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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Culture<br />
ND: I did see some on the first day. The<br />
very first day of the protests I happened to<br />
be in [Manhattan] and was riding my bike by<br />
Foley Square and saw a rally. I always have a<br />
camera with me so I started to make some<br />
photos. Then the marchers started moving<br />
north and the police were not having it.<br />
They were really aggressive and definitely<br />
initiated contact. It escalated fairly quickly.<br />
It ended up being a little too much for<br />
me. So I broke off the march and tried to<br />
get myself situated. I was straddling my Citi<br />
Bike trying to put my phone away, load film<br />
in my camera and get a bearing on what was<br />
going on. I was about a block away from the<br />
protest. Suddenly I feel a tap on leg which<br />
turned into pounding. I looked up and saw<br />
a bicycle officer and he’s hitting my leg with<br />
his front wheel and yelling at me to move. It<br />
was so bizarre and unnerving. I was the only<br />
person on the street, between two parked<br />
cars and clearly just trying to put myself<br />
together. Before anything could really<br />
happen, his fellow officer pulled him away<br />
and he went back to the group.<br />
AC: What role can photography play in<br />
amplifying movements?<br />
ND: Photography is pivotal because<br />
one photograph can tell many stories. With<br />
video, you have a lot going on. However,<br />
a photograph is one moment in time. <strong>No</strong><br />
sound, no music, and in my case no color<br />
(I mostly shoot black and white film). One<br />
moment and one subject can sum up years<br />
of frustration, ignorance, exhaustion, etc.<br />
The simplicity of it is powerful to me. I’m<br />
reminded of the photo from the late 1950s<br />
of a Black student walking to school in<br />
Arkansas and you see these white women<br />
and students behind her screaming insults<br />
at her. That one moment captured the vitriol<br />
of racism during that time and the struggle<br />
for us to be treated like humans.<br />
AC: Which photographers have inspired<br />
your work?<br />
ND: I have to start with the greats,<br />
Gordon Parks and Jamel Shabazz. I would<br />
be remiss if I didn’t mention Ernest Withers,<br />
but his life as a FBI informant during the<br />
civil rights movement leaves me conflicted.<br />
I’m also a big fan of Andre Wagner, a Brooklyn-based<br />
photographer who’s doing incredible<br />
work.<br />
AC: Is there one moment or image that<br />
stands out in your mind?<br />
ND: One is a man praying at The<br />
Barclays Center. He’s so peaceful in his<br />
prayer. It moved me in the moment and<br />
when I saw the photo later. The second<br />
photo is of a young Black woman leading a<br />
march through Brooklyn. It was inspiring<br />
to see her putting her voice to the rally, so<br />
it was particularly moving to see her and be<br />
able to document it.<br />
AC: What do you hope will come out<br />
of this moment? Could we see real police<br />
reform, or something even bigger?<br />
ND: I hope a real change comes from<br />
this. America has had a hard time facing<br />
its original sin (slavery) and the effects it<br />
continues to have. This country definitely<br />
needs to address it in a meaningful way.<br />
Naeem Douglas is the Brookladephian, a photographer<br />
and journalist based in Brooklyn, NY.<br />
(www.naeemdouglas.com) AC<br />
66 aphrochic issue four 67
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