AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 4

We took this photo back in February, during a trip to Wilmington, North Carolina. We didn’t
know it would be our only trip to the beach this year. Back then we imagined that the year
ahead would be full of adventure, travel, and new directions for the magazine. But suddenly
the world changed and all of those things were gone.
Our world is changing in profound ways. What seemed relevant even a few months ago, is almost hard to remember
today. Every two weeks, or sometimes two days, it feels like we wake up in a new reality. News of the virus is replaced by news
of how many Black people are being killed by the virus. That news is replaced by how many Black people are being killed by
the police, the virus, and the rush to reopen.
Somewhere in the middle of mourning all that we have lost this year — including a grandmother — our perspective
changed. We began to see the opportunities in the crisis, the clear lens that this catastrophe has offered on a broken society.
This clarity was demonstrated when people who’d never felt anguish over seeing a Black life extinguished on video before,
joined the fight to ensure they’d never see it again. It extends to an economy designed for the richest alone and a government
that would rather use taxpayer money to break protests than to provide safety and stability for taxpayers during a health
emergency. And it reminds us, a people strengthened by a culture forged in hardships, saved by music and the DJs that play
it, comforted by food traditions begun by people in bondage, inspired by elders, that these times have come and gone before
— and we have remained.
Our fourth issue is a celebration of the new world we are all entering. One that is intersectional, inclusive, just, and
focused on a full acknowledgment of the undeniable valuable of Black life. 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. In a moment where the intersections matter more than ever, Lynch’s
multi-hyphenate talents and spirit of Black Gay Pride are exactly what the world needs right now.
From a house tour in Brooklyn to a travel piece in Tobago, this issue takes you all over the Diaspora. And we see how 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.
Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason
Founders, AphroChic
Instagram: @aphrochic
editors’ letter
With the amazing Danielle Brooks
Photo: Chinasa Cooper