AphroChic Magazine Issue No. 16: Summer 2024

a curated lifestyle magazine
ISSUE NO. 16 \ SUMMER 2024
HIDDEN STITCHES \ A SOUL FOOD HOMAGE \ NIGERIA REMEMBERED
APHROCHIC.COM

It’s finally that time of year when we feel ourselves moving fully into summer. The weather
is warming, the bright colors of nature are back, and a new issue of AphroChic magazine
is here, full of amazing stories and inspiration from across the African Diaspora.
This issue’s cover story, featuring country-music sensation, Brittney Spencer, is a timely intervention into the growing conversation
around Black presence in country music, and the place of African Americans at the very root of American music culture.
Similarly, this issue’s Mood section is a reclamation of the concept, “Black Americana,” replacing the denigrating caricatures and
stereotypes usually associated with the term with pieces made by Black artisans and that reflect our true experience.
Our cover story features Brittney Spencer, the country music sensation who just released her first album, and who can be
heard on Beyoncé's rendition of Black Bird. We follow Brittney's journey to stardom, and the growing conversation around Black
presence in country music, and the place of African Americans at the very root of American music culture.
In Mood, we reclaim the concept of Black Americana, replacing the denigrating caricatures and stereotypes usually associated
with the term with pieces made by Black artisans that truly reflect the Black American experience. And in In Fashion, we
explore the life of designer Anne Lowe, whose gowns once graced every shop window and grand event, from Madison Avenue
salons to Jackie Kennedy’s wedding, yet whose contributions — kept secret then — go largely unknown today.
In City Stories, take a tour with us of scenic Ulster County in upstate New York. Known for its natural splendor, the area is a
deep repository of Black history and culture, from the very beginnings of American slavery to the works of artists, athletes, and
creatives that have changed the world. Staying rural, in Food we experience the Amish-inspired soul food of chef Chris Scott’s
Homage: Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen.
We explore the one-of-a-kind watercolor painting of Los Angeles-based artist Kris Keys, whose work presents a truly unique
blend of Japanese influences and Diaspora style. And we take you to Italy for the Venice Biennale where the talents of Nigerian
artists from around the world are on full display.
Finally, we have something to celebrate. AphroChic.com is back, brand new, and better than ever. Our newly revamped
website is a virtual home for the African Diaspora, filled with articles to read, brands to explore, videos, books, and hours of music
to nourish your mind and soul. It’s got everything to help you feel safe, welcome, and at home. We welcome you to summer, to our
new home on the web, and to issue 16. We hope you love it.
Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason
Founders, AphroChic
Instagram: @aphrochic
editors’ letter
Jeanine and Bryan at
the historic Hillwood
Museum and
Gardens for a talk on
the Black family home.

SUMMER 2024
DEPARTMENTS
Read This 10
Visual Cues 12
Coming Up 14
The Black Family Home 16
Mood 24
FEATURES
Fashion // Hidden Stitches 30
Interior Design // Celebrating Diaspora in Every Room 36
Culture // Nigeria Remembered 58
Food // A Soul Food Homage 70
Entertaining // Glow Up Your Tabletop 76
City Stories // Exploring Two Sides of Black History in Ulster County 86
Sounds // Feels Like Home 100
PINPOINT
Artists & Artisans 106
Lit 112
Who Are You? 114

CONTRIBUTORS
Cover Photo: Brittney Spencer
Photographer: Jimmy Fontaine
Publishers/Editors: Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason
Creative Director: Cheminne Taylor-Smith
Editorial/Product Contact:
AphroChic
AphroChic.com
magazine@aphrochic.com
Brand Partnerships and Ad Sales:
Krystle DeSantos
Krystle@aphrochic.com
Contributors:
Ruby Brown
Patrick Cline
Chinasa Cooper
issue sixteen 9

READ THIS
The African Diaspora is a celebration of the global Black community and the cultural diversity within it. This month
in books, we celebrate the unique and complex paths that anyone can take within the Diaspora — there is no "one
size fits all." In Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture, photojournalist Ivan McClellan captures the excitement and
camaraderie of Black cowboy culture. From the country’s longest-running Black rodeo in Oklahoma to bull riding
champion Ouncie Mitchell to the Compton Cowboys, the photos showcase courage, strength, and skill. A Black Girl
in the Middle offers a series of essays by Shenequa Golding that explore what it means to be “kind of in the middle,”
not an overachiever and not the cool girl. It's a funny, wry, heart-twisting look at fitting in and what Black girlhood
and womanhood can be. Darius Rucker has taken a lot of unexpected roads in his life. He was part of a self-described
college party band that exploded into a pop phenomenon known as Hootie & The Blowfish. And then he surprised
his fans by moving into country music, winning a Grammy in 2013 for his solo country album. In Life's Too Short, he
looks back at the left turns — and wrong turns — he's taken to find his own path in the world of music.
A Black Girl in the Middle: Essays on
(Allegedly) Figuring It All Out
by Shenequa Golding
Publisher: Beacon Press. $25
Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture
by Ivan McClellan
Publisher: Damiani. $45
Life's Too Short: A Memoir
by Darius Rucker
Publisher: Dey Street Press. $27
10 aphrochic

Celebrate Black homeownership and the
amazing diversity of the Black experience
with AphroChic’s newest book
In this powerful, visually stunning book, Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason explore
the Black family home and its role as haven, heirloom, and cornerstone of Black
culture and life. Through striking interiors, stories of family and community,
and histories of the obstacles Black homeowners have faced for generations,
AphroChic honors the journey, recognizes the struggle, and embraces the joy.
AVAILABLE WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD

VISUAL CUES
The Thomas House in Eatonville, Fla., one of the endangered historic sites recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
For the first time in its history, The National Trust for Historic Preservation has highlighted three sites that
are important in the history of African Americans on its list of 11 most endangered historic sites. They include
a West Virginia church, the town of Eatonville, Fla., and Roosevelt High School in Gary, Ind. The idea of the
list is to highlight each site as a cultural destination, to help raise money, and save the structures and places.
Over the last 30 years, the National Trust has saved many endangered places by including them on the annual
list. The New Salem Baptist Church in West Virginia was founded in the 1920s by Black coal miners living in
a segregated camp. The descendants of the church's original parishioners have been pushing to preserve and
restore the church for years. Black residents of Eatonville, Fla., have also been trying to save their town for
decades. One of the first self-governing all-Black towns in the United States, Eatonville was featured in Zora
Neale Hurston’s 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. She described her hometown as "the city of five lakes,
three croquet courts, 300 brown skins, 300 good swimmers, plenty guavas, two schools, and no jailhouse."
Constructed in 1930, Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary is one of only three high schools in Indiana
built specifically to serve the educational needs of Black Americans in the Jim Crow era. It was designed by
noted architect William B. Ittner and has many notable alumni including Olympic boxer Charles Adkins, CBS
reporter Emery King, NFL player Gerald Irons, actor Avery Brooks, and members of The Jackson 5. To learn
more about these sites and to help preserve them, go to savingplaces.org.
12 aphrochic

DIVINE
FEMININITY
BY FARES MICUE
P E R I G O L D . C O M

COMING UP
Events, exhibits, and happenings that celebrate and explore the African Diaspora.
AFRAM Baltimore
June 22-23 | Baltimore
AFRAM is one of the largest African American festivals on
the East Coast. Hosted in Baltimore City’s Druid Hill Park on
Juneteenth weekend, this event is attended by over 100,000
each year. Over two days, this free, family-oriented celebration
features music, entertainers, children’s activities, African
drumming, carnival mask-making, food, and more. This year's
lineup of acts includes Busta Rhymes, October London, Alex
Isley, Mya, Big Daddy Kane, Karen Clark-Sheard, and Morris
Day, as well as local bands and performers.
Learn more at aframbaltimore.com.
Essence Festival of Culture
July 4-7 | New Orleans
The iconic Essence Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary
this year with blockbuster acts and events over four days in
July. Entertainment icon Janet Jackson and contemporary
R&B and soul singer Charlie Wilson (formerly of The Gap
Band) are just two of the headliners expected to perform
at Essence Fest. The event also includes the Empowerment
Experience that spotlights dozens of speakers on
thought-provoking topics such as religion, economics, and
education. Vendors will also be set up around New Orleans
with arts and crafts, clothing and jewelry, and collectible
paintings and sculptures that represent the rich culture of
the African Diaspora.
Learn more at essence.com/festival.
CurlFest
July 20 | New York
CurlFest was founded to be the change that was long overdue
in the beauty industry. As its mission statement says, the goal is
"to flip the false narrative around unruly brown beauty, and create
one that accurately showcases the glory of our crowns, the
richness of our skin, and the joy of our culture." Now in its 14th
year, it is the largest natural beauty festival in America, and is
100% owned by Black women, with over 75,000 attendees
from around the world. This year's event includes Beauty Row,
with beauty brands that offer activations, deals, giveaways,
games, and more; DJs and musical acts; the Empowerment
stage, with motivational speakers; as well as vendors and food
that highlight the best of the Diaspora.
Learn more at curlfest.com.
14 aphrochic

BALTIMORE
S P E A K S
B L A C K
C O M M U N I T I E S
C O V I D - 1 9
A N D T H E
C O S T O F
N O T D O I N G
E N O U G H
W R I T T E N A N D D I R E C T E D B Y
B R Y A N M A S O N A N D J E A N I N E H A Y S
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
The House That Built Black History:
The Carter G. Woodson House
It’s something less than a secret, the value we place on Black homes. At AphroChic,
we have explored their roles, both in our own families and in general, as bastions of
culture, wellsprings of community, and part of the vital tissue that connects families
from one generation to the next. But sometimes a home is even more than all that.
Sometimes a home is a waypoint in history, the birthplace of a movement.
On July 18, 1922, when Carter G. Woodson purchased his
home on 1538 Ninth Street N.W. in Washington, D.C., he was
in the process of retiring. Though not yet 50, Woodson had
already been teaching for more than 20 years, had founded
a society and was the author of several books. Despite this
list of accomplishments, however, he was retiring from the
profession of education so that he might more fully embrace
educating as his mission — one that would last the rest of his
life, with implications that continue to resonate more than a
century after that day.
Woodson’s name is familiar to many, but often only
in passing. It is mentioned at least once every year during
February, as he is justly remembered as the father of Black
— formerly Negro — History, where once he was hailed as
its “High Priest.” Yet the life that he led and the home that
he built, not only for himself but for a generation of budding
scholars and creatives, and the whole concept of Black historicity,
deserves far more attention.
Carter Godwin Woodson was born on December 19, 1875,
in New Canton, Va., the fourth of nine children born to James
The Black Family Home is an
ongoing series focusing on the
history and future of what home
means for Black families.
This series inspired the new book
AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy
of the Black Family Home.
Words by Bryan Mason
Images by Bryan Mason and courtesy of the Library of
Congress and the National Park Service
16 aphrochic

The Carter G. Woodson
Home National Historic
Site in Washington D.C.,
slated to open in 2024.

18 aphrochic

THE BLACK FAMILY HOME
Henry and Anne Eliza Woodson, both formerly enslaved. He grew
up hungry, working the family’s six-acre farm while his father, a
carpenter and Civil War veteran, earned money laying foundations
for homes. Though he would never learn to read himself,
Woodson credited his father with the best part of his education.
Carter remembered the lessons of James Henry Woodson
in 1932 in an article for the Chicago Defender called And The Negro
Loses His Soul. “This former slave,” he wrote, “an illiterate man,
taught me that you do not have to wait until you die to think of
losing your soul. He insisted that when you learn to accept insult,
to compromise on principle, to mislead your people, you have lost
your soul. ... He often said to me, ‘I had to do these things when I
was a slave. If I continue to do them, I am not a free man. [If] you
cannot look the oppressor in the eye and say, ‘Sir, I am your equal.’
Neither he nor you will believe it,’ ”
Later, when the family relocated to West Virginia, Carter and
his older brother Robert worked together building the railroads
and completed a six-year stint in the coal mines at Nuttallburg.
Woodson held other jobs as well, including time spent as a garbage
collector. It was not until he was 20 that his formal education
began in earnest. Woodson attended Frederick Douglass High
School, an all-Black institution in Huntingdon, W.V.
From Huntingdon, Woodson’s education soared. After
graduating from Douglass within a year, he served at a school in
Winona, W.V., teaching the children of Black miners. In 1900, he
replaced his cousin Carter H. Barnett, founder of West Virginia’s
first Black newspaper, as principal of Douglass High School,
ahead of receiving his teacher’s certificate in 1901. By 1903, he had
a bachelor of laws degree from Brea College, and at the end of that
year departed for the Philippines, where he was employed by the
U.S. War Department until early 1907.
Following his time in the Philippines, Woodson embarked
on journeys around the world, visiting Africa, Asia, and Europe,
where he spent several months, including time spent studying
history at the Sorbonne. Returning to the U.S., he landed in
Chicago, and in the summer of 1908 received a master’s degree
in history, romance languages, and literature from the University
of Chicago. Afterward, he would enroll as a doctoral student at
Harvard University.
In 1909, Woodson arrived in Washington D.C. to take up
teaching positions, first at Armstrong Manual Training School
and later teaching history as well as Spanish, English, and French,
at M Street High School. And in 1912, at the age of 37, he succeeded
W.E.B. Du Bois, becoming the second African American to
graduate from Harvard with a Ph.D.
By September of 1915, Woodson was back in Chicago. He had
written his first book, The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861, and
Carter G. Woodson
joined with James E. Stamps, Alexander L. Jackson, and George
Cleveland Hall to found the Association for the Study of Negro
Life and History (ASNLH) — a group dedicated to collecting,
preserving, and disseminating information and artifacts pertaining
to Black American history. In 1916, he would found The
Journal of Negro History. Though his career as an educator would
continue for several more years — and reach new heights — it was
the mission of the ASNLH and the journal that would take him to
Ninth Street.
In the intervening years, Woodson would become principal
of the Armstrong Manual Training School and publish his second
book, A Century of Negro Migration, both in 1918. From 1919 to 1920
he would serve as dean of the School of Liberal Arts at Howard
University, leaving to become dean at West Virginia Collegiate
Institute. He held the position until 1922, releasing his third book,
The History of the Negro Church, in 1921.
Also completed in 1921 but unreleased and forgotten until
it was rediscovered in 2005, The Case of the Negro was a direct
challenge to the Eurocentric and white supremacist underpinnings
of the American academy, the field of historical study, and
American culture as a whole. The collection of essays demanded
an extensive overhaul to the American social order with scathing
commentary aimed at both white America, which collectiveissue
sixteen 19

THE BLACK FAMILY HOME
A vintage reproduction of Woodson's office-home, including the Underwood typewriter he would have used in writing his many books and publications.
20 aphrochic

ly enjoyed the Negro’s plight and the
Black middle-class “elites” who facilitated
it. It is thought that the manuscript was
abandoned because its tone would have
endangered the reputation of the ASNLH
and its relationship with white philanthropic
organizations and individuals.
Yet as Woodson severed ties with many
of these philanthropists moving into the
early 1930s, he more openly and frequently
shared his views on a broad number
of topics. The book remains a welcome
reminder that Woodson, a member of the
NAACP, and A. Philip Randolph’s economically-focused
Friends of Negro Freedom
organization, was every bit the activist that
he was the scholar.
There was no fanfare heralding
Woodson’s acquisition of the house on Ninth
Street. No formal announcement was made
until the address was quietly listed as the
new headquarters of the ASNLH in the July
issue of The Journal of Negro History, a year
after the purchase was made. A three-story
affair, the divisions of Woodson’s “office
home,” as it was frequently and affectionately
called, neatly portray the outline of
the scholar’s life, as well as his commitment
to the cause of Black history which was
never far from him.
The first floor of the home was
reserved for the operations of the ASNLH,
The Journal of Negro History, and eventually
The Negro History Bulletin, which Woodson
would create in 1937. It was also the headquarters
of Associated Publishers, which
he established in 1921 to ensure publication
for works by Black scholars — including
women — that were rejected by other publishers,
and the name of which was proudly
borne on a sign adorning the front of the
home — a sign 11-and-a-half-feet wide.
The first floor of the house contained
the reception area, where secretaries
worked and greeted the office’s frequent
guests, the book storage room, which is
reputed to have been filled to the ceiling
with books at all times, and the “packing
and shipping” room where the various publications
that Woodson oversaw — as well as
books and other materials — were prepared
and sent. It was also the room where a
young Langston Hughes would learn the
meaning and value of hard work.
“In the mid-1920s when I worked for
Dr. Woodson, he set an example in industry
and stick-to-it-tiveness for his entire staff
since he himself worked very hard,” the
poet remembered. “He did everything
from editing The Journal of Negro History
to banking the furnace, writing books to
wrapping books…His own working day
extended from early morning to late at
night. Those working with him seldom
wished to keep the same pace.”
The second floor of the home housed
Woodson’s office. It was there that he would
have worked as he imagined the beginning
of Negro History Week, which began in
1926, and where he would have written his
most seminal text, The Mis-Education of the
Negro, published in 1933.
The second floor also included the
kitchen, open to those who worked at
the office for lunches, breaks, and occasional
card games. Also on that floor
was Woodson’s library, considered the
foremost in the nation for Black history.
Visiting scholars spent hours researching
and studying its catalog, and Woodson
himself used it as he mentored a generation
of groundbreaking educators, historians
and scholars including Lorenzo Johnston
Greene, Zora Neale Hurston — who worked
as an investigator for Woodson, collecting
folklore and examining records in
Florida and elsewhere — and Mary McLeod
Bethune, the pioneering educator who
served for years as the president of the
ASNLH. Even after his death in 1950, the
issue sixteen 21

THE BLACK FAMILY HOME
library remained open and in use, even serving as a research site
for what would eventually become the 1954 Supreme Court case,
Brown v. Board of Education.
The third floor consisted of Woodson’s personal quarters
and were reserved for him alone. They included little more
than a living room and a bedroom, where he was found to have
passed away from a heart attack in his sleep on April 3, 1950.
That he required so little for himself, even going so far as to pay
employees with families double what he himself was making, and
often forgoing any salary at all from his organizations, is perhaps
indicative of his childhood and what he felt he needed to comfortably
survive. But even more likely, it is reflective of his perspective
on his work and its purpose, and on what it is that truly gives value
to a person’s life. As he once wrote:
A poor man can write a more beautiful poem than one
who is surfeited. The man in the hovel composes a more
charming song than the one in the palace. The painter in the
ghetto gets an inspiration for a more striking painting than
his landlord can appreciate. The ill fed sculptor lives more
abundantly than the millionaire who purchases the expression
of thought in marble and bronze.
The impact of Carter G. Woodson’s life continues to be felt
today in more than the week of historical reflection he envisioned
and the month he helped to found — though that alone would
be sufficient. The organization he created and his first publication
still exist today, modernized as the Association for the Study
of African American Life and History and The Journal of African
American History.
The house at 1538 Ninth Street N.W. in Washington D.C.
remained the headquarters of the ASNLH until 1971. In 1976, it was
declared a National Historic Landmark. In 2003, Congress authorized
the purchase of the home from the ASNLH. And in 2005, the
National Park Service completed the sale, enshrining the home
as its 389th unit. Since then, the home has been under continual
renovation, with efforts hindered in 2011 by both a 5.8 magnitude
earthquake and Hurricane Irene. Nevertheless, extensive repairs
continue to be undertaken, with a completion date projected
for some time this year and including the creation of a museum
exhibit dedicated to the story of this remarkable home of Black
history. Until it reopens, a visit to the home can still be an invaluable
experience, looking at the exterior where so much Black
history took place, and taking steps down the street to the Carter
G. Woodson Memorial Park where a statue of this iconic Black
figure waits. AC
22 aphrochic

Opposite page: Issues of Woodson's The Negro History Bulletin.
Above: The memorial to the "Father of Black History" at the Carter G. Woodson Memorial Park.
issue sixteen 23

MOOD
Black Americana Reclaimed
The term “Black Americana” typically refers to a host of racist memorabilia created
by white Americans, with roots in the days surrounding the death of Reconstruction.
In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes made a backroom deal where, in exchange
for the presidency of the United States, he would abandon Reconstruction laws
and allow segregation, ushering in the Jim Crow era. While African Americans
had made significant progress during Reconstruction, establishing our own communities,
owning land, building homes, starting businesses, attaining degrees,
and finding professions, Jim Crow was a devastating, a de facto return to slavery
enforced by the state. To help justify the nation’s new policy of segregation, products
of every type flooded the U.S. market with the goal of reenforcing the myths
of “white supremacy.” The products depicted African Americans as sub-human,
bestial creatures not fit to be citizens of the nation built upon our backs. Hundreds
of thousands of pieces featuring constructed tropes of Black identity —
sambo, pickaninny, topsy — born from the minds of white segregationists were
released into the consumer market. Historian Henry Louis Gates reports that,
“everyday, ordinary consumer objects...including post cards and trading cards,
teapots and tea cozies, children’s banks and children’s games, napkin holders
and pot holders, clocks and ash trays, sheet music and greeting cards, consumer
products such as Aunt Jemima pancake mix and Gold Dust washing powder...
tobacco...banks...songs...puzzles, dolls, Valentine’s Day cards, and virtually every
form of advertisement for a consumer product” were created for this task. Today,
these products can still found on an episode of Antiques Roadshow; at a a stand
at Brimfield; or among the antique offerings on 1stDibs. And while you may find
them in interiors, including African American homes, it’s important to note that
these pieces are not Black Americana. In fact, they have very little to do with Black
culture at all. They are one piece in a larger game focused on our oppression.
They do not tell our story, but instead rob us of our dignity, legacy, and culture.
Moreover, they continue to serve as the basis for reductionist tropes that continue
to be force fed to our communities in various guises today and across every form
of media. There may have been a time when these were the only or most readily
available depictions of Black life for the home — but not anymore. So in this issue’s
Mood, we’re redefining Black Americana. No longer a celebration of delusions
on Black identity, we present ourselves as we are — creative, beautiful, genius, a
melange of cultures, a people dedicated to freedom and liberty. These are pieces
that can help you tell the real story of the Black culture of America, and that can
be beautifully displayed in your home as a reclamation of the collective story we
are building together.
Otto Studio Jamboree
Wallpaper starting at
$56
thisisottostudio.com
Red Black and Blue
Plaid Maasai Blanket
$40
nubianradiance.com
24 aphrochic

Flipper’s Quadz by
Usher Handmade
Skates $1,450
flippers.world
The Fire Next Time by
James Baldwin and
Steve Schapiro $50
amazon.com
AphroChic Silhouette
Red Pillow $149
perigold.com
I Am Human Painting by Idris Habib
$10,000
saatchiart.com
Mami Wata Surf
Sebenza Midlength
Surfboard $1,800
mamiwatasurf.com
issue sixteen 25

MOOD
The Sister’s Keeper
Handbag $188.10
trublulegacy.com
Faith Ringgold Woman
Freedom Now Diptych
$380 moma.org
BLACK [AF]: America’s
Sweetheart Graphic
Novel $9.99
amazon.com
Rebecca Maria One-of-
One Sculpture
rebeccamaria.studio
contact for price
Brownie by Kerry
James Marshall $750
1stdibs.com
AphroChic Ndop White
and Blue Pillow $149
perigold.com
26 aphrochic

Derrick Adams
“Floater 108” Plate
$1,350
artsy.net
Outkast Stankonia
Vinyl Record $29.98
amazon.com
Black Fives x PUMA
Cable Knit Pennant
Cardigan $70 ebay.com
House of Aama
Retro Swim Two-
Piece Navy $350
houseofaama.com
Sam Wilson: Captain America #1
Asrar Hip-Hop Variant $26.95
ebay.com
That Flag Picture Book
$18.99
amazon.com
issue sixteen 27

FEATURES
Hidden Stitches | Celebrating Diaspora in Every Room | Nigeria
Remembered | A Soul Food Homage | Glow Up Your Tabletop |
Exploring Two Sides of Black History in Ulster County | Feels Like Home

Fashion
Hidden
Stitches
The Legacy of Ann Lowe
Leafing through the opening pages of Ann Lowe: American Couturier, an
extension of the namesake Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library exhibition,
readers encounter an image of a petite Black woman with an air of poise and
elegance. Dressed in medium-height black heels and a knee-length black skirt
suit, her ensemble is completed by a brooch-like ornament pinned to her chest
and a hint of a red peeking through near her neckline. Her face, framed by
glasses and a black narrow-brimmed hat, exudes joy and pride as she works on
a wedding dress fitted to a dress form that towers over her. This remarkable
woman is Ann Lowe.
Words by Krystle DeSantos
Photos provided by Rizzoli
30 aphrochic

Fashion
Born in Clayton, Ala., in 1898 to Jane Sapp Lowe
and Jack Lowe, Ann Lowe was introduced to fashion
and dressmaking in her childhood by her mother and
grandmother, both of whom ran a successful dressmaking
shop in the early 1900s and worked for prominent
families in the South. By age five, Lowe had already begun
learning how to sew and developed a keen eye for design
and passion for couture. She often transformed scraps
of leftover fabric scraps into flowers, foreshadowing her
signature floral embellishments as a designer. Tragically,
when Lowe was 16 her mother passed away, leaving her
to complete a dressmaking commission for the governor
of Alabama’s wife — a turning point that marked the start
of her career.
Despite her undeniable talent, Lowe faced racial
discrimination that limited her opportunities to pursue
formal training. Nonetheless, in 1917 she moved to New
York City and studied at the S.T. Taylor Design School.
Though her time there was not without challenges —
she was segregated from her peers and required to work
separately from white students — Lowe's meticulous
attention to detail and passion for her craft allowed her to
excel and pushed her to new heights.
After graduating in 1919, Lowe moved to Tampa, Fla.,
and opened her first dress salon. She skillfully merged
contemporary fashion trends with traditional southern
sophistication, earning acclaim for her exquisite masterpieces
featuring delicate embroidery and intricate
beadwork. By 1928, Lowe had saved $20,000 from her
salon's earnings and she relocated back to New York
City with her son, settling in Harlem. Her work quickly
gained recognition among elite social circles, making her
the designer of choice for many wealthy white families,
including the Rockefellers, Roosevelts, and du Ponts.
Lowe also designed for prominent Black clients, such as
Idella Kohke, a member of the Negro Actors Guild, and
pianist Elizabeth Mance.
One of her most notable achievements was
designing the wedding dress and bridesmaids' dresses
for Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, who would later become
Jackie Kennedy, wife of the 35th President of the United
States, John F. Kennedy. However, just one week before
the wedding, Lowe's workroom flooded, destroying
several dresses, including Jackie's wedding gown.
Lowe and her team worked tirelessly around the clock
to recreate the dresses, never informing the family
of the incident or charging them for added materials.
GET THE BOOK
Anne Lowe: American Couturier. Copyright © 2023 by Winterthur
Museum, Garden & Library. Published by Rizzoli Electa.
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Fashion
Despite her remarkable achievement, Lowe suffered significant financial loss as a result of the
flood and remained relatively unknown to the public, as her name was not mentioned as the
designer for Kennedy's dress.
Lowe's story is a parallel to a hidden stitch — a sewing technique that makes the thread
invisible on the right side of the fabric. Similarly, Lowe's race rendered her invisible to many
despite her extraordinary talent. She candidly described her experiences, stating, "I was not
acknowledged because of my race. People often didn't want others to know I was behind the
designs."
Throughout her career, Lowe faced systemic racism that overshadowed her many accomplishments
and limited her opportunities. Despite being underpaid and encountering economic
inequity, she persevered, demonstrating unwavering dedication to her craft. Lowe's journey
through racial discrimination and adversity is a testament to her resilience and exceptional
talent. Though she passed away in 1981, her legacy remains a vital part of fashion history.
Ann Lowe: American Couturier enshrines Lowe's legacy and her extraordinary achievements
born out of perseverance and passion, proving that one can carve out a space, even in
challenging industries. Her story is a powerful example of how racial inequity can overshadow
even the most talented individuals and her journey highlights the importance of recognizing
and celebrating the contributions of Black people across all fields. The book stands as a perfect
testament to Lowe's tenacity and artistry, inspiring future generations of designers to pursue
their dreams against all odds. AC
“All the pleasure I
have had, I owe to
my sewing.”
- Ann Lowe
issue sixteen 35

Interior Design
Celebrating
Diaspora In
Every Room
Inside a Brooklyn Brownstone Designed by AphroChic
How do you represent the African Diaspora in a physical
space? The feeling? The idea? To imbue a home with a
collective sense of a global community, of people connected
by the same things we are separated by — time, space and
culture? That’s the question posed in one of our latest
interior design projects, the design of a two-story prewar
brownstone in Brooklyn.
Words by Bryan Mason
Photos by Chinasa Cooper
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Interior Design

Interior Design
A story of home isn’t written overnight. It
takes time, developing and growing as we move
and live in one place after another, captured in
the things that we gather and keep along the way.
Often we’ve found that creating the feeling of
home in a newly designed space is largely about
maintaining the feeling it had before, albeit
with a new look and aesthetic. And often this
is done by incorporating those things, already
possessed, that have defined home for someone
in the past, either by giving them new life or
showing them in a new light. For this project,
we were inspired by the homeowner’s collection
of art, and in particular Dictatorship, a poignant
photograph by Ayana V. Jackson. A major piece
in the homeowner’s collection, this work — a
call to examine oppression and objectification
— became the inspiration for an interior design
project where forms of resistance are highlighted,
Diaspora culture is celebrated, and female
protective energy is venerated.
In the living room, dark blue was brought
in as a stunning backdrop to the Jackson piece.
The deep hue carries throughout the entire
first floor, color-blocking the space from the
ceiling down to the baseboards. Inspired by the
shades of claret red, gray, and black present in
Dictatorship, a sophisticated, red tufted sofa
was brought in to complement the palette. For
visual contrast, a tailored gray sofa was added
and placed across from it. Above the industrial
coffee table, an oversized brass chandelier
provides a modern sculptural touch to
a room filled with the homeowner’s collection
of masks and carved statues. Masks from
the Chokwe people adorn the wall next to the
fireplace. And on the mantle, a Massai ironwood
sculpture meets a Zimbabwean soapstone bust.
The bookshelf is home to Ghanaian carved art as
well.
The homeowner’s love of wax print fabrics
and antique furniture inspired a showcase of
unique furnishings in the space. Seated between
the fireplace and bookshelf, a small antique
European stool has been reupholstered and
covered in a Dutch African wax print. The result
of historical interactions including African,
European, and Asian participants, the mesmerizing
look and broad diversity of wax prints is a
testimony to the sometimes tumultuous nature
of cultural actions, and the beauty that can be
the result. Part of an extensive collection by
the homeowner, these eye-catching pieces are
featured extensively throughout the home.
The dining room makes use of the deep
blue wall color as well, perfectly highlighting
the clients' own furniture. We chose 10 antique
chairs from the homeowner’s collection, and
had them upholstered in wax prints to surround
a large farmhouse table. The harmoniously
dissonant mix and match of patterns, styles,
and shapes represents a reflection on the nature
of Diaspora — observing the group as a whole,
there is nothing entirely alike between them and
nothing wholly different. Instead, there is similarity
even in their differences and distinction
in their commonalities, yet they all attend the
table equally. Across the expansive dining room
table, a series of artisan chessboards has been
displayed. And on the walls hangs a series of
zen-inspired breathwork paintings in black ink
with gold leaf, that we commissioned from New
York artist Filiz Soyak.
A prewar brownstone of Dutch design, the
interior architecture of the home includes a long
hallway that extends from the entry. A narrow
passageway, there’s little room for furnishings,
so we decided to go in another direction, commissioning
a mural to be painted. Working in
partnership with the Jenn Singer Gallery out
of the UK, a collaboration with Ugandan-born
artist, Moosh, was born. Research on Yoruban
and Ugandan iconography was translated into
female figures who act as protectors of the
home — a tribute to the strength and beauty of
Black women in all corners of the globe. Two of
the guardians wait with raised hands covered
in red boxing gloves along the left side of the
hallway, while another, seated sentry guards the
stairway with a raised sword. Should a visitor be
permitted entry by the seated guardian, a trip up
the stairs reveals the homeowner’s sanctuary.
Where the first floor is a public space, the
second floor is a sacred one in this home.
The first floor is characterized by
energetic hues, but the second floor has been
designed with rest and tranquility in mind.
The sitting room has been painted a light,
silvery gray to highlight the original wood in
this historic, prewar home. At the center of the
space, a vintage coffee table surrounds a pair
of white, vegan leather chairs. Beyond them,
an antique armoire — home to a vintage radio
and record player — offers to fill the space with
relaxing music. By the window, an ornate settee
adorned in a startling fuchsia wax print fabric
offers a major burst of color in an otherwise
quiet, retreat space. Situated above it, a classic
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Interior Design

Interior Design

Interior Design
photograph of Muhammad Ali adds another touch of Diaspora, echoing the themes of strength, beauty, and resistance
that are common to the many experiences of the African Diaspora, and which can be seen throughout the house.
Finally, in the bedroom we began with shades of lilac on the walls to create a calm, meditative feel to suffuse and
anchor the space. The light purple is a perfect complement to the colors in the room, ranging from dark walnut to
deep red. The bedroom is filled with unexpected pairings: a turned leg bed, a cowhide rug, a Buddhist-inspired lamp.
The mix of styles reflects the homeowner’s experience and draws largely on stores of previously amassed objects. As
elsewhere in the home, wax print elements are present here, draped across the bed, adding a touch of color, history,
culture and depth. Meanwhile the carved Punu Mukudj, an artistic and sought-after mask originating in southern
Gabon, brings home another moment of feminine energy, representing peace.
The African Diaspora is multifaceted and in this home’s design it is individually accounted for, collectively recognized,
celebrated and welcomed through the range of art and furnishings on display. In this space, the African
Diaspora is home. AC

Interior Design

Interior Design
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Interior Design

Interior Design
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issue sixteen 57

Culture
Nigeria
Remembered
Inside the Nigeria Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
At the end of April, the art world descended upon Venice, Italy,
for the opening of the 60th annual La Biennale di Venezia. The
global exhibition presents 331 artists and collectives from 80
countries, presenting work around this year’s theme — Foreigners
Everywhere. The phrase had been a rallying cry in the early 2000s
for Italians fighting racism and xenophobia at home. And today, as
our world is changing and being reshaped through global human
rights efforts, genocide, war, climate change, pandemics, and
migration, the Biennale Arte 2024 is specifically highlighting the
experiences of foreigners, immigrants, expatriates, diasporans,
exiles, and refugees.
Words by Jeanine Hays
Photos courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia, Museum of
West African Art, and the Jack Shainman Gallery
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Culture
With several newly participating nations
from the African continent, including the
Republic of Benin, Ethiopia, the United
Republic of Tanzania, and Senegal, Nigeria
is back at the Biennale for the second time in
the nation’s history. The country’s expansive
pavilion includes sculpture, photography, illustration,
audio, AI, and AR. It is curated by
Aindrea Emelife, the curator of modern and
contemporary art at the Museum of West
African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City, Nigeria.
Emelife has included works from several
notable artists with different connections to
the country, including artists who are Nigerian-born
and those of Nigerian descent.
As you walk through the installation,
you’ll see Yinka Shonibare’s Monument to the
Restitution of the Mind and Soul, 2023. The
monument highlights the beauty of artistry
and spiritualism present in the Kingdom of
Benin, what is now southern Nigeria, prior
to the arrival of European colonizers in the
late 19th century. Shonibare, who was born in
Britain, raised in Nigeria, returning to London
in his late teens, developed a monumental clay
pyramid, filled to the brim with iconographic
pieces, including a mask of Idia, the first Queen
Mother of the 16th century Benin kingdom; the
cockerel okukur, a ceremonial object utilized
in religious traditions; and Oba sculptures
depicting the heads of the kings of Benin.
Encased behind glass, you’ll see a bust
of Sir Harry Rawson, one of the military commanders
of the United Kingdom’s Benin expedition
of 1897, in which the British attempted
to assassinate the king in a power grab, and
after a failed attempt, returned with over 1,000
soldiers, machine-gunning, bombarding,
torching villages and towns, and indiscriminately
massacring countless inhabitants of
the kingdom over a three-week period. British
soldiers looted the kingdom, stealing an incalculable
number of artifacts, many that exist in
museum collections around the world today. In
the monument, Shonibare has objectified the
commander, just as pieces from the Kingdom
of Benin are objectified today, housed in glass
in colonial museums. The monument is a
physical representation of a widely discussed
topic in today’s art world — the need to repatriate
stolen Benin cultural artifacts to modern
day Nigeria.
Toyin Ojih Odotula, who was born in
Nigeria and grew up in Alabama, has three
captivating works entitled Congregation, 2023.
The artist’s fluid charcoal and pastel works
on linen are inspired by the Mbari art and
spiritual practice. Mbari were sacred spaces,
constructed with clay, and built over years
through collective community. Works of art in
themselves, the structures featured patterns
painted across the walls and pillars, and were
traditionally filled with figures representing
Igbo beliefs and deities. While the art is
little practiced in Nigeria due to post-colonial
conflicts instigated by the British, Odotula’s
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Culture
Mbari includes modern Nigerian figures as part
of her sacred home. As she explained to The New
York Times, “I wanted the space to exist very open
and free…safe; it has room to roam; it has the right
to change, to be mercurial.”
Sculptor and activist Ndidi Dike’s Blackhood:
A Living Archive, 2024, is an installation of
sculpture and photography that speaks to the
Diasporic civil rights movements that have been
taking place in the last four years. A large black
sculpture made up of 700 police-grade batons,
and an installation of photographs references
the END SARS protests that took place in Nigeria
in 2020. Dike, who was born in London, and went
on to attend the University of Nigeria, Nsukka
as young adult, is known for creating work that
touches on the institutions of slavery and colonialism,
and their historical and continued impact
today. Dike brings viewers into the END SARS
movement, where Nigerian youth took to the
streets calling for the disbanding of the abusive
Special Anti-Robbery Squad, and examines
how it aligns with Black Lives Matter and other
movements across the Diaspora that developed
that same year — the largest call for civil rights
that the world has ever seen.
Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Onyeka Igwe, Abraham
Oghobase, Precious Okoyomon, and Fatimah
Tuggar are exhibiting in the pavilion as well
with works that explore the Nigeria Imaginary
theme. A theme centered on the “potential
of Nigeria,” Emelife reported to Wallpaper. “It
almost becomes a manifesto for a new nation,
a nation that could have been, but a nation that
still can be. I wanted to create an exhibition that
can be inspiring, not just for the world, but for
the country it's about, so that it can inspire new
artists…they can inspire all of us to imagine a new
Nigeria and then try to put that into actuality.”
The Nigeria Pavilion will be on view at the
Venice Biennale until November 18. AC
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Culture
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Culture
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THE
APHRO
APHRO
CHIC
P O D C A S T

Food
A Soul Food
Homage
Chef Chris Scott Shares The Roots Of His
Culinary Experience in His New Cookbook
For Chef Chris Scott, writing his cookbook Homage was a journey
home as he tells the story of his family over seven generations
via comforting dishes and vivid narratives. We learn the story of
his enslaved ancestors; Scott’s great-grandfather, who migrated
to Pennsylvania after the Emancipation Proclamation; his own
childhood in Amish country; and his successful restaurant career
in Philadelphia and New York City.
Words by Jeanine Hays
Photos courtesy of Chronicle Books
issue sixteen 71

Food
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Food
Growing up in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Scott was surrounded
by the cultural roots of the Pennsylvania Dutch and his African
American heritage. It was the fusion of the two heritages, and wanting
to share those roots with his children, that inspired the chef’s first
cookbook. “I wrote this book for several reasons — the biggest one is
that I see it as a love letter passed down from my mother and grandmother
to my four children. Both women passed away before my kids
were born. It's a way for my children to know where they came from,
and for me to share some insight into these strong Black women,”
remarks Scott.
A touching tribute, Homage presents an exciting blend of
culinary traditions that result in unique dishes like Crispy “City
Mouse” Scrapple with an Okra Chow-Chow relish, Lemonade Buttermilk
Fried Chicken, and Pickled Collard “Ribs” and Beans. The book
also highlights something we don’t see discussed often, the regional
nature of Black Soul Food. “I wrote it to once and for all demonstrate
how Soul Food can be regional. Black folks are everywhere,
and depending on where you are in this country — coastal regions,
mountains, the great plains — and who you share your space with
— the Dutch, the German, the Amish, the Indigenous — there will
certainly be influence,” remarks Scott.
Narrative-driven, and featuring 100 dishes, Homage is a
cookbook you’ll want to read and revisit for the rich story-telling;
and to be inspired by these Amish Soul Food dishes that deliver new
stories about the American experience. Chef Scott shares with us
his nana’s Peach Cobbler recipe. The handwritten recipe, inspired
by Amish desserts and his grandmother’s love of shugga’s, the name
of the chapter, is a coveted family heirloom, like many of the recipes
presented in this book.
GET THE BOOK
Reprinted from Homage: Recipes + Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen
by Chris Scott. Copyright © 2022 Chris Scott. Photos © Brittany Conerly.
Published by Chronicle Books

Peach Cobbler
"In my opinion, this is the queen of Southern desserts. Food writer and historian Sicele Taylor once said, 'If you don't have peach cobbler on
your menu, then you ain’t no southern restaurant.' I agree with that sentiment completely. Not only does it use a fruit that's grown in the South
since European settlers brought pits to plant, centuries ago, but it also seems to show up during the most joyful moments for most Southern
children and it played a role in their happiest food memories. It certainly did for me." — Chef Chris Scott
Serves 8
8 cups [1.5 kg] sliced fresh peaches
2 cups [400 g] sugar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup [240 ml] milk
1/2 cup [113 g] butter
1 1/2 cups [210 g] all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Preheat the oven to 350°F [180°C). Butter a 3 qt (2.8 L] baking
dish.
In a mixing bowl, toss together the sliced peaches, 1 cup
[200 g] of the sugar, the lemon juice, cornstarch, vanilla,
cinnamon, and nutmeg. Toss until the peaches are thoroughlyand
evenly coated. Set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk and butter,
stirring, until the butter is melted.
Sift the flour, remaining 1 cup [200 g] of sugar, the baking
powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. While whisking, slowly
stream in the milk and butter mixture, and whisk until
smooth.
Pour the peaches and their juice into the prepared dish.
Pour the batter over the peaches.
Bake for 1 hour, or until the crust is golden brown. Serve
warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
issue sixteen 75

Entertaining
Glow Up
Your Tabletop
Floral Designers Kathleen Hyppolite and Emily
Howard Share Bright and Bold Centerpieces
Perfect for Your Next Soirée
When setting the table for a party, every element counts — the
textiles, the china, the flatware and, most importantly, lots and
lots of beautiful flowers. Natural blooms give life to a tabletop
display, adding color, shape and texture. With their distinctive,
contemporary and colorful styles, Kathleen Hyppolite and Emily
Howard show us how to create stunning floral displays that will
help every element on your table shine.
Words by Jeanine Hays
Photos by Patrick Cline
Styling by Angela Belt
76 aphrochic

Floral designers Kathleen Hyppolite
and Emily Howard

Entertaining
“My style is textural and personal
with notes of romance and whimsy,” says
Hyppolite. The owner of Kat Flower in
Brooklyn, Hyppolite’s centerpiece of French
anemones, garden roses, and sculptural
greenery made up of rainbow eucalyptus,
is filled with romantic touches. The soft
pink hue in a garden-to-table composition
mixed with vibrant greenery takes on a fresh
and modern approach. “I love exploring
color and all of its natural iterations,” says
Hyppolite. A mix of mid-century dinnerware
in a classic black-and-white color palette
completes the look, with gold flatware and
graphic Korean bowls bringing energy to
this dinner party setting.
“The work I do with flowers tends to be
gestural but not too wild, complex but not
busy, pulled together but a little irreverent
and feminine,” remarks Howard. Expertly
drawing together a range of disparate hues,
Howard showcases tree peonies, ranunculus,
and carnations in contrasting shades
of yellow and purple, setting the mood for a
dramatic tabletop that has some throwback
energy. Antique yellow and bright purple
flowers take on a modern feel within a
mixture of vintage black and metallic dinnerware,
while the traditional blooms that
make up this arrangement are given a fresh
new look with the unexpected contrast of
colors that defines this display. “My arrangements
imbue their settings with a sophisticated,
grown-up whimsy.”
Inspired by the tropics, shades of
pink, coral, and orange meet in a vivid arrangement
by Hyppolite made up of rose
lilies, poppies, daffodils, and kumquats. The
bold colors look perfect among the natural
elements spread around the table, from
glasses in wicker sleeves to handwoven
Mexican textiles, coiled grass baskets and
a single leaf set in porcelain rice bowls. The
relaxed arrangement feels like an organic
and artisan celebration of natural beauty. “I
try to use the same approach with flowers
as I would food,” remarks Hyppolite. “Using
fresh, seasonal elements to create a thoughtful
and natural design that captures each
bloom’s charm, grace, uniqueness, and
beauty.”
A bold and textured centerpiece by
Howard shows off a mix of conventional
blooms in bold colors that set off this
tabletop display. Featuring red carnations,
cosmos, seeded eucalyptus, and feathers,
the centerpiece has layers of unique texture.
And it stuns, paired with traditional wood
elements and ceramic pieces, including
the Japanese blue-and-white Willow Ware.
Completing the look is the unexpected
addition of gold metallics. Together, the
various blues and golds on the table create
a layered backdrop of color that propels the
vibrant floral array to center stage.
No matter what the occasion, Emily and
Kathleen show that your tabletop can be a
spectacular showcase of fresh blooms among
beautiful pieces that are sure to make your
next event a visually stunning affair. AC
Previous page: Hyppolite creates
a bright and bold tropical floral
arrangement.
Right: Howard uses contrasting
shades of yellow and purple to create
this whimsical arrangement
80 aphrochic

Entertaining
Hyppolite creates a romantic centerpiece
with French anemones, garden
roses, and sculptural greenery.
82 aphrochic

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Entertaining
84 aphrochic

Howard's textured centerpiece features red carnations, cosmos, seeded eucalyptus, and feathers.
issue sixteen 85

City Stories
Two Sides of
Black History
Exploring New York's Ulster Country
Ulster County, N.Y., is a yearlong destination. Situated comfortably as
either the topmost part of mid-state New York or among the bottommost
counties of upstate (depending on how one chooses to view the state) it is
known for its scenic vistas, quiet towns, sophisticated cuisine, and quaint
shops. Every year the break of spring brings visitors looking to witness
nature’s return to life. In summer, its mountains draw hikers, climbers,
and lovers of waterfalls to wander its verdant green paths. Another group
arrives in fall to watch the turn of the leaves and join in on the fun of the
apple harvest season at any of a number of local orchards. And in winter,
the holidays fill the region with those looking to escape the city for the
season, in hopes of an idyllic and snow-covered end to the year.
Words by Bryan Mason
Photos by Bryan Mason and courtesy of New York State Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation, Ulster County, and Town of Esopus
Shawangunk Mountain Range
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Black Suffragists in Ulster Country

City Stories
Of the many things we tend to think of when considering
upstate New York, Black history is not usually one of
them. And because of that, we run the risk of missing out.
Because, not only does the history of Black presence in the
region stretch back as far as anywhere else in the country,
the story of Ulster County in particular encompasses
both sides of African American history — the joy and the
struggle — the two tales similar in nothing so much as the
extent to which each goes untold.
The Story of Struggle
Shortly after the beginning of slavery in the American
south, the practice came to New York. In 1626, seven years
after the 1619 arrival of enslaved people in Jamestown,
Va., 11 men arrived in what was then the Dutch settlement
of New Amsterdam (now Manhattan). In name, these
men were listed as employees of the Dutch West India
Company — indentured servants — but as far as the law
and anyone in the area was concerned, they were property.
In 1644, after 18 years of servitude, nearly double the time
allotted for indenture, and which likely included military
service, these 11 men would sue to improve their stature,
resulting in their being legally declared “half-free.” They
would also be among those granted land by the Dutch West
India Company, becoming the first non-native settlers
of what is now the Lower East Side, SoHo, Tribeca, and
Greenwich Village. This dubious distinction was far from
a gift of altruism. The half-free Black settlement was envisioned
by the Dutch as a buffer between their own settlement
and the Lenape, with whom they were in constant
conflict.
The earliest Dutch settlements in and around the
Shawangunk Mountains, later part of Ulster County, were
founded in the 1690s. By the time of the first federal census
in 1790, slavery had spread throughout the state, which
recorded a total enslaved population of 21,193 people, surpassing
the combined totals of all six New England states.
And within New York, one of the state’s largest enslaved
populations — 2,906 people — was found in Ulster County.
Though New York had belonged to the British since
1664, the rural plantations that held the majority of those
enslaved in Ulster Country remained largely Dutch. In
1799, nine years after the first census, New York passed a
law for gradual manumission of all those held as slaves
within the state. And though the law did not free a single
living enslaved person, resistance from elected officials in
what were termed the “Dutch counties” was so strenuous
that it earned Ulster the historical moniker, “Where slavery
died hard.”
In 1797, Isabella Baumfree — known to the world as
Sojourner Truth — was born into slavery in Swartekill, N.Y.,
part of what is today the hamlet of Rifton in Ulster County.
Her early years were marked by every trauma a life of enslavement
could provide, from the sale of her siblings and
later herself away from her parents and family, to the loss
of her own children to the same practice. In 1827, when she
fled that life and its cruelties, she traversed Ulster County,
leaving all but one of her children behind, traveling until
she reached the Rowe and Van Wagner households, which
aided her until she was legally manumitted.
Sojourner Truth would emerge as one of the foremost
orators and activists of American history, advocating for
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Sojourner Truth State Park
Sojourner Truth Statue
issue sixteen 91

City Stories
emancipation and suffrage on virtually every American stage. In 1828, Truth
sued at the Ulster County courthouse to overturn the illegal sale of her fiveyear-old
son, transacted shortly before her escape. In winning the case, she not
only saved her son, but entered history as the first Black woman to win a lawsuit
in the United States.
The Story of Joy
As is true for every aspect of American history as whole, the story of African
Americans in Ulster Country progresses beyond the days of enslavement and
degradation. And though life after emancipation in Ulster, as elsewhere, was
marked by struggle and intolerance, the region’s Black community continued to
grow and thrive. In fact, the list of notable Black Americans to hail from or reside
in the area reads like a who’s who across a variety of industries.
Undoubtedly one of the area’s most colorful and interesting residents was
Clayton Bates, better known as “Peg Leg.” Despite losing a leg to a cotton gin
accident at the age of 12, Bates became sufficiently adept at tap dancing to find
himself in demand on stages across the world, performing on the Ed Sullivan
Show more than 20 times. He performed twice for British royalty in the 1930s
before touring England with Louis Armstrong in the 1950s. He continued performing,
appearing from Paris to Broadway, until his retirement in 1989. In 1951,
Bates and his wife Alice converted a 65-acre turkey farm into the legendary Peg
Leg Bates Country Club, a vacation resort catering to Black patrons — which it
drew from as far away as Baltimore — who came to enjoy the resort’s swimming
pool, rollerskating rink, and endless buffets.
Others who have called the area home over the years have included boxer
"Peg Leg" Bates Country Club brochure
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"Peg Leg" Bates

City Stories
Floyd Patterson, legendary jazz musician Sonny Rollins,
bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, and musician, composer, and
historian Don Byron along with many other renowned
musical, literary, and artistic talents. Ulster is also the
hometown of Kirkland Leroy Irvis, the 79th Speaker of
the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and the first
African American to hold that post in any state legislature
since John Roy Lynch held the position in Mississippi during
Reconstruction.
Exploring Black History in Ulster County Today
While comparatively few of Ulster’s annual tourists
likely come in search of Black history, it’s certainly there
to be had for all who want it. In fact, there are numerous
opportunities to visit and learn about the area’s past and
to enjoy the culture of Ulster’s Black community today.
The Mount Gulian Historic Site in Beacon, N.Y., was once
home to the Verplanck family, a prominent and wealthy
clan, once slaveholders and later abolitionists, with
a room at the Met Museum named in their honor and
dedicated to preserving their household effects. James F.
Brown, a formerly enslaved man, worked and lived on the
Verplanck property for 40 years beginning in 1827, the year
New York’s gradual abolition of slavery reached its conclusion.
Brown left extensive journals offering a detailed
look at daily life for an African American in 19th century
Ulster County. Another former slaveholding residence,
the Bevier-Elting House, is more closely associated with
the darker aspects of the time, including a prison-like
cellar used to prevent those enslaved on the property
from escaping.
While slavery has a long history in the region, so too
does resistance, and several sites, markers, and tours exist
to satisfy those who would follow in the footsteps of those
who fought back. When Sojourner Truth freed herself from
bondage she walked across the Shaupeneak Ridge to make
her escape. Today, Shaupeneak Ridge commemorates her
bravery by including the Sojourner Truth Trail, lined with
plaques offering details of the abolitionist’s life drawn
from her own biography. Other tributes include Sojourner
Truth State Park in Kingston and a statue in her honor at
the Ulster Welcome Center in Hudson State Park. The
statue was created by African American sculptor Vinnie
Bagwell. Bagwell sculpted another tribute to a legendary
Black woman — Ella Fitzgerald — in nearby Westchester
County where Villa Leeward, designed by Black architect
Vertner Tandy, and the former home of Madam C.J. Walker
still stands.
Of course Black history is not entirely about the past.
New history is being made every day. The A.J. Williams-Myers
African Roots Library, named for the late professor
emeritus of Black Studies at SUNY New Paltz, maintains an
extensive collection of books and a full calendar of events
dedicated to commemorating the accomplishments of the
past while inspiring those that are yet to come.
Like everywhere else in America, the history of Black
life, work, struggle and accomplishment in Ulster County
is an indelible part of the history of the region and of
the country at large. So whether it’s a love of hiking and
climbing, changing leaves or picking apples that leads you
to Ulster County this year, it’s a place where the stories of
our history and culture lie waiting to be discovered. AC
A young Sonny Rollins
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City Stories
Ulster County Courthouse
Susan DeMark's Mindful Walker Statue
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THE AMUR
TABLE LAMP
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Sounds
Feels Like
Home
Brittney Spencer’s Debut Album Is Pure Country
In America, country music is the story of our ancestors. The banjo, the
twang, the griot stories that have been woven into song all have their
roots in a music tradition that can be traced back to the early 17th century.
It was then that enslaved Africans, who brought a panoply of cultures
with them during the transatlantic slave trade, brought the banjo to
America. You can hear the the legacy of the hand-plucked instrument in
the opening song New To This Town on Brittney Spencer’s debut album
My Stupid Life.
The country music star, who hails from Baltimore, presents an album
that is pure country. The opening track is an emotive experience, gently
sung by Spencer in melodic layers. Brittney starts with a hum that
feels like we’re entering a smooth R&B track, but the country vibe is
unmistakable once she begins singing, “I don’t wanna be fooled again
into thinking I found a friend in you.”
Words by Jeanine Hays
Photos by Jimmy Fontaine
issue sixteen 101

Sounds
GET THE ALBUM
Brittney Spencer, My Stupid Life, Elektra, 2024.
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“This feels like a long time coming,” says Spencer
about the debut album. “It took me three years from the
time I released my first EP Compassion to now to release
my first album. These songs serve as my introduction to
country music and I wanted to give them all the time and
care that they deserve.” You can feel that care has been
taken with each song as you move through the album. The
second track I Got Time is a foot-stomping, honky tonk
song with lots of energy. You can see the family getting up
and doing the electric slide to this one at the next family
reunion.
The album honors the country music tradition of storytelling
that can be heard across various African American
music traditions, including country, jazz, blues, rock ’n
roll, R&B, and Hip Hop. Like the work songs, field hollers,
shouts, chants, spirituals, and stories of unfathomable pain
and incredible resilience that are the foundation of Black
music in America, Spencer shares vulnerabilities, dreams,
lost loves, new-found love, and familiar modern-day sentiments
in her songs. The fourth track, Night In, reflects a
feeling that so many of us have these days when friends and
family are trying to get us to come out of the house — nah.
Brittney is relatable when she sings about her love of being
a “homegirl” staying cozy, comfy, and safe at home.
“I wrote a lot of songs from the back corners of my
mind because I wanted to take a good, deeper look at myself
and create something true to who and where I am at this
time in my life,” remarks Spencer. “The more I put the pen
to my feelings and thoughts, the more I realized I’ve heard
similar sentiments throughout my life. Through making
this album, I’ve learned we’re not alone in our heads, and I
hope this album hugs the tiny, loud parts of our overthinking
brains that sometimes need it most.”
For the young woman who fell in love with country
music as a teenager when she first heard the Chicks, as a
songwriter Spencer brings a distinct Black woman’s lens
to the genre with songs like Bigger Than The Song. An ode
to her love of music, the ballad highlights those who have
inspired her — Queen Latifah, Aretha, Reba, Whitney,
Janet, Dolly, and Beyoncé are all referenced. Spencer
recently collaborated with Beyoncé on the pop star’s latest
album Cowboy Carter. Singing Blackbird, originally written
by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Spencer is part of a
chorus of Black female voices that include Tanner Adell,
Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts.
As Spencer’s star continues to brighten, she doesn’t
shy away from discussing the racism that exists in the
music industry, specifically around country music.
Dating back to the 1920s, executives have long segregated
American music by race as a marketing ploy. While any
music aficionado will point to the likes of Tee Tot Payne,
DeFord Bailey, Big Mama Thornton, Ray Charles, Wilson
Pickett, Linda Martell, and so many more Black musicians
and their work as the foundations of country music, the
music industry has long worked to make and keep the genre
a whites-only space. “How can you leave Black artists out of
country and Americana music, when we are everything that
it’s made of?” asked country music singer Queen Esther,
in an interview with Soul Country. “The shock and awe of
the irony is just dizzying to anyone that’s paying attention.”
Queen Esther gave a TED Talk in 2018 on the Black roots of
country music and its origination from the blues and West
African music traditions. Today, the recording of the talk
on YouTube is widely referenced and shared in conversations
on the Black roots of country.
In a post on Instagram, Beyoncé shared that her
eighth studio album was inspired by her own deep dive into
the Black legacy of country music, and followed an experience
where she was made to feel unwelcome in the genre.
That feeling of unwelcomeness is part of a larger history of
redacting and disappearing Black culture in country.
“The first string bands in this country were enslaved
people. Black folks have always made country music,”
author and journalist Andrea Williams reported to
American Masters on PBS. “The commercialization of
music in this drawing of this color line, where Black
people do race records and the white people over here
do this other thing, hillbilly, was always set aside as this
thing specifically for white people. And so country music,
as we fast-forward in time, it has grown out of that, and
the people that have been put in place generation after
generation in these positions of power, whether they're
at country radio stations, at the CMA, at the labels, at the
publishers, they are upholding that system. Black people
that have succeeded in this industry succeeded in spite of
that.”
“It’s actually doing a disservice to everybody if
people are walking around thinking that these things don’t
happen,” Spencer explained to Rolling Stone when asked
about racism in the industry. It’s a topic she discusses
openly — not being initially welcomed by music industry
executives as a Black, female country singer. She eventually
found a team that supports her, “people who made me
feel really safe.”
It’s those feelings of safety, love and community that
are present in My Stupid Life. Brittney’s album brings to
the forefront long-buried memories for so many African
Americans whose country roots are based in the deep
South that their grandparents and great-grandparents
grew up in. Spencer has returned country home to us in
a joyful inaugural album that leaves listeners excited for
more. AC
issue sixteen 103

PINPOINT
Artists & Artisans | Lit | Who Are You

ARTISTS & ARTISANS
Kris Keys: Self-Discovery Through Watercolors
Surrounded by the beauty of the Los Angeles
Arboretum, Kris Keys steps out into the sunshine.
Her long braided ponytail touches the ground,
connecting directly with nature. The ponytail
isn’t just there for aesthetic purposes, it is the
instrument she will use for a unique painting
experience. An interdisciplinary artist, Keys
enjoys painting with watercolors, a practice she
has found meditative since a child.
Originally from Memphis, Keys was born with
a rare blood disorder that required a lot of time in
hospitals. Watercolor painting was an outlet for
her while getting treatments. Today, she lives in LA
and has turned her work with watercolors into a
unique public hair painting performance. Inspired
by the Japanese art Shodo — Japanese calligraphy
where one writes with ink and brush — Keys began
to utilize her hair as the brush, dipping the tip into
vibrant watercolors, and putting her hair to paper
as a storytelling piece. As she paints, Keys conveys
her personal story and the genealogy that has
inspired so much of her work. At the Arboretum
performance, Keys encourages guests to create
their own work and use the watercolors as a tool
for self-discovery.
Words by Jeanine Hays
Photos courtesy of Kris Keys
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ARTISTS & ARTISANS
In The Garden
Plant Pattern
Keys has been exploring Black hair culture in her art for years. “The
Black community is known for unique, expressive hairstyles and I want to
pay homage to us through brushes that reflect that creativity” Keys remarks.
Her portfolio is filled with pieces dedicated to Black hair traditions, a range
of watercolor and large-scale acrylic paintings showcasing Black women
with their hair in curlers. For Keys, each piece is a personal reminder of the
women who have guided her — her grandmothers in particular. “It was a
winter after getting lessons on how to make my grandma’s banana pudding
that she asked me to roll her hair. I whipped out the camera and started to
film the process showing the details as each strand of hair spiraled around
the sponge roller. This inspired me when I got back to California as I layered
a silhouette of a woman’s face onto a soft blend of flowers that I’d painted the
year prior.”
This spring, Keys will exhibit the portfolio in her solo show Come Roll My
Hair at the Amaya Guesthouse in upstate New York. The solo exhibition is a
one-day event where guests will be treated to an immersive experience that
celebrates the account of hair in the Black community. “You will gain insight
into the rich and diverse history of Black hair, which mirrors the patterns
and evolution of agriculture throughout time,” reports Keys. Nestled among
nature, with a babbling creek in the background, it is a natural place for
self-discovery. AC
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Come Roll My Hair

ARTISTS & ARTISANS
Good Morning
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Goodnight
issue sixteen 111

LIT
That Was Her Way of Showing God
By Jasmine Mans
Reprinted from Black Girl Call Home by Jasmine Mans.
We didn't go to church on Sundays,
but my mother cleaned
the whole house.
Wiped from behind the toilet—
to inside of the oven.
That was her way
of honoring God.
Separating cloth
by color,
making sure
nothing bled,
onto anything else,
stretching pork
across seven days,
because even poverty
knows ritual.
Baptizing Black babies
in bathtubs
of hand-me-down water,
one, after
another.
A poor woman's tradition,
but of its own abundance.
That was her way of showing God
that she had a servant's heart,
that she was a good woman,
with all of the little
she had.
Copyright © 2021 Jasmine Mans.
Cover image © Micaiah Carter. Published by Berkeley an
imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
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WHO ARE YOU
Name: Ashley Hopkinson
Based In: New Orleans
Occupation: Journalist/Editor/Project Manager
Black Culture Is: Community. It is community that holds
the door open for the next generation and upholds the value
that we lift as we climb. It’s a head nod at a corporate table,
the ease of picking up a new dance move, the cookout, the
sister-girl compliment from across the room, any room, and
the acknowledgment that I see you. I understand the roads
you have traversed to get here and I celebrate you. We are
truly our ancestors' wildest dreams. It has been my joy as a
journalist of 15 years to center Black culture every chance I
get and recently in my work as a project manager, I’ve had
a few pivotal moments. One was designing and launching
the first health equity cohort for The Solutions Journalism
Network (SJN) with five U.S.-based newsrooms working to
reimagine the way we talk about health issues, especially
as it relates to diverse communities. I loved being able to
include The Emancipator and Capital B, two publications
dedicated to serving the Black community. Through this cohort, I helped editors and reporters to shape and share
stories from the lens of racial inequity and justice in healthcare. The other pivotal moment was designing, launching,
and scaling the inaugural Journalists of Color fellowship for SJN and leading 10 amazing emerging media leaders
through workshops, sessions, retreats, and a speaker series designed to center issues that matter to our collective
histories and lived experiences. It was a gift to create an experience that a younger version of me wanted and to see it
live on beyond me. I take to heart what Toni Morrison said, “When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly
trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some
power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” The power of community is the joy of knowing that what we
shape, create or build with others, whether it’s a story, a program, or a fellowship, will stretch beyond the collective
effort it took and serve a greater purpose. To me, Black culture is also Black joy and perhaps that's my Guyanese
heritage proclaiming our need for rest and enjoyment the loudest. But I want that for all of us — for the sisterhood,
brotherhood, for the culture.
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