Interior Design<br />
Inside Brazilian Interior Designer<br />
Ana Claudia Schultz’s Upstate New York Home<br />
Ana Claudia Schultz has an eye for good design. Born in Brazil and<br />
raised in Miami, the designer made the move from her Brooklyn<br />
apartment to her first home in the idyllic town of Hyde Park, N.Y., in<br />
the mid-2010s. Just two hours north of New York City, the space she<br />
lovingly refers to as her “forever home” sits with a sparkling view<br />
of the Hudson River in front and a lush canopy of trees in the back.<br />
The home features striking mid-century modern architecture and<br />
a brick red exterior. Inside, layers of unique elements work together<br />
effortlessly, guided by Ana Claudia’s confident designer’s eye.<br />
Words by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason<br />
Photos by Chinasa Cooper<br />
issue fifteen 43
Interior Design
Interior Design
Interior Design
Interior Design<br />
Everything in the interior was thoughtfully<br />
designed by Ana Claudia and her husband<br />
Aaron. On the wall, sketches of the home’s<br />
original design have been framed, a testament<br />
to how far the interior has come. Ana Claudia<br />
and Aaron took on the full-scale renovation,<br />
bringing a 4,000-square-foot-home that was<br />
originally built in the 1950s, solidly into the 21st<br />
century. “We pretty much gut renovated most<br />
of the house,” says Ana Claudia. “The upstairs<br />
kitchen, a totally new dining room, we opened<br />
up the space, removed some stone work that<br />
was on the fireplace to open that up so that we<br />
get a nice amount of sunlight everywhere. We<br />
transformed the mudroom and a downstairs<br />
bathroom, and we reconfigured the master<br />
bathroom.”<br />
The home’s open plan living room is<br />
bathed in sunlight. Airy and refreshing, windows<br />
look out onto the river, framing the peaceful<br />
tableau. Designed to easily seat 10 to <strong>15</strong> guests,<br />
a large sectional in the living room is situated to<br />
comfortably view the great outdoors. A second,<br />
streamlined sofa is featured alongside a vintage<br />
coffee table that Ana Claudia discovered. Two<br />
more vintage finds — Vernon Panton Flowerpot<br />
Lamps — add to the room’s color palette of<br />
black, blue, and red. “In my home I want to bring<br />
in things that I really love,” remarks Ana Claudia.<br />
“Things that tell a story. Even if we bought it at<br />
a vintage store that’s a story to us — of a local<br />
artist, or a place we visited.”<br />
The fireplace, an eyesore when the couple<br />
first bought the home, has been designed to<br />
make a bold statement, tiled to resemble the<br />
sidewalks of Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro. “It’s<br />
actually based upon a Portuguese pattern,” says<br />
Ana Claudia. “Landscape architect Roberto<br />
Burle Marx created the patterns in Rio. My<br />
husband asked if we could get the Copacabana<br />
tile and we found this cement tile and decided to<br />
put it on the fireplace.”<br />
In the dining room, seating reminiscent<br />
of George Nakashima’s Straight-Back Chair<br />
surrounds a traditional style dining table. The<br />
mix of influences, including a jaguar clay pot<br />
from Mexico, is a reflection of Ana Claudia’s love<br />
of art and design from various cultures. “I’m<br />
Brazilian, so culturally I bring in a little bit of<br />
the Brazilian culture. My husband is American<br />
and I grew up in America, too, so we bring in<br />
American design as well.”<br />
Through the dining room, the kitchen<br />
includes custom details that stand out as<br />
unique statement pieces. Chevron tile creates<br />
a graphic display as the backsplash behind<br />
the range. And at the center of the kitchen, an<br />
island has been designed that blends stone and<br />
natural wood in an unexpected way. The mix of<br />
materials adds to the home’s story of mid-century<br />
modern design that’s also personal and<br />
outside of the box. “In Brazil mid-century<br />
was so integrated into a lot of the architecture.<br />
You might live in a mid-century home, but<br />
you would have things of the past present in it<br />
— your grandmother’s doilies, trunks passed<br />
down from family members. So we took cues<br />
from that and felt very comfortable making this<br />
home bold and personal to us.”<br />
An eye for discovering unique vintage<br />
pieces, Ana Claudia’s talent is on display in the<br />
home’s main bedroom. Two unique side tables<br />
blend mid-century style with eclectic craftsmanship,<br />
as figurative art has been sculpted<br />
into each table’s design. A large-scale dresser,<br />
also vintage, is topped with a collection of vases<br />
and plants that have a backdrop of the lush<br />
landscape that surrounds this upstate home.<br />
The room’s pièce de résistance is a mural<br />
designed by Ana Claudia and installed by a local<br />
artist. The abstract design is repeated in painted<br />
lamp shades on the bedside tables. “Artwork<br />
is very important for your home,” says Ana<br />
Claudia. “I like art that’s not about trends, but<br />
that speaks to the heart.”<br />
A walk down the stairs and you enter the<br />
lower level of the interior. Built for family gatherings,<br />
Ana Claudia has created unique spaces<br />
for restful retreats in every nook. Just below<br />
the staircase a reading nook has been carved<br />
out. Favorite books are on display along with a<br />
collection of plants nurtured by Ana Claudia’s<br />
green thumb. A windsor chair invites visitors<br />
to take a seat and read a good book. And in the<br />
family room a mid-century modern console<br />
doubles as a bar cart for entertaining.<br />
This “forever home” designed by Ana<br />
Claudia and Aaron is filled to the brim with<br />
personal style, eclectic belongings, and pieces<br />
that tell their story. "There's pieces from my<br />
family in Brazil: a coffee grinder that belonged to<br />
my grandparents; cowhide trunks that belonged<br />
to cattle farmers in my dad’s family, a painting<br />
by a friend that has moved with me over the<br />
years and now sits in our dining room. There's<br />
even a model from my architectural school days<br />
— things that I really love, that tell a story, that<br />
bring soul to this house." AC<br />
issue fifteen 49
Interior Design
issue fifteen 51
Interior Design<br />
52 aphrochic
issue fifteen 53
Interior Design
Culture<br />
Art For The People<br />
Adams, Woman in Grayscale (Alicia)<br />
56 aphrochic
Adams, Man in Grayscale (Swizz)<br />
issue fifteen 57
Culture<br />
Inside The Dean Collection at the Brooklyn Museum<br />
On a Saturday night in Februar y, one of the most signif icant art exhibitions<br />
of the 21st century opened at the Brooklyn Museum — Giants: Art from<br />
the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys. Featuring 98 major<br />
artworks by artists from across the African Diaspora, the international<br />
show includes works by legendary artists, pieces that expand the canon<br />
of contemporary art, and monumental efforts by artists who are shifting<br />
the landscape of the art world.<br />
.<br />
Words by Jeanine Hays<br />
Photos furnished by the Brooklyn Museum<br />
Spann, Basking in the Wind (left)<br />
58 aphrochic
ELEVATING THE<br />
Conversation<br />
JEANINE HAYS AND BRYAN MASON, AUTHORS<br />
OF APHROCHIC: CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF<br />
THE BLACK FAMILY HOME, JOIN THE TOP<br />
LITERARY THOUGHT LEADERS AT THE PENGUIN<br />
RANDOM HOUSE SPEAKERS BUREAU TO SPEAK<br />
ON TOPICS SURROUNDING BLACK CULTURE,<br />
HOUSING EQUITY AND THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF<br />
DESIGN IN AMERICA.
Culture<br />
The works presented in the exhibition<br />
are from a “who’s who” of the greatest and most<br />
discussed artists in the world today — Kehinde<br />
Wiley, Amy Sherald, Barkley L. Hendricks, Jamel<br />
Shabazz, Gordon Parks, Nina Chanel Abney,<br />
Toyin Ojih Odotula, and Nick Cave, to name a few.<br />
If you’re an art aficionado, the very idea of all of<br />
these incredible artists showing their work in a<br />
single exhibit gives you goosebumps. And if you’re<br />
a historian, the exhibition gives you pause, as<br />
there are just a handful of international exhibits<br />
that have existed that celebrate Black art in such a<br />
way. “The title Giants is so important, because the<br />
artists are giant,” reports Swizz.<br />
The Dean Collection itself has become<br />
a giant in the art world, founded by Kasseem<br />
Dean (Swizz Beatz) and Alicia Keys in 2014. From<br />
its inception, it was clear that the couple had a<br />
unique lens in the art world. They weren’t interested<br />
in building a static collection to floss wealth,<br />
or gobbling up Black art and locking it away in<br />
warehouses. Instead, the Dean Collection was<br />
imagined as both a family collection and a cultural<br />
platform. One focused on supporting the careers<br />
of living artists, particularly artists of color, and<br />
democratizing art to make it accessible to all.<br />
Born and bred in New York City, with early<br />
roots in the music industry, it’s no surprise that<br />
these music icons have creatively thought outside<br />
of the box as art collectors. Hailing from the<br />
Bronx, Swizz became a producer for his family’s<br />
record label, Ruff Ryders, when he was only 17,<br />
while Keys, a <strong>15</strong>-time Grammy award winning<br />
artist, whose semi-autobiographical show Hell’s<br />
Kitchen recently opened on Broadway, has been<br />
making waves since dropping her debut album at<br />
the age of 20. Together, the two are blending their<br />
deep love of art and music with the Dean Collection.<br />
In 2016, they launched <strong>No</strong> Commission. The<br />
immersive art and music experience started in<br />
the South Bronx with a distinctive concept. People<br />
from the community could come to a festival, ride<br />
a ferris wheel, listen to local musicians like A$AP<br />
Rocky and Cardi B, and walk through an extraordinary<br />
gallery located in an on-site warehouse<br />
showcasing works by artists like Delphine<br />
Diallo, Jerome Lagarrigue, and Jeffrey Gibson.<br />
<strong>No</strong> pretense, no fuss, just fun. Artists were in the<br />
room, Swizz was in the DJ booth, and the Dean<br />
Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys<br />
Hendricks, Rainbow Sky at Sunset<br />
60 aphrochic
Patterson, ...they were just hanging out you know...talking about... (...when they grow up...)<br />
Collection had successfully taken art outside of<br />
the world of downtown white box galleries and<br />
returned it to the people.<br />
In addition to being a fun event, <strong>No</strong> Commission<br />
represented a revolutionary new idea<br />
in the art world. The artists who participated in<br />
the global event that traveled to Miami, London,<br />
Berlin, and Shanghai, were able to keep 100% of<br />
the proceeds from the works they sold, putting<br />
millions of dollars directly into the hands of living<br />
artists, something deeply important to the Deans.<br />
“I'm a producer, I'm a songwriter. Every time it's<br />
played on the radio, I get paid. Every time it's<br />
played in a movie, I get paid. Every time it plays,<br />
period, I get paid. Visual artists, they only get paid<br />
once,” Swizz stated in a discussion on supporting<br />
living artists with TED. “How, when paintings<br />
are sold and traded multiple times? And that's<br />
that artist's lifetime work, that other people are<br />
making 10, <strong>15</strong>, sometimes 100 times more than<br />
the artist that created it. So I created something<br />
called the Dean's Choice, where if you're a<br />
seller, or a collector, and you bring your work into,<br />
let's say, Sotheby's, there's a paper that's there<br />
that says, ‘Hey, guys, you know, this artist is still<br />
living. You've made 300% on your investment by<br />
working with this artist. You can choose to give<br />
the artist whatever you want of the sale.’ It'll start<br />
to change everything in the arts.” And it has. In<br />
2018, Swizz was part of the sale of Kerry James<br />
Marshall’s, Past Times (1997). The piece sold for<br />
$21.1 million at Sotheby’s, making Marshall the<br />
highest-selling, living African American artist to<br />
date.<br />
In May of 2018, the Dean Collection made<br />
another stunning move in the art world. Swizz and<br />
Alicia announced the acquisition of more than 80<br />
photographs by famed photographer Gordon<br />
Parks. The landmark acquisition of works by one<br />
of the greatest photographers of the 20th century<br />
included important archives of Black history —<br />
photographs of Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Langston<br />
Hughes, Muhammad Ali, as well as images of<br />
Black life in the rural south during Jim Crow, on<br />
the streets of Harlem, and in the favelas of Rio de<br />
Janeiro. The acquisition was also an important<br />
showcase of something that is not seen often —<br />
Black collectors being able to collect Black art.<br />
issue fifteen 61
Culture<br />
“The collection started not just because we’re<br />
art lovers, but also because there’s not enough<br />
people of color collecting artists of color,”<br />
Swizz told Cultured magazine in 2018.<br />
In 2019, the Dean Collection launched the<br />
exhibition, Gordon Parks: Selections From The<br />
Dean Collection at the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery<br />
of African & African American Art at Harvard<br />
University. “The Deans have been important<br />
champions of the work of Gordon Parks, and<br />
this exhibition is an opportunity to share his<br />
work with a broader audience through the outstanding<br />
platform offered by Harvard University,”<br />
Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., Executive Director<br />
of The Gordon Parks Foundation stated at the<br />
time. “The exhibition additionally builds on the<br />
Foundation’s strong history of collaborative<br />
programming with leading institutions in the<br />
mounting of exhibitions, conferral of scholarships,<br />
and mounting of public programs that<br />
engage the public with Parks’ legacy.”<br />
Today, Swizz and Alicia are known not<br />
only for their music genius, but for their shared<br />
passion in collecting, supporting and building<br />
community among artists of color. And their<br />
Giants exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum is<br />
a testament to all that they have done and will<br />
continue to do to create an art world where<br />
Black artists can thrive. “Swizz Beatz and<br />
Alicia Keys have been among the most vocal<br />
advocates for Black creatives to support Black<br />
artists through their collecting, advocacy, and<br />
partnerships. In the process, they have created<br />
one of the most important collections of contemporary<br />
art,” notes Anne Pasternak, the<br />
Shelby White and Leon Levy Director of the<br />
Brooklyn Museum.<br />
Stepping into the exhibit, it’s clear that<br />
Giants is something special. It recalls past exhibitions<br />
at the Brooklyn Museum that have<br />
been central to it’s focus on expanding the<br />
art-historical narrative: Kehinde Wiley: A New<br />
Republic in 20<strong>15</strong>; We Wanted a Revolution: Black<br />
Radical Women, 1965-85 in 2017; and Soul of A<br />
Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power in 2018.<br />
Broken into five parts, the exhibition<br />
opens in “Becoming Giants” where viewers are<br />
introduced to Swizz and Alicia’s creative lives<br />
and their sources of inspiration. It then moves<br />
to “On The Shoulders of Giants” paying homage<br />
to legendary artists who have made their mark<br />
on the world — pieces by Esther Mahlangu,<br />
Kwame Braithwaite, and Gordon Parks are in<br />
conversation with Barkley L. Hendricks, Malick<br />
Sidibé, and Sanlé Sory. In “Giant Conversations”<br />
the artwork is focused on social critique,<br />
with the artists on view addressing a range of<br />
issues that Black people have faced throughout<br />
the 20th and 21st centuries.<br />
Nick Cave’s protective sound suits<br />
are presented along with Lorna Simpson’s<br />
collages focused on Black women’s self-representation.<br />
Viewers then explore giant conversations<br />
focused on celebrating Blackness.<br />
Jamel Shabazz’s street photography of 1980s<br />
New York City is exceptionally fly. And Amy<br />
Sherald’s colorful diptychs celebrating Baltimore’s<br />
dirt bike culture show a joyful<br />
freedom. And in the final stage of the exhibition,<br />
“Giant Presence”, you see awe-inspiring<br />
pieces by Nina Chanel Abney, Titus<br />
Kaphar, and Meleko Mokgosi, that use scale<br />
to emphasize powerful themes that resonate<br />
across history.<br />
But Giants does not end there. In keeping<br />
with the mission of the Dean Collection,<br />
pop-up talks that invite community engagement<br />
will be held throughout the exhibition’s<br />
run, and a special shop has been curated with<br />
accessible pieces by the artists showcased. A<br />
budding collector can take home a Giants exhibition<br />
poster featuring the work of Toyin Ojih<br />
Odotula, signed by the artist; pick up a limited<br />
edition bone china plate featuring the work of<br />
Henry Taylor; and order the accompanying exhibition<br />
catalog to be published by Phaidon in<br />
June.<br />
Giants is truly one of those once-in-alifetime<br />
exhibitions that changes the way you<br />
feel, experience and relate to art, understanding<br />
that art is not best when it’s closed off, but<br />
is most relevant when it’s among the people.<br />
“We want people to see themselves,” says<br />
Keys.“We want people to feel inspired. We want<br />
you to feel connected and emotional and really<br />
discover. We want you to see the giants on<br />
whose shoulders we stand. We want you to see<br />
that you are also a giant. That you are special,<br />
incredible, unique.” AC<br />
62 aphrochic
Mahlangu, Ndebele Abstract<br />
Odita, Place
Culture<br />
Sherald, Deliverance (left)<br />
64 aphrochic
Sherald, Deliverance (right)<br />
issue fifteen 65
Culture<br />
Shabazz, Morning Rush Hour, Brooklyn, NYC<br />
Shabazz, Trio, Brooklyn, NYC<br />
Wiley, Femme piquée par un serpent<br />
66 aphrochic
Lawson, Soweto Queen<br />
Parks, Untitled, Miami, FL, 1966<br />
issue fifteen 67
68 aphrochic
Food<br />
Soul Ramen<br />
A Taste of History and Heritage<br />
at Ramen By Ra<br />
On a night in 2022, glittering chandeliers and flickering<br />
candlelight cast a warm glow across a New York City supper<br />
club-inspired restaurant where guests were transported for<br />
one night to the opulent atmosphere of the 1920s. The space was<br />
filled with the rhythmic melody of live jazz intertwined with the<br />
captivating movements of beautiful Black burlesque dancers.<br />
<strong>No</strong>t your average soirée, it was Bowery Sugar, a pop-up style<br />
experience that celebrated Black History Month and honored the<br />
Harlem Renaissance through the vibrant intersection of music,<br />
performance and, most importantly, food.<br />
Words by Krystle DeSantos<br />
Photos by Rashida Zagon<br />
issue fifteen 69
Food<br />
Amidst the ambiance, culinary artist, Chef Rasheeda Purdie<br />
unveiled her masterful creations which included a show-stopping<br />
Shoyu Ramen artfully served in vintage-style coupes, complete with a<br />
smoked soy egg, okra spice, and black garlic. An intentional dance of<br />
flavors and a distinctive culinary skill of weaving narrative through<br />
food, the dishes prepared by the chef were captivating.<br />
On display was Rasheeda’s unique approach — a creative combination<br />
of history, culture, and vibrant flavors that spark nostalgia,<br />
while simultaneously being innovative. In a genre of cooking where<br />
Black chefs are few and far between, Rasheeda’s ramen dishes and her<br />
journey are equally intriguing. Her path to the culinary arts was an unconventional<br />
one. For nearly a decade Rasheeda flourished as a stylist<br />
and personal shopper at the iconic women’s department store Henri<br />
Bendel. While the work brought her joy, a shift in the brand's direction<br />
prompted her to craft a Plan B as she anticipated the store’s closure.<br />
Yearning for a new creative outlet, Rasheeda took a bold leap of faith<br />
by enrolling in culinary school, juggling full-time work with part-time<br />
cooking.<br />
For Rasheeda, the worlds of fashion and food were related.<br />
"Fashion and food are intrinsically linked. They complement each other<br />
in a way that can't be denied. At fashion events, cocktails and culinary<br />
delights are often served together, creating a symphony of creativity,”<br />
she says. By 2016, she had graduated from culinary school, and by 2019<br />
she was ready to fully embrace her new path as Henri Bendel closed its<br />
doors. “My journey began with styling people, but I soon found myself<br />
drawn towards styling food. It's a wonderful creative outlet that is both<br />
vibrant and delicious. The colors, flavors, and textures of food make for<br />
a bold and captivating fashion statement.”<br />
In 2008, when Rasheeda left Maryland to pursue a life of fashion in<br />
New York, the move was met with raised eyebrows from those around<br />
her. She experienced that reaction again as, now a full-fledged chef, she<br />
made another leap to realize the dream of starting her own restaurant.<br />
But the fashionista-turned-chef-turned restaurateur has never been<br />
one to let others steer her compass. “For as long as I can remember," she<br />
explains, "I've always charted my own course and spoken my dreams<br />
into existence. It's just the way I'm wired."<br />
Guided by a lifelong fascination with Asian culture, Rasheeda<br />
became focused on a dish she had long-loved — ramen. “Before<br />
COVID-19 hit, I would eat ramen 2 to 3 times a week,” she admits. "After<br />
the restaurants closed down, I was determined to learn how to make<br />
it myself.” She dug deep into the heart of ramen's history, immersing<br />
herself in books such as The Untold History of Ramen and documentaries<br />
that ignited a deeper appreciation for Asian culture, music, the<br />
skills of chefs and the serene landscapes of Asian countries, like Japan.<br />
At the end 2023 her dream came true. Purdie made history opening the<br />
very first Black and woman-owned ramen restaurant in New York City<br />
— Ramen by Ra, located in The Bowery Market.<br />
The restaurant offers a revitalized “asa-ramen” experience,<br />
a term that refers to Japan’s ramen breakfast culture. Dishes are<br />
inspired by Southern/Asian/American cuisine and culture, where<br />
Japanese and American brunch culture collide. The menu draws inspiration<br />
from toppings traditionally used in ramen while also connecting<br />
to soulful American favorites. To maintain tradition, each<br />
ramen starts with a classic shoyu broth as a base that’s enhanced<br />
with infused oils and paste to differentiate the flavor of one bowl<br />
from the next. But Rasheeda’s flavor profiles go even deeper, connecting<br />
with the chef’s southern roots, offering a balanced taste of<br />
familiarity and innovation with unique ramen dishes such as Bacon,<br />
Egg & Cheese, that includes smoked bacon and a seasoned egg<br />
parmesan; Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato, a BLT-inspired dish featuring<br />
roasted tomato and leeks; and Steak & Soy Egg, with a chimichurri-shoyu<br />
and sesame.<br />
Rasheeda credits her grandmothers for the unique flavor combinations<br />
found in her dishes. Her Nana Lucy, who hailed from South<br />
Carolina, was known for her collard greens, and Grandma Remae,<br />
from Tarheel, N.C., taught her the southern tradition and art of preserving<br />
everything, from “garden to a jar.” Both influences are echoed<br />
in Rasheeda's recipes, from her use of greens, to pickling vegetables<br />
and red onions, to preserving tomatoes for her Bacon, Lettuce &<br />
Tomato Ramen. More than just culinary techniques, these influences<br />
are a heartfelt homage to her heritage, adding a layer of soulfulness to<br />
every slurp.<br />
Rasheeda also finds inspiration closer to her home in New York<br />
City, drawing parallels with the legacy of Black culinary pioneer<br />
Princess Pamela. The iconic soul food chef and author celebrated for<br />
her authentic southern recipes, ran the famed speakeasy-style restaurant<br />
The Little Kitchen in the 1960s and 1970s. Its first Lower Manhattan<br />
location is a mere 12-minute walk from Rasheeda's restaurant in the<br />
Bowery. The serendipitous proximity feels almost symbolic, like a metaphorical<br />
passing of the torch from one groundbreaking Black woman<br />
chef to another, each revolutionizing the culinary landscape in their<br />
own way.<br />
“Life is a journey full of opportunities, but it's up to you to take the<br />
leap of faith and pursue your dreams,” says Rasheeda. Her dream fully<br />
realized, each dish at Ramen By Ra is revolutionary as diverse culinary<br />
traditions converge, drawing inspiration from both Asian and southern<br />
American influences. Her ramen is a journey through history, culture,<br />
and personal connection, all in a single bowl. AC<br />
70 aphrochic
“Life is a journey full<br />
of opportunities, but<br />
it's up to you to take<br />
the leap of faith and<br />
pursue your dreams.”<br />
- Rasheeda Purdie
Food<br />
72 aphrochic
Entertaining<br />
The Joy<br />
of Spring<br />
Master Floral Designer John L. Goodman<br />
Designs a Whimsical Springtime Tale<br />
There are a million ways to tell a story, and each of them can bring<br />
something different to the tale. A book can make us think, music can<br />
make us feel, and art can help us see the world in a different way. Then<br />
there’s the way John L. Goodman tells a story — an expansive, immersive<br />
blend of hard work, whimsy and high art spread out over that unlikeliest<br />
of canvases, a dining table. John’s tablescapes do more than present the<br />
story to us, they pull us in, literally altering the world around us to let us<br />
experience the story not as a reader, but as a character. It’s John’s way of<br />
bringing to the world the things he thinks it needs most. “The world needs<br />
imagination, love, and compassion,” John observes simply. “I use my art to<br />
tell stories.”<br />
Words by Jeanine Hays<br />
Photos furnished by JL Goodman Design<br />
74 aphrochic
Entertaining<br />
The table artist’s most recent recitation<br />
is of Peter Rabbit, the precocious<br />
bunny created by Beatrix Potter, whose adventures<br />
unfolded over a series of six books<br />
published between 1902 and 1912. Though<br />
Peter’s popularity has hardly waned since<br />
becoming the very first character licensed<br />
to be a stuffed animal in 1903, his world<br />
might seem a curious one to bring to life on<br />
a table. For John, however, the choice was<br />
not only natural but obvious. “The Tale of<br />
Peter Rabbit was one of my favorite books<br />
growing up as a kid and I wanted to reinterpret<br />
the story into a spring table,” Goodman<br />
relates. The result is a beautiful table design<br />
perfect for spring holidays like Easter or<br />
May Day, or any day that could use a bit<br />
more whimsy and color.<br />
From the pages of Potter’s books and<br />
the childhood imagination of millions,<br />
Goodman’s design brings Mr. McGregor’s<br />
English garden to life with a mix of lavender<br />
roses, fuchsia orchids, and pale pink ranunculus<br />
among a bed of the radishes, cabbage,<br />
squash, and carrots that Peter was always<br />
only too eager to snack on. A hanging canopy<br />
of branches with a nest of bright blue eggs<br />
adds to the springtime tableau as colorful<br />
butterflies flutter overhead.<br />
Nestled among the leaves of the garden,<br />
Goodman conjures a modern English tea<br />
party with beautiful china and colorful<br />
flatware laid out in a mix of pastel shades.<br />
Coral napkins add even more energy to the<br />
mix while sweet tea cups and dessert plates<br />
are grounded by earthy chargers conjuring<br />
images of the naughty rabbit squeezing<br />
himself between the ground and the gate,<br />
defying his mother’s instructions to steer<br />
clear of Mr. McGregor’s garden.<br />
Peter himself sleeps in the garden,<br />
situated cozily beneath the canopy, full<br />
from carrots and cabbage, and dreaming<br />
the day away as the toads and butterflies<br />
mill around him. Completing the tale, John<br />
becomes the adventurous bunny himself,<br />
dressed in Peter’s signature blue jacket and<br />
a very floppy-eared hat.<br />
Like many of his designs, Goodman’s<br />
lush and abundant tablescape isn’t meant<br />
simply to be admired, but recreated. The<br />
artist compiled a list of elements he used<br />
to create the design on Amazon, right<br />
down to Peter’s iconic blue jacket and the<br />
floppy bunny ears he wore to complete<br />
the aesthetic. John hopes that the act of<br />
crafting the scene personally might evoke<br />
joy in children and adults alike — especially<br />
those with fond memories of reading the<br />
Beatrix Potter books when they were small<br />
— sparking some of that “imagination, love<br />
and compassion,” we all need so much right<br />
now. AC<br />
Shop the look on the JL Goodman Amazon<br />
page to create your very own Peter Rabbit-inspired<br />
tablescape.<br />
76 aphrochic
Entertaining<br />
78 aphrochic
City Stories<br />
Philadelphia<br />
Exploring Black History<br />
in the City of Brotherly Love<br />
Even in a nation as young as America, there are places that resonate with<br />
history, that remain central to the story as it began and relevant as it<br />
unfolds. The city of Philadelphia is one of those places. In fact, Philadelphia<br />
is known primarily for its history. It’s the place where the Declaration of<br />
Independence and Constitution were signed, the birthplace of the nation,<br />
the cheesesteak, and the Philadelphia Sound — it’s the city with the stairs<br />
that Rocky ran up all those times. The story of Philadelphia is an indelible<br />
part of the American memory. But the whole story is rarely told.<br />
Words by Bryan Mason<br />
Photos by Bryan Mason, Dan Mall, Chi Liu, Freddy Do, Jose Antonio Gallego<br />
Vázquez, Nick Fewings, Chang Ye, Connor Gan, Denys Barabanov<br />
Untitled by Amy Sherald. Photo by Denys Barabanov<br />
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City Stories
Center City Philadelphia skyline. Photo by Nick Fewings
City Stories<br />
Originally settled by the Lenape people, enslaved<br />
Africans arrived in the area long before William Penn,<br />
brought as early as 1639 by Dutch and Swedish colonizers.<br />
By 1681, the land on which the city was founded had<br />
changed colonial hands several times, oscillating between<br />
the Dutch and Swedes before falling under English governance.<br />
It was ceded to William Penn by England’s King<br />
Charles II, in part due to a debt the king owed to Penn’s<br />
deceased father. Penn envisioned his “City of Brotherly<br />
Love,” as a Quaker settlement founded on principles of<br />
religious freedom.<br />
The city grew quickly, increasing in population<br />
and commercial importance until the late 1700s, when it<br />
became the place from which a new nation announced its<br />
independence, and then its first capitol. By then, enslaved<br />
Africans were one-twelfth of the city’s population, with<br />
a free Black population of 500. By the end of the Revolutionary<br />
War, the number of free Black people in Philadelphia<br />
had more than doubled, and would continue to<br />
grow, reaching over 6,000 by 1800. Today, Philadelphia is<br />
a treasure of Black history, past and present, with stories,<br />
heroes, and heroines waiting to be remembered and celebrated<br />
around every corner, enshrined in the city’s architecture,<br />
culture, and art.<br />
Stories<br />
Though the city’s Black history is rarely represented<br />
on screen, Philadelphia actually does a fairly good job<br />
of making that history available, with much of it recorded<br />
on large markers positioned on important sites throughout<br />
the city. Just taking a walk, whether downtown or in<br />
neighborhoods like South Philly, Germantown, or Mt.<br />
Airy, is a chance to run into a diverse array of Black stories<br />
stretching back to the beginning of the nation. Historical<br />
markers record the deeds of abolitionists such as<br />
William Still and Absalom Jones; America’s first female African-American<br />
Secretary of State, C. DeLores Tucker; its<br />
first world-renowned musician, the 19th century African<br />
American composer, Francis Johnson; and Robert Bogle,<br />
a caterer famed as a Master of Ceremonies for wealthy<br />
client parties, who opened a “posh” restaurant at 8th and<br />
Lombard in 1813.<br />
Architecture<br />
Philadelphia’s architecture is a big part of the city’s<br />
appeal, especially in its older districts, and for lovers of<br />
Black history many of its buildings have something to offer<br />
as well. At 6th and Market streets, between Independence<br />
Hall and the Liberty Bell, The President’s House exhibit<br />
explores the lives of those enslaved on the property by the<br />
first President of the United States. A partial reconstruction<br />
of the house, set beside an excavation of its foundation,<br />
the exhibit provides details on nine people known<br />
to have lived in bondage with George Washington and his<br />
wife Martha. Among those listed are Hercules Posey, the<br />
president’s chef who, like Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved<br />
chef James Hemmings, stands as one of the architects of<br />
American cuisine. Along with Ona “Oney” Judge, Posey<br />
escaped the Washington house successfully, ending their<br />
time in enslavement. Nevertheless, Washington continued<br />
to pursue Judge until his death in 1799.<br />
A short distance away, on 6th and Addison streets<br />
in Society Hill, Mother Bethel Church sits upon the<br />
oldest tract of land to be owned continuously by African<br />
Americans. The site was purchased in 1791 by the formerly<br />
enslaved Methodist minister and abolitionist Richard<br />
Allen. Allen was the co-founder, along with Absalom Jones,<br />
of The Free African Society. The two led a procession of<br />
Black parishioners away from the racially segregated congregations<br />
of Philadelphia to found two new communities.<br />
Jones founded the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas<br />
at 5th and Adelphi (now St. James Place), the first African<br />
American Episcopal parish. Allen founded the African<br />
Methodist Episcopal church — the first African American<br />
denomination — with Mother Bethel at its center.<br />
The first building on the site was a former blacksmith’s<br />
shop that Allen had towed to the spot to serve as<br />
a place of worship. Though Allen passed away in 1831, the<br />
A.M.E. church spread quickly, and by 1889 the congregation<br />
contracted the architectural firm of Hazlehurst &<br />
Huckel to construct the church as it currently stands. Done<br />
in the Romanesque Revival style of the 19th century, the<br />
building features a three-story limestone entrance with<br />
a four-story tower complete with a full museum of the<br />
history of the A.M.E. church in its lower levels. Though St.<br />
Thomas has since moved from its original site, the church<br />
continues to thrive in its current home in West Philadelphia,<br />
near Fairmount Park,<br />
Also in West Philadelphia, the home of athlete, orator,<br />
actor, and singer Paul Robeson stands as a museum<br />
dedicated to his life and legacy. Built by architect E. Allen<br />
Wilson in 1911, the three-story home actually belonged<br />
to his sister Marian R. Forsythe and her husband Dr.<br />
James Forsythe. Robeson came to live there in 1966, after<br />
both his and Marian’s spouses had passed. The retired<br />
performer, once renowned, was persecuted for his fierce<br />
advocacy on a number of issues, notably anti-colonial<br />
movements in Africa and Asia. He was labeled a suspected<br />
communist and even brought before the House Un-American<br />
Activities Committee in 1956. He refused to answer<br />
their questions. Even after moving to Philadelphia in the<br />
last years of his life, the FBI maintained an open file on<br />
the elderly singer. Nevertheless, notable friends such as<br />
Harry Belafonte, Ozzie Davis, and Ruby Dee were familiar<br />
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The President’s House Site at Independence<br />
National Historical Park.<br />
Photo by Steven L. Markos.
City Stories<br />
Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo by Chang Ye
City Stories<br />
Philadelphia Muses by Meg Saligman. Photo by Jose Antonio Gallego Vázquez<br />
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Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Photo by Chi Liu<br />
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Historical markers. Photos by Bryan Mason<br />
presences in the home.<br />
Another famous Philadelphia home attributed to E.<br />
Allen Wilson is that of John Coltrane, the towering jazz<br />
virtuoso who moved to Philadelphia in 1943, purchasing the<br />
house in 1958 after finishing a term in the Navy. Today the<br />
home is at the center of an ongoing effort to establish a John<br />
Coltrane museum. Similarly, Billie Holiday’s South Philadelphia<br />
home is highlighted by a historical marker, though<br />
she was born in West Philadelphia, as is the Chinatown site<br />
that was once home to Sigma Studios, where the legendary<br />
Philadelphia International Records founded by Kenneth<br />
Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell created the “Philadelphia<br />
Sound.”<br />
But perhaps the city’s most famous architecture is also<br />
one of its most unsung Black history moments. Of the untold<br />
millions who have seen Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky running<br />
up the iconic Art Museum stairs — and the thousands<br />
who’ve done it themselves — few know the name of Julian<br />
Abele, the African-American architect who designed the<br />
museum, and much of the parkway it sits on.<br />
A descendent of Absalom Jones, Abele was born in<br />
Philadelphia in 1881 to a well-off family that included seven<br />
older children. Among his siblings were Dr. Robert Jones<br />
Abele, one of the six founding members of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity<br />
— America’s oldest African-American Fraternity<br />
— Joseph B. Abele, an engineer, and Charles Abele, a metalworker<br />
and collaborator of Sam Yellin. An accomplished<br />
student himself, Julian became the first African American<br />
graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s architecture<br />
program in 1902. By 1909 he had quickly risen to the position<br />
of chief designer at the prestigious Horace Trumbauer firm.<br />
After Trumbauer’s death in 1938, Abele took over the office<br />
completely, maintaining the name and brand.<br />
In addition to the Philadelphia Art Museum, credited<br />
with setting the tone and aesthetic for the Philadelphia<br />
Parkway as a whole, Abele’s works include the Philadelphia<br />
Free Library, numerous mansions and estates and much of<br />
Duke University. An all-white university until 1961, Duke has<br />
acknowledged Abele’s contribution to its campus by naming<br />
its residential quad in his honor.<br />
Art<br />
Philadelphia is the mural capital of the world, with<br />
more than 4,000 murals spread throughout the city,<br />
many of them by Black artists or depicting the city’s Black<br />
history past and present. Within that group, the topics<br />
range broadly from tributes to sports figures like Dr. J<br />
and Smokin’ Joe Frazier to famed Philadelphia musicians<br />
like John Coltrane and South Philly native Tariq Trotter —<br />
better known as Black Thought. A mural at the intersection<br />
of South Juniper and Cypress pays tribute to luminary<br />
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Octavius V. Catto Memorial.<br />
Photo by Dan Mall
City Stories<br />
scholar Alain Locke, architect of the New Negro Movement<br />
— more commonly known as the Harlem Renaissance, while<br />
others pay homage to more abstract concepts in works such<br />
as Legacy (7th & Chestnut), ASpire: <strong>No</strong> Limits (South 21st &<br />
Ellsworth), and Cecil B. Moore Philadelphia Freedom Fighters<br />
(22nd & College). Similarly pieces like We Still Here in Germantown<br />
and We Are Universal on Frankford Avenue speak<br />
to the enduring resilience of the Black community in Philadelphia<br />
and everywhere.<br />
The rich arts culture of Philadelphia, both its schools<br />
and opportunities for public works, have attracted a<br />
variety of exceptionally talented artists. Among them is<br />
Ernel Martinez, the prolific artist responsible for ASpire:<br />
<strong>No</strong> Limits, which celebrated the life of Dr. Shawn L. “Air<br />
Smooth” White, Why We Love Coltrane (29th & Diamond),<br />
Heart of a Champion: Tribute to Smokin’ Joe Frazier (13th<br />
& Allegheny), Ed Bradley: Curious, Relentless, Timeless<br />
(Wyalusing & Belmont), and a 40-foot tall mural of Paul<br />
Robeson in West Philadelphia, among many others. The Belize-born<br />
artist was himself inspired by the work of muralist<br />
and Philadelphia native Pariss Stancell, whose public works<br />
include A Celebration of Poetry (16th & Girard) and Healing<br />
Walls: Victim's Journey (Germantown Ave & Clearfield),<br />
as well as Voa Nu, Pwisans Nu (Our Voice, Our Strength),<br />
located in Germantown, on which the pair collaborated<br />
along with another Philly native, artist Felix St. Fort.<br />
Among the city’s most notable recent murals is the<br />
stunning work, Untitled, by Michele Obama portraitist,<br />
Amy Sherald. The six-story, 2,400-square-foot portrait immortalizes<br />
Najee Spencer-Young, whom Sherald met when<br />
Mural Arts Philadelphia arranged for students to visit her<br />
New Jersey studio. A tribute to the young Black women of<br />
the city, the mural is part of Sherald’s continuing work to<br />
challenge notions of who is allowed to be comfortable in art<br />
and public spaces.<br />
Museums<br />
For those who like to get their art and history all<br />
in one place, Philadelphia offers a wide assortment of<br />
museums with several, like the Franklin Institute and<br />
Rodin Museum conveniently grouped together on the<br />
Parkway. Soon to join their number is the African American<br />
Museum in Philadelphia, the first institution focused on<br />
the history and culture of African Americans to be built by<br />
a major U.S. city. The Smithsonian-affiliated museum was<br />
founded in 1976, during the celebration of America’s Bicentennial.<br />
Originally called the Afro-American Historical<br />
and Cultural Museum, it was renamed in 1997. Plans to<br />
relocate from its Old City location were announced in 2022.<br />
Currently comprised of four galleries and an auditorium,<br />
the museum divides its exhibits into three key themes: the<br />
African Diaspora; the Philadelphia Story; and the Contemporary<br />
Narrative. In addition to taking its rightful place at<br />
the city’s cultural center, moving to the Parkway promises<br />
a massive expansion for the museum, bringing it to a new<br />
240,000-square-foot location near the Philadelphia Free<br />
Library designed by Julian Abele.<br />
Already situated on the Parkway, between the Rodin<br />
Museum and the Free Library is the Barnes Foundation, a<br />
museum centered around displaying selected works from<br />
the collection of Dr. Albert C. Barnes. A wealthy art collector<br />
who began seriously amassing works in 1912, Barnes was<br />
an early collector of Picasso and a passionate collector of<br />
African art. A pioneer of the gallery wall technique for displaying<br />
artworks, Barnes was notable for his penchant for<br />
juxtaposing African and European artworks in his compositions,<br />
along with Greek antiques, Native American<br />
jewelry and more. Further, Barnes, a friend of Alain Locke<br />
and through him acquainted with many artists and scholars<br />
of the Harlem Renaissance, contributed an article, Negro<br />
Art and America, to Locke’s 1925 anthology, The New Negro,<br />
and his foundation is credited for contributing reproductions<br />
of African art pieces to the finished work. Much<br />
of his extensive collection of African art is included in the<br />
museum’s permanent collection, which moved to the<br />
Parkway in 2012.<br />
The Constitution Center sits directly across from the<br />
President’s House exhibit at 6th and Market, within sight<br />
of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. A definite site<br />
of interest on any Black history tour, the museum does the<br />
work of weaving Black history into the story of the constitution<br />
and the nation it founded. Among its attractions<br />
are an expansive, permanent exhibit on Reconstruction<br />
and timelines documenting the many times that different<br />
groups of Black people won and lost the right to vote long<br />
before the 1965 Voting Rights Act.<br />
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Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church. Photo by Dan Mall
City Stories<br />
The Old City district where most of Philadelphia’s colonial history sits is also one of the best areas for exploring its Black<br />
history from around the same time. The 1838 Black Metropolis, a group dedicated to shedding new and continued light on the extraordinary<br />
community of free and educated Black people in Philadelphia before the Civil War, offers walking tours of the city<br />
during the warmer months of the year. The tours touch on specific sites, emphasizing different aspects of what they name the<br />
“Philadelphia Black Metropolis.” This “city within a city” consisted of the numerous churches, businesses, social clubs, schools,<br />
and societies owned and operated by free Black people in the city — a community whose presence and impact has been obscured<br />
or forgotten in tellings of Philadelphian and American history, along with the hundreds of thousands of other free Black people<br />
who lived across the country at this time.<br />
A City of Black Stories<br />
Philadelphia’s history is as long as America’s, and like America, much of that history includes the lives, struggles, and accomplishments<br />
of Black people. And while that history is often obscured, an example of the hard work this country continually<br />
puts into forgetting that it wouldn’t be what it is without the people it labors unceasingly to obstruct, Philadelphia is a place where<br />
that history is there for the asking, by anyone who wants to know.<br />
From formerly enslaved preachers turned nation-builders to architects whose vision has stood the test of time; from miles<br />
and miles of art, tens of feet high, to the musicians, thinkers, ballers, activists, and community spirit they commemorate; from<br />
the Underground Railroad to the Philadelphia Sound, the City of Brotherly Love (and Sisterly Affection) invites you to explore the<br />
history of Black America from the very beginning. AC<br />
Paul Robeson House. Photo by Michael Bixler<br />
Powel House. Photo by Dan Mall<br />
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THE AMUR<br />
SCONCE<br />
W A Y F A I R . C O M
Reference<br />
Introducing<br />
Radically Reimagined<br />
The 21st century is nearly a quarter gone — and what do we have to show<br />
for it? The last five years alone have consisted of rampant global disease<br />
and death, a parade of genocides across various continents, the predictably<br />
rapid rise and fall of DEI, an ever-developing climate crisis, and<br />
repeated waves of economic upheaval leaving more and more people<br />
jobless, homeless, and hopeless as whole industries divest themselves<br />
of human beings in favor of AI. Social media platforms have spurred on<br />
military atrocities; nations have ceded from international unions based on<br />
rampant disinformation; and in America, alleged criminals plot ways to<br />
run for and even hold high office from prison. Whether we acknowledge it<br />
or not, to be alive in the 21st century, just about anywhere in the world, is to<br />
live in a very strange place at a very strange time.<br />
Words by Bryan Mason<br />
Photos by Houcine Ncib<br />
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And what are we told in this moment? “Ignore it all.<br />
Pretend it isn’t happening. Go back to work.” We’re told<br />
that the staggering levels of governmental apathy these<br />
issues are met with are all that we can expect. That the<br />
disdain of billionaires, who hoard the vast majority of the<br />
planet’s wealth in the hands of less than 1% of its population,<br />
profiting on the suffering of the rest, is all we deserve.<br />
Most of all, we’re told that there’s nothing we can do, that<br />
the end is not only nigh but inevitable, and that our only<br />
recourse is to just keep producing and consuming in hopes<br />
that the bad things that are happening all around us don’t<br />
happen to us.<br />
At the root of the problem is a very simple misconception:<br />
that the way things are is the only way they can be. As<br />
easy as it is to believe that the core structures of our society<br />
are both ancient and immutable, generally neither is the<br />
case. Human beings are remarkable among the planet’s<br />
species for the extent to which we create and control our<br />
realities. Languages, currencies, cultural conventions,<br />
family structures, even economic systems and forms of<br />
government are all human inventions, products of our<br />
ingenuity — figments of our collective imagination. More<br />
than any predatory virus or natural disaster beyond our<br />
control, conceptual structures of human design shape and<br />
define the human experience, including the ways in which<br />
we respond (or don’t) to the things we can’t control. So,<br />
while climate change and COVID-19 are very real problems<br />
that must be addressed, the millions of us around the world<br />
who suffer and die from them, among other issues, are<br />
doing so mainly because we have collectively failed to come<br />
up with a better idea.<br />
Part of the reason for this failure is that better ideas<br />
are not as easy to come by as we might wish. However<br />
imaginary they may be, the structures that define our<br />
realities, over time, social inertia, and simple force of habit,<br />
become ingrained, reified in our minds, as real and solid to<br />
us as tangible matter. Even when faced with a situation or<br />
structure that we desperately want to change, we cling to<br />
the premises and assumptions on which that structure is<br />
based. Consequently, even when change actually occurs,<br />
it typically presents us with little more than a different<br />
iteration of the same idea.<br />
If, for example, we somehow removed racism from<br />
America’s hiring practices, or even restructured those<br />
practices, making Black people the nation’s most employed<br />
group, that would not preclude discrimination on different<br />
bases — such as biological sex or gender identity — or<br />
address the suffering that results from any group being<br />
pushed to the bottom of an economic hierarchy. At best,<br />
therefore, it would only offer a different, and not improved,<br />
version of the same disparity.<br />
Real change is hard; it requires comprehension and<br />
honesty about what we intend to do next, what we’ve been<br />
doing to this point, and why. Change should be positive —<br />
but it doesn't have to be. We can always do better. We can<br />
always be worse. The responsibility for deciding is ours<br />
alone, as are most of the consequences. Change doesn’t<br />
have to be destructive — but it can be, if it is purely nominal<br />
or performative, if preventable failures are passed off as unavoidable<br />
in the hope of maintaining a broken status quo, or<br />
should we collectively choose to go in the wrong direction.<br />
When that happens we deepen divisions, reify imaginary<br />
hierarchies, or stuff new categories alongside old ones,<br />
excusing or increasing the various kinds of pain that we<br />
inflict on one another behind feeble appeals to tradition,<br />
economic necessity, human nature or "the way of the world.”<br />
Through the tumult of social and political upheavals<br />
that has marked the century to date, more and more it’s<br />
becoming clear that what we need is not a return to normal<br />
but real change pointing a new way ahead. Old ways of<br />
thinking are failing to meet the needs of the time while a sea<br />
of mounting calamities continues to expose the weaknesses<br />
of these outdated structures. Within this seemingly insurmountable<br />
list of crises, however, we find an unprecedented<br />
opportunity to look honestly and clearly at what is not<br />
working in our society and to begin steps toward something<br />
not only new, but radically reimagined.<br />
How Does Radically Reimagining Work?<br />
Every society is built on a series of structures, interconnected<br />
and largely interdependent — threads in a great<br />
and evolving tapestry that together construct the picture<br />
of that society at a moment in time. Pick the wrong thread,<br />
or pull too hard, and ostensibly the whole thing unravels.<br />
But imagine society instead as a great tree, with countless<br />
leaves and many branches and limbs leading back to a<br />
single trunk, descending into a network of roots. The constructs<br />
of society, in their current form, are but the leaves<br />
and branches of that tree, flourishing in the moment to be<br />
replaced in time. The limbs are the respective histories of<br />
each construct, the thoughts, ideas and happenings which<br />
have shaped them over time into what they currently are.<br />
The trunk consists of shared premises — the common<br />
knowledge and collective memory of a society — which<br />
provide the basic presumptions and fundamental logic by<br />
which each construct is shaped and applied. And at the very<br />
bottom, the roots, the underlying assumptions that are the<br />
basis on which premises are founded.<br />
Changing a construct might be as simple as replacing<br />
a leaf. Most often that’s all we set out to do. Sometimes it’s<br />
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all that’s necessary. Sometimes the problem<br />
is not with the premises, assumptions or<br />
history, but with the flawed execution of<br />
a good idea. Determining that, however,<br />
requires exploring back along the branches<br />
of the tree to find the trunk and following it<br />
down to interrogate the roots. Only then can<br />
new constructs, if needed, be born of new<br />
premises based on new — or at least revised<br />
— assumptions. And yet, the sheer number of<br />
leaves on the tree of American society, like any<br />
other, would seem to render such an undertaking<br />
unfeasible if not wholly impossible. But<br />
that isn’t necessarily the case.<br />
Looking at the history of America —<br />
the assumptions and premises it has both<br />
utilized and produced — it seems apparent<br />
that a nation which spent its formative years<br />
enslaving so much of its population has very<br />
clear ideas on the relative values of capital<br />
and human life. Today, we see union disputes<br />
played out time and again, most recently and<br />
publicly in the cases of employees in Amazon<br />
Fulfillment Centers (themselves likened to<br />
slave plantations) and Hollywood writers and<br />
actors, together with the sudden and growing<br />
effort to replace all human work and creativity<br />
with software-generated materials. Though<br />
apparently disconnected, these disparities<br />
all rest on many of the same premises and<br />
assumptions on the privilege of wealth, the<br />
value of labor, and who is and is not valuable<br />
in this country.<br />
Similarly, were we able, as previously<br />
mentioned, to remove anti-Black racism from<br />
American hiring practices, that feat would not<br />
necessarily, or by itself, correct the problems<br />
of medical racism, housing discrimination<br />
food injustice or wage disparity for anyone,<br />
Black or otherwise. Though separate constructs,<br />
they are all united by racism as an underlying<br />
premise. That premise, foundational<br />
to so much of American society, is in turn<br />
rooted in the false assumption that race is<br />
real and that a biological hierarchy between<br />
races actually exists. Therefore, reimagining<br />
any of these constructs will require the reevaluation<br />
and removal of such assumptions<br />
and premises — an act that would, perforce,<br />
impact them all. Without this change at the<br />
presumptive level, however, subsequent<br />
revisions to any one of these constructs would<br />
likely present only a variation on a theme.<br />
Though there are a bewildering number<br />
of conceptual structures that make up<br />
American society, the process of radically reimagining<br />
any one construct involves interrogating<br />
premises and assumptions that are the<br />
shared foundation of many, thus removing<br />
the need to inspect each construct individually<br />
while amplifying the potential impact of the<br />
process itself.<br />
What Is The Process of Radically<br />
Reimagining?<br />
Before we can begin the task of stripping,<br />
interrogating, evaluating and retooling the<br />
various abstractions that make up society,<br />
there are a few things we need to have. Firstly,<br />
expertise and knowledge, which though<br />
mutually indispensable to the process, are<br />
not the same things. The expertise needed to<br />
reimagine a structure is a high-level, functional<br />
understanding of how that structure<br />
works within the current paradigm. We also<br />
need an exhaustive knowledge of the historical<br />
development of the construct in question,<br />
from its basic premises to the major epochs,<br />
thinkers and influences that have shaped its<br />
development.<br />
Balancing these analytical attributes,<br />
reimagining requires honesty and empathy.<br />
Here honesty connotes a willingness to openly<br />
view and assess the causes and effects of a<br />
construct without obfuscation, euphemism,<br />
equivocation or excuse. Likewise, empathy<br />
is the recognition that all human suffering is<br />
equal and none is acceptable, coupled with<br />
the unwillingness to barter the sufferings of<br />
one individual or group as payment for the<br />
comforts of another.<br />
Discernment is another much-needed<br />
characteristic. So much of our reality is<br />
narrative, but often that narrative is rooted in<br />
the observation of something factual or fundamentally<br />
true. Yet as we heap interpretations<br />
onto this objective fact, norms develop,<br />
becoming assumptions, then premises and<br />
constructs. Based more on what has become<br />
comfortable and expected through continued<br />
iterations of the narrative than on the reality<br />
from which the narrative began, these constructs<br />
often falsely portray what is acceptable<br />
as what is possible.<br />
To effectively pore through the many<br />
layers of a societal construct requires the<br />
ability to recognize the systems of society<br />
as mutable and imaginary — to distinguish<br />
the real from the narrative. It is possible,<br />
for example, for discerning individuals to<br />
recognize that there are objective physical<br />
distinctions between males and females of<br />
our species, yet understand that none of those<br />
distinctions have any bearing on the intellectual<br />
or creative capabilities of either. Discernment,<br />
however, is of little use without perspective.<br />
All constructs are artificial, as without<br />
exception they proceed from human thoughts<br />
and actions. As a result they are all inherently<br />
un-real. And while that may seem to confer<br />
a general sense of untruth to such constructs<br />
collectively, to call them false, fake or irrelevant<br />
is not only incorrect but contrary to<br />
human nature.<br />
As people we need our constructs to<br />
exist. Language is a construct. It makes communication<br />
possible. Clothing is a construct.<br />
It shields our bodies from the elements. Governments,<br />
currencies, family structures,<br />
legal systems — all constructs enabling us<br />
to live and work together. If we didn’t have<br />
them, we’d have to invent them. What makes<br />
a specific construct eligible for reimagining<br />
is when it misconstrues realities — or invents<br />
false ones — in order to place the burden<br />
of suffering disproportionately onto one or<br />
more groups of people by (or in order to) privileging<br />
others. It takes perspective, therefore,<br />
to balance the artifice of constructs with their<br />
utility and ultimate necessity, maintaining<br />
detachment from the imaginary in order to<br />
always privilege the real over the constructed.<br />
Belief is possibly the single most crucial<br />
attribute to have when reimagining. To even<br />
attempt to reimagine the way a society works,<br />
one must first have the conviction that human<br />
100 aphrochic
Reference<br />
conceptual structures can be made better;<br />
that society does not require suffering; and<br />
that just as they can never purport to preclude<br />
all suffering, such structures can — as a bare<br />
minimum — endeavor never to add to or<br />
ignore what exists.<br />
Before any of this however, we must<br />
first be dissatisfied with the status quo as<br />
it currently exists. This is not simply a resentment<br />
of social conventions or thirst for<br />
anarchy, but an acute discontent with the<br />
suffering caused or abetted by the arbitrary<br />
contrivances of demonstrably flawed approaches<br />
to managing a society.<br />
Finally, to make any effort at reimagining<br />
more than an intellectual exercise<br />
requires the resolve, first to go through the<br />
process with nuance and care, then to develop<br />
realistic steps for moving from one paradigm<br />
to another, and finally to pursue them to<br />
completion. This isn’t the resolve of any one<br />
person or perhaps even a single generation,<br />
but a collective impetus towards better<br />
outcomes born of better ideas.<br />
How Do We Radically Reimagine?<br />
Whether we’re looking to reimagine<br />
labor, democracy, education, economics,<br />
housing, or health care, we have to have a<br />
clear and detailed understanding of how a<br />
thing works right now before we can devise<br />
something that works better. And we must<br />
possess an equally clear understanding of<br />
how that construct came to be.<br />
It is impossible, for example, to have a<br />
clear view of the American justice system —<br />
from sentencing practices to the prison-industrial<br />
complex — without reference to the<br />
history of American slavery that formed it.<br />
Crucial to its current state is the function<br />
of prisons as modern replacements for the<br />
defunct plantation system, providing the<br />
nation with the benefits of the (nearly) free<br />
labor of Black people. With proven links to<br />
America’s education and housing systems<br />
as well, the legal, prison, education and<br />
housing systems become branches and leaves<br />
extending from the shared historical limb of<br />
American slavery. Following the limb of this<br />
metaphorical tree to its trunk and roots, we<br />
must analyze the premises and assumptions<br />
underlying the construct in question and the<br />
motivations behind them.<br />
Finally, we must assess the ultimate<br />
utility and need for the structure in question,<br />
beyond appeals to tradition or habit.<br />
Tradition and habit may seem like small<br />
hurdles to overcome, but in fact their grip can<br />
be powerful, freezing societies in place simply<br />
because we have gotten used to doing what we<br />
think we’ve always done, regardless of how effectively<br />
or ineffectively we’re doing it.<br />
JFK once lauded police officers for protecting<br />
America since the nation’s birth. Yet,<br />
according to the Smithsonian Institute, the<br />
nation’s first official police force wasn’t established<br />
until 1838 in Boston. With precedents in<br />
the northern Night Watch of the 1600s and the<br />
southern Slave Patrols of the 1700s, and paralleled<br />
by gangs of vigilante “Regulators” in<br />
the west, Boston’s early police force was noted<br />
for its brutal tactics against European immigrants.<br />
Yet as the Great Migration brought<br />
increasing numbers of African Americans<br />
into the city, their practices came more to<br />
resemble those of their southern forebears.<br />
To radically reimagine American<br />
policing, the construct would have to be reformulated<br />
without recourse to the racist<br />
premises on which it is traditionally and<br />
currently founded and without attachment to<br />
the levels of impunity with which police habitually<br />
operate. Rather than reacting to a history<br />
of harmful practices or, worse yet, seeking<br />
to expand on them, we would need to relinquish<br />
both sides of the argument, and begin<br />
first with the need of people to be protected<br />
by laws — and those who enforce them — fully<br />
and equally, unaffected by the imagined strictures<br />
of wealth, class or race.<br />
Once these assessments have been<br />
made, what’s left is to re-envision the<br />
construct in a new way, from a new set of<br />
premises and assumptions. Simply put,<br />
radically reimagining allows us to fundamentally<br />
rethink our society one aspect at a time<br />
by reorienting the rationales and purposes<br />
behind why we do things as we do.<br />
A Radically Reimagined Path To Change<br />
The last and most critical step to<br />
radically reimagining is to plan — to lay out a<br />
series of practical, accomplishable steps for<br />
moving from the old paradigm to the new.<br />
There are no magic wands or words that will<br />
effortlessly replace one way of doing things<br />
with another. The transitions from feudalism<br />
to capitalism and monarchy to democracy<br />
took time and work. But understanding how<br />
an idea can effectively shift from one perspective<br />
to another is the difference between<br />
radically reimagining societal constructs<br />
and daydreaming about a better world. Real<br />
change will require effort on a number of<br />
levels, from social norms to legislation, while<br />
replacing old reflexive assumptions with new<br />
ones.<br />
Change is the process of society; it is<br />
constant and inevitable. Whether structures<br />
are replaced or upheld, they will not and do<br />
not remain the same. Therefore, Radically Reimagined<br />
is not about forcing change, rather<br />
it is an invitation to embrace change consciously,<br />
with the intention and imperative to<br />
ensure that whatever change comes is for the<br />
better. It’s not about pretending to have the<br />
answers, but about believing that we can find<br />
or formulate solutions — just as we formulate<br />
the problems — if we only ask better questions.<br />
The Radically Reimagined series will<br />
look at some of the most fundamental structures<br />
of our society, how they work, why<br />
we have them, and how they can be remade<br />
to better meet the needs of all of the lives<br />
that they touch. In it, we will hold a series of<br />
conversations with qualified experts on a<br />
variety of subjects from personal and public<br />
healthcare to the economy, the internet and<br />
democracy. We invite you to follow the series<br />
here in <strong>AphroChic</strong> magazine and on The<br />
<strong>AphroChic</strong> Podcast. AC<br />
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APHRO<br />
APHRO<br />
CHIC<br />
P O D C A S T
Wellness<br />
Resetting Your<br />
Way to a<br />
Better Life<br />
Justin Shiels is the author of the new self-improvement book,<br />
The Reset Workbook: A Guide To Finding Your Inner Magic. The<br />
artist, who is known for his Instagram feed filled with positive<br />
affirmations, had a desire to create a book that could help himself<br />
and others design a life that they love. Filled with colorful and<br />
uplifting illustrations by Shiels, along with questionnaires that<br />
remind you of the memory books you used to fill out as a kid,<br />
this is not a workbook at all, but a fun journal that helps you get<br />
in better touch with yourself and the life you want.<br />
Interview by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason<br />
104 aphrochic
We sat down with Shiels to discuss his new book and how you<br />
know when it’s time for a reset.<br />
AC: What is a reset and when do you know it’s time for one?<br />
JS: It’s time for a reset if...you're always tired, you feel out of<br />
sync, you’re living on autopilot, you feel disconnected, you’re ready<br />
for change<br />
AC: Maybe someone doesn’t feel disconnected, but their life<br />
just feels ok, is a reset necessary?<br />
JS: Maybe you’re thinking: my life is pretty good. I like this.<br />
I love that. This is working okay. But I bet your mind also flashed<br />
over to that one area of your life you don’t let yourself dwell on too<br />
much. The part that’s slightly out of sync, but that also will take<br />
some dedicated effort to make a meaningful change.<br />
Your life doesn’t have to be in shambles to need a reset. In<br />
fact, regularly checking in with yourself and making sure you’re on<br />
the right track, or doing a little course correction if necessary, is<br />
essential for living the life you want. It may seem like an unexamined<br />
life is easier, but such a life is full of missed opportunities—<br />
and it’s a lot more boring.<br />
AC: How does your book help people meet their goals for<br />
change?<br />
JS: Between busy work days and demanding social lives,<br />
many of us don’t make time to check in on our goals. We need an<br />
easy way to stay accountable. The Reset Workbook is designed<br />
in a way that invites you to physically interact with your goals by<br />
writing about them. It offers lots of personal analysis, opportunities<br />
for brainstorming, and inspirational quotes. The primary<br />
goal, however, is to build a tactical roadmap to make your dreams a<br />
reality. You answer questions, brainstorm potential goals, narrow<br />
them down and set intentions for the next year.<br />
The Reset Workbook by Justin Shiels.<br />
Copyright © 2023 by Shiels, Justin. All rights reserved.<br />
AC: How can people interact with The Reset Workbook to<br />
create lasting change in their lives?<br />
JS: This is a living document meant to be examined regularly,<br />
and altered to fit your ever-changing version of a fulfilling, meaningful<br />
life.The workbook is separated into specific categories to<br />
help you navigate the most vital parts of your personal identity.<br />
You’ll learn more about yourself and have the tools to design a path<br />
that makes you happier and healthier.<br />
AC: How can you embrace a reset as a fun exercise?<br />
JS: Get ready to be pulled and stretched in magical ways.<br />
Write, color, scribble, but most importantly, enjoy!<br />
issue fifteen 105
SOUNDS<br />
BLKBOK<br />
Where Hip Hop Meets Classical<br />
Charles Wilson III was four years old when he began playing<br />
the piano. Growing up in a musically-inclined family in Detroit,<br />
the boy who would eventually become the virtuoso artist<br />
known as BLKBOK, was obsessed with the instrument. Though<br />
small, his little toddler fingers would race up and down the<br />
keys. Soon, his mother realized that his affinity for the piano<br />
was something that needed to be nurtured and educated — a<br />
decision that only deepened his love for it. By the time most<br />
children his age were beginning to try their hands at writing<br />
in cursive, BLKBOK had mastered the piano. At eight, the<br />
child prodigy was winning accolades in state and college-level<br />
competitions.<br />
Words by Jeanine Hays<br />
Photos by Spencer Heyfron, Allison Farrand and Matt Doheny<br />
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SOUNDS
SOUNDS<br />
110 aphrochic
Wilson’s relationship with the piano was unique. With<br />
it, he created a musical language formed from a fusion of<br />
the classical music he was playing in competition and the<br />
rap music he would listen to after school. Throughout his<br />
teenage years, his sound was equally guided by the work of<br />
icons such as Debussy and Busta Rhymes. The combination<br />
led him to develop original compositions that blended<br />
classical, Hip Hop, R&B and jazz.<br />
By 2020, Wilson had a well-established career in<br />
the music industry, traveling the world as lead pianist<br />
and musical director for artists like Rihanna, Justin Timberlake,<br />
and Demi Lovato. After touring with the show,<br />
Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque Du Soleil, the artist was<br />
forced to take a break and rediscover himself. As was true<br />
for so many of us, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic<br />
coupled almost simultaneously with the explosion of the<br />
Black Lives Matter movement, signaled a transition for<br />
Wilson. As tours ended and lockdown began, the musical<br />
director returned to his own work. Taking on the name,<br />
BLKBOK — a nod to his cultural heritage and one of his<br />
favorite piano players, Johann Sebastian Bach — the<br />
man who loved piano as a boy, who spent his high school<br />
years fusing French impressionism and Flipmode, began<br />
working on his first solo album.<br />
The album Black Book was groundbreaking — a<br />
classical album with a Hip Hop vibe, all written from a<br />
21st century Black male experience. It broke through the<br />
boundaries imposed by the music industry, showcasing<br />
for the first time BLKBOK’s distinct language, with compositions<br />
titled, George Floyd and the Struggle for Equality<br />
and Michelle’s First Day at the White House, coupled<br />
with spoken word by Jamaican poet, Lauren Delapenha.<br />
A mixtape soon followed, CVRART, described as “a<br />
neo-classical, Hip Hop-inspired expression of some of<br />
the most recent viral hits.” The mixtape featured covers of<br />
popular songs like Best Friend by Saweetie and Leave The<br />
Door Open by Bruno Mars.<br />
While dropping covers of viral hits, BLKBOK began<br />
to go viral himself, his virtuoso piano work drawing<br />
attention on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram.<br />
Producing remixed reels with other classically trained<br />
Black musicians, the videos were and continue to be a<br />
breath of fresh air. You can watch BLKBOK playing with<br />
other Black musicians in a way that is innovative, experimental<br />
and free from the heavily manufactured sounds<br />
imposed by today’s music industry. And through these<br />
collaborative videos you get to see that there are a host of<br />
other Black musicians present in the classical world.<br />
Last fall, BLKBOK dropped his sophomore album<br />
9, an ambitious work honoring the Little Rock Nine. The<br />
album is a mix of instrumental storytelling and spoken<br />
word that aims to bring attention to a variety of social<br />
topics including the need for togetherness over division,<br />
and pathways to healing and self-love. The album was<br />
released on September 25, 2023, the 66th anniversary of<br />
the first full day of school for the Little Rock Nine. And in<br />
writing it, BLKBOK traveled to Little Rock to interview<br />
Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Nine, to hear her story<br />
firsthand and glean from it ways to bring positive change<br />
to our society today.<br />
In just four short years, BLKBOK has two albums<br />
and several mixtapes under his belt. With each new work,<br />
Wilson is pushing himself to find meaning in the music<br />
while offering us compositions that serve as prompts to<br />
wider discussions on social justice, community building,<br />
the civil rights struggles of the past and the work we<br />
need to do today to build a better future. His new single<br />
Shadows & Light, which dropped early in 2024, is one<br />
such example. Wilson describes the song as a “message to<br />
everyone who's ever had to cope with hatred, racism, or<br />
bigotry from someone else. It's a story written for those<br />
that are brave and have the awareness and fortitude to<br />
not react impulsively. To those who know and understand<br />
that the problem isn't you, it's them.”<br />
Like a rapper with a mic, BLKBOK uses the piano<br />
to tell stories of Black life in America. With each key, he<br />
is creating socially conscious music with the hope of<br />
drawing our attention to where it’s most useful and the<br />
purpose of inspiring the change we so desperately need.<br />
Like Wilson says himself, “Imagine me as a rapper, except<br />
I spit lyrics and tell my stories through my hands, with<br />
these notes.” AC<br />
issue fifteen 111
PINPOINT<br />
Artists & Artisans | Civics | Who Are You
ARTISTS & ARTISANS<br />
Carla Williams Debuts Her First Monograph, Tender<br />
In September 2023, photographic historian Carla Williams released<br />
her debut monograph, Tender. The book contains over 80 images shot<br />
by Williams between 1984 and 1999. The images are from a private<br />
archive of personal self-portraits that Williams took during the<br />
<strong>15</strong>-year period, exploring her own possibilities as a young, queer,<br />
Black woman taking control of her image as both subject and creator.<br />
Flipping through the pages of Tender, you’ll<br />
see portraits of Williams during her time as a<br />
student at Princeton — contact prints of her nude<br />
torso; untitled images of her boldly staring into the<br />
camera; a cheeky close-up of her buttocks made<br />
during her time in Albuquerque while getting<br />
her MFA; a playful print of the the artist against<br />
a floral background with one eye winking at the<br />
camera. The images are fun, witty, uncensored,<br />
empowered, authentically human, and familiar all<br />
at once. They are a young woman’s documentary<br />
of herself as she comes of age, concerned about<br />
no gaze but her own, experimental and free in her<br />
creation.<br />
For more than 30 years the archive had<br />
been stored away, containing images Williams<br />
made in instant Polaroid 35mm and 4x5 type 55<br />
film formats. The pictures were more confessions<br />
than studies, the camera a confidante to<br />
the young photographer. “[It] is as though I can<br />
tell it everything,” she attests in a writing found<br />
among the photos, “all of my secrets, and it listens,<br />
intently, carefully and repeats it aloud, and I hear<br />
it repeated and although it sounds nothing like my<br />
original words, I recognize these words … and the<br />
camera is right.” Finding both reflection and echo<br />
in the camera’s report of her, Carla found opportunities<br />
to view herself from new angles, benefitting<br />
from the freedom of a conversation which<br />
allowed her to play both parts, with the camera<br />
as an honest yet impartial observer. “There is the<br />
image you present to the camera,” she reflects,<br />
“but it is never the one the camera records. The<br />
relationship is rather like telling one's deepest<br />
secrets to a friend.”<br />
Ironically, in the way that so many monumental<br />
discoveries begin from mundane<br />
concerns, it was the purchase of a cabinet on eBay<br />
that led to the photographer’s excavation of the<br />
images. Williams, who had successfully received<br />
her BA in photography from Princeton University<br />
and her MA and MFA from the University of New<br />
Mexico, came upon a postal sorting cabinet she<br />
felt compelled to fill with snapshots and family<br />
photos. After filling only a quarter of the cabinet<br />
she was in need of more images and landed upon<br />
the self-portraits she had taken while in school. As<br />
Williams reports, “When I began to sort through<br />
the stack a funny thing happened — I rediscovered<br />
how much I loved these photos, and I loved this<br />
Words by Jeanine Hays<br />
Images from Tender, Published and Worldwide copyright TBW Books, 2023<br />
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ARTISTS & ARTISANS<br />
fearless young woman who was making them.”<br />
Though photography had been a passion of that young<br />
woman, she had never considered herself an artist and<br />
had harbored no plans to show the work. “When I finished<br />
grad school […] I promptly announced my retirement,” she<br />
remembers. Though Williams would spend decades after<br />
school working independently as a photography historian,<br />
writer, and editor, she was quickly, “disillusioned with<br />
the financial impracticality of trying to pursue an artistic<br />
career.” Ultimately her discomfiture was rooted in more than<br />
questions of personal sustainability. “I didn't believe that art<br />
should be bought and sold,” she states. “I thought art is the<br />
embodiment of ideas and ideas should be shared freely.” But<br />
when the pandemic hit, Williams started scanning the works<br />
and even began sharing some of them on Instagram. On<br />
social media, the images caught the attention of TBW Books,<br />
the independent photography book publishing company that<br />
released Tender this past fall.<br />
Printed in a limited edition of 1,500 copies, the books are<br />
all signed and numbered by Williams herself. Each includes a<br />
4 x 6 inch chromogenic print — a work of art in itself. Despite<br />
her early qualms about a creative career, this unexpected<br />
moment of rediscovery has secured Williams’ legacy as an<br />
artist. Soon after its release, the photographer held her first<br />
solo exhibition, Carla Williams: Circa 1985, at Higher Pictures<br />
in Brooklyn, N.Y. The exhibition was a restaging of Williams’<br />
Princeton University Bachelor of Arts thesis exhibition from<br />
1986. The images presented were raw, urgent, and necessary,<br />
in an exhibition that Higher Pictures described as “a Black<br />
woman processing a canonical history.”<br />
Today, Williams’ work is part of the vast continuum of<br />
Black portraiture, and an important signpost in the history<br />
of Black female photography in particular. Current works by<br />
contemporary artists such as Zanele Muholi, Delphine Diallo,<br />
Fares Micue, and Takara Portis’ sit in conversation with<br />
Williams’ decades-old photographs, presenting Black women<br />
in ownership of their own forms and gazes, along with an<br />
equally self-possessed approach to photographing the Black<br />
female body.<br />
For Williams, these works are not only a look back at<br />
a young woman coming into her own; but a look forward,<br />
coming to see her work as an important historical contribution<br />
to the cannon of the Black female body in art and photography.<br />
“I recognize in these photographs an exploration<br />
of one's physicality, beauty, sexuality, power, and pleasure<br />
through humor, seduction, and performance. As much as my<br />
older, wiser self would like to claim otherwise, what I know is<br />
that there was nothing deliberate or political in their creation<br />
— that came later — I was a young Black woman exploring the<br />
way I looked before the camera. Their directness and honesty<br />
and playfulness were only possible for me before I knew the<br />
degree to which any of it ‘mattered.’” AC<br />
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ARTISTS & ARTISANS<br />
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issue fifteen 119
CIVICS<br />
Seeing Genocide: A People’s Guide<br />
to Recognizing and Ending It<br />
It would be hard to think of a nation that exists today that does not have<br />
the horrible crime of genocide hidden within its foundation. The mass<br />
extermination of human life for gains in land, oil, minerals, resources<br />
and supremacy is sadly not new, but instead, an all too familiar tactic<br />
employed by governments, corporations, empires, regimes, those in<br />
want of power, and those who kill to maintain it.<br />
While many of us may know that genocide has<br />
been used as a tool in the past, it’s not something<br />
we often think about in our present. In fact, many<br />
may think of one of the world’s most atrocious<br />
human rights violations as something from a<br />
bygone era, no longer existing in our modern<br />
world. But late last year, as conflict broke out in<br />
Gaza, the entire world received a brutal reality<br />
check. <strong>No</strong>t only was genocide not bygone, but as<br />
we watched it occur in real time on our Instagram<br />
and TikTok feeds, we learned that genocide<br />
impacts us all.<br />
As calls for “#ceasefirenow” began to grow<br />
on social media in reaction to what was happening<br />
in Gaza, something else happened. Just like<br />
with #BLM in 2020, the ceasefire hashtag went<br />
viral and suddenly our feeds were not only filled<br />
with images and videos of genocide unfolding in<br />
Palestine, but in other parts of the world as well.<br />
Artists, designers, food influencers and so many<br />
more, called on everyone to look at the long-time<br />
ethnic cleansing campaigns taking place in<br />
Congo and Sudan, killing thousands and displacing<br />
millions on an unthinkable scale. Like in 2020,<br />
through the power of social media, those calls<br />
were quickly amplified and suddenly millions<br />
around the world were engaged in a global effort<br />
to end genocide.<br />
We are entering a new era where global<br />
conflicts and crimes are no longer filtered<br />
through government press conferences, reported<br />
through state-sanctioned talking points, and fed<br />
to citizens in small digestible bites. As more and<br />
more people have a desire to become engaged in<br />
ending global atrocities like genocide, it’s more<br />
important than ever for individuals to have a clear<br />
picture of what the the crime of genocide is, where<br />
it’s taking place, and how each of us has a role in<br />
stopping it.<br />
What Is Genocide?<br />
On October 24, 1945, following the end of<br />
World War II, The United Nations (UN) was established.<br />
The intergovernmental body was defined<br />
as having the purpose of maintaining international<br />
peace and security, developing friendly<br />
relations among nations, achieving international<br />
cooperation, and serving as a center for harmonizing<br />
the actions of nations. On December 9, 1948<br />
the first human rights treaty to be adopted by the<br />
Words by Jeanine Hays<br />
Photos by Timothy Barlin, Isaiah McCarty, Samia D., Simeon Asenov, and Amjd Rdwan<br />
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CIVICS<br />
General Assembly of the UN was adopted<br />
- The Convention on the Prevention and<br />
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide<br />
(Genocide Convention). As of January 2019,<br />
<strong>15</strong>0 nation-states have ratified or acceded<br />
the treaty, which states in Article II:<br />
Genocide means any of the following<br />
acts committed with intent to destroy, in<br />
whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial<br />
or religious group, as such:<br />
(a) Killing members of the group;<br />
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental<br />
harm to members of the group;<br />
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the<br />
group conditions of life calculated to bring<br />
about its physical destruction in whole or in<br />
part;<br />
(d) Imposing measures intended to<br />
prevent births within the group;<br />
(e) Forcibly transferring children of<br />
the group to another group.<br />
States’ Obligations Under the Genocide<br />
Convention:<br />
1. Obligation not to commit genocide;<br />
2. Obligation to prevent genocide,<br />
which, according to the ICJ, has an extraterritorial<br />
scope;<br />
3. Obligation to punish genocide;<br />
4. Obligation to enact the necessary legislation<br />
to give effect to the provisions of the<br />
Convention;<br />
5. Obligation to ensure that effective<br />
penalties are provided for persons found<br />
guilty of criminal conduct according to the<br />
Convention;<br />
6. Obligation to try persons charged<br />
with genocide in a competent tribunal of the<br />
State in the territory of which the act was<br />
committed, or by an international penal<br />
tribunal with accepted jurisdiction;<br />
7. Obligation to grant extradition when<br />
genocide charges are involved, in accordance<br />
with laws and treaties in force, particularly<br />
related to protection granted by international<br />
human rights law prohibiting refoulment<br />
where there is a real risk of flagrant human<br />
rights violations in the receiving State.<br />
Since its adoption by the global<br />
community seventy-six years ago, the<br />
Genocide Convention’s definition of<br />
the crime of genocide has been recognized<br />
as customary international law. The<br />
1998 Rome Statute of the International<br />
Criminal Court (ICC) has recognized the<br />
definition and established genocide as one<br />
of the international crimes that the ICC<br />
has jurisdiction over. And the International<br />
Court of Justice (ICJ) not only recognizes<br />
the prevention of genocide as customary<br />
international law, but has established a<br />
duty for nations-states to not only prevent<br />
genocide within their borders, but should<br />
they have the ability to influence others,<br />
a duty to employ all means reasonably<br />
available to them to prevent genocide that<br />
takes place outside of their borders.<br />
Where Is Genocide Occurring?<br />
Genocide takes place globally.<br />
Currently, there are three places in the<br />
world that are being highly discussed on<br />
social media as individuals and organizations<br />
bring more attention to the crime:<br />
Congo<br />
In his recent book, Cobalt Red: How<br />
The Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives,<br />
Siddharth Kara, traces the supply chain of<br />
child-mined cobalt from toxic pits in the<br />
Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo) to<br />
Big Tech. The book sheds light on the fact<br />
that seventy-five percent of the world’s<br />
cobalt is mined in the Congo. The material<br />
is essential for making the lithium-ion rechargeable<br />
batteries that power the technology<br />
that powers our lives - smartphones,<br />
tablets, laptops and electric<br />
vehicles. And greed for the material, led<br />
by company’s like Apple and Tesla, have<br />
turned the Congo’s otherwise fertile agricultural<br />
land, that the UN World Food<br />
Program reported has the potential to feed<br />
one-quarter of the world’s population,<br />
into a red clay wasteland.<br />
Today, hundreds of thousands of<br />
Congolese citizens are forced to work<br />
the mines and are enslaved in their own<br />
country. In mines which are primarily<br />
owned by China, Congolese citizens<br />
receive just dollars a day as they dig in<br />
the earth for cobalt. Some of the mines<br />
are so large that they have reached the<br />
size of cities like London. Daily, citizens<br />
are exposed to deadly toxins and radioactive<br />
material, and many die from chronic<br />
health issues, or from the mines crashing<br />
in around them.<br />
Clashes over territory and a fight<br />
for the nation’s natural resources have<br />
resulted in a deadly conflict with ethnic<br />
cleansing occurring between Hutus<br />
and Tutsis, the same groups that had<br />
committed massive ethnic cleansing in<br />
neighboring Rwanda in the 90s. According<br />
to the International Rescue Committee,<br />
from 1998-2007, an estimated 5.4 million<br />
people died in the country as a result of<br />
war and genocide. And today, hundreds of<br />
citizens have been victims of genocide in<br />
the past year, with the number of people<br />
internally displaced reaching 6.9 million.<br />
As the United States and other<br />
nations promise greener technology<br />
to their citizens in the form of electric<br />
vehicles and enhanced tech products<br />
powered by lithium-ion batteries, little<br />
intervention has occurred to prevent the<br />
violence, as developed nation’s interests<br />
are focused on cobalt, and not the humans<br />
attached to it.<br />
Palestine<br />
In 1999, the UN and International<br />
Committee of the Red Cross, regarded as<br />
guardians of humanitarian law, published<br />
122 aphrochic
issue fifteen 123
CIVICS<br />
a report determining that Israel is an “occupying power”<br />
violating the rights of Palestinian citizens. In 2007, Israel<br />
instituted a blockade, designating the Gaza Strip as a hostile<br />
entity, and instituting sanctions which included power reductions,<br />
strict import restrictions, and border closures.<br />
In 2022, Human Rights Watch reported that “Israeli authorities<br />
continue to control Gaza’s territorial waters and<br />
airspace, and the movement of people and goods, except at<br />
Gaza’s border with Egypt. Israel also controls the Palestinian<br />
population registry and the infrastructure upon which<br />
Gaza relies.” That same year, Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestinian<br />
Director at Human Rights Watch reported, “Israel,<br />
with Egypt’s help, has turned Gaza into an open-air prison”<br />
referring to the state of Israel’s apartheid policies, restricting<br />
the right of movement, work, and education for Gaza’s<br />
2 million residents.<br />
On October 7, 2023, Hamas, the Islamic Resistance<br />
Movement, launched an attack against Israeli citizens.<br />
In retaliation, Israel launched a full-scale war not only<br />
on Hamas, but on Palestinian citizens. The World Health<br />
Organization, reported that in just four months, 100,000<br />
people in Gaza “are either dead, injured or missing and<br />
presumed dead” as a result of bombing raids and ground<br />
assaults led by Israeli soldiers. It’s estimated that more<br />
than 8,000 children have been killed, and that some 2<br />
million Palestinians have been displaced.<br />
Video coming out of the country shows the Israeli<br />
government attacking hospitals and refugee camps,<br />
violating international law. And images show that the<br />
cities of Gaza and Rafha have been transformed into<br />
post-apocalyptic sites, where the homes and buildings<br />
of Palestinians have been razed to the ground through<br />
controlled bombings conducted by the Israeli army.<br />
Doctors Without Borders and World Central Kitchen<br />
have documented blockades by the Israeli army that do<br />
not allow for basic humanitarian aid during the conflict,<br />
including food and medical treatment.<br />
In light of the grave human rights violations taking<br />
place, South Africa filed a case in the ICJ, charging the<br />
state of Israel with genocide, stating that the Israeli government<br />
has caused serious mental and bodily harm to<br />
Palestinians, and has deliberately inflicted conditions<br />
meant to “bring about their physical destruction as a<br />
group.” An interim ruling by the ICJ in January did not<br />
go as far as ordering a ceasefire in Gaza, but told Israel to<br />
take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement<br />
of genocide, and ordered Israel to allow humanitarian<br />
aid into Gaza.<br />
Sudan<br />
“Sudan is facing the world’s biggest humanitarian<br />
crisis, with the largest displaced population on earth,”<br />
reports Yousra Elbagir, African correspondent for Sky<br />
News. According to Reuters, over the past two decades<br />
the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary organization<br />
dominated by Sudanese Arabs, has been involved in<br />
multiple rounds of ethnic cleansing against the Masalit<br />
community and others considered “black Africans”.<br />
In 2019, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the<br />
RSF toppled the al-Bashir dictatorship in a military coupe.<br />
In 2021, the forces removed the civilian prime minister<br />
and cabinet suspending the nation’s constitution. With<br />
influence by nations including the United States and<br />
Saudi Arabia, in 2022 the SAF, RSF and political leaders<br />
agreed to move to a democracy, and the country was on<br />
the path to holding its first elections. However, the US,<br />
Saudis and the UAE, did not act as promised in working<br />
with Sudan on negations, and in 2023, negations on how<br />
to integrate the military forces and move to democracy<br />
broke down. Following the breakdown of negotiations,<br />
in April 2023, the RSF, supported with weaponry from<br />
the UAE, began taking over key parts of the country and<br />
started an ethnic cleansing.<br />
In December 2023, Reuters reported, “In attacks<br />
by RSF forces and allied Arab militias, survivors<br />
said, women were gang raped, babies had their throats<br />
slit and were clubbed to death, people were rammed<br />
by vehicles, burned alive in their homes and picked off<br />
in the streets by snipers.” Since April 2023, the unfathomable<br />
scale and scope of violence in one of the world’s<br />
most oil rich nations has resulted in over 7.7 million<br />
people being forced out of their homes, 1.7 million people<br />
124 aphrochic
eing forced to leave the country, and more than 13,000<br />
deaths and thousands more injuries.<br />
Currently, Elbagir reports, “Reports indicate that<br />
the Sudanese Armed Forces are largely being supported<br />
by Iran, Egypt and Ukraine. And that the RSF, the second-largest<br />
armed faction in the country, is currently<br />
being backed by the UAE by neighboring Chad, Eastern<br />
Libya and Russian mercenaries, Wagner.” As nations<br />
pick sides, the civilian tragedy and threat to Sudan’s<br />
black African community continues to grow.<br />
How Can Individuals Help To End Genocide?<br />
Genocide is one of the world’s most egregious<br />
crimes, and its proliferation impacts us all. There are<br />
things that individuals can do to combat genocide:<br />
1. Acknowledge that a violation of the Genocide<br />
Convention has occurred. Currently, it’s critical that<br />
where we see violations of the Genocide Convention<br />
happening, that these violations be exposed. The<br />
case brought by South Africa against Israel is one such<br />
example of acknowledging that a violation has occurred,<br />
documenting the atrocities, and bringing them to the<br />
attention of a world court to seek a ceasefire and punishment<br />
of bad actors.<br />
2. Hold nations accountable. The Genocide Convention<br />
is an important tool that can be utilized to hold<br />
nations accountable. If your country is violating, or<br />
aiding in the violation of the Convention it’s important<br />
to look for ways to hold your nation to account. That can<br />
happen by bringing attention to your country’s complicity,<br />
engaging citizens in making calls to elected officials,<br />
and putting pressure on the administration in power.<br />
Recently, Faith For Black Lives held a pilgrimage for<br />
peace. Over eight days, 250 faith leaders, activists and<br />
artists made the journey from Philadelphia to Washington<br />
DC, publicly calling out President Biden and<br />
Congress, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.<br />
3. Express yourself. Nine-year-old journalist Lama<br />
Jamous is showing the world her experience as a refugee<br />
escaping violence in Palestine. Using her Instagram<br />
platform @lama_jamous9, Lama shows us what life is<br />
currently like for Palestinians who have been forcibly<br />
removed from their homes and subject to airstrikes. In a<br />
recent post Lama wrote, “a few days ago it was my ninth<br />
birthday, but the conditions of the war prevented my<br />
family from celebrating it, but my wish on this day is to<br />
be a journalist who transmits the suffering of my people<br />
and my family and exposes the massacres that take place<br />
on the children of Palestine.” Lama is a brave example<br />
of how you can use self-expression, whether making<br />
videos, signs, art, or poetry, to show the world what is<br />
truly happening.<br />
4. Give your support. Aid is desperately needed in<br />
all of the nations around the globe that are reckoning<br />
with genocide. Organizations on the ground need help<br />
to meet the extraordinary need and to push for world<br />
governments to stop genocidal acts. A few organizations<br />
that need your urgent support include:<br />
Doctors Without Borders provides emergency aid<br />
and medical care to people around the world who have<br />
been impacted by war, disease and disasters. They are<br />
currently calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end<br />
to attacks on hospitals and civilians in Palestine. Learn<br />
more at doctorswithoutborders.org.<br />
Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people<br />
in 100 countries around the world, spotlighting abuse<br />
and bring perpetrators to justice. Their Instagram feed<br />
is an important resource for staying up-to-date on humanitarian<br />
conflicts and provides information on how<br />
you can help. Learn more at hrw.org.<br />
United Nations World Food Program delivers <strong>15</strong><br />
billion life-saving meals a year, fighting hunger in more<br />
than 120 countries. They are working in nations impacted<br />
by war and genocide, providing meals to populations<br />
desperate for food and aid. Learn more at wfp.org.<br />
World Central Kitchen is working with chefs in crisis-ridden<br />
areas around the world. Working with efforts<br />
like #chefsforgaza, World Central Kitchen is addressing<br />
the critical need for food, as citizens face starvation.<br />
They recently participated in an airdrop of 500 pallets of<br />
humanitarian aid into <strong>No</strong>rthern Gaza. Learn more at wck.<br />
org. AC<br />
issue fifteen 125
WHO ARE YOU<br />
Name: Buffie Longmire-Avital, PhD (aka, Dr. LA to my<br />
students)<br />
Based In: Greensboro, NC<br />
Occupation: Professor of Psychology, Director of the Black<br />
Lumen Project, and Faculty Administrative Fellow for<br />
Mentoring at Elon University<br />
Black Culture Is: A rich ancestral lineage that is shaped<br />
by shoulders, arms, legs and perhaps most importantly<br />
the unquestionable, conscious, and subconscious WILL<br />
to not just lift or hold ourselves and others up, but to<br />
move forward collectively. Black culture is forged from<br />
the legacy of carriers that endured the middle passage,<br />
never-ending days of enslavement, the ongoing fights<br />
for justice and equity, the expectations, and sometimes<br />
isolating dangers of what it means to be the first and/or<br />
only in a space. The historical carriage that is Black culture<br />
is composed of carriers both seen and unseen that have<br />
not only helped us get here, but they will also help us get<br />
to wherever is next. We are a people who carry. We carry<br />
through action, creative expression, and scholarly pursuits.<br />
We carry because, as Lena Horne promised, “It is not the load that breaks you down, it is the way you carry it.” We<br />
carry collectively with and for each other because we understand that our true strength is not rooted in a mythical<br />
magic source but in shared wisdom and acceptance that together we must push through systems of oppression and<br />
intentionally secure our joy. We carry because it is still a radical concept for many of us to rest. To me, Black culture<br />
reflects the fact that we carry because we know there are more of us who have yet to come through, up, and over. But<br />
they will.<br />
126 aphrochic
THE KINTSUGI<br />
MIRROR<br />
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