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AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 4

In this issue, we sit down with artist, Malik Roberts, who relates the experience of creating one of the few African American artworks to sit permanently in the Vatican collection. Fashion designer, Prajjé Oscar John-Baptiste introduces his latest collection — an ode to Haiti, and its goddesses. We head to South Carolina to experience the Gullah-inspired music of Ranky Tanky. And in New York, we watch a new world being born with photographer and journalist, Naeem Douglass, who takes us inside the city’s Black Lives Matter protests, and economist Janelle Jones, who reminds us in these times that we are the economy. We are thrilled to share our cover with chef and musician, Lazarus Lynch. Inside, we talk with him about his cookbook, Son of a Southern Chef and his new album, I’m Gay.  From a house tour in Brooklyn to a travel piece in Tobago, this issue takes you all over the Diaspora. And we see how of the concept of Diaspora was first introduced in a look back at how Pan-Africanism led the way to how we think of international Blackness today. It is a showcase of our culture, our creativity, our resilience, and our diversity, our demands for the present and our hopes for the future. Welcome to our summer issue.

In this issue, we sit down with artist, Malik Roberts, who relates the experience of creating one of the few African American artworks to sit permanently in the Vatican collection. Fashion designer, Prajjé Oscar John-Baptiste introduces his latest collection — an ode to Haiti, and its goddesses. We head to South Carolina to experience the Gullah-inspired music of Ranky Tanky. And in New York, we watch a new world being born with photographer and journalist, Naeem Douglass, who takes us inside the city’s Black Lives Matter protests, and economist Janelle Jones, who reminds us in these times that we are the economy.

We are thrilled to share our cover with chef and musician, Lazarus Lynch. Inside, we talk with him about his cookbook, Son of a Southern Chef and his new album, I’m Gay. 

From a house tour in Brooklyn to a travel piece in Tobago, this issue takes you all over the Diaspora. And we see how of the concept of Diaspora was first introduced in a look back at how Pan-Africanism led the way to how we think of international Blackness today. It is a showcase of our culture, our creativity, our resilience, and our diversity, our demands for the present and our hopes for the future. Welcome to our summer issue.

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VISUAL CUES<br />

The U Street corridor in <strong>No</strong>rthwest Washington, DC, could almost be a model for what happens to a<br />

neighborhood when gentrification moves in. Once known as Black Broadway, home to thriving Black-owned<br />

businesses in the early 20th century, U Street is now filled with the same chain stores and restaurants<br />

that you might find on any other nameless road in any other city. But an intrepid group of students has<br />

launched a project to showcase and celebrate U Street’s history and impact. Led by Georgetown University<br />

professor Ananya Chakravarti and students from both Georgetown and Howard University, the project is<br />

creating a digital bank of photos, archives, and oral histories about U Street’s past. “It’s a layered history,”<br />

says Chakravarti. “The community became really interested in the project, and are invested in it, which<br />

means so much.” The kickoff for the project, held in <strong>No</strong>vember 2019, featured events in 16 U Street venues<br />

over two days, including neighborhood trivia with Dr. Bernie Demczuk at Ben’s Chili Bowl, an iconic<br />

restaurant that has been a pillar on the street since 1958. The students have just finished an app – with<br />

work slowed by the pandemic and shutdown – that offers as a comprehensive digital library to celebrate<br />

not only U Street, but Black history in the nation’s capital. If you have photos or an oral history of U Street<br />

that you would like to share, contact Ananya Chakravarti at ac1646@georgetown.edu. To learn more, go<br />

to www.rememberingyoudc.org.<br />

14 aphrochic issue four 15

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